President Pat called the first meeting of August to order at 12:26. The invocation was given by Linda Lynch, followed by “America, The Beautiful” accompanied by John Dale Smith. President Pat recognized the 8 new members who completed orientation just before the meeting. Lisa Smith had the microphone for introduction of the day’s guests.
Diane Sanborn reported that the health of the club was good, although Dich Ammons’ wife, Betty, was having a tune up done on her shoulder. Jenn Dubey put out a call for club gardeners to assist with a gardening project at the new Rotary Park which is quickly nearing completion. Contact Jenn for more details.
President Pat introduced John Person to present a check for $5000 to Pam Mikalvic from the Davies Project. The Davies Project provides transportation for kids with illnesses to get to doctor’s appointments and treatments. Pam gratefully accepted the check and let us know that they are moving to a new location just 2 blocks from Sparrow on Monday. The grant will be used to complete the new family lounge, Dakota’s Oasis. This lounge provides a place for families to gather and meet each other. The idea for the lounge came from volunteer drivers who develop bonds with the families they are serving. The Davies Project will have an open house on September 12th from 8 – 4. Pam invited all to attend and check out the new facility.
Terry Terry introduced our special music for the day, but began by thanking our club for our support of the 25th annual Jazz Fest. Our guests were two performers from Brazil who were performing as Brazilian Bossa Duo. Dago Schelin played guitar and sang, while Pericles Gomes added percussion, vocal highlights and much humor to the performance. We were treated to “Girl from Ipanema” in Portuguese, followed by another selection that translated as “People Who Don’t Like Samba Are Not Good People”. Their performance was very enjoyable.
President Pat introduced Wayne Sieloff as both Chair of the Month and Chair of the Day. Wayne introduced Steve Lorincz, someone he as known for 19 years when Steve was working for Northwest Airlines and Wayne was an architect. Today Steve oversees TSA operations in Detroit, Lansing, Flint and Midland/Bay City, as well as serving as the Regional Director for 12 states.
Steve began by clarifying that the TSA is not just responsible for air travel, but rather is tasked with maintaining security across all modes of transportation. There are 22 agencies within the department with global responsibility to increase global transportation security. TSA focuses on making travel safe and secure, while maintaining efficiency and striving to make the experience as pleasant as possible.
Every day, 2.2 to 2.5 million passengers are screened. Vetting begins before you arrive at the airport as TSA works closely with the airlines to examine passenger lists. They employ K9 units – the second largest force in the US – to screen baggage for explosives. There is also behavioral detection, utilizing employees wandering through airports looking for behavior that may indicate a threat. Those identified are brought in for questioning. We are all familiar with the identification verification and physical security checkpoints. In short, there is more to the security effort than is immediately obvious when you arrive for your flight!
New technology is regularly deployed to improve efficiency and security. Soon we will see 3D CT imaging with a goal of automating the screening process for carry on items. TSA Agents will only need to react to alarms from the system rather than making a determination of suspicion based on their evaluation. This system will be deployed gradually beginning this fall. Other systems that will be or are in use include bottles liquid scanners, explosive trace detection and explosive detection systems.
In 2020, a boarding pass will no longer be required for TSA screening. You will supply your Real ID (make sure you have one or you will NOT be flying) and the system will show the agent your photo, flights, threat status and screening type using continuous real time vetting. This system should cut the time required per passenger in half – from 12 – 15 seconds to only 6 seconds.
Throughout Steve’s presentation, it was obvious that he is passionate about what he does.
President Pat thanked Steve for taking the time to be with us, let him know that we would be making a donation to a clean water project and presented the Rotary coin.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:26.
Linda Lynch's email is: linda.j.lynch@gmail.com