For Hillsborough Rotary Club photos go to our facebook page  HNCRotary@yahoo.com.

Meeting and Speakers
Last week – Tracy Reams,  Dir. of Orange Co. Board of Elections.
Oct 28 – Dave Stuckey briefing us on this years RYLA
Nov 5 – Rotary Leadership Institute Harrisonburg, VA
Apr 29 to May 1, 20111 – District Conference, Asheville, NC

Oct Holidays
Month Long Observance – Organize Your Medical Information Month
Weekly Observance – National School Bus Safety Week
Oct 28 – National Chocolates Day

Quote of the Week
“Risk more than others think is safe. Care more than others think is wise. Dream more than others think is practical. Expect more than others think is possible.”   Cadet Maxim

General Medical Information
Colorectal Cancer: What Is It?
Colorectal cancer is the third most frequently diagnosed cancer in men and women and the second highest cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. Yet, when found early, it is highly curable. This type of cancer occurs when abnormal cells grow in the lining of the large intestine (colon) or rectum. Learn more about who gets colorectal cancer, how it is detected, and what the latest treatments can accomplish.
Colorectal Cancer: How It Starts
Colorectal cancers often begin as polyps – benign growths on the surface of the colon. The two most common types of intestinal polyps are adenomas and hyperplastic polyps. They develop when there are errors in the way cells grow and repair the lining of the colon. Most polyps remain benign, but some have the potential to turn cancerous. Removing them early prevents colorectal cancer.
Risk Factors You Can’t Control
Your risk of colorectal cancer depends on genetics and lifestyle. Factors you can’t control include:
* Age – most patients are older than 50
* Polyps or inflammatory bowel disease
* Family history of colorectal cancer
* History of ovarian or breast cancer
Risk Factors You Can Control
Some factors that raise the risk of colorectal cancer are within your control:
* Diet high in red, processed, or heavily cooked meats
* Being overweight (excess fat around the waist)
* Exercising too little
* Smoking or drinking alcohol
Colorectal Cancer Warning Signs
There are usually no early warning signs for colorectal cancer. For this reason it’s important to get screened. Detecting cancer early means it’s more curable. As the disease progresses, patients may notice blood in the stool, abdominal pain, a change in bowel habits (such as constipation or diarrhea), unexplained weight loss, or fatigue. By the time these symptoms appear, tumors tend to be larger and more difficult to treat.
Colorectal Cancer Screening
Because colorectal cancer is stealthy, screenings are the key to early detection. Beginning at age 50, most people should have a colonoscopy every 10 years. This procedure uses a tiny camera to examine the entire colon and rectum. These tests not only find tumors early, but can actually prevent colorectal cancer by removing polyps (shown here). If testing reveals a possible tumor, the next step is a biopsy. During a colonoscopy, your doctor will remove polyps and take tissue samples from any parts of the colon that look unusual. This tissue is examined under a microscope to determine whether or not it is cancerous.
Staging Colorectal Cancer
If cancer is detected, it will be “staged,” a process of finding out how far the cancer has spread. Tumor size may not correlate with the stage of cancer. Staging also enables your doctor to determine what type of treatment you will receive.
* Stage I – Cancer has not spread beyond the inside of the colon/rectum
* Stage II – Cancer has spread into the muscle layer of the colon/rectum
* Stage III – Cancer has spread to one or more lymph nodes in the area
* Stage IV – Cancer has spread to other parts of the body, such as the liver, lung, or bones.

Colorectal Cancer Survival Rates

The outlook for your recovery depends on the stage of your cancer, with higher stages meaning more serious cancer. The five-year survival rate refers to the percentage of patients who live at least five years after being diagnosed. Stage I has a 93% five-year survival rate while stage IV has a five-year survival rate of only 8%.
Colorectal Cancer Surgery

In all but the last stage of colorectal cancer, the usual treatment is surgery to remove the tumor and surrounding tissue. In the case of larger tumors, it may be necessary to take out an entire section of the colon and/or rectum. The good news is that surgery has a very high cure rate in the early stages. If the cancer has spread to the liver, lungs, or other organs, surgery is not likely to offer a cure — but removing the additional tumors, when possible, may reduce symptoms.
Preventing Colorectal Cancer: Diet

There are steps you can take to dramatically reduce your odds of developing colorectal cancer. Researchers estimate that eating a nutritious diet, getting enough exercise, and controlling body fat could prevent 45% of colorectal cancers. The National Cancer Institute recommends a low-fat diet that includes plenty of fiber and at least five servings of fruits and vegetables per day.
Preventing Cancer With Exercise

Physical activity appears to be a powerful weapon in the defense against colorectal cancer. In one study, the most active participants were 24% less likely to have the cancer than the least active people. It didn’t matter whether the activity was linked to work or play. The American Cancer Society recommends exercising for at least 30 minutes most days of the week.

