August 2008

August, 2008

Volume 65, Number 2

Kansas Attorney General Steve Six

The Office of the Attorney General seeks to better serve Kansas consumers, families, seniors and victims by sharing information and protecting the public’s best interest. More on the AG’s Presentation on page 3

From the Editor By now, you probably know that I like using technology. Besides the simple fact that I think that the tools on the world wide web are simply amazing, I believe in using technology to advance our mission of Rotary and to help to connect each of us with one another.

Rotary on the world Wide Web

Rotary International Website— www.rotary.org

Rotary District 5710 Website— www.rotary5710.org

Rotary Club Website— www.downtowntopeka rotary.org

Rotary International Foundation— www.rotary.org/ foundation

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I have one simple goal. I want our club to be the most "connected" club, not just in our district, our state, or even our country. I want the Rotary Club of Topeka to be the most "connected" club in the entire world. Connected because I believe that by doing so, we can each become more engaged in our club and Rotary's mission around the world. At the August board meeting, I presented a proposal that would help move us to that reality. Beginning at the August 21st meeting, our club meetings will be streamed live over the internet. What this means is that our club's meetings can be viewed live around the world, not just by you, but any Rotarian and not just live, available to watch when you want. It's an experiment in using technology to promote Rotary and connect our members, many who cannot make many of the club’s meetings, with the opportunity to reconnect to our club, to find value in what our club does as well as demonstrate what Rotary is to people who may wish to join our club and share in the mission of Rotary. I hope you will embrace this experiment and join me. There are many new and exciting avenues of communication I hope to bring to our club.

Attorney General Steve Six Speaks on Issues Facing his Office Calling the Attorney General the People’s Law Firm, Kansas Attorney General Steve Six spoke to the members of the Topeka Rotary Club on various issues, including the development of a website designed to teach parents and children the importance of online internet safety. ―We have put a priority in the Attorney General’s Office on consumer protection and fraud,‖ Six says. ―The office focuses on three areas, the criminal justice system, legislation and civil cases such as the case going on with the Republican River.‖ Six discussed the new website designed to protect children from internet predators.

Kansas Attorney General Steve Six

Among those are: Keep the computer in a central location in your home instead of in a bedroom or office if at all possible. Know when your children are online and establish parameters for their online activity. Set up the internet account in your name and maintain control of the primary screen name and controlling passwords. Contact your Internet Service Provider to set up any parental-control tools that allow you to block certain sites and filter content. Remember: these programs are not a substitute for parental supervision and communication about the Internet. See page 12 (Back cover) for more tips.

District and Club Events Calendar August 18, 2008—GSE 2009 Team Member application deadline—Contact Phil Coolidge 2353345 or [email protected] September 11—September 14—Zones 29&30 Assembly, Indianapolis, IN October 6—Topeka Rotary Club Member—Guest Tournament. 12:30 Western Hills Golf Course November 8—Third Annual District Foundation Banquet, Overland Park Sheraton, $85 December 31—Club Election Deadline April 2—4, 2009—PETS/SETS Salina May 1—May 3—Disrict Assembly/Convention, Overland Park June 21—24, 2009—RI Convention, Birmingham, England

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Minutes from July Board of Trustees

Rotary Club of Topeka Officers

PRESIDENT—Kirk Johnson PRESIDENT-ELECT—Terry Wages VICE-PRESIDENT—Gordon Lansford TREASURER—Gary Knoll SECRETARY—John Wall SERGEANT AT ARMS—Mike Locke Board Members David Beck Alvin Dvorak Glenda DuBoise Fred Gatlin Jennifer Haller Henry McClure Joy Moser Blanche Parks

Secretary’s Report: Gordon moved to approve June minutes, Alvin seconded, passed. Treasurer’s Report: We reviewed the financial reports. Blanche moved, Glenda seconded to accept them as presented. Passed. The 2008-09 budget was reviewed, it will be discussed at the August board meeting. June 31 Membership: 206 New Member Nominations: Kathleen Hein, Nick Nickum, J. Fred Kubik, Blanche moved to approve, Joy seconded. Passed Resignations: Wendell Graham, Ken Grotewiel, Robert Washatka, John moved to approve, Gordon seconded, passed. District Governor’s Reports: are due July 15, she will meet with us on the July 31 prior to the regular weekly meeting. Bangladesh Project Application: Blanche reviewed a written update from Larry Dimmitt. Our club would donate $3000, District 5710 would donate $4500.

