Yes, August is upon us – and I’m back from Washington D.C. Had a great visit, and if anyone needs an itinerary, lemme know, please. And let me begin by saying that MARK BLOCK did an excellent job in reporting last week – looks to me like I’ll have to mind my P’s and Q’s or I could lose this job! And my thanks to MARK, who immediately agreed to take over – it’s a pleasure doing business with you, sir.
We began on the 4th with the Pledge, led by DON PARK. Those reliable standbys, LENNY and PP JIM, took us through America – one of our better numbers. LEO TSENG was called on for the Invocation, and he responded by quoting the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi. This prayer, noteworthy for its depth and timelessness, should remind us of how we should live our lives, even today.
Make us an instrument of your peace – overcome hatred with love, from discord let me bring unity, replace doubt with faith, instead of despair, let there be happiness, let me bring joy to replace sadness. May I provide consolation, rather than seeking it, may I provide love, rather than being loved, for it is in giving that we receive.
Wonderful thoughts, LEO – and thanks for reminding us of them.
Our Visiting Rotarian was a Past President of Mumbai South, which is near Bombay. His name was Sumar Kasliwal and he was accompanied by his wife. We exchanged flags, of course. He had called me yesterday to be sure we were meeting, and they were in town because his daughter is studying briefly at UCLA. He was impressed with our fellowship.
GEORGE COX noted that he and PDG ANDY ANDERSON came in together, and PDG ANDY recognized Mr. Kasliwal, whom he had met earlier in Bombay. SUSAN ALLEN brought Yoshika Umizawa, a former Ambassadorial Scholar who is continuing her studies toward a PhD.
GORDON FELL brought a Special Guest, Rick Corum, who is with First Regional Bank.
Peter Tomarken was with us once again – he was the guest of SHANE WAARBROEK.
President DON then announced the passing of GEORGE REED, a former member who has been ill for some time. Funeral arrangements are pending.
Our most recent PP, RUDY ALVAREZ, came forward to pitch the impending visit of RI President Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar. He will be speaking at the Faculty Center at UCLA on Wednesday, August 10th
He will be at the Center from 5 pm. until 9 p.m., this extended period of time to allow him to visit individually with any Rotarians who wish to meet him. He is actively seeking input, concerns, and comments from all of us – and Santa Monica, for example, has already sold 26 dinner tickets. They cost $40, and we need to notify President DON by tomorrow if we can be there. In addition, PP RUDY needs several of us to help with arrangements and the sale of drink tickets, starting at 5 p.m. Based on hands raised at the meeting, we should have at least ten WVRC members present – and more are welcome, of course. This is urgent – please let RUDY or DON know if you can help.
President DON then shared a message addressed to PP JIM DOWNIE, but copied to WVRC. This was from Martha and Bob Brumbaugh, daughter and son-in-law of our beloved DOUG DESCH. While they were searching the Internet recently, they decided to drop in on WVRC. They found the wonderful 75th Anniversary Book put together so lovingly by PP JIM, and found it evoked many wonderful memories. They were particularly pleased that we had dedicated the book to DOUG, and that Service Above Self was featured. Martha and Bob, thanks for being in touch – and please be assured that we would love to see you should you find yourself out this way, anytime.
PP STEVE SCHERER next invited “all the Beta’s” to come forward. PP JIM COLLINS and PP BOB WESSLING responded, and stood by while PP STEVE proceeded. STEVE then noted that his fraternity was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Leaping ahead in time, our own JIM COLLINS became a Beta pledge while attending Miami U in 1945. A year later he transferred to UCLA, where he transferred to their chapter. STEVE asked Mr. Wessling if that sounded right to him, and BOB responded that he hadn’t been born by that date! JIM graduated in 1950 – and in 1983 Beta established the Oxford Cup, which was to recognize members who had distinguished themselves in their chosen professions. Recipients have included several Senators, an astronaut, and, to add a local touch, John Wooden and Franklin Murphy. The 61st recipient will be our own JIM COLLINS, and it will be presented at the Convention in Scottsdale, Arizona, this weekend. All this of course led to a fine, and the amount of $4,000 was decided upon – this in addition to JIM’S earlier donation of $10,000 upon the sale of his company. Pretty impressive, JIM, and you certainly deserve the Oxford Cup.
President DON then related a story about this wealthy individual who had never donated to a charity. The United Way called on him, knowing his annual income was over two million dollars. When asked, he replied by listing several family members who were in terrible straits. At the end, he pontificated, “If I won’t give to them, why would I support the United Way?” Good Job, DON.
This ‘intro’ brought on Program Chair and PP CHRIS GAYNOR, who introduced our two speakers. Mark Matsumoto has been with ADP for eleven years, and Brad Lomax is a more recent employee.
Mark first did a card trick – literally. I’m always taken in by these machinations, and he was certainly good at deception. They began their presentation by asking what ADP stands for. PP STEVE SCHERER got it right - Automatic Data Processing. Can you name two of the seven triple A rated companies in the U.S General Electric and ADP were announced, and that’s correct. They then made a power point presentation about what ADP does, pointing out that it was founded in 1949. They began by providing payroll services, so that the client simply turned over the numbers to them, and they figured the deductions, net check, etc. Today they are recognized as the number one company in Computer and Data Services.
They have over 500K clients, and some 40K employees. They have four divisions, and obviously have expanded into many areas of data processing. Over forty million people receive their W2 forms from ADP. Within Employer Services, both Mark and Brad work with small businesses. Their division produces eight hundred million in annual revenue. They are the largest out-sourcing service for small business. As one example, they have a large number of individual (one-person, that is) clients - who simply don’t want to deal with payroll. They do provide a guarantee – if their reports are in error, they take full responsibility and appear before the IRS or whoever.
Q&A – PP STEVE SCHERER, It seems like a huge challenge to try to adhere to all the rules and conditions of the government agencies you report to. Yes, and we make an extra effort to protect your privacy. DON NELSON, Are your reports transmitted by the internet. Yes. GEORGE COX, What will happen to you when the Flat Tax comes in. We will still be needed, if that ever happens. PP MIKE NEWMAN, How do you handle subpoenas – whose name is on the return. Again, if we file, we are responsible. RALPH BEASOM, with so many different State Rules, how do you handle that. We have regional offices who are expert in individual State Rules. PP JIM COLLINS, Our Australian operation has about 5500 employees, and we use Direct Deposit, which works just fine. PP CHRIS GAYNOR, How do you ensure that your computers are always up. Each processing center has duplicate records. LEO TSENG, until five years ago, you had the best record of earnings – what ended it. 9/ll was a factor, but we are now back to double digit earnings.
President DON had a take-away message for us ...
Why do people never say, “It’s only a game” when their teams win?
