MEETING OF JANUARY 4, 2001 By Dick Blanding
What finer way to start off the New Year than to than to honor the memory of good old Sammy Kahn, with a rousing rendition of "Smile", led by John Sylvester. Another long-time Los Altan, former Mayor Harry Kallshian, enjoyed the privilege of being our club's first visiting Rotarian in 2001.
President Ginny reported on a current project that Rotary International is helping with, called Wheelchairs for the World. A wealthy donor has supplied $100 million to kick off the funding. I wonder if this idea had its start with a small club in Thailand, which was selling neckties at the 1993 RI convention in Melbourne. They were raising money for wheelchairs for all the crippled kids who were too late to be helped by our Polioplus campaign. Amazing how persistent a good idea can be.
Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar Jinkyu Yang spoke to the club about his native Korea, with a few slides of his homeland. Korea is about the size of Great Britain, and has about the same number of Christians as Buddhists these days. He just turned 22 on January 1, and is studying aeronautics and astronautics at Stanford, working towards his Ph.D. He hopes to work here for a while in his field, and then return home to do research and teach.
Switching from one end of the technology spectrum to the other, Dan O'Donnell delivered an in-depth presentation on the clips for the new LARC badges. His talk featured numerous insights into the operation of the little loop-shaped handle, which operates a spring-loaded release mechanism so a Rotarian can attach the clip to a pocket or other surface. Perhaps in pursuit of a career with OSHA, Dan also described the potential hazards of using magnets to attach a badge to a Rotarian. (This technique was formerly referred to as "shock therapy".) He is working on a proper red and yellow warning label sticker to be affixed to each badge at some later date. Meanwhile, if you have not yet picked up your old, round LARC badge, and you would like to keep it to show to future generations, just give Dan a call now at 650-967-3545 to have him save it. Otherwise, it will be donated to another less fortunate, lower-tech Rotary Club, which still uses the round badges.
Dan, as our Sunshine committee chairman, is also soliciting any info you might know about ailing or bereaved club members who could use a get-well card, a phone call, or other day brighteners.
Sam Harding just returned from a trip to Australia and New Zealand, where he attended the wedding of our first Sister City exchange person from Bendigo.
Clyde Noel proudly donated $50 for having passed his drivers license exam with 35 of 36 questions answered correctly. The one he didn't know was "what does a blinking green light mean?" Be sure to watch future Rotators for the answer to this important question. Clyde's advice for duplicating his feat: "memorize, don't think." Good advice anytime, don't you think? Oops.
Dr. Don Hull introduced our speaker, Founder Chris Bischoff of the Eastside Prep High School in East Palo Alto. Having begun the school in 1996 after noting that many of the kids there had neither hope nor expectations for a better life, Chris proudly announced
the first graduating class of last year. The eight students achieved a total of 52 acceptances from colleges, including such notables as Wharton, Mills, and Stanford.
Prior to Eastside's founding, some 65% of local kids did not finish high school. The approach has been to present a rigorous college prep curriculum, including four years of math, science, history, English, and a foreign language. A standard school day is 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but many students linger to 6 p.m. or 9 p.m. in pursuit of learning. Class size ranges from four to twenty, averaging fifteen students. The kids enrolled are the first generation of college bound in their families. All of the students know all of the teachers, and vice versa. Many refer to the school as the "Eastside family", and the eight graduates came back to speak to the students about how well they are doing in college, both academically and socially.
Current enrollment is 83 students, with plans to expand to include grades 6, 7, and 8 soon, targeting a student body of 140 in the next two to three years. The school is funded entirely from private donations (our LAREF has been giving $5,000 a year toward textbooks.) All students are "on scholarships", with an average cost of $13,000 per year per pupil. There is not yet an endowment fund.
Chris was urged to mention that the school basketball team recently won their second Central Coast championship. Bruce Cann was acknowledged for having brought this fine program to our club's attention years ago, and for leading the effort to involve Los Altos Rotary in helping support Eastside Prep.
In other news, our bell ringing for the Salvation Army during December raised $3,764, a new record for this club. The money will be used in the Los Altos, Mountain View, and Sunnyvale area.
Our next meeting, on Jan. 11, will include screening for potential bone marrow donors. Show up early and donate!
President's Message Best wishes to all for a Happy 2001. Our Rotary plans are for more great meetings, fun-filled social events, and a spectacular 26th Annual Los Altos Rotary Fine Art Show, May 19-20. As you begin to make your vacation plans, please keep that weekend focused on volunteering for the club. Each member is requested to give a minimum of two shifts of help, many give more. We need everyone.
A note to new members, it's a great weekend in your community, helping to put on this show for a buying public, and for very appreciative artists whose participation and success provide the money to our Rotary Endowment Fund. These funds are then given throughout the following year to both community and international charitable projects.
In a just published review book I received this week, it states that of the 300 best selling fine art and craft shows nationwide, Los Altos Rotary Fine Art Show is rated number 72. That is out of thousands of shows across the country. Our artists tell us the same thing. Of the top 100 fine art shows on that list, only nine are in California, six of which are in the bay area: Sausalito, King's Mountain, Palo Alto, Mill Valley, Saratoga Rotary, and ours. Good company indeed. The three in Southern California are La Quinta, Indio's Southwest Arts Festival, and La Jolla. The ratings are compiled annually from data sent in by participating artists.
Rotary License Plates: I have emailed the information to those online. It's only available online right now, so if you are interested in having the material, I will bring copies to the next meeting. There's plenty of time to do this. I received an email from the District that the response has been quite impressive throughout the state, since the plates became available earlier this week.
See you Thursday,
GinnyPrograms
January
Jan 11 - Allan Frumkin, Why Rotary?
Jan 18 - Deborah Wilder - Raising the Reader
Jan. 25 - Club AssemblyFebruary
Feb. 1 - Judge Len Edwards, Helping One child At a Time
Feb. 8 - Steve Westly, eBay, Sr. VP
Feb. 15 - Suzanne Kushner - Successful Brand Management - Moving Toward a Customer-Concentric Focus
Feb. 22 - John Giovanola, Hansen Cement Mfg.March
March 1- Suzanne Pari, Author
March 8 - Marlene Cowan, The Donner Party"Information in this newsletter is intended for the exclusive use of the members of the Rotary Club of Los Altos to facilitate the work of the club and to promote club fellowship. It is not to be used for any commercial or outside, unrelated, non-profit purposes. No publication of material in this newsletter should occur without the express permission of the club President or the Editor of the Rotator."
Copyright 2001 The Los Altos Rotary Club
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