MEETING OF OCTOBER 3, 2002
By: Matt Cabot
Editor: Dick Blanding
Webmaster - Steve GruberSING ALONG - with Alan Lambert. Once again, Alan has tried to entice us to accept his emails of "Songs to Sing" with little success. He asked the question, "Who would accept an email of the "Song of the Day," print it and bring it to the meeting next Thursday?" Very few felt that they were able to do that. Some (at my table, anyway) felt that accepting the responsibility of actually remembering to bring it Thursday, was the biggest challenge. Others wondered if we were up to the technology challenge.
My guess is that few people read this Rotator because it is being delivered, by the most part via email. GET WITH IT PEOPLE. Email, will open the doors to communicating with the rest of the world. Who even remembers what an "Informal" is anymore. How many of us know what the current cost of a postage stamp? The only drawback to being Email Literate (EL) is that no one can now read our handwriting. And spelling? Who cares, Spellchecker takes the worry about looking stupid…for the most part.
RED MARBLES - Jack Heidmiller read a wonderful (if long) story about the value of charity. How many of us will end up in the End with a handful of red marbles?
SOUND OFF - Once again our sound system (my perpetual peeve) attacked my fragile sense of hearing. I missed 90% of our visitor from India's comments. She had a lot to say, and it probably was worth hearing. Too bad. At least I wasn't the only one that complained about it.
DYNAMIC DUO - Past Presidents (87-88 and 75-76 respectively) and Co-Chairs of the Foundation Committee, Boo Bue and Joe Renati did a little song and dance about the value of returning a check for $100 (or more) made out to Rotary Foundation. If Rotary is anything, it is about the work of the Rotary Foundation, with its Matching Grants, direct contributions and work throughout the world making it a better place for everyone. Please step up and participate in this valuable work.
RED BADGE INTRODUCTION - Joe Corral introduced himself to us today. As I have said before, we seem to get the best people joining Rotary, and Joe is a good example. Joe is a retired General Contractor, a home builder for 40 years, who started designing new homes when he was 16. What were you doing when you were 16? Over the past 14 years he has been associated with Habitat for Humanity, a community service group that builds homes for the needy, made famous by President Carter. I know a number of other Los Altos Rotarians lend their talents to that group as well. Joe, by the way was the only Red Badger who came forward when I asked for help on the Afghanistan clothing drive. He sent me an email that simply said: "How can I help?" Actually, the next week, Larry Chu Jr. also helped me move clothing from my car to the storage warehouse.
SPEAKING OF AFGANISTAN - This Thursday is the last official day for our Afghanistan Winter Clothes drive. I will be out of town for a week and we STILL NEED WINTER CLOTHES. Please bring your boxes (or bags) this Thursday.
FRIENDLY FINE FELLOW - Rick Glaze immediately jumped on poor Dick Henning, who seems to get whacked regularly because of his high visibility. Naturally, having a five-page feature article in the San Jose Magazine didn't help. But Rick was also brutal on Wyatt Alan, Julie Rose, Larry Chu Jr. (who pleaded innocent because his father still has not given him check signing authority on the business - probably more than we wanted to know, Larry,) Larry Madsen, and Len McBirney who said "the investment questions weren't that interesting" - Hey, I don't make this stuff up, I just report it.
WHO ARE YOU - WHO AM I? Pretty simple questions, until someone steals your identity. No not the "real" you. You are still you. But there's a problem. Someone else is you as well. And that person has access to your bank account, credit cards, title of your property, your prescriptions, your tax returns, your medical information. What you can imagine DOES HAPPEN all the time.
Today's speaker, Wendy Enloe, is a U.S. Secret Service Agent. Her talk, titled "Identity Theft: What is it? How can it be prevented?" scared me. What probably scared me more, were several unsolicited testimonials from our members who were victims of this crime.
As a computer person, I have always tried to keep my personal stuff private, but who knows? Try to get medical coverage without giving your Social Security Number.
Here are a couple of things I learned:
1. Identity Theft is a lot more common than I thought.
2. If required to give your address, date of birth or social, in situations that you don't feel comfortable (read ALL THE TIME) then make something up. Again, I don't make this stuff up, that's what SHE said.
3. Call the police if you think your identity has been compromised, and don't take no for an answer. Make them take the report. (It's the law.)
4. Don't carry your Social Security card. Not a problem in my case. I was issued the card over 50 years ago, and I'll be dipped if I have the slightest idea where I left it. Probably something I was doing at age 16.
5. Shred and burn all credit card receipts, (and Safeway receipts that have your name on them now.)
6. Get a Credit report at least once a year, and check it for suspicious data.
7. Put a Fraudulent Alert on your Credit. (I don't know what this is, but I am looking into it.)
8. Know what's in your wallet. Many of us now have scanners. Take all of your credit cards, medical cards, and driver's license, and scan them so you have a copy of everything that's in your wallet.There is a website: http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/ that's has additional information. Also, a Google search gave me an additional 403,000 hits, so don't blame me if you missed the meeting and don't have the information you need to protect yourself.
One of the web sites that you might visit, in addition to the government task force site, is TechTV's show site, that ran a series on identity theft. The address is: http://www.techtv.com/techtv/index.html/ Type in "Identity theft" in the search engine on the site. You will get 8 articles in the past month that are quite helpful.
During the question period, no one asked if SD6 was real. I was disappointed.
A Big Thank You! Past Presidents Boo Bue and Joe Renati have expressed their great appreciation to all of you who have already responded to the annual request for a donation to Rotary International by sending in your ticket stubs and checks. For those few of you remaining who have not yet done so, please whip out your pen and send a large draft made out to Rotary International back to Wyatt in the envelope provided.
Programs and EventsOctober
October 10 - Barbra Higgins, former Olympian, "Bringing the Olympic Games to the Bay Area in 2012"
October 17 - Gloria Hom, "Proposition Preview" for the Nov. 5 election
October 24 - Dr. Zimbelman: Smithsonian Scholar, "Voices of Discovery" Exploration of the Solar System.
October 31 - Rosalind Bivings: President: Fore Women Golfers, "Real Men Golf With Women"November
November 7: Valerie Faillace: From Peru, "Working With Indigenous Indians of Peru & Bolivia"
November 14: Sandy Ellenberg: Plastic Surgeon , Rotarian & RotoPlast "Assisting Third World Countries With Surgery, Cleft Palate"
November 21: Don Allen: District Governor Elect 2003 / 2004 "Polio Plus Program"
November 28: Happy Thanksgiving: No MeetingNEARBY ROTARY CLUB MEETING PLACES
TUESDAY
Los Altos Sunset: The Echo Restaurant, Los Altos, 7:15 p.m.
Mountain View: Adobe House, Moffett & Central, Mountain View, 12:15 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
Menlo Park: Menlo Park Recreation Center, Menlo Park, noon.
Woodside/Portola: Woodside Village Church, Woodside, 7:30 a.m.
THURSDAY
Palo Alto Sunrise: Scott's, Town & Country, Palo Alto, 7:15 a.m.
FRIDAY
Palo Alto University: Sheraton, El Camino, Palo Alto, 7:30 a.m.
"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 2002 The Los Altos Rotary Club
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