NEXT WEEK WE ARE Tiptoeing Through Botanic Gardens
Last Meeting
Venue: Damien on Fisher
Event: The Great Debate Unley v Hyde Park
Guests: Tony & Janet Houey, Haydn Baillie, Roger Hoare, James Slape plus 11 of the Hyde Parkers
Attendance: 25 members 16 guests
MC was David Middleton. President Nathan welcomed all. President Neville Hyett from RC Hyde Park opened club meeting 1865 (2400 behind us). He questioned why they had not received the trophy after last year's win.......a really good question, worthy of further debate.
Debate Adjudicator - Tony Houey, assisted by his wife Janet
The Great Debate: "The 1980s were better than now"
The affirmative side for Hyde Park comprised Neville Highett, Miles Harper and Peter Griffiths, while our team for the negative comprised Graham Beckett, Valerie Bonython and Kym Teh. Note the eager anticipation below!
Peter Griffiths set the scene by hanging his team's argument that the 1980s was superior in a whole range of areas::
relationships
good health
free of pandemic
good education, free of bullying and stress
secure jobs unaffected by rapid technological change
stronger home ownership
stable politics
Kym Teh, plumping for life being better today, refuted a number of the flimsy proposals from the first speaker and declared that the 1980s marked the beginning of a dramatic downhill slide and loss of innocence, citing:
emergence of terrorism
global financial crisis
systematic political corruption
"greed is good"
emergence of HIV Aids
mortgage stress
appalling blindness among First Nation people with 47% being affected
denial of ordination of women
Ash Wednesday bushfires
loss of mate-ship, and the curse of under-arm bowling
He asserted that much of the above has improved since then. particularly with life saving technologies, freedom to move between jobs and ability to more broadly learn about the world through modern communication.
Miles Harper concentrated his argument around health, citing Covid as a major cause of stress, trashing people's lives and businesses, forcing us to wear masks, relentless QR codes, and divisions between the vaxed and unvaxed. Problems of ramping and hospital admission did not happen in the 1980s. And the 1980s produced better music!
Valerie Bonython continued with the theme of the calamitous 1980s with the turmoil of drought and the worst bushfire in history. There was a recession. Interest rates reached 17% for home buyers and 23% for businesses. The State Bank was heading for disaster. People started leaving the country for the city in droves. Railways were sold off. Compare that to today: we are now adjudged to have the 4th highest standard of living in the world; the pandemic produced the quickest vaccine result in history; aboriginal health is on the improve, particularly in respect of blindness, infant mortality has improved; a better multi-cultural society; more first class wines; better job opportunities; women now reaching their potential; and technological advances aiding more comfortable living.
Neville Highett blasted forth with rapid fire rebuttal using turmoil in our hospitals, too much entertainment choice, increasing suicide and obesity, intrusion of social media, an epidemic of new allergies in kids, and too many rules and regulations stifling natural freedoms. Our children are becoming much less certain and more afraid. The quality of life in the 1980s was definitely better.
Graham Beckett emphasised the points that we lost our innocence in the reprehensible 1980s with emergence of greater selfishness, rising individual and corporate criminality, an economic recession, rural outward migration and growing signs of climate change. Much has improved since then and in most areas.
ADJUDICATION
Esteemed adjudicator Tony Houey declared that this was the very best of debates - excellent topic, high quality reasoning, well researched, articulate and with evidential support. Lead speakers from each side established their themes particularly well, and provided coherent arguments. Following speakers were strong on rebuttal, linked their arguments into the themes, provided concrete examples, and with strong openings and finishes. Neville was adjudged the best debater for his passion, animation, rebuttal and summation. Photo of David, Tony and Janet.
Despite Neville's strong performance, Unley was adjudged the runaway winner by one point with a better balanced argument of pros and cons....just as well we didn't hand over the trophy.
Editors verdict: Excellent - best debate between the two clubs that he has witnessed during his 13 years at Unley. Well done all, particularly Kym, Valerie and Graham!!!!!
SPOTS
Jerry Casburn reminded that next week is the Botanic Gardens followed by dinner at The Stag,,,,,spots still available.
Patsy Beckett announced that the car trial proceeds had now expanded to $570.for the PNG mosquito net project.
Trevor McGuirk exhorted members to attend the Donations In Kind working bee on Saturday 27 November.
Finale ....
Brenton Judge won the filthy lucre. But no new supplies of fruchocs have been secured....shameful!
The meeting closed at 8.05 pm.
Message from Patsy
Thank you to all those who took the time and energy to engage in this year’s Country Car Cruise, and also thank you to those Rotarians who were unable to attend by donated generously to the cause of providing medical mosquito nets to a village in PNG via RAM (Rotarians Against Malaria). The amount raised was $600.
For our newer members information, from the RAM website:
Adopt a Village
In 1997, PP Ron Seddon launched the highly successful “Adopt a Village” initiative, encouraging Australian Rotary Clubs to fund long lasting Insecticide mosquito nets (LLIN) to every family in a village. Malaria was dramatically curtailed in villages that received nets.
