WHERE WERE THE YEARLINGS?
Yes, before our meeting this Thursday, we had a Yearling Breakfast on Tuesday the 6th, in the usual location at the Holiday Inn. Alas, only RO SHAW was there - missing were ATHENA JACKSON, SHERRY DEWANE, JAYNE SPENCER, SHARIN KLISSER and BERT KREISBERG! I'm sorry, but that just isn't good enough - members present included Prexy STEVE, PDG ANDY ANDERSON, SALLY BRANT, PP STEVE DAY, GEORGE DEA, PP DOUG DESCH, TODD GURVIS, KEN KILPO, HARLAN LEWIS, RON LYSTER, DAVE MORE, HOMER NEWMAN, HOWARD SISKEL, YOE and MIKE YOUSEM. All of us attended so we could orient the new members - and each of us had something of history or background to pass along. We thank RO SHAW for being present - but for the rest of you, I'm sorry, but Shame, Shame On You!

AND NOW TODAY -
After the usual preliminaries, GEORGE DEA was summoned forward by Prexy STEVE, who pointed out that GEORGE would be attending PETS this weekend. To his everlasting credit, GEORGE was able to tell us what these initials stand for - it's a concentrated session devoted to educating incoming Presidents, and certainly always beneficial. YOE dimly recalls going to the Nice Convention as incoming President in 1967 and then realizing that not before that, or during the Convention itself, was a word spoken to educate us greenhorns! So, GEORGE, good luck and take notes.

MARK BLOCK led the Pledge, with PP JIM DOWNIE and JACK HARRIS combining on the song. While the intro was nicely done, preparing us for the tempo to be expected, YOE is uncertain that JACK was entirely ready to signal us as to when to start - so the first two lines of SMILES may be forever lost to posterity. However, we done good thereafter…KEN LEVER presented a thoughtful Hebrew prayer, concluding that if, as Rotarians, we can help Rotary achieve its primary goals, we will indeed achieve the Clarion Call of this excellent prayer. Thank you, KEN. Guests included Mary Francis COX, wife of GEORGE, and Gregg Hackethal, a friend of today's speaker (and also a law classmate of PP MIKE NEWMAN). KEN LEVER introduced Elena Ostern, a Special Guest of LEE DUNAYER. And SUSAN ALLEN noted that JINBECK LEE, should henceforth be considered a Member - Susan is his counselor.

Next up was new member RO SHAW, who came forward to lead us in a relaxing, low impact Tai Chi body tone up. We were first asked to raise our arms, then to open our eyes as wide as we could, and hold them widely open. Deep breathing followed, and RO pointed out that this exercise also expands the chest, getting more air into your lungs. This type of brief relaxer can really help reduce the buildup of stress, and of course it can be done anywhere you happen to be. Good work, RO.

DePauw & the WSJ -
It sometimes pays if you choose where to sit at meetings - YOE was smart (lucky?) enough to be a tablemate of RAY ZICKFELD, and thus got a copy of the Wall Street Journal article which RAY mentioned briefly. In the certain knowledge that PP BOB WESSLING will be unable to resist rewarding me in a fitting manner, I now propose to briefly summarize the excellent article on DePauw, which appeared in today's WSJ.

College and University endowments now total $195 billion dollars - Harvard alone has $19 of that total. More than half the 509 reporting units have over $100 million each.

The average cost of private school higher education is $22,541 per year, and this figure has risen by 5l% in the last ten years. With this background, we learn that alumnus Philip Holton has left DePauw $128 million - the largest single gift so far known. He and his wife wanted the money to be used to send Indiana youngsters to DePauw.

This in turn frees up other money which had been earmarked for capital and scholarship costs. The average amount spent from endowments is about 5%, and so this recent gift provides about $7.9 million in annual cash. Tuition costs $20,510 at DePauw and their present enrollment is 2300 -but their scholarship costs alone are $22 million! So it's a mixed blessing, but certainly most welcome. Quite a story, really.

LOOKING AHEAD -
March 13th - Board Meeting at 6:30 - RSVP to ANN ELKIN, please.
March 14th - our Women's Auxiliary will meet at the WESSLINGS starting at 11:30.
March 27th - District Breakfast at LAX Marriott, 0645 - JIM GREATHEAD.
March 29th - YEARLING MEETING after our regular meeting - set aside the time right now, please - you really NEED this detailed orientation (and it's your chance to make up for missing last Tuesday. See there - you DO get a second chance!)
March 31st - the final deadline for changes in the Roster Book - see RAY ZICKFELD.

PENNY JENKINS, FIGHTING BACK
And PP RALPH WOODWORTH ably introduced her. Shortly after moving to Santa Barbara, she joined the Board of the Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse. Six months later, the Director was fired, and she was asked to take it over - which she agreed to do for a six-month period. It's now 14 years later, and the group has grown from 7 employees to 50, while the budget increased from $180K to $2.5 million. Their major activity is called Fighting Back, chartered to reduce the demand for alcohol and drugs.

She first formed a 50-member task force, composed of the power players in the community. They had to get over their denial that Santa Barbara had a major problem, and one of their first moves was to install a trained resource person in each middle and high school - paid for by their Council - and these on-the-spot individuals began to get quick results (and since they were 'free', the schools more than welcomed them). They started - and continue with - many programs, which have helped to reduce their drug use to well below the state average - it once was FIRST. This has resulted in halving the DUI-related traffic accidents, while marijuana use among youth is at its lowest level in nine years.

A video produced by Bill Moyers was shown - and you knew it would be excellent.

It began by pointing out that Santa Barbara once had the highest rate of alcoholism in California, and this was centered in Goleta, where most students at UCSB live. The definition of Fighting Back is collaboration, working with every aspect of the community, and this became increasingly easier once the community accepted the fact that they did, indeed, have a serious problem. Their Youth Service Specialists became not only mentors, but also friends, to the many kids at risk. They received a grant of $3 million, which could be renewed if results were good - and it WAS renewed. One individual decided he could help by 'selling' his climb of Kilimanjaro as a fund-raiser, and he brought in $500K! (All YOE got when he climbed the darn thing were blisters…)

Q&A - are you working with UCSB? - the Chair of their Council is the Chancellor. What do you think of the movie Traffic? Excellent, it shows how things really are. Penny Jenkins, yours is certainly an inspiring story - keep up the good work!

Thought for the Day - "The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work" Arthur Brisbane.

YOE, Ernie Wolfe