Oct 21 – Vocational Service Month

Meeting and Speakers
Last week – Frank Clifton, Orange Co. Manager, briefed us on the economic challenges facing Orange County
Oct 21 – Tracy Reams,  Dir. of Orange Co. Board of Elections.
Oct 23 – Rotary Leadership Institute Fayetteville
Oct 23 – Rotary Leadership Institute Frederick, MD
Apr 29 to May 1, 20111 – District Conference, Asheville, NC

Oct Holidays
Month Long Observance – Health Literacy Month
Weekly Observance – Polio Celebration Week
Oct 21 – Get Smart About Credit Day

Quote of the Week
“Of the billionaires I have known, money just brings out the basic traits in them. If they were jerks before they had money, they are simply jerks with a billion dollars.”  Warren Buffett

Rotary International Information
Polio
The Rotary Foundation has raised ¾ Billion Dollars, yes that is billion, for the eradication of polio world wide. Rotary Foundation is recognized world wide as an organization that puts its money on the line. The gates foundation has given Rotary $250 Million in its goal to eliminate polio.
Rotary started in the 80’s with a goal to eliminate polio by the year 2000. The challenge has been greater than they anticipated, but we push on with only four countries to go to finish the challenge.
Many of you may not be aware how seriously our country was hit by a polio epidemic when in 1950 33,300 people were stricken. Highly contagious, the poliovirus spread by contact with contaminated feces or oral secretions. Children were most vulnerable. The virus inflamed nerves in the brain and spinal cord, causing paralysis of the muscles in the chest, leg or arms in severe cases.
For all its pain and grief, polio’s era of fear provided knowledge that is useful today and would have been invaluable back in the ’50s. For example:
•  Respiratory devices evolved into highly effective portable units. Polio sufferers with chest paralysis spent time in a Drinker respirator, the so- called “iron lung.” Almost the length of a subcompact car, the iron lung exerted a push-pull motion on the chest. Nicolas E. Walsh, MD, chairman of the department of rehabilitation medicine, said the machines would be unnecessary today. “Now,” he said, “we would simply use a tracheotomy tube connected to a ventilator that’s about the size of an overnight suitcase.”
•  Crippling effects of confinement might have been eliminated. “Iron -lung patients could have been up and walking instead of being totally immobilized,” said Pamela E. Stanton, EdD, who heads the department of physical therapy. “We would have had them go through range-of-motion exercises twice a day to prevent contractures.” Contracted muscles became foreshortened and immobile with inactivity. The condition was common among acute polio patients.
•  Therapists now have better strategies for bracing weak limbs. “During the polio epidemic, we laid the foundation of our understanding about orthotics, which is the bracing and stabilizing of arms and legs, and the physiology and neurophysiology of muscles,” Dr. Stanton said.
•  A pain-blocking technology called trans-cutaneous electro-neural stimulation, or TENS, might have been used. Polio patients experienced muscular pain, particularly during the early stages of de-innervation. De- innervation describes the nerve-killing aspect of the disease. TENS is thought to block pain signals coming from the muscles and conveyed to the brain. The patient carries a portable device about the size of a pack of cigarettes that emits low levels of electrical current. TENS is frequently used today for back pain and post-surgical pain.
Millions of Americans had taken the Salk and Sabin anti-polio vaccines by 1962, and an era of fear ended. “Seeing polio go away was like witnessing a major miracle,” said Malcolm C. Lancaster, MD, clinical professor of family practice. An estimated 250,000 Americans who survived the polio epidemic of the ’40s and ’50s now have a residual weakness called post-polio syndrome. Sufferers complain of joint pain, decreased endurance and muscle atrophy.

