• "I am an observational astronomer studying the physics of stars and their planets, using data from ground-based observatories such as SALT and MDM. I investigate how the spin and magnetic properties of stars are related, and how these stellar properties change with time. I also work to detect and characterize exoplanets around young and magnetically active stars in order to understand how exoplanets form and evolve."

• "It wasn't a typical first week at work: meet your colleagues, get settled in, confirm the existence of a new planet about 900 trillion miles from earth. But for physics and astronomy professor Elisabeth Newton, that's exactly how she started her new job at Dartmouth College earlier this year.

  It's called DS Tuc Ab, a roughly 45-million-year-old planet about 150 light years away. It is an exoplanet because it's located outside our solar system. Newton describes it as a gaseous planet similar to Saturn.

  As the same time, she says it's far hotter than any of the planets closest to our sun, like Mercury or Venus.

  Newton led a team of researchers from schools around the world, including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University Texas at Austin, during their search.

  The planet was observed by NASA late last year and then confirmed as a planet in March, with findings of the teams' observations published in late July in the The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

  Newton joined Vermont Edition to describe the new planet, what we can learn from it and the effort that went in to ultimately identifying DS Tuc Ab."

Book Given to the Kilton Library Children's Collection in honor of our speakers Elizabeth Newton was:

A Computer Called Katherine by Suzanne Slade with illustrations by Veronica Miller Jamison

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Guests - Laurie Bartlett - Vocational Specialist at Headrest

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Happy Dollars

Marilyn and Ron Bedell are off to Portland Maine after the meeting to attend Rotary District 7780 (Southern Maine and and eastern New Hampshire for a Rotary Foundation Service Above Self Dinner.

Phil Renz and Ernst Oidtmann filled us in our their winter trip to Quebec.  As Ernst stated..."They went to hell, but it was frozen over," They skied over 40 miles, ate wonderful food they didn't have to cook, and enjoyed being out in the winter weather.

Bill Secord shared how the book we are giving to the Kilton Library in honor of our speaker is about another woman scientist who was featured in the movie, Hidden Figures, Katherine Johnson.  He also shared hockey news that was reported in the Valley News with his plea to have all of us subscribe to a local newspaper.

Cindy Jerome is delighted that he son who is a senior in high school now has job.

JoAnn Limeaux is back from the Rotary Friendship Exchange to New Zealand.  She stayed with 5 host families.  While there she met US Ambassador Scott Brown from Massachusetts. On the way there she spent time in Honolulu and on the way back spent a day in LA seeing Venice Beach, Hollywood and Rodeo Drive.  She will be our speaker in a few weeks to will share more information about the trip.

Paul Tierney let us know his twin granddaughters are doing well.

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Raffle

Cindy Jerone pulled the 3 of hearts.  So...the hunt for the queen continues.

 Ernst Oidtmann won the car wash.

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Announcement from President-elect Paul Tierney

Paul is beginning to plan for the next Rotary year, 2020-2021.  He sent all of us a e-mail that had an enclosure.  He is asking all of us to identify which projects, programs, and fundraisers we want to to be involved in.  It is his hope that he will know the types of activities you would enjoy being a part of next year.  If we all do a little, no one will have to do a lot.

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• What kinds of pies are you going to make.  Everyone is asked to provide at least two pies, on sweet, one savory, or donate $30 and the committee will purchase two pies for you.  Please, sign up at our meeting or let Tim Gauraldi know what you will bringing or donating.
• Pie tickets are now available.  Your job is to sell 5 tickets or purchase 5 tickets.
• Bruce Pacht sent every one a copy of the poster via e-mail.  Help promote the pie buffet by e-mailing information to friends, or post on your social media pages.
• Posters are now available (copy of the poster is the top picture in this newsletter) - Pick some up at our next meeting and get them hung all around the Upper Valley
• The #1 priority for Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation is the eradication of Polio.  We need to be a part of the End Polio Now campaign.  The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will match our donations $2/$1!

