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July 15th at the Luxe
–Another Good Program
After a bit of a noisy start, ED
JACKSON came forward to lead the Pledge. We only had three song leaders
this time – but the quality was excellent, of course. They included
LENNY FRIEDMAN, PP STEVE DAY and JACK HARRIS. After several attempts
including early advice to Sit Down, we came together with America.
Speaking editorially, which as you all know, I seldom do, I do believe
that a piano might help our rendition. ED GAULD provided the
Invocation, allowing those who were still standing from the previous
exercise to sit down. “God, some of your people are hurting – they have
problems that are very hard to solve… many people are poor, some have
not a single friend… please show us how we can share your love with
them” Nicely done, Ed.
I was called upon to speak about
Visiting Rotarians, and I related that I had a phone call earlier today
from Ray Ingle (sp?) on my machine – he wanted to know if we were
meeting, and where. Since he got no answer from me, he was going to
call the Bel Air and ask them, but I somehow doubt that they gave him
any useful directions. I looked up the name in the District Directory,
but he wasn’t listed - so our one chance for a visitor at the Luxe
didn’t pan out. SHANE WAARBROEK introduced Susan Baldwin, who is with
White and Cash - she is an associate of our Speaker, Frank Baxter. And
at long last, we have a specific report on the upcoming District
Breakfast – CHRIS BRADFORD was able to confirm that the first of the
four meetings for this year will be on August 11th, 0715, at
the LAX Marriott. All Directors are urged to attend, and those who can
should reserve with CHRIS, please. And earlier in August, Saturday the
7th, to be exact, a Membership Seminar will take place, at
the Carson Community Center. This will start with breakfast, and the
meeting itself will run until noon. The person to notify if you are
going is SHANE WAARBROEK.
RUDY’S WORLD, as noted on the
website was up next. After a show of hands of how many had checked the
web, GORDON FELL was fingered – he was sitting next to me, so I could
check his reaction to the questions, which I now pass on to all of
you…There was what looked like a mask, or sculpture, as GORDON saw it.
Turns out it was a Doorbell, which Senor RUDY encountered on his early
morning walk. This general recognition on the part of GORDON got him off
the hook as far as suffering a fine.
July Birthdays were noted, and in
the interest of proper sequence, will be listed as they occurred, OK?
First up was HENRY TSENG, on the 2nd in Yokahama, Japan. Two
of you chose the 4th, ED GAULD in Long Island City, and HANK
HEUER, also in the state of NY, but Yonkers was his city. On the 6th,
we went international again, with MAX LICHTENBERGER arriving in Steyr,
Austria. CLAWSON BLEAK brought us back to the US, coming along on the
10th in St. George, Utah. DANNY SKINNER arrived on the 15th,
in LA – and GORDON FELL also alighted in LA, but on the 18th.
Next day, PP YOSH SETOGUCHI kept the action going in LA – that was the
19th, of course. DICK DAVIS alighted on the 26th
in Marion, Indiana, while SALLY PHILLIPS chose Cooperstown, North Dakota
(not to be confused with that other town of the same name where some
sort of baseball activity goes on). She just squeezed in to July on the
29th, but TERRY M. WHITE closed out the month on the 31st,
in Santa Monica. We provided our usual touching vocal tribute to those
who were able to be present. But in the interest of historical accuracy,
it should be noted that NO birthday gifts were presented – and I’m sure
no one will accuse me of this being a self-serving announcement, even
though my own is next month…(It’s the 11th, and presents are
OK, of course).
And it turns out that TODAY, the
15th, is JIM and CAROL COLLINS 54th Anniversary –
our Congratulations, and best wishes.
ARE YOU LISTED?
Yes, we have business cards as
lunch tickets for the following: Nora Aquino, Susan Allen, Clawson
Bleak, Al Bellanca, Mark Block, Sally Brant, Donn Conner, George Cox,
Dick Davis, Gregg Elliott, Gordon Fell, Wally Fischmann, Lenny
Friedman, Art Henry, Kevin Komatsu, Tom Lenehen, Harlan Lewis, Eric
Loberg, Steve Lore, Tony Marrone, Sean McMillan, Bill Michael, Peter
More, Homer Newman, Mike Newman, Don Park, Gene Prindle, Kacy Rozelle,
Ro Shaw, John Singleton, Myron Taylor, Bob Thom, Leo Tseng, Elliott
Turner, Sloss Viau, Ron Wanglin, Bob Wessling, Terry M. White, Terry R.
White, Dave Whitehead, Ernie Wolfe, Ralph Woodworth, Mike Yousem and Ray
Zickfeld. So, if you ain’t and wanna be, give YOE a card, please.
LENORE MULRYAN introduced Mina
Soroosh, our Ambassadorial Scholar who will be leaving for Spain on
August 5th. LENORE reminded us all of what an excellent
Ambassador Mina will be – she has been so very active in a number of
Rotary activities already. At this point, PP JOHN SINGLETON presented
Mina with a box –was it FIVE HUNDRED – pencils, embossed “WVRC Los
Angeles, California USA Ambassadorial Scholarship Program”. A nice
touch, certainly - even though there were the usual mutterings among the
troops about whether the Singleton name would also appear somewhere…Mina
began by thanking us for the opportunity to study aboard – she will be
concentrating on the Basque Community in Northern Spain during her
year. The Basque community is located essentially in the Pyrenees
Mountains, and numbers about three million. Most of them have been
integrated into Spanish society for centuries, but since 1959 there has
been a movement to secede, and this will be her study focus.
