Board member Jon Levey announced that the Charities committee had its annual grant application revised and ready to send out to the local NFPs . This has been done since the meeting and it is also up on the website.

 

The board authorized Jon to engage in discussions with Highland Park Community Foundation about ways to partner on the grants ensuring that the HP/HW Rotary remains prominent and relevant.

 

The Club sang "Happy Birthday" to members who have birthdays last month.
 

The gala invitations will be going out next week. Venetian Night is Friday, April 27th at the Exmoor Country Club. See Mike Babian to RSVP.

 

 

Len Tenner presented Fred Orkin with another Paul Harris pin signifying his generous contributions to The Rotary Foundation over many years..

 

 

The District conference is May 17th - 20th at the Blue Harbor Resort & Spa in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

 

District 6440 clubs are asked to help identify high school candidates to participate in a Rotary-UN model conference. The event is free to participants and will be held June 2nd in conjunction with the Rotary International Presidential Peacebuilding Conference. The conference will focus on education and literacy. Lyle Staab is conference co-chair. Any questions, please contact Lyle at gov.lyle@rotary6440.org.

 

Rotary International Convention is in Toronto, June 23rd - 27th.

 

Elke Friedman of the Northbrook Club

Cokey Evans, guest of Mike Mills

Sylvia Aruffo, guest of Fred Orkin

Ramesh Kanapareddy, guest of Ghida Neukirch

Greg Dietrich, guest of Karen Dennis

 

50/50 Winners  

In addition to the many Happy Dollars given in the memory of our fellow club member Bernie Kaye, Ghida Neukirch gave in honor of the city's employees and the new police chief.

Fred highlighted three scientific breakthroughs in our lifetimes:

 

- The identification of DNA and its structure is among the most important discoveries of the twentieth century. The genetic instructions of DNA are used in every aspect of all living organisms: growth, development, functioning and reproduction.

 

- Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technique, invented in 1985 by Kary B. Mullis, allows scientists to make copies of scarce DNA samples. This technique has revolutionized many aspects of current research such as diagnosing genetic defects in human cells. It is also used to link specific persons to samples of blood, saliva or hair by DNA comparison.

 

-CRISPR, invented in 2012, guides small RNA sequences to matching DNA sequences. Once the target DNA is found, an enzyme, Cas9 - produced by the CRISPR system, binds to the DNA, cuts it allowing changes to be incorporated into the gene.

 

The editing of a gene using this technique is the future of medicine because a defective genes can be replaced. The F.D.A. first approved of this technique last year. 

 

The ethical use of this technology will be the major issue of our future.