Kenya Works

Mary Stusek, Founder and President of Kenya Works, talked about when she retired she was reading an article in the New York Times how free primary education was being introduced in areas in Africa. In some countries such as Kenya, more than a million new students appeared on the first day of school. In Kenya, the government gives each student $4.17 per year. Mary thought about sending some uniforms and books but discovered that if parents were not employed, children were not going to school. It was easier to send children in the field to work for 50¢ a day instead of providing them with uniforms and getting them to school. She decided to help provide vocational training for parents, mainly women, as well as working with primary school children. Can individuals made a difference globally against the odds of corruption, politics, ethnical distance, parochialism, climate and war? Kenya Works focuses on the entire community, works with merry-go-rounds (traditional women’s groups) and they select a local, project manager. Kenya Works has completed and is working on a variety of different projects. The New Hope Women’s Group is located 5 miles from Lake Victoria. When husbands died, his family took the land, cows and the house. Seventeen women with 57 children were left with nothing. Kenya Works helped them start a dried fish, sewing and a fermented beverage business. They also helped build 3 houses (the community supplied the labor, a local man contributed the beams and Kenya Works paid for the mud and roof). They also will be replacing the roof, floor, windows and doors of a primary school as well as providing scholarships to 2 girls so they can attend secondary school (it is not free). Kibera, Nairobi has a population of 1 million people in 3 square miles. There are three wells and electricity is pirated. Kenya Works partnered with Transform A Person Africa (TAPA) to send 3 year olds to preschool. The school is 70% self-sufficient since the parents are hired to make sweaters and school uniforms for wealthy boarding schools. In Nyanza Province of western Kenya, many very poor grandparents are struggling to feed and educate their grandchildren. The children's parents died of AIDS. Kenya Works was the first group of white people to visit the village. Their mission was to finance school construction. Kenya Works is a 501 (c) (3) tax exempt nonprofit incorporated in the State of Wisconsin. About 95% of their money comes from individual donors and 5% from churches, service clubs and corporate matching. All the funds go to work in Kenya except bank wiring fees. For more information on Kenya Works, go to www.kenyaworks.org.

Rotary Shines

Rotary Shines is looking for silent auction items. In the past, we have received items such as tickets to an event, catered dinners, jewelry, guided activities, overnight stays and one of a kind items. Be creative!

Send this form to JoEllen Wollangk at jbwollangk@wisconsin.bbb.org or via fax to (920) 734-4384
Items should be delivered by April 13 to the BBB office at 1047 N. Lynndale Dr. Suite 1A.
(This is in the Lynndale Professional Park, we are cleverly hidden in the building at the very back. Use the entrance that is directly across the street from the Coldwell Banker sign.)

RYE Summer Exchange - Deadline Feb. 28, 2012

The Summer Short-Term Youth Exchange Program application deadline is February 28th to young people in our area. There is a mandatory orientation session in Rhinelander on May 12 from 1:00-4:00 p.m. Information on the summer exchange can be accessed at: www.summerexchange.org. If you have further questions, please find the details on the website, or call Chris Lenard in Rhinelander: wilenard@frontiernet.net or (715) 369-7259

Rotary Exchange Student at U. W. Madison

Ella attended her first the UW - Madison Men's Basketball game vs Penn State at the Kohl Center in Madison.

Happy Hour - February 21, 2012

The Intermezzo at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel put out a great spread of food for our Happy Hour. Thanks to the Family of Rotary and Jay Schumerth for putting this together. We did not have many in attendance but those that came had a great time.

Happy Hour - Tuesday, February 21

See a different side of your fellow Rotarians and of the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel. Join the Family of Rotary on February 21 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. for the Rotary Happy Hour at the Intermezzo (lounge at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel – on the east side of the building across from the escalator). Cash bar and free hors d’oeuvres (courtesy of the Intermezzo). Bring adult family members, friends or prospective Rotary members. Or just come by yourself. See old friends, meet new ones. Happy Hour is a time to relax and enjoy the camaraderie and conversation. Please join us there.