Note - The club has donated $2,500 towards the All Kids RAWCS project
Upcoming Rotary event:
This is great - full of fun and fulfilment
ROTARY NEWS
Lessons in disability inclusion: Does he take sugar?
By Jeremy Opperman, Rotary Club of Newlands, Cape Town, South Africa
I had just finished keying in my pin number on the card reader at the supermarket checkout counter recently when the cashier turned to my friend and asked, “how does he know which buttons to press.”
Being completely inured to this sort of thing, I watched with interest to see how my friend would react. It is peculiar that when encountering a person with a disability, many people very often address the person accompanying them rather than addressing us directly.
As I expected, my friend, being worldly and level-headed, responded perfectly. She smiled (with her eyes, as her mask would have hidden her actual facial alteration) and said, “Why don’t you ask him, he is standing right in front of you.”
To her credit, the cashier did exactly that, although with some hesitation.
Pin pads on card readers have a dot on the number 5 to guide the visually impaired.
I enthusiastically explained the apparent magical mystery of how a blind person can key in their pin number into a card reader. The cashier was particularly fascinated to learn that every keypad has a raised dot on the 5 button allowing us to orientate to the other numbers on the keypad.
I smiled because I know this accessibility feature – ubiquitous on all keypads and even telephones – is universally unknown to most people who use these devices every day.
Similarly, most people are totally surprised to learn that the F and J keys on all keyboards are marked in a similar way, allowing the visually impaired to know where they are on the keyboard.
Many people avoid communication with people with disabilities in everyday situations, almost as if they fear the interaction. It’s so common that those of us with disabilities have a name for it:
Does he take sugar.
However, the lesson in this story is not only for people who practice this bizarre habit of addressing our colleagues instead of us, but also for those who are being addressed in proxy. Volcanic and rude responses do not help the situation. Ignoring it is just as bad.
My friend had the best response, “why not ask him, he is right here.”
It’s also all too frequent for an unaccompanied person with disability to be totally overlooked, often very blatantly, even by service staff. This happens to people who use a wheelchair quite frequently and is a well-researched and documented phenomenon. It’s as if their reduced height renders them an infant in the eyes of the observer. It occurs in workplaces and among friends, in all kinds of situations where the person’s input would have been rather useful.
Which reminds me of a time not too long ago when I had gathered with a group of friends at one of their homes and we were attending a Zoom meeting together sharing one laptop.
Suddenly, the place was plunged into darkness.
As alternative battery power was being arranged, there was a mad scrum as at least three people scrambled to set up the laptop with power, external speakers, and microphone cables all in total darkness. There was a fair amount of tension as they argued about which port and jack were to be used for each external device.
Not one of them thought to ask the only person in the room with the unequivocal experience to do the job, which he literally could have done with his eyes closed.
Coffee Chat at Impressa, Unley Shopping Centre
10.30 am on the first Friday of the month is good for a chat with Rotary friends and a caffeine fix! Next one is Friday 3 December.
Upcoming Meetings
Tuesday 16 November 2021 6.15 for 6.30pm start.
Event: Visit to the Botanic Gardens Parking is available on Plane Tree Drive to the North of the Gardens and the meeting place will be at the Friends Gate (North Gate), also on Plane Tree Drive.
Followed by dinner at the Stag
Tuesday 23 November 2021 6.00 for 6.30pm Damien on Fisher
Guest Speaker: Dr Brian Wheeler 'Up Up and Away' with Royal Flying Doctor Service
Set-up and Welcome.......Patsy Beckett & Valerie Bonython
Early: David Middleton & Nathan White | Late: Pam Trimmer & Vera Holt
Week 4: 27 November 2021
Early: Stephen Baker & Judi Corcoran | Late: Jason Booth & Rhonda Hoare
Week 5:
Early: Bob Mullins & Wendy Andrews | Late: Jerry Casburn & Paul Duke
Rotarians, who are unable to attend as rostered, please arrange a swap or as a very last resort contact: Pam Trimmer (T) 8293 2612; (M) 0415 238 333; e-mail: pamela.trimmer@bigpond.com
Mitre 10 and Bunnings Barbeques
The Mitre 10 BBQs are the first and third Saturdays of each month. Morning shift 8.30am - 12 noon; afternoon shift 12.00 - 3.30pm, then clean-up.....next is Saturday 20 November
ALL the Bunnings Mile End Barbeque shifts are from 8am to 5pm
Despite Neville's strong performance, Unley was adjudged the runaway winner by one point with a better balanced argument of pros and cons....just as well we didn't hand over the trophy.
had just finished keying in my pin number on the card reader at the supermarket checkout counter recently when the cashier turned to my friend and asked, “how does he know which buttons to press.”
Pin pads on card readers have a dot on the number 5 to guide the visually impaired.
