Ann Arbor Rotary Harpoon

Song Leader: Russ Collins            Accompanist: Maurita Holland

Committee Meetings:
   11:00  Program, Sam Offen
   11:00  Interact:  Christina Kim

Upcoming Events:  

May 16: Facebook Training, Washtenaw United Way, 4:30-6:00 pm
May 16: Happy Hour, Quarter Bistro, 5:00 pm  John Sepp
May 19 (Saturday): District Assembly in Troy - see Notes of Interest
May 22 (Tuesday): “Black & Blue” video, 7:00 pm Ford Library – see Notes of Interest
May 22 (Tuesday): Board Retreat beginning at 5:00 at Cleary University
May 23 Singers: Huron High School A Capella Choir, directed by Richard Ingram
Annual Spring Concert – in the Michigan Union Ballroom
May 30 Speakers: STRIVE Committee Chair David Keren and 2012 Scholarship Awardees
Topic: A Celebration of Young Lives Transformed & First Steps toward Success
September 10 (Monday): Golf and Tennis Outing

Notes from the Meeting

With Ed Wier presiding in place of President Nishta Bhatia, off in Norway, Ken Fischer offered the following invocation: “As we seek to find common ground in these times of hard-held positions and lack of compromise, let us remember that 21 of the world’s great religions – from Christianity to Buddhism, from Confucianism to Hinduism, from Judaism to Islam – all share a common principle on how one should live one’s relationship with others. Yes, all of them, despite their many other differences, have in common a principle consistent with our own Rotary four-way test – and that principle is the Golden Rule. ‘Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do to You.’”

Jim Reece presented two Ambassadors of Goodwill Awards. Vic Rosenberg was cited for his work in vocational training in Brazil and John Rasmussen was recognized for his efforts at helping to re-open a fish market in Jamaica.

Notes from the Program

Paul Glendon introduced Professor David Moran, Co-Director, Michigan Innocence Clinic, on the topic “Outdated Science and Wrongful Convictions – An Innocence Clinic Report.” The problem with outdated science, said David Moran, “is that it’s no longer valid or it’s in controversy.” He cited the role of DNA in exonerating persons convicted of crimes, and enumerating 300 exonerees a year as proof the law can go wrong at times. The unlawful conviction rate in this country may range from 3-5 percent, he said. Among the causes of wrongful convictions, which tend to be repeated over and over again, are bad eyewitness identification, self-confession under interrogation, bad indigent defense counsel, the use of jailhouse informants and inexact forensic science. Did you know, for example, that in hair analysis, two hairs from the same head don’t match each other? There have been great strides in reversing convictions in two major areas, Dr. Moran said, because of new techniques and investigative methods. The “shaken baby syndrome” in the past relied on retinal bleeding, brain hemorrhaging and brain damage as “proofs” the baby had been shaken violently. But there are other things that can cause shaken baby syndrome, and they include falls and pediatric thrombosis (childhood stroke), as rare as that is. These “mimics” of shaken baby syndrome account for “dozens of cases around the country which are being re-examined under the new paradigm.” A story by Emily Bazelon in The New York Times of February, 2011, gave an excellent summation of these new cases. Arson investigation is the second major field revolutionized in the 1990s. Dr. Moran showed a two-minute video clip which purported to show how the state of arson science has changed. He said the percentage of fires called arson has dropped dramatically because we no longer use “evidence” based on folklore, but that there still were “a lot of people in prison” based on old arson evidence. It’s a changing field and the old hypotheses are being challenged to the benefit of those wrongfully convicted.

Notes: Don Faber, Harpoon editor  Photos: Fred Beutler

Notes of Interest

Project Help Proposal needs your vote: The Club has submitted a proposal for a $5000 matching grant to the Bank of Ann Arbor Project Help. If successful, it will be matched by $5000 from the Club’s Whitker Fund for environmental enhancement. It is for a project that will make the Washtenaw/Stadium entrance to Ann Arbor safe and visually pleasing. The opportunity to work collectively with the City and a local business to improve the daily experience of thousands of citizens and visitors will be a great example of public-private partnership. The proposal has made the first cut; second phase is to vote for it on the BOAA website or the BOAA Facebook page.  Here is a way for you to help:

Vote for RAC daily starting May 9 thru May 23, 2012
1. Log into your Facebook account
2. Go to Bank of Ann Arbor
3. Click the Like button
4. Go to Project Help
5. Click “View All” under the $5,000 projects
6. Click “Read more” under Rotary Club
7. Then click the “Like” button and type some words to encourage others to vote and click Share  OR
8. Just click on the vote button
9. Remember: Vote each day from May 9 thru May 23
Voting is limited to one vote per person, per day, per category. Based on the votes received, Bank of Ann Arbor will fund up to five $1,000 projects, up to three $5,000 projects, and one $10,000 project. Remember to vote daily on the Bank of Ann Arbor Project Help Facebook page. More information is available on our website by clicking here.

Facebook Training: Facebook is at the top of the headlines and what everyone's talking about. If you have yet to learn how to Friend (yes, it's now a verb), Post and Like, we'll show you how to get started and help you set up your own Facebook page. Join us for a hands-on training session, Wednesday May 16 from 4:30 to 6:00 pm at United Way, 2305 Platt Rd. in Ann Arbor. Computers will be provided, but you may bring your own laptop or tablet if you want it set up on site. Please RSVP to Christina Mooney.

Professional Connections Showcase: The Rotary Professional Connections Network is starting to take hold! Several of us will be greeting you at the luncheon meeting in the ballroom on May 23rd. We hope you'll stop by and take a minute or two to learn a little more about the services our members provide to our community.