Their separatist organization was
founded during the regime of General Franco, and has become known for
its use of violence to further their aims. They have achieved a degree
of independence, having their own justice system, post office, and
airport, for instance. However, they are not satisfied, and thus the
violence continues. Their stated aim is to become a new country, which
would mean that Spain would lose one of its present seventeen
provinces. At the same time, there is discord within the movement
itself, with one faction seeking less autonomy than the main body.
Mina became interested in the
Basques as she was pursuing her studies toward a PhD in French
literature at UCLA. She was interested in minority communities which
existed in the 16th and 17th centuries, and her
reading included a book about the witchcraft practiced by the Basques
that long ago. On a trip two years ago to the Basque area of France,
she briefly visited Northern Spain, and that appears to be a fertile
ground for further study. While the Basques have their own
language, they also speak Spanish, and Mina will be spending the first
month of her study time on a Spanish Language Immersion project.
Mina has a historic connection to
Iran – long ago, here ancestors were Zoroastrian, which was a sect that
was not integrated into Iranian life and culture. As she questioned
people she met on her earlier visit to Spain, they seemed to be in the
same category, but in Spain rather than Iran. She will spend some time
in Bilbao, studying Basque history, and then visiting and interviewing
the Basque people themselves. Mina was told early in her association
with Rotary that it would change her life, and she feels that even
before this coming trip, her life has been wonderfully affected by her
association. She gave specific thanks for being included in the
Christmas Gift project, and the Progressive Dinner, so ably chaired by
Peggy Bloomfield. Mina also summarized her many opportunities to see and
participate in local Rotary programs – she is indeed a walking
advertisement for all that we do. We wish her Godspeed, and good luck –
there is an element of danger in what she is undertaking.
KACY ROZELLE introduced our
Speaker, Frank Baxter. Mr. Baxter is Chairman Emeritus of Jefferies and
Company, a global investment bank, and he retired as CEO in 2001 – which
KACY opines was because he, KACY, left the company at that time and it
was no longer any fun! He has a long and impressive list of civic
activities, including President of the Board of the LA Opera, California
Co-Chair, Bush/Cheney ’04, Trustee LA County Museum of Art, and Director
of the Pacific Research Institute. He belongs to the LA Country Club,
the Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville, NY and the University Club, NY
City. It was KACY”S final comment, “With all these clubs, he really
should be a better golfer than he is” that summarized their long
relationship.
Mr. Baxter began by praising the
Rotary sense of Volunteerism. He then noted that until 1960, our public
schools were the best in the world. Asking for a show of hands for
those whose children attended private schools – and almost everyone
raised their hands - he then asked us in the audience for our own school
choice, and almost everyone in the audience was a public school
graduate. He feels that this decline in public support is one of the two
reasons why our public schools today are so mediocre – the other problem
being the power of Teachers Unions. In the south central area of LA,
statistics show that 90%of the students are minorities, and 80% of them
drop out along the way. 50% of those who are left still fail to
graduate from high school. He added that algebra is the most important
subject that should be taught today.
If you visit schools in south
central, you would be overwhelmed by how shoddy and untended they are.
The gangs that flourish show that we are close to becoming another
Baghdad, since these gangs are really domestic terrorists. However, on
the West Side, we should be much more concerned than we are – this is
not a problem that cannot travel. Former Governor Romer, the Supt.
of Schools for Los Angeles, ahs improved reading and math scores – but
only up to the 4th grade. Of the 750K students in south
central, 160K of them have no permanent seats, due to overcrowding and
lack of new school construction. There is a strong interest in building
smaller schools – but any new school faces a tough fight, since the land
has to be taken over by Eminent Domain – and the people so affected put
up a strong defense.
In the Charter Schools which he is
championing, 93% graduate from Middle School. To succeed, these schools
must be built on high expectations, which in turn brings middle-class
parents back to public education. There are now forty four Charters,
with a population of 15K. Their budgets are $6500 per pupil, whereas
LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District) schools receive almost twice
that amount per pupil. Money has been voted to build new schools, but
it is tied up in bureaucracy. The student population, by the way, is
70% Latino, and 30% Black. In their most recent meeting to build a new
Charter School, they had 250 applicants, but could only accept 200 –and
it takes a full year to get a new school up and running. The overall
budget gives $9 million annually to Charter Schools, and $89 million to
the regular LAUSD schools. But if 100% of the Charter Schools succeed,
this could change the entire District mind-set.
Q&A – RAY ZICKFELD, We have gone
from best to worst in state rankings, right? Yes, sad to say, that
is true. PDG ANDY ANDERSON, Do you have a problem getting teachers? No,
they welcome the freedom provided in Charter Schools. GEORGE COX, "Do
the Unions impair progress?" They were formed in 1965, to protect
teachers, and that is all they are interested in. SEAN McMILLAN, Does
the federal legislation about accountability help? Frank Baxter only
knows about California State laws, but he does not think federal
legislation is worthwhile – this has to be solved locally. PP MIKE
NEWMAN, Will there be a Charter School in Pacific Palisades? Yes, and
it has to be good – if it is, the students will come. In the areas
where Charters now operate, the free lunch program has declined in
numbers, since Middle Class parents are switching back to public
education, and they can afford to provide their kids with lunch. CLARK
McQUAY, How is Palisades High doing as a Charter School, and does
bussing affect it? They are doing very well, and hope to end the
bussing when they can build more charters in South Central. Final note –
I have a copy of the Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools – and I
can give you copies. It’s a great document to study – and act upon!
Thank you, Frank Baxter – and
despite our concern about who introduced you, we very much appreciate
your bringing your important message to us.
And now, the SLOGAN: WESTWOOD
VILLAGE ROTARY CHARTER SCHOOL -we need to finance and support one NAMED
for us, right?
YOE, Ernie Wolfe |