March is Literacy Month
This Week’s Meeting
Week beginning March 2, 2015
Presiding today is Richard Phalunas, Past (Charter) President
Ding! We’re now in session.
Welcome all – Visitors, fellow Rotarians and guests alike to the E-Club meeting for the week of March 2, 2015.
Remember the smiling pot. Donations to our E-Club help support our service projects.
We’d like to respectfully remind all visitors that if they would like to contribute the normal cost of a meal for your makeup, we would be grateful. These funds go directly to our many and varied service projects around the world. You can make a contribution in the Donation box on your left. Or you can write a check to: Rotary E-Club of District 7530 and mail it to Treasurer MSRE, 115 Hoffman Avenue, Morgantown, WV 26505.
Four-Way Test
At the beginning of each meeting we remind ourselves of the The Four-Way Test. Therefore, please remember to ask yourself always . . .
Of the things we think, say or do:
- Is it the TRUTH?
- Is it FAIR to all concerned?
- Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
- Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
A Reflective Moment
“The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.”
― Mark Twain
This week’s Program:
March is Literacy Month on the Rotary International calendar of themes. For e-club programs we have addressed this topic before by being presented with examples of how other Rotary Clubs are doing service projects pursuant to this topic. And, in keeping with this, the MSRE Board has several times discussed how we might ourselves take on a Literacy project as a club in our State of WV.
With this in mind, I wondered what might be a different topic on Literacy. So, first, I sought to learn if my understanding of Literacy might be challenged by seeking out how it is defined by others more erudite than myself. What I found was quite interesting . . . while below are two examples of how one might define LITERATE, it becomes clear that there is no one definition that seems to be agreed upon – although the ability to read and write seems to be the most common understanding.
But, then with further investigation of the definition of Literacy/Literate, one is led to consider what influences culture and geography might have on the ability to read and write? And then, enter the concept of idioms – meanings not directly understood from the presence of certain words, e.g. “reading between the lines,” or “raining cats and dogs,” etc. And, then what about politics . . . like between the late 19th century (1890’s) and the mid 20th century (1960s) when in the US we debated the administration of “literacy tests” to determine if someone was “literate” enough to vote!
The debate continues in political circles yet today, in many forms (although perhaps not so much with a “discriminatory” bent as earlier), e.g. competency tests and even “official languages” of governments.
And then, consider also generational influences, with perhaps one of the more relevant applications in my mind being “computer literacy.”
Quickly, it is easy to see how one might get lost in considering the topic. Therefore, for relevance to this forum, below, please find relatively accepted definitions of what it means to be literate, and then consider the kinds of things that Rotary International and Rotary clubs are doing as service above self to improve the human condition throughout the world by addressing the “the ability to read and write.”
Oxford Dictionaries define Literate as:
1: (Of a person) able to read and write.
1.1: Having or showing education or knowledge, typically in a specified area
Merriam-Webster Dictionary full definition of Literate:
1 a: educated, cultured
b: able to read and write
2 a: versed in literature or creative writing : literary
b: lucid, polished <a literate essay>
c: having knowledge or competence <computer-literate> <politically literate>
Please click on the following hyperlinks to read more about what Rotary International and what a few Rotary clubs are doing in this regard.
Rotary Service Connections – Connect, partner, and serve through Rotary
Thank you for participating in this week’s meeting!
And . . . don’t forget to leave a comment after this week’s meeting in order to spur further discussion.