July
24, 2007 No. 42 Vol. 85
This Week’s Program:
Gil McRae, Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute
Mr. McRae received a
Bachelor of Science degree in Aquatic Ecology at the University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor, and his Master of Science degree at the University
of Minnesota, St. Paul in Fisheries Science with a minor in Statistics.
He also has post-graduate research experience in coastal marine
fisheries from North Carolina State University.
Mr. McRae started at
the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, which is part of the Florida
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, in 1995 and has been the
Director of the FWRI since 2002.
FWRI conducts
monitoring and research associated with Florida's marine, estuarine and
upland resources from its headquarters in St. Petersburg. FWRI also
operates from about 20 field laboratories and offices distributed
throughout the state. FWRI has an annual operating budget in excess of
$54,000,000 and a staff of approximately 600.
Gil is a Special
Graduate Faculty Member of the University of South Florida, College of
Marine Science. His expertise includes program design for monitoring
coastal ecosystems, biological statistics, fisheries population
analysis, and use of Geographic Information Systems for ecological
research and monitoring.
Gil resides in
Clearwater with his wife and two children. Welcome, Gil! You had
us at “estuarine!”
Last Week’s Program:
Leslie Waters, Government Relations and Political Grassroots Consulting
Kiwanian-of-the-Day
Bob Piplitz introduced our dynamic speaker, Leslie Waters.
Bob evidently confused the small country of Sri Lanka with the small
child of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, daughter Suri, but his nice suit
and megawatt smile carried him through the intro.
Leslie Waters - also
known as the Wave to her friends and supporters - is a former member of
the Florida House of Representatives, elected in 1998. She was
re-elected in 2000, 2002 and 2004. From 2004-2006 she was Speaker Pro
Tempore.
Now working as a
political consultant, Ms.Waters spoke to us about her experiences and
travels all over the world where she has worked as an International
Democracy Trainer. She explained that it was in the best interests of
the United States, other western countries and multinational
corporations to have stable governments representing the people they
serve. The world is full of emerging democracies and unstable countries
whose citizens need and want to learn about becoming effective
advocates, working with the press, lobbying, and how to be an effective
government official. Ms.Waters told us stories of meeting with Muslim
women in Jakarta, Indonesia who really wanted to learn to be effective
leaders. She trained Burmese people in Ceylon and was hosted by a
Chinese official on the fourth of July some years ago. In every case,
Ms. Waters spoke of the dedication and eagerness to learn on the part of
those workshop attendees who drove or walked miles to participate in her
trainings. They took their training seriously as they strove to replace
brutal dictatorships with some version of representative democracy.
Will the
democracies-to-come in Viet Nam, Thailand, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka,
Cambodia, Iraq and other countries look and work like ours? No, Leslie
cautioned us about expecting too much too soon, or expecting culturally
different nations to adopt Western modes of democracy. What is important
is that countries that want to move toward stability hold open
elections, fairly represent the interests of the people and allow women
to hold public office. Methods of ensuring government that works is
something we as Americans take for granted, but are unknown to
late-to-the-party newcomers, and that’s where Leslie’s work comes in.
Thanks, Leslie. We
were happy to learn about the rewarding work you’ve engaged in around
the world since your terms of office in Florida. Travel safely to Sri
Lanka!
Guests and Visitors
52 members and four
visitors joined us for lunch Tuesday. In addition to our speaker, our
guests were Rachael Russell, daughter of J.C. Russell and Don Sandlin,
who came as the guest of Barbara Bertucci, also our guest, from First
Unity Kiwanis. Come join us anytime!
Boys and
Girls Committee Supports Boy Scouts
Boys and
Girls Committee member Grant Wallin presented a check for $2,000
to fellow Kiwanian Candice Nyarkoh of the West Florida Council of the
Boy Scouts of America for their Learning for Life program.
What’s Happening?
InterClub
Opportunities
Are you a new member
who has yet to attend another Club's meeting? Not a new member but have
slacked off lately? Doug Lampe tells us there are two opportunities
coming up to broaden our experience of Kiwanis - Friday , July 27th,
join the Sunshine City Kiwanis members at lunch at Piccadilly or visit
the Gulf Beaches Club on Thursday, August 2nd. Need more
info? Talk to Doug today and learn how you, too, can sport a little face
sticker on your name badge!
At Least He Didn’t
Call Us At Home During Dinner
If you didn't fill
out and turn in a Club Assessment Form which was made available at last
week's meeting, please do so today. Markus Mittermeyr has initiated a
survey of the members to find out how we see our Club, what we like,
what we would like to see done differently and so on. Forms will be on
the tables at Tuesday's meeting, or
click here.
He also reminds us
to keep the date open (September 25th) for our upcoming
Installation Banquet. More on that in future Bulletins.
Cyndi Takes To The
Field
Interested in a
social outing with your fellow Kiwanians and spouses/dates? Cyndi
Mulligan suggested we get together for the Devil Rays game against the
Orioles, Sunday, August 5th. The game is at 2:40. If youd
like to go, see Cyndi today at our meeting.
Florida Voters Take
Heart - Another Election’s Coming Up
We need to elect a
director beginning in October 2007 to complete Bob Piptliz's term. Bob
was elected to become one of the vice presidents for next fiscal year so
there will be a vacancy on the board of directors for a term running
throughout September 2009. Members must be given one week’s notice, so
consider yourself notified - the election will take place at next week’s
meeting (July 31st). The candidates selected by the Board of
Directors-Elect (the 2007-2008 board) were Dan Stone, Trent Shadwick and
Ron Braun.
And Speaking of
Elections
Next week we’ll give
you the run down and the low down on the International Convention. I was
told Mitch can give us the business items, but Markus, Harry or Charles
can fill us in on the fun stuff! We’ll give you a summary of the results
of the elections and the voting on the various by-law amendments, but
for more detailed information, check out www.kiwanis.org.
Today is
Amelia Earhart Day,
probably not a good day to fly.
TODAY’S QUIZ:
1. Who said “I hope
the leaving is joyful and that I never return?”
2. Florida has about
how many million acres of wildlife management areas: 2.1, 5.6 or 7.5?
3. If vultures are
tearing up your roof or screened lanai, which method is best for getting
them to relocate? A. Lure them away with cat food or scrap food placed
near the street B. Scare them away with pyrotechnics C. Place
pictures of hawks and owls around your property D. Throw red meat onto
your neighbor’s roof.
4. Who is the
patron saint of dentists? (No cheating by asking Dr. Ron!).
