President HARRY PRICE called the Rotary meeting to order,
welcoming all. President PRICE used a real bell to open up the meeting. He introduced the Song of the Day, a 2016 rendition of
"All That Jazz," performed by Chita Rivera who originated the role of Velma Kelley in the original Broadway cast of Chicago the Musical.
THOUGHTS OF THE DAY
President PRICE invited JEANINE VALADEZ to share the Thought of
the Day. She spoke eloquently about coping with grief and expanding personal horizons through service. Her first thought of the day was in appreciation of PP JOHN SYLVESTER -
"But What is Grief, If Not Love Persevering?" and attributed to a fictional character, Vision, as he spoke to his wife, Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch), after the death of her brother, in
WandaVision, 2021, TV Show in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The second thought was a quote from Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.:
“...every [person] must decide whether [they] will walk in the light of creative altruism or the darkness of destructive selfishness. ...Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, “What are you doing for others?”
President PRICE then thanked everyone for being a virtual greeter. He thanked the Rotator photographer, CHUCK LINDAUER, writer ADIN MILLER, and the SSgts. at Arms: HANK DREW, MIKE KERR, PETER THURSTON, and STEVE POMEROY.
GUESTS
President PRICE asked President-Elect STAN SCARDINO to highlight visiting Rotarians and guests. We had no visiting Rotarians but had several guests:
- SALLY CHAVEZ introduced her father George Perham, a past LARC President
- JULIE ROSE introduced Guest of the Club, Becky Morgan
- LINDSAY CARPENTER introduced her husband Craig Carpenter
- DUANNI HURD introduced Bette Houtchens
STAN concluded by promoted next week’s program – LARC’s Club Assembly!!!
LINA on CORETTA SCOTT KING
President PRICE asked LINA BROYDO to share a few words. LINA
reminded those present that behind many a great man is a great woman. She was honored and delighted to welcome Mrs. Coretta Scott King in 1989 to the luxury Fairmont Hotel in San Jose where she worked for 22 years as Director of Public Relations and Promotions. Coretta Scott King had selected Stanford Historian Clayborne Carson to direct the King Papers Project, and stayed at the hotel while on her second visit to Stanford in 1989. She was a very friendly, warm, and beautiful woman and invited LINA to have tea in her suite. Mrs. King’s daughter joined them for tea and took the photo of LINA with Mrs. King in her hotel suite.
NEW BLUE BADGER
President PRICE then invited DUANNI HURD, membership director, to confer a Blue Badge on KARTIK TRIVEDI.
KARTIK and his wife moved with their three young children to Los Altos in 2018. Prior to living in Los Altos, KARTIK spent a decade in San Francisco and another decade in Los Angeles. The family enjoys traveling and learning about different cultures, cooking, gardening, golfing and reading.
Professionally KARTIK is the co-founder of Symosis - a cyber
security, compliance and resilience firm that helps companies stay secure and protect critical data. He is a published author, frequent speaker at industry conferences like RSA and Blackhat and on the board of ISACA Silicon Valley - a global association of IT professionals with more than 1300 members in Silicon Valley.
KARTIK has picked up a few hobbies in the Covid era including biking and hiking. He is hoping to complete the Seattle to Portland STP bike event and hike some of the California 14ers (Mountains that rise to an elevation above 14,000 feet
https://www.shedreamsofalpine.com/blog/california-14ers) in the next few years.
KARTIK was exposed to Rotary at a very young age when his father was involved on and off a club in India. On the personal front he frequently volunteers with nonprofits in India and Ukraine and San Francisco food bank. His goal to join the Los Altos club is to participate in the local community, network and find opportunities to give back. As the fellow Rotarians have already heard, KARTIK has stepped up big time taking the co-chair role with SANDY MINGIA in the upcoming 2022 Fine Art in the Park event.
NEXT WEEK'S THOUGHT PREVIEW
President PRICE asked PP SAM HARDING to give a brief preview of
next week’s Thought of the Day; SAM suggested that in preparation of next week’s agenda, people might want to bring along a proper drink to toast the results.
NEW DIRECTOR BALLOT
President PRICE then reminded everyone that the Club will elect three new Directors next month. Three candidates (in alphabetical order by last name) are currently on the ballot:
- KAREN BERNER, who currently serves as Chair of World Community Services;
- ROYCE CABLAYAN, who has extensive experience serving with the Fine Art in the Park Committee; and
- SALLY CHAVES, who has served as Social Chair and led LARCAT.
If you wish to self-nominate, please notify President PRICE or President-Elect SCARDINO by Wednesday, January 26th. The final nominations will be announced at the January 27th luncheon meeting.