Oct – Vocational Service Month

Meeting and Speakers
Last week – Peace Scholar, Anabella Palacios from Cordoba, Argentina
Oct. 14th – Frank Clifton, Orange Co. Manager.
Oct 15 – Rotary Leadership Institute Beaufort, SC
Oct 20 – District 7710 Rotary Foundation Seminar, 3:30pm site to be announced
Oct 21 – Tracy Reams,  Dir. of Orange Co. Board of Elections.
Oct 23 – Rotary Leadership Institute Fayetteville
Oct 23 – Rotary Leadership Institute Frederick, MD
Nov 2010 – select Rotary Youth Leadership Award candidate
Apr 29 to May 1, 20111 – District Conference, Asheville, NC

Oct Holidays
Month Long Observance – Go Hog Wild – Eat Country Ham
Weekly Observance – Emergency Nurses
Oct 14 – World Sight Day

Quote of the Week
“The proper means of increasing the love we bear our native country is to reside some time in a foreign one.”  William Shenstone

North Carolina Information
State Fair History
As we prepare for this Years State Fair some background on the event
Before the War Between the States, North Carolina’s farmers faced many problems. Many
were illiterate, and an even larger number were just barely able to read and write. Farmers relied on oral tradition to determine when to plant or harvest crops or how to care for livestock, and constant cultivation robbed the soil of its fertility. Many planters used what we would consider today poor agricultural practices. Only a handful of wealthy planters experimented with “scientific” methods of farming. And practically no purebred animals existed within the state’s cattle and swine herds, which sought foods in unfenced forests and fields. This was a period before there were governmental agencies to help improve the state’s farms, and few agricultural journals existed, but some North Carolinians believed farming practices needed improvement.
In 1852 agricultural journal editor Dr. John F. Tompkins decided to try to improve agriculture in North Carolina. He organized a Raleigh meeting of the state’s leading advocates of agricultural reform. At the meeting, they reestablished the North Carolina State Agricultural Society, which had first formed in 1818 but later faltered. The group decided that the best way to encourage North Carolina farmers to adopt scientific methods of farming was through an annual State Fair. The fair, they hoped, would allow the society to demonstrate the best farming practices in the state to thousands of farmers, as well as provide an opportunity to teach better farming methods.
To finance the fair, the society charged its members dues and convinced the North
Carolina legislature to give it fifteen hundred dollars each year to help with the fair’s
expenses. The City of Raleigh helped the society obtain fairgrounds, located east of the
Capitol, and by October 1853, the society had constructed several buildings to hold agricultural exhibits, as well as a racetrack.
Thousands of North Carolina farmers came to the first State Fair, which awarded a grand total of $524 in premiums, or prizes, for the best exhibits of crops, livestock, agricultural machinery, and homemade household goods. At the society’s nightly meetings, some of the state’s best farmers and planters explained better farming methods to fair visitors.
Visitors also enjoyed government-building tours in Raleigh, as well as a variety of social
activities. A huge success, the fair grew rapidly.
The state government, local newspapers, and agricultural journals urged North Carolina farm families to take advantage of the fair in order to learn more about scientific agriculture and to meet people from other parts of the state.   Railroads provided special rates and trains for passengers during fair week and allowed farmers to ship exhibits to the fair at reduced prices. Citizens of Raleigh, pleased to offer their goods and services to thousands of fair visitors, created more and more events to entertain them during fair

Established June 1, 1989

Oct 7, 2010

 Oct – Vocational Service Month

INDEX

* Meetings & Speakers

* Monthly, Week & Day Holidays

* Weekly Quote

* Weekly Article 

Meeting and Speakers

Last week – Our own Barry on a new member orientation 

Oct 07 – Peace Scholar, Anabella Palacios from Cordoba, Argentina

Oct 14 – Mystery Speaker

Oct 15 – Rotary Leadership Institute Beaufort, SC

Oct 20 – District 7710 Rotary Foundation Seminar, 3:30pm site to be announced

Oct 23 – Rotary Leadership Institute Fayetteville, NC

Oct 23 – Rotary Leadership Institute Frederick, MD

Nov 2010 – select Rotary Youth Leadership Award candidate

Apr 29 to May 1, 20111 – District Conference, Asheville, NC

Oct Holidays

Month Long Observance – Domestic Abuse Awareness Month

Weekly Observance – Universal Children’s Week

Oct 7 – National Flower Day

Quote of the Week

“Much education today is monumentally ineffective. All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants.”
John W. Gardner
Rotary International Information

Peace Fellows

  Through a worldwide, competitive process, this program awards full scholarships to up to 100 Rotary World Peace Fellows each year. Members of the 201-12 class will be announced in October. The fellows study at the six Rotary Centers based at leading universities in five countries.  Qualified applicants must possess an undergraduate degree, have a minimum three years of professional experience at international agencies such as the United Nations, governments, non-governmental organizations, businesses or academic institutions; and demonstrate a commitment to peace and international understanding through their volunteer, academic, and professional achievements.

