President Kathy Yates opened the meeting
Pledge: Donna Austin led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Birthdays
Peter Halpin led the celebration of 16 Rotarians with January birthdays.
Presidents Club
Louisa Roberts celebrated a hole-in-one at the 8th hole at Blackberry Farm on January 12.
Service Corner:
Kathy Yates, on behalf of Padma Chari, announced a Workforce Development donation of several boxes of clothing to the Re-Entry Resource Center.
Vidula Aiyer reported on a successful Community Harvest, during which: approximately 800 pounds of fruit were collected by 7 volunteers over 3.5 hours. The next harvest is planned for February.
Affinity Moments
Judy Wilson and Kevin Bury shared highlights from the January Trailblazer Hike, held on January 8 at the Long Ridge Loop Trail, with 22 hikers participating. The group en joyed a beautiful outing and concluded with a visit to Alice’s Restaurant. The next hike is scheduled for February 14 at Bear Creek Redwoods, led by Kirsten Jensen. To sign up, members may contact Judy Wilson or Jean Gasperini.
Membership Moments
Donna Austin fly up. Donna joined Cupertino Rotary August 28th, 2024 Her Sponsor was Claudio Bono and her Mentor, Alysa Sakkas. She has already participated in many Rotary projects and is involved in many other local organizations, Chamber of Commerce, Historical Society, League of Women Voters, West Valley Community Services, and the Sisters Cities Association.
Click to see the Presentation.
President’s Corner
CLUB ANNOUNCEMENTS
Kelly Wismar & Susan Latshaw discussed the upcoming Read Across America event, celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday from February 26th to March 3rd. Participants will read two books: "Would You Rather Be a Bullfrog" by Dr. Seuss and "We Are Definitely Human." Rotarians are encouraged to sign up for time slots, with about 72 available and a goal of 35 readers. The event will take place in all Cupertino schools, with participants reading to first-grade classes. Look for an email with a sign-up form.
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Jean Gasperini + Jim Davis discussed the upcoming Springboard program, which provides vocational skills training for Fremont Union High School students in the Life Skills class. Jim explained that volunteers are needed to conduct one-hour visits or resume reviews, with sessions running from March 9 to May 22, 11:30 am -12:30 pm. Sign up for as many or as few visits as you like.
Jagi Shahani and Kathy Yates celebrated the success of the TRF campaign, which exceeded their target with 92% participation, $83488. They distributed Paul Harris pins to recognize the 15 donors who contributed $1,000 or more to the foundation.
Shyamoli Banerjee shared that the club held a flag exchange with the Rotary Club of Inner City, Calcutta, at the Cupertino Library.
Program: Rod Sinks introduced the speaker, Severin Borenstein, a professor at the Haas School of Business and director of the Energy Institute at Haas. He has served on various state and federal boards and is an expert economist focused on energy-related questions and was appointed to the governing board of the California Independent System Operator in 2019. Borenstein has contributed to the community choice energy community by educating others on the economics and social costs of government actions.
Dr. Borenstein, discussed the economic and regulatory implications of data centers and AI on electricity demand and rates, emphasizing the need for careful planning and demand flexibility to avoid overinvestment or constrained growth. He proposed solutions such as requiring long-term contracts for facility-specific investments and encouraging demand flexibility, particularly through AI tools. He expressed optimism that data center growth could eventually lower rates by spreading fixed costs over a wider electricity demand. He emphasized the importance of a nuanced regulatory approach to balance growth with cost efficiency.
Click to see the Presentation.
Kathy Yates Next Week's Speaker Announcement Josh Becker.
To see/download other photos from this week's meeting or previous meetings, visit our
SmugMug Photo site.
re happy this week to welcome a new Sergeant at Arms (SAA) to the team to help with the meetings. Kevin Bury, welcome Kevin to the SAA team.
Watch some of our recent speakers.
