Our program on August 6, 2020, featured Dr. Amitabha “Guppy” Gupta of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.  Dr. Gupta is the scientific content strategist for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Philanthropy Department; and was formerly part of the Fred Hutch Basic Sciences team.  Dr. Gupta has a BA in Molecular Biology from Colgate and a PhD from Columbia in Cell/Cellular and Molecular Biology.

You can find Dr. Gupta’s slides here.

Surprisingly, Dr. Gupta noted that a quarter of the researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center were doing viral work.

To achieve ‘herd immunity’ from Covid-19, 60-70% of the population must become immune from the disease.  This can occur as the result of natural immunity (recovering from the illness) or from vaccines.  In some ways, both accomplish the same thing:  The body is ‘taught’ to fight the virus.

Dr. Gupta noted that social distancing and masks are effective at reducing transmission.  He recommended wearing masks—even while running.

The virus, he said, enters the lungs and makes lots of copies of itself, destroying macrophages.

He talked about mechanisms to defeat the virus:  Neutralization blocks the process in which the virus binds to cells.  Opsonization and sensitization/complement activation reduce the severity of the disease.

Dr. Gupta noted that is normal for antibodies to fade in the body following the illness.  If re-exposed, however, the body will manufacture new antibodies to fight the disease.

The first vaccine was for smallpox.  It was discovered in 1796.  Twenty million people died from small pox in the twentieth century.  It required 184 years to fully eradicate the disease (in 1980).

The current research to acquire a vaccine against Covid-19 is radically different.  Normally, vaccine approval requires three phases of trials which normally require from five to more than seven years of trials.  Operation Warp Speed, he said, is combining all three phases.  There is, he said, “a level of collaboration never seen before.”  Normally, there are 2-3 trials of vaccines; there are 157 vaccines in trials as of July 29 in development.  Thirty-five of these efforts are now in clinical trials.

While there is never certainty in science, there is reason for great optimism in these development efforts.

Thank you to David and Pam Mushen for securing this program.

• To learn more about the work of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center on COVID-19, go to: www.fredhutch.org/coronavirus
• To participate in the vaccine trial, go to: www.coronaviruspreventionnetwork.org
• To donate to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, go to: www.fredhutch.org/give
• To ask Dr. Gupta more questions, email: agupta@fredhutch.org

Our program on Thursday, July 30, 2020, featured Phil Reid, Ph.D, Vice Provost for Academic & Student Affairs at the University of Washington.

Dr. Reid is responsible for initiatives and services that improve the student and faculty experience at the University of Washington. Activities include development and support of modern pedagogy, instructional space planning, alignment of student curricular and co-curricular activities, student success and retention analytics, development and deployment of IT systems that support teaching and learning, support of enrollment management, development and support of faculty development initiatives. Dr. Reid is a Professor of Chemistry.

Dr. Reid told is that the University of Washington began to monitor the coronavirus as early as January 2020.

The campus is not closed today, but is scaled back. Approximately 2,000 people are still working there.

Making the quick shift to online programs was a challenge. Two thousand students requested financial aid for things like food, rent and Internet access. Many students, he said, were really struggling. Two thousand computers were sent out in two days. Zoom is now a normal part of the workings of the University–the license for which was only first activated this year.

For the fall, Dr. Reid is planning for a hybrid instructional model. there will be some programs that require onsite instruction, such as labs. Many programs, including large classroom settings, will be fully online.

The residence halls are open, but are expected to be abut sixty percent of capacity.

Dr. Reid was generous in answering questions. He closed by noting that the University of Washington is more than an academic institution. It is an institution of learning, fellowship, and community.

Important roles that are compromised under the current conditions.

Our speaker on July 23, 2020 was Bill McCutcheon. Bill is a member of the Board of Trustees and a Docent at The Museum of Flight.  As a Docent, he is a tour guide and an instructor in docent training and youth education. He is a member of the museum’s Speakers’ Bureau and has been involved in all aspects of docent leadership.  His public speaking engagements on aviation history include: The Museum of Flight, Seattle; Historic Flight Foundation, Paine Field; Washington Aviation Conference; Washington Seaplane Pilots Assn.; Quiet Birdmen, Seattle Hangar; 446^th Airlift Wing-Jt. Base Lewis-McChord; 93^rd Bomb Group reunion and other civic, community and retirement organizations. Bill is a retired CPA and business consultant.  He received a BA in Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Washington.  In the Navy, he served aboard aircraft carriers and on anti-sub patrol aircraft.  He also holds a private pilot certificate.

Bill spoke about a 1931 effort to fly around the world. Led by Clyde “Upside Down” Pangborn (1895-1958), the endeavor was to break the world record for flying around the world. They failed at that goal on the trip, but Pangborn and co-pilot Hugh Herndon Jr. flew their plane, Miss Veedol, on the first non-stop flight across the Pacific Ocean.