A Structural Overview of the Brain

Dr. Philip Yazbak, Neuroscience Group, discussed how the brain is complex and contains a key cell called neurons that are important in processing and communicating information within the brain. The brain is sensitive to oxygen and blood supply. The brain also contains clear fluid that occupies the space between the skull and the cerebral cortex that provides insulation. Too much fluid can be problematic causing difficulty with cognition, bladder control and walking. The brain can be divided into three main parts: forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain. The forebrain consists of the cerebrum, thalamus and hypothalamus which controls motor skills, sensory relay autonomics and makes us human. The midbrain consists of the tectum and tegmentum and controls pupils, eye movement, hearing and motor functions. The hindbrain is made up of the cerebellum, pons and medulla and controls coordination, equilibrium, heart rate, blood pressure and breathing. The cerebrum or cortex is the largest part of the brain and is associated with higher brain function such as thought and action. The cerebral cortex is divided into 4 lobes: the frontal lobe (reasoning, planning, speech, movement, emotions and problem solving), parietal lobe (movement, orientation, recognition and perception of stimuli), occipital lobe (visual processing) and temporal lobe (perception and recognition of auditory stimuli, memory and speech). The brain can be divided into left and right cerebral hemispheres. Dominant functions of the left brain include: analytical thought, logic, language, math and science. Dominant functions on the right brain include: holistic thought, music, spatial abilities, visual imagery and face recognition. About 80% of people are right handed, 97% of right handed people are left hemisphere dominant and 70% of non right handed people are left hemisphere dominant. So, 3% plus 6% of people are right hemisphere dominant or split dominance.

History of neurosurgery:
Neurosurgery has been done since 5000 BC. Trephinations were performed by putting wholes in the skull to release evil spirits.
400 BC - Hippocrates thought the brain was the center of intelligence and that it did not control thoughts, ideas and feelings.
1895 - Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered an image cast from a cathode ray generator. A week later, he took an x-ray of his wife’s hand. “X” stood for unknown.
1918 - Walter E. Dandy introduces the ventriculography (injecting air into the ventricular system prior to x-ray).
1920’s – William Bovie invented the Monopolar Cautery (regulated electric current that heats up adjacent tissue to prevent blood loss).
1920’s – Walter Dandy began translating endoscopy to neurosurgery.
1869-1939 - Harvey Williams Cushing, the Father of Modern Neurosurgery, developed electrocautery, used x-rays to diagnose brain tumors, increased the survival of tumor patients, taught neurosurgeons and used electrical cortical stimulation.
1928 – Alexander Fleming discovers mold that kills steph bacteria.
1950’s – Herman Carr reports the creation of ID MRI image.
1960’s – Operating microscope developed. It was first used in neurosurgery since it had the ability to focus intense light on areas of interest with 1.5-10x magnification.
1974 – Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield and Allan McLeod Cormack developed the CT Scan or computerized tomography scan.
1974 - Raymond Damadian creates and patents the first MRI machine.
1990 – Seiji Ogawa discovered the functional magnetic resonance imaging or functional MRI to measure brain activity by detecting associated changes in blood flow.
In another 50 years – Minimally invasive surgery, robotics and targeted therapy?

To keep the brain healthy, you should exercise it, give it intellectual challenges, use helmets and be careful of your environment (limit alcohol consumption).

Rotary Youth Exchange Update

Elinor Bell, our club’s 2012 Outbound Student from Appleton East has received notification that she will be going to Hungary for the next school year.

Ella Proll our inbound student from Germany and outbound Elinor Bell will be attending the 2012 Winter RYE Conference, Feb. 24 -25 in Wausau.

The Summer Short-Term Youth Exchange Program application deadline is February 28th to young people in our area. There is a mandatory orientation session in Rhinelander on May 12 from 1:00-4:00 p.m. Information on the summer exchange can be accessed at: www.summerexchange.org. If you have further questions, please find the details on the website, or call Chris Lenard in Rhinelander: wilenard@frontiernet.net or (715) 369-7259

Rotary Arts Scholarship

Scholarship applicants are being sought for the Rotary Club of Appleton’s Art Scholarship Program. Through the program, up to $1,500 is awarded to one or more applicants seeking a degree or non-degree-related educational experience in his or her field of art.

