Tag Archives: Rotary Club of Madison

Dresang Talks about Wisconsin’s Model for Labor

Posted on November 25, 2015 by joannamartinez | Leave a comment

–submitted by Carol Toussaint; photo by Loretta Himmelsbach

Dennis Dresang (right) pictured here with Club President Ellsworth Brown

Is conflict between workers and employers inevitable? Professor Dennis Dresang, UW-Madison, did not answer this question so much as he gave us background and information to help us reach our own conclusion. Dresang, Professor Emeritus of Public Affairs and Political Science, is the Founding Director of the LaFollette School of Public Affairs.

Covering a wide range of economic and political topics from the “company town” of which Kohler, Wisconsin, is widely cited as one model, to W. Edward Deming’s “Quality Management” approach in post-WW II Japan, Professor Dresang presented a chronology of labor/management disputes; one of which preceded Wisconsin Statehood (1848). Many of us could recall when Kohler (1954-60) or Hortonville (1974) were in the news, but most of us needed Dresang to provide details of some of the other conflicts. In 1886 when Governor Jeremiah Rusk mobilized the militia, 16,000 workers were on strike at Milwaukee Bayview’s Rolling Mills plant. Seven protesters were killed and a number wounded. At the Fox Valley Mills strike (1898), Attorney Clarence Darrow successfully defended the workers.

No talk on the History of Labor Development in Wisconsin or any other state would be complete without recognizing the depression era work of UW Professor John R. Commons. Dresang covered the worker issues and working with employers required to accomplish the Worker’s Compensation Fund, a national model.

The Wisconsin Idea was not mentioned during the program, but in the opinion of many, Dresang epitomizes what most citizens think of when that phrase is used. While a teacher and administrator at the UW, he has been called upon numerous times to lead a task force by appointment of a governor or by city and county officials when his academic expertise was needed. (See last week’s write-up in Rotary News for some details). One particular assignment was while he was on leave in 1976-77 to direct the State Employment Relations Study Commission. If time had allowed, Professor Dresang would surely have received questions on that topic.

If you missed this presentation, CLICK to watch it online.

Donna Beestman Receives Rotary Club of Madison Club Service Award

Posted on November 25, 2015 by joannamartinez | Leave a comment

Introduced by Deb Archer on November 25, 2015; photo by Loretta Himmelsbach

Beestman Award Our Rotary Board recognizes up to six members each year for their exemplary service in one Rotary’s Five Avenues of Service which are club, community, international, new generations and vocational. During our November 25 Rotary luncheon, Donna Beestman (pictured here with Club President Ellsworth Brown) was recognized with our Rotary Club of Madison Club Service Award.

Donna joined our Rotary Club in 2002, and she was previously a member of the Wilmington, Delaware Rotary Club. She is owner and president of Career Success Strategies, LLC.

During her 13 years in our Rotary Club, Donna has been very active. She is a leader and has served on the Ethics Symposium, Scholar Mentor, Vocational Opportunities, Button Box, Photography and Member Development Committees. She is current chair of our Orientation Committee, and she is a member of several of our fellowship groups. In addition, Donna is a current board member and was previously on our board from 2005-2007.

Because of volunteers like Donna, our club continues to thrive, and we thank her for her continuing service.

President Ellsworth presented Donna with a certificate and a special pin in recognition of this award, and our club has also made a $200 gift in her name to The Foundation of Rotary International to help fund its many worthy projects and programs.

Congratulations, Donna!

Fred Mohs Tells His Father’s Story

Posted on November 19, 2015 by joannamartinez | Leave a comment

–submitted by Rich Leffler; photo by Loretta Himmelsbach

Fred MohsA 11 18 15 As a three-time beneficiary of the Mohs surgical procedure at the Mohs Clinic of UW Hospital, this reporter was especially interested to hear Fred Mohs talk about his father, Dr. Frederic Mohs, Sr. Born in 1910, Dr. Mohs was a medical pioneer. Although he intended to be a radio engineer when radio was the popular technological rage, he got a college job at Birge Hall at the UW. A prominent cancer researcher introduced Dr. Mohs to the work being done in the 1930s on cancer: what exactly was it and how could it be treated? His mentor changed the trajectory of young Fred’s career. He went to medical school.

Dr. Mohs was an admirer of Thomas A. Edison, and he used Edison’s technique of intensive experimentation until he found that zinc chloride in a paste could kill cancer cells while still preserving cellular structure. Much of Dr. Mohs’s work was funded by WARF’s first research grants. He applied this compound to tumors of the skin to kill the cancer, while allowing a pathologist to determine whether the cells on the periphery were cancerous or normal. Very large and invasive tumors, which other surgeons were unable to excise, were now susceptible to treatment.