THE ROTARY FOUNDATION (TRF)
President PRICE then highlighted The Rotary Foundation’s
vocational training, in which a group of professionals will travel to another county to either teach local professional about a particular field or to learn more about their areas of expertise. He then shared a video of such a from the vocational team from Thailand that came to visit San Jose. Rotarians with areas of expertise were encouraged to reach out to KAREN GREGURAS and PP MARLENE COWAN if there is interest in sharing such vocation knowledge.
President PRICE invited PP CYNTHIA LUEDTKE and LINDSAY CARPENTER, representing KTRF, to provide some commentary. They noted the great programs funded by the Rotary Foundation around the world and noted that we were at almost the $40,000 goal, our participation rate was still low at 51.5%.
PP WYATT ALLEN was invited to recognize
Members who have achieved a significant level of giving by contributing during the 2021-2022 Rotary year:
- ANNE KEARNS – for achieving a Paul Harris Fellow (PHF = $1,000),
- KAREN GREGURAS - three sapphire pin (PHF plus $3,000),
- SANDIE WHIPPLE – three sapphire pin (PHF plus $3,000),
- FRANK ELMER has earned a one sapphire pin by contributing over $2,000 to TRF during his time in Rotary, and both
- PP BONNIE BURDETT-WALKER and PP DAVID SMITH – for joining the Paul Harris Society ($1,000+ during year)
ROTARY RELATED ANNOUNCEMENTS
- President PRICE led off the announcement by our Club has managed to find $68 in unclaimed funds through the California State Controller’s office.
He then invited DOUG TANNER to share his unexpected discovery while traveling recently in Sicily. DOUG spoke about coming across a memorial in Ragusa honoring “the first century of the foundation of Rotary International [and] commemorate the hardworking and courageous solidarity of the people of Ragusa.” The Ragusa Rotary Club was established on November 5, 1956, on the initiative of 28 qualified professionals and entrepreneurs from the area, the first service club in the province. The Club is part of Rotary International and belongs to District 2110 Sicily and Malta, which has 94 clubs with almost 4,000 members.
Ragusa is a city in Sicily in southern Italy. It has
approximately 74,000 inhabitants in 2016. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The origins of Ragusa can be traced back to the over 4,000 years, when there were several aboriginal settlements in the area. The ancient city, located on a hill, came into contact with nearby Greek colonies, and grew thanks to the nearby port. After a short period of Carthaginian rule, it fell into the hands of the ancient Romans and the Byzantines, who fortified the city and built a large castle. Ragusa was occupied by the Arabs in 848 AD and remained under their rule until the 11th century, when the Normans conquered it. It was anti- Mussolini and welcomed English and American troops in WWII.
President PRICE then invited PETER THURSTON to speak about the new hiking group, Rotary Ramblers. PETER highlighted a few spots from the most recent hike at Long Ridge Preserve including Jikoji Retreat Lake and Wallace Stegner Bench. The next hike will take place on February 11.
RECOGNITION
President PRICE introduced KRIS OLSEN for RECOGNITION who
used the theme of the game show
“The Price Is Right” to test members about their knowledge.
PP WYATT ALLEN, RICHARD LONERGAN (who joined President’s Club), HERB MARSHALL, JULIE ROSE, and PP DAVID SMITH (who also joined President’s Club) all participated in Recognition.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
President PRICE introduced friend of the Club, Dale Nesbit, to speak about a reasoned approach to ethics. Dale began by posing the question about why we care about ethics. He shared key points presented in his lectures at Stanford and condensed a seminar’s worth of lessons into his presentation.
He noted that ethics is about decisions and not thoughts; it’s about actions and consequences. Ethics is about people, not things. Ethics is
ultimately person and related our personal decision-making, and should be driven by a well-crafted ethical code of action. We apply three lenses in our decision making: prudential (i.e., what’s in it for me), legal, and ethical. Ultimately, ethics may be intrinsically rational and self-interested; and discussing ethical decisions and behaviors may be controversial and uncomfortable. Dale concluded his presentation by noting that ethical breaches fall into five categories: lying/deceiving, stealing, harming, coercion, and imposing risk.
Following the presentation, President PRICE opened the floor for questions:
What is the difference between ethical and moral behavior?
Dale explained that “moral” derives from the Latin word “mores” – the practice of your society, it’s habits.
When making ethical decisions, how should a person factor in what is good for society and what is good for the person?
Dale responded that the answer depends on the definition of what is society. He explained that there is no such thing as greater good, because a group can never reflect the values of all of its members
Where does the filibuster fall into the ethical equation?
Dale responded that fell into the decision-making evaluation matrix.
