• New Member Proposals
  The Ithaca Rotary Club Board of Directors will be considering membership applications from the people listed below. Any concerns about these proposed members should be made in writing to the Secretary of the Club by April 4, 2003.
  
  Name: William Hawley
  Classification: Senior Living Management
  Employer: Tompkins County Senior Citizen's Council
  Job Title: Executive Director
  Sponsor: Fred Antil
  
  Name: Lizette Diaz Frances-Odfalk
  Classification: Hospitality Sales
  Employer: Statler Hotel, Cornell University
  Job Title: Convention Sales Manager
  Sponsors: Dave Flinn & George Gull
  
  Name: Binni Rana
  Classification: Banking/Local Management
  Employer: First Niagara Bank
  Job Title: Relationship Banking Manger
  Sponsor: George Schneider

• The updated Ithaca Rotary ByLaws were voted for and approved by the membership! Of course, we were quite official by first voting on the corrections to the revision, and then voting on revisions. Thank you to all of the Rotarians who worked very hard to make this important update!

• Ithaca Rotary Board Update
  The board members recently met on March 11. Our club will be applying for a District Grant (from the PT cruiser money), and we hope to work with other clubs in Tompkins County on a worthwhile project.
  
  They also voted to support the start of a new Rotary Club in Komsomolsk, Ukraine, Ithaca’s Sister City. Mayor Alan Cohen has traveled to Komsomolsk several times and many visitors from there have attended our Rotary club meetings. We’ll be providing some financial support (on the order of $250) for the start-up projects and have also offered to purchase the materials they will need to start a club, like the banners, a bell, etc.

I’m beginning to think it’s almost spring. At home, I still have over three feet of snow in most of the yard and I haven’t seen the top of the picnic table in months. But, there are signs:

(1) The driveway has become an ice flow stretching the entire one-third mile length.
(2) I’m beginning to envy people who live in town where I’ve seen actual brown dried lawn.
(3) The ice chunks along the side of the roads are much more grainy than they are in the depth of winter.
(4) I’ve yet to see a robin, but the maple syrup buckets are beginning to appear.

Today’s word is ‘exonumia’ (ek-suh-NOO-mee-uh), a noun meaning objects that resemble money, but do not circulate as coin or paper money. For example, tokens, coupons, medals, etc.

"The Efficacy of the Space Program Post-Columbia Disaster, the Imminent Mars Program Launchings, and Youth Involvement in Space Science"

Jim Bell, a Cornell astronomer and NASA consultant

Jim spoke to us about the next Mars Rover project, which will be the largest unmanned NASA project ever. He brought a video put together by Dan Moss, a Cornell graduate. Entirely computer animated, the video was an amazing demonstration of the launch sequence, landing of the Rover on the Mars surface, and the some of the processes the Rover will make while on Mars.

This project was approved by NASA five years ago, when Bell's team was selected based on their competitive proposal. They are responsible for the camera and measuring equipment that will go along with the Rover. This mission is expected to start with the launch of two rovers on May 30 and June 25, 2003.

Narrating the video, Jim described the procedure from launch to landing and roving on Mars. The landing design is based on the previous Mars rover, which worked extremely well, so they have a great deal of confidence with continuing this design. The Rover is expected to function for a least 90 days in the hostile environment found on Mars. Solar panels and batteries will keep it going until they can't be charged any more. The Rover has been developed with bigger and more robust engines, so it can travel up to 100 meter per day. On this mission, the Rover team plans on studying a greater distance and looking at images of rocks and minerals to help determine more information about the environment. For example, information from these rocks can help us determine if Mars was once more like Earth.

For more information on the mission status visit http://athena.cornell.edu!

• Please view the calendar posted on the main page of this website for the most up-to-date information. [View Rotary Calendar]

Program Chair: Casey Stevens
Kettle Watch: Don Dickinson
Greeter: Steve Garner
Thought: Carm Hill
Introductions: Tom Schickel
Happy Dollars: Perri LoPinto
Music: Siu-ling Chaloemtiarana, Jack Burns
Photography: John Ziegler
Setup: Dave Flinn
Editor: Matthew T. Dearing

• Please address all correspondence to the club to:
  Ithaca Rotary Club P.O. Box 306
  Ithaca, N.Y. 14851
  Attn.: Scott Russell, Secretary
  
  
• For eNewsletter comments, questions or corrections, please contact the Editor at mdearing@dynamicpatterns.com.
  
  
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