News of The Rotary Club of Portland, Maine June 17, 2020
Mayor Kate Snyder Speaks June 19
 
Kate Snyder is the third elected mayor of Maine’s largest city. She unseated incumbent Ethan Strimling and defeated a sitting city councilor in the 2019 election. Prior to becoming Mayor, Ms. Snyder worked as the Executive Director of the Foundation for Portland Public Schools from 2014-2019, a non-profit she helped found whose mission is to generate philanthropic support for Portland Public Schools. She also served on the Portland Board of Public Education (2007-2013), spending two years as Finance Chair and two years as Chair of the Board.
Her background includes work in the private sector for Zylo Media, a Portland-based digital media startup. She served as Executive Director for the Board of Corrections in the administration of Governor John Baldacci.
She earned her BA at Skidmore College, and a MS in Public Policy & Management from the University of Southern Maine.
COVID's Impact on Air Quality | Erik Jorgensen
 
On June 12, we were treated to a fascinating discussion about indoor air quality. That such a topic would make a compelling Rotary presentation is just one more example of how the world has shifted since March.  Our speaker, Rebecca Costigan, chief engineer with Criterium Engineers, brought her 20 years of experience in mechanical engineering to share her thoughts on how COVID-19 is causing a large-scale rethinking on how indoor spaces can be made safe. She was introduced by Justin Lamontagne.
 
The key strategies for the post-lockdown office include sanitation, social distancing and air handling. It won’t be easy to retrofit every office, but procedures will need to change to some degree most everywhere. Landlords and businesses need to adjust spaces, and think about a wide range of issues, some of which run counter to what until now have been best practices. Blow dryers for hands in bathrooms, often marketed as reducing germy towel waste, might in fact be blowing virus particles everywhere. Or tight, energy-efficient buildings might be recirculating COVID and other health concerns along with the air. Could it be that old leaky buildings, with windows that actually open, will enjoy a revival?  Maybe the days of the hermetically sealed office, with arctic air conditioning and indiscriminate heating, are coming to an end.
 
Dilution is one important solution to COVID pollution. Strategies like increasing air changes, doing overnight “air flushes”, or even running bathroom fans all the time, all help make buildings safer. Those changes, combined with better filters in HVAC systems may materially affect the likelihood of virus spread in many buildings, though Ms. Costigan noted that HVAC systems have not yet been implicated in any outbreaks (though blowing air within a building has).
 
In addition to air handling changes, workers returning to the office can also expect to see social distancing that we have already been seeing at the grocery store, from mask requirements, to one-way traffic, elimination of congregation points and limits on elevator occupancy.  Furthermore there will soon be new quantitative measurements of cleanliness, which will be helpful in understanding how sanitized an office really is.
 
What will this all mean for people in the workplace?   On one hand, workers will enjoy better indoor air quality, which is a major “quality of life” issue.  On the other, they will be standing in line for elevators, eating at their desks and foregoing the culture of visiting with colleagues in the break room.  These are all factors that suggest that working from home, at least for part of the time, might be more than a temporary phenomenon for many.
 
Many members had questions for Ms. Costigan, who answered them fully. She also offered to share her slides with the club. (For a copy, send a note to Bob Martin.)
Bits & Pieces Dick Hall
  • Meeting early arrivals caught up together as the waited for the rest of the 34 participants to join. John Marr, Bill Blount, and Charlie Frair greeted folks as they signed on.
  • Bill Blount reported that he played tennis for 2 ½ hours in Wayne Friday morning.  Erik Jorgensen confirmed rumors the Legislature is trying to meet and is developing a safe meeting plan. The House may need to use the Augusta Civic Center to maintain 6-foot separation between members.
  • Michelle Disotto advised that 3rd grade ended last Wed, so she can come back to meetings.  Erik Jorgensen said that his son just clicked “Leave Meeting” and his school year ended.
  • Paul Tully gave a great invocation, reminding us of the many critical events which occurred on June 12 throughout the years, including:  1839, Abner Doubleday invented baseball; 1929, Anne Frank was born; 1963, civil rights leader Medgar Evers was assassinated; 1967, Loving vs. Virginia, Supreme Court decision striking down laws forbidding interracial marriage; 1987, standing in front of the Berlin Wall, President Ronald Reagan challenges Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Wall.  Today, we remember the death of George Floyd.  Paul then read the Catholic Charities Prayer for Healing.
  • President Amy Chipman noted that survey results were posted in the Windjammer.  Bob Martin will discuss them at next week’s meeting.
  • President Amy proudly shared that the club’s Rotary Foundation Goal this year is $17,000 and we expect to be well over $16,000.  She thanked all contributors.  Final numbers will be shared in July.
USM Prof Joins Portland Rotary
 
Dr. Asheesh Lanba, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Southern Maine, was introduced as a new member by John Curran. Dr. Lanba is no stranger to the club as he has been working with John on design enhancements and improvements to the 3H prosthetic hand. He became so committed to the project that he made it a semester-long focus for one of his advanced engineering classes where over 50 students became involved in developing solutions.
 
