THE LAMORINDAN 4/10

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

After setting the scene, giving us context, recounting her financial status and generally killing time, Nancy Polis enlightened us as follows from the pen of Ralph Waldo Emerson: "Don't waste your life in doubts and fears. Spend yourself on the work before you, well-assured that the right performance of this hour's duties will be the best preparation for the hours and ages that follow."

GUESTS, VISITING ROTARIANS, AND SUCH
Mark & Claire Roberts
Pete Giers - Orinda (now officially 60 years old)
Gary Fulcher - 2nd visit
Dan Garfin & Erin Lloyd
Gene Voekel - Concord
Bryn Rowe - Paul Bettelheim's massively better half
Ted Gow

BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES & MISCELLANEOUS GOOD NEWS

Sorry. None today. Fines were only imposed on oppressed members of the Fourth Estate.

NO, THAT WASN'T A GIANT ORGAN-GRINDER'S ORGAN

After a gestation period longer than an elephants, Mike Edwards unveiled his latest contribution to the well-being of Lamorinda Sunrise Rotary. Was it a bird? Was it a plane? No, it was The Cart, holder of all things we need for our nefarious gatherings, including sound system, banners, podium, bottle opener and three-way decoder ring. Check it out if you haven't yet - it's spiffier than all get-out. Many thanks, Mike, for another job well done.

WE LIKE DOING THIS

Another pair of New Member Installations today as we welcomed Mark Roberts and Dan Garfin into the ranks of Lamorinda Sunrise Rotarians. Before we did that, however, George Chaffey gave us the entire history and pre-history of Rotary, including the latest scholarly research on the earliest version of the Rotary Wheel, which was recently unearthed in an ancient Egyptian tomb, and the latest evidence that the Four Way Test was first set in print in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Welcome, Mark & Dan. We are delighted to have you.

MEANWHILE, UP IN GEORGETOWN

We weren't the only Club indicting . . . excuse, inducting members. Krysten Laine reports that, whilst visiting the Georgetown California, area recently, hubby Rene was in the local bar & grill talking with the proprietor when the conversation turned to - wait for it - Rotary. Rene mentioned that his Dearly Beloved was a Rotarian. "You don't say," sez Mr. Proprietor. "So am I." So were a number of the other patrons, who thereupon convened an impromptu Rotary meeting and inducted Rene as an Honorary Member of the Rotary Club of Georgetown-Divide. And so, we now have a banner from said August group, courtesy Rene by way Krysten.

FOLLOW-UP TO LAST WEEK'S PROGRAM

President Pat asked me to put in this shameless plug for three Lamorinda Sunrisers' businesses, so don't harass them. If last week's program left you scared out of your wits and thinking that your insurance is not adequate to cover you in case of a major catastrophe, Ken Kosich, Rod Ford-Smith and Mike Wilson all can help you evaluate your current coverage and figure what you should be carrying. So call one of them, already.

INTERNATIONAL INCIDENT, DEAD AHEAD

Paul Fillinger is off to China for two weeks as the official photographer for a Rotary missionary project called Alliance for Smiles. Hopefully, Glenda can keep him out of too much trouble. I suspect there will be a program that comes out of this.

MORE PRESS-BASHING

Okay, Mr. McCowan's name is Skip, not Chip. And the next TGITLFOTM will be on April 24, not April 10 or February 24, all as inadvertently published in the previous edition of this screed. But was it really necessary to hound last week's screed scribe, the esteemed Ron Brown, so much that he felt compelled to commit the Lamorinda Sunrise equivalent of sepu.. ., um, sepukk, (oh, the heck with it) hari-kari, confessing as if in a Stalin-era show trial and voluntarily offering up a fine? Even as the rabble screamed "Off with his head!" and one could all but hear the tumbrel approaching (and how many overwrought metaphors can one item contain?), this reporter stepped up to share Ron's shame and pay his fine for him. A lovely gesture, if I do say so myself, but somehow both Ron and this reporter ended up contributing to the Club's coffers. What can I say? It ain't easy being a reporter.

And just to show that we at The Lamorindan aren't the only ones who make the occasional faux pas in print, consider the recent tiff at BYU, where the student daily ran a photo of the stalwart leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. A perfectly ordinary occurrence, you say. And you'd be right . . . except the caption described said leaders as the "Quorum of the Twelve Apostates" instead of "Apostles." Suffice to say that 18,000 copies with said error were collected and 10,000 corrected editions sent out posthaste, although perhaps not posthaste enough, as the gaffes made in various other news outlets - including this one.

