April 27, 2002 

Last Week’s Program... 
Dr. Randy Capps, a leader of organizational change initiatives in small and large organizations, spoke to Owensboro Rotary about major trends taking place in organizations today. Dr. Capps focused on several trends such as benchmarking, strategic alliances, attention to customer service, and a movement to management teams. He highlighted business ethics and the six sigma measuring system process. Polls conducted involving 1,000 senior executives, report that improving productivity and changing corporate culture are the top goals for the next ten years in organizations. Sexual harassment, lying, drug and alcohol abuse, conflict of interests, providing quality to customers, ethical business practices, and safety for the environment are valid concerns conducted in employee polls. Six sigma focuses on products and services and has a 99.99% success rate of anything it measures.

Dr. Capps also spoke of the attributes of peak performers in organizations which include someone who has compelling goals, stretches beyond the comfort zone, is a risk taker, solves problems rather than places blame, rehearses mentally, and keeps life in balance. All these attributes will encourage and motivate Rotarians to be peak performers.

Our thanks to Dr. Capps for an interesting look at organizational characteristics as well as behavior of peak performers. We wish him good luck on the next book he is writing and thank him for his presentation to Owensboro Rotary.

Attendance: 101

Highest Attendance This Year: 124

Invocation, Pledge & 4-Way Test: Becky O'Bryan

Fellowship Report: Bill Dexter

Introduction of Guests: Gayle Allison guest of Lynda Tabor, Shelly Murphy guest of Tim Bradshaw.

Meeting Makeups: David Edds, Sr., at Breakfast Rotary, and Wesley Poling at Breakfast Rotary.

Thought for the Week: "From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life." - Arthur Ashe

YOUR PRESIDENT SPEAKS:
One of the greatest humanitarian programs of Rotary International is the polio eradication program. In 2000 alone, Rotary helped to vaccinate more than 550 million children along with PolioPlus Partners, at a cost of $28 million.

Last week, Dr. Hugh Gilbert, one of our Owensboro Rotarians, brought an article to me from the April 16, 2002, issue of The Wall Street Journal, which discussed this program and some new concerns. In the article entitled, "Polio Cases Roil Debate on Ending Vaccine Program: Discovery of New Strain Joins Older Fears of Accidents and Bio-Terrorist Acts," by Gautam Naik, it was pointed out that an unusual discovery had been made from samples taken from paralyzed children on the Caribbean Island of Hispaniola. "We found a smoking gun; it was an outbreak of polio," reported Olen Kew, a virologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Although this island had been free of the disease for at least a decade, polio had re-emerged from a more ominous source: one of the two polio vaccines in use. This vaccine, developed by Albert Sabin in the 1960s, is OPV or the oral vaccine, which costs just nine cents a dose. (The original vaccine, developed by Jonas Salk, must be injected and is expensive.) The problem is that the OPV uses a live virus, which has back-mutated and escaped through fecal matter. Polio mainly affects children. The virus enters through the mouth, often through food or water contaminated by the fecal matter of an infected person. (This is why polio is such a threat in countries with poor hygiene practices.) After multiplying in the throat and intestines, it can invade the central nervous system and cause irreversible paralysis of the limbs and can also attack parts of the brain and weaken respiratory muscles. Countries where polio still exists with high infection rates include Afghanistan, India, Niger, Nigeria, and Pakistan. The World Health Organization along with Rotary International and other PolioPlus Partners would love to declare victory over this terrible disease that has brought death and paralysis to thousands, perhaps millions. However, it appears that a setback is on the horizon. We can only hope that it is not too late to develop a new and improved polio vaccine, that will be affordable to the groups who are working tirelessly to eliminate polio.

Thanks, Hugh Gilbert, for the timely information on the status of the war against polio. We will look forward to some good news regarding progress in this war.

Have a great week!

