The poem from the Holiday Luncheon

Many people wanted to get a copy of the poem that Brad read at the Holiday Luncheon. After some searching on the Internet, I was able to find out about the original author of the poem and even found a recording of the author reading him poem. You can read and hear it at http://iwvpa.net/marksm/a_soldie.php

October Speakers

We've people ask for copies of the presentations for two of our speakers this month.

On October 3, we had Dr. Jim Eckman speak to the group on "Does the Human Embryo have Moral Value". His powerpoint presentation can be found at http://www.omaharotary.com/Body/Whirl/pdf/2007-10-03_Eckman.ppt

On October 31, Amy Peck of Peck Law Firm, spoke about Immigration status. Her presentation is at http://www.omaharotary.com/Body/Whirl/pdf/2007-10-31_Peck_Immigration.pdf

Link's from Marty Magee

Today's speaker was Marty Magee from the National Network/Library of Medicine. During her talk, she told us about many important web sites to find out information about our health and well-being. 80% of the web searches deal with health issues. But not all sites have non-biased, peer-reviewed information. Below is a clickable list of the sites that she recommended:

National Library of Medicine: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/
Medline Plus: http://www.medlineplus.gov/
MedlinePlus-Go Local: www.medlineplus.gov/golocal (http://apps.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/local/nebraska/list_service.cfm?areaid=28&location_id=1493&location_type=County&service_type=all&invokedby=locations)
Senior Health: http://nihseniorhealth.gov/
PubMed: http://www.pubmed.gov/
Toxtown: http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/
Toxmap: http://toxmap.nlm.nih.gov/
Household Products Database: http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine: http://nccam.nih.gov/
Medical Library Association: www.caphis.mlanet.org/consumer
My Family Health Portrait: www.hhs.gov/familyhistory
UNMC-Consumer Health Information Resource Service (CHIRS): www.unmc.edu/library/consumer
Nebraska Access: www.nlc.state.ne.us/
Evaluating Resources: www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/evaluatinghealthinformation.html

Thank you Marty for this great information!

Travel Banners

When you are travelling, why not attend a Rotary meeting at your destination? You get attendance credit when you do so.

If you'd like a banner to present to the visiting club, please contact me in advance.

Here are two recent banners we've received: From Janet Richardson, who visited the Rotary Club of Hartlepool; and from John Mock who visited the Butler MO Rotary Club.

Generations at Work

Our speaker this week is Andrea Fredrickson, from the American Institute of Management Inc. and the topic will be Generations at work. Here's a great article from the Omaha World Herald about the topic: http://www.americaninst.com/fliers/Generations%20Story.htm

Also, for those of you who want a hint in the "Baby Boomer Birthday Average" contest, here are the definitions of the different generations.

VETERANS Born 1926-44 Assets: • Stable • Detail-oriented • Thorough • Loyal • Hard-working Liabilities: • Difficulty with ambiguity • Reluctant to buck system • Uncomfortable with conflict • Reluctant to say they disagree

BABY BOOMERS Born 1944-64 Assets: • Service-oriented • Driven • Willing to go extra mile • Good at relationships • Want to please • Good team players Liabilities: • Not naturally budget-minded • Uncomfortable with conflict • Reluctant to go against peers • May put process ahead of results • Overly sensitive to feedback • Judgmental of those who see things differently • Self-centered

GENERATION XERS Born 1964-80 Assets: • Adaptable • Techno-literate • Independent • Unintimidated by authority • Creative Liabilities: • Impatient • Poor people skills • Inexperienced • Cynical

MILLENNIALS (GEN Y) Born 1980-2000 Assets: • Collective action • Optimism • Tenacity • Heroic spirit • Multitasking capabilities • Technologically savvy Liabilities: • Need for supervision • Inexperienced, particularly in difficult people issues

College World Series Committee notes

Leroy Swedlund and Jim Stewart, co-chairs of the College World Series Committee, wish to thank all the Rotarians who helped make this year's CWS another success. Our committee sold 664 ticket books this year, second only to one other service club. Thanks to Gretchen Bren, Brad Burklund, Tim Cavanaugh, John Mock, and Leigh Sittenauer who were responsible for selling a good portion of those books. Other Rotarians selling books included Jim Bemis (West), Phil Monaco (West), and Dan Reeder (Suburban). A special thanks goes to all Rotarians who purchased books to be donated to charities. The children at Girls and Boys Town were especially appreciative of the opportunity to attend a game.

Our club hosted the University of North Carolina Tar Heels, who finished second in this year’s tournament. We met them at the airport upon their arrival on June 13 and used Brad Burklund's Walker Tire trailer to transport all their equipment to the Marriott. Jim Stewart made arrangements to have the CWS patch sewn on to their uniforms (4 sets!) and Leroy Swedlund delivered ice and water to the team daily for games and practices. Our club hosted the team at Oak Hills Country Club on June 16 with nearly 200 people attending (a number of whom were Rotarians) It was at this event where the team may have set a new CWS record for broken golf clubs in the driving contest! We were also were able to take them to the Nebraska Medical Center where the entire team visited with a number of children oncology patients, courtesy of Rotarian Mike Geis. With the loss to Oregon State on Sunday, June 24 the team left bright and early on Monday the 25th, again with the assistance of Brad and his trailer.

It should be noted that this team, including the coaching staff and administration, was one of the nicest teams we have had the pleasure to briefly get to know. Even after a loss, they were polite, accessible and sincerely friendly to everyone to whom they came in contact. Beth Miller, the Senior Associate Director of Athletics, contacted us once she returned to North Carolina. Her e-mail included the following: “I really appreciate all you did to help our players, coaches and staff for the entire 12 days. It was reassuring to know that you were always available to assist us ….your hospitality was wonderful. If we are so fortunate to get back to the CWS next year, I hope to see you and have a chance to visit ….even if you aren’t our ‘official’ host.”

Rotary has been an important part of the CWS for over thirty-five years going back to when Rotarian Don McGonigal was chairman of this committee. This is a great opportunity for our club to assist in hosting (and keeping) this great event in Omaha! Thank you once again and let’s do it again next year!

Vistors

In the last few weeks, we've had two visitors from out-of-state Rotary Clubs. Both brought something from their club.

Dan Markham, from Rotary Club of Duluth No. 25, visited the club on June 27, and brought their club banner.

Larry Chalew, from Rotary Club of Clackamas (OR), visted the club on July 11, and brought their club's 25th anniversary coin.

If you visit another Rotary club out of state or out of country and would like to exchange banners with them, please see Gretchen before you go.