Before taking off, the existing record (twenty-one days) was broken, so the new objective was to fly around the world in less than eight days and fifteen hours. Weather in Siberia grounded the plane and made that objective impossible.

In Japan, however, they learned of another prize that they could achieve: the first Trans-Pacific flight. Following seven weeks of being under arrest for taking pictures that were considered spying by Japan, they plane took off for Washington.

Co-pilot Herndon erred so badly on the flight that they nearly crashed multiple times (his mother financed the expedition), but they made it to Wenatchee, WA. They landed on October 5, 1931, after a flight of 41 hours and thirteen minutes and 4500 miles.

There was an award of $25,000. “Upside Down Pangborn received only $2500 for his efforts.

Our speaker on July 16 was Rob Talafous. Rob is a sales executive with Georgia-Pacific.

While Georgia-Pacific has many customers and sales people, Rob’s only customer is Costco. Rob reviewed the impact the pandemic had on toilet paper sales at Costco and offered his insights into this product that we use so often and know so little about.

Costco is Georgia-Pacific’s largest worldwide customer with $2 billion in sales of Kirkland Signature Bath Tissue, Paper Towels and Napkins as well as other Georgia-Pacific brands like Dixie disposable table top items, Vanity Fair premium napkins and Marathon “away from home products.”

Before joining Georgia-Pacific, Rob was already a consumer packaged goods professional (Coca-Cola and Kraft-Hines). He also spent five years in a startup business that he co-founded.

A former member of the ice hockey team at St. Cloud University in Minnesota, Rob and his wife moved to the Seattle area in 2014 to be closer to his big customer.

By the end of February 2020, Rob, Costco, and Georgia-Pacific were seeing a hurricane in the purchase of home tissue products. sales were up 75 percent. Initially, this was a regional phenomenon, but it quickly spread globally.

Why did it happen? Rob offered several lines of reasoning:

Because to the nature of the industry, manufacture of these products is constant. There manufacturing capacity runs 24/7 with little safety stock. Hence, when demand surged, there was little capacity to increase stock and existing inventories were wiped out quickly.

Because of the shelter-in-place orders, more residential products were needed–and less workplace product. Retail outlets sold out of toilet paper and home tissue products; office product demand declined significantly. These are different markets with different qualities and brands.

Even when customers didn’t need it, they began to be concerned about having enough and adequacy to purchase–so they bought more than they needed.

Because people were at home more, they began to use more of all home tissue products for cleaning and increased hand washing.

Home products are still in heavy demand: 25-35% of Costco outlets are sold out every day.

Rob was great and provoked a lot of questions.

Our program on July 9 featured Margy Heldring, Co-Chair of Grandmothers Against Gun Violence.

Margy is a retired clinical psychologist. She has served as clinical faculty in the University of Washington Department of Family Medicine. In addition, she was a health care legislative assistant to two former U.S. Senators: Bill Bradley and Paul Wellstone. She was a senior policy advisor on Bill Bradley’s presidential campaign, and was the founder and Executive Director of the national nonprofit, America’s HealthTogether. She delights in being a thriving grandmother.

Grandmothers Against Gun Violence was formed in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings and is an advocacy group seeking changes in gun laws.

Margy began her presentation by noting that there are several categories of gun violence. The most prevalent is suicide. Other categories include interpersonal events, mass killings (four or more deaths), police shootings, and gang violence.

All of these events, she said, have two things in common: Access to a gun and a person not using the weapon responsibly. The centerpiece of the efforts of the Grandmothers Against Gun Violence is, she said, keeping guns out of the hands of people that shouldn’t have them and correct storage. They are not opponents of the Second Amendment.

Margy noted that, in the wake of the attempted assassination of President Reagan, Congress had passed an assault rifle ban that sunset in 2004. There is no similar law in Washington.

Margy believes that a consensus is developing in Washington to pass legislation. She noted that there had been three gun initiatives in recent years. One requires background checks on gun purchases. Another raised the age for which assault rifles can be purchased from eighteen to twenty-one. A third implemented ERPO (Extreme Risk Protection Orders). She is hopeful that the 2021 legislature might pass bi-partisan law dealing with suicide prevention. There will likely be an effort to ban assault rifles, as well.

Research on gun violence as a public health issue has not been well funded, she said. Grandmothers Against Gun Violence has made funded one study that found that one-third of Washington households have guns. Two-thirds of the households with guns also indicated that the guns were not safely stored.

Margy generously answered a number of questions.

By Hal Ellner, M.D.

The first session of the new Rotary year had a twofold purpose: The matter of race relations and the direction of University Sunrise for 2020-2021.

I. Rotary and Race: There is no question that recent events have forced us to look within ourselves. Equality, covertly and overtly denied over generations, needs channels for its assertion.

Where can our Club make a difference? Some organizations that we might support are Scouting, Dads, Big Brothers, and Boys and Girls Clubs.

