Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one child and one community at a time.
Kiwanis defining statement, adopted October 2004.

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NEWSLETTER

Cedar Rapids Downtown Kiwanis Club

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

The meeting was called to order by President Kelly Moore.   

Guests:    Marissa Lang and Alyssa Maher, hosted by Lonna Drewelow.  Marissa and Alyssa are officers in the Mount Mercy Circle K.

Birthdays:   None

Anniversaries: Books again requested.  Contact Lonna or Bob Dye if you have children’s books to donate.  

Announcements:   Interclub with the Marion Sunrisers, 7:00 on Tuesday, February 12.

John Locher needs more readers at Polk Elementary.  Contact him if you have a free half hour, most any day of the week.

Happy Bucks:    Jim Moriarty had a hair raising story of slipping into the ditch, and then, while standing nearby, watching his car get totaled by another vehicle.  Jim and family are OK.

Next week’s program:    

Speaker:    

Word for the day:   Misanthrope = A hater of mankind; a man-hater; one who distrusts men and avoids their society.  [Antonym: Kiwanian.  ed.]

Submitted:   Dr. Christopher Blake, President of Mount Mercy College (soon to be “University”), spoke about how the school is a  great asset to the community, both in the educations provided, and the economic impact.  In fact, Mt. Mercy accounts for $70 million of the local economy.  60% of the alumni live in the area.  Mt. Mercy’s greatest challenge is in recruiting freshmen out of high school; most start out at community college.  On the other hand, Mt. Mercy has great diversity  in age of the student body, with adults targeted in programs like Advance@Mt Mercy .  Sticker price of tuition is $20K/year, plus $8K for room and board.  Virtually nobody pays this much, so consultation is always in order to know if this four year college is competitive with community college.

Mt. Mercy has $20 M in endowments, 78 faculty members, 300 employees and 1506 students (of which 360 are in residence).

Dr. Blake is a native of England, and is recovering nicely from climate shock.

Submitted: Chuck Wehage