Your Weekly Get Up & Go has been Updated

            Members and guests arrived to piano music played by Dave Morse (the elder) who mixed polka with pop, including a version of “What a Wonderful World.”  While the music played, there was much visiting as the room filled until President Manny Carbahal interrupted by ringing his bell to begin the singing of “Smile” and “America the Beautiful” at 7:07 am.

            While struggling to get control, President Manny called for introduction of guests and visiting Rotarians.  Davis School Board Member Alan Fernandez was present, Mack Walker introduced Rich Millet, Bill Kopper was attending with his wife, Carolyn, and Professor Matt Bishop, and Nathalie Minya Mukome introduced her daughter.

            Responding to the call for announcements, Tim Daleiden talked about the need for volunteers and selling tickets to Oktoberfest, while Carolyn Stiver asked for raffle prizes and wine. Carolyn also warned us that she would be looking for Meals on Wheels volunteers.  (At this point, the reporter was distracted by the ringing of Jim Smith’s mobile phone.)   Meaghan Likes emphasized the importance of selling Oktoberfest tickets that she has been distributing.  Then President Manny stepped in to announce that Clay Brandow had sent a postcard from Winters and Gary Johns had also been out of town to somewhere north of Davis.  Continuing with other Club business, Manny revealed that Rose Cholewinski was deferring her year as President to help with John Youmans’ recovery, while David Morse (the younger) will be taking Rose’s place as President Elect.  Finally, Nathalie Minya Mukome announced that flyers about the Tese Foundation were on each table.

            Sergeant for the Day, Tim Daleiden then took over with a request for Happy Bucks.  Jim Smith was happy to be back from Africa (although he may have been in better company with the gorillas).  Larry Olsen was happy that President Manny and his wife Debbie (who broke her right collar bone) were not hurt worse in their recent bicycle accident, and he announced the formation of Larry’s Spin Club for those who can’t stay upright.  Lori Raineri was happy about her father’s photo show and was glad to be a member of the Davis Sunrise Rotary Club.  Nathalie Minya Mukome was thankful for the teapots from Dick Berry and his wife, Judy.  Jonathan Clay was glad to have survived the recently concluded legislative session and his trip to the desert.  Rose Cholewinski was very happy that John is coming home next Tuesday, that he is walking, and that his memory is coming back.  She can’t wait to tell him about the new Spin Club.  Gary Johns was happy about going to Oregon and the Aggie game in Eugene.  Aaron Phillips had travelled to Washington (but the reporter couldn’t tell if this was the state or D.C.).  Don Saylor had seen the film celebrating the life of legendary UCD football coach Jim Sochor.  Irena Asmundson was happy to have made it back from Burning Man.  Chuck Snipes was back from Canada.  And Chris Martin was pleased to have a new job back in Davis, but needs a referral for legal advice about intellectual property (begging the question of how there could be anything intellectual about a Club with President Manny). Ouch!

            After all this happiness, Sergeant Tim fined Bill Kopper for having a picture of his business associate, Preston Marten, in the local newspaper.  Bruce Wolk was recognized for having Lois suggested as the next UCD Chancellor.  Duncan Hay was fined because the Oregon Ducks beat the UCD Aggies.  Then Mitch Mysliwiec, Chuck Snipes, Clay Brandow, Dick Berry, and Bonnie Walther were picked out for having shirts with Star Trek colors on the 50^th anniversary of the Star Trek television show.

     See photo to right of DHS Interacters at a recent service event.  They volunteered for the Davis Sunset Rotary club’s Movie in the Park the past three Saturday evenings.  The kids did all sorts of things including working the cotton candy and popcorn booths. It's a neat event, and a big thanks to the Interacters for their help! Thanks too to David Morse for the update!

            Next, thankfully, Bill Kopper introduced Professor Matt Bishop for a program on Electronic Elections and Security of Voting Machines.  Professor Bishop began with a question about voting electronically in Yolo County, but it turned out that most Club members were using mail ballots.  When explaining the difference between ATMs and voting, Matt stressed that ballots are anonymous and do not have receipts that could be used to find inaccuracies.  Machines are not necessarily more secure than paper, and the right question is whether computers are both easier and secure.  Early voting machines used secret code that only companies and hackers had access to, and a California review of voting machines found enough problems that machines were decertified and their use restricted.  We now have a paper trail of votes in California.  Using the internet for voting leads to even more problems.  It is connected world-wide and is not secure.  Problems range from phishing to change votes to prevention of service when most voting takes place.  Even without internet voting, machines are often connected to the internet for vendor updates, which can also lead to vote fixing.

            In response to questions, Professor Bishop explained that current systems are not secure, are becoming more involved, and the scale of systems and attacks is now an issue.  But experienced people can identify sources of attacks.

            Then it was time for the draw of the day, where Gretchen Peralta won a free breakfast.