Rotary Club of Charleston

Observations of a Deployer

February 16, 2010: Jim Geffert introduced our speaker, Col. Benjamin Wham II, who gave us an intimate soldier’s eye view of what it is like to deploy to and live in Iraq and Afghanistan. A graduate of The Citadel, he holds a BS degree in Civil Engineering and is a part of team Charleston, a group of 7142 service personnel assigned to the Joint Base Charleston.

He has spent a tour in Iraq and one in Afghanistan but told us primarily about his time in Iraq starting with the long journey by C-17 aircraft, which is not as nice as commercial coach, but at least you can stretch your legs. His base was located SE of Bagdad and had two airstrips. Seen from the air, it is a virtual tent city. The tents are comfortable but the temperature inside in the daytime is 140 degrees! Nearby are 4000 year old antiquities such as a pyramid, the house of Abraham and the nearby Euphrates River. Immediately next to a tent was the test firing range with an image of Saddam as the target.

The good part is the comradeship of those with whom you serve, and the visits from celebrities who often took the names of the troops back to the USA and called the families. The bad would be the heat and finding bats in your tent. The strange is living through a three day sand storm during which everything looks yellow and the sand gets in your hair, eyes and mouth. It also seemed strange to get water from a hand pumped 100 year old well.

One of their proud accomplishments was the renovation of a school and getting the children back to classes. But the danger remains, with the ever present chance of coming upon a roadside bomb, which can be hidden in anything,

Reported by Fred Sales, Keyway Committee

Expand Your Mind with ACLU

February 9, 2010: Andy Brack introduced our speaker, Victoria Middleton from the ACLU. Andy mentioned that she was working on such issues at requiring all voters to have a photo ID to present at a voting station prior to their being able to cast a vote. The ACLU is very opposed to this.

Victoria began by asking the question: What does the ACLU stand for? Her response was that it stood for conserving principles underlying our democracy. She said that they want to expand a lively debate in SC. She spent 20 years overseas. She told the story about when she returned from serving in Finland and took her family on a tour of Washington, DC. While at the National Archives she saw the Declaration of Independence and noted what a strong and vital document it is.

She spoke of the rights of individuals, their speech, religion, and other freedoms. She spoke about the ACLU”s desire to maintain the rights of minorities of all kinds … they defend issues or minorities such as: the Ku Klux Clan, Nazi’s, Rush Limbaugh, Ollie North, and the Roman Catholic Church. They defend rights that are really important to all individuals.

The ACLU began defending conscientious objectors in WWII. On war and terror, they defend Habeas Corpus (can’t indefinitely hold a suspect without charging them of a criminal offence). She cited many, many cases over the years that they have defended.

1987: ACLU vs. Rotary, re: inclusion of women in the club.
1993: Helping Shannon Faulkner in her attempt to become the first female cadet at the Citadel.

Currently, they are looking into the over-incarcerations of criminals (too many criminals for minimal crimes such as drug charges that she said should NOT require jail time). She said that too many children (under 17) are being sent to juvenile detention. She said that the ACLU is attempting to keep outside intruders from entering schools. She’s concerned about the right to privacy in our state and the government’s ability to store our personal data.

She told the story about her conversation with a 97 year old member of the ACLU, a former corporate counsel for TWA, asking him what his priorities were. He stated that there were two. 1. The First Amendment; 2. Women’s reproductive freedom which he saw as an individual freedom that should not be taken away.

Local issue: Discrimination on race or sexual orientation for employment.

The question was asked: How does the ACLU decide to take a specific case? She cited several steps they take ranging from equality issues to privacy issues to personal freedom.

Submitted by Bill Christian, Keyway Committee

CHARLESTON SCHOOL OF LAW

Feb. 2, 2010: Charleston School of Law Dean Andy Abrams linked the spirit of Rotary service to the kind of appreciation for public service that is being taught to the 660 students at the law school.

During an entertaining presentation, Abrams said Rotary’s missions of service to others, promoting ethical behavior, and instilling goodwill and peace were almost a mirror of the law school’s mission. Among the six-year-old law school’s goals are:

– To teach students of high moral character and unquestioned personal integrity through a careful and refined study program;
– To teach the practice of law as a profession, having as its chief aim providing public service;
– To teach the law as a means of providing relief for those who suffer because they are helpless, weak, outnumbered, or because they are victims of prejudice;
– To teach the law as a means of alleviating human misery and human suffering;

To teach the law as a means of making possible the continued processes of manufacture and commerce that bring realization to the twin goals of prosperity and peace in the world; “Our goal is to impact the lives of our students with a high-quality legal education so they can, in turn, impact their communities,” he said. “What makes us unique is this mission of service above self – the very words you use.”

In the last five years, students have contributed more than 100,000 hours of public service through pro bono and externship programs locally and across the nation, Abrams said. Every student is required to give back 30 hours of free legal service before they can graduate. Some examples of public service by students: working on maritime issues in New York, an annual program in which eight students travel in the summer to work at the Ugandan Supreme Court to promote democratic institutions; a mediation program with the county school district; and helping Crisis Ministries.

Abrams said the quality of the education that students were receiving was unparalleled. Last summer, for example, 91 percent of first-time takers of the SC Bar who had been full-time students passed the exam, he noted. “That is competitive with any law school anywhere.”

Abrams also said the school worked hard to provide job opportunities for students after they finished law school. More than 90 percent of graduates are able to get employment with the help of the school, he said.

