Newsletter - Archive  Apr 7, 2010

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P.O. Box 620700                                                   Riki Intner                                                                   Dave Hyman 

Woodside CA 94062-0700                                District Governor                                                       Club President

                                                      http://wpvrotary.org                                          

Regular Meeting                                                                                        April 7th 2010

7:30 AM - 8:30 AM Wednesday with breakfast by Encore Performance Catering, fellowship, project updates and an interesting speaker from the community.  Guild Hall, Woodside Village Church, 3154 Woodside Road, Woodside, California  Guests are not only welcome but encouraged!

This Week's Program:  Memories of the 1960 Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley 

Our own Dean Babcock will share (and perhaps, sing) his recollections of the 1960 Olympics where he was co-leader of the Alpine Ski Patrol. 

Last  Week's Program:  (courtesy of Last Week Editor, Dean Babcock) President David Hyman introduced Tom Mohr, President of San Mateo Community College. Tom was born in Massillon, Ohio and graduated from St. Louis University. He has taught at all levels, “K  to 16”.  Tom retired as Superintendent of schools in San Mateo, but 5 years ago he decided to get back in the saddle and came to SMCC.  Tom says there are a lot of things happening there.  The college board has $270 million from bond sales and is upgrading old and building new buildings.  Included are 50 housing units for faculty. They are in process of recruiting new faculty, “The best and brightest” and they can’t keep them without providing housing. The California community college system is the largest in the U.S.  They train 80% of the firefighters and over 70% of the nurses.  A lot of the CC students are not ready to enter the baccalaureate programs.  The CC system is open to all, but only 25% finish and get there A.A. Studies have shown that if a student takes less than 12 units per semester they are highly likely to drop out. The makeup of the student body is diverse; 36% Latin, 37% white and 26% Oriental. Over a third are older than 30. In his tenure at SMCC he has never seen a misconduct problem. These students “Want to be there!” They work hard for the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) students, helping them get NSF and other scholarships. They get help from the University of California in developing their programs and getting advice on student funding.  Tom says “Studies show that most exemplary STEM professionals got started when an enthusiastic and capable teacher got them involved in a science project.”  Tom and his wife, Dana, (rhymes with "banana") enjoy traveling the globe.  Checking to see who reads this far.

Next Week's Program:  MACHI Project and Our Guatemalan Library

Roving Newsletter Editor, Joan Fuetsch, will introduce Shoshi Parks with the MACHI Project.  Shoshi who recently completed her PhD in Anthropology is working with the library that our club has been assisting in Xolsacmalja, Guatemala.  Shoshi will talk about the MACHI Project and also about the community impact of the "XOL" library.  MACHI is short for "Maya Area Cultural Heritage Initiative" and the project was initiated in 2006 as a means of addressing current threats to the conservation of ancient and modern cultural heritage in the Maya region.  Their mission is to communicate the value of per-Hispanic Maya cultural heritage to local populations in the five nations of the Maya region (Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador).  For more information please visit their website:  www.machiproject.org

Club News:  May 5th Meeting to be held at Woodside Bakery  this is due to the rummage sale being held at the church.

Coming Events:

Next Board Meeting:  Tuesday, April 6th, 7:30am, Church Library 

Rotary Means Business:  Wednesday, April 14th, 2010, 5:30 pm Encore Performance Catering

District Conference:  San Francisco, April 16-17, 2010, www.rotary5150.org

Rebuilding Together:  Saturday, April 24th 2010

Pancake Breakfast:  Saturday, May 1st 2010

Announcements:   Have you had a look at the Rotary International website lately for what is going on in Rotary's world?  www.rotary.org   How about finding out about what is going on in the district?  www.rotary5150.org