Program Summary: Chris Vance, “Our Emerging New Party System,” August 19, 2021

Chris Vance has been a Washington State leader in politics and public policy for over 30 years. Vance is a former State Representative, King County Councilmember, Chairman of the Washington state Republican Party, and US Senate nominee in 2016. Vance now serves as the Communications and External Affairs Manager in the King County Assessor’s office, teaches part time as an adjunct professor at the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, and is a Senior Fellow at the Niskanen Center.

Program Summary: Pamela Banks, Director, “Seattle Office of Economic Development,” August 5, 2021

Pamela L. Banks is a tireless advocate for equality and social justice, building community partnerships and strengthening community engagement to create lasting economic opportunity. In December 2020, Pamela joined the Mayor’s cabinet in a newly created role as the Director of Recovery and Equitable Investments to lead the City of Seattle in social and economic recovery from the impacts of COVID-19. In February 2021, Mayor Durkan expanded her role to serve as Interim Director for the Office of Economic Development. The Office of Economic Development continues to be a lifeline for many by promoting access to economic opportunities, especially for small business and workers. Before returning to work at the City, Pamela was President and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle. Prior to that, she retired after 30 years working for the City and built a reputation for making city government more accessible to underserved residents, community organizations and small businesses. Pamela has served on multiple boards and is a graduate of the University of Washington. In her free time, Pamela enjoys trying new restaurants throughout Seattle with family and friends.

Program Notes by Merrill Mayer:

5th director in 4 years
Focused on recovery from COVID
Vision is build inclusive economy.
Many impacted by COVID especially Bipoc and low income. Try for equitable recovery.
Cannot have healthy city without healthy downtown.
Teams of people work with communities. Provide training for careers. High wage careers. Focus on growth industries. Partner with unions for training.
Neighborhood recovery, downtown revitalization, small business support
$128 million to deal with housing and homelessness, biz recovery, community well being, community assistance. 23 million of this for Seattle office of economic development. Money will be used to revitalize downtown and get people back to work. Also concerned with Public safety, beautification.
Community driven ideas for neighborhood revitalization.
Going week by week to assess impact of Delta variant.
Housing alone won’t solve homelessness. Need services.
Try to bring back 1/3 of previous downtown workers to offices.
Allow different use for ground floor biz. Example, have art studio or dentist office instead of retail.

Rotary District 5030 Convention

The conference will be held in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho from October 1st to October 3d. Let’s come Together for Rotary. This will be an opportunity to reignite old friendships and create new friends through our shared PASSION for SERVICE. For details, visit the website 5030conference.com.

Program Summary: Jeff Kadet, “What’s Behind the Pressure for a Worldwide Tax Agreement,” July 29, 2021

Here is a backgrounder prepared by Jeff:Download

Key Points Summary by Michelle Lee

A lot of governments’ financial health were hurt in the 2008 downturn and some still have not recovered yet to these days. In 2010, the governments started to realize large multinationals were not paying taxes to countries they conducted operations.

In the 1970s, multinationals were usually manufacturers, had physical presence and tangible goods. Their income could be easily traced and taxed by local and home countries.

In the digital economy, although multinationals earn income overseas, the essential operation such as infrastructure, strategic decision and major deal making are done in home countries. Their foreign subsidiaries’ income is service based and provided remotely, can easily be shifted to tax havens. These subsidiaries generate stateless income which is taxed by nobody.

The proposed worldwide tax agreement has two pillars.

Countries will be entitled to income tax revenue on pro-rata basis. Some countries, such as India, have started to charge digital service tax on gross revenue. With this agreement, those countries will give up digital service tax in lieu of the pro-rata income tax.
A minimum tax rate will be implemented. If the local countries do not participate, the home countries can charge the multinationals up to the minimum tax rate.

140 countries are interested in this inclusive framework proposed by OECD. If agreement reached, each country will put the guidance into its own tax laws. For the US, they have to be passed by the House and Senate.

Jeffery M. Kadet spent over 32 years in public accounting and 2 years in Finance, US Army. He was engaged extensively in the structuring of cross border transactions involving both U.S. and local country tax laws and initiated, managed, and grew several tax and legal practices. Over his career, he served numerous industries including financial and other services, telecommunications, oil and gas, natural resources, real estate and hospitality. Of his 32 years in public accounting, 22 years were spent living and practicing outside the U.S. in Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Moscow, Istanbul and Shanghai. From his first retirement in 2003, he has taught several international tax courses as an adjunct lecturer in the Tax LLM program at the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle, Washington. He has also authored numerous articles on various tax topics.