  The Rotary Centers for International Studies are located on the following campuses:  International Christian University, Japan; Universidad del Salvador, Argentina; University of Bradford, the United Kingdom (UK); the University of Queensland, Australia; and – in a shared arrangement – Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, N.C.  In addition to the two-year program, the Rotary Center at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, offers an intensive, three-month course aimed at mid-level professionals in governments, non-governmental organizations, and international industry.    

  Launched in 2002, the Rotary Centers for International Studies program is already showing results. Currently, at least 400 Rotary World Peace Fellow alumni are making a difference in jobs within United Nations agencies, the World Bank, and leading non-governmental organizations.

  “The Rotary World Peace Fellowship has given me a platform that will enable me to dedicate myself to the important challenge of international conflict prevention and peace-building in the future,” said Anna Pehrsson, Peace Fellow graduate from the Universidad del Salvador – Argentina, Department for Security Policy, Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sweden. 

  “I was working in conflict situations for over 10 years but never had the technical know-how of dealing with conflict until now,” said Abdulai Jalloh, Peace Fellow graduate from the Chulalongkorn University – Thailand, Logistics Officer, United Nations, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). “The innovations learnt have further widened my scope of the understanding of conflicts and how to deal with them to achieve a peaceful goal. My challenge now will be focused on how to render the DRC a conflict-free zone.”

Examples of Rotary Peace Fellow alumni include:  

Miho Kishitani of Japan, who received a master’s degree at the Rotary Center at the University of Bradford, is an external relations and project officer at the External Relations Department of United Nations Relief Workers Agency in Jerusalem.

Izabela da Costa Pereira of Brazil, who earned a master’s degree at the Rotary Center at Universidad del Salvador, is a democratic governance officer with the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT), where she is helping the fledgling government of Timor-Leste establish itself.

Established June 1, 1989

Sept 30, 2010

Sept – New Generations Month

General Information

Right to Vote

As we near elections in November I want to remind everyone to vote.

Voter turnout in off year Federal Elections is usually dismal. Since 1962 the highest turnout was in 1966 where 48.6% voted. The lowest turnout was in 1986 and 1998 with a turnout of 36.4% and in 2006 we had just 37.1% who voted.

Some country averages for the time period 1962 to date: Australia >93%, Brazil >68%, Columbia >33%, Denmark >82%, Finland >62%, France >60%, Germany > 77%, Israel >62%, Italy >80%, Mexico >41% and Peru >63%.

Some historical information on our “Right To Vote”. When the polls open on Election Day, every citizen over the age of 18 will be able to cast a vote. It is a right we take for granted one that defines our nation as a democracy. But universal suffrage — letting everyone vote — did not appear overnight with the ratification of our Constitution. Two hundred years ago, you had to be white, male, and wealthy in order to vote.

The 14th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in July 1868, guaranteed basic civil rights to all citizens; it was intended to persuade Southern states to grant suffrage to blacks by threatening a reduction of their congressional representation. To further the cause of black suffrage, the Radical Republican Congress, which had swept away the Southern regimes organized under presidential Reconstruction, required ex-Confederate states to adopt new state constitutions allowing black suffrage before senators and representatives from those states would be readmitted to Congress. The United States was thus faced with a situation in which all the ex-Confederate states granted blacks the right to vote, while 16 of the loyal Union states still denied black suffrage.

To remedy the inequity and to help shore up the Southern Radical Republican Reconstruction regimes, a 15th Amendment to the Constitution was proposed in February 1869. It stated simply that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” There was much debate in Congress about what should be included in the Amendment. Henry Adams remarked that the 15th Amendment was “more remarkable for what it does not than for what it does contain.”

It did not guarantee blacks the right to hold office, which many congressmen felt should be included. It did not offer a blanket guarantee of the right to vote because many Radical Republicans feared that would void the disenfranchisement of ex-Confederates. Many states, North and South, required payment of poll taxes, property ownership, or literacy as a condition of voting. The 15th Amendment did not address any of those stipulations. Feminists, especially, fought against the amendment because women were not included in the

guarantee of suffrage.