Dr. Mohs early-on learned the difficulty of communicating medical science to the general public. An interview with the Wisconsin State Journal about his technique resulted in a headline: “Cancer Cure Discovered.” Colleagues were outraged. His license to practice medicine was threatened. Eventually, especially after Dr. Mohs successfully treated a prominent Madison physician for a very large neck tumor, the value of the Mohs procedure was generally recognized.

Today, the Mohs procedure is widely used. In combination with an onsite pathologist, and working closely with plastic surgeons when needed, Mohs clinics allow surgeons to remove skin cancer with a minimally invasive and disfiguring procedure. Thank you Dr. Mohs, and thanks to Fred for telling us the story.

Did you miss our meeting this week? CLICK to watch the video.

Dawn Crim Receives Rotary Club of Madison Community Service Award

Posted on November 19, 2015 by joannamartinez | 1 comment

Presented by Carol Toussaint on November 18, 2015; photo by Loretta Himmeslbach

From left: Carol Toussaint, Dawn Crim & Club President Ellsworth Brown

I am here as a member of our Club’s Member Recognition Committee. This is a committee established by our board to annually make recommendations to recognize members for their efforts on behalf of our Rotary Club. The recognition is in one Rotary’s Five Avenues of Service which are club, community, international, new generations and vocational.

The board receives the recommendations and presents the award. My job today is to introduce a member who is receiving a community service award on behalf of our Rotary Club. Dawn Crim.

Dawn is an Associate Dean for External Relations for the UW School of Education. She is a well organized and busy, busy person. In addition to her role at the UW, Dawn is involved in many projects and organizations within our community. In addition to her professional work, family and community service activities, Dawn has devoted a great deal of time to Rotary over her eight years of membership.

She joined our Rotary Club in 2007 and immediately got involved in committees. Dawn has worked with the Rotaract Club on the UW campus. She serves as a mentor to one of our Rotary scholars and has served on our Program Advisory Committee. In addition, Dawn has for six years been an active member on our club’s Community Grants Committee. This is not a small commitment. She has interviewed grant applicants and attended numerous meetings with other Community Grants Committee members as they develop recommendations for the funding projects each year. You’ll also have seen newsletter photos of Dawn as part of our Hiking/Skiing Fellowship Group. Dawn finds time for Rotary and for her continuing dedication to our Rotary Club, we are awarding our 2015 Rotary Club of Madison Community Service Award to Dawn Crim.

The Club has made a $200 gift in her name to The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, and President Ellsworth presented Dawn with a special certificate and a pin to recognize the community service award.

Congratulations, Dawn.

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Posted in 2. Meetings, Rotary Club of Madison Club Service Award, UW-Madison

Tagged Dawn Crim, Rotary Club of Madison, Rotary Club of Madison Community Service Award

“He Was a Different Kind of Giant”

Posted on November 12, 2015 by joannamartinez | 1 comment

–submitted by Andrea Kaminski; photo by Loretta Himmelsbach

Wednesday, November 11, marked 77 years since Kristallnacht, the deadly attack against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and Austria which is considered the beginning of the Holocaust. Club President Ellsworth Brown noted that 20 years earlier, November 11, 1918, was when the armistice was signed ending World War I.

On this important anniversary of division and reconciliation events in history, Rotarians celebrated the memory of Manfred E. Swarsensky, a member of our Club until his death in 1981. Rabbi Swarsensky’s legacy remains with us as a model of human behavior and a call to action.

Our speaker was Hannah Rosenthal, CEO and president of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation and a former member of our Rotary Club. A student and mentee of Rabbi Swarsensky, Hannah has carried on his legacy of building relationships within and between communities.

Hannah’s father lived in Mannheim, Germany, when Swarsensky lived in Berlin. As a girl, Hannah often heard her father speak about Swarsensky’s wisdom and oratorical skills. She was thrilled when her mother announced one day that Rabbi Swarsensky would be coming to dinner. Hannah got dressed up and asked for the honor to open the door for him. She wanted to greet the ancient wise man she assumed must be “at least 10 feet tall.” She was surprised when she found that he was not even half that tall. “He was a different kind of giant,” she explained.

Over the years, Hannah had the honor of working and studying with Rabbi Swarsensky. She described a few remarkable characteristics that defined him and his legacy.

Rabbi Swarsensky was resilient. In Germany he watched his synagogue be burned and his congregation tortured and killed. He was arrested by the Gestapo. He came to the United States with every reason to be bitter, but he was not. Instead he dedicated himself to working for reconciliation.

In 1970, thirty years after leaving Berlin, he went back and visited his father’s and grandfather’s graves, and he spoke to Jews. He knew he was there to speak to the importance of reconciling with one another. When he returned to the United States, he increased his ecumenical activities. Unlike many of his colleagues, he was willing to marry inter-faith couples. He taught at Edgewood College, a Catholic institution.

