Members of the Jefferson City Rotary Club were briefed on human trafficking and Missouri's aggressive efforts to fight it by Deputy Attorney General (and Club member) Joe Dandurand at the Club's meeting January 30. Missouri has been recognized by Shared Hope International as one of the nation's leaders in combating human trafficking.

Joe told members that due to its central location, Missouri is a key battleground in the fight against forced labor and the sex trade, the two major aspects of human trafficking. "Awareness is essential to action on human exploitation and trafficking," he said.

Drawing from personal experience as a judge, Joe described front-line efforts to combat human trafficking through prosecution of criminals such as John Robinson, who lured young women with promises of employment and then enslaved and murdered them. Working cases such as that, he said, "makes a searing impression in your heart and mind that lasts for the rest of your life."

He urged members to be aware of human trafficking, the subject of a recent article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and closed with quotations from the well-known "Paradox of our Time" essay.

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The Rotary Club of Jefferson City continues its award-winning ways. Immediate past district governor Ray Plue presented the Club's immediate past president Mary Russell with awards honoring the Club as a Star Club for contributing $100 or more per capita to the Rotary Foundation, and to Mary with a Change Award for her efforts to improve the Club.

Congrats all around!

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Phil Freeman, co-chair of the Transform Jefferson City campaign, addressed highlights of the program, along with some common misconceptions, in remarks to the Jefferson City Rotary Club January 30. A half-cent sales tax to fund improvements suggested by Transform Jefferson City is on the ballot for the Feb. 7 election.

Major projects to be funded by the tax, which expires after 10 years, include improvements to the Missouri State Penitentiary, a conference center and adaptive re-use of the current St. Mary's Health Center complex. Phil reminded Rotarians that planned expenditures do not include development of Adrian's Island and that spending of money generated by the tax will be overseen by a board to be appointed according to state guidelines.

Remember to vote Feb. 7.

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Please join us on January 30, 2012 for our weekly meeting.  In addition to hearing from our Helias and JC Students of the Month, Diane Twehous, with our Community Service Committee will bring us up to date on our Club's latest local project called Shining Star.  Our own Joe Dandurand is our guest speaker and will tell us about Human Trafficking in the United States and Missouri.

At our February 6, 2012 meeting, we will hear from David Wilson about the True False Film Festival.

Mark your calendars.

Yours In Service,
Arv

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Gary Link, special assistant to the director of athletics at the University of Missouri, shared Mizzou sports highlights and thoughts on the Tigers' impending move to the Southeastern Conference with members of the Jefferson City Rotary Club January 23. Among the highlights:

• Women's basketball: Although winless in the Big 12 thus far this season, the team is improving, and so is attendance. "Missouri people want to see effort," Gary said. "The team is competitive, and you have to be able to compete in order to be able to win." The Tigers are at home this Saturday.
  
• Softball: Look for another stellar year behind the pitching of Chelsea Thomas, who was a finalist for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year last year as a sophomore. The Tigers are the pre-season No. 1 pick in the Big 12 Conference and have emerged as one of the nation's top softball programs.
• Men's basketball (for which Gary serves as a broadcast analyst): "Coach Haith is doing a terrific job," Gary said. "He wasn't the most popular hire, but the basketball people we talked to described him as a good coach and a good man. He has seven guys really playing together and having a lot of fun."

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Nine pallets of eagerly awaited donated goods from Rotary District 6080 have arrived in Panama for distribution.  Three hundred “well-baby kits”, with items such as baby shampoo, blankets, soap, lotion, books, diaper rash ointment and Vaseline were packed in reusable duffel bags at the Rotary District Conference in October 2011 and shipped with the assistance of the Missouri National Guard and US Navy to Rotarians in Panama for distribution to new mothers in need. 

Vincente Pascual, member of the Panama Rotary Club, sent word to District 6080 that the items had arrived in late December, “I’m happy to inform you we received from our friends, the US Navy and US Embassy in Panama, the nine pallets of donations”.  In addition to the well-baby kits Rotarians donated thirty-five PET hand cars, a type of wheelchair, to aide Panamanians who have lost use of their legs.