Program Summary: Paula Del Giudice, “Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center: Serving the Disability Community for 45 Years,” July 22, 2021

Meeting summary by Michael Bronsdon.

Paula Del Giudice has been the executive director of Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center in Redmond, WA, for the past four years. Previous to her work with Little Bit, she served as the executive director or regional director of National Wildlife Federation, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Seattle Guild, and the Pacific NW Pollution Prevention Resource Center. She has earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Nevada, Reno, and a Master of Education degree from Regis University. She lives in Sammamish, WA, with her small dog. She has two grown children, Kevin who works for the State of Washington’s Emergency Management Division, and a daughter who is a Speech-Language Pathologist in Issaquah. She is an avid golfer, artist, and gardener who loves to bake for family and friends. She is also Secretary of the Rotary Club of Redmond and is a member of BNI–Eastside Excellence chapter.

Little Bit was founded in 1976 by a woman named Margaret Dunlap. Margaret had Multiple Sclerosis and found that being on the back of a horse slowed the advance of her disease. From our humble beginnings of one horse and five riders, we have grown to be one of the largest nationally accredited, industry-leading PATH (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship) International centers and one of the largest full-time therapeutic horsemanship programs in the United States. We offer Adaptive Riding and Hippotherapy, and serve 260 riders and patients each week with 30 horses and the help of more than 350 volunteers.

Little Bit runs three programs

Hippotherapy: PT, OT, or Speech-Language Therapy: The movement of the horse brings full-body movement for riders, which brings a number of benefits to each rider. Core strength, stretching of muscles, and the bond between horse and rider are key benefits. Many of the clients are also able to have a different view of the world from on top of a horse.

Adaptive Riding: Similar benefits to the above, but also teaches how to care for and work with a horse. Clients have goals to pursue through recreational horseback riding. Special Olympics Equestrian Team is also a component of the Adaptive Riding Program. Program suspended by Covid; intending to restart

Equine-Facilitated Psychotherapy: Mental health therapy, working with mental health professionals and an equine specialist. This is an ‘unmounted’ program and through the interaction between horse and client includes helpful biofeedback. Equine-Assisted Learning also includes educational and professional skill development, in which clients also have personal learning goals as they develop life skills through working with horses.

Other Programs – Summer Camps! Inclusive camps for children and young adults for kids from 5-12, and young adults ages 18-35. Participants get to ride for an hour a day.

Volunteers: A key part of Little Bit is the volunteer support that enable all of the programs. 135 volunteers weekly, who range in age from 14 to 92! Over 15,252 hours were logged in 2020.

The Horses

30 horses currently on the property. One third are Norwegian Fjord horses, which are stoic and a bred to be work horses. They are also a bit shorter than other breeds. They are easy to work with and very popular. Horses average 419 hours of staff and volunteer care per year.

‘Harvest’ was a Seattle Police horse who retired from the department and has moved to Little Bit. He’s been great for larger riders, as he is 17-hands tall.

Friends of Little Bit

34 different work groups (including some corporate teams) help with cleaning and maintenance issues.

Little Bit sponsors several fund-raising events every year. On September 9, 2021 they are hosting a golf tournament at Redmond Ridge. Registration is available online.

Program Summary: Jacob Leachman, Washington State University “Hype, Hope, and Hydrogen in Washington State,” July 15, 2021

Jake Leachman, Washington State University

Program Summary by Joe Diehl.

Jake Leachman made a presentation on the use of hydrogen in Washington State as an environmentally friendly approach to reducing carbon emissions. Refer to Jake’s PowerPoint slides for more detailed information. Jake noted, this talk is presented on a very high-level basis. There is a lot happening in the news on clean energy. Jake’s presentation covered where we were; where we are today; and where we are going in the future. There is no doubt climate change is a reality!

Currently a major challenge is in the supply change: most hydrogen is delivered in liquid form in a huge tanker truck. In the big picture, 74% of all of the mass in the universe is hydrogen – and 75% of the sun’s mass is hydrogen. Thirteen percent of all atoms on the earth are hydrogen atoms. Jake covered several different types of hydrogen (grey, blue, green, etc.). Washington is building one of the largest plants for green hydrogen production. By the way, nuclear power produces a byproduct known as pink hydrogen.

Jake spoke about combining wind power using hydrogen to produce electrolyte water. A good characteristic of hydrogen, is that it can be compressed. The use of hydrogen is growing as quickly as the historic growth of solar and wind power. Jake noted that Federal funding for the development of hydrogen energy is sorely lacking.

Worldwide, hydrogen energy development has now been embraced by the world. During the pandemic, carbon emissions were reduced; but now they exceed pre-pandemic levels – thus elevating the importance of developing alternative energy sources. Hydrogen can be delivered forty times fast than other energy fuel.