Susan Mauch Past President—Joan Wagnon THE ROTOPEKA

Meal Prices: Gary suggested we raise them from $10 to $11 effective July 1. John moved, Joy seconded, passed.

Editor—Greg Hill Published Monthly by the Downtown Rotary Club of Topeka Downtown Ramada Inn, Suite 110 Topeka, Kansas 66607 Subscription $2.00 per year Periodicals Postage Paid at Topeka, Kansas USPS 471860

Meeting adjourned, next meeting will be August 13, 2008. Respectfully submitted,

POSTMASTER: Send address change to Rotopeka 420 SE 6th, Suite 110 Topeka, KS 66607 Rotopeka deadline is two weeks prior to the first Thursday of the month

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John Wall, Secretary

Message from the President By Kirk Johnson, President

Why More Members? I know that it must seem that Rotarians are obsessed with a drive for new members. Every year a new president or District Governor gives a speech about the need to recruit new members. District Governor Vickie Randel gave a great explanation of why new member recruitment is so important. At the highest, most altruistic level the important work Rotarians do throughout the world is accomplished by individuals working toward common goals; the more hands at work, the more that can be done. At a more self-serving but vitally important level, having more club members means better revenues, cost avoidance, and keeping dues down. At the human interaction level new members offer the possibility of more friendships and better relationships. Sometimes it’s difficult to introduce Rotary to friends and acquaintances. Rotary is a big organization, both in membership and organizational structure. To complicate things a bit, we do a variety of noble projects to help those all over the globe, as well as projects that are very specific to the Topeka community. How do we best explain all this? The August edition of The Rotarian has a great supplement entitled ―Rotary Basics‖ pp 54. The supplement summarizes the organization of Rotary, the responsibilities of club membership and our guiding principles. It introduces the Avenues of Service and Rotary International Programs. "Rotary Basics" also explains the International Rotary Foundation and offers a bit of Rotary trivia as well. Keep this copy of The Rotarian and the next time you need to tell someone what we do as Rotarians, you’ll have a ready reference that you can pass along.

Big Brothers Big Sisters Nancy Daniels, CEO of the Shawnee County Big Brother Big Sisters program Her presentation focused on how individuals and families can get involved to create a positive impact on the life of young people in Shawnee County. As part of her presentation, Daniels presented a video that highlights the problems children face in today’s world. One young man on the video said he knew more kids in jail than in college. Big Brother Big Sisters provides an opportunity for volunteers to help make a difference. According to the Big Brothers Big Sisters Website (www.bbbs.org), 52% of little brothers and sisters are less likely to skip school and are 46% less likely to begin using illegal drugs.

Bonaparte Discusses City Survey Results City Manager and member of the Topeka Rotary Club, Norton Bonaparte discussed the City of Topeka Survey Responses to the concerns of the citizens of the community. The survey, the first of its kind, was sent this Spring to 1,500 randomly-chosen citizens. Of those, 426 responses were compiled to create a statistically valid representation of the community. The results were presented to the Topeka City Council on Tuesday, July 8, and to the public on Wednesday, July 9 The results of the survey can be found here by visiting http://www.topeka.org/ publictopekapresentation.shtml or by following the link at the Rotopeka Website.

