UPCOMING MEETING AUGUST 2, 2022
Club Day! The 1st of the 2022-23 year - summer social
Join us, build your burger the way you like it, relax and mingle with the group. It's a great opportunity to chat with members you, perhaps, don't usually spend time with during our regular meetings. Topic of the day: let your imagination go, with no constraints, financial or time, and think about what you want our club to work towards or accomplish over the 2022-23 year.
UPCOMING MEETING AUGUST 9, 2022
Mark Dwor, Past Member of the Board of Management of the Canada Revenue Agency Making Sense of Blockchain Misinformation
Mark began his research on Blockchain and related matters in 2016 when he was on the CRA Board, and he has maintained his interest in and curiosity about these matters ever since.
He has spoken to the Probus Club and to private groups about these topics. In this talk, Mark will focus on how misinformation about the utility and reliability of Blockchain adds a
filter of ambiguity and confusion. This ambiguity and confusion make informed discussions and decision making and risk management about this technology unnecessarily difficult.
He will speak as little as possible about Cryptocurrencies.
Mark Dwor is a past member of this Rotary Club and a current member of the Vancouver Probus Club. He is a retired lawyer and has served on many boards including Variety the Children's Charity, Osteoporosis Canada, and the Canadian Academy of Independent Scholars. From 2015 to 2018 he was the British Columbia representative on the Board of Management of the Canada Revenue Agency, where he was the Chair of the Blockchain Advisory Subcommittee. He has also been an Adjunct Professor at UBC Faculty of Law and an Associate Professor at SFU Seniors' Programme. He lives in Kerrisdale, is married and has two grown children and two grandchildren.
Every day The Rotary Foundation changes lives around the world and in our own communities. Through the Rotary District 5040 Million Dollar Dinner on October 8, 2022 you can build our District’s legacy of service through a donation to The Rotary Foundation in Canada.
Right now we are already making a real difference, but we can do so much more together. This ambitious District 5040 Campaign to raise US $1,000,000 will enable The Rotary Foundation to continue to strengthen communities in even more ways.
We are holding the Million Dollar Dinner to raise NEW funds for the Rotary Foundation. This is your opportunity move to a higher level in contributing funds to TRF or to a higher level with a bequest or other opportunities
to make a gift. The dinner recognizes donors who make a NEW contribution of a minimum of US$10,000 cash or legacy gift commitment to The Rotary Foundation between April 1 and October 4, 2022.
We are grateful to have several people already committed to advertising in the directory. We are looking for just two or three more advertisers to cover the cost of printing. We are aiming to have this completed and ready for distribution by September 1st. If you are interested, kindly let Ryan Crean and Carolyn know as soon as possible.
The schedule is $200 for a half page ad, and $300 for a full page ad. This will be used to fund the printing of 200 directories, which will be distributed to all members. Any additional funds raised will be allocated to the club youth projects. The bonus is, that once the design work is completed, we have the ability to print more on an as needed basis and make small changes as required from year to year.
The sizes for the ads are as follows. The measurements are width by height in inches
Full page - 5.0146” w x 7.6806” h, no bleed
Half page - 5.0146” w x 3.8386” h, no bleed
Back cover - 5.5” w x 8.5” h, with 0.25” of bleed
If you have predesigned advertisements please contact our Graphic Designer Irene at design@kearneyfs.com. In the event you require something created, Irene is happy to help do this with any digital assets you can provide.
All payments for advertising space, can be made by cheque or credit card to Rotary Club of Vancouver. Carolyn, admin@rotaryvancouver.org, will be administering so please send to her directly.
We have received a few inquiries in search for temporary lodging for international students related to Rotarians. If you are interested in learning more, contact Carolyn, who will forward you the information. A couple of the requests are:
one for a period of three weeks in the upcoming month of October for a female
another, 21 year old female, will be working on a double degree program in Business Administration at BCIT. So obviously a longer term lodging, or perhaps just somewhere to start.
the last (Adriana is currently following up), another 21 year old female who will be attending UBC for one term, Sept-Dec 2022.
* come in person to celebrate with Purdy's chocolates!!
Last Meeting July 26, 2022
Kendall Jessiman, President, chaired the meeting and gave the invocation.
Sandra Lowe, Secretary, hosted the ZOOM portion of the meeting
Stephanie Lawton, acting Sergeant at Arms, introduced guests
Miya Otake played O Canada on the harp via video
President’s Announcements:
Thank you to all of you who came to Tuesday’s meeting. It is wonderful to see you all, both those increasing numbers in person and those decreasing numbers attending virtually. The returning normalcy is a joy to experience.
Paul Harris said, “Whatever Rotary may mean to us, to the world it will be known by the results it achieves.” It is through the Rotary Foundation that Rotary supports projects near and far. This year’s Foundation Dinner date has been set for Saturday October 8th at the Quilchena Golf & Country Club in Richmond. Price is $100 per person.
We’ve received a request from a fellow Rotarian in the Netherlands looking for temporary lodging for their 21 year old daughter coming to study for the fall semester at UBC, Sep-Dec. If anyone can help or knows of someone who can help, contact Carolyn.
