“Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment.” – Lao Tzu – Chinese Philosopher

 

“The person who can bring the spirit of laughter into a room is indeed blessed.” – Bennett Cerf – 1898-1971 – American Publisher

 

“Negativity can only feed on negativity.” – Elisabeth Kubler-Ross – 1926-2004 – Psychiatrist-Author

 

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

(notes provided by the erudite Mary Hodson)

 

The proceeds from our annual fruit sale have been distributed.   DSC received $5,000 and the Navajo water project received $1,000 to purchase a 2,500-gallon water container.

 

January Bucket Bucks will go to Food As Medicine.   If you would like to make an extra donation, please send a check to Lou.

 

Rotary Leadership Institute will be held online on February 13.   You can sign up on the District 6490 website.   There is a $20 charge for materials.

 

Our February 25 our speaker will be someone from the Housing Authority who will tell us about their Youth Build program.   They need donations of new boys’ underwear and gently used ties, belts, and related items for interviews.

 

 

PROGRAM

 

Assistant Governor Mike Hirschi spoke about the Rotary Foundation and the current matching points campaign.

 

The Rotary Foundation has a four-star rating from Charity Navigator.  The Foundation has three major funds: The Annual Fund, the Endowment Fund, and Polio Plus.  The Annual Fund invests donations for three years, at which time, half comes back to the District to be used for District grants.  The other half goes into the World Fund which is used for large Global Grants.    The Endowment Fund is invested in perpetuity.   Proceeds can be used for programs. The third major fund is Polio Plus.

 

There are several levels of giving.   A Sustaining Member gives $100 per year.  A Benefactor makes a donation of at least $1,000 through their will.    A Paul Harris Fellow (PHF) is someone who has made a cumulative donation of $1,000 or more.   There are multiple levels of Paul Harris Fellowship.   A Major Donor is a Rotarian or a couple who have reached a total of $10,000 in giving.    A Paul Harris Society Member is someone who gives $1,000 per year to the Rotary Foundation.    So far, we have no one in our District who is a member of the Arch Klumph Society.  Those individuals have given at least $250,000.  They get their pictures on a hall of honor at the Rotary International headquarters in Evanston.  A Benefactor leaves at least $1,000 and a Bequest Society Member leaves $10,000 or more through his or her will.   

 

Our club has 24 Paul Harris Fellows, one Paul Harris Society member and one Major Donor.  To date, our club members have given $115,184 to the Foundation.   Mike pointed out that Scott is using the Rotary Direct feature on the Rotary.org website.   You can sign up for an automatic donation monthly, quarterly, or annually.  

 

We are credited with a Paul Harris recognition point for every dollar donated.   The points can be given away to help other Rotarians reach their goals.   Our District is currently running a match program.  Every donation of at least $100 through the month of January will be matched with PHF points donated by other Rotarians.   The form to request matching points can be downloaded from the District website and sent to Mike Hirschi.

 

Members who make a donation through our club, by sending a check made out to the CU Sunrise Rotary Charitable Foundation to Lou, will receive an additional match from our club.   CU Sunrise will match up to $250 for new members and up to $100 for existing members.

 

—

	Jan 28th	Feb 4th	Feb 11th	Feb 18th
Reflection	Bob La Charite	Eddie Bridges	Scott Paceley	Robb Patton
Notetaker	Conforti	Perry	Hodson	Conforti

—

 

UPCOMING SCHEDULE (with program committee member responsible listed in parentheses)

*All meetings via Zoom unless otherwise noted*

 

January 28th – Rachel Rasmussen will give us a update on Books 2 Prisoners (Cary)

February 4th – Tom Hodson, Shelter Box (Charlie)

February 11th – Kellie Anderson, Director, Family Service Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (Mary)

February 18th – Lindsey Kerr, Executive Director of LifeLine Pilots (Ondine)

February 25th – D’Chyna Deen, Champaign Housing Authority, will tell us about their Youth Build program (Mary)

March 4th – TBD (Bob)

March 11th – TBD (Cary)

March 18th – TBD (Charlie)

March 25th – TBD (Mary)

April 1st – TBD

April 8th – TBD

April 15th – TBD

April 22nd – TBD

April 29th – TBD

 

“I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.” – George Bernard Shaw – 1856-1950 – playwright and political activist

 

“Correction does much, but encouragement does more.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe – 1749-1832 – Poet-Playwright-Novelist

 

“The more grateful I am, the more beauty I see.” – Mary Davis – CEO of Special Olympics International

 

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

(notes provided by the distinguished gentleman from Connecticut, Ed Perry)

 

Bucket Bucks for January are going towards Food As Medicine.

 

Mike Hirschi will be the program at our 1/21/21 club meeting. Mike will be presenting information about his year’s Rotary Foundation Drive. Those members who donate to the Foundation are asked to send the money to Lou by January 25.

