Home Hospitality Week will begin on Sunday, April 10^th through Saturday, April 16^th.  This is such an enjoyable event where Members of the Club open up their homes for a breakfast, lunch or a dinner to host members and their guests.  These events will replace our lunch meeting on Wednesday, April 13^th.  Also, the Rotary office hours will be limited so please leave either a detailed voice mail or email and we will get back to you just as soon as we can.

 

Have an enjoyable week with fellow Rotarians and friends, and we’ll see you at our next regular lunch meeting on April 20^th.

I’ll start with a couple of public service announcements. (1) There is no Rotary Lunch meeting next week 13 April; (2) The first 2016 Tucson Classics Car Show TLC meeting is next week Wednesday 13 April at 6:00 PM, at the Make Way for Books facility. Mark your calendar accordingly!

 

We celebrated the birthday of a 32-year Rotarian. GORDON SHAW began his Rotary career in New Zealand, followed by a stint in Minnesota, and finally on to sunny Tucson where he has been a 17-year RCOT member. I bet GORDON has a few interesting stories he could share with us. Happy Birthday GORDON!

 

PAT WATTS presented a check to Jenny Volpe, Executive Director of Make Way for Books.  Funds and books for their library were collected at the Open House held on March 8th.

 

We had another debate program today, this time discussing the question: “Should we abolish the death penalty (DP)?” As is normal, we began by hearing from Andy Silverman who strongly supports abolishing the death penalty. Andy’s presentation centered on facts, so I’ll repeat a few of them here. (1) There are 193 countries in the world today, and only 52 allow the death penalty. The European Union has outlawed the DP for all EU member countries. (2) In the US, the DP is banned by 19 states but most others do not impose the death penalty. In 2014, only 3 states exercised the DP. (3) In the US, the total death row population is about 3000 individuals, with roughly the same number of white and black death row inmates. (4) 80% of criminologists say that the DP is not a deterrent for those committing violent crime. In fact, the 19 states with no DP experience lower rates of violent crime than the US average. (5) 156 death row inmates have been exonerated in recent history, proving that death penalty convictions are not fool proof.

 

Rick Unklesbay provided his message in support of the DP. Since Rick is a County Attorney who has prosecuted over 120 murder trials, he chose to share three graphic examples of cases with which he has been involved. In a nut shell, Rick believes that for the most heinous of crimes, the DP is an appropriate punishment. He sites that while 100% of first degree murder cases are eligible for the DP, only 5% to 6% of all cases are prosecuted as DP cases due specifically to the circumstances of the case.

 

Interesting program, good presentations and good questions from RCOT members. See you all in two weeks!

 

 

Is there a more enduring challenge in human relations that family interaction? Having dealings on a regular basis with a person over ninety years is not unheard of. More likely to be unheard of is a relationship without conflict or confrontation over the course of a few months, let alone years. Maybe the best approach is an across-the-board application of the 4-Way Test in dealing with the family. But maybe not.

 

Think back to when:

 

A. Your sibling cooked a holiday dinner for your family that, in any objective analysis, was barely edible.

 

B. Your toddler’s “art work” consisted of random circles scribbled in one color of crayon all over a page in a coloring book.

 

C.  Your spouse gushed about the perfect find of a sweater that you think qualifies as an immediate Goodwill donation.

 

In each case, is the truth really what you want to lead with? If you do, how’s that goodwill/friendship part going to work out? You may find the following to be representative of your comments to those people you love:

 

A. That was a super meal!

B. Wow, that is beautiful!

C. It’s lovely, dear!

 

Less than absolute truth there.

 

As a public service, here are some alternative answers that might pass part 1 of the 4-Way Test (tread carefully here, and make sure you smile as you say these):

 

A. You clearly put a lot of effort into this dinner and we are all so appreciative!

B. This is so very creative/imaginative!

C. I’m amazed at your ability to find these!

 

In the final analysis, you are likely more concerned about goodwill and better [relation]ships than about the unvarnished truth. There’s even the nearly universally-accepted moniker called “white lie” that can pertain to this sort of delicate situation.

 

Yes we want to treat our family fairly. Benefitting all – or at least as many as possible – is a worthy objective. Truth, most certainly, is not to be disparaged. But truth may come in a close second to building and maintaining goodwill in a few of the family interactions we all endure enjoy.

 

Observation from last week…Practical application of the 4-Way Test takes the concept beyond the theoretical. That not all four portions are of equal weight, or are not applicable, in a certain circumstance, does not lessen the ideal.