Pascual continued, “We will visit public hospitals and their maternity wards to provide the well-baby kits to those in need.  We are also looking for recipients for the PET hand cars and have already identified a few for this life-changing vehicle.”

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India_Polio_Free_Press_Release_11.pdf Download this file

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. . . or you can be, says Jill Lucht of the University of Missouri, who discussed the benefits of eating food raised close to home with the Jefferson City Rotary Club January 9. She provided samples of Missouri northern pecans and Goatsbeard Farm cheeses that showed just how tasty food raised in Missouri can be.

Local food sources range, Jill said, from farmers markets, to community supported agriculture, to direct sales by farmers, to growing your own vegetables in a back-yard garden. The benefits of locally produced food include freshness (and fresh always tastes better) and support for local producers and the jobs they create in the local economy (a study showed that more consumption of locally produced food could create up to 5,600 jobs in one of our neighboring states).

Beginning with restaurateur Alice Waters in the 1970s, she said, people began discovering those benefits and seeking out local farmers. In Missouri, for example, the number of farmers markets has almost tripled from 53 in 1997 to 140 in 2009. In addition to the local Cole County and Lincoln University farmers markets, locally produced food is also available through markets such as D&D Market, JC Health Foods and Hy-Vee. Web sites that can direct you to locally produced food include pick a pepper and Local Harvest.

To see Jill's presentation slides, click here.

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John Kolb, left in photo, became the newest member of the Jefferson City Rotary Club when he was inducted during the Club's January 9 meeting. Shown with John is his sponsor, Nick Monaco. John is president of Jefferson City Oil Company Inc., Conoco's oldest continuing distributor in the United States. Jefferson City Oil also offered the first 85 percent ethanol fuel in the area and is the area's first biodiesel distributor. Welcome John!

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The Jefferson City Rotary Club is honoring Ginny Trauth (left) of Helias Catholic High School and Sadie Theroff of Jefferson City High School as the Club's Students of the Month for January 2012. Both are involved in sports (notably, at this time of year, basketball) as well as having been recognized for academic achievements. Congratulations to both!

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. . . or Ford or Chevy or Dodge or pickup. Today's vehicles pack a lot of technology under the hood, and in other places too, and that technology was the subject of remarks by Jim Brandon to the Rotary Club of Jefferson City at its December 12 meeting. Jim is chair of the Automotive Technology department at Linn State Technical College.

"The average car now contains 15 to 20 computers," he said, which control everything from ignition timing to air bags to the radio to global positioning devices. The need for specialized equipment and training to interact with those computers is among the trends pushing auto maintenance toward dealerships, which specialize in a limited number of automotive makes. While requiring less maintenance than older vehicles, new ones require more specialized maintenance.

Jim discussed the pros and cons of new and emerging technologies, most of which are aimed at making cars and trucks safer and more fuel efficient. Although imports have a reputation for technological advancement, he said, "new automotive technology usually starts in the United States, and a lot of what we think of as overseas technology actually came from right here at home."

Click here to view the slides from Jim's presentation.

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But nobody ever does anything about the weather, said Mark Twain. While he may not be able to do anything about the weather, Dr. Tony Lupo, professor of atmospheric science and and chair of the Department of Soil, Environmental and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Missouri, understands more about the causes of weather than most. He shared his insights with the Jefferson City Rotary Club December 5.

He discussed global climate change research he is conducting with colleagues in Russia as well as at Mizzou, focusing especially on blocking, an atmospheric phenomenon that can have a dramatic effect on weather. Blocking is suspected as a cause of a severe drought in Russia in 2010, as well as being related to La Nina and El Nino events. In summer, blocking over a continent can lead to hot, dry weather, Dr. Lupo said, and winter blocking over the eastern Pacific Ocean tends to drive cold weather into the central U.S.

As for this winter in central Missouri, Dr. Lupo is forecasting temperatures cooler than those of an average winter, and "a little bit more snow" than average, which is about 30 inches in the Columbia area. (That compares with about 55 inches of snow in the same area last winter.)

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Think you have trouble making ends meet? The current federal budget requires borrowing 36 cents of every dollar to be spent, said Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler of Missouri's Fourth District in remarks to the Jefferson City Rotary Club November 28. Even though that's down from 42 cents of borrowing just a short time ago, non-discretionary spending still roughly equals all federal government income, she said.

