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AUGUST 28, 2007 |
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PUBLISHING ITEMS IN THE BULLETIN
If you have information, articles, photos, etc., for publication in the weekly bulletin (printed bulletin, website and/or eFlash), please send them to bulletin@bellevuerotary.net by 2:00 pm on Fridays.
IN THIS ISSUE:
David Hopkins, Director, Regional Coordination, Urban Corridors Office, Washington State Dept. of Transportation & Ric Ilgenfritz, Executive Director, Policy, Planning & Public Administration, Sound Transit, "Keep Washington Rolling" | Bellevue Community College Rotaract Club Social | World Service Committee Accepting Grant Applications | Free! One-Month Trip to Peru | Fall Golf outing | Club to Club Nepal Project: Rob Rose is Readying for Another Trip | The Case for Finishing Polio Eradication
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GREETERS BACK TABLE DUTY INVOCATION NEWEST MEMBER(S) |
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Laurie Larson Are you receiving |
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Paul Dressel, 9/1 |
George Brace, 9/11 |
Classification Report: |
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David Hopkins, Director, Regional Coordination
Urban Corridors Office
Washington State Dept. of Transportation
Ric Ilgenfritz, Executive Director
Policy, Planning & Public Administration
Sound Transit
"Keep Washington Rolling"
Traffic is a serious problem in the central Puget Sound region. With population projected to grow more than 40 percent by 2040, congestion is expected to get even worse. This year voters will consider a comprehensive Roads & Transit ballot measure designed to address our transportation needs. Key features of the plan include 50 miles of light rail extension north past Lynnwood, south to Tacoma, and East to Redmond/Microsoft, as well as replacement of the SR 520 bridge, additional capacity on I-405 and much more. Join us as we hear from David Hopkins (RTID) and Ric Ilgenfritz (Sound Transit) for an interesting briefing on the joint Roads & Transit package going to voters this November.
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David Hopkins
David Hopkins serves as the Director for Regional Coordination for the Washington State Department of Transportation. He is responsible for assisting in the development of the Regional Transportation Investment District’s multi-billion dollar plan for road investments that will be on the ballot in November, 2007. He acts as WSDOT’s lead in the Roads and Transit planning process that is aimed at creating a balanced, comprehensive and viable package of transportation investments.
Previously, David served as the Regional Transportation Manager in the King County Executive's office, providing policy analysis on major issues such as RTID and Sound Transit. He helped negotiate key deals with Sound Transit such as the use of the downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel for light rail and for the operation of the light rail system by King County. He has also served as the lead staff for the Regional Transit Committee of the King County Council and worked for Metro in its long-range planning section.
David holds a BA in Political Science and History and a Master's degree in City and Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
David moved to Seattle from New York, where he was a transportation policy analyst in the New York City Comptroller's office. He also worked for a private consulting firm on a variety of comprehensive plans for towns in New York and Connecticut. He started his career as a land use planner for the City of Plano, Texas.
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Ric Ilgenfritz
Ric Ilgenfritz oversees Sound Transit’s policy, planning and public affairs activities. Ric is responsible for Sound Transit’s effort to develop second phase of transit investments to go on the November, 2007 ballot. He has been coordinating the technical planning work and leading the effort to integrate it with the road planning being done by RTID, PSRC, and WSDOT. He also manages public affairs activities to support Sound Transit’s overall mission, including Government Relations, Media Relations and Community Outreach.
Ric joined Sound Transit as Chief Communications Officer in May of 2001. As the CCO, he oversaw Media Relations, Government Relations, Creative Services, Marketing, Public Art, and External Relations -- including Community Outreach, Corporate Communications and the Web site.
Previously, he was the Columbia Basin Coordinator and External Relations Manager for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), where he coordinated salmon recovery efforts in the Columbia/Snake river basin and the outreach plan for managing the federal government’s decision on breaching Snake River dams last year.
Ilgenfritz is an 11-year staff veteran of Washington’s congressional delegation. He previously worked as Legislative Director for U.S. Senator Patty Murray. He also worked for the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Transportation and its chairman, former Rep. Al Swift, where he helped coordinate the resumption of Amtrak service between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C.
A native of Mercer Island, Ilgenfritz graduated from Mercer Island High School. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from the University of Oregon in Eugene.
Bellevue Community College Rotaract Club Social
You are invited to join us for a beautiful day filled with GREAT FOOD, GREAT PEOPLE, and GREAT FUN on Friday, September 14, at 12:00 noon. Highlights include:
• Lunch
• Jet skiing, kayaking, boating
• Games and activities
This fun event will take place at 2254 Mariners Way, Oak Harbor, WA 98277, approximately a 2-hour drive from Bellevue.
Please RSVP by Tuesday, September 4th, to marielvaca@gmail.com or phone 425-279-3765.