Vote on November 2, 2010 and encourage all your family, friends and neighbors to vote.

Meeting and Speakers

Last week – Hillsborough Club Assembly reviewed our projects for the year and received some good ideas from members on how to achieve our goals

Sept 30 – Our own Barry on a new member orientation

Oct 2 – Rotary Leadership Institute Harrisburg, PA

Oct 04 – District 7710 Council Meeting, 5:30pm Cary Chamber

Oct 07 – Peace Scholar, Anabella Palacios from Argentina

Oct 15 – Rotary Leadership Institute Beaufort, SC

Oct 20 – District 7710 Rotary Foundation Seminar, 3:30pm site to be announced

Oct 23 – Rotary Leadership Institute Fayetteville, NC

Oct 23 – Rotary Leadership Institute Frederick, MD

Nov 2010 – select Rotary Youth Leadership Award candidate

Apr 29 to May 1, 20111 – District Conference, Asheville, NC

Sept Holidays

Month Long Observance – Update Your Resume Month

Weekly Observance – Register to Vote Week

Sept 30 – Shemini Atzeret Day

Quote of the Week

“My place in history will depend on what I can do for the people and not on what the people can do for me.”  William Jennings Bryan

Established June 1, 1989

Sept 23, 2010

Sept – New Generations Month

Meeting and Speakers

Last week – Tom Carr, Counselor, Author, National Speaker

Sept 23 – Club Assembly

Sept 25 – Rotary Leadership Institute Boone, NC

Sept 25 – Rotary Leadership Institute Morgantown, WV

Sept 25 – Rotary Leadership Institute Augusta, GA

Oct 04 – District 7710 Council Meeting, 5:30pm Cary Chamber

Oct 07 – Peace Scholar, Anabella Palacios from Argentina

Oct 20 – District 7710 Rotary Foundation Seminar, 3:30pm site to be announced

Dec 2010 – select Rotary Youth Leadership Award candidate

Feb 2011 – select candidate for Rotarians Against Drugs

Apr 29 to May 1, 20111 – District Conference, Asheville, NC

Sept Holidays

Month Long Observance – National Honey Month

Weekly Observance – Prostate Cancer Awareness Week

Sept 23 – Earth Overshoot Day

Quote of the Week

“My place in history will depend on what I can do for the people and not on what the people can do for me.”  William Jennings Bryan

General Information

Does the US have a Literacy Problem?

New Orleans –

Five years ago, the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina made it impossible for New Orleans to host the Rotary International convention as planned in June 2007.   But even as they coped with their own personal and professional losses and pitched in to rebuild their communities, New Orleans area Rotary club members remained determined that the humanitarian organization’s most important annual meeting would return when the city was ready. Their dream will be realized May 21-25, 2011, when more than 17,000 Rotary members from around the world will convene in the Crescent City for the first time in 35 years, injecting a much needed infusion of at least $20 million into the local economy.

After Katrina ravaged New Orleans and the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005, Rotary members worldwide raised more than $19 million in donations and grants for relief and recovery efforts throughout the region. This includes a special Katrina Relief Fund that eventually exceeded $1.9 million, with support from Rotary clubs as far away as Australia, Japan, Sweden, Panama, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

New Orleans Rotarians were particularly involved in the restoration of Warren Easton High School, which was severely damaged by the floodwaters that inundated much of the city. Rotary clubs in California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York, and Germany helped raise $60,000 for repairs. Rotary volunteers from California and other states joined their New Orleans counterparts during the sweltering summer of 2006 to get the school ready for its reopening. Project coordinator Henry Lowentritt, of the Rotary Club of New Orleans, said opening the city’s schools was crucial to the overall recovery. “Teachers, parents, and kids who have left New Orleans won’t be back without quality schools,” he said.

In the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, the UK-based charity ShelterBox, supported by Rotary clubs worldwide, provided 1,320 emergency shelter kits benefiting 13,200 people. Rotary clubs launched and continue to support scores of humanitarian and educational projects throughout the region, such as re-supplying a library and establishing low-income housing in Pass Christian, Miss.; replacing surgical instruments at a medical center in Houma, La.; providing a van for a senior center in Slidell, La., to help with the influx of new clients; and building a new community center in Bay St. Louis, Miss.

