Theta Chapter News Theta Chapter, Cedar Rapids, Iowa November 2016

Transcription

1 Theta Chapter News Theta Chapter, Cedar Rapids, Iowa November 2016 Executive Committee Co-Presidents: Deanne Robinson Sue Vogel Co-Vice Presidents: Ann Nicholson Betty Stewart Recording Secretary: Char Zrudsky Treasurer: Betty Gorsegner Ehlinger Parliamentarian: Nancy Danforth Past President: Lori Bruzek deltakappagamma.org/ia-theta iowadkg.weebly.com Upcoming Meetings December 15, 2016 Thursday 4:30-6:30 Holiday Social 7105 First Avenue SW (Betty Ehlinger s) Fellowship -- Gather for our holiday social at Betty's home. Bring donations for our winter service project-- winter wear (mittens, hats, scarves, coats, etc) to be donated to local schools. January 12, 2017 Executive meeting (Time and place TBD) February 9, 2017 Thursday 4:30-6:30 Ceramics Center at Cherry Building th Ave SE Supporting growth and learning in the community The Ceramics Center provides a "place where ceramics, creativity, and community meet." Members will tour the center as well as the Cherry Building. Interested members may have supper at one of the NewBo restaurants after the meeting. Hostesses: *Betty Stewart, Michelle Anderson, Bridget Castelluccio, Judy Chihak Upcoming Events March 1, 2017 Upsilon State Legislative Day, Capitol Building, Des Moines, 10:00 June 9-11, 2017 Upsilon State Convention, Music Man Square, Mason City June 11-13, 2017 Neva Barnhart Leadership Seminar, Urbandale Please bring your HyVee receipts and Box Tops for Education to a meeting. We will get them to Grant Wood School. They mean cash for the school.

2 Theta Chapter News November 2016 p. 2 Celebrate November, December, & January birthdays: November 3 Ann Nicholson November 12 Betty Stewart November 14 Chris Evan-Schwartz November 14 Tammy Wawro November 24 Patty Kucera November 26 Cindy Garlock January 16 Carol Cassells December 6 Dorothy Evans January 16 Ruth Ann Kelleher December 28 Nancy Danforth January 16 Sue Vogel Student Grants Each year, Theta Chapter offers Student Recruitment Grants. These funds are available for students working toward an education degree. High school, community college and college/university students from the Cedar Rapids/Marion area are invited to apply. The Theta grant award amount is $500. Information about the grant and the grant application can be found at The deadline for submitting an application is March 17, Yearbook Update We have unfortunately had two members drop. Please remove Patricia Kacere and Lisa Wilson from the member, hostess, committee, and birthday lists. Deadlines December 1 is the deadline for submitting proposed changes to the Upsilon State Bylaws and Standing Rules to rules Committee chair Odelia Schrunk, oschrunk@gmail.com. The form for submitting proposed changes can be found on the Iowa DKG website. December 15 is the deadline for applying for one of the six Upsilon State Mini-Grants. The application can be found on the Iowa DKG website. Iowa State Legislative Day Upsilon State s Educational Excellence Committee is sponsoring the Iowa State Legislative Day at the Capitol Building in Des Moines on Wednesday, March 1, 2017, beginning at 10:00. It will include a briefing on educational issues during the 2017 legislative session and an opportunity to speak to your state representative and senator. We need to let Legislative Representative Judith Olson know by February 15th if anyone will be attending.

3 Theta Chapter News November 2016 p. 3 November 10 Meeting Minutes The meeting was called to order by Sue Vogel at 5:50. Char Zrudsky called roll and 19 members were present. Corrections were made to the minutes. (Sue Vogel was not reimbursed the $50 for attending the Exec Board meeting and Patty Kucera is also serving on the Ad hoc committee.) The minutes were approved as corrected. Treasurer s report by Betty Ehlinger as of October 31: Student Grants - $ ; Membership Scholarships - $153.68; and Checking - $ Sue Vogel has obtained the DKG pin from Patti Kacere who resigned her membership. Char Zrudsky sent a thank you to David Brandon, principal at Kenwood Leadership Academy and a get well note to Mary Jane Jacobson. Char also read an from Mary Jane Jacobson with reference to her recent surgery. Betty Stewart and Ann Nicholson lead a Theta Founder s Day activity. We celebrated Theta s 75 th anniversary. Members answered questions about DKG and Theta Chapter. Sue Vogel reported that forms are available for Upsilon State 2017Convention including tours. Early bird registration is available. Communications no report Membership - Lori Bruzek reported that 4 members had not paid their dues. Betty Ehlinger moved that Chris Evans-Schwartz be reinstated, Barb Taylor seconded the motion and the motion passed. Tammy Wawro and Lisa Wilson will be contacted. Theta has 30 active members, 1 honorary member and 4 reserve members. Rules- no report Scholarships & Grants-no report Ann Nicholson reminded members that the December 15 th Holiday Social will be held at Betty Ehlinger s home (7105 First Avenue SE). Members are asked to bring winter wear donations (mittens, hats, scarves, coats, etc). Betty Stewart reported on Safe Halloween. Donations from members covered the treats that were needed. Under 500 children participated this year, lower than previous years. Cindy Garlock reported on the Republican election sweep. Concerns about possible repercussions for education were shared. An election for Governor and members of the House will occur in 2 years. Patty Kucera shared information about the Barnes and Noble gift wrapping fundraiser. Dates were chosen (December 10 th and 17 th ). A survey will be sent to sign up for 2-hour time slots. World Fellowship-no report Lori Bruzek, Chair of the Ad Hoc committee charged with reviewing Convention Expense Reimbursements, passed out the recommendation reached by the committee. All members will receive this information and be given the chance to share their reaction to the recommendation via a survey. Deanne Robinson suggested that we apply for a state mini-grant for $100 which would go toward buying supplies for new teachers at the start of the new school year. She received many positive comments about it, and will submit an application for Theta Chapter. Announcements --Peg Roemig, Area Coordinator is unable to attend the December social as she had planned. The meeting was adjourned at 6:40 pm. Hostesses for this meeting: Ann Nicholson, Chris Evans-Schwartz, Jan Jirouch and Cindy West. Thanks for the treats including the 75 th Anniversary cake!

