MEETING OF AUGUST 17 , 2000 By Pat Millar
BRUCE CANN'S tuneful piano renditions set the scene for today's Rotary meeting. He also accompanied CINDY LUEDTKE as she led us in singing "God Bless America," an altogether appropriate choice in this season of political conventions. DICK DUHRING guided us through the flag salute while VICTORIA EMMONS presented a succinct bit of advice remembered from a Rotary International Convention:
"Rotarians, be not like pudding--
Stiff, stodgy and hard to stir,
But rather be like cereal---
Fresh, crisp and ready to serve!"Everyone was delighted to have MARLENE COWAN back in our midst. She thanked us all for kindnesses extended during the difficult weeks surrounding Charlie's death. She also announced that she is establishing a memorial scholarship which will be administered by LAREF and directed by the Scholarship Committee. If any Rotarians wish to make a contribution, they may do so by sending a donation to the Charles Cowan Scholarship Fund in care of LAREF.
PRESIDENT GINNY made several announcements. She asked if anyone knew the whereabouts of the key to the Rotary cabinet at the Garden House. She also announced that ROY DUNNET is confined to home and is unable to attend Rotary meetings. However, he certainly would enjoy receiving phone calls at 948-0145. Lastly, our club has volunteered to be hosts for a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar at Stanford. Our student is Olivier Criou from France, and additional hosts are needed for scholars from Japan and Korea. Please contact GINNY if you are interested in sharing this enriching experience.
Still on an international level, PAT FARRELL introduced three
Russian students from Syktyvkar who are working locally as summer interns for the City of Los Altos, the YMCA, and the Linden Tree. Participating students are Irina Chuvilina, Kate Bezdenezhn, and Alexander Reshotka, each of whom spoke briefly but expressively of their experiences in America. ROY LAVE presented membership awards, which are Rotary pin attachments, to several Rotarians who have brought in from one to four members. To date the list of Rotarians so honored is 44 which is a remarkably high percentage of our club's roster.
JIM CONWAY is leaving our Club in anticipation of his and ELAINE'S move to Palm Desert in September. He will be sorely missed, not only for all his great service as a Director and Treasurer but also for his upbeat personality and engaging manner. We'll miss you both! ROGER ENG was awarded the Rotarian deck of cards for joining the President's Club, and GINNY announced that a past president of a Rotary Club in Lima, Peru, is looking for a liaison for his son who is moving to San Jose. WALT SCHOLEY who recently celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary and DICK BLANDING who celebrated 33 years of marriage were both happy to pay Rotary fines. Congratulations to both CHARLENE and LINDA! GINNY tried to fine Red Badger WES OLSON for a birthday he didn't have, but he stuck his guns and didn't pay (this time!)
PRESIDENT ELECT FIROOZ GHAFFARI introduced today's speaker, Meihong Xu, whose presentation was entitled "The Spy Who Fell in Love with her Prey." Meihong was a Communist Intelligence agent who was assigned the job of spying on Larry Engelman, a San Jose State professor doing research work in China. The assignment was foiled by the fact that the couple fell in love and later married. This story is chronicled in Daughter of China, which has been translated into eight languages and been nominated for several book awards.
Meihong, whose name means Beautiful Red, was born in a poor Chinese village in 1963. She remembers being taught the phrase
"Down with American Imperialists" as a very young child. By age seven she began her training in marital arts. All children were indoctrinated with the ideas that war was imminent with either the West and/or Taiwan and that the Soviets posed an additional threat to national safety. In 1982 Meihong was accepted into the People's Liberation Army where she was trained at the International Institute in the fields of intelligence and counter-intelligence. She eventually was sent to the Chinese Johns Hopkins Institute where she first encountered Americans and learned about the concepts of democracy and individualism. Meanwhile, she was told to track the activities of Robert Engelman, college professor and recent journalist in Viet Nam.
In 1988 she was arrested for befriending Larry instead of carrying out her spy duties. The Chinese justice system is based on the precept that one is "guilty until proven innocent," and Meihong was charged with treason. She was imprisoned for four months, released and finally escaped to San Francisco in 1990. The whole story is told in Daughter of China, which sounds like a fascinating narrative set in both China and our own Santa Clara County.
Three last-minute announcements: GINNY said the opportunity is still available to participate in the Polio Plus Program in Ghana. See her for details. Also, it appears that spouses' birthdays may have been put in the "Handbook" instead of the Rotarians'. This mix-up only applies to Red Badgers, specifically WES OLSON. Finally, SAM PESNER asked that whoever borrowed the AID's brochures and CD to please contact him.
And the meeting was adjourned...
President's Message As most of you are aware, we have begun sending our Rotator by email to all members who have email. This is the last week we will also be sending it by regular mail to most members with email. We will, of course, be sending the Rotator by regular mail to all members without email, and to those who still so request. Soon, though, the format of the Rotator will take on a new look.
It will be printed from the computer version, copied, and mailed to you. The information is what is important, and it will be the same for everyone. This new approach to weekly club communications will be generally faster, and definitely less expensive. In fact, our savings will be significant. Last year, expenditures for printing the Rotator were $3200, and postage was just over $2,000.
My thanks go to our club webmaster Steve Gruber and to Rotator publisher Firooz Ghaffari. Working together, as we also update member information for the Club Directory, we hope to make this step as smooth as possible. I appreciate all of the positive comments we received last week. If you do have email, I hope you took the time to check our club website, to see the photos, in color, that accompanied our first online edition.
It is the goal of 2000-2001 RI President Frank Devlyn, to have the Rotary world connected to the Internet. President Frank recently stated, "Working together we can CREATE AWARENESS of the importance of Technology to all of us and TAKE ACTION to use the many opportunities it offers us." Please let Steve Gruber or me know if you are having any problems with this approach on your computer. If you think you'd rather have a hard copy, please consider simply printing out the email that we send you. It will save the club money and the volunteer time to fold, label and mail it. There will still be occasions that will require mailings to all club members in accordance with our bylaws. Those times and various social events will continue. On behalf of Rotary, see you Thursday. Ginny
COMING EVENTS Aug. 24 - Dick King - The Peace Corps - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Aug. 31 - Carl Guardino, President and CEO of the Silicon Valley Mfg. GroupSept. 7 - Roy Lave, Ph.D. - Public Transportation
Sept. 14 - Walter Hayes, World Community Service
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