To be eligible for a scholarship, the candidate must reside in the area served by the Rotary Club of Appleton including: Appleton, Kaukauna, Menasha, Neenah, Combined Locks, Hortonville, Kimberly, Little Chute, Buchanan, Greenville, Harrison, Menasha, Neenah, and Grand Chute.
In addition, the applicant must be a practicing artist in one of the disciplines identified above. Teachers and students are eligible if they can demonstrate they are a practicing artist outside of the school environment. Although there is no age limitation to apply, the candidate must demonstrate that the experience will help him/her to become a more successful practitioner.

Applications are due date is Friday, April 2, and winners will be notified after May 22.

Rotary Youth Exchange Student - Ella Proll

My last two months here in Appleton were so incredible. I really enjoy my time here and I had to realize that the time passes so fast! At the beginning of December I traveled with a lot of other Rotary Youth Exchange Students to Florida for one week. We had a great time at Disney, the Universal Studios, the Kennedy Space Center and the beach. The weather was warm and sunny the whole time.

I really enjoyed celebrating Christmas in the U.S., because I learned a lot of new things and traditions about the Holidays here. For example that Santa Claus brings the presents, that the families normally open their presents in the morning of December 25 and that some families give only presents which have something to do with the Green Bay Packers(J).

On Christmas the Werner’s took with me to the Packer game against Chicago Bears in a Sky box and it was a lot of fun.
Only a few days later I moved to my second host family, the Berkedal’s. They took me over the New Year to La Crosse where I saw the Mississippi River and the Rotary lights in the city park. I also had the opportunity to meet the rest of my new family.

Last weekend, we made a day trip to Milwaukee. During the day we went shopping and then to a German Restaurant for dinner. In the evening we watched the NBA basketball game of the Milwaukee Bucks verses the LA Lakers.

Thank you all for this great time here and I am looking forward to the next months of my stay!

Social Media

Greg Linnemanstons, Weidert Group, discussed how social media is the most popular online activity - accounting for 19% of total time online. Facebook has 845 million active users – 80% outside of the US/Canada. There are 30 billion pieces of content shared on Facebook each month. Twitter claims 190-200 million users. Linkedin has 135 million users - 59% outside the US. Eighty two percent of online users are reached on social media. Social media is affecting businesses – 69% of business to business marketers are shifting budgets toward online marketing. Sixty-three percent of companies using social media say it increased marketing effectiveness, among other benefits. Social media is a web technology that turns communication into real time 2 way dialogue. It is a way for people to connect with people using countless platforms to share all forms of content. Social media has 7 categories: social and professional networks (Facebook and Linkedin); multimedia sharing (YouTube); blogs; microblogs (Twitter); RSS feeds and aggregators; forums, message boards and reviews (TripAdvisor); and tagging and bookmarking. Facebook is a social networking website. Fifty percent of active users log on in any given day and the average user has 130 friends. Linkedin is the largest professional networking site with more than 120 million users worldwide. More than 2 million companies have a Linkedin page. Linkedin is the #1 platform for employers looking for new employees. YouTube is a video sharing site with more one day visits than Google – 3 billion views per day. There is 48 hours of video uploaded every minute. Blogger and WordPress are free self publishing platforms allowing simple and easy content creations, promotion and distribution. It is searchable and interactive. Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, known as "tweets". It is searchable and highly interactive. There are 6 steps to greater social media effectiveness: start with a blog; publish an e-newsletter to promote your blog content; use e-newsetter to highlight involvement in Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and blog; use Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, etc. to promote and accelerate the dissemination of your content; share your blog with as many people as you can; and always position yourself as a resource for your target.

