Soundings (5/27/08)

Bucks in the Bay:
Orphalee - Happy to see so many people at the meeting
Lance Calloway - Thanks to everyone at the Fellowship dinner at the HearthFire. He and His wife have been approved for adoption on 6/26/08.
Gerald Baron - missed meetings and 6th grand child, Roman Victor Rodrigues.
Bob Moles - Water Project director and Bob just returned from a sailing trip in Greece.
Matt Rose - Missed meeting and Rose Family trip "man Vs. wild", but not on purpose.
Anna Williams - Ski to Sea thanks to the "Sun Gods". Sold 50 kegs of beer by 5:30. Thanks to B'ham Police for the great job they did . and Thanks to Ram Const. for the well needed fencing.
Gordon Plume - Ski to Sea Team had a great time.
Ken Opplinger - Ski to Sea went great even with cancellation of the Canoe leg. 2011 will be 100th anniversary of the Mt. Baker Marathon, which was the beginning of S to S.
Bob Sleeth - Memorial Service activities; Wife missed cruise ship, but made it somehow and had to postpone his garage sale another week.
Art Runestrand - Sold truck to grandson, upon delivery it caught on fire. Everyone was safe, but the truck was not.  Gave grandson his $500 back. And the laptop that was given to the cancer survivor has been hired as a Lecturer for WWU.
Stew Ellison - missed meetings and to Anna for helping at Ski to Sea and the HS participants that participated, money for the Rotary Foundation.
Christine Palmerton - did her part on the kegs at Ski to Sea and to her son Miles who received 1st in Districts and participated in State track meet in Tacoma.
Mary Humphres - Daugther placed 5th in State Track meet in Tacoma. Happy with the great sportsmanship.

Sergeant at Arms by Bill Unrein
Theme: Being Responsible.  Eddie: You promised to be here last week. Eddie's excuse was that he had a "meeting" with Ed Zech.  Mimi Ferlin - Pay for Chuck Olson for his phone going off last week.  Ron Hardesty - Were you "hurtin" on Sunday??  Bill Boyd - past the Sergeant with his siren and lights like a "bat out of Hell". Where was he going in such a hurry. His Neighbor had a medical emergency. The 6 golfers - Responsible for being "stupid".  Zach - Responsible for Horizon stock being down.  Tim McEvoy - Being responsible for the "obvious" fuel problem.  Lynn Templeton - if Jake Locker gets hurt playing baseball this summer, it will be your fault.  Dennis Archer - in regards to the building blocks used at your home.  Gary Barnett - Responsible for opening late.  Dave Ennen - Responsible for not using life jackets as he "helped" Gerald's wife into the water.  Jim Wells - Sunday PM at the finish line, over the loud speaker "if your name is Jim Wells, you're lost!"  Lance Calloway - Responsible for ticket mix-up at Male Oxy.

Program
Tonja introduced Tom Eckert, President of Bellingham Technical College
Began 9/1/07. He has 3 kids, 1 wife and 1 grandchild. Whatcom County's Perfect Storm and America's Perfect Storm. Less educational achievement means the baby boomers will not be followed well. With a 70% graduation rate and 15% for disadvantaged minorities. Only 30% go on to higher education. We are 16th out of top 21 industrial nations in education achievement. The Economic Shift 1950's 33% of population was employed in manufacturing. (which is now shipped over seas). In 1989 only 18.2% were employed in manufacturing. In 2003 only 10.7%. Growth is beginning in professional or high skills tech. 46% of jobs go to higher education grads. With only 10% available to HS diploma.
Demographic Shift - 300 million population to 360 million by 2030. with an older and more diverse populas. 2000 - 2015 50% will be due to immigration and an issue with English speaking skills. What to do: Educate and encourage tech or manufacturing. Get high school kids interested early and find their passion. Career tech education has been cut from high schools but sports remains. A 4 year degree is not always the answer. Drop outs need only to get their GED to qualify for a tech school. Encourage immigrants to improve their English skills.
BTC has 34 associate degrees and 57 certificates. Programs in construction and health care, etc. and students just need basic education and/or GED. There are 3300 full/part time students and will the school will affect 10k lives this year. The goal for BTC now is online courses with Hybrid courses and programs at satellite labs through out the county. There are 300 people on the advisory board. There will be technically enhanced courses and programs at access centers in 3 remote locations in the county, with evening and weekend offerings.

Respectfully Submitted,
Lesa Boxx