Rotaract Club of Downtown San Diego Weekly Announcements February 28, 2006

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Next Meeting Our next general meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 07, 2006 at 6:30 pm at Kansas City BBQ, 610 W. Market Street, Downtown San Diego. We're looking forward to seeing you there!

A Hand for Polio March 11 (Saturday) Time & Place TBA Saturday March 11th, we will be assisting the Rotaract club Siglo 21 in Tijuana with their annual project "A Hand for Polio." Their club is getting a wall in a very public place (place TBD) where people will be invited to make a donation and then be able to stamp their hand on this wall. All the money collected from this project goes to the Rotary International Account. This way we are contributing to the fight against Polio, and hopefully it will be eradicated thanks to our team work. In Mexico they have been doing this project for several years now, and it has been very successful! They are coordinating with other clubs around the world to do this project simultaneously. We will be assisting by giving away stickers at the site, help take care of the wall and invite anyone passing by to come stamp their hand and donate to eradicate Polio. Just bring a good vibe and be in the mood to have a good time helping out our sister club across the border. If you are interested, please sign up with Stacey.

March Guest Speaker: Bob Goff March 21 (Tuesday) 6:30 pm Kansas City BBQ Our next speaker for our March 21st meeting is Bob Goff, who is a Seattle Lawyer and professor of law at Point Loma Nazarene University. He will be coming to speak on Restore International, which rescues and rehabilitates children forced into prostitution and seeks prosecution of the perpetrators. Prostitution is rampant in all parts of India. A huge demand for sex and a lenient law enforcement system has resulted in the flourishing trade of buying and selling women and girls. Young girls from poor areas are particularly vulnerable and are often lured, kidnapped or tricked into prostitution. Once the girl is sold to a particular brothel keeper, she becomes a virtual slave of the industry. She is beaten, threatened, verbally abused and forced to sleep with many men every day. She will remain a slave until she can pay back the money the brothel keeper paid for her. The Restore International Team – consisting of investigators, police liaison officers, advocates, and local legal professionals – targets cities with large red light trafficking centers to initiate raids, rescue girls, and arrest brothel keepers. For more information, please check Restore International's web site.

Volunteers Needed for Rotary Model United Nations Conference March 25 & 26 (Saturday & Sunday) Time TBA Embassy Suites Stacy Jer is District 5340 Outbound Ambassadorial Scholar for 2006-2007 to Ghana. She is also serving as a volunteer coordinator for our district's Model United Nations Conference for high school students to be held at the Embassy Suites from March 25-26. Stacy has informed us that they are in great need of volunteers for both days. To sign up or for more information, please e-mail Stacy Jer or call her at 626-318-5768.

Social: Grunion Run March 31 (Friday) 9:00 pm South Mission Beach We'll head down to South Mission Beach for the beginning of the Grunion season. This night, the Grunion are supposed to begin running at 10:20 pm and end at about 12:30 am. We'll get together at 9:00 pm and have a little bbq. Bring your beach blankets, flashlights and some warm clothes.

Recap: Valentines Dessert & Game Reception for Seniors Two weeks ago, Rotaract gathered at the Potiker Family Senior Residence to bring a little post-Valentine's Day cheer to their residents, visitors and volunteers. Rotaract members and guests provided a delicious array of baked goods and beverages while supporting the seniors in several rounds of Bingo. Taking nothing about the game lightly, the seniors enjoyed the competition just as much as they reveled in fellowship with each other and us. Throughout the afternoon and at the closing of the event, the seniors extended their thanks and appreciation for our efforts. Truthfully, it was a wonderful time for all of us. We look forward to more interactive events with Potiker and the seniors in the future.

Rotaract's Very Own One of San Diego's Most Eligible Bachelors We all know that Rotaract attracts some of the best and most well-rounded young professionals in San Diego, but here is some proof... Our very own David Bradfield, Rotaract member since 2002, has been voted one of San Diego's Most Eligible Bachelors! Channel 10 News has paralleled ABC's "Bachelor" Travis, by finding the finest bachelors in America's Finest City. Dave comments that he "likes a woman who can be strong and independent yet capable of being a hopeless romantic." He says, "Make me think and I will think about you always." Check it out on Channel 10's Website. Good luck Dave!

Welcome to the Rotaract Club of New Road City We would like to take this opportunity to welcome the Rotaract Club of New Road City from Kathmandu, Nepal, District 3290, to our newsletter. We don't usually introduce clubs or individuals who sign up for this newsletter, but in this case there was such a nice response from Nirajan Rajkarnikar (their Secretary 2005-2006) that we just had to mention it. Here's an excerpt from the e-mail we received: "It is great to be communicating with a fellow club member in Rotaract. I hope to flourish this interaction as a gesture of friendship between our clubs. Thanks. Hope to initiate many projects together in the future. We also saluted your club in the weekly meeting of our club dated 25th February 2006. All the members wished for the success of your club in the future. Thanks." Thanks, Nirajan, for your wonderful e-mail. We are looking forward to working with you in the future. We hope that this will be the beginning of a long and successful friendship between our two clubs! Check out more about the Rotaract Club of New Road City in our trivia section.

Creative Minds Needed! The San Diego Downtown Rotaract club is in the process of designing a Rotaract Flag to represent our club. For any suggestions, ideas, contacts or leads, please email our historian Kerrith Gray.

