“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.” –Booker T. Washington

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Michelle announced two Interact events at Central High School: the Interact Trivia Night on March 30 and the International Fair from 6-8 PM on April 11.

The April 18 meeting with be cancelled in favor of the April 17 All Area Rotary Club Noon Meeting at the Round Barn.

David Henry announced that his family will host a Rotary Youth Exchange from Thailand in the fall.

PROGRAM

Bob introduced Professor Eric Freyfogel, Swanlund Chair Emeritus at the University of Illlinois College of Law.  Professor Freyfogel specializes in conservation law and private property rights.   He authored the first wildlife law casebook.  His newest book, “Wildlife Law, a Primer”, will come out later this year.  Professor Freyfogel also serves on the boards of the National Wildlife Federation and Prairie Rivers Network.

People have moved animals with them across continents.  Red Foxes, Ring Necked Pheasants, House Sparrows, European Starlings and Asian Carp are all immigrants to this area.  However, only about 10% of animals introduced into a new area can survive.   For example, sixty-five species of parrots are found in Florida but few reproduce.  There are rising populations of species that get along with people, such as Canada Geese, White Tailed Deer, and Raccoons.  They thrive because their natural predators are missing.

Due to the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, birds are the most protected animals in this country. Some larger birds such as the Coopers Hawk, Bald Eagle, Great Blue Herron, Wild Turkey and Sandhill Crane are rebounding or returning to Illinois.

However, human activity has reduced the world’s biomass of wild animals by seven-fold.  Studies have established that there is a significant decline in wildlife populations around the world, caused primarily by loss of habitat or habitat fragmentation.  In May 2017, a study completed by the National Academy of Science concluded that 96% of the biomass of mammals on the planet are either humans or livestock.  Poultry outnumber wild birds by four to one.  Another study showed a 60% decline in average vertebrate populations since 1970.  There is also a massive decline in insect populations around the world.  This is significant because insects are at the base of the food chain.

Climate change will also affect animal populations.  In other words, the 6th mass extinction crisis is in progress.  

Professor Freyfogel said that wildlife will come back if you provide a habitat.  He thinks the government as well as individuals should take a more active role in restoring animal habitats

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

March 28th – TBD (Charlie)

April 4th –  Kathy Sweedler, University of Illinois Extension, will speak about the Money Mentor program (David)

April 11th – William O Brien, PhD, Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will speak about his research projects involving ultrasonic bioengineering and biophysics (Mary)

April 18th – Meeting cancelled in favor of April 17 all area Noon Rotary meeting at the Round Barn Center

April 25th – Rachel Graham, Crisis Nursery (Phyllis)

May 2nd – Club Assembly 

May 9th – TBD (Bob)

May 16th – TBD (Charlie)

May 23rd – TBD (David)

May 30th – No AM meeting – Club Social TBA

June 6th – TBD (Ondine)

June 13th – Nichole Millage, Environmental Sustainability Specialist, City of Champaign Recycling, will speak about recycling(Phyllis)

June 20th – TBD (Tom)

June 27th – TBD (Bob)

July 4th – TBD

“If you don’t have any critics you’ll likely have no success.” – Malcolm X

“The people who succeed are irrationally passionate about something.” – Naval Ravikant

ANNOUNCEMENTS
(Notes provided by Allan Penwell)

Club elections will take place during our April 4^th meeting. We also plan to have a club assembly in April.

Champaign West is again hosting the annual celebration of the founding of Rotary. Mark your calendars for April 17 for this event which is the 114^th anniversary at the Round Barn Center. We will be taking a head count, and also volunteers are needed.

PROGRAM

Our speaker at the meeting on March 14^th was Kimberly Kendall, PhD. Her topic was “Aging, Leisure, Stress & Wellness in Our Culture and in C-U.”

Kim comes from a large family, and family was everything to her mother. After her husband passed away, Kim was able to observe her mother and how she handled this life-changing event.