Secretary's announcements:
reminders of upcoming events/meetings (see above)
birthdays, member club anniversaries, wedding anniversaries (see above)
Special announcements and members' moments:
Sandra Lowe talked about her daughter, Jordana, who, when she was 15 went to Uganda on a Rotary Club of Burnaby trip with the purpose of treating people inflicted with club foot. It was this trip that inspired her to be a doctor. 15 years later she accomplished the dream that Rotary put into motion, and has graduated as a family doctor. Sandra, herself has been an enthusiastic participant in Rotary volunteerism in the Dominican Republic. Sandra let us know that it was Jordana who inspired her to get involved in Rotary volunteer trips and eventually become a Rotarian, definitely not the other way around.
Melody Hu was inducted as our newest member, joining the Young Professionals Division of the club, with mentor Franz Gehriger. Welcome Melody!!
Kendall Jessiman was interviewed by Franco Gallo.
Kendall is an architect with Iredale, though newly semi-retired. It was wonderful getting to know him a bit better. We learned his daughter lives in Mexico. His current prize project is restoring a cathedral in Saskatoon. His hobbies are mostly sports – tennis, skiing, curling, and golf. He joined Rotary thanks to Franz, as is true for many members. Iredale was working on a project with Franz when he was voluntold that he'll join Rotary. Well he did and hasn’t looked back, now becoming the club President for 2022-23. The thing he’d like to accomplish during his year as President is to help the club become more vibrant, inclusive and engaging. He’s like all members to answer the question, “What excites you about Rotary?” as a step in making his thoughts reality for the club.
Program:
Jim Evans introduced our guest speaker, Santa Ono, President & Vice-Chancellor of UBC.
The last time Santa spoke to the club was in 2018. Since then we’ve dealt with an unprecedented pandemic and now on the other side it’s a wonderful to have the opportunity to come back to this club to speak, acknowledging that our club is one of the friendliest ones he has visited.
Santa will be moving to the University of Michigan in October. Leaving UBC was one of the most difficult decisions for him to make. His father was a professor of mathematics at UBC. UBC was where he grew up, driving his bicycle around what was then a relatively small campus compared to what it is now. It is hard to leave and has been an extraordinary 6+ years in his role as President. The reason he made the decision is his parents. His Mom is 88, Dad is 95. From his new home in Michigan he will be just an hour away by plane from them so it will make it easier to help care for and support them. Family first!
UBC been able to achieve global recognition acknowledged at as a very high level university globally. It sits typically UofT and McGill within the top 15 ranked universities in the world. UBC ranked 13th in the world in 2021. The campus is constantly under construction with work costing $600M now underway.
UBC used to be a commuter campus. It’s now completely different with about 25-26,000 people living in and around the campus, approximately 17,000 residential students. To put it in perspective the campus is a similar size to the city of Nanaimo. They have been able to create a real community on campus. There are about 20,000 faculty & staff who live on campus with the students. It is truly a 24/7 living, learning community.
A part of the current construction is building new facilities for faculties that have been around for some time and need updating. In addition, there will be 3 new research centres in areas such as bio-mass (used as fuel), and language acquisition (how we learn new languages). A bio-medical engineering centre whose focus is on how to use the latest technologies to ensure that we live in a healthier way as our lives increase in duration. A new policy school has been created.
They are building a new Gateway Building that will house the School of Kinesiology and the School of Nursing. According to Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects’ website, “the Gateway building's transparent entryway will provide a visual connection to the existing campus and public realm. Located at the intersection of University Boulevard and Westbrook Mall, Gateway marks the historic arrival point of UBC and the crossroads of campus and community.
The building integrates UBC’s promise to support inclusivity, sustainability, and well-being. As part of the university's commitment to Indigenous reconciliation, engagements with the Musqueam population helped establish a conceptual foundation for the design process.”
Strengthening the institution is an ongoing effort to ensure it continues to be one of Canada’s great universities both nationally and globally. They recognize that the only way to approach the biggest and most serious global issues is to collaborate intra departmentally, with private industry, and with diverse communities.
One of the things Santa is most proud of is the investment in students. They wanted to attract the best and brightest, provide a 1st rate education, a 2nd to none experience, while setting students up for success. Looking after students’ wellness holistically is important. He is also proud that they have been able to attract students through the holistic entrance, looking beyond marks, looking for passions. Hopefully Rotary will look to UBC for future Rotarians as there are many students with like ideals.
The young generation of students have gone through a very difficult time of late due to the pandemic. Their experience has been very different from what most of us experienced. Many were not able to have a normal end to high school. Many entered university virtually and could not experience the joy and celebration of the transition. Those graduating university during this time could not celebrate with convocations and parties.
We need to remember that these years for these young people is a transformative, vulnerable time of their lives. We must not lose sight of what these young people have missed out on and how has it impacted their mental well being. There is a tsunami of need within these groups of young people looking for mental health support. The collaborative group of the top of 15 universities in Canada has the welfare of students as their top priority. The university has increased their support by having 24/7 on-line counselling help line, and increasing the psychiatric staff in an attempt to meet the demand.
Students are the greatest hope for a great future. What we enjoy, life and global health is very fragile and can be taken for granted too easily. There are brilliant young people who are afraid for the future of civilization. Are we doing enough as leaders keeping the young people front and centre? Supporting and mentoring them? They are often ahead of the curve, we need to listen to them.
In closing, as a representative of UBC, they are very, very grateful for our Rotary Club’s support. A final question, what can we, as Rotarians, do to support the students and young people facing their uncertain future?
Meeting adjourned with a toast to UBC and President Ono.