Abrams ended his talk with a “preemptive strike” about a question he always hears – “Aren’t there too many lawyers?” He said that since there were more people in South Carolina than lawyers, “we’re going to keep at it until you each have one of your own!”

More: http://www.charlestonlaw.edu

Submitted by Andy Brack, Keyway Committee

“Changing Lives with Water”

January 26, 2010: Today, we were addresses by Brad Reed and Mike Dickerman of Water Missions International and the Rotarian Peru Project. Mr. Brad Reed began leading Water Mission International (WMI) as President and Chief Executive Officer in October 2006. Before joining WMI, Mr. Reed was Executive Vice President and General Manager of Celgard, a global manufacturing company. In this role, he managed global Sales and Marketing, Research and Development, Manufacturing, Finance and Accounting, Human Resources, Information Technology, and Operations. Mr. Reed holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Clemson University.

Mr. Reed began his presentation with an overview of WMI’s Haiti relief efforts. Currently, eleven of the twelve water systems have been installed in Port-au-Prince, while ten systems await deployment from Guantanamo Bay, ten in Miami and ten on a truck en route to Miami. Mr. Reed noted these water systems would not have been possible without the support of Mayor Joe Riley and the local community.

In addition to their extraordinary efforts in Haiti, WMI is working with the Rotary Club of Daniel Island and the Rotary Club of Charleston to provide safe water systems for six communities in the Belen Slums of Iquitos, Peru. Packed in a large container, the Living Water™ Treatment Systems were shipped December 12, 2009 from Charleston, SC and will arrive in February 2010. While in Peru, the volunteer Rotarians will spend time helping to install water systems, as well as joining Amazon Expeditions, an ecotourism company, which raises awareness as well as funding for the surrounding community.

Mr. Mike Dickerman, the co-founder of Amazon Expeditions, was raised by missionaries in Columbia and has spent nearly twenty years in the South American rain forest. Although he moved from South America to the U.S. in 1997 to further his education, Mr. Dickerman returned ten years later with his wife and started the Amazon Expeditions in 2006. Amazon Expedition’s mission is to provide opportunity and promote conservation through partnerships with local communities and organizations. They focus on these key elements: fostering environmental sustainability & preservation through conservation programs with the local rain forest communities, creating economic opportunity by involving the local community in the day-to-day operations of our lodge, an helping develop and achieve sustainable community development programs specifically designed to empower small communities to thrive in an ever-changing world.

The Amazon Jungle Lodge, Palo Verde Lodge (located fifty miles south of Iquitos Perú) offers authentic yet comfortable bungalow accommodations deep in the heart of the Amazon Jungle. The volunteer Rotarians will be able to not only live in the Amazon but work with WMI to provide health and hope for the future of its inhabitants. Both Mr. Reed and Mr. Dickerman discussed the global water crisis. The statistics are astounding. One out of every eight people in the world, roughly 884 million, lacks access to safe water. (WHO/UNICEF) and at least 2.6 billion people do not have access to latrines or any sort of basic sanitation facilities. (UN WATER). 1.8 million children die every year as a result of diseases caused by unclean water and poor sanitation. This amounts to around 5000 deaths a day, one every 20 seconds. (UNDP)

Reported by Teal Van Saun, Keyway Committee

“Kick the Carbs in the New Year”

January 19, 2010: Dr. Ann Kulze, a graduate of Clemson University and The Medical University of South Carolina, is a practicing physician, CEO of Just Wellness, LLC, a firm which specializes in teaching others about health and wellness, and a well known author. Creator of the book, “Dr. Ann’s 1-Step Diet”, she believes that people can live right and maintain a permanent appropriate weight, losing weight as needed. Scientific research has concluded that maintaining an appropriate diet is the best way to prevent illness, especially obesity, cardiovascular decease, type 2 diabetes and certain cancers. The pathway to this good health begins with eliminating consumption of “bad carbs” and substituting more food from the “good carb” group. The bad carbohydrates are white flour, white rice, white flour products and sugary sweets. The bad carbs turn into glucose and are digested quickly, tthen they turn to insulin which stores fat and the body’s glucose level is even lower than before eating, triggering even more eating! People actually become hungrier in this vicious cycle, which adds weight, and promotes disease.

Our early ancestors were hunters and gatherers, whose only source of sweets was honey, a substance which was never in great supply; they lived healthier lives. Sugar and sweets, which are such a pronounced part of our diet contain 50% glucose and 50% fructose, something which is new to modern diets. It is found in fruit, but its amount in an apple, for example, is small. The amount ingested in our typical sweet overloaded diet promotes fat in the liver which is a defining step towards heart decease, cancer, diabetes and overall fatigue. Today’s society eats 4 times more fructose than we did 20 years ago, and is a big factor in obesity, which is the trigger of many other deceases. “Good carbs”, which are great for our health include whole wheat bread, brown rice, grains and beans. Beans are a truly super food and should be eaten daily. They are a great nutrient and lower cholesterol.

Fruits and vegetables are the most important, they provide us fiber without excess calories. Among the best of the fruits and vegetables are oranges, a great cancer fighter, and all dark leafy greens such as spinach. Broccoli, cauliflower, berries, grapes and tomatoes are all excellent parts of the right diet.

In the question session, she noted that a glass of wine a day is helpful. She also recommends against sugar substitutes, unless one is diabetic, because they increase your appetite and make you gain weight. And, yes, she herself exercises 45 minutes per day.

Reported by Fred Sales, Keyway Committee