From the Rotary Web Site:

Read the 2019 Rotary International Annual Report -- Click Here

Letter from our leaders

More than a century ago, Rotary pioneered a new model of service leadership grounded in person-to-person connections. Today, those connections are a network that spans the globe — bridging cultural, linguistic, generational, and geographic barriers — and that shares the vision of a better world.

As people of action, we understand that fulfilling that vision requires a plan. Rotary has adopted a new Action Plan for the next five years: to increase our impact, expand our reach, enhance participant engagement, and increase our ability to adapt. Our plan will provide us with a continuity of vision from year to year, keeping us moving toward our shared purpose.

The Rotary Foundation plays a critical role in fulfilling this purpose. In 2018-19, the Foundation raised over $395 million, surpassing our $380 million goal. We made great progress toward building our Foundation’s Endowment to $2.025 billion by 2025.

Rotary leadership creates opportunity — and this year, we saw amazing examples of that leadership across generations of Rotarians. Whether participating in Rotary Youth Exchange, Interact, Rotaract, or Rotary clubs, Rotarians are transforming lives and making a lasting impact. Your continued commitment proves that Rotary is an inspiration to the world.

 

Barry Rassin
2018-19 President
Rotary International

Brenda Cressey
2018-19 Trustee Chair
The Rotary Foundation

 

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The Four-Way Test isn’t a tool to judge others

Posted on January 29, 2020

 

Martin Postic Jr.

By Martin “Marty” Postic Jr., past governor of District 5750 and a member of the Rotary Club of OKC Sunrise, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA

In our contentious society, I see friends who are members of Rotary use The Four-Way Test to support opposing political and social arguments and to criticize the thoughts, statements, and actions of others. I see members with completely opposing viewpoints use the same Four-Way Test to both support their argument and demean others. Rotarians and others are using all forms of social media to share their opinions about perceived violations of The Four-Way Test, causing others to pile on additional comments and insults, all with little thought to how this affects our public image.

Which leads me to this basic premise:

The Four-Way Test is a mirror, not a window 

Rotary members should not use The Four-Way Test to look at others but rather to look at themselves in considering the ramifications of a thought, statement, or action. It should not be a window through which we look to judge others. It is a mirror at which we look to judge ourselves.

The argument I’ve heard Rotarians make is that if they determine some thought, statement, or action violates any part of the test, it is their duty to declare that thought, statement, or action wrong. I have heard The Four-Way Test used to support any number of topics, some which readers would find hard to support. Yet through the Internet, one can cobble together any sort of argument to back any thought or concept with a plethora of “facts.”

I do not believe that is what The Four-Way Test is about. I believe the test is more about how we treat each other than how we measure ideas.

Of course, it is a challenging standard. It’s difficult to keep from thinking something. But what is more important is how you act on that thought. If you think to yourself, “I don’t like this person,” it becomes a matter of what you do with that thought. You can try to dispel it as well as any urge to take some negative action to satisfy your dislike of the person. You can also decide whether you say something to that person or tell others what you think.

This is where social media distorts things, because society now seems to embrace negative, vitriolic, or fake comments – as long as the comments agree with our own views. Posting such comments even in the name of The Four-Way Test is certainly not FAIR to all concerned and definitely does not build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS.

This brings me to the realization that using The Four-Way Test to argue political and social issues is in itself contrary to the test. We must never use the test to support a position while opposing or berating someone else’s position. We should not use The Four-Way Test to support or oppose contentious “hot button” issues, to comment on political discord, or to respond to another’s comment.

We need to teach The Four-Way Test to all of our friends. We don’t need to preach it. Rotary takes pride that it is a non-political, non-religious organization. That has allowed us to make inroads in parts of the world where governments and religious organizations can’t. Let’s not sully Rotary’s reputation by using these 24 words of ethical and moral thought to tear each other down.