Letters (January 2008)
The Rotarian
Talk to us!
We hate junk mail just as much as you do, so it certainly brightens our day to get an actual letter from you, even if it’s just to blow off steam. Or maybe you want to share an opinion about something you’ve read or want to read. Don’t just tell your club – tell us and the rest of the Rotary world too. So keep those cards and letters coming with your suggestions, insights, criticisms and yes, even compliments, to yourletters@rotary.org or The Rotarian, One Rotary Center, 1560 Sherman Ave., Evanston, IL 60201 USA.
Extra copies?
I love the magazine. It’s informative and pleasing to the eye. Sometimes it’s also a wonderful tool. I happen to be teaching a class on ministerial ethics for a local Bible college, and when I read the article in the September issue titled “The Four-Way Test Means Business” and the following article, “Got Ethics?”, I knew I wanted to use them as teaching materials. It’s good to see the question of proper ethics discussed in many different sources, and I’d like to be able to distribute this material to my 15 students. Not wanting to make copies without permission, which is unethical (and fails The Four-Way Test), how do I obtain either the material or permission to copy these articles?
Jeff Blagg
Howell, Mich., USA
Editor’s note: Permission to reprint articles is granted on an individual basis, so send inquiries to rotarian@rotary.org. If you need extra issues of The Rotarian, please e-mail your phone number.
D.C. needs The Four-Way Test
As Rotarians, we live by The Four-Way Test. I wonder how this test would change the way decisions are made in Washington, D.C. With government officials pointing fingers at each other and no one wanting to take responsibility, I’d like to see every Rotarian in the United States send a card with The Four-Way Test to their representative and senator in D.C. Covering D.C. with this little test could have a huge impact on the way this great country is run.
Lee Rhodes
Greensboro, Ga., USA
Fascinating images
I was very impressed with your articles covering The Four-Way Test [September]. The pictures showing the transformation from handwriting to typewriter to laptop were particularly fascinating. The images clearly illustrate that even as fashion and technology change, the principles of The Four-Way Test are unchanged and still as relevant as when they were first written.
Neil Roscoe
Walnut Creek, Calif., USA
Club donates ShelterBoxes
The ShelterBox article [“Survivor: The Real Deal”] in the October issue was really timely for those of us in District 7870 [New Hampshire; Vermont, USA]. One August evening, I received a phone call from Tom Coleman, a member of the Rotary Club of Brandon, Vt. He informed me that his daughter, also a Rotarian, was living in Ica, Peru, and he had spoken to her via cell phone right after the earthquake. I heard a tale of battered homes, no power, no sanitation facilities, and of being totally cut off from relief efforts, as the Pan-American Highway was closed.
Tom asked me what Rotary could do to help. Because we are not a disaster relief organization, I knew of only one way to get aid to Peru. I immediately e-mailed the U.S. ShelterBox office in Florida. Within a day, I had my answer. The head office in Britain was way ahead of us and had dispatched a team and a full container of ShelterBoxes. The speed, care, and concern were extraordinary. This group of British Rotarians is incredible and really understands Service Above Self.
Kudos also to my Rotary Club of Manchester, Vt., for donating funds for a ShelterBox, as well as to our past president Pete Webster, who contributed to a second one. Thanks to them and all of you who are making a difference.
Joseph W. Mathews
Manchester, Vt., USA
Backup plan for presentations
Your PowerPoint article [Technology, October] is right on, and it prompts me to share this story.
In 2006, I was the leader of a Group Study Exchange team visit from District 7850 [Quebec, Canada; New Hampshire and Vermont, USA] to District 4250 [Belize; Guatemala; Honduras]. Our team spent several training sessions preparing a presentation for the clubs we would be visiting. It was a wonderful presentation, featuring pictures of scenic mountains, Lake Champlain, and the Vermont capitol. As group leader, I would do most of the narration, but team members would introduce their slides.
At the last minute, we decided to bring my laptop computer and slide projector. It was a good thing we did. Sure enough, there were no projectors or laptops available, but we had our trusty equipment handy. We made the presentation about a dozen times over the four-week trip. Only once was a projector available, and that was at the district conference in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
David W. Mount
Burlington, Vt., USA
PowerPoint pros and cons
Regarding the excellent “how-to” article about PowerPoint in the October issue [Technology]: Beyond the how-to, we might ask, should you?
Most talks are better without PowerPoint. I have seen too many presentations where the slideshow is used simply to present the speaker’s lecture notes. A good speaker can command the attention of the audience without technology getting in the way. On the other hand, PowerPoint can be a very powerful tool. Photographs can enhance many talks. Graphs and other visual effects are occasionally needed.
Frank Rycyk
Jefferson City, Mo., USA
Why aren’t they Rotarians?
I enjoyed the article “Building on a Rotary Foundation” [October] by Jan Parr.
Both Parr and the subject of the article, Jeanne Gang, were Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholars. All through the article about Gang’s architectural success, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Neither the author nor the subject has become a Rotarian. What a pity.
Louis DiPaolo
River Edge, N.J., USA
Bad October cover focus?
What a long way our magazine has come from its appearance when I joined Rotary in 1989. It is an excellent, modern publication. That said, what possessed you to create a cover like that of the October issue? If I could afford to go to the Los Angeles convention, neither Hollywood nor the stars would have anything to do with it. No more focus failure, please!
Diana Phillips
Miami, Fla., USA
Thai king’s jazz CD
I read with interest the article in the October issue “Topping the Charts in Thailand” [Up Front]. This is a fabulous fundraising idea. My compliments to the Rotary Club of Bangkok, Thailand, and my appreciation and admiration to His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The king has great compassion for people and enjoys a stellar reputation worldwide for his good deeds. He is a living testament to Service Above Self. Why not include a contact to purchase a CD of the king’s jazz? I would buy one.
Ed Shaughnessy
Belleair, Fla., USA
Editor’s note: Unfortunately, the CD is available only in stores in Thailand.
Publicize polio fundraising
Good article on polio and Franklin Delano Roosevelt [“Polio Plus One President,” July]. That The Rotary Foundation’s PolioPlus Fund contributed US$300,000 to the creation of the Smithsonian’s polio exhibit is an important side note. The missing note was that Rotarians worldwide have raised more than $630 million for the effort to eradicate polio around the world.
The younger generation questions the value of organizations like Rotary, thinking we are just a bunch having lunch. The lack of a more updated figure in the article is a shortcoming. If we don’t blast our own horn, the next generation will continue to see little value in membership in our fine worldwide organization. Blast it from the rooftops of Chicago and the world.
Tom Feigum
Hartfield, Va., USA
Hot topics
Crisis management
Has your club faced a crisis – an officer falling ill, a project imploding – and come out stronger? We’d like to hear how you coped. E-mail rotarian@rotary.org; write to The Rotarian, 1560 Sherman Ave., Evanston, IL 60201-3698 USA; or fax 847-866-9732.