Meeting #41 May 15, 2015

 
 
Meeting #41
May 15, 2015
 

Hafa Adai, Pago Bay Guam Rotarians! Thank you for joining us this week! We wish all those on Guam safety from Typhoon Dolphin, may the island and its people be spared. We begin Meeting #41 with Rotary’s Four-Way Test: Is it the Truth? Is it Fair to all concerned? Will it build Good Will and Better Friendships? Will it be Beneficial to all concernAs Rotarians, we are reminded of the Object of Rotary:

The Object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster: (1) the development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service; (2) high ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; and the dignifying of each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve society; (3) the application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s personal, business, and community life; (4) the advancement of goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons  united in the ideal of service.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We warmly welcome four guests and prospective new members who are joining us today along with their sponsors:
  1. Roland Santos, Guam Fire Department (President Annette/PBG Secretary Wayne)
  2. Mae Arile, Contractors License Board (Club Director, Anita)
  3. Christopher Cruz, Bank of Guam (President Annette/PBG Secretary Wayne)
  4. Ana-Alicia Cruz, Guam Regional Medical Center (President Annette/PBG Secretary Wayne)
Welcome! Please be sure to give them a personal warm welcome in your comments.
 
Some upcoming events:
 
Unveiling of our Roadway Adoption Sign and Dedication will take place on Saturday, May 23 at 10am Special recognition to Membership Director Anita and Treasurer Zeny who coordinated this effort with our community partner, Bascon Company. Please plan to participate in our inaugural clean up of this stretch of road along Route 4 from Chalan Inda to Inalago Pago Bay. I would love to see you and your families there in full Rotary spirit and service! We will meet on the side closest to the Pago Bay bridge.
 
VP/PE Kris continues to plan our engagement with NIH/NIDDK STEP-UP as part of our commitment to sponsor the NIH/NIDDK Step Up Mini-Symposium tentatively scheduled for July 27th, highlighting the research that five high school students and one University of Guam undergraduate student will undertake. This symposium allows these students to shine, showing their parents and their peers what they have learned.  The undergraduate student and two high school students will then participate in a Symposium held at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, MD.  Lead Project Directors: VP/PE Kristina, Vocational and New Generations Committee Director Karen, and Rotarian Edward.
 
We look forward to hearing about the Tree of Knowledge project in our upcoming meeting.
 
SAVE THE DATE: June 12, 2015 – this is our First Year Charter Anniversary and Induction of new members!!! Details will be announced shortly.
 
If you have not already done so, please submit a short narrative about yourself and why you joined Rotary (100-200 words) with a picture to share.  Please send your submissions to Secretary John at johninguam@gmail.com.
 
This week we are happy to feature two students who participated in the NIH/NIDDK Step Up Program. Victoria Flisco and Arthur Perez will share some highlights of their experiences. We can see how impactful the Step Up program is in developing student interest in the sciences. We are continually identifying speakers or presenters on timely topics who are willing to contribute a written narrative or short video clip. The narrative should be 300-750 words and align with our topics of addressing the impoverished, reducing family violence, increasing education, entrepreneurship opportunities in our villages and how we might assist the homeless youth and children.  Please send your recommendations to VP/PE Kris at paksayama@gmail.com.
 
Click on this link to view President Huang’s May 2015 message: https://www.rotary.org/myrotary/en/member-news/office-president/presidential-message. His message focuses on the House of Friendship as part of the 106 Rotary International Convention, June 6-9. He reflects on the excitement and the diverse blend of cultures of São Paulo, the host city.
 
Rotary Minute: “What is Rotary?” Click on this link to listen to the testimonies of Rotarians and their introduction to the world of Rotary – “Service about Self.” Link: https://youtu.be/AbLI-vQva30?list=PL7860D70E2AD5C7C6.  “You don’t come to Rotary to get something out of it, you come to Rotary to put something into it.” Watch this short video to learn more about Rotary through fellow Rotarians.
 