Rotary on the Road

In lieu of our regular meeting on April 3, Rotary will be on the road. Members will be asked to sign up and go to Affinity/St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Bassett Mechanical (Kaukauna), Festival Foods (Darboy), Fox Cities Performing Arts Center or Goodwill Industries Shiner Center where you will have lunch, tour and explanation of the facility. Sign up will be on a first come first basis since each location will be limited to 25 people. Start time will be 12:15 and will end at 1:15 p.m.

Happy Hour

See a different side of your fellow Rotarians and of the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel. Join the Family of Rotary on February 21 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. for the Rotary Happy Hour at the Intermezzo (lounge at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel – on the east side of the building across from the escalator). Cash bar and free hors d’oeuvres (courtesy of the Intermezzo). Bring adult family members, friends or prospective Rotary members. Or just come by yourself. See old friends, meet new ones. Happy Hour is a time to relax and enjoy the camaraderie and conversation. Please join us there.

District Governor

Tom Berkedal has been selected to be District Governor Nominee for District 6220, which means he’s slated to be the District Governor in 2014-2015. Congratulations Tom!

Rotary Club of Appleton Scholarships

The Rotary Club of Appleton Scholarship application is now available. The deadline is March 15, 2012.

Committee Meetings

The Rotary Club of Appleton Board will meet on Monday, February 6 at 3:30 p.m. at the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region.

The Youth Services and Education Awards Committee will meet on Tuesday, February 7 at 11:00 a.m.

The Ambassadorial Scholarship Committee will meet on Tuesday, February 7 at 11:00 a.m.

Promoting The Earned Income Credit

Marijo Upshaw, Leader of Financial Services at Goodwill Industries of NCW, discussed how the Earned Income Credit (EIC) is a Federal tax benefit for low income working families and individuals to offset income and payroll tax supplement wages. This was meant to be an incentive for people to work as an alternative to public assistance and welfare. About 20% of all individual filers and 27 million households claim EIC which is about $59.2 billion in claimed credits. EIC and the Child Tax Credit lift more than 9 million people above the poverty line. Persons who receive these credits are spending the money in the community and helping our local economy. EIC is based on your earned income, marital status and number of dependents. Earned income comes from wages, salary, tips, self-employment, union strike benefits, military combat pay and employer paid disability. It does not include public benefits. Besides the Federal EIC, there is a Wisconsin EIC. To qualify for the State of Wisconsin EIC, you must qualify for the Federal credit and be a full-time resident. There is no credit for persons who do not have qualifying dependents. In order to claim the EIC, you must file a tax return (Form 1040 or 1040A) and if you have dependents you must file a Schedule EIC. Eligible workers can claim EIC or Child Tax Credit refunds for up to 3 previous years. Outreach for this program is needed because 20-25% of people who qualify for the EIC do not claim the credit. This results in up to $10 billion per year. Those that might miss out of EIC include workers not required to file a tax return, workers just entering the labor force, new parents, divorced or separated custodian parents and workers newly eligible due to a reduction in income or loss in employment. About 70% who can claim EIC go to a commercial preparer. Some of these preparers offer Refund Anticipated Loans or Refund Anticipation Checks which charge fees and can drain a person’s income. Goodwill has been doing taxes since 2004 for low-income individuals, individuals with disabilities, non-English speaking tax payers, and the elderly (generally, household income under $57,000). If you would like more information or to volunteer for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (VITA), visit their website at: http://www.filetaxes4free.org/.

Program Committee Theme Series

The Program Committee will be presenting a theme series on "You and Your Brain". The programs will be presented on:

2/14/12 – “Structural Overview of the Brain” - Neurosurgeon, Dr. Phil Yazbak

3/27/12 – “Self Confidence & Problem Solving in K-3rd Grade Children” – Prof. Beth Haines, Lawrence University

4/10/12 – “Regulation of Emotions and the Adolescent Brain” - Prof. Lori Hilt, Lawrence University

5/29/12 – “Memory Café” - Rev. John and Prof. Susan McFadden, UW-Oshkosh.
This will be off-site at Paper Discovery Center/Atlas Mill