There are three themes of research in the step to wellness for seniors which are called the Tripod of Success:  (1) leisure, (2) fitness, and (3) mental wellness.

Leisure wellness has two components which are cognitive and physical. Cognitive includes examples of reading, writing, and card games. Physical would include examples like swimming, biking, and walking. Both of these lead to a happy leisure theme.

Stressor components are health and financial well-being. Seniors need to get help from others to include relatives, friends, and professionals. Let your friends be real people and not the television set. One needs to accept his or her new role in life.

Mental wellness is connected to success in the leisure and stressor elements and understanding your new identity. Kim closed with this quote from Kierkegaard—“Although life must be lived forward, it can only be understood by looking back.”

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

March 21st – Eric Freyfogle, Research Professor and Swanlund Chair, Emeritus, University of Illinois College of Law will discuss dwindling wildlife populations (Bob)

March 28th – TBD (Charlie)

April 4th –  Kathy Sweedler, University of Illinois Extension, will speak about the Money Mentor program (David)

April 11th – William O Brien, PhD, Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will speak about his research projects involving ultrasonic bioengineering and biophysics (Mary)

April 18th – Meeting cancelled in favor of April 17 all area Noon Rotary meeting at the Round Barn Center

April 25th – TBD (Phyllis)

May 2nd – Club Assembly 

May 9th – TBD (Bob)

May 16th – TBD (Charlie)

May 23rd – TBD (David)

May 30th – No AM meeting – Club Social TBA

June 6th – TBD (Ondine)

June 13th – Nichole Millage, Environmental Sustainability Specialist, City of Champaign Recycling, will speak about recycling(Phyllis)

June 20th – TBD (Tom)

June 27th – TBD (Bob)

July 4th – TBD

“Before a child talks they sing.  Before they write they draw.  As soon as they stand they dance.  Art is fundamental to human expression.” – Phylicia Rashad

“Feelings are much like waves, we can’t stop them from coming but we can choose which ones to surf.” – Unknown

ANNOUNCEMENTS

(notes provided by the unorthodox and unconventional Paul Conforti)

Allan Penwell presented the following CU Sunrise officer and director slate. This slate of officers was recommended by the CU Sunrise board of directors nominating committee, and will be voted on at our April 4th meeting:

President-Elect: Mary Kay Smith

Treasurer: Billy Stull

Secretary: Allan Penwell

Club Service Director: Keith Brandau

Community Service Director: Robb Patton

International Service Director: Charlie Smith

New Generations Director: Michelle Barbey

Vocational Service Director: Angie Schoonover

A write in nomination line will also be on the ballot.

Michelle said the Read Across America (Saturday March 2nd) event went great and kids in attendance loved it. Thanks to all who helped with their participation and support.

Charlie announced a planned upcoming meeting game tentatively called “Name My Rotarian.” CU Sunrisers will be given a questionnaire asking questions about themselves, and at subsequent meetings these facts and interesting tidbits about our members will be read aloud and we’ll be asked to Name My Rotarian!

Central Interact is co-sponsoring a trivia event Saturday, March 30th with proceeds benefiting Austin’s Place. Please see the announcement sent by Michelle on February 28^th to our members.

Mary Kay is going to Rotary Leadership Institute on March 30^th at Richland Community College in Decatur. Join Mary Kay for a great six hours in learning about Rotary. 

PROGRAM

Phyllis introduced Dr. Don Wuebbles, The Harry E. Preble Professor of Atmospheric Sciences and University of Illinois Presidential Fellow, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Wuebbles (Don) gave his presentation titled Climate Change and the Four Way Test (Don is a Rotarian).

Dr. Wuebbles is an expert in atmospheric physics and chemistry, with over 500 scientific publications related to the Earth’s climate, air quality, and the ozone layer. His work provides analyses and development of metrics used in national and international policy and in developing analyses for understanding climate impacts on society and ecosystems, plus potential societal responses. He has co-authored a number of international and national scientific assessments, including several international climate assessments led by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that resulted in IPCC being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. 

