To learn more about the happenings of the Rotary Club of Parker, click on one of the following links to read a copy of the weekly publication - The Lamplighter:

 January 30, 2014

January 16, 2014

January 9, 2014

Mike Waid is a charter member of the Cherry Creek Valley club. He is a Paul Harris Fellow. His father is a retired Marine who lives in Albuquerque. After visiting Mike’s club here in Parker, his father went home and joined the Rotary Club in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.  In a short time, he became president of the club and is now an Assistant Governor.  In discussing the 4-Way Test, Mayor Waid explained that he fails the test every day, but that the objective is to continually work to live by the test to the best of our ability.  He thanked the club for the honor and promised to show up at our meetings more often. 

Cheryl Lovell is president of Rocky Vista University (RVU) located in Parker.  RVU has a College of Osteopathic Medicine and is a leader in global, rural/wilderness, and military medicine. 

Rocky Vista was founded in 2006 and opened in 2008.  RVA operates as an independent, privately funded organization.  The technologically advanced building of 145,000 square feet.  They employ approximately 140 faculty and staff.

Colorado is classified as a medical high need area with 50 of the 64 counties being medically underserved.  Of those 64 counties, 26 have one or no physicians.  This situation motivated the founders to invest $40 Million in the school, which is estimated to have a $75 Million economic impact on the town, county, and state. RVU is a for-profit organization and pay approximately 3/4 of a million dollars in taxes each year. 

Annual tuition for a student at RVA is $47,000.  That amount is in the middle of the pack nationally.

Osteopathic medicine has a “whole person concept”, concentrating on the interrelation of the body’s systems.  Structure influences function and the emphasis is on keeping yourself healthy.  Last year there were 4,300 applications for the 160 available student seats.  Forty percent of the students are from Colorado. They are proud of that statistic. 

The University has three “tracks”: (1) military medicine with the largest number of military-related position in the country, (2) global medicine concentrating on Doctors without Borders, (3) rural and wilderness medicine, unique to Colorado.  Cheryl discussed high tech “cut suits”, trained actors as standardized patient encounters, realistic simulators.  Over 97% of their students pass the licensure exam. 

Jennifer Oldham, was introduced by her father, Mike.  She is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist with 25 years of experience. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, and USA Today.  Jennifer graduated from Ponderosa High School in 1984 and the University of Colorado in 1988.

Jennifer has never looked as what she does as a job, but considers it to be a public service.  She chose three stories that she did as examples of her work.

Furnace Fires in California. Numerous home fires were being caused by faulty furnaces. The problem has been going on for a number of years without decisive action by the consumer safety organization.  She conducted a five month investigation into the problem, interviewing homeowners, fire fighters, attorneys representing homeowners, and manufacturer’s reps. Distributors had made alterations to the units. At least 140,000 units had been sold in California and the number could be as high as 250,000 (unconfirmed).  Many units were recalled as a result of the story. 

Bill Fernow brought the program this week, Part 2 of his presentation on submarine history and development.  He recapped the significant role that submarines played during  World War II in the Pacific Ocean.  While less than 2% of the U.S. Navy during the war, submarines destroyed over 30% of the Japanese Navy and 60% of that country’s merchant fleet.  The fleet submarines spent 90% of their time on the surface, submerging to avoid detection and to attack ships with their torpedoes.  Bill challenged the audience to consider what would be necessary to develop a true submarine that could operate for months with no need to surface or to exchange with outside air. 

Harold McCloud presented Mike Oldham recognition from the Rotary Foundation as a Major Donor to the Foundation.

The Rotary Foundation recognizes individuals or couples as Major Donors whose combined giving has reached $10,000, regardless of the gift designation.  In addition to his generous contribution, Mike gives the club the benefit of his knowledge, experience, time, and expertise. He is a most valuable member of our club and of Rotary in general!

State Senator and fellow Rotarian Mark Scheffel brought the club members in attendance up to date on the goings-on at the state capital. 

The recall election was a remarkable event! It was remarkable in the degree to which citizens were involved. There is increasing interest in the desirability of a division of power in the state government and the thinking appears to be that fewer and more balanced laws may be the result. 

One of the major items getting his attention is the outdated business tax. Mark would like to find a substitute that would relieve the burned on small businesses. 

A current huge project for Mark involves the telecommunications and antiquated 2.9% surcharge on all of our telephone bills.  His goal is to update and deregulate the communications system in Colorado.  He would like to replace the fee with support the development of broadband communications. The issue is complicated by the involvement of the public utilities commission. Mark would prefer to return the money to the people.  Mark sees education as our future and is in favor of equalizing funding for charter schools.