Feb 9 206 - Rotary Forum
Program February 9, 2016: Drs. David Conn and Cornel Morton “Microaggression”
By Dick Dannells
Pres. Joel opened the meeting at 12:35 PM by auctioning off the fine-free badge to Shannon Bowdey for $55.
FINES:
Pres. Joel concluded that Bruce Beaudoin’s guest introduction did not meet acceptable standards, which resulted in a spin-the-wheel fine of $90 ($5/year he has been in Rotary). Charla Anderson’s smartphone alarm cost her a $27 fine.
announcements:
Steve Curry spoke of the work the Rotary Club Foundation that began in the year 2000. Last year $7500 raised at the Foundation’s only fundraiser, the annual Golf Tournament, went for scholarships. He also reminded everyone that the Golf Tournament committee will meet right after this meeting. Anya Stanley stated that the Community Giving program has been modified slightly and that everyone who wishes to sponsor a charity must submit a properly filled out application no later than March 31. Her committee includes Scott Astrosky, Sharon Ellis, Sandy Lubin, John Murphy, Martha Murphy, and Montisa Phelan Lopez. Jim Lewis announced next week’s meeting will be a vocational tour of the Mike Sinor’s winery in Corbett Canyon. Pres. Joel was very pleased report that he is taking part in the National Immunization days in India and will be out from February 15 to the 28th with past president Mark Olson taking over the meetings. He noted that a country must have no cases of polio for five years to be considered polio free. Pakistan and Afghanistan are only two countries in the world that are not polio free.
PROGRAM: Drs. David Conn and Cornel Morton “Microaggression”
Ashlea Boyer introduced our speaker by providing biographies that included the following: Dr. Conn has been a tenured faculty member in environmental policy & planning most recently at Cal Poly where he has held several senior administrative positions. Dr. Morton recently retired from Cal Poly where he served for ten years as Vice President for Student Affairs and three years as Senior Advisor to the President. They began by defining microaggressions as the everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to target persons based solely upon their marginalized group membership. One example is for you to say “nurse” to a woman walking into your hospital ward and she turns out to be the doctor that I just operated on you. Another is when the department store Santa Claus asks the little boy what he wants Santa to bring him for Christmas and the boy is Jewish. You are engaged in conversation with an African-American man and say him, “When I look at you, I do not see color.” This is denying his identity. An example given an attorney of past microaggressions includes saying all attorneys are crooks and the only good attorney is a dead one. The burning of a cross in a yard next to an Arroyo Grande family that included a black teenage woman was not only an example of micro-aggression, but it resulted in hate crime charges that resulted in prison sentences for those involved.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY BY PAUL JONES:
“Time is a dressmaker that specializes in alterations.”
Program February 9, 2016: Drs. David Conn and Cornel Morton “Microaggression”
By Dick Dannells
Pres. Joel opened the meeting at 12:35 PM by auctioning off the fine-free badge to Shannon Bowdey for $55.
FINES:
Pres. Joel concluded that Bruce Beaudoin’s guest introduction did not meet acceptable standards, which resulted in a spin-the-wheel fine of $90 ($5/year he has been in Rotary). Charla Anderson’s smartphone alarm cost her a $27 fine.
announcements:
Steve Curry spoke of the work the Rotary Club Foundation that began in the year 2000. Last year $7500 raised at the Foundation’s only fundraiser, the annual Golf Tournament, went for scholarships. He also reminded everyone that the Golf Tournament committee will meet right after this meeting. Anya Stanley stated that the Community Giving program has been modified slightly and that everyone who wishes to sponsor a charity must submit a properly filled out application no later than March 31. Her committee includes Scott Astrosky, Sharon Ellis, Sandy Lubin, John Murphy, Martha Murphy, and Montisa Phelan Lopez. Jim Lewis announced next week’s meeting will be a vocational tour of the Mike Sinor’s winery in Corbett Canyon. Pres. Joel was very pleased report that he is taking part in the National Immunization days in India and will be out from February 15 to the 28th with past president Mark Olson taking over the meetings. He noted that a country must have no cases of polio for five years to be considered polio free. Pakistan and Afghanistan are only two countries in the world that are not polio free.
PROGRAM: Drs. David Conn and Cornel Morton “Microaggression”
Ashlea Boyer introduced our speaker by providing biographies that included the following: Dr. Conn has been a tenured faculty member in environmental policy & planning most recently at Cal Poly where he has held several senior administrative positions. Dr. Morton recently retired from Cal Poly where he served for ten years as Vice President for Student Affairs and three years as Senior Advisor to the President. They began by defining microaggressions as the everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to target persons based solely upon their marginalized group membership. One example is for you to say “nurse” to a woman walking into your hospital ward and she turns out to be the doctor that I just operated on you. Another is when the department store Santa Claus asks the little boy what he wants Santa to bring him for Christmas and the boy is Jewish. You are engaged in conversation with an African-American man and say him, “When I look at you, I do not see color.” This is denying his identity. An example given an attorney of past microaggressions includes saying all attorneys are crooks and the only good attorney is a dead one. The burning of a cross in a yard next to an Arroyo Grande family that included a black teenage woman was not only an example of micro-aggression, but it resulted in hate crime charges that resulted in prison sentences for those involved.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY BY PAUL JONES:
“Time is a dressmaker that specializes in alterations.”