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June 23,
2009
Today’s
Program Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority Bob Lasher
Bob
joined PSTA as a community, media, and government liaison in March of
2005.
He began
a career as a news reporter in 1981 and worked in both radio and
television until 1996. The majority of his media career was spent as a
television news Anchor and Producer. Regardless of the program’s ratings
upon Bob’s arrival, every show that he produced and/or anchored was top
rated news show in its time slot by the time he left the station.
The
ubiquitous erosion of journalistic integrity and ethics in the TV news
industry finally convinced him to change careers and leave the news
business. Bob then spent several years in sales and three years as a
Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and Computer Network Administrator.
Before
moving home to Pinellas County and joining PSTA, Bob spent two years
working for Warm Thoughts Communications, Inc. an award-winning
marketing firm in Secaucus N.J. While there Bob worked concurrently as a
Public Speaker, Copywriter, and Researcher.
He
graduated from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1984 with
a BA in Political Science. Bob’s work has earned recognition from the
Associated Press, New Jersey Ad Club, South West Transit Association and
the Transportation Marketing and Communications Association.
What’s Happening
Thank You
Dick Koch would like to say a huge “thank you” to all the members of our
club who worked together to pull off the General Petraeus meeting. It
was indeed a combined effort. “We” is the operative word!
It could not have been done without the support, guidance, and energy of
a lot of my fellow Kiwanians. You knew what had to be done – and you did
it in a truly professional manner.
Editor’s
Note:
Our apologies for renaming Marissa Koch mother, she is not Sue but is
Charlene. We would also note that her father, Steve Koch, and her
grandfather, Wayne McKay, are also members of our club.
Go West, Young Man
Jeff Francis is headed to Montana for the summer and left us $20 as a
memento.
Where Did the Yellow Go?
Club hunk Bob Piplitz showed off his pearly whites care of Dr. Ron
O’Neal. A $20 happy fine for the resulting killer smile.
Out of Africa
Louis Murphy was glad to be home and proud to be an American upon
returning from missionary service in Kenya. Welcome home, Louis!
Kiwanis at the Trop
Sunday, June 14, was Kiwanis Day at the Beach… the indoor beach at
Tropicana Field. Jessica Kardas reported that several members attended
with Charles Stuart as ringmaster who counted nineteen Kiwanians and
guests from our club at the game.
New Member
Our club has a new member: Tom Moseley, sponsored by Kevin Kelso.
Welcome, Tom, and we look forward to your participation in club
activities.
Congratulations
Our own Terry Dowling was selected at Employee of the Month at the
University of South Florida, St. Petersburg. Terry was nominated because
of the additional duties he volunteered to perform. These duties
included acting as the Chair of the Search Committee for the recruitment
of the Human Services Practitioner, interviewing over 20 high school
candidates applying for a Kiwanis scholarship on behalf of the St.
Petersburg Kiwanis Vocational Guidance Committee, and participating in a
workshop with St. Petersburg High School students regarding an insurance
career using an experiential learning simulation.
CLE Training
Special
thanks go to our trainers Ray Watson & Ed Lillich, Susan Mittermayr and
Lois Watson for the great food, and our host Anderson McQueen Funeral
Homes. Hopefully you found it fun and educational for your upcoming
leadership year in Kiwanis. Thank you, Markus Mittermayr
Participants that attended from our club included:
1.
Bob
Piplitz– President Elect
2.
Charles
Stuart – Secretary and Treasurer
3.
Markus
Mittermayr– Lt. Governor Designate
Fischer/Carr Bash
As reported by Bob Byelick, a smashing success as the club set records
in attendance and auction items donated. With money still coming in, we
have cleared over $30,000. Congratulations to all Kiwanians who made
this special event even more special.
Last Week
at Kiwanis
Kiwanian
of the Day, Mitch Cochran, introduced Special Agent Scott Earl of the
FBI. Scott brought along with him fellow agents Marie Wright and Rob
French. Marie and Rob will take over Scott’s assignments as he is
transferring to Philadelphia in July.