Although Swarsensky treasured reconciliation, he believed that all people should bear witness to horrendous incidents of cruelty throughout history. Through these horrors we learn lessons. If we don’t learn the lessons of the holocaust, it is bound to be repeated.

Swarsensky also believed we all should leave something behind that matters. We need to communicate to our children the fundamental values of who we are, who we want to be and who we want them to be. He said we will find out about whether there is an afterlife “when the time comes.” But our legacy will live on long after our life is over if we teach, preach and live by our values.

Rosenthal concluded that we need to call out rhetoric or actions that are divisive and dangerous, and we need to reach across the divide and seek reconciliation.

An award-winning documentary video, “A Portrait: Rabbi Manfred Swarsensky,” was created and produced by Rotarian Dick Goldberg with assistance by Wisconsin Public Television in 2000. This film received a national bronze Telly Award for best short documentary.

Did you miss our meeting this week? CLICK to watch the video.

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Posted in Rotary Club of Madison, Rotary Club of Madison Guest Speaker

Tagged Hannah Rosenthal, Manfred Swarsensky, Rotary Club of Madison

Christine Hodge Receives 2015 Manfred E. Swarsensky Humanitarian Service Award

Posted on November 12, 2015 by joannamartinez | 1 comment

–introduced by Mario Mendoza on November 11, 2015; photos by John Bonsett-Veal and Loretta Himmelsbach

Christine Hodge pictured here with Club President Ellsworth Brown

This year’s recipient of the Swarsensky Humanitarian Service Award is Christine Hodge, who was nominated by Dawn Crim. Christine Hodge came to Madison from Arkansas in 1971, along with her three children. The people of Mt. Zion Baptist Church on Madison’s south side quickly embraced her and her family—a gesture that, as you will see, she reciprocated later in life.

Soon after arriving in Madison, Ms. Hodge—who had previously been a teacher in Arkansas—became a teacher for the Madison Metropolitan School District. She taught for 26 years. She then served as assistant principal at LaFollette High School and later as principal of Allis Elementary. She served the District for 35 years before retiring. Following her retirement, and as referenced in a news story about her, Ms. Hodge “lounged around exactly zero days before throwing herself into her next project.” She took her energy and experience as an educator and administrator and founded the Mt. Zion Academic Learning Center.

The Mt. Zion Academic Learning Center is an after-school program affiliated with Mt. Zion Baptist Church. Ms. Hodge tirelessly enlisted the help of many in our community to transform what was a dark basement at Mt. Zion Church into a bright, cheerful and deserving learning space. She raised funds and recruited volunteer tutors. The Center’s program is focused on fostering academic excellence for children in grades K-6^th, primarily residing on Madison’s south side. Parents pay nothing; all that is asked of them is their commitment to Ms. Hodge’s program. The program runs three days a week, and about 20 students participate regularly. Volunteer tutors and mentors assist the children. They leave with their homework done, and done right. Ms. Hodge tells each child her goal: “Be the smartest kid in your class.” The Center is credited with improving the academic performance of its students.

Consistent with Rabbi Swarsensky’s example, Ms. Hodge has helped build bridges. She has built bridges between homes and schools. She has helped parents establish effective communications and problem-solving with teachers and District staff. And her contributions toward children’s academic excellence advance the cause of putting an end to the educational achievement gap in our area. That gap is an obstacle to full participation in and enjoyment of life in our community. Ms. Hodge’s efforts help build a bridge toward the promise of that full participation and enjoyment—one student at a time.

Ms. Hodge has devoted nearly ten years to the Academic Learning Center. It is clear that the warm welcome Ms. Hodge received from Mt. Zion Church when she first arrived in Madison many years ago planted a seed in her, which has now blossomed into the this praiseworthy legacy.

Christine Hodge pictured here with Swarsensky Award Committee Chair Mario Mendoza

Our congratulations to Christine on receiving the Rabbi Manfred Swarsensky Humanitarian Service Award for 2015.

Along with this award, a $2,500 grant is provided to an organization of the recipient’s choice, and Christine selected the Links Foundation, Madison Chapter.

Our thanks to Mario Mendoza, chair, and members of this year’s Manfred Swarsensky Humanitarian Service Award Committee in organizing this year’s award presentation.

The Manfred E. Swarsensky Humanitarian Service Award was established in 1982 and identifies individuals who have, through their voluntary efforts, made a particularly outstanding contribution to the humanitarian service in the greater Madison community, in the tradition so well exemplified by the life of Rabbi Swarsensky. The award-winning documentary video, “A Portrait: Rabbi Manfred Swarsensky,” that was created and produced by Rotarian Dick Goldberg with assistance by Wisconsin Public Television, provides background on Manfred Swarsensky and can be viewed on YouTube, and the Rotary office also has a copy of the video for any member wishing to view it.