Note: If it rains, this event will be postponed.
World Service Committee Accepting Grant Applications
The World Service Committee is accepting grant applications for international projects. Please click on the World Service Committee link on the website and complete the information form. The next meeting of the Committee will be on September 11 and recommendations will be made for funding.
Our District Group Study Exchange Committee is looking for a Rotarian and four Team Members to spend a month in Peru next April 13th to May 12th. The requirements for the Rotarian Leader are a good ability to speak Spanish, a sense of adventure, ability to travel for four weeks and a commitment to building goodwill between Peru and Washington State.
Requirements for Team Members are: must be between the ages of 25 and 40, ability to speak Spanish, not a Rotarian or blood relative of a Rotarian, and the ability to spend four weeks in Peru.
Our club has historically taken a strong leadership position in the District GSE and it would be great to have a Bellevue Team Leader or Team Member.
A connection with a Rotary Club will ensure the Team Member’s future commitment to Rotary’s mission and interaction. Further information about the trip and GSE are available at www.gse.rotary5030.org or call Jim Price or e-mail him at jprice@appraisalgroupnw.com.. Team Leader applications are due by September 15th and Team Member applications are due October 10th.
Please save Wednesday, October 3rd, for the fall golf outing at Bellevue Golf Club. We have reserved 32 times starting at 12:00 noon and will be playing a "scramble" format. There will be a draft of teams by the eight team captains on September 25, after our regular meeting.
Cost is $70 for balls, carts, golf and a BBQ after the event. A no host bar will be available as well.
If you are interested in joining us, please contact Brad Hunt (cell phone 425-417-6794).
Club to Club Nepal Project
Rob Rose is Readying for Another Trip
This coming February Rob Rose will be taking another trip to Nepal to help uplift the lives of people with disabilities in Nepal, those who are on the lowest rung of the societal ladder in Nepal.
This Rotary Group Trip to Nepal is planned for February 15-25th, 2008, and all Rotarians, their spouses and families are invited to come along. There are already a number of people confirmed, so be sure and let Rob know soon if you’d like to go too! The Nepali Rotarians are warm and hospitable. The trip will include Rotary project visits, sightseeing and a volunteer day in Kathmandu. The Rotary friendships you’ll make along with the history and scenery in Nepal will make for a once-in-a-lifetime trip.
Stay tuned to the weekly bulletin (online and printed) for updates on Rob's nepal journey. When the trip begins, we will be posting Rob's trip headlines as they come in with RSS feeds right here on the site. In the meantime, you can visit Rob's Rotary Nepal website to find out more about this project.
The Case for Finishing Polio Eradication
Exerpted in part from Rotarian International News and the September 2007 issue of The Rotarian
The global effort to eradicate polio has been a $5 billion initiative. Since 1988 it has reduced the number of polio-endemic countries to four and cleared 99 percent of the virus from the world. Rotary has led the way, with an investment of $650 million by the time the world is certified polio-free.
Yet the goal of polio eradication remains elusive, with four countries still polio-endemic. In recent years, some in the scientific community have raised a difficult question: Can the world eradicate polio, or should we try to contain it?
According to an article published last April in The Lancet, by Harvard researchers, controlling the disease would be far more costly than eradicating it. The developing world can save more than $1 billion a year by eradicating, while switching to a control strategy would condemn 10 million children to polio over the next 40 years alone. The study used a mathematical model to weigh financial and human costs and health outcomes of control and eradication options. The researchers factored in the number of expected polio cases for the next 20 years and a range of controlling options to come to their conclusions.
Concerns about the high perceived costs of eradicating polio surfaced last year in scientific journals, when skeptical experts proposed that the focus shift from eradication to effectively controlling the disease’s spread, pointing to several challenges that stand in the way of reaching the last one percent of cases of polio.
Earlier this year, over 40 million children in Afghanistan and Pakistan were vaccinated in a one-week campaign. Last year, there were 31 cases of polio in Afghanistan and 40 cases in Pakistan. The other two countries with polio, India and Nigeria, had 674 and 1127 cases respectively.
At this point, Rotary International remains committed to the total eradication of polio. Robert S Scott, chair of The Rotary Foundation Trustees also chairs the International PolioPlus Committee. A physician, and very knowledgeable about the polio eradication efforts, is "absolutely" convinced that eradication is possible. The biggest problem is keeping the cash flowing to enable the prevention efforts. The $5 billion that has been spent so far has mostly come from governments. The total from the United States at the moment is over $1.2 billion. Then Rotary is second, at $620 million, followed by the United Kingdom, Japan, and Canada.
There have been two Rotary campaigns that raised a huge amount of money:
$247 million the first campaign, $135 million the second campaign. Every year, the PolioPlus Fund receives $1 million to $2 million, even though there is no official campaign, from generous Rotarians.