Jake answered questions and answers from Rotary Club members in the remaining time.

Jacob “Jake” Leachman is an Associate Professor in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Washington State University (WSU). He initiated the Hydrogen Properties for Energy Research (HYPER) laboratory at WSU in 2010 with the intent to advance the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of cryogenic hydrogen systems. He earned a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2005 and a M.S. degree in 2007 from the University of Idaho. His master’s thesis has been adopted as the foundation for hydrogen fueling standards and custody exchange, in addition to winning the Western Association of Graduate Schools Distinguished Thesis Award for 2008. He completed his Ph.D. in the Cryogenic Engineering Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2010 under the advice of John Pfotenhauer and Greg Nellis. He is the lead author of the reference text “Thermodynamic Properties of Cryogenic Fluids: 2nd Edition”. In 2018, he received the Roger W. Boom Award from the Cryogenics Society of America and is a Senior Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.

Program Summary: Amitabha ‘Guppy’ Gupta, PhD, “Updates on COVID-19 and New Research at Fred Hutch,” July 8, 2021

Submitted by Lee Raaen

The club was privileged to have Dr. Gupta of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center present an encore performance regarding research and advancements in the treatment and prevention of COVID-19 and cancer.

He pointed out that when he last spoke to the club about 11 months ago, a vaccine for COVID-19, particularly mRNA vaccines were mostly a theory. In a short time not only have vaccines been developed, but a large percentage of the population of the country has been vaccinated. King County is fortunate to have approximately 74% of people over the age of 16 vaccinated. Of course far more needs to be done to vaccinate unprotected populations not only in this country but around the world.

South King County has a lower vaccination rate than other areas of the county. This segment of the population has not yet reached the 70% level. Systemic racism and related its economic and other consequences are factors.

While Fred Hutchinson is known for its research into cancer, it is also very involved in the research and development of COVID-19 vaccines. Approximately 20% of their research resources are devoted to COVID.

Dr. Gupta explained the process of the development of COVID variances, and the relative concerns of the A, D, B and G variances first noticed in different countries around the world. The D variance is now the one most of concern here. Approximately 50% of new infections in the US are of the D variance. This is particularly true in low vaccinated areas. The good news is that the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines appear to be effective against this variant.

He explained that it is unknown if or to what extent someone who is fully vaccinated can still transmit the virus. As a result, safety precautions are still advisable by people who are vaccinated but interact with those who are too young or medically unable to receive the vaccines. He personally wears a mask around people indoors who may not be completely vaccinated.

Dr. Gupta for the second portion of his talk offered four alternative topics. The “winning topic” by a poll of the membership was “Harnessing the Immune System to Cure Cancer.” He presented a fascinating look into the use of the modification of T cells and T cell receptors in the fight against cancer. He pointed out that a normal function of T cells is to identify and destroy individual cells in the body which are in some way defective. They are researching the use of that function to target cancer cells. The Hutch has had success in using this approach in blood cancers, but because of the structure and environment of solid tumors, it does not work well with those cancers. Research into modifying cells, including the use of Crispr technology, is attempting to reengineer cells to use the T cell function in solid tumor cancers.

Once again, “Guppy” provided an interesting and informative presentation to our club membership and visitors.

Dr. Amitabha (Uh-Myth-aabh) “Guppy” Gupta got his Ph.D. in Cellular, Molecular, and Biophysical Sciences from Columbia University before moving to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to do his post-doctoral research. While he was doing his American Cancer Society-funded research and applying to be a teacher at a small liberal arts school, the Hutch convinced him to stay and talk about their research. He currently serves as the Scientific Content Strategist for the Philanthropy Department, where he keeps his finger on the pulse of the research going on at the Hutch, and helps translate it to the general public.

Program Summary: Pamela Mushen Takes the Wheel, July 1, 2021

Our new President, Pam Mushen, opened the weekly meeting at 7:30 a.m.

Pam Mushen hanging with one of her Nobel Prize winning friends.

Jim Horrigan’s Red Team members introduced the Thought of the Day and the Rotary Minute.

President Pam announced that Club Social Events Chair Colleen White and Club Community Service Co-Chair David Mushen had already met with their committee members and have put together our first Social/Community Service event on July 13^th, 4:00 p.m. at Colleen White’s residence at 9209 8^th Ave NE. Everybody participating will help with preparation of a meal that will be delivered to Teen Feed at University Way NE. that same night. Teen Feed will distribute the meals.

