Feb.    9 - LARC Board of Directors, 7:30 a.m. (NOTE: REDBADGERS!)
 

Feb.  16 - Mixer at Main Street Cafe jointly sponsored by LARC and the Los Altos Chamber of Commerce
 

See Programs for all of the important dates.

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KELLY HUDSON led us in the Hokey Pokey, just to loosen everyone up.  Our many guests from Foothill College looked a little stunned at first, but quickly joined in the fun.

An Inauguration Day tribute to our recently re-elected President "W." Bush , and words of hope and celebration for the upcoming election in Iraq as well, were offered by our thoughtful  VICTORIA EMMONS.  She mentioned knowing a friend who told her he would soon vote in Iraq, even though it meant risking his life, because the election signaled a line between life and death for his country.

PRESIDENT ELECT-ELECT MARLENE introduced and welcomed many guests from Foothill College, including the Chancellor of Foothill DeAnza  Community College District, Martha Kanter, and Footlhill's President Bernadine Fong, as well as other visitors.

NOTES to note:  Feb. 16th LARC will co-host, along with the Chamber, a mixer at the Main Street Café.  On Feb. 23rd there will be a party celebrating the exact day of Rotary's 100th anniversary of it's founding.  As a result, there will be NO REGULAR LUNCH MEETING ON FEB. 24TH!  

GERRY TOMANEK summarized the status of the proposal to move our luncheon location permanently from Shoup Park  to the Los Altos Country Club, and a vote was taken; results not yet known. 

JACK HEIDMILLER set the date for the next Art Show committee meeting far Tuesday Feb.1st at 8 A.M. (corrected date), at the Northern Trust Bank.  Also, Sister Cities holds their annual celebration next Thursday night at 6 P.M. at the Garden House, and you are invited.  MARY MARLEY said LAREF will be looking over applications for grants in early March, so get them in now.  HERB MARSHALL provided a flyer describing the Emergency Preparedness Faire on Sat., Jan. 22nd, 10 A.M. to 3 P.M. at the Methodist Church.   And finally, MATT CABOT said to contact him if you're not getting your Rotator for whatever reason. 

PAST PRESIDENT DICK DUHRING provided some memories of his year as our president.  A meeting place was a topic back then, like today.  To leave the Chinese food behind, LARC left the Imperial Gardens and moved to the Japanese restaurant called Sakura Gardens.  Three months later Sakura was sold, then promptly re-opened under its new ownership, the Imperial Gardens, complete with Chinese food.  Making no mention of the number of female members at the time, Dick did report that there were no ladies in the club in those days.  Since everyone was a Republican, the club was generally an amiable group, except for one Democrat who was the local veterinarian.  Dick will be invited back to continue his recollections at another meeting. 

NEW RED BADGER BO KEARNS gave his five minute talk, despite having lost his Alabama accent entirely.  He was raised there in a two bedroom, one bath house, with Grandma sleeping out on the back porch.  They all raised corn, tomatoes, and watermelon crops together.  Bo saw a poster suggesting he join the Navy and see the world, so he did, which delighted Grandma for several reasons.  It was in his years at the Naval Academy that he lost his accent, since his Midshipman superiors provided the generous motivation of lots and lots of pushups until he learned to speak their (New England) style of English. 

His first assignment after graduation and being commissioned was aboard ship, but he subsequently received a most elegant assignment as Aide to the Admiral who had the Navy's diplomatic  responsibilities for South America, so Bo enjoyed many grand social gatherings for several years.  At these, he took note of the good life of several international bankers, and took up that career himself after Naval service and more schooling.  He managed five different enterprises in various parts of the world, and met his wife in the South Pacific.  They moved to Tiburon, and Bo is now a financial advisor for Merrill Lynch.

TODAY'S PROGRAM  Our program today was an update on Foothill College, by Dr. Bernadine Fong, who has been president of the college since 1994.  Dr. Fong is also the Chair of the Board of Directors of the American Association for Higher Education. 

 Foothill was among the first community colleges to offer online credit courses via the Internet.  It currently hosts 18,000 students, in person or by Internet, with 200 full time faculty and 300 part time teachers. 

 Dr. Fong described the institution as "your college", and went on to explain how the $130 million Foothill portion of the $248 million from Measure E was being spent.  She said the original campus was built in 1961 and was acclaimed as one of the most beautiful community colleges.  It was originally designed to accommodate 3500 students, so now needs expansion and updating of the 122 acre campus, which she explained with design drawings of the new buildings and roadways.  These should be ready by 2007, complete with a lovely new water feature near the big rock outcropping, and rooftop gardens on the new buildings.  She also noted that the Campus Center building was to be demolished and rebuilt 75 feet away, due to discovery of an earthquake fault under the current building. 

 President Fong was proud of the ranking of #1 in California in successful course transfer course completion, and #1 in basic skill course completion (grade C or  better.)  She said 92% of students finish their course, and that the school has experienced an increase of 3 to 5% growth in the past two years, but a 90% increase in online enrollment in the same period.

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