Engineers Without Borders

At the February 11th meeting our speaker was Peter Do. He talked about Engineers Without Borders and how they help people around the world. They frequently partner with Rotary in their projects around the world.  The Irvine EWB group is working on a project through Rotary International at this time. They are constructing a bridge for a village in Africa, in order to supply clean drinking water to the village. Mr. Do ask us to consider our participation with him in other EWB efforts. He would like us to be a local partner with him in his future efforts.

Joan Sarver / Dental Equipment

On February 4th a newer member, Joan Sarver, gave a craft talk about her background and business. She works in money management and had some interesting ideas and thoughts of what to do in these difficult and challenging times. She urged investors to take a more active role with their investments and to invest more cautiously. We also learned she had been president of the Saddleback Rotary club before joining our club.

Austin Wall and his assistant, Al from Dental Care for Children were also at the meeting and showed us how to set up the portable dental equipment we are taking on the Ensenada dental trip in March. Its compactness is remarkable. The design was taken from earlier military set ups. Many members of our club look forward to another successful trip to Mexico with Doctor Tozzer and his staff.

Irvine Valley College

At our January 28th meeting our speaker was Glenn Roquermore PhD, president of Irvine Valley Community College. He explained how their enrollment had increased in this economy, while the number of students at state colleges and universities had dropped.

Most of this change is due to students being able to receive the first two years of classes at a lesser cost from community colleges. The colleges offer lower tuition fees and, because they are located close to the student's homes, reduces their living expenses. It was very impressive to hear how many of their students had subsequently attended four year colleges and universities throughout the nation, and the honors they have received.

All In Education

by Peggy Stalter

This morning's speaker, Kyle Shelley, is a member of the Costa Mesa Rotary club. He works with college students and members of the "I Generation", (young people in their 20's), who have gotten themselves into problems due to student loans, over spending, and credit card debts. He is young, and has found they will listen to him when they will not listen to parents or the older generation. He works on college campuses helping students. You can view his efforts at his web site, www.allineducation.com.

Credit card companies come after these young people in the same way cigarette companies did our generation. If you have children or grandchildren in this generation you know how large a problem this is. It can plague them the rest of their lives if they do not learn how to control it.

He would like to work with our club and other Rotary clubs in this area, His goal is to work with high school students, before they get into financial trouble, by educating them on the pitfalls. High school personnel have been open and excited about the program. If young people do not learn to control this area of their life, they will never be able to give back and help the world as Rotarians.

Gnaneshwari Mayi speaks about Yoga

by Peggy Stalter
Today's speaker was Gnaneshwari Mayi, from Nithya Yoga Foundation. Her Guru is Paramalhamsa Nithyananda from Australia. She also comes from Australia and has studied yoga in India and shared with us the many meanings of Yoga. It is a 5,000 year-old science combining the mind and the body; much more than the physical exercise, as most people in the USA believe. She now is touring the country in an attempt to explain more about the concepts of yoga.

We also heard from Sean McDowell, a current member of our club, who talked about his work with the New Generation Club, a younger group of Rotarians who aspire to our goals of helping people. Our club is supporting this effort. The group meets weekly and are trying to attract younger people getting started in the business world. Sean asked us to encourage younger business people we know from family and businesses to join them. They are involved in hands-on projects and meet on Tuesday evenings for drinks and appetizers. He asked us to join them if we wish.

Tim Wolin receives Blue Badge

Club member Tim Wolin receives his blue badge from
Membership Chair Toni Thomas and Club President
Pannkaj Kummar

Secret SANTA 2008

by Rick Topping

For the third year, the Rotary Club of Irvine Spectrum has been honored to participate in the Secret SANTA program at Camp Pendleton, California. The Secret SANTA (Support And Nurture Those Americans) program serves junior enlisted ranks (E-5 and below) with children. This Christmas program was created to facilitate community members’ appreciation of service while also providing assistance to the most junior ranks of our military.

The Service Member or spouse completes a wish list form, which is then filtered by the ASYMCA to provide the community member, organization, or business the family’s basic information, e.g. rank, unit, first names of spouse and children with each child’s age and wish list. Each family receives a Family Number,

More than 1,050 families were served this year and the Rotary Club of Irvine Spectrum was honored to support two families; Lance Corporal Stefan, his wife B8-year-old have a 12 year-old daughter and 8 year- old son. Corporal Jennifer and her husband Jacob. They have a 2.5 year-old son and a 1- month old son.

Each family asked for very little other than wanting to have their children enjoy Christmas. The ASYMCA and Marine Corps would rather see gifts but we provided each family with $720 so they could purchase what they determine is best for their family.

The gifts were carefully boxed and wrapped and delivered in a driving rainstorm, with care, by Rotary elves Albert Rosenstein and Rick Topping.

Thank you Irvine Spectrum Rotarians. Your generous giving, in tough times, will show two Marine families how much we honor and respect their service to our community.

Club Holiday Party

by Peggy Stalter

We had a wonderful Holiday Party this year. We gathered on December 13, 2008 at a community center in Irvine. There were about 90 members and guests present.

It was a great time to relax and count our blessings. Our party was planned and arranged by Barry Brown and David Dostal. With help from Luana Rodberg and her magic touch with decorations.

The evening was catered by a member of our club, Diane Braasch. She did a great job and provided a fantastic dinner. We had wonderful music and danced the night away.

Warren Willard, an honorary member of our club, joined us with his harmony quartet and blessed the event with holiday songs. It is wonderful to be a part of such a wonderful group of Rotarians.