 
Program of Service: NIH/NIDDK STEP UP PROGRAM
 
The STEP-UP Program provides hands-on summer research experience for high school and undergraduate students interested in exploring research careers. The overall goal of STEP-UP is to build and sustain a biomedical, behavioral, clinical and social science research pipeline focused on NIDDK’s core mission areas of diabetes, endocrinology and metabolic diseases; digestive diseases and nutrition; kidney, urologic and hematologic diseases.
 
The STEP-UP Program provides research education grants to seven institutions to coordinate three High School STEP-UP Programs and four Undergraduate STEP-UP Programs. STEP-UP is particularly interested in increasing the participation of students from backgrounds underrepresented in biomedical research on a national basis, including individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, and individuals with disabilities.
 
Program Highlights:
  • 8 to 12-weeks of full-time research experience 
  • Students receive a summer research stipend
  • Students are assigned to a STEP-UP Coordinating Center (PDF, 357 KB) to help coordinate and monitor their summer research experience
  • Students are paired with experienced research mentors at institutions throughout the nation
  • Students are encouraged to choose a research institution and/or mentor near their hometown or within commuting distance of their residence. Students are not required to relocate in order to conduct their summer research.
  • Students receive training in the responsible conduct of research
  • All-paid travel expenses to the Annual STEP-UP Research Symposium held on NIH’s main campus in Bethesda, Maryland. Students are given the opportunity to conduct a formal oral and poster presentation.
 
The STEP-UP Program is a federally funded program managed and supported by the Office of Minority Health Research Coordination (OMHRC) in the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney (NIDDK) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
 
Instrumental in providing this unique experience to our local students are Dr. Lawrence Agadoa who is the Director of the Office of Minority Health Research Coordination and Program Director of the Division of Kidney, Urologic and Hematologic Diseases and Step Up Program Director, Dr. George Hui. Today, we will feature two students who participated in the program: Victoria Flisco and Arthur Perez.
 
Arthur Perez is an undergraduate student at the University of Guam who participated in the Step Up program last year. He provided us with some photos of his experience, a couple for giggles, a serious one and others with those he connected with during his experience. Arthur described his trip to Maryland as an enjoyable experience that provided him with great insight to the diverse areas of research scientists are exploring in the field of biomedicine. He made some good friends that he hopes to see in the future when he pursues his career in the field of science. 
 
Victoria Flisco is a graduating senior at George Washington High School. She participated in the program last year and had such a great time she will be repeating the NIH/NIDDK experience again this year. She provides this narrative regarding her Step Up experience.
 
“My experience at the National Institute of Health Symposium in Washington, D.C. through the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) Short-Term Research Experience for Underrepresented Persons (STEP-UP) program this past summer was life changing. This program required me to work at the University of Guam’s College of Natural and Applied Sciences under the mentorship of Timothy Righetti, PhD. I participated in scientific research training and succeeded in my research project (A New, Easy, and Inexpensive Method to Analyze Nitrate) with my colleagues. I was selected with a fellow researcher amidst six STEP-UP students to represent Guam in D.C. I presented my project, and faced and surpassed challenges I did not expect to face until college. This amazing experience inspired me to follow a path of great perseverance in my pursuance of a medical career. This shaped my character in which the adjective ‘dedicated’ shines bright.

The scientific facts and all the diverse medical-based projects I was acquainted with during this trip piqued my interest in science. Through my experience I grew to greatly appreciate the subject and this presented a career I am considering to pursue: a research career to cure cancer, to make less invasive procedures to treat patients, and to find solutions to countless other things that are still being tested. Just being in the nation's primary institute of all research relating to medical studies inspired me. What immensely inspired me afterwards was listening to presentations and meeting many aspiring doctors and scientists/ researchers
Announcements:
 
Calling New Members – we will hold a New Member induction during our 1st Charter Day Anniversary, June 12, 2015.
 
I wish you a great week and thank you for taking the time to participate in this week’s meeting. To participate, visit our Facebook page and in the comment box, tell us how you wish to impact our community as a Rotarian.
 
Everyone stay safe during the passage of Typhoon Dolphin!
 
Adjournment.  Meeting #41 is now adjourned. Thank you for your time. 
 
Yours in Rotary,
 
President Annette Taijeron Santos
RY 2014-2015; 2015-2016