Dr. Wuebbles has two degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois (1970, 1972) and a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of California, Davis (1983).

Don and his wife Barbara are both from farming families in Illinois. They met at the University of Illinois when they were students and have been married for nearly 50 years. They have 3 sons and 5 grandchildren.

Dr. Wuebbles discussed the importance of distinguishing weather and climate. Weather describes the climate in terms of weeks whereas climate describes the weather in terms of decades. According to Dr. Wuebbles, The warmest years on record (since the 1880’s start of record keeping) are: 2016, 2017, 2015, 2018, and 2014. The year 2018 is the wettest winter on record in the U.S.

There have been warmer periods in Earth’s history; the difference is that recent warming activity is occurring more rapidly. At the arctic, changes are occurring twice the rate observed at more temperate latitudes. Our climate is changing, it is happening now, and it is happening at an extremely rapid pace. Natural cycles cannot explain these changes. 

Climate change is largely happening because of human activities and associated pollution. There are no credible alternative explanations. This assessment is data driven. Comparisons over time (1860 to present) of land surface temperature, sea surface temperature, tropospheric temperature, ocean heat content, humidity, snow cover, arctic sea ice and glacier mass all indicate a significant warming trend over this timeline and increasingly so since around 1980.

Certain types of extreme events show important trends both globally and in the United States: Heat waves are increasing in number and intensity, cold waves are decreasing, increased precipitation as larger events occur in the NE, increasing intensity of droughts in the SW, increased incidence of wildfires in the west and Alaska. Increasing intensity of hurricanes are expected and tornado activity will be more variable with an increase in outbreaks. The recent deadly large tornado in Alabama was not unto itself unusual, but the number of tornadoes that day was unusual making the intensity of any single one more difficult to predict.

Many lines of evidence demonstrate that human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, are primarily responsible for the observed climate changes.

What should we do?

There are only three options:

> Mitigation: measures to reduce the pace and magnitude of changes in the climate. 

> Adaption: measures to reduce the adverse impacts on human well-being resulting from climate change.

> Suffering: the adverse impacts and societal disruption not avoided by mitigation or adaption.

What can you do?

> Speak up!

> Write your representatives

> Vote with care

> Be energy efficient: LED light bulbs, efficient appliances, cold water washing

> Eat organic, less meat, buy local

> Use mass transit, walk, etc.

>Drive fuel efficient vehicles

>Use solar or other renewable energy

Don ended with a quote from his colleague Sir David King, head of the Chemistry Department at Cambridge and science advisor to the Prime Minister of the U.K., “Climate change is not the biggest challenge of our time, it’s the biggest challenge of all time.”

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

March 14th – Kimberly Kendall will discuss Leisure, Aging, and Wellness (Tom)

March 21st – Eric Freyfogle, Research Professor and Swanlund Chair, Emeritus, University of Illinois College of Law will discuss dwindling wildlife populations (Bob)

March 28th – TBD (Charlie)

April 4th –  Kathy Sweedler, University of Illinois Extension, will speak about the Money Mentor program (David)

April 11th – TBD (Mary)

April 18th – TBD (Ondine)

April 25th – TBD (Phyllis)

May 2nd – TBD (Tom)

May 9th – TBD (Bob)

May 16th – TBD (Charlie)

May 23rd – TBD (David)

May 30th – TBD (Mary)

June 6th – TBD (Ondine)

June 13th – Nichole Millage, Environmental Sustainability Specialist, City of Champaign Recycling, will speak about recycling(Phyllis)

June 20th – TBD (Tom)

June 27th – TBD (Bob)

July 4th – TBD

“You can perceive real beauty in a person as they get older.” – Anouk Aimee

“Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement.” – Will Rogers

“You’ve been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” – Louise Hay

“Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” – George Bernard Shaw

ANNOUNCEMENTS
(Notes provided by Allan Penwell)

At our March 7^th meeting the nominating committee will present its slate of officers and directors for the next Rotary year. If you have someone to nominate that is not on the list, nominations may be made from the floor. In accordance with our bylaws the club will vote on the recommendations at our April 4^th meeting.

