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Cogitator May 4, 2011
Alexandra Filindra, PhD, Brown University's Taubman Center for Public Policy
GUESTS
Kathy Brown, from Legacy Financial Group in Providence, was a guest of Steve Lombardi.
BIRTHDAY
Happy birthday to Amy Levin on Sunday, May 8th.
BOARD MEETING
The board's monthly meeting will be held at 7:30am Thursday, May 12th, at the United Methodist Church (South County Trail). All Rotarians are invited to attend.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Bonnie Sauer announced the final numbers for the Feinstein Food Challenge. She was able to collect from Rotarians $293 in food and $273 in cash donations, for a total of $566 in 'net cash value.' This means that, with Feinstein matching funds, our total is $1,132 (13% over the club's goal). Nice work, Bonnie!
The Mike Gemma era nears, as Secretary Betsy DePrimo announced that the East Greenwich Rotary's Annual Installation Banquet will be held on Wednesday, June 15th, at the East Greenwich Fireman's Hall. Social hour will be from 6pm to 7 pm, and supper will begin at 7pm. Tickets will go on sale shortly at $40 per person and $75 per couple.
Richard Waterman announced that the Installation Banquet is also the event at which our club presents its annual Bipin Pancholi Rotarian of the Year Award. Ballots were sent in a separate email and will also be available next week.
Our next Million Dollar Meal will be held on June 1st, at Cole Junior High School.
Welcome back to George Popella, who was out for a few weeks battling kidney stones. Good to have you back, George.
Jane Boynton's Taste of the Town is shaping up to be a fantastic night, with great food from several local vendors as well as fine wines and drinks from The Savory Grape. Let Jane know as soon as possible how many people you are bringing to the festivities, and also please get your checks in as well since the big night is fast approaching. (Don't forget to bring Jane an auction item as well!)
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Judy Pratt told us about a touching moment at McCoy Stadium on Monday, May 2nd. The PawSox brought out ALS patient Wayne Harrington to throw out the game's first pitch. Wayne inspired this year's 'Team Wayne,' the largest running team the Scott Carlson ALS 5K event has seen to date. A good number of Wayne's supporters were also at this game cheering him on again.
HAPPY BUCKS
Vin Meola was Happy Bucks Meister for the day, and he gave the first buck of the day in honor of his late uncle, Lou Tafuri. Lou lost his battle with ALS many years ago, and each year Vin dedicates his race efforts (victories) to Uncle Lou.
Judy Pratt gave a pat on the back buck to Seth Wilson for his phenomenal job this year on the ALS 5K committee. Seth secured several sponsorships, passed out 5000 race fliers to his SeaScape customers (at an incredibly low cost), obtained free advertising from Citadel Broadcasting, and secured support from the PawSox, who provided 3000 free tickets, broadcast next year's race date, and had Wayne Harrington throw out the first pitch. Well done Seth!
Jodi Gladstone was happy to be the slowest Rotarian at the ALS event, but did noted son Caleb's family speed genes. Caleb's EG High School squad easily took first place team honors. Also, Jodi's daughter, a Simmons College undergraduate, won tickets for a trip to Israel.
Steve Lombardi was thrilled that his son was accepted as an NYU exchange student to Prague, Czech Republic.
George Popella gave a couple of bucks, first for the end of his painful two week kidney stone ordeal, and secondly for his boat being launched this week (the old gal still floats!).
President Ed was happy that his son on his 31st birthday, just back from South America with his fiancee, got the great news that his job was taking him to the Marshall Islands. Also, Ed congratulated all of the club's Project Managers this year, who well exceeded their respective goals, making this a very successful year for the Rotary Club of East Greenwich. (Only one more project to go...A Taste of the Town...let's help Jane exceed hers as well!)
PROGRAM/SPEAKER
Alexandra Filindra, from Brown University's Taubman Center on Public Policy, speaking on 'Immigrants in Rhode Island, Then and Now'
The hot button issue of immigration is as old as our country. America's founding fathers, including Ben Franklin, expressed grave concerns about the increasing number of German immigrants in the mid-to-late 1700's. In the 1850's, many groups of citizens including the 'Know Nothings' and 'Nativists' crusaded against the wave of Irish 'papists,' making it nearly impossible in some cities for Irish Catholics to live peacefully or find work. In the early 20th century, during the wave of Italian and Eastern European immigrants, some citizens clamored that these new arrivals were the 'parasites of Europe, and when the melting pot boils, the scum will float to the top.'
Is today different? According to Alexandra Filindra, not really. There are still immigrants coming to America, more who wish to come, and current Americans wondering how these new 'hordes' will impact their well being. There are 37.7 million foreign born residents in the US today, which is about 12.5% of America's population. There are also 10-12 million undocumented residents, 28% of whom arrived after 2000.
Rhode Island's immigration statistics mirror the national numbers: 1in 8 Rhode Islanders are foreign born, 2% are undocumented, and the largest group comes from Latin America. Foreign born residents make up 14% of our work force. Interestingly, 5% of our active-duty military is foreign born. And, unauthorized immigrants make up 5% of the total work force.
Alexandra provided recent survey results from her studies: 70% believe immigrants should 'blend' into society; 47% say fewer Latin American immigrants would be 'better'; 10% stated immigrants strengthen our state. Other responses included: 55% surveyed said that state and local police should be able to check documents to ensure citizenship; many Rhode Islanders believe that the number of illegal immigrants is as high as 20% (a percentage which Alexandra believes is far too high).
She expressed concern over the recent tough Arizona immigration laws citing discrimination as a possible natural byproduct of law enforcement efforts, based on the way the law is proposed.
Finally, Alexandra mentioned that one of the reasons there are so many unauthorized workers in the US is that it takes such a long time, in some cases 6-19 years, for workers on visas to obtain Green Cards. And, the fact that foreign workers have families when they are here, the beaurocratic maze and lengthy processing times help explain why so many immigrants do overstay their original visas.
The A. Alfred Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions was established at Brown in 1984. Its mission is teaching, research, and service focused on the areas of health care, social welfare policy, education policy, urban policy, law and criminal justice, and media and technology. The Center sponsors an undergraduate program in Public Policy and American Institutions and offers master’s degrees in Public Policy and Public Affairs.