“Raindrops keep falling on my head” by Dave (the elder) Morse greeted us as we gathered our coffee and breakfast.
Meeting opens at 7:10 a.m. David the Younger presiding. This is his last meeting as he is relocating to Seattle. He is hoping to be back for a visit later this spring and is leaving us in the (capable) hands of Manny Carbahal (oh my).
Guests:
David Foos brought his neighbor Elsa this morning. Arda and Aram Watenpaugh made sure their father Keith made it on time. Mike Gunther from Ace Hardware is visiting again. Hopefully he will become a full member soon!
Announcements:
Susanne Rockwell - idea presented at Black Bear meeting regarding Debbie Davis’ retirement from the Enterprise. She is calling for all interested to join them at a meeting of the Noon Rotary club to give happy bucks in her honor for her years of service at the Enterprise. She will send an announcement via e-mail as to particulars.
International club thanks us from Adopt A Refugee Family (David Copp) over 60 different families were adopted this holiday season.
Nancy Storm was asked for an update on Rick Stromberg. Since he is in attendance, we gave him a standing ovation. Looking hale and hearty and well on his way to recovery, we welcome Rick back to our ranks!
Paul Harris presentation by Larry Greene: David Copp, Chuck Cunningham, David Foo
s, Duncan Hayes, Dick Bourne and Larry Greene himself! Thank you all for your generous support of the foundation.
Lucas sent a postcard from Hawaii. Meaghan sent one from the (unplugged) Sequoias. Don Saylor sent one from Ohio (or was it Iowa? I always get them confused).
Manny had a presentation for David the Younger in honor of his departure to Seattle. David had a goal of achieving diversity in the club, and approximately 14 past presidents will be filling in for the rest of David’s term. Manny has a past president’s pin for David. Instead of the usual asterisk on
his new pin, an oversized pin with a half asterisk denoting his half (a**terick) year as president.
Sergeants: Sydney Vergis
Happy Bucks:
$5 each for Rick’s return. Lori was happy that John Morgan filled in for Rick during his absence. Mitch went to Tanzania over break and is happy for the colorful and warm times. Irena spent New Year’s in a farm house with a windchill of -28 and 14 dogs in the house. Happy to be back in California! John Morgan happy he moved from the east coast to California! Jim Smith got back from Savannah and… I couldn’t hear the rest. Dick Berry- Salvation Army raised over $18k for bell ringing and happy for Michigan State and in honor of Chuck Snipes’ Bulldogs going to championships. Brodie Hamilton had a birthday so is donating $21 to the foundation. Chuck Snipes - appreciating all the well wishes after the Georgia Bulldogs game. Monday night is the final. Chuck will be watching from his sisters house and is inviting everyone who wants to watch. Game starts at 5! Chuck will donate money for each point scored by Georgia. Clay Brandow was happy that he did not need to rush to Chuck’s aid with oxygen over the results of the Georgia game. Sydney is happy that her most favorite Econ professor is speaking today. Bill Kopper is on the hook for $5 for inviting him. Don Saylor was called out being asked where the closest dispensary is. Don assures us there are currently no dispensaries in Yolo County. (Happy bucks were deferred).
“Nice Things” about David Morse the Younger - Larry Olsen promises to show what a good job David has done by his upcoming performance as fill-in President.
Presentation:
Speaker: Gregory Clark, UCD. “Unequal Chances or Unequal Abilities? What Determines Social Outcomes?”
Prof. Clark grew up in Scotland and went to Kings College in Cambridge, and received a PHD from Harvard. His specialty is “Upward Mobility”.
The nature of Social Mobility and how important Genetics is.
“What do you get from your parents?”
Correlation between parents and their children on any measure of social satiates. 0 implies complete social mobility, 1 implies everything stays the same. Conventional picture is that social mobility varies a lot across society. Scandinavia shows incredible mobility,
The Son Also Rises - Surnames can be used to track social mobility. Princeton University Press, 2014.
Using family surnames as a tracker, we can show that underlying correlation of status across generations is very high - around .8. This persistence is very similar across societies and time periods. It could be 10 - 15 generations before persons at the bottom make it to the top.