Central Interact is co-sponsoring a trivia event Saturday, March 30th with proceeds benefiting Austin’s Place. Please see the announcement sent by Michelle on February 28^th to our members.

Mary Kay is going to Rotary Leadership Institute on March 30^th at Richland Community College in Decatur. Join Mary Kay for a great six hours in learning about Rotary.

Allan was presented with his pin for his PHF+3. When asked by President Cary he commented that he became a Rotarian because Rotary has standards of personal conduct similar to when he was a Boy Scout, and he enjoys being part of a group. He joins Mary, Lou, and Maarten as Paul Harris Fellows at that giving level to The Rotary Foundation.

PROGRAM

Our speaker at last week’s meeting was Dr. George Gross who is a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UIUC. George is also married to CUSR member Ondine Gross. George has consulted on electricity issues with utilities, government organizations and research institutions worldwide. George and Ondine moved to Champaign in 1993 and have twin daughters. The theme of the presentation was modernization of the electrical grid.

Electricity is the lifeblood of modern society and our key to global competitiveness. Retail sales of electricity in the U.S. are $400 billion annually which punctuates the need for affordable, reliable and especially clean electricity. It was noted that in countries where the standard of living increases, the demand for clean energy and lower pollution sources increases.

A transmission grid includes not only the transmission lines from differing sources but also the electricity generating stations. While electricity is abundant in the U.S., the grid is in need of upgrades. Our grids are owned by a mixture of federal, state, and municipal entities (even not for profits and cooperatives). This diverse ownership is an issue which contributes to the difficulty for all participants to focus equally on grid improvement.  Improvements include renewable energy sources, better demand response, and increasing capacity.

In Illinois, our transmission grid is #2 in the country in terms of modernization. On the flip side the Illinois energy source for electricity is 50% from coal whereas in the U.S. it has decreased to 30%. Very little of Illinois energy is hydroelectric, 9% is from wind, natural gas is 20%, and nuclear is 16%. Solar sources are still modest.

Renewable energy sources are increasing and total over 15% in the U.S. according to some statistics. Data from 2017 show the breakdown of renewables is 37.5% from wind, 44.1% from hydroelectric, and solar is 7.7% but increasing. The issue with wind and solar is storage because production is inconsistent. As of now, conventional power plants will still be needed unless energy storage advances well beyond the capability of today.

Commercial and personal transportation use the most fossil fuels with the exception of the one million electric cars in the U.S. Until there become more charging stations and more efficient electric cars, trucks and trains, there will not be a leap to renewable sources for transportation power. George told the story that when Tesla announced their Model 3 in 2016, there were 325,000 reservations for the car in the first seven days.  He was one of them, but availability was such that he recently had a notification that he could have one delivered but only if it had a black interior. He did not mention if he took them up on their offer.

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

March 7th – Don Wuebbles, The Harry E. Preble Professor of Atmospheric Sciences and University of Illinois Presidential Fellow, will speak about climate change (Phyllis)

March 14th – Kimberly Kendall will discuss Leisure, Aging, and Wellness (Tom)

March 21st – TBD (Bob)

March 28th – TBD (Charlie)

April 4th –  Kathy Sweedler, University of Illinois Extension, will speak about the Money Mentor program (David)

April 11th – TBD (Mary)

April 18th – TBD (Ondine)

April 25th – TBD (Phyllis)

May 2nd – TBD (Tom)

May 9th – TBD (Bob)

May 16th – TBD (Charlie)

May 23rd – TBD (

Rescheduled – William D O’Brien, Professor Emeritus, Electrical and Computer Engineering, UIUC, will tell us about his current research in ultrasonic bioengineering (Mary)