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Rotary Club Member Publishes Autobiography The faith, fortune and foibles of the author are poignantly presented in this informative and entertaining autobiography. With self-deprecating humor and resolute honesty, the author presents a kaleidoscopic picture of events in his life, from moments of innocence to moments of utter hilarity. The pages reflect insights gained from the ordinary experiences associated with growing up during the depression as a minister's son in Western Kansas; military service as a cryptographer in Korea; a 40 year career in education; and 50 years of officiating high school and college football. Joe McFarland grew up in western Kansas during the ―dust bowl‖ years. Following military service in Korea he began a career in education that spanned all levels from elementary school through college administration. He held teaching and administrative positions in Kansas elementary and secondary schools as teacher, coach and superintendent before accepting a position as Professor of Education at Emporia State University. After nine years, he became the Associate Executive Officer of the Kansas-NEA before accepting the position of Director of Academic Affairs for the Kansas Board of Regents, - the governing Board for the State Universities in Kansas. Fourteen years later, he became President of Geneva College, Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, where he served until his retirement. In retirement he served for a year as consultant to the President of Christ’s College, Taipei, Taiwan. A few years later, he also served a term as Headmaster of the American Academy in Nicosia, Cyprus. Throughout most of his career his steady avocation was officiating football at the high school and college level. He was the first official in the State of Kansas to work football for 50 years and during that time worked a variety of high school and college bowl games in Kansas, Pennsylvania and Australia.

From golf outings and social events to a continued emphasis on retention, Rotary clubs around the world are finding creative ways to respond to President Dong Kurn Lee's challenge to increase membership. August is Membership and Extension month, a time to focus on the heart of Rotary and what makes it great -- more than 1.2 million members in nearly 33,000 clubs worldwide.

What does Rotary Do? The next time you are asked what our club does, remember all the wonderful projects we have helped make a reality. Here are several of those projects:

Christmas in April Help with TARC Winter Wonderland Dictionaries in School Dental Screenings Scholarships for Washburn Students Florence Crittenden Services RYLA

Yearn for nostalgia? Fans of classic radio will love the old-time organ music and blast-from-the-past characters in this Rotary radio show episode, the first of about a dozen produced in 1955 for Rotary International's 50th anniversary. So set your dial back in time, and stay tuned -- more episodes are coming soon. Episodes can be listened to online or downloaded to a portable device such as an iPod. Here is a Summary of the six episodes. Visit the Topeka Rotary Club website for links. Episode 1: "The Golden Year"

Vocational Day for Junior High Sponsor Ambassadorial Scholars Christmas Bureau Sponsor East Avondale Activities Polio Reconstructive Surgery— India Cataract Surgery—Pakistan Ambulance Project—Bangladesh Medical Team—Panama Shelter Box Books for Peace Corp Volunteers And Much, Much More

In this first episode, a newspaper editor helps a young reporter learn about Rotary's 50th anniversary by taking him to Rotary's headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, USA. It's there that they interview the RI president at the time, Herbert J. Taylor, who is also the author of The Four-Way Test .

Listen in as a student on a Rotary Foundation scholarship helps bridge the gap between two countries, as well as with his father. Episode 5: "The World We Know"

Intrigue surrounds a set of mysterious blueprints in this episode of Episode 2: "Magic Formula" Rotary's radio drama. These seIn this radio drama episode, listen cret blueprints could help put an how one Rotarian's career be- end to hate and warfare -- if evil comes richer and happier by spies don't steal them first. following the guidelines in The Episode 6: "Dear Enemy" Four-Way Test . Is a business competitor an enEpisode 3: "Working Together" emy or a partner in promoting Tune in to hear how honesty and good industry practices? After fairness helps employees and meeting a Rotarian, one busimanagement achieve the nessman finds the answer. shared goal of a life well-lived.

Of the things we think, say or do: Is it the TRUTH? Is it FAIR to all concerned? Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?"

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Episode 4: "Hands Across the Sea"

District Governor Vickie Randel Address Club It is with deep feelings of honor and humility that I begin this year as your District Governor. I’m looking forward, so eagerly, to working with you as we achieve many successes toward the objective of making dreams real. That is our theme for this year, set out by RI President D.K. Lee – to ―Make Dreams Real‖ for the world’s children. We can do that, for countless children in our communities and the world who have little reason for hope, and who can barely even allow themselves to dream of a better life. President Lee has asked us to focus this year on reducing child mortality in the world, through the continuing emphases of literacy, health and hunger, and water resources. He calls our attention to the 26,000 children around the world who die each day, each and every day, from accidents and preventable illnesses, which could be avoided by better education about health, nutrition, vaccinations and preventive medicine, the availability of clean water and improved sanitation systems, and which could be avoided for future generations by the ability of today’s children being able to read and write and to be assured a proper education.