ISRC Ensenada Dental Clinic #8

Almost 50 children were treated to free dental care at the eighth Ensenada Dental Clinic, co-sponsored the Rotary clubs of Irvine Spectrum and Ensenada Calafia. The event, held November 8th, took place at the Emiliano Zapata primary school, located in the rural San Carlos neighborhood of Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico.

The Irvine Rotarians responsible for this year’s dental clinic are Ray Sanford, Rick Topping, and Austin Wall. In Ensenada, the project was run by Ofelia Diaz Perea, her club’s International Service Director.

The Ensenada Dental Clinic, proposed four years ago by Ray Sanford, is an event that club members look forward to attending each year. The project’s dental portion is run by Dr. Charles Tozzer, founder of Dental Care for Children, an Irvine-based non-profit organization which coordinates dental clinics for children in Southern California, Mexico, Haiti, Africa and El Salvador. The Irvine Spectrum Rotary Club has been working with Dental Care for Children and Dr. Tozzer for the past 12 years, providing dental checkups and clinics for children in Irvine schools.

Dr. Tozzer and other dental volunteers, including Rotarian Barbara Foster from the Laguna Niguel club, drove to Ensenada on Friday to get an early start on the project and to perform follow-up services for a clinic held a few weeks prior. It also gave them a chance to visit the school and preview where the clinic would be held.

Most of the Irvine area volunteers left home around 5:00am, caravanning to arrive at the school at 9:30am where they were immediately put to work They were met by members of the Club Rotario Ensenada Calafia, who were by that time busy at work attending to those parents and children who had been gathering in the schoolyard since early morning.

Dr. Tozzer and his team of volunteer dentists had already converted two of the school’s classrooms into a dental clinic. The Smiles Dental Clinic van, provided with the help of a Rotary Foundation matching grant, was carefully unloaded and the equipment and supplies were set up in the classrooms. Soon, the dental team was ready to perform much needed dental services on the little children, who were lined up and waiting in nervous anticipation for their turn in the dental chair.

Children soon filled all the dental chairs, and dentists Chuck Tozzer, Xerxez Calilung, David Levitt, and Austin Wall, with the able assistance of dental students from USC began their day’s work. Allan Schechtman, an Orange County contractor, has been helping on Dental Care for Children clinics for over 10 years, making as many as 4 trips a year to assist Dr. Tozzer.

The scene became like a busy beehive. Dentists were practicing their craft, Rotarians were giving children gifts and hugs; and, those who were bi-lingual were assisting with translations between dentists and patients.

But, dentistry was not all that was on the work schedule for that day. Rotarians also got their hands dirty by helping to paint the little school. Rotarians with paint brushes and rollers in hand, were intent on the success of their school beautification project. Parents of the waiting children helped as well by painting or sprucing up the little garden in the schoolyard.

ISRC Rotarian Diane Braasch and others brought school supplies and gifts for the children while Rick Topping gave out 20 assorted soccer and volley balls donated by coach Shelly Noble of Loara High School in Anaheim.

During that Saturday’s dental clinic, 49 children received dental attention amounting to $16,825 of free services. And the approximately 30 Rotarians, from both sides of the border had the satisfaction of knowing they made all this possible.

That evening the Club Rotario Ensenada Calafia hosted their club’s twelfth anniversary dinner in the Spanish style courtyard and garden of the home of Elsa Cortes a Past President of the Ensenada Califa club. The guest list included such luminaries as past and present Rotary International dignitaries, District Governors and Club Presidents. The Irvine Spectrum Rotary Club volunteers were honored guests at the evening’s festivities, and ISRC President Pannkaj Kummar presented the Ensenada club with a beautiful framed picture collage of past Ensenada dental clinics in honor of their club’s anniversary. It was a magical evening, filled with emotion and the satisfaction that humanity had once again been served through Rotary.

Pulitzer Prize Winner speaks at ISRC

On October 26th we had the pleasure of hearing and learning from Investor's Business Daily Pulitzer Prize Winner editorial cartoonist, Michael Ramirez. A two time Pulitzer winner for editorial cartoons, describes his job of being an editorial cartoonist as the opportunity to get people to really think about the important issues we face. Right from the beginning, and strangely enough, Mr. Ramirez announced that he does not like to draw! He does, however, enjoy being judge and jury by going through the drawing process.

And the process itself is demanding: He explained that in order to be in this line of work, one has to read many newspapers from both sides of the political landscape. One then has to gather the information, process it and only then begin drawing. This is essential, according to Mr. Ramirez, as the mainstream media, so he claims, is doing a very poor job reporting on the current financial situation and vetting our presidential candidates. Mr. Ramirez simply fills a void – as "an equal opportunity offender." His editorial cartoons are essentially drawings that make a political statement. He equated this to advertising – coming up with a precise image in order to "sell" a specific idea.

Describing himself as a member of the "Anti-Stupid" party, he has beamed a spotlight on such notables and ideas as Barak Obama, John McCain, George Bush, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Global Warming, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Oil and Drilling, War on Terror, Immigration, Social Security and Health Care.

Mr. Ramirez is the Editorial Cartoonist and a Senior Editor for Investor's Business Daily. Ramirez is a Lincoln Fellow and has won several awards during his career, including the 2008 and 1994 Pulitzer Prize, the UCI Medal from the University of California, Irvine and the Sigma Delta Chi Awards in 1995 and 1997.

Ramirez was named "Best Editorial Cartoonist 2006" by the National Cartoonists Society, and won the prestigious 2008 John Fischetti Editorial Cartoon Competition.

Mike showed cartoons from his new book "Everyone Has The Right To My Opinion" available from Amazon.com. Mike will sign copies of the book for club members. Simply purchase the book(s) and give them to Stella Cardoza who will take them to Mike for signature.