If you haven't joined Rotary because of the "weekly" commitment, times they are a-changing!
"The first measure allows clubs to decide to vary their meeting times, whether to meet online or in person, and when to cancel a meeting, as long as they meet at least twice a month."
The 2016 Council on Legislation may well be remembered as one of the most progressive in Rotary history.
Not only did this Council grant clubs more freedom in determining their meeting schedule and membership, it also approved an increase in per capita dues of $4 a year for three years. The increase will be used to enhance Rotary’s website, improve online tools, and add programs and services to help clubs increase membership.
The Council is an essential element of Rotary’s governance. Every three years, members from around the world gather in Chicago to consider proposed changes to the policies that govern the organization and its member clubs. Measures that are adopted take effect 1 July.
The tone for this year was set early, when the RI Board put forth two proposals that increase flexibility. The first measure allows clubs to decide to vary their meeting times, whether to meet online or in person, and when to cancel a meeting, as long as they meet at least twice a month. The second allows clubs flexibility in choosing their membership rules and requirements. Both passed.
Representatives also approved removing six membership criteria from the RI Constitution and replacing them with a simple requirement that a member be a person of good character who has a good reputation in their business or community and is willing to serve the community.
The $4 per year dues increase was based on a five-year financial forecast that predicted that if Rotary didn’t either raise dues or make drastic cuts, its reserves would dip below mandated levels by 2020. The yearly per capita dues that clubs pay to RI will be $60 in 2017-18, $64 in 2018-19, and $68 in 2019-20. The next council will establish the rate after that.
“We are at a moment in time when we must think beyond the status quo,” said RI Vice President Greg E. Podd. “We must think about our future.”
Podd said the dues increase will allow RI to improve My Rotary, develop resources so clubs can offer a better membership experience, simplify club and district reporting, improve website access for Rotaractors, and update systems to keep Rotary in compliance with changing global regulations.
Also because of this Council’s decisions:
- A Council on Resolutions will meet annually online to consider resolutions — recommendations to the RI Board. Council members will be selected for three-year terms. They’ll participate in the Council on Resolutions for three years and the Council on Legislation in their final year only. The Council on Resolutions will free the Council on Legislation to concentrate on enactments — changes to Rotary’s governing documents. Proponents predict that the Council on Legislation can then be shortened by a day, saving $300,000.
- Rotaractors will be allowed to become members of Rotary clubs while they are still in Rotaract. Proponents argued that too few Rotaractors (around 5 percent) join Rotary. Sometimes it’s because they don’t want to leave their Rotaract clubs before they have to, upon reaching age 30. It’s hoped that giving them more options will boost the numbers of qualified young leaders in Rotary.
- The distinction between e-clubs and traditional clubs will be eliminated. The Council recognized that clubs have been meeting in a number of ways, and given this flexibility, the distinction was no longer meaningful. Clubs that have “e-club” in their names can keep it, however.
- The reference to admission fees will be removed from the bylaws. Proponents argued that the mention of admission fees does not advance a modern image of Rotary.
- A standing committee on membership was established, in recognition that membership is a top priority of the organization, and polio eradication was also reaffirmed to be a goal of the highest order.
Rotary Amigos:
Tuesday, April 26th – CLUB ASSEMBLY: 2015-16 Rotary Year – The Final “Push” - The meeting reviewed goals for our present year, including an update on the grant received to provide leadership opportunities for middle school and high school students.
Tuesday, April 19th
Laurel Kashinn:
Going Indie Successfully: How to Write a Strategic Business Plan
Rave reviews from those in attendance.
One member said it was just what they needed at this time in their business.
April 12th - Karen Puhl & Pam Schwalbach: Simple Hope - Clean Water Efforts in Tanzania
There are many ways we can all get involved in clean water, regardless of where in the world it is needed. This is one program whose focus is in Tanzania. Working together with all people and faiths to build community and provide hope to those who are compromised in rural Tanzania Africa is the mission of Simple Hope. The direct mission of Simple Hope is to empower lives through faith, nutritious food, clean water and education of sustainable processes. Simple Hope is a registered tax deductible organization in the State of Wisconsin USA
March 21st - Club Assembly
This planning session resulted in a number of actionable items/projects. Duties assigned and planning begun for a community service project with Pan-African Community Association (PACA).
Discussed adding "After-work" to the name of our club since we ARE an "After-Work" club. Everyone was reminded that our club was deliberately chose a time that allowed members to have time to leave work and get to the meeting. It is also convenient for people who are commuters to meet before heading home or passing by downtown Milwaukee on their commute and still have time after the meeting to have dinner with family or friends, or attend an evening class, or head out to the theater or restaurants after the meeting. By not including a meal, the time is shortened and the cost of joining Rotary is not an impediment to joining. It also allows those without flexible work day schedules to participate in Rotary.
It was decided that we will organize a wine tasting event.
March 14th - Leonardo Fernandino:Staff Scientist at Medical College of Wisconsin - BRAIN MAPPING
It was a VERY interesting program and had a lot of "ah-hah" moments.
Leonardo was one of seven authors for
The problem of how word meaning is processed in the brain has been a topic of intense investigation in cognitive neuroscience. While considerable correlational evidence exists for the involvement of sensory- motor systems in conceptual processing, it is still unclear whether they play a causal role. We investi- gated this issue by comparing the performance of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) with that of age-matched controls when processing action and abstract verbs. To examine the effects of task demands, we used tasks in which semantic demands were either implicit (lexical decision and priming) or explicit (semantic similarity judgment). In both tasks, PD patients’ performance was selectively impaired for action verbs (relative to controls), indicating that the motor system plays a more central role in the processing of action verbs than in the processing of abstract verbs. These results argue for a causal role of sensory-motor systems in semantic processing.