DOGS (Doers of Good Service) will be serving dinner at the Ronald McDonald House on Wednesday, May 30. No special training is needed, just a willingness to prepare dinner for families of children hospitalized at Mott. The project takes about three hours. Contact Kathy Wood at  734-883-0061 to sign up for this one evening only project. Five people are needed!

Touch-a-Truck: Saturday, May 12th was another successful Washtenaw Success by 6, Touch-a-Truck event at Briarwood Mall! Veteran and new Rotary Volunteers, together with the Huron Women's Volleyball and Pioneer Men's Lacrosse Teams, were all on hand to assist with the set-up, the event itself and clean-up!  We had a total of 26 "trucks", the largest number by far, which meant more children and their families!

The result, more children from 0 to 6 years of age registered so that age specific materials could be provided throughout the year. It was an opportunity for parents to bring their children to see and experience the trucks of various kinds, while they also received information on children's health, parenting, early childhood care and education, and family activities. The mission is to make sure that "every child enters school ready to succeed"! The Rotary Club’s role in this event means a lot to the Washtenaw Success by 6 staff and volunteers! Many thanks!

Ed Hood Honored: At the 65th Annual Bob Ufer Quarterback Club Sports Banquet, fellow Rotarian, Ed Hood, was the 2012 Osterbaan Honoree joining the past honorees such as Don Lund, Red Berenson, Bump Elliot, Bo Schembechler to mention only a few. The banquet was held at the Barton Hills Country Club on May 7, 2012.

Annual Board Retreat Coming Soon: The event will be held on the evening of Tuesday, May 22 at Cleary University. It is the one day on the annual calendar when the current board meets to wrap up its year and the incoming board meets to discuss plans for the next one. Each committee chair should ensure that his or her director has the information needed to properly represent their projects and activities.

April District Newsletter now Available: The latest district newsletter has been posted on www.rotary6380.org. This issue includes our U-M Rotaractors receiving Ambassador of Goodwill Awards for their work in Guatemala. Another article reports our club's efforts to co-sponsor purchasing of the "Black and Blue" video and associated course materials for each of Ann Arbor's high schools. A copy is posted on the bulletin board behind the check in desk or you can read it on-line.

Articles for the Harpoon are always welcome: Has your committee completed some significant milestone? Has it developed some plans that would benefit from member inputs? Have you attended some Rotary training or other event? Did you make up your attendance at another club? All these and more are worthy topics for an article in an upcoming Harpoon. A paragraph or two is sufficient. Please send your articles to a2harpoon@umich.edu to reach our seemingly tireless team of editors and production personnel. Better yet, include in your message an offer to help out!

Meeting Statistics: The meeting on May 9 was attended by 129 members and five guests but no visiting Rotarians. Just before the luncheon, a total of 19 members participated in meetings of two committees; Golf & Tennis Outing and STRIVE. Also reported was the meeting of four members of the Publicity Committee on May 7, eight members at a STRIVE luncheon on May 11 and 17 Rotarians at Touch-a-Truck on May 12. Finally, three Rotarians met over the weekend to assemble last week's Harpoon, post it on the website and send it out.

District Assembly this Saturday, May 19: The district assembly prepares incoming and existing club leaders for their next year in office. The meeting is also an opportunity for Rotarians to meet with the district leaders who will support their club projects and activities. Welcome are incoming club leaders – presidents-elect and incoming secretaries, treasurers directors, chairs and committee members. It is the final opportunity in the year to prepare for the coming year. Additionally, on Saturday afternoon, there will be a Grant Management Seminar. It is very important that at least two members of each club attend the training in order for it to be qualified for grants in the coming year. The event will be held at Walsh College in Troy. Details of the agenda and a link for registration are on the district website at www.rotary6380.org or contact John White,

Makeup Cards from Roving Rotarians: Brad Bowersox (Ann Arbor North on March 29, April 5, April 12 and April 19), Spaulding Clark (Ann Arbor West Provisional on May 1 and May 8) Penny Fischer (Ann Arbor North on March 1), Maurita Holland (Manistique on April 23) and Collyer Smith (Canton on March 26).

Birthdays: May 14 – Larry Henkel; May 15 – Ray Hunter; May 16 – Carl Frye, Marsha Chamberlin; May 17 – Milo White, Liz Leidy; May 18 – Fritz Seyferth; May 19 – Bob Donnellan

Links of Interest: Websites of interest to Rotarians.

Rotary International: The RI home page has links to About Rotary, The Rotary Foundation, Club Locator and Member Access. Our Club is in Zone 29. The zone has 17 districts and covers portions of Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ontario. District 6380: Our district's website includes 53 clubs in the counties of Washtenaw, Livingston, Oakland and Macomb in Michigan and Kent in Ontario. The district’s monthly newsletter and articles of district-wide interest are posted there.

Rotary Club of Ann Arbor: Our Club’s website provides background material and information including the current Annual Report, Strategic Plan, New Member Nomination Form, Committee Descriptions, Club and Golf Outing brochures, synopses of upcoming programs and an archive of Harpoons. Find us on Facebook.

Submit news, committee meetings, and announcements to the Harpoon, the newsletter of the Rotary Club of Ann Arbor. Contact the Club to subscribe by email.

Our Club also sponsors the following Rotaract and Interact Clubs:

U-M Rotaract Club  Huron High Interact Club

Pioneer High Interact Club   Ann Arbor Rotaract Club

“Reach Within to Embrace Humanity”