Looking ahead to the 2011 New Orleans convention, Rotary’s volunteer service again will be front-and-center as registrants can opt to participate in a local housing project and a wetlands restoration effort immediately before and after the sessions.

Established June 1, 1989

Sept 16, 2010

Sept – New Generations Month

Meeting and Speakers

Last week –Andrea Tullos, Orange County Public Library, who briefed us on all the services the Library provides

Sept 16 – Tom Carr, Counselor, Author, National Speaker

Sept 18 – Rotary Leadership Institute Murfreesboro, NC

Sept 25 – Mystery Speaker

Sept 25 – Rotary Leadership Institute Boone, NC

Sept 25 – Rotary Leadership Institute Morgantown, WV

Sept 25 – Rotary Leadership Institute Augusta, GA

Oct 04 – District 7710 Council Meeting, 5:30pm Cary Chamber

Oct 20 – District 7710 Rotary Foundation Seminar, 3:30pm site to be announced

Dec 2010 – select Rotary Youth Leadership Award candidate

Feb 2011 – select candidate for Rotarians Against Drugs

Apr 29 to May 1, 20111 – District Conference, Asheville, NC

Sept Holidays

Month Long Observance – Pleasure Your Mate Month

Weekly Observance – Line Dance Week

Sept 16 – Beer Days

Quote of the Week

“An education isn’t how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It’s being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don’t.”
Anatole France

General Information

Does the US have a Literacy Problem?

Facts on Literacy in the United States.

•  Poverty and Literacy, among adults at the lowest level of literacy proficiency, 43% live in poverty. Among adults with strong literacy skills, only 4% live in poverty. Despite dramatic economic growth for our nation as a whole over the last generation, 39 percent of U.S. children live in low-income families, a percentage that continues to grow. The raw number is staggering: more than 28 million children have parents who are unable to meet their family’s basic needs.

•  Crime and Literacy, if the male graduation rate were increased by only 5 percent, the nation would see an annual savings of $4.9 billion in crime-related costs. 78% of juvenile crime is committed by high school dropouts.

•  Education and Literacy, every school day, seven thousand students become dropouts. Annually, that adds up to 1.2 million students who will not graduate high school with their peers as scheduled. Each dropout, over his or her lifetime, costs the nation approximately $260,000. In a typical high-poverty, urban school in America, approximately half of incoming ninth-grade students read at a sixth- or seventh-grade level. The average annual income for a high school dropout in 2004 was $16,485, compared to $26,156 for a high school graduate, a difference of $9,671 (according to U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2005). Early education, 41% of fourth grade boys, and 35% of fourth grade girls read below the basic level, and in low-income urban schools this figure approaches 70%.

•  Health and Literacy, America could save more than $17 billion in Medicaid and expenditures for health care for the uninsured by graduating all students. A new study from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine shows that older people with inadequate health literacy had a 50 percent higher mortality rate over five years than people with adequate reading skills. Inadequate or low health literacy is defined as the inability to read and comprehend basic health-related materials such as prescription bottles, doctor appointment slips and hospital forms.

•  Workforce and Literacy, unless high schools increases the number of graduates, more than 12 million students will drop out during the course of the next decade, resulting in a national loss of $3 trillion. The U.S Department of Education expects the literacy gap in America will produce a shortage of 12 million qualified workers in the next decade.

Established June 1, 1989

Sept 9, 2010

Sept – New Generations Month

Meeting and Speakers

Last week – Amy Hardee, Hillsborough Historian, who briefed us on some of the History of Hillsborough

Sept 9 – Andrea Tullos, Orange County Public Library

Sept 10 – Rotary Leadership Institute Columbia, SC

Sept 11 – Rotary Leadership Institute Salisbury, MD

Sept 16 – Tom Carr, Counselor, Author, National Speaker

Sept 25 – Rotary Leadership Institute Boone, NC

Sept 25 – Rotary Leadership Institute Morgantown, WV

Sept Holidays

Month Long Observance – Childhood Cancer Awareness

Weekly Observance – National Payroll Week

Sept 9 – Wonderful Weirdoes

Quote of the Week

“The real danger is not that computers will begin to think like men, but that men will begin to think like computers.”