Phill Briscoe suggested parenting programs and mentorship. He went on to point out that our lines of thinking date back to our early history. Even our Constitution excluded black persons at a time when a third of our population had been slaves. Europeans were encouraged to come to offset the balance.  Since then, discrimination had been ingrained within white people. He gave examples of demeaning thoughts and expressions. 

Note: Phill has done a lot of work on this topic, which he has posted on his website: https://www.phillbriscoe.com/. (I had trouble accessing his site with the Chrome browser, but it worked fine from Microsoft Edge and on my phone (Safari).

Comment: Apropos of Phill’s point concerning how we have  been made to think, an Afro-American colleague once remarked, “It may sound strange to you, but I feel more comfortable in the south. I know how they feel toward me. They are honest about it. In the north, they may say one thing but think quite another.”

It was apparent that this inspired a lot of thought. Some comments concerned the need for education, the imperative that we explore our own experiences,  a need to make us more aware, and what we should do next in regard to community outreach.   President Tom stated that we should make our club membership more diverse. He also spoke of a zoom meeting for dialogue on the subject.

II. The Prezz: Goals for 2020-21: Further discussion ensued about priorities for the Club during the upcoming year.

• We will be the best club possible.
• The website will be enhanced.
• Our already good program selection will be revved up.
• Social Media presence will be augmented.
• Annual dues will be decreased for now.

Trivialis et Jovialis

On vacation, a woman and her husband had to make an emergency visit to a dentist.

“I want a tooth pulled,” the woman demanded. “And don’t bother with the novocain either, because we are really in a hurry. Just take out the tooth and we’ll be on our way.”

The dentist was impressed. “You’re certainly a very brave woman! Which tooth is it?”

The woman pushed her husband forward. “Show him your tooth, dear.”

---

Tom and Clark are standing on the roof of their building drinking a few beers on their break when Clark says, “Hey Tom. did you know that if you jump off this building, after you get down so far, a draft will pull you back inside the building on the third floor?”

“Get outta here,” says Tom.

“I’m serious. Watch me,” Clark says. Clark hops off the building and sure enough, he is taken in by the draft through the third floor window. He takes the elevator back to the top and Tom is standing there in awe. 

“I can’t believe it,” says Tom.

“I know. You should try it. 

So Tom hops off and plunges to the ground.

A doorman working below sees Tom splat to the ground and screams back up, “Superman, you’re a real jerk when you’re drunk!”

Our program on June 25, 2020.

Jesse Pacem is an Environmental Health and Safety Consultant that helps companies, large and small, build and improve their environmental, health, and safety programs.  He develops and delivers in-person and online training.  He works with hospitals and biotechnology companies on personal protection and disposal of hazardous materials. He has a BS in Environmental Science from the University of Washington and a Master’s Degree in Public Health from Tulane.  He has overcome the severe disability of growing up with Club member Dave Mushen.

Jesse Pacem is clearly very concerned about the threat that COVID-19 continues to be. In the Club’s thirteenth Zoom meeting, Jesse presented sobering epidemiology statistics on risk profiles.

For people that are older, the risks become enormous. According to the latest data, for individuals that are 80 or older, 40 percent of those that contract the disease are hospitalized and 30 percent of them do not survive. For individuals that are 60-79 years old, 30 percent of those that contract the disease are hospitalized and ten percent of them do not survive.

Underlying conditions, which are not always known to the patient, have make these statistics worse. Individuals with underlying conditions are hospitalized six times more frequently and are twelve times more likely to die.

These risks are much more favorable in the young. For those aged nineteen and younger that contract the disease, only 2.5 percent are hospitalized and fatalities are almost non-existent. For people aged 20-39, five percent are hospitalized and deaths are also almost non-existent.

The contagiousness of the disease, however, make if very serious for all age groups.

Further, said Jesse, much of the data suggests that a significant portion of individuals that contract the disease may have no or limited symptoms–they may not know that they are sick. For most people, symptoms occur on day five–but this may occur for twelve days following transmission.

Yakima, he noted, is of concern. The current rate of transmission, if maintained, would result in eighteen percent of the population becoming sick. We do not fully understand why the experience in Yakima is different or why other regions have lower transmission rates. Hence, there is a need for all regions to be very cautious.

For the future, Jesse noted:

• Zoom meetings are saving lives. He was very complimentary of the Club’s caution with regard to in person meetings and recommended that we not return to in person meetings until Phase IV.]
• The opening of schools is “a really difficult matter.”
• Day care, schools, bars, restaurants are to be avoided, particularly prolonged exposure. We should limit all indoor contacts and outdoor crowds.
• Nine feet distancing is better than six feet. New data published in the medical journal, The Lancet, confirms that distancing is highly effective, improving odds by 82% per meter.
• Wear a mask. The Lancet publication confirmed that risk is reduced 77 percent when both parties where a mask.
• Eye protection was shown to be very effective in hospital settings.
• Wash your hands.
• Avoid buffets.