Marilyn

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...
Bob Nation - April 30

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
• ALL LADY OWENSBORO ROTARIANS ARE INVITED TO WEAR HATS TO THE MEETING NEXT WEEK AS A PART OF THE DERBY DAY CELEBRATION!
• All Owensboro Rotarians are invited to the Multi-District Conference which will be held in Lexington on May 17-19. Extra registration forms will be available at the meeting next week.
• The Gala will be held on Thursday, June 13, at the Owensboro Country Club-- mark your calendar and plan to attend! You may bring a guest. THERE WILL BE NO REGULAR CLUB MEETING ON WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12.
• Door Prizes: The neat coffee maker provided by Wal-Mart and Gail Nugent was won by Bruce Brubaker. Thank you Wal-Mart and Gail Nugent and congratulations Bruce! The free oil/filter change at the Quick Lane at Champion Ford, compliments of Bruce Brubaker, President of Champion Ford, was won by Johnny Ghosal. Thank you Bruce Brubaker and congratulations Johnny Ghosal!

ROTARY REMINDERS...
• Don't forget to make up your missed meetings at breakfast Rotary at 7 on Tuesday mornings at Moonlite Barbecue.
• The Program Chair for May is Candance Brake.
• Nancy Fuqua will be at the Fellowship Table in May.
• If you have an email address and are not receiving the Impetus online, or you have changed your email address, please send an email to kim@mediaworksadvertising.com and you will be added to the Rotary email address list.
• Log on to Rotary’s website at www.owensbororotary.org. You’ll find our current member directory, photos of new members, past copies of the Impetus, some interesting history, and more!

Please mail any questions, suggestions, or comments regarding the Impetus to:

Mike Wallace
MediaWorks Advertising, Inc.
208 West 3rd Street
P.O. Box 1866
Owensboro, KY 42302
Phone: 270-684-4554
Fax: 270-684-7314
Email: mike@mediaworksadvertising.com

DEADLINE FOR ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED IN THE IMPETUS IS THE WEDNESDAY PRIOR TO MONDAY'S PUBLICATION DATE.

UPCOMING PROGRAMS
May 8 - Larry Hager Awards & Willis Combest Awards
May 15 - Sister Vivian Bowles, President, Brescia University
May 22 - Ed Riney, Publisher, Messenger-Inquirer
May 29 - TBD

ARE YOU A NUMISMATIST?
If so, you collect coins, and the third week of April is your week--National Coin Week. Although coins are used throughout the world, I will limit my comments to U.S. coins. Did you know that U.S. coins are minted in San Francisco (S), Denver (D), Philadelphia (P), and West Point, NY (W)? Coins were first minted in 1793, and 11,178 pennies were made. The grooves on the edges of coins are called reeds. Coin designers put reeds on coins to differentiate coins of similar size. Quarters have caught the attention of numismatists (experts and novices alike) since 1999, when the quarters for states began being issued. Sixteen quarters have been issued (5 each year) since 1999, including the one for Kentucky which was issued in 2001. The Kentucky quarter features My Old Kentucky Home, a horse, and the year of 1792--the year that Kentucky became a state. Are you wondering what coins have to do with Rotary? Well, last July our District Governor Loretta Williams asked us to save coins--quarters to be exact--until each Rotarian had saved 400 quarters or $100 to be donated to Rotary International to further the good work of Rotary. As far as collecting quarters of any kind and turning them into a donation of $100 for Rotary International, 21 Owensboro Rotarians have done just that. Members of our club who have joined the $100 Club include: Jackie Addington, Marilyn Brookman, Duval Bushong, Jack Darnell, Jeff Ebelhar, Steve Gardner, Hugh Gilbert, Robert Hast, Scott Holder, Paul Martin, Pete Moore, David Nelson, Henry Payne, Don Pinkley, Ed Pulliam, Charles Ralph, Donna Risley, Wes Poling, Roy Stone, Martel Wightman, and Frank Yarbrough. 

2001 - 2002 OWENSBORO ROTARY CLUB OFFICERS 
President: Marilyn Brookman 
Vice President: Larry Mercer 
Secretary: Jeff Ebelhar 
Treasurer: Bob Nation 
Directors: Sim Davenport, Bill Dexter, David Edds, Jr., Tom Smith, Darrell Higginbotham, Pat McFarling, Jane Noble 

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