Meeting Recap - April 12, 2016

Gerry Tietz read the following poem at the start of the meeting.

 

 

When you thought I wasn’t looking…
I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator,
and I immediately wanted to paint another one.

 

When you thought I wasn’t looking…
I saw you feed a stray cat,
and I learned that it was good to be kind to animals.

 

When you thought I wasn’t looking…
I saw you make my favorite cake for me,
and I learned that the little things can be very special in life.

 

When you thought I wasn’t looking…
I saw you make a meal and take it to a friend who was sick,
and I learned that we all need to help take care of each other.

 

When you thought I wasn’t looking…
I saw you give your time and money to help people who had nothing,
and I learned that everyone can make a difference.

 

When you thought I wasn’t looking…
I saw you take care of our house and everyone in it,
and I learned the importance of FAMILY.

 

When you thought I wasn’t looking…
I saw how you handled your responsibilities, even when you didn’t feel good,
and I learned that I would need to be responsible when I grew up.

 

When you thought I wasn’t looking…
I sometimes saw tears come from your eyes,
and I learned there are things that can hurt, yet it’s O.K. to cry.

 

When you thought I wasn’t looking…
I saw that you truly cared about people,
and I wanted to be everything that I could possibly be
to follow in your footsteps.

 

When you thought I wasn’t looking…
I looked at you and wanted to say,
“Thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn’t looking.”

 

Gerry followed the poem with the Pledge and the Invocation.

 

President Dana introduced her guest and sister-in-law, Janet Ampe.  Janet is president of the Rogers Rotary Club. Janet was here to promote the Rogers Rotary Golf Tournament at Fox Hollow on Tuesday June 14th. Click here for details on registering or sponsoring.

 

Dana also noted that "Moving Day Twin Cities", a walk to support the Parkinson's Foundation will be held on Saturday May 7th in Plymouth. Details are available by clicking here.

 

There's still time to register for the District Conference at Mystic Lake Conference Center on May 12-13, but hotel reservations need to be made very soon. Get the details here.

 

Next week's program will be Patrick Donohue speaking on access to capital for small businesses.

 

The Board will meet at 11:00AM on April 26th.

 

Gerry Tietz announced that the Easter Egg Hunt Video he posted on FaceBook has had 5,000 hits and over 2,500 views. Nice work Gerry!

 

MaryAnn Bawden is subbing for Cindy Carlson as a table captain for the Northeast Youth and Family Services Leadership Luncheon on May 4th from 11:30 - 1:00 at Midland Hills Country Club. Click here for details.  Contact MaryAnn if you'd like to sit at her table.

 

Amy Wakem reported that we have 2 students signed up for Camp RYLA.

 

Amy  also noted that the 4th Grade Foresters tree give-away will be on Friday April 29th.  Stay tuned for details on how you can help with this great program. 

 

Amy has just returned from a family trip to South Africa. She may be willing to provide a Rotary Program about her trip.

 

Margaret Johnson introduced our speakers from Northwestern University, Matt Hyre, Ph.D. Department Chair of Mathematics and Engineering, Associate Professor of Mathematics and Dan Crane, Ph.D. Dean of the College of Behavioral & Natural Sciences, Professor of Chemistry. They were here to speak to us about the Northwestern's Math and Engineering Department.

 

Dan spoke first in general terms about the Engineering Program. He told us that engineering, at its core, is really just problem solving. But he stressed that ethics is becoming an increasingly important component in engineering, especially in biomedical engineering. He said that Northwestern's engineering program emphasizes ethics as an integral part of their program.  The engineering program was, for many years, part of a dual degree program with the University of Minnesota. In 2008, the UofM discontinued the dual degree program and Northwestern developed its own Bachelor's degree program with many advantages over larger university programs. Northwestern offers smaller class sizes, earlier exposure to core math and physics classes and earlier opportunities for research and publishing.  This year's class is the first to graduate from the new degree program. Northwestern will soon be offering an Early College program which will allow qualified high school students to complete the first year of the college program while still in high school.

 

Matt Hyre, Department Chair of the Math and Engineering Department, echoed his colleague's thoughts about the advantages of Northwestern's engineering program. He said that 15-20% of undergrads are involved in research and many undergrads have extensive publishing experience. He also emphasized the focus on experiential learning and described Northwestern as a model Christian community. He offered some specific examples of the research being done by his engineering students. He spoke about student research on coronary artery stents, concussions, athletic mouth-guards, submarine missile launches and ventilation systems for a Navy Seal team situation practice facility.  Dan, Matt, Margaret and Dana are shown below.