 

 

PROGRAM

 

Tom Ulen introduced Professor Brant Houston as our speaker this morning. Brant is the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Chair in Investigative and Enterprise Reporting at the College of Media here at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). His research focus is on nonprofit journalism newsrooms, digital tools for news-gathering and new business models for journalism. Brant teaches investigative and advanced reporting and oversees the online newsroom at Illinois, CU-CitizenAccess.org. 

 

Brant’s program this morning dealt with the challenges of covering QAnon. With the recent attack on the U.S. Capitol Building, QAnon has gained much attention in the news. QAnon began in 2017 with the far-right conspiracy theory alleging that a cabal of pedophiles are running a global sex-trafficking ring.  This conspiracy theory has been disproven. In 2019 the FBI reported concern that QAnon is a domestic extremist organization. Today, QAnon continues to spread far-right conspiracy theories, false election result theories, political falsehoods, fake news, threats and encourages attacks through online methods. Its audience has grown with the influx of false statements, misinformation and fake news spread through various media by countries, news organizations, and people in power.   

 

Brant noted that, as a reporter, QAnon is difficult to cover because it does not have an organized structure but instead consists of multifaceted collection of people (think hydra tentacles) that use sophisticated online dark web communication boards, social media and private chats. QAnon methods continue to change, broaden and spread its beliefs. One method that QAnon uses to spread these bogus theories is a sophisticated online alternate reality game-like method through the use of clues in various websites, videos, maps and voice messaging.

 

The New York Times and The Atlantic Monthly are two examples of good reporting in communicating information about QAnon. However, when reporting on a group such as QAnon, the journalists face a difficult dilemma: does the benefit of reporting about QAnon outweigh the possible harm the report may cause? 

 

QAnon’s existence and influence continues to grow with the American people and has infiltrated our political structure. President Trump and recently elected US Representatives Marjorie Taylor Green and Lauren Boebert are known to welcome QAnon’s beliefs and support. Boebert’s tweets the day of the Capital ransacking are currently under investigation by federal authorities.

 

According to Brant, QAnon looks at the Capitol attack as a success to build on and will continue to spread misinformation. Brant noted that better reporting and law enforcement is needed. He also added that historically the power of these cult-like groups begins to fade when the group’s influence turns to violent acts and arrests are made.

 

 

—

	Jan 21st	Jan 28th	Feb 4th	Feb 11th
Reflection	Larry Johnson	Bob La Charite	Eddie Bridges	Scott Paceley
Notetaker	Hodson	Conforti	Perry	Hodson

—

 

UPCOMING SCHEDULE (with program committee member responsible listed in parentheses)

*All meetings via Zoom unless otherwise noted*

 

January 21st – AG Mike Hiirschi will talk about the Rotary Foundation (Bob)

January 28th – Rachel Rasmussen will give us a update on Books 2 Prisoners (Cary)

February 4th – Tom Hodson, Shelter Box (Charlie)

February 11th – TBD (Mary)

February 18th – TBD (Ondine)

February 25th – TBD (Tom)

March 4th – TBD (Bob)

March 11th – TBD (Cary)

March 18th – TBD (Charlie)

March 25th – TBD (Mary)

 

 

“Change is the end result of all true learning.” – Leo Buscaglia – 1924-1998 – Author

 

“I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.” –

Albert Einstein – 1879-1955 – Mathematician-Physicist-Nobel Prize Recipient

 

“Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.” – Willie Nelson – Musician-Actor-Activist

 

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

Reflection: Mary Hodson quoting Senator Ben Sasse on the US Senate floor Wednesday January 6,2021:

 

Look, there’s a lot of uncertainty about the future, I get it. There’s a lot that does need to be rebuilt. But if you’re angry, I want to beg you – don`t let the screamers who monetize hate have the final word. Don’t let nihilists become your drug dealers. There are some who want to burn it all down. We met some of them today. But they aren’t going to win. Don’t let them be your prophets. Instead, organize, persuade, but most importantly, love your neighbor. Visit the widower down the street who’s lonely and didn’t want to tell anybody that his wife died and he doesn’t have a lot of friends. Shovel somebody’s driveway. You can’t hate somebody who just shoveled your driveway. The heart of life is about community and neighborhood, and we’re supposed to be servant leaders. The constitutional system is still the greatest order for any government ever, and it’s our job to steward it and protect it.

 

Special Guest: Betsy Kakoma (guest of Larry)

Betsy is the wife of past club member Dr. Ibulaimu Kakoma. Ibulaimu was a Professor in Veterinary Medicine at the University of Illinois. The Kakomas are from Uganda, Africa. They have seven children; one daughter, Laura, gained international fame as the singer Somi. Ibulaimu died 10 years ago and during his time with our club he helped our club with a Rotary Global Grant to bring water to a small village in Uganda.  Betsy noted that help is needed with maintaining our original project in Uganda and the school needs support as well.

