• New Member Application
  The Ithaca Rotary Club Board of Directors will be considering the membership application(s) from the person(s) listed below. Any concerns about these membership proposals should be made in writing to the Secretary of the Club by November 5, 2003.
  
  Name: Lenore Schwager
  Classification: Health Advocacy/Disabilities
  Position/Employer: Executive Director, Finger Lakes Independence Center
  Sponsor: Beverly Baker
  

• New Member Orientation Schedule
  Orientation meetings are held on Wednesdays once per month at the Ithaca Holiday Inn in the Board Room on the first floor from 11:00 a.m until noon. Following are the dates of the upcoming orientation sessions: November 19, January 21, February 18, March 17, April 21, May 19, June 16

• Ithaca Rotary Pancake Day on November 4
  Ithaca Rotary's annual Pancake Day is coming up on Tuesday, November 4 at the Women's Community Building. Once again we will be serving pancakes, eggs, etc. to the masses from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. All members will be asked to sell tickets and to sign up to help out during the day. Sign-up sheet will be at the next couple of meetings. This event counts as a make-up meeting and is a great opportunity to share some fellowship with Rotarians from our club as well as the Ithaca-Cayuga club and the Ithaca Sunrise club. It's a lot of fun, don't miss out! The best shifts go first, so sign up early and often. If you would like to place an advertisement on the Pancake Day placemat, spaces are available for $75 each. Please see President Jeff if you would like to place an ad.

• Spelling Bee Team
  Jim Fogel is once again putting together a team for the annual IPEI Spelling Bee at Ithaca High School. Our own queen bee, Jean McPheeters will preside as usual as adult teams from around the county try to spell their way to fame and fortune - or infamy as the case may be. If you are at all inclined to try spelling words in front of a large crowd, please contact Jim. The event takes place on Sunday, Nov. 16, so you have plenty of time to practice!

• Ithaca Sunrise Club Spaghetti Dinner
  Kathy Larson from the Ithaca Sunrise club invited us all to their annual Spaghetti Dinner on Friday, October 24. The all-you-can-eat dinner will be served at the Ithaca High School cafeteria from 5:00 - 7:30. Tickets are $6 for adults, $3 for children, and under 5 eat free. You may purchase tickets at the door - takeout is also available - or someone from the Sunrise club will be at our meeting next week with tickets. This is a big fund-raiser for the Sunrise club, the food is great, and there is also live entertainment! Hard to beat for the price.

• Ithaca Rotary Board Meeting
  The next Ithaca Rotary board meeting will take place on Tuesday, October 21 at 5:00 p.m. in the board room at the Chamber of Commerce building. Any interested members of the club are invited to attend and the meeting counts as a make-up in case you need to improve your attendance - hint, hint!

• There are now Shut-in cards on the tables each week along with the comment cards. If you know of a fellow Rotarian who is unable to make it to the meeting and would appreciate a visit from a friend, please fill out one of these cards and give it to PJ or Scott Russell.

• Ithaca Rotary Small Grants
  Once again the Ithaca Rotary club will be presenting worthwhile organizations in the community with small grants to help them achieve their goals. Requests for Rotary Grants are now being accepted and any organization with a need can apply simply by making a request to the Small Grants Committee. A letter detailing the request should be sent to either President Jeff True or Secretary Scott Russell care of the Ithaca Rotary Club, P.O. Box 306, Ithaca, N.Y. 14851. Letters may also be addressed directly to the committee via chair Jessie Ripple, 57 Highgate Circle, Ithaca, N.Y. 14850 If you have any questions about the Small Grants Program you may also call Jessie at 257-6454 or 254-2372. Deadline for requests will be January 31, 2004.

• Ithaca College Rotaract Club
  The Ithaca College Rotaract club is gearing up for the year and will be meeting on Monday evenings every week throughout the school year. Interested Rotarians are encouraged to attend, more information on the location and time of the meetings is coming shortly.

• Rochester Rotary's annual Eastern Cities Dinner will take place on Wednesday, November 12 in Rochester, N.Y. Rotary. International President Jonathan Majiyagbe will be the keynote speaker at this wonderful event. Tickets are expected to be $50 per person. If you are interested in attending, see PJ for more information.

