Rotateller Rotary Club of Owego, NY
Tuesday, November 06, 2007 Gary Williams, Editor

How wonderful that no one need wait a single moment to improve the world. Anne Frahke

VISITORS AND GUESTS:

• Gene Nolis, Interact
• Joao and Mati
• Bob Banker, guest of Bernie (after our meeting they were off to deliver more dictionaries to third grade students)
• Rick Annunziata, guest of Bill Moon

FINES: Bill Moon

• All winners from last week
• Harry and Steve paid for the great job that John did with the raffle!
• All those who did not help at Evergreen Cemetery.
• All those who have not started on the poinsettia sale.

Congratulations to Carolyn Galatzan. Her son Jeff’s wife is expecting a baby imminently.

WALK:

Terry announced that the walk has raised $9100 to date!

HIGHWAY CLEAN-UP:

Jeanette announced that we will meet at the fire station on the other side of the river at the foot of Montrose Turnpike at 8:30 AM on Saturday.

INTERVIEWS:

At the same time, Laura is leading a group at OFA who are conducting interviews for District #7170 of potential out-bound exchange students.

There will be a fund-raiser in Jan Pierson’s name to establish a scholarship fund for out-bound exchange students. There will be more information to follow.

POINSETTIA SALE:

Judy reminded us that it is not too early to get started.

Bill Russell announced that, with an initial donation from Rotary, $97,000 has been collected for community swimming. Bill will be posting the job which will reopen the pool to the community.

PROGRAM:

Steve brought us yet another wonderful program. He introduced Calvin Stovall who is the editor of the Press & Sun Bulletin. As Steve commented, the newspaper is a very important part of our community. Calvin has had many jobs in the business in many locations. His comment is that they have prepared him for where he is now. He has seen huge changes in technology and in the newspaper industry in his time.

The internet helps them to do a better job. While there is no longer an evening paper to get the news of the day, this is posted on the internet almost 24/7. The new press allows them to get news into the paper as late as 2:00 AM. Instead of a News Room, he said that this has changed in all papers to be a Local Information Center. His 16 year old son is interested in following his father, but Calvin emphasized how different it is today from when he started and how much more his son will need to know just to get started in the business. With all that has changed, one of his greatest frustrations is people who do not want change, but like many others, I suspect that they are not opposed to all change, just those which appear inconvenient to them. Calvin shared how reporters now travel with lap tops and can send stories and photos to the paper remotely.

While many are reading the news on-line, the newspapers still have not figured out how to make the on-line service pay a commensurate amount of the expenses of running the “paper”.

Bill Russell questioned the control of reader’s comments, to which Calvin shared that this is one of the biggest challenges for all newspapers.

Bill Moon questioned how the papers will be distributed in the future. There are almost no young people who are now carriers. It is almost solely done by adults.

Judy asked about how the rush to get into print has changed the editing and fact-checking processes. Calvin stated that at least two other people have to read everything that goes into print. With less competition from other papers, it actually gives them more time in some ways. Getting it right is more important than speed.

No one gets enough coverage in the paper! Calvin is aware that 10% of the readership is from Tioga County.

Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert: After stating that I would put fewer book reviews into the bulletin, I am highly recommending this book for every member. It is well-written and will make you laugh, which isn’t a bad reason for reading the book by itself, but the content of the book is showing us how we are mislead by our memories, perceptions, and particularly by our predictions of what the future will be like.

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