Preserving Dark Skies through Partnerships
Meeting for the week of October 17, 2022 - October 23, 2022
This Meeting at a Glance:
Program: Preserving Dark Skies through Partnerships
Speaker: Stephen Hummel
Is this your first time to visit us? If so, welcome to our weekly online meeting! To complete our meeting, please continue reading from here to the bottom of this page. Each Monday our week’s meeting is posted early in the morning, U.S. Pacific Time. These meetings are designed so that you can read and watch what we post anytime during the week. The entire meeting takes about 60 minutes to complete, with the video conference recording of the program being the bulk of the time. Note that you can easily read this meeting with your favorite device, so feel free to take our meeting on the go with you. Please also make sure to complete the attendance form at the bottom and leave a comment. Enjoy!
To properly attend this meeting, please:
Read and watch the content below in its entirety.
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Everyone is also encouraged to leave a comment in the Disqus section at the bottom of the page.
Welcome to the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley!
Here’s a message from our Club President
Hello members!
Do you remember your first days as a Rotarian? I do — because those early experiences impacted who I am now. Rotary instilled in me a desire to look beyond boundaries and embrace service. Throughout my life, I have found fulfillment in service. I'm sure many of you feel the same way. If you need to reinvigorate your feeling of service, October — Economic and Community Development Month — is a perfect time to do so.
Therefore, join me this month in becoming a better Rotarian and assisting others in improving themselves and their communities. Developing solid communities is, however, impossible without strong public health. On October 24, World Polio Day, we will celebrate the great Rotary accomplishments in the fight to eradicate polio. But we also know that this fight is not over. We still need support in generating funding and increasing awareness to guarantee that all children are protected against polio. Please mark this important date on your calendar and find out how you can help here: https://www.endpolio.org/world-polio-day.
Speaking of health, as you know, the club has been working hard these past months to provide more opportunities for promoting healthcare awareness. Among the next initiatives to be introduced in the coming weeks/months, there will be the telemedicine project that will involve a series of special talks with healthcare experts. In addition, we are planning a Fundraising Photography Contest.
Good things take time. Stay tuned for more information, and if you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out!
Yours in service,
Angelica Marotta, PhD
President 2022-2023 Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley, Rotary International District 5170
Guests, we are happy to have you join us this week!
As we see it, our flexibility as an online, asynchronous club allows a special type of service to Rotarians around the world: we make it easier for anyone to strive for and maintain 100% attendance. That keeps you engaged with Rotary's events and ideas, and provides a moment of inspiration for devoting your creativity, talents, and resources to good causes.
You are certainly not required to pay anything in order to attend our meetings. However, if you would like to make a small contribution to our service efforts, you are welcome to do so in our secure Happy Dollars section down the page. This could be what you normally pay at your own club's meetings for lunch, for example. Any amount is welcome, but first and foremost, we're happy you've joined us, and hope you will share with others who we are and what we do to help inspire Service Above Self.
And don't forget to fill out our attendance form so you get an email you can pass on to your club's secretary!
The Four Way Test
The Four-Way Test is a nonpartisan and nonsectarian ethical guide for Rotarians to use for their personal and professional relationships.
Of the things we think, say or do
Is it the TRUTH?
Is it FAIR to all concerned?
Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
Weekly Funny with Shags.
We believe laughter is an important part of life, and we should all make time to laugh a little. This segment of our meeting is meant to tickle you just enough. These funnies are curated by member Steven "Shags" Shagrin !
Searching for a Spot
A woman drove to a parking garage searching for an open space, but she found none.
Then she noticed a couple walking just ahead. She slowly pulled alongside them and rolled down her window. She called out hopefully, "Going out?"
"No," the woman said, "we're just friends."
Weekly Inspiration
Every week we share a short video highlighting innovation, education, entrepreneurship, or whatever we think might inspire you to see the world in new ways.
In September of 2020, Dave Neiswander spoke to us in a talk called The Power of Bicycles. This week, we share a more recent video they posted to tell about their work. Enjoy!
Through a Rotarian's Lens
Sometimes a photo can capture an amazing moment. In this section Member Keith Marsh shares his incredible photography!
If you'd like to submit a photo for this section please contact Keith.