the Gates Foundation grant to help fund the final push to eradicate polio. Rotary has promised the children of the world that it will rid the world of this disease, and we will keep that promise. The end of this fight is in sight; we are so very close. One of the ways we will raise this money will be to ask those people who have joined Rotary since the last major fund drive concluded to become a part of this effort by making a financial contribution. We will also consider ways to ask the general public to help in this goal, knowing that many of them have been touched by polio in their lifetime, and will We will continue to focus on ―Every Rotarian Every want to help. Year‖, with contributions to The Rotary Foundation. Finally, we will enjoy Rotary fellowship, fun, and Without the Foundation, Rotary’s programs could friendships. We are, after all, volunteers, and the not survive, and we do immeasurable good in the choices we make to invest our time, talents, enworld with each dollar we give. I hope that each ergy, and financial resources are rewarded when one of you will contribute to the Foundation this we enjoy what we do. To my mind, there is no year, in the most generous amount that is comfortother organization in the world that gives us a able for you. greater return for these commitments than does We will also work very hard this year to increase Rotary, as we change the lives in positive ways for membership in our district. Not because we simply so many people who desperately need our help. want to boast of more numbers, but because withI offer you my sincere and very best wishes as we out more members, we cannot maximize our pomove into the year ahead, as we ―Make Dreams tential for Rotary service to our clubs, our commuReal‖. nities, the world, and through vocational sharing. Thank you for everything you do, All Rotary clubs in the world have been asked to 9 commit money over the next three years to match Vickie Randel

Theresa Holderback, Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship Recipient, spoke to the club on July 24th.

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Rotary Group Study Exchange Deadline Nears Rotary Clubs of northeast Kansas are now seeking applications from outstanding young business and professional men and women who would like to participate in an international good will tour in the area near Manila in the Philippines for four weeks from March 4, 2009 to April 4, 2009 as a member of a Group Study Exchange Team sponsored by the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International. Through this program a team of four business and professional leaders from northeast Kansas will be selected for an expense paid visit to experience the way of life, customs, and vocational practices of the Philippines while sharing information about Kansas and the USA. A month later a similar team from the Philippines will be visiting in northeast Kansas The purpose of Group Study Exchange is to promote international understanding and goodwill through personal contact. While abroad, team members stay in Rotarian'sʼhomes and have the opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with professional counterparts. They also act as ambassadors by presenting programs about Kansas and the United States to groups in the Philippines. The Rotary Foundation pays for round trip airfare and Rotary Club members in the host country provide meals, lodging and group travel in their district. Team members pay for their own personal and incidental expenses. U.S. citizens between the ages of 25 and 40 who have been engaged in their business or profession for two or more years and are living and working in northeast Kansas who are interested in applying may obtain an application form on the world wide web by downloading it from the Rotary International web site http://www.rotary.org/RIdocuments/en_pdf/161en.pdf or by contacting Phil Coolidge, 1349 High Avenue, Topeka, Kansas 66604 TEL. (785) 235-3345. The deadline for applications is August 18, 2008. Mail completed applications to the address above. Rotary is an organization of business and professional leaders united worldwide who provide humanitarian service and help to build goodwill and peace in the world. There are 1.2 million Rotary members in 31,000 Clubs in 161 Countries

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Help Protect Your Children while Online Ask your children to show you what they can do online, visit their favorite sites with them and talk about what applications they are using. Teach your children to never give their personal information (name, address, phone number, school, hometown) to people they meet online in chat rooms or on bulletin boards. Ask your children about their online friends and oversee their chat areas. Tell your children about the danger of meeting someone in person who they “met” online. Remind them that not everything they read or see on the Internet is true. If you feel it is OK for your child to meet their online friends, insist they bring you along and meet in a public place.

Meeting Makeups Topeka West—Wednesday, 7 AM Marriott Courtyard, 2033 SW Wannamaker Topeka South—Friday, 7 AM— Kansas Room, Washburn University Memorial Union Topeka North—Wednesday, noon—Godfather’s Pizza, 1835 N. Topeka Blvd.

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