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July 22, 2008 No. 40 Vol. 86
This Week at Kiwanis: Terry Smiljanich is an attorney in Tampa.
He was born in Tampa and attended the University of Florida. He served
in the U.S. Army (Reserves, Captain). He was a federal prosecutor until
entering private practice as a litigator in 1977. He also served as
counsel to the U.S. Senate during the Iran-Contra investigations in
1987. He is currently active as a columnist and writer for the
Consumer Warning Network, a web-based publication on corporate fraud
and government waste. Since 1989 he has been Chairman of the Tampa Bay
Skeptics, a non-profit organization devoted to the exposure of
pseudoscientific fraud.
Jeepers Peepers!
Biff Baker claimed a
pair of reading glasses that were inexplicably found in the Women’s
restroom.
An Offer You Can’t
Refuse
Bob Piplitz took the
podium to once again “encourage” (at least I think that’s what they call
it in ‘Jersey) those of us who had guests at the Jim Leavitt meeting to
invite them to join our club as members, with a nod of recognition to
Weyman Willingham, whose guest has indeed since elected to join our
venerable club.
ASAP TLC
On behalf of the
Youth Services - Boys & Girls Committee, Nick Gizzarelli, Jr. presented
Karen Butler of ASAP Homeless Services with a $1,000 check. ASAP, a St.
Petersburg institution since 1986, provides a safe facility in which
homeless single women, single mothers and their children, and families
are able to shower, change into clean clothes and receive a hot meal
daily.
Cali or Bust
Sponsored Leadership
Services Chairman Tom Nelson shared a letter he had received from St.
Pete High School Key Club’s Linda Son, Key Club Florida Lt. Governor.
Miss Son thanked the club for our support of her “once in a lifetime
opportunity” to attend the California convention and promises to visit
us soon to share photos of her experience.
The Right Write
Frank Ranieri
requested volunteers to fill the need for a new Kiwanian bulletin
editor due to Cynthia McGowan’s departure, suggesting that it could be a
team effort – in addition to presenter bios on the front cover and
meeting notes each week, others could contribute trivia questions,
prayers, photos and member feature articles. Remember: many hands make
light work. Let’s pitch in and help Frank continue to produce this
award-winning publication.
Who, What, Where
and When… or Not
Harvey Ford advised
that there was going to be an Interclub “soon” but the date, time and
location were TBD. Stay tuned…
Fine Fines
Tom Nelson served as
our expeditious fine master, requesting that each of us contribute Happy
Fines in honor of Bruce McKelvey’s memory (Charles Stuart later reported
that $562 was collected to be contributed to the Al Muter funds).
Bruce, you are loved and will be missed.
Putting the “ART”
in “PARTY”
Markus Mittermayr
reminded us that our July 29th meeting will be at noon at the
St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts.
Last week at
Kiwanis
Kiwanian-of-the-Day
Paul Renker presented Dr. Julie Mastry Janssen, Interim Superintendent
and Chief Academic Officer of Pinellas County Schools, who offered an
overview of the Pinellas County School system.
With total enrollment
of 146,776 students (42,210 of which attend adult and/or vocational
courses), Pinellas County is the 25th largest district in the
country.
In an effort to use
funding as efficiently as possible for the greatest educational impact
possible, PCS is reviewing transportation expenditures of $55 million to
cover the cost of fuel, maintenance, equipment and personnel. Tracking
will be implemented this year to see if any routes can be altered or
eliminated to reduce these costs, and analysis of a 2-tier versus 3-tier
system (adjusting school start and end times) will be examined.
The Pinellas County
School system closed three schools for the upcoming 2008-2009 school
year, and Dr. Janssen anticipates another three schools being closed in
the year following. The county is exploring monetizing the now-vacated
facilities by either selling or leasing the land sites. This would
provide a revenue stream and offset maintenance costs associated with
these properties. Dr. Janssen pointed out that it would not be prudent
of the county to sell all of the properties, in anticipation of needing
to reopen these schools as the county population fluctuates and need is
redistributed. She noted that they are seeing an increase in students
transferring from local private schools into the system, in part because
the contracting economy.
Dr. Janssen reported
that there is a renewed focus on improving the vocational programs,
anticipating a near-future need. Ideally, by 2010 all of the schools
will offer both industry certification and an academic diploma, along
with access to scholarship opportunities.
In conclusion, Dr.
Janssen reiterated her assertion that the primary mission of Pinellas
County Schools was achieving high student achievement by refreshing
teaching techniques to more fully engage students in the learning
process, and by adding more electives to encourage the students’
interest in the educational experience.
Guests and
Visitors
Fifty-two members
attended our luncheon last week in addition to our speaker, and four
guests. Paul Vilmark joined Harry Eisnaugle, Craig Shore attended as a
guest of Weyman Willingham, and Grant Smith accompanied Biff Baker.
Also in attendance was Karen Butler of ASAP Homeless Services.
This weeks quiz:
- What do you call
a substance containing only one kind of atom?
- Which planet is
closest to the sun?
- How many seasons
did Lou Gehrig play every inning of every game?
- One horsepower is
equal to how many watts?
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