This photo of a lightning storm was taken by Marc Selles. From the star trails in the night sky it looks to be a long exposure of at least 5 minutes. The clouds were illuminated by the lightning strikes for a fraction of a second so the long exposure did not blur the clouds. This is a good way to photograph lightning, but it requires a sturdy tripod.
Learn Something New
Who Likes Humor & Comedy?!?
ME, (duh). And one of my favorite types is observational humor, such as that of Will Rogers, Bill Cosby (the good part), Chris Rush (a great unknown!), and George Carlin -- who I've seen in concert and is truly hilarious! Enjoy a bit of George (Almost SFW) from The Tonight Show in 2009.
Connect with ReCSV on Facebook
Service Report
Tell us about service you’ve done recently in your community.
Click here to fill out The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley Service Survey
Our Events & Projects
We hold our meetings online, but we do regular service projects and social events in the Silicon Valley! The section is updated every week with our upcoming events. We welcome guests to all of the events and service projects listed here.
Upcoming Events:
All times are Pacific Time! (San Francisco time)
District 5170 Events
All times are Pacific Time! (San Francisco time)
More events coming soon! All events are open to guests, unless otherwise mentioned. Feel free to join us! If you ever have questions, please email inquiries@siliconvalleyrotary.com
Happy Dollars: Do Good by Sharing Something Good
Each week we ask our members to share stories with the club and toss in a few dollars to support our efforts. The primary goal of this section is to provide a fun way of getting to know each fellow members and guests, while giving back to a good cause.
Happy dollars is an opportunity to share something positive that has happened in your life whether it is personal or business. Think of it as your opportunity to brag a little, but also put a little bit into a karma jar. The money donated through happy dollars is put to charitable use, and the message that you leave for happy dollars will be posted in our online meeting the following week for the entire week for folks to see! (Pending that it’s appropriate!)
Here are the happy dollars contributions from last week!
This section is usually updated in the early hours of Saturday, so contributions made over the weekend may not be listed here.
Program: Preserving Dark Skies through Partnerships
Speaker: Stephen Hummel
Every week we bring to you a new program on innovation, entrepreneurship, and education, and how those contribute to service to others.
The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley seeks to explore perspectives on service from across the world. The views of the speakers in our programs are their own, and unless stated otherwise, are not necessarily reflective of the views of our eClub nor Rotary International.
If you have an idea for a cool speaker, please feel free to reach out to them directly or submit THIS FORM so our Program Committee can contact them!
This week's speaker, Stephen Hummel, is the Dark Skies Initiative Coordinator at the University of Texas at Austin's McDonald Observatory, located in the Big Bend region of Texas. His educational background is in international relations and astronomy. Alongside many partners, Stephen was involved in establishing the world's largest International Dark Sky Association certified Dark Sky Reserve in the Big Bend region of Texas and Mexico in early 2022. Prior to this, Stephen was involved in astronomy and science outreach. In his spare time Stephen is an accomplished photographer, with images used by National Geographic, the BBC, NASA, and more.
Over the past 100+ years, the world's night skies have been rapidly vanishing due to the spread of light pollution. Thankfully, easy solutions to light pollution exist. In a remote region of West Texas and Northern Mexico, astronomers, conservationists, parks, and many communities have teamed together to form the largest area in the world where the night sky is protected: the Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve. The reserve is not only the largest of its kind at over 15,000 square miles in area, but also the first such reserve to cross an international border. At the core of the reserve is the University of Texas' McDonald Observatory, home to one of the largest telescopes in the world. McDonald Observatory has worked with surrounding communities for decades to promote better lighting practices to preserve our night skies, without requiring people to live in darkness. Stephen Hummel will discuss the impact of artificial light as well as the strategies that have led to the reserve's success.
Members and guests, please welcome Stephen Hummel!
To learn more, go to:
https://www.bigbenddarkskyreserve.org/
Find the International Dark-Sky Association
https://darksky.org
Upcoming Program Recording Schedule
All of our guest speakers and programs are recorded live online over Zoom video conference. We welcome members and guests to join us in one of these upcoming recordings. Recordings are approximately 30 minutes long and are subject to change without notice.
Our online video conference room link for these recordings is always http://zoom.siliconvalleyrotary.com/. You are welcome to join us! Please note the timezone listed for all recordings is US Pacific Time (San Francisco, California, USA).
If you can’t join the live recording, please send your questions for an upcoming speaker to programs@siliconvalleyrotary.com.
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