4 Theta Chapter News November 2016 p. 4 November 10 Meeting Kristine Sorenson, Director of K-12 Education, presented information about Imagination Iowa which offers a handson approach to coding, engineering and entrepreneurship using real world projects. She also shared information about Coder DOJO and Future City. The NewBoCo hosts a Coder Dojo every other Saturday from 1-3. Coder Dojo is a volunteer led movement where K-12 students can learn how to code and develop websites, apps, programs, games, and more. The sessions are free, but you need to register ahead of time. For more information, go to Allison Poss presented information about the Girls with Ideas curriculum which involves play, games, and projects. It is designed to help girls leverage their innate creativity, kindness, and confidence to solve problems for life and share their world changing ideas. To find out more, you can visit the Girls With Ideas website at Kristine Sorenson gave our members a tour of the building and shared information about all the opportunities that are available at the facility. You can find out about other entrepreneurship and education activities at the NewBoCo (New Bohemian Collaborative) site at Members were then given the opportunity to use an Angry Bird s program to learn coding. World Fellowship With finals approaching, now is the time to contact the Iowa Foreign Student Grant recipients and give them encouragement. The four recipients are: Mahjabeen Hussain (Bangladesh) 403 E Street hussamac@uni.edu Curriculum and Instruction Maria Jose Rosado Cupul (Mexico) 4426 Ashworth Drive #11 rosadom@uni.edu Public Health Pujaningsih (Indonesia) 403 G Street pujanin@uni.edu Special Education Sock Wun Phng (Malaysia) 2707 Luther Dr., Unit 5 Ames, IA sphng@iastate.edu Applied Linguistics Iowa State University An International World Fellowships recipient is attending Iowa State University: Ananda Muhammad (Indonesia) 2707 Luther Dr., Unit 5 Ames, IA nanda@iastate.edu TESL/Applied Linguistics Iowa State University

5 Theta Chapter News November 2016 p. 5 U.S. FORUM CONNECTION #154, OCTOBER 2016 HOW THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE WORKS Elections in the USA are not determined by the popular vote or only indirectly. Each state is assigned a certain number of electors based on the number of U.S. Senators plus the number of U.S. Representatives that the state has. The 23 rd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives the District of Columbia three electors. Except for Maine and Nebraska, all electors from each state cast their vote for the candidate who got the majority of the popular votes cast in that state. Maine has three electors and allows one of the three to vote for a different candidate. Nebraska is allowed to split its electoral votes. There are currently 538 electors. After the popular vote is cast, the electors from each state cast their votes. In order to win a candidate must get a majority of the electoral votes or 270 (538/2 + 1). If a third party candidate receives enough popular votes to earn electoral votes and the election is very close, so that the results of the votes of the electors do not give either of the two major party candidates 270 votes in the electoral college, then the members of the U.S. House of Representatives vote with each state delegation having only one vote. Regardless of how many Representatives a state has the entire delegation can only cast one vote. The candidate who gets the majority of votes in the House is elected President. If no candidate gets a majority of votes in the House, the Senate votes with each senator having one vote and the candidate with a majority of the votes in the Senate becomes President. NEW STROKE INDICATOR In the past there have been three recognized indicators to determine if a person is having a stroke. Recently a fourth indicator has been found. It is the tongue. When the person having a stroke sticks out his/her tongue, the tongue will go to the side rather than straight out. Recognizing the early sign of a stroke is very important. Neurologists say that when the stroke is diagnosed within three hours, the effects of the stroke can be totally reversed. The three traditional signs of a stroke utilize the letters STR. S is for smile, T is for talk (repeat a simple sentence) and R is raise both arms. If the individual is unable to perform any of these tasks, he/she is likely having a stroke and needs to get to a doctor and the emergency room as soon as possible. Remember the first three hours are critical in minimizing the effects of a stroke. FORUM FACEBOOK PAGE: For those of you desiring discussion of legislative topics there is a U. S. Forum Facebook page online at FORUM WEB SITE: U.S. GOVERNMENT CONTACT INFORMATION can be obtained through Congressional Switchboard You can contact your Congressman and Senator through this number without paying long distance charges. White House access and addresses-- for members of the House of Representatives for members of the U.S. Senate FIVE CONSTITUENT CONTACTS WILL CAUSE A LEGISLATOR TO PAY SERIOUS ATTENTION TO A GIVEN ISSUE.