We had very large audience on hand last week to participate in the Open World, Rule of Law program and President Robin Smith welcomed a number of dignitaries and visitors:
Senator Richard Bryan
Shann Winesett, guest of Bonnie Helms
Judge Vincent Ochoa
Justin Leone, guest of John Chmela
Judge Susan Johnson of Green Valley Rotary Club
Rusty Bridges, guest of Michael Woodfield
Judge Doug Smith
Rob Telles of Las Vegas Rotary
Judge Robert Teuton
Rebecca Burton
Gary Furlong, honorary consul to Uzbekistan, guest of Past Pres. Roger Tabor
Asst. Principal LaDonna Henderson, Kermit Booker Elementary
Isaac Martinez, Ramon Garcia & Laila Thomas, 5th grade League of Extraordinary Booker Students
Our first order of business was a huge thank you to the Block Party Committee consisting of Chair Carla Smith, Colleen Malany Braid, President Elect Teresa Sowers and Marilene Nevins. The results are still being tallied and will be announced soon. Marilene received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from a very grateful club and hopefully PE Teresa and Carla will be in attendance next week to receive their flowers.
Our club always hosts an informal Sunday dinner for the Open World visitors and this year's dinner was hosted by Past President Drew Levy and his bride Debbie at their home. As a note of gratitude to our hostess, Pres. Robin presented flowers to Drew to pass along to Debbie - to which he commented "I'll try to keep them alive!".....we'll have to follow up at the next meeting.
Continuing with gratitude moments, Pres. Robin thanked the club members who attended RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) in very cold Fawn Skin, California, over last weekend. Pres. Robin, Colleen Malany Braid, Larry Goldstein and Asst. Gov./Past Pres. Linda Bertuzzi, a bit sleep-deprived after the Block Party, braved the cold & snow and nearly 300 high school juniors to participate as Facilitators in an intense week-end leadership program, challenging the students in areas of ethics and cultural differences. If you haven't been a RYLA participant, strongly consider it. It's life changing for not only the students, but also for the adults.
AG/PP Linda gave a bit of history on our club's new program at Booker - the League of Extraordinary Booker Students, were one fifth grader from each of the three classes at Booker Elementary are honored for being the "best of the best" each trimester. The three students in attendance at lunch were the recipients for the second trimester. As Past. Dist. Gov/Past Pres. Roy York commented "only in Rotary can a fifth grader be placed at a table with a Senator, a Turkish Judge and the president of a Rotary Club!" The kids were so grateful to be part of such a special day at Rotary. Thank you everyone for the special welcome they received.
One announcement - Rotary at Work Day will be held at Easter Seals on W. Oakey on Saturday, May 10th, where we will do our annual cleanup of the Rotary gardens. We will begin at 8:00 a.m. and Chair/Past Pres. Scott Stolberg will bring work gloves, and has asked everyone to bring gardening tools and trash bags. Bagels and coffee will be on hand.
PDG/PP Roy York introduced our first ever jurists from Turkey:
Bulent Agkoc, Judge, Ministry of Justice Pinar Ergut, Judge
Cevat Mert, Public Prosecutor in Organized Crime Bureau Burak Turan Benli, Facilitator
Yusus Ziya, Public Prosecutor, Polatli Chief of Prosecution Soner Yayla, Judge
In Las Vegas, Judge Lloyd D. George, Senior US District Judge for the District of Nevada has hosted delegates from Eurasia as part of the Open World program since its inception in 1999. Shortly thereafter, a partnership was formed with the LV Fremont Rotary Club, under the leadership of PDG/PP Roy, to act as the Host Rotary Club, participating and assisting in the coordination of the exchange activities, as well as administering the grant. In 2008, the committee was expanded to include "Rotary Clubs of Southern Nevada", with the grant administered by the Las Vegas Club. Since its inception, more than 2,100 Eurasian legal professionals and judges have been hosted in various courts in the US, visiting with various judges, courts, witnessing actual cases in action and touring. The role of the Las Vegas Clubs is critical to the success of the program and Las Vegas remains the top spot for Open World guests to visit. The foundation of the program is to partner with professionals from other countries, facilitating positive legal reform in those countries, as well as improvements to their legal educational systems.
Senator Richard Bryan continues to support this program by being our featured speaker, presenting a background of our judicial system and how judges are appointed or elected. His presentation always triggers excellent questions from our guests and this visit was no exception. The questions ranged from how the election system worked in Nevada, to how a sitting judge can possibly run a campaign, raising money from businesses and individuals without affecting his/her impartiality on the bench. Senator Bryan responded that "there is a fine line between bribery and campaign funding and there can be a corrosive effect on our current system" requiring the candidate to continue serving with a high level of integrity. "The US Supreme Court has ruled that money is the equivalent of free speech, therefore, limits of campaign funding is a violation of free speech. Assumption, first and foremost, is that the judge is honorable." Our guests pointed out the complexities of the US Constitution as it relates to the various levels of our judicial system and this translates to seemingly inconsistencies between Federal, State and local legal systems. The last topic of discussion focused on the selection of jurors and how they can be selected to serve, deliberate and make an informed decision without expertise in the case being tried, a conversation that could have continued for hours.