View Recent Rotaract Photos Online! 2005-2006 Rotaract Photos are online! Thanks to our wonderful website chair, Parker Seybold, we are able to easily post and view photos of our community service events, social events, meetings and fundraisers online. To view photos from 2005-2006 click here and continue viewing our website, where this photo account is linked to, for new photos. If you take digital photos at an event and would like to see them online, please contact Parker Seybold.

Senior Center 2nd Saturday of each month Volunteers (2-3) are needed the 2nd Saturday of each month from 11:00 am - 1:00 pm to help serve lunch at the Senior Center Downtown. Please contact Miguel for details and availability.

Downtown San Diego Breakfast Rotary Meeting The Downtown San Diego Breakfast Rotary Club is meeting every Wednesday at 7:00 am at the Symphony Towers University Club, 750 B Street, Suite 3400. Next scheduled speakers / events: March 01 Martha Schumaker Executive Director San Diego Crew Classic March 08 Marye Anne Fox Chancellor UCSD March 15 Robert Biter, M.D. Her Heart's Wish March 22 Kathy Kachur Executive Director Citizen Diplomacy Council For last minute changes, please check http://www.sdrotary.org!

Members' Bulletin Board USD 5K Run/Walk March 5 (Sunday) Race Day Registration begins @ 7:00 am Balboa Park, 6th & Laurel This is the 1st Annual USD 5K Run/Walk. Runners and walkers will be traveling through beautiful Balboa Park. Music and prizes will be awarded to the Top 3 Overall finishers for Men and Women. This race procedes go towards the Jamaica Project which benefits the St. Patrick's Foundation and Operation Restoration. Registration: $20.00, Online Registration closes on March 4, 2006, 12:00 PM Pacific Time. For more information, please click here. Roommate Wanted Laura is looking for a roommate to share her home that is responsible, has good credit and is fun. She will be traveling to tournaments over the next few months, so she would like someone responsible to move in. The house is located in Mission Valley, close to USD, YMCA, the Fashion Valley mall, and the bike/running paths that lead to the beach or Fiesta Island. The room has its own quaint, but full bath. The person that lived in the room previously treated it as a studio apartment with a sofa, entertainment center and still had room for a queen-sized bed. Other than the room, there is no storage space available. Parking is on the street only and finding spots close to the house is never a problem at any time of the day. There is a new washer and dryer, cable and wireless internet. Utilities are not included in the rent and they include gas/electric, water and cable. Pets are great! The room is available for viewing now and can be moved in March 1. Rent is $700.00 plus utilities. Call Laura if you have any questions 619-309-8448. Roommate Wanted Share 2 bedroom 1 bath condo in La Jolla located on Villa La Jolla Drive, near the UCSD entrance. Includes: parking, pool/jacuzzi, tennis, wash/dryer in a very quiet complex. No smoking. Small dog maybe okay. Contact Gidget Rangel: gidgetrangel@hotmail.com or 858-349-7505 Post your own message here! Do you need a roommate? Trying to sell your car? Let Rotaract work for you! Post your message here in the newsletter and have it be seen by over 100 like-minded people. Just send an e-mail to newsletter@sdrotaract.org with "Bulletin Board" in the subject line. Please remember to also include a general time frame for your message, e.g. 3 weeks, 2 newsletters, or until November 1st.

Rotaract & Rotary Trivia "Rotary is a miniature model of world at peace, one which might advantageously be studied by nations. Rotarians believe that the universal application of tolerance and friendliness would bring about the international peace so earnestly desired by everyone."    – Paul P. Harris, Founder of Rotary Rotary Centennial Everest Expedition 2005 A team of three intrepid mountaineers from the Rotaract Club of New Road City, Kathmandu, Nepal – Ms. Moni Mulepati (23), Mr. Kami Sherpa (26), Mr. Pem Dorjee Sherpa (24) – celebrated Rotary's Centennial by climbing to the top of Mount Everest in late May 2005. "It's the holiest place in Nepal, and we thought it would be a unique way to celebrate 100 years of Rotary service," says Moni Mulepati. "We wanted to promote peace and understanding in the world and recognize Rotary's part in that." The highlight of this event was to hoist the Rotary International flag on the top of Mount Everest and to later present it to Immediate Past RI President Glenn E. Estess at the Rotary Chicago Convention in June 2005. In the Everest region, several additional projects were planned in order to involve more Rotarians and Rotaractors: two health camps, Rotary fellowship and meeting at 15,000 feet and a Waste-Free Everest Environmental Awareness Campaign. There was a tinge of Hollywood to the Rotaractors' ascent. Mulepati and her sweetheart, Pem Dorjee Sherpa, held a surprise exchange of marriage vows on the world's highest peak. They had kept their courtship and marriage plans a secret from family, friends, and even fellow climber Kami Sherpa. "The snow around us was coming down very hard, and it was hard to breathe," Mulepati recalls. "We were only there for 10 minutes. It was just enough time for us to plant the Rotary flag, get married, and have our friends take pictures of us." For more details on this exciting expedition, click on the following links: • To Mark Rotary Centennial, Rotaractors Conquer Everest • Rotary Centennial Everest Expedition 2005