Agent
Earl brought us a rather sobering message -- that of Cyber Crime – most
notably reporting on internet predators and pedophiles. Working out of
the Tampa Division, Scott’s territory includes 17 counties, from the
cities of Cocoa to St. Petersburg and from Naples to Brooksville.
He
explained to us that internet crime is rising steadily and includes
pornography, white collar crime, terrorism, and gang activities. In the
mid 90’s, the FBI formed the Innocent Images Task Force to focus on the
pedophile/predator issue by infiltrating chat rooms. By going
undercover, agents are able to arrest suspects when they go out in
public to solicit young boys and girls.
Additionally, Innocent Images arrests those who trade in illegal or
underage pornography. Studies have shown 80% of those that traffic in
porn are more likely to engage in illicit acts with underage children.
Scott
reported that with the advent of high definition along with other
technological advances, production of porn seems to have no boundaries
as even infants and toddlers are abused via bondage, torture, or other
lurid acts.
Who are
these sick people who commit such heinous activity? Scott told us their
profile primarily is white males between the ages of 18-65, tending to
be well educated with middle to higher incomes.
Besides
the FBI’s efforts, Scott encourages parents to monitor their children’s
internet use and use caution on information dispensed. Furthermore,
Scott cautions adults about personal information released as identify
theft is now approaching epic proportions.
Special
Agent Marie Wright informed us about InfraGard. InfraGard began as a
collaborative effort in 1996 between the FBI Cleveland Field Office and
the private sector businesses. This effort was designed to harness
private sector expertise for investigative efforts in the cyber and
physical security arenas. Due to its immediate success, the program
quickly expanded to other FBI Field Offices leading the FBI to assign
national program responsibility of InfraGard to FBI Headquarters in
Washington DC and local program responsibility to each of the FBI’s
fifty-six field offices. InfraGard’s protection efforts have led to a
close working relationship not only between the private sector and the
FBI, but with other agencies as well including the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS), the National Institute of Standards and
Technology, and the Small Business Administration.
Thanks to
Special Agents Scott Earl, Marie Wright, and Rob French for making our
club aware of the focus by the FBI on these crimes.
Guest and Visitors
We
had 56 members and 2 guests attending.
Marvin Gay from New Orleans Kiwanis
Gayla Davis, guest of Doug Lampe
Today’s Quiz
1.
What was
the previous name of the country of Zimbabwe?
2.
How fast
is the speed of light?
3.
What are
the colors of the spectrum?
4.
Where was
Urban Meyer’s first head coaching position?
5.
What
United States President was elected to two terms but not consecutively?
Last
Week’s Quiz
1.
On the
Arizona state flag the 13 rays of red and
gold on the top half of the flag represent the 13 original colonies of
the Union, and the rays of the Western setting sun.
2.
The Cherokee tribe is by far the most populous American Indian
tribe, with 729,533 people identifying with the group. The Navajo tribe
is the second most common, with 298,197 Americans identifying with that
group.
3.
The Pony
Express Trail from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California,
was 1,840 miles in length. Upon arrival in Sacramento, the mail was
placed on a steamer and continued down the Sacramento River to San
Francisco for a total of 1,966 miles. The Pony Express Trail went
through the present states of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming,
Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California.
4.
"Downtown" is a
pop song
composed by
Tony Hatch
following a first-time visit to
New York City.
It was his original intention to present it to
The Drifters,
but when British singer
Petula Clark
heard the incomplete tune, she proposed that if he could write lyrics to
match the quality of the melody, she would be interested in recording
it.
5.
If you
are making a check list of the most unusual places to play golf,
Ushuaia Golf Club in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina should be at
the top or in this case the bottom. You will even receive a certificate
for playing the southernmost golf course in the world. |