The debt, she said, "causes uncertainty in the economy, leading to less investment by large and small business, and threatens our national security." Congresswoman Hartzler pointed out that 47 percent of U.S. debt is held by other countries, with the interest paid to China alone sufficient to enable that country to buy three joint strike fighter aircraft and have $50 million left over - each week.

With regard to another issue of local importance, she updated Rotarians on the effort she's leading to prevent the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) from requiring the removal of 1,200 homes along the shoreline of the Lake of the Ozarks. Even though FERC has backed down from its initial requirement that the homes be removed, Congresswoman Hartzler has sponsored legislation to prohibit FERC from requiring such removals in the future.

She encouraged Rotary Club members to remain engaged in and provide her with their feedback on these and other issues. "I believe the experts in everything are you, the people," Congresswoman Hartzler said. "The best ideas come from you."

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The Jefferson City Rotary Club extends a hearty "Welcome home!" to Derrik Sweeney, who was taken into custody by authorities during pro-democracy demonstrations in Egypt and released to return home Thanksgiving weekend. Derrik's mother, Joy Sweeney, a member of the Jefferson City Rotary Club, thanks Rotarians for their thoughts and prayers during Derrik's captivity.

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That's the mission of the Jefferson City Police Department Community Services team, and the subject discussed at the Jefferson City Rotary Club meeting November 21 by Officers Kevin Kempker (left in photo) and Chuck Walker. Community services available through JCPD run the gamut from crime prevention to community outreach assistance.

"We've learned that successful policing is more than responding to crime," Kevin said. "Our goal is to provide people with the tools and information they need to take responsibility for their own safety and well-being." JCPD works toward that goal by providing a number of special safety and crime-prevention programs designed for students and parents as well as the general public.

The officers provided a sampling of printed materials available through JCPD; many of those materials, as well as additional safety and crime-prevention resources, are available on the department's Web site.

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. . . is a mentor to a student, and Gara Loskill and Kurt Hafley (in photo) of JC Champions discussed the program with members of the Jefferson City Rotary Club October 31. JC Champions is seeking mentors for students in all grade levels, and mentoring sessions take as little as 20 minutes a week, although most mentors soon spend more time with their mentees, Kurt said.

He noted that students who are mentored tend to be more successful academically and are 48 percent less likely to use drugs or alcohol that students who aren't mentored. Training, preparation and support are offered through the JC Champions program, which complements and is coordinated with other community mentoring programs.

"You can be that one person a child can count on to be there and build a relationship that will continue throughout their elementary and high school experience," Kurt said. "You'll can make a big difference in a child's life."

Gara updated the group on the community's Character Plus program, which is now active in 32 Cole County schools, with the support of 70 area businesses. The Southwest Early Childhood Center and the Jefferson City Academic Center were recently honored by the Character Education Partnership for the schools' 2011 "Promising Practices" in character education.

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Congratulations to Bruce Dawson, the Jefferson City Rotary Club's newest Paul Harris Fellow. Bruce, at right, was inducted into the Paul Harris Society during the Club's October 31 meeting by Past District Governor and Jefferson City Rotary Club member Paul Jungmeyer.

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No, not the movie, but the area residents who are shaping the Transformation initiative spearheaded by the Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce. Randy Allen, the Chamber's president and chief executive officer, discussed the initiative with members of the Jefferson City Rotary Club October 24.

The process discovered that in addition to maintaining its quality of life, Jefferson City needs to take steps to attract more talent - especially young talent - increase innovation and develop a sense of quality of place, which considers what characteristics of a community are attractive to a range of current and potential residents, Randy told Club members.

"Transformation began 18 months ago in order to take a different direction with the community and change things up a bit," he said. "The Transformation projects were developed by nine action teams. They're things we need to do to reach a critical mass that will make growth of the community self-sustaining."

A half-cent sales tax is under consideration as a funding mechanism for the projects, Randy said; it is expected to generate at least $5 million a year for 10 years to fund the estimated $40 million cost of the Transformation projects.

If you'd like to see the complete Transformation plan, click here.

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