• 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

• It’s time to eradicate Polio... now.
  Perri LoPinto presented a great presentation explaining the realities of Polio in the world today. In 1998 there were some 350,000 cases of polio is 125 countries. In 2001, there were only 600 cases in 10 countries. That’s a 99.8% drop, which is great news... but, the bad news is that the number of cases in the world is once again starting to increase.
  
  The goal is so simple: no polio virus on Earth by 2005. It’s Rotary’s commitment to the health of our planet on our 100th Anniversary, and we need your critical financial contributions right away.
  
  Think very carefully about what you are personally capable of providing for this important cause. Keep in mind that $100 buys 1,200 doses of polio vaccine, $500 helps deliver vaccine house to house, in an entire village, and $1,000 provides laboratory equipment essential for surveillance of the disease.
  
  If you have not done so already, please make your valuable contribution today and help make our world a better place to live.

Pres. Jean thanked our Rotarians at work in our community through their help to raise money for the American Cancer Society during Mardi Gras: Jim Johnston, June Losurdo, and Will Cooke.

Today’s word is 'sciolist', a noun meaning one who engages in pretentious display of superficial knowledge. In fact, Pres. Jean’s full name is Jean What a Sciolist McPheeters. On a related note, if it wasn’t for sciolistic knowledge, Past. Pres. Don Kompf wouldn’t have any!

Lisa Newman and Ceclia Linscott discussed how their offices assist refugees from all over the world make a fresh start in the Ithaca area. A refugee is someone who has suffered persecution because of race, religion, ethnicity, or membership in a political or social group, and has had to flee their country for the safety of their life.

These people do not have an easy process to go through when trying to become established in the United States, and must pass many interviews and government departments to start their new lives. After fleeing their homeland, they must work through the United Nations, the US Immigration & Naturalization Service, are next passed to a domestic resettlement agency (like the Church World Service of New York), then allocated to a specific denominational church, and then finally to a resettlement program office, such as the one right here in Ithaca.

The Refugee Assistance Program promotes the self-sufficiency of newly arrived refugees in the Southern Tier region of New York, and has served over 5000 refugees and their families since opening in 1981. They encourage local employers to search for dedicated and quality workers from the Refugee Assistance Program.

For more information, please contact the Refugee Assistance Prorgam at 318 N. Albany Street in Ithaca at telephone numbers 277-6833, 277-8648, or e-mail dlinscott@clarityconnect.com.

About the Speakers: Lisa Newman is the Job Developer for T-S-T BOCES Refugee Assistance Program, which has been in operation since 1981. She helps refugees through the process of becoming U.S. citizens and connecting them to paying positions in the area. Cecelia Linscott is the Case Manager for the Refugee Resettlement Program of Ithaca, which is a satellite of the main program office in Syracuse. Since beginning her work in 1990, she has helped to settle 441 refugees in the Ithaca area.

• 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: Elayne Nicholas
Greeter: Brigid Hubberman
Thought: Jerry Feist
Introductions: Michael Meador
Happy Dollars: Robin Korherr
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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