Pam introduced her first ‘Historical Fact’ and reviewed all Club positions and areas of responsibility for the coming year. She will follow-up by emailing both the Social Events Calendar and Committee Roster to all members.

Pam, the ‘almost’ ‘Strawberry Fair Princess and probably future Queen’ of the Lebanon, Oregon community, informed and entertained us with her “This is Your Life.” so far, facts and stories about her education, career positions, and family.

We were then led into our ‘Break-Out sessions by Committee assignments’ by Lincoln Ferris, who also coordinates the ZOOM meetings each week.

**Sidenote: I was fortunate to be the only other member of the Social committee in attendance with Joseph Thomas and Claudia Gutierrez in our ‘break-out session’. They attending from Mexico City. We discussed an idea of theirs……They have mailed/emailed a local Rotarian who owns large grounds at the foot of the volcano sites and hosts two ‘Beer Festivals’ a year and an annual ‘Cut your own Tree’ Christmas Tree sale. They would like our University Sunrise Rotary membership to attend this festival in 2022. As of now, they have not heard back from the owner of the property but will keep us posted. Pam thinks this would be a great trip for us!

That’s it.

Teri St. Onge – First-time Scribe for our new year – July 2021 – June 2022.

Program Summary: Meet Our Newest Members, June 24, 2021

Our program Thursday morning, June 24, featured get-to-know-you introductions from some of our new members: Joseph Diehl, Paul Meehan, John Pierce, and Roger Wylie. The addition of these four new members has substantially raised the average IQ of the Club.

Joe Diehl has credentials as both an accountant and a lawyer. He is the Principal at Joe Diehl & Co. LLC with over 50 years of experience in association management and accounting/finance. His most recent role was serving as Deputy Director of the National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC) in Washington, DC. Joe has provided contract and consulting services to Nationwide Insurance, Northwest Indian Housing Association, AHMA of Washington and the Affordable Rural Housing Council (among others) over the past 25+ years. Joe graduated from Northern Illinois University with a BS in Accountancy and from the John Marshall Law School in 1979 with a Juris Doctor degree. He passed the CPA Examination in 1974 and the Illinois Bar Examination in 1979. A highly regarded speaker on a number of topics, he will address our club on Networking in the weeks to come.

Paul Meehan is a scientist with wide experience in biotechnology. He has a B.S. from the University of California at Irvine and received his Ph.D. at the University of Southern California in Physiology and Biophysics. He did Post Doctoral research at Tufts University in the lab of Klaus Miczek, Ph.D. studying the effects of anti-hypertensive drugs and benzodiazepines on aggression induced changes in heart rate and blood pressure in rats. He is now self-employed as a biotechnology consultant/professional. He has worked at Northwestern Health Sciences University, Zymogenetics, Artemisia BioMedical, UCLA and USC. He is yet another former Scoutmaster in the Club!

John Pierce is a Partner in Perkins Coie’s Energy and Environment and Resources and Business Practice Groups where he focuses on the representation of project sponsors and developers, financing parties and, occasionally, utilities in North America, Latin America, throughout Asia, Europe, Africa and Australia. John leads the firm’s carbon credit and hydrogen practices. He is the Co-Chair of the Perkins Coie CleanTech Practice; was co-founder and Chair of the Algae Biomass Organization; founder of the Pacific Northwest CleanTech Open; serves on the Board of the University of Washington School of Law’s Global Business Institute; and advises US Departments of State and Commerce on certain Southeast Asian and North Asian countries.

Roger Wylie is Managing Partner of the national law firm of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton. He serves as the Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 80 in Magnolia. As a registered patent attorney, he helps his clients protect and monetize their intellectual property assets. He manages several large groups of patent prosecutors to aid clients in obtaining patents for their technologies. He manages a team for patent prosecution and related services to an American international electronic commerce company and the world’s largest online retailer. Clients startups and include a well-known American outdoor recreation company specializing in camping gear and an American multinational software corporation that develops software. He has worked in a large number of industries, including software, medical devices, automotive, aircraft parts, consumer goods, complex machinery and sporting goods.

Cooling Devices Needed for Mercy and Solid Ground Housing at Magnuson Park

From Nancy Bolin:

To summarize the issue, residents at Mercy and Solid Ground Housing in Magnuson Park are suffering a great deal in our record heat wave. Many at Mercy are elderly or disabled. The residents need fans to get them through this bout of temps and future hot days. Donations are urgently needed.

Here are drop off points:

Resident of N. Windermere: Lynn Ferguson whose address is 6422 NE 60th Street; and

Mercy Housing Community Room, park in curved driveway at 7101-62nd NE (go up the stairs and turn to the right).

Thanks to all who might be able to help.