 

 

PROGRAM

 

Ondine Gross led this week’s Dream Day 2021 program.  She asked that members consider the following two questions:

 

First, imagine you have unlimited resources and could go anywhere and do anything: Describe your perfect activity. 

Second, as a CU Sunrise Rotarian, if you had unlimited resources, where would you like our group to go and what would you like our group to do.

Here are the members’ responses:

Mary Kay 

1. With retirement around the corner, I want to find activity/work to stay active.
2. Have our club continue to grow and make a difference

Bob

1. See America on Amtrak
2. Continue our club’s focus on local needs and partner with another club. Transportation is also an interest.

 

Eddie Bridges

1. Visit Zambia with immediate family
2. Take our club on a trip to Zambia. Build a school or medical clinic in Nicole’s village.

 

Darrell

1. Continue to travel through the world with focus on Viking riverboat cruises.
2. Take the entire club to an International Rotary Meeting

Mary Hodson

1. Unlimited travel and visiting people met through travel, including in Europe.
2. Travel to Rotary to Houston, Texas for the 2022 Rotary International Meeting and Rotary Heart of America Trip in November. Other interests: helping refugees, gun control.

 

Oktay

1. Travel the world meeting new people and eating international meals.
2. Helping people in Africa because there are poor roads and people do not have enough food.

Jarrod

1. Visit any mountain and ocean
2. Continue to support Navajos – Send a group there to listen and help. Another passion is for Illinois natural resources. Club could build a prairie flower park to watch the sunsets.

 

Ed Perry

1. Bring family all together for annual gatherings throughout the US. Complete home project on Vieques, Puerto Rico property and help build a better medical facility on the island of Vieques. 
2. Club to support the health and welfare of the community. Find where need is and help with basic human needs: medical, water, education. Build rotary building.

Diana

1. Visit every National Park in America with family.
2. Go somewhere as a club, such as the Rotary International meeting in Houston.

 

Keith

1.Travel with the organization, “Engineers without Borders” to build bridges to food and resources. (There is a chapter at U of I).

2. Water Projects – getting water to communities across the world. Also, Habitat for Humanity projects in the USA.

 

Paul

1. Travel throughout the USA with Amtrak Pass with stops at various stations. “You can’t hate someone when you know their story.”
2. Club to start a movement that “Patriotism starts at Home.” True patriots help others.Charlie
3. Create museum showcasing local area history and include old tools. And anything with wrestling.
4. Club to help expand educational opportunities for kids who don’t have anything.

 

Robb
1. Participate in a PBS style “finding your roots.” Also, be part of a jam session with all my favorite musicians.

2. Club to help every child attend early childhood learning and have clean water. Create the focus that world peace begins here at home.

Lou

1. Better health
2. Have everyone vaccinated for COVID and then have all members of the club take a trip and have fun. (Number 5 of the Four Way Test).

 

Scott

1. Go out to lunch, walk with Cyndi on a beach with views of the water and blue sky, and create something good and lasting.
2. Club to focus efforts – such as the environment (develop a park), literacy, or financial literacy. Focus efforts on one thing for lasting results.

 

Jerry

1. As a history buff, learn Latin to read and translate documents from medieval times. 
2. As a new member still learning about our club. Impressed at how group as persevered using zoom through pandemic.

 

Cary

1.Gather family together and travel to new areas and help others.

2. Help children’s groups that teach children.

 

Larry

1.Continue to visit and stay in Hawaii (Kapalua Bay in Maui) with Judy

2. Club goes to Botswana to help with a water project: digging well for a water reservoir.

 

Ondine

1.Travel anywhere with the focus on visiting nature. 

2. March in the annual Pride parade and distribute pencils, books, and peace/conflict resolution fliers.

 

—

 

	Jan 14th	Jan 21st	Jan 28th	Feb 4th
Reflection	Darrell Hoemann	Larry Johnson	Bob La Charite	Phyllis Mischo
Notetaker	Perry	Hodson	Conforti	Perry

—

 

UPCOMING SCHEDULE (with program committee member responsible listed in parentheses)

*All meetings via Zoom unless otherwise noted*

 

January 14th – Professor Brant Houston, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Chair in Investigative and Enterprise Reporting at the University of Illinois, will talk about QAnon  (Tom)

January 21st – AG Mike Hiirschi will talk about the Rotary Foundation (Bob)

January 28th – Rachel Rasmussen will give us a update on Books 2 Prisoners (Cary)

February 4th – Tom Hodson, Shelter Box (Charlie)

February 11th – TBD (Mary)

February 18th – TBD (Ondine)

February 25th – TBD (Tom)

March 4th – TBD (Bob)

March 11th – TBD (Cary)

March 18th – TBD (Charlie)

March 25th – TBD (Mary)