March 12, 2002

NEXT MEETING, MARCH 18… Our speaker will be Don Shanks, SEC Football Official.

LAST MEETING, MARCH 11… Cecil Brown, a member of the Mississippi Legislature, brought us up to date on the Legislative Session that is now going on. First, he assured us that the Teddy Bear Bill, designating that worthy animal as our State Toy, is now in the Senate with good chances of passing. Then he turned his attention to other subjects. Medicaid is a major problem, he told us, in that a full one-fourth of the population of the state is involved with it, and there are not sufficient funds to operate it properly. The problem is growing at a rate of 25% a year. The only solutions, he said, are to use a mixture of cutting rates and services and raising assessments; there's no quick fix. He also gave us the current status of Tort Reform, the State Budget, Legislative Redistricting, and, most especially, Education. He addressed the real problem of the 40% dropout rate between grades 7 and 12, and listed a number of alternatives we might consider to help alleviate the problem. Thanks to Larry Johnson for introducing this program.

WELCOME TO NEW MEMBER… number 28 of this Rotary year. Introduced at our March 11 meeting was Dan Jones, Associate Vice Chancellor and Associate Dean of the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Dan was introduced by his proposer, Wally Conerly.

WE'LL MISS… Buck Stevens and Ted Woodrell, who have resigned from the club due to crowded schedules.

PLEASE MAKE IT A POINT… to welcome those Rotarians who are wearing name badges with a red trim. That indicates that they are new members. Remember when you were new to our club? It's really nice when people seek you out and make a point of introducing themselves to you. So return the favor at our next meeting, and look for those new members with their red badges.

BE THINKING ABOUT… the work you want to do for Rotary in the coming year. President-Elect Howard Catchings will soon be asking you what committee (or committees) you want to serve on during the year that will begin July 1. So take a quick look at the back of this Rotagram (or the front, whichever you prefer to call it), where all our committees are listed. And visualize your name listed in one or more of those columns. We'll be asking you soon…

ONE MORE THING… Listed below are the other Rotary clubs that meet in the Jackson area during the week. Whether you need a make-up or not, you'll enjoy visiting one or more of them, and getting to know some new Rotary friends.