Dr. Lanba is a New Mainer from India and lived briefly in Coimbatore when he was young. The club in Coimbatore is partnering with Portland Rotary on several projects, including the prosthetic hand. His expertise in advanced engineering also helped provide MaineMed with alternative sourcing of PPE, creating a new thermoformed face shield and various 3D printing prototypes in the process. He will continue to work with the 3H team here and with the Coimbatore Texcity Rotary club to find ways to move these designs into production for wider distribution in underserved regions of the world.
 
John shared that he has been impressed with Asheesh’s giving nature, his ingenuity, and his deep commitment to helping others. “He is a natural Rotarian who will be a great addition to our club,” John said.
 
Asheesh did his undergraduate studies at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore and earned his PhD from Pennsylvania State University. His research interests are in advanced materials, developing laser-based engineering applications, and in machine learning.  He is also an entrepreneur; he serves as COO of L4iS, a start-up company that commercializes laser-based innovations. An avid hiker, mountain biker, cinephile and cynophile, he also played cricket for NTU at the national and inter-varsity level in Singapore.
Community Heroes Project Announced
 
Last year’s successful Flags for Heroes project, organized by Charlie Frair and Paul Tully, returns this year under their leadership rebranded as Community Heroes, Past & Present. “There has rarely, if ever, been a time in our lives when there are so many local heroes to recognize,” said Charlie.
   
One hundred flags are available for sponsorship at $100 each. The flags will be displayed in a central Maine Mall concourse for two weeks beginning Friday, September 11, 2020. The club will host a luncheon or evening gathering on September 11 at Maine Mall, which will serve as the club’s regular weekly meeting. Those being honored, along with their sponsors, will be invited  as guests, and the event will include an opening ceremony to honor the community heroes.
 
In his announcement, Charlie emphasized that participants are “sponsoring a hero,” not buying a flag. The goal of the event is to honor 100 community individuals through the sponsorships and raise $9,500 for club projects. Charlie and Paul said they would like to see at least half of the sponsors be non-Rotarians who have been invited to participate in the opportunity by members of the club.
 
 The formal kick-off for the event will be in early July. Further details to come.
COVID Impact On Child Development
 
Liz Fagan shared  her participation in the 3d International Conference on Children’s Health, Well-being, Education and Rights, held last week in Kosovo. Presented by the SOS Children’s Villages Kosovo and the Psycho-Social and Medical Research Center in Pristinë, the conference highlighted speakers from universities, clinics, and public health institutes representing Kosovo, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the U.S. Opening remarks were delivered by Kosovo's Prime Minister, the Minister of Health, Minister of Education, and several other departments. All of whom spoke of the international crisis in education and child development due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Liz began working with the Medical Center through the 3H Kosovo project and has continued providing teaching and assistance in creating the Center's speech-language pathology program. Her presentation focused on increasing vocabulary development in children.
 
“We need to put extra effort into our most vulnerable populations,” Liz said. “Right now that is every child.” Schools have been closed in 185 countries since March. While some have provided bits of education, there are limits with communication and technology. In the U.S. and other developed countries, we are familiar with the Summer Slide where some children lose some educational ground during the summer months.  “Now it's the COVID Slide that is affecting all children,” she said.
 
Since reading is a significant factor in increasing vocabulary, Liz proposed to the 600 conference attendees that ways be found to move unused books off shelves into the hands of readers. She also suggested that to the club as one way we can help ease the COVID Slide. For those who wish to send books via USPS to the research center in Pristinë, the address is:
 
Qendra per Hulumtime Psiko-Sociale dhe Mjekesore (QHPSM)
St. Kreshniket, Bardhosh, Prishtinë
Kosovo  10,000
 
A USPS Customs Declaration form must also be completed for attachment to the package. Describe the item on the form as a Humanitarian Gift and assign it a very low value to avoid duties. For further information, contact Liz Fagan.
A Moment of Reflection
 
The Talmud states, "Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world's grief. Do justly now, love mercy now, walk humbly now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it."
 
Speaker Schedule
June 19 | Portland Mayor Kate Snyder
June 26| Amy Chipman
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