Darwin is a good illustration. Knowing his 27 great great grandchildren, only 11 are notable enough to have Wikipedia pages or Times Obits. 6 university professors, 4 authors, a painter, 3 medical doctors, a well-known conservationist, and a film director.
The nature of mobility - a social genotype transmitted through society. What transmits social genotype? Resources? Culture? Networks? Genes? Funding is very limited for research. Not wanting to fund anything that shows social mobility cannot be changed. Yikes!
A giant database is under construction to test this: Lineage of 225,000
“Guild of One-Name Studies, 7,565 members at least. They have an interested in rare surnames in England. They have promised to follow that surname wherever it leads whether optimistic or pessimistic. One name very prevalent in England has drifted to Woodland! Not Davis yet though.
What is this data useful for? It helps to determine whether traits are genetic. Siblings will have the same correlation as a parent/child if genetics are the cause. Correlations can be mapped between 4th cousins, who have a genetic correlation and have perhaps never actually interacted.
Correlations: Father/son is same as brother/brother. You inherit very weakly from your parents, how long you will live. Don’t take anything for granted—lots of randomness in life!
Even though longevity is correlated in general by social status in England,
People can be plotted by genetic distance and going out to a 3rd cousin gives 7 generations to study. A correlation in wealth and social status is very clear and predictable. Like individuals will be attracted to each other which tends to match the social status.
Social world is probably more equal than most people assume. This is not a pessimistic result, It is an argument for limiting social inequalities.Most social status is likely from biological inheritance of abilities.Birth order does not seem to make any difference
Questions:
Vanessa Errecarte wants to know if occupations refer to similar occupations, or the effort it took to get to that occupation. The status is the thing. Similar occupation levels is the correlation. Could it be correlated to opportunity? Not necessarily. There is a tendency of persistence regarding drive to education or opportunity and family “business”. Even if parents pass shortly after your birth, it does not seem to predict any differences.
Susanne Rockwell - Trying to educate a bunch of people in CA that are not as wealthy as others. Is that involved here? The predominant influence seems to be genetics, but that doesn’t mean that it can not be helpful. Rates of social mobility were no slower in the 1800s in England when education was not readily available to all. People are more resilient than is generally suggested. Social mobility in medieval England is actually about the same as in 2018. In 200 years, laborers became artisans and grew to the same level as the educated.
Jim Smith - Observing that the most anyone can attribute to the difference in test source due to the changes in education is about 20 - 25%. Wealthy families tend to lose their wealth after about 3 or 4 generations. Downward movement will not happen if the elite are only marrying each other. Groups who don’t intermarry with other groups retain their distinctiveness.
Jonathan Clay - The correlation of genetic traits that perhaps influence social status and occupation? These traits are very general and thinly passed on.
Jon Maclaghlin - Method seems to be western centric based on surnames. How is study conducted in cultures where surnames are handled differently? Each culture has some sort of connection through names which can be traced.
Ray - asking about how adoption is being handled in this type of study? Korea has been a good source of information because of war orphans adopted into random families. The correlation is there but is only about 1/4 as strong as the effect of genetics. Children being adopted into wealthy families did not tend to maintain that status or wealth in the child. Conclusion is that it is really easy to be a parent! (Guffaws all around!)
David “The Younger” Morse has a few final words: It has been an honor to be a part of our Rotary club. He joined 5 years or so ago and feels a strong “sense of place” given by Rotary and the opportunities to meet people have been an enrichment to his life. Special thanks to Manny for drawing him in. Particular thanks to: Tom Read and Mark Pratt, David Copp for his incredible work with International Committee, Bruce Wolk for taking control of the Foundation, Rick Stromberg for sergeants work, etc. Tim Daleiden for his work on fundraising. Meaghan and Patsy for doing everything that needs to be done! Bill Kopper for program coordination! Vanessa and Mitch for community service work. Jay Brookman for community service work, Larry Greene for Rotary International, Bob Poppenga for work with membership. Jim Smith for taking care of catering. Nancy Storm for student of the month work. Chuck Snipes for enthusiasm and friendship and general work as board member. Dave Morse the elder for energetic piano playing, Too many others for this reporter to capture!
Draw of the Day: Clay drew the ticket. 52 cards in the deck and $237 in the pot. Free breakfast!!
That’s it for this cub reporter. Good luck, and good night!