Sydney J. Harris

General Information

Dolly Parton on Reading

Last week Amy Hardee talked about getting books to children prior to starting school.  There is a great program that does just that called Imagination Library.  The Dollywood Foundation’s Imagination Library and Rotary International are working together to promote early childhood reading. The country music legend recently took time during the RI Convention in Montréal, Québec, Canada, to talk about the importance of reading to preschoolers.

The story of Dolly’s Imagination Library: In 1996, Dolly Parton launched an exciting new effort to benefit the children of her home county in east Tennessee. Dolly wanted to foster a love of reading among her county’s preschool children and their families. She wanted children to be excited about books and to feel the magic that books can create. Moreover, she could insure that every child would have books, regardless of their family’s income.
So she decided to mail a brand new, age appropriate book each month to every child under 5 in Sevier County. With the arrival of every child’s first book, the classic The Little Engine That Could ™, every child could now experience the joy of finding their very own book in their mail box. These moments continue each month until the child turns 5—and in their very last month in the program they receive Look Out Kindergarten Here I Come.

Needless to say the experience has been a smashing success. So much so that many other communities clamored to provide the Imagination Library to their children. Dolly thought long and hard about it and decided her Foundation should develop a way for other communities to participate. The Foundation asked a blue ribbon panel of experts to select just the right books and secured Penguin Group USA to be the exclusive publisher for the Imagination Library. Moreover a database was built to keep track of the information.

Consequently, in March of 2000 she stood at the podium of The National Press Club in Washington, D.C. and revealed the plan for other communities to provide the Imagination Library to their children. And as only Dolly can say it, she wanted to “put her money where her mouth is – and with such a big mouth that’s a pretty large sum of money” and provide the books herself to the children of Branson, Missouri and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina – communities where her businesses now operate. If other leaders in their communities were willing to do the same, well something big might just happen.

You know what? It did!!

Here’s how it works: A community must make the program accessible to all preschool children in their area. The community pays for the books and mailing, promotes the program, registers the children, and enters the information into the database.

From there The Dollywood Foundation takes over and manages the system to deliver the books to the home. You can find out more information on this program at www.imaginationlibrary.com/usa.

Established June 1, 1989

Sept 2, 2010

Sept – New Generations Month

Meeting and Speakers

Last week – we had our Club Assembly

Sept 2 – Amy Hardee, Hillsborough Historian, Paul Harris recipient

Sept 9 – Andrea Tullus, Orange County Public Library

Sept 10 – Rotary Leadership Institute Columbia, SC

Sept 11 – Rotary Leadership Institute Salisbury, MD

Sept 16 – Tom Carr, Counselor, Author, National Speaker

Sept Holidays

Month Long Observance – Atrial Fibrillation Month
Weekly Observance – International Enthusiasm Week

Sept 2 – V-J Day

Quote of the Week

“If an elderly but distinguished scientist says that something is possible, he is almost certainly right; but if he says that it is impossible, he is very probably wrong.”
Arthur C. Clarke

General WEB Information

Interesting/Informative WEB Sites

The following is a list of interesting and informative web sites:

• thepaperboy.com – most popular newspapers

• memritv.org – Middle East Media Research Institute

• rasmussenreports.com – Rasmussen Reports

• ncpublicschools.org – NC public & Charter Schools info          (general)

• ncreportcards.org – NC public & Charter Schools info          (individual)

• usdebtclock.org – US Debt Clock up dating continuously

• opensecrets.org – nonpartisan guide to money’s influence on U.S. elections and public policy

• Transparency.org – Country’s Corruption Index

• gethuman.com – fastest way to a human voice on telephone, lists 2255 companies – average wait time and user rating

• ncga.state.nc.us – NC House & Senate website

• brainyquote.com    quotes from famous people

• intrade.com – Prediction Market, where you can bet on almost anything

• hotrantsmedia.com/home.aspx – Blogs left, middle & right

• infoplease.com – All the knowledge you need

• word-detective.com – words and language in a humorous vein on the web since 1995

• manhattan-institute.org/energymyths/index.htm – Energy & the Environment: Myths & Facts

• politico.com – current political issues

• augustreview.com  - Global Elite Research Center

• factcheck.org – Project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center

• Realclearpolitics – Almost everything political

• Imdb.com – internet movie database

• behindthename.com – the etymology and history of first names

• ncpa.org – National Center for Policy Analysis

• matrix.msu.edu/~civics – resources to enhance teaching civics in classroom

• Americanthinker.com -

• learnmore.duke.edu/olli – Osher Lifelong Lea