PRESIDENT PAT ASKS THAT YOU PLEASE TURN YOUR CELL PHONES OFF DURING THE MEETINGS

Does this item really need any explanation beyond the title?

MYSTERY ROTARIAN(S)

They shall remain mysterious for now.

PROGRAM

As a general proposition, Rotary does entirely too good a job of not letting the world - or even its membership - know about the incredible things it does around the world. One of those tremendous things that should be getting loud hosannas, but doesn't, is the Ambassadorial Scholarship program. This program sends graduate-level scholars from all over the world to all over the world to advance their studies. Ambassadorial Scholars have a level of financial support from Rotary and a level of freedom to choose their school and area of study that is superior to virtually all other scholarship programs, including those fancy-pants ones named for dead Senators and Generals. Rotary is, in fact, the largest private scholarship program in the world. Really.

Today's speaker was an example of what the Ambassadorial Scholar program is all about. Anna-Lena Scholz is a native of Germany, born in then-West Berlin (she was a young girl when the Wall came down, but remembers it well). In 1991, her family moved to a town that is located between Cologne and Dusseldorf, has no municipal debt, and is the home of a serious, world-class competitive water skiing facility.

In 2003, Anna-Lena moved to Bonn, which, as you no doubt recall, was the capital of the Bundesrepublik Deutschland (that's West Germany to you) from 1949 until Berlin was reestablished as the capitol of a reunified Germany. A number of important ministries still maintain their head offices in Bonn, however, so it is still an important part of the German government.

Bonn has a long history, like 2,000 years worth. Not all of it has been happy history. For example, the Revolutionary French armies captured it in 1794, and it wasn't until 1815 afer a little dust-up called Waterloo that Bonn was returned from Gallic to Germanic overlords. Ludwig von Beethoven was born in Bonn, and Karl Marx, Konrad Adenauer and Pope Benedict XVI all attended or taught at the University of Bonn.

But Anna-Lena wasn't there for government or historical purposes, but rather to follow Herrs Marx, Adenauer and Ratzinger by attending the University. She graduated five years later with a Masters degree in German literature, having spent a year along the way at Oxford. She is now at UC Berkeley completing the first year of her Doctoral studies in, you guessed it, German literature, with a focus on the letters of Heinrich von Kleist and Franz Kafka. Ms. Scholz gave us a taste of her enthusiasm for these authors by reading excerpts from their letters; passages that she thinks offer valuable insight to their perspectives on life.

Anna-Lena is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Bonn-Rheinbach, which is in District 1860. She heard about the Ambassadorial Scholarship program through a professor. She noted that only 15.2% of the world's Rotarians are women (22% in North America). She also noted that there is still a great deal of male resistance to women becoming Rotarians in Germany, something she hopes to see rectified in coming years.

So why come to the US to study German Literature? Several reasons, as it turns out. One, Anna-Lena made friends with students from New York and Cleveland while at Oxford. Two, she spoke with students and faculty in the US Studies department at U-Bonn. Third, she is well aware of the important impact the US has had on Germany in the recent past, and she wanted to combine an opportunity to advance her Ph.D. studies with an opportunity to learn more about the country behind that impact. And fourth, it just so happens that Cal has an excellent German department, including resources not easily available in Germany. And finally, Anna-Lena believes that her studies will be richer for having spent time with scholars who share her interest in German literature but come at it from a different perspective than the ones to which she has previously been exposed.

And that brings us to something Anna-Lena has come to understand and appreciate. She has long loved books and studying. But, she now believes, scholarship isn't just about the books. It is also about sharing, discussing and even debating ideas with other people.

Anna-Lena demonstrated her skills in doping out the allegiances in the room by announcing that, when selecting to which universities to submit applications, she "did not even consider going to Stanford." Do I even have to say that her comment drew loud and heartfelt cheers?

Attending our meeting with Anna-Lena was Pete Giers, who is from a place almost as far away: Orinda. Pete has long been involved with Rotary programs that bring people from different parts of the world together, such as Youth Exchange and, yes, the Ambassadorial Scholar program. Pete gave us an overview of the application process (applications have to be in by April 15, and they take a while to do, so start thinking about possible Ambassadorial Scholars for the April 15, 2010 cycle). Pete also explained that District 5160 has historically been very supportive of, and has directed a good chunk of its discretionary funds to, the Ambassadorial Scholarship program.

Many thanks, Anna-Lena for sharing your story and showing us a great example of what the Ambassadorial Scholar program can do. And thanks to you, too, Pete, for hosting Anna-Lena and bringing her to our meeting.