July 15, 2006
Issue 3

Dear Rotary Leaders,

Youth Policy - Certification by RI
You must be aware that RI has asked each district to implement a Youth Abuse and Harassment Prevention Policy. A first policy was drafted last spring and approved at the last District Conference. This policy was sent to RI, and we just received the following acknowledgment:

"We are writing to notify you that, by submitting its certification application by 1 July 2006, District 5340 has met the requirements mandated by the RI Board of Directors and has received “provisional certification” status of its Youth Exchange program for 2006-07."

We now have to decide how we are going to implement this policy. There are still plenty of questions that need to be answered, and they could lead to slight changes of the policy.

I have asked PDG Mike Stelman to head a small committee to address this issue. Since many people asked to be included in the decision process I have asked Mike to:
1. Hold a minimum of 2 public hearings on this subject with ample time to get the input from all participants.
2. Publish the proceedings of these hearings and have them distributed to the district leadership, whether they were present or not at the public hearings.
3. Receive written comments from all interested parties, and have them discussed at the hearings and committee meetings.
4. Have the committee publish by the end of September a recommendation for the implementation of the policy and possible changes to it.
Mike will be sending soon some notifications for the public hearings through Quickbits.

Check the District calendar!
I am asking again all Club Presidents to please check the District Online Calendar at www.rotary5340.org/calendar/calendar.cgi to make sure that they have not scheduled any major club event during the district or RI events. Last Thursday I noticed that a club was going to schedule one of their fundraisers during the weekend of the District Conference in Ensenada! Please check the calendar again right now!

Club Visits
I will be starting my club visits on Wednesday. Please make sure that you know when I will be coming to your club. Please check the master schedule sent by Judy Gallegos and Russ Hanthorn, or check the District Online Calendar. I have asked to meet the club leadership before (lunch meetings) or after (breakfast meetings) the meetings so that I could answer questions and discuss various issues. I would like the boards to be prepared to report on what they perceive as their club strengths and weaknesses. The strengths so that we can provide some good examples to other clubs, the weaknesses so that we can see what District resources could help the club.

Membership Seminar
10 of us went to the Zone Membership and Foundation Seminar this weekend to receive some training. Membership Chair Mary Griffin is coming back to the District with all the rightful knowledge to hold our own District Membership Seminar next weekend, July 22, at the Braille Institute in La Jolla. Membership is something that needs your constant attention, whether your club is struggling or not. Please make sure your club is represented at the seminar. Go to www.rotary5340.org/registration/membership06.html for registration.

Bounced Quickbits emails
When we receive a bounced email from a notification email sent by the website interactive tools like Quickbits or Membership Reports, an automatic email is generated and sent to the club president and club secretary. Please do not ignore these emails. Please contact the person and try to identify the reason why the email bounced back, then go back to make the correction in the online directory. A direct link to the update page is provided in the notification email. Thanks for your help to make sure the data in the online directory is up to date.

Communication Style
I will do my best in the upcoming year to stay short and concise, and go straight to the point in all my communications. Time is precious and we don't want to waste any. This is why we created the Quickbits, to have short items, quick to read. I will try to keep the same style in Leadership Pathways. I encourage you to try to apply the same principles in your communications with your fellow club members.

Gift of Life
To finish on a high note, Gift of Life is an international program that was started by Rotarians on the East Coast to help children with life-threatening heart conditions in third world countries. They fly the children to developed countries to be operated on by top level surgeons, with the logistics support from the local Rotarians. They have now saved over 8,000 needy children from over 60 countries. Their recent efforts for Iraqi children was the object of an article in The Rotarian magazine.
Henry Ebert from the La Jolla Sunrise club just moved from the East Coast where he was heavily involved with this program. With the support of his club he has now raised the funds to support the first child who should come to San Diego in August. Congratulations on this great achievement. Please contact Henry Ebert at ebertgol@sbcglobal.net if you want more information, or check the Gift of Life website at www.giftoflifeinternational.org.

Philippe Lamoise
District Governor 2006-07
Rotary District 5340

	July 22 Membership Seminar Braille Institute 8:15 to 11:30 am. Attendance is free. Please register to help us get a head count. More information... August 01 District Council Dinner La Jolla Marriott 5:30 pm. Fellowship, 6:30 pm. Dinner Program: MusiCamp, San Diego Youth Symphony More information...

You can find more information on District events on the District Website.