• Special Presentation
  

  Each of our new exchange students took a moment to introduce themselves again and give us a quick word on their initial impressions of Ithaca. Michal Sykora also took the time to present our club with a banner from his host club, Zilina, Slovakia. So far, they all seem to be surviving pretty well with only a few minor complaints. Below is a list of contact information (this will also be on the tables at the meetings) for the students as we are all encouraged to invite them into our homes to get to know them better. Dinner, an evening at the movies - whatever sort of entertainment you and your family would like to share with them would be most welcome. As always, they are a great group of youngsters and we will all benefit from sharing our culture with them and vice versa.

  
  Esteban Campos-Hernandez (Costa Rica)
  Host family Mike and Joyce Billing, 6 Pheasant Lane, Ithaca, 272-9208

  Michal Sykora (Slovakia)
  Host family John and Ann Costello, 8 Winthrop Place, Ithaca, 257-0919

  Jose Salcedo-Martin "Pepe" (Mexico)
  Host family Amdrea Parrot & Steve Allen, 8 Legrand Court, Ithaca, 277-1695.
  

• Visiting Rotarians
  Barry Downing (Endwell)
  Kevin Gross (Cortland Noon)
  Bob Grantham, PDG (Cortland Breakfast)

• Rotarian Ambassadors
  9/30: Barbara Caldwell (Ithaca-Cayuga)

• Exchange Students
  Michael Sphora (Slovakia)
  Jose Salcedo (Mexico)
  Esteban Campos (Costa Rica)
  

• Rotary Member Update
  (since July 1, 2003)

"Electronic Voting Machines: Understanding the Problems"

Bo Lipari

Peggy Haine introduced Bo Lipari who spoke to us today about electronic voting machines and the future of the elections system in America. Congress, in response to the last Presidential election, passed legislation requiring all states to adopt and electronic voting system by the year 2004 (with an extension available until 2006). Monies are also provided in that legislation in order to encourage states to adopt these new systems. However, all is not so simple, as Bo went on to explain. The two primary types of electronic systems under discussion at this point are totally electronic systems — touch screen computers that use proprietary software to collect and tabulate the votes and then send off the results electronically to a central computer — and electronic systems with paper back-up. The latter is essentially the same as the first except that each console also has a printer attached which prints out a paper summation of the voter's choices which must then be deposited into a secure ballot box.

While most of the companies producing these systems are trying to push the totally electronic versions, Bo and many of his compatriots in the software engineering world are fighting this choice because it presents too many problems. While many question why we even need electronic systems at all (paper ballots - write-in type, not punch cards - or lever machines like we have in New York are really quite reliable, accurate, and most importantly, leave enough of a trail to provide for recounts and proper verification.

There are many problems with the all electronic systems, among them: computer software and hardware are notoriously unreliable; there is no written back-up in case of loss of data or need for a recount; the systems can be hacked or the information can be hacked either while it is being sent to the central computer or after it arrives there; and the software being used is proprietary and zealously guarded so that there can be no independent verification of its accuracy or reliability. Add to these many problems, and more, the relatively high cost of these new machines and there is serious cause to question this rush to bring about such change.

What Bo and others are suggesting is that any electronic system that is adopted needs to have a paper back-up, needs to be verifiable, and needs to be presented to the public with a full explanation of the costs and how those costs will be managed. Most proposals for these new machines only talk about the initial cost and fail to include maintenance and upgrades at the very least. There are movements afoot in various legislatures around the country for a much more cautious approach to this matter, but the federal legislation is not helping to bring about quality discourse on these issues because of the time constraints.

Our sincere thanks to Bo for his very informative and enlightening talk. While Rotary meetings here in Ithaca may not be "about the food," Bo certainly gave us plenty of food for thought!

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

Program Chair: Jeff True
Kettle Watch: Joanne Lamoreaux
Greeter: Barbara Romano
Thought: Joe Metz
Introductions: Elayne Nicholas
Music: : Peggy Haine and Siu-ling
Photography: John Ziegler and Guy Tabacchi
Setup: John Hays
Editor: Dale Flinn
Website: Matthew 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, and subscription requests please contact the Editor at bigd@starflinn.com.