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June 10, 2008 No. 34 Vol. 86
This Week’s Program: Deborah Clark, Pinellas
County Supervisor of Elections
Ms. Clark has a long history of service in our
communities, both in her official capacity and as an active participant
in civic life.
Having joined the Elections office in 1978, Ms. Clark was
appointed Supervisor of Elections by Governor Bush in June 2000. She was
then elected to a four-year term on November 7, 2000 and re-elected
unopposed in 2004. Shortly thereafter, in 2005, Ms. Clark received her
official designation as a Certified Elections and Registration
Administrator (CERA) from The Election Center.
Ms. Clark’s stated goal is to provide the most
reliable, accurate and secure elections possible for Pinellas
County. Clark is very active in the Florida State Association of
Supervisors of Elections (FSASE) as current co-chair of the Canvassing
Board Committee and member of the Vision Committee.
Ms. Clark is a member of the International
Association of Clerks, Recorders, Elected Officials and Treasurers (IACREOT)
and has taught election administration classes for new municipal clerks
through the Florida Institute of Government, Florida State University.
Currently, she serves as a Board Member, Secretary
and Past Chairman of Pinellas Federal Credit Union, a Board Member of
the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club and as an Associate Board Member of Kids
Voting Tampa Bay. She served as Pinellas County Government Chairman for
the year 2000 and 2002 United Way Campaigns, served on the United Way
Allocations Panel for ten years, and is a current Keel Club member.
Last Week’s Program: Darby Dickerson, Vice
President and Dean, Professor of Law
Kiwanian-of-the-day John Biesinger
introduced our guest speaker, Darby Dickerson, stating that her effect
on Stetson Law School during her tenure as VP and Dean has been nothing
less than remarkable. Dean Dickerson began her talk with some little
known facts about Stetson, including that it was started in Deland, FL.
The main College of Law moved to St. Petersburg in 1954 and opened its
Tampa satellite campus in 2004. From five students in 1900, the College
has grown to 1,000 students currently enrolled and is in the top 20 law
schools nationwide.
In addition to the standard, required curriculum,
Stetson also offers a number of non-traditional degree programs,
including J.D. Certificates of Concentration in Advocacy, Eco-Asset
Management, Elder Law and International Law, J.D./M.B.A., J.D./M.D. and
J.D./M.P.H. dual-degree programs and an LL.M. in both International Law
and Elder Law.
What makes Stetson special, said Dean Dickerson, is
that it doesn’t just expose students to theory like most, but gives them
practical experience through simulated crime scenes and court cases,
mediation, and interview/deposition practice. Clinics and internships
allow students to serve as lawyers on real cases under the supervision
of a lawyer. In an effort to bring the law alive for students, Stetson
offers a Civil Rights Bus Trip, a Summer Abroad, a Winter Program in the
Caymans studying tax law, a semester abroad in Scotland and for working
or low income students, a week intensive in Scotland. Dean Dickerson
also put in place a leadership development program to help law students
who are unfamiliar with the social and professional milieu they’ll find
themselves in as lawyers. Dean Dickerson’s presentation made it clear
that Stetson is on the cutting edge of legal education and is another
landmark in Tampa Bay about which we can be proud.
Guests and Visitors
We were pleased to welcome nine guests on Tuesday,
including Lt. Governor Terry Carr and frequent visitor, Harry Benjamin.
52 members attended as well.
What’s Happening?
Saturday Night Fever! Come To The Bash
The Jim Fischer Scholarship Fund will be having its
annual event – The Jim Fischer Memorial Birthday Bash –
this Saturday, June 14th. Jim’s long-time friend, Jim Leavitt, head
football coach for the University of South Florida, will be the master
of ceremonies once again. It will be a reunion of sorts for so many of
the people whose lives Jim touched, as well as a good boost for the
Scholarship Fund. Your tax-deductible contribution to the Scholarship
Fund is your ticket to the festivities. This is a very significant
program for our Club and we encourage everyone to attend. Guests are
welcome with a contribution.
The 4th
Annual
Jim
Fischer
Memorial Birthday Bash!
A Fund
Raising Event for the
Jim
Fischer Scholarship Fund
with
Master of Ceremonies
Jim
Leavitt
Head Football Coach
University of South Florida
Come meet and mingle and chat with Jim Fischer’s friends, family and
colleagues as we honor his memory with this casual, festive evening of
fun. You will also have an opportunity to bid on various Prizes and
Packages during the Silent Auction. Come Prepared!
Heavy hors d’oeuvres, snacks, cash bar
Saturday,
June 14th, 2008
7:00 pm
until………
St. Petersburg Country Club
2000 Country Club Way South
St. Petersburg, FL 33712
RSVP no later than June 4th
Biesingers Make Anniversary Contribution
In a touching gesture of support, John and Nancy
Biesinger announced that they are contributing $1,000 to the Jim Fischer
Scholarship Fund in honor of their 25th wedding anniversary.
Thank you for acknowledging your years together in such a generous way,
John and Nancy. The method you chose to acknowledge your many years
together will help realize a future for a deserving young scholar.
Jim Leavitt (Again) Drives ‘Em In
The Membership Committee has planned a special
membership drive for our program on June 24th. To meet our
goals for membership, it requires that each of us make an effort to
build our numbers and increase our impact in our communities. Start
talking to business contacts, friends, relocators you’ve met in your
neighborhood or job, and other people you come into contact with to join
us for the USF Bulls/Jim Leavitt program on June 14th. There
is no charge to you to bring a guest; in fact, you are encouraged to
bring as many potential members as possible. Penalties do apply
to those who do not bring guests on that day!
TODAY’S QUIZ:
1.
The Sandwich Islands are now part of what?
2.
What actor who played a detective on the television crime
series, Law and Order” also had a lead role in the movie version of the
Broadway musical “Rent?”
3.
What would you look at with a “loupe?”
4.
Hank Aaron broke which baseball legend’s batting record?
LAST WEEK’S QUIZ:
1.
The first insurance company in the
United States
underwrote fire insurance and was formed in Charles Town (modern-day
Charleston),
South Carolina,
in 1732.
Benjamin Franklin
helped to popularize and make standard the practice of insurance,
particularly against
fire
in the form of
perpetual
insurance. In 1752, he founded the
Philadelphia
Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire.
Franklin's company was the first to make contributions toward fire
prevention.
2.
In
Ancient Egypt,
from the late
Middle Kingdom
onwards, in preparation for
mummification,
the brain was regularly removed, for it was the
heart
that was assumed to be the seat of intelligence. According to
Herodotus,
during the first step of mummification, "The most perfect practice is to
extract as much of the brain as possible with an iron hook, and what the
hook cannot reach is mixed with drugs.”
3.
A current count shows 212 countries will compete in the
Beijing Olympics this August.
4.
A “league” is three miles.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Arbiter of Justice, You
are actively involved in every part of Your creation at every moment.
Grant to all Americans a willingness to get involved in the upcoming
elections, resisting complacency and passivity. Let each one know the
value of his or her vote, and let each one exercise their privilege with
diligence and faith. Amen. |
