IN THIS ISSUE

Innocence Project Northwest
Professor Jackie McMurtrie, cofounder of the Innocence Project Northwest, was the featured speaker at Friday’s meeting. A University of Michigan graduate, where she received her bachelor’s and JD degrees, McMurtrie has previously worked as a staff and supervision attorney for the Seattle-King County Public Defender Association. She currently directs the Criminal Law Clinic and teaches Interviewing, Counseling, and Criminal Law at the University of Washington Law School.

The Innocence Project is an organization which defends people who have been convicted of crimes, but who have credible claims to their innocence. Her organization has received recognition recently in connection with its efforts in the infamous Wenatchee sex ring cases.

In seeking to overturn wrongful convictions, Professor McMurtrie, cited the example of one person her organization had helped, a single woman in her mid-thirties, with three children and a sixth grade education, who was considered illiterate. A detective came to her home and subjected her to a 6-hour interrogation, which resulted in a confession of child abuse of several children.

“Our research in the Wenatchee Sex Ring Investigation showed conflicts of interest with both the defense and prosecution,” said Professor McMurtrie. “The woman, who was given a 30-year sentence, is now free. We are uncovering new evidence to support overturning other convictions, not only in the Wenatchee case, but in other states. Illinois has had 13 cases overturned.”

McMurtrie said that the first response from people about this issue is that “there can’t be that many innocent people in prison.” Although a 1996 survey showed only .05% wrongful convictions, another report suspected that the number could be as high as 10%. “There are no accumulated statistics to bear out a conclusion, but we do know there are situations that call for deeper investigation of these cases.”

McMurtrie said there are inherent problems in the system. Mistaken eyewitness identification, coercion by prosecutors, unreliable lab work, police misconduct, and ineffective counsel all contribute to wrongful convictions. “Our purpose is to help people who have no other recourse. We only take those cases of people who have been convicted.”

In response to a question, Professor McMurtrie said she felt that “over-zealousness by investigators” was the prime cause of the Wenatchee investigation going sour. She said, “I’m convinced that crimes were not committed, at least in the cases that I have researched.” The facts uncovered by Innocence Project Northwest showed that the chief investigator’s first divorce was handled by the prosecuting attorney and the second divorce by the presiding judge.

“Lack of quality representation is a huge challenge in these cases,” said McMurtrie. “Bad lawyering leads to bad convictions.” Of 13 Wenatchee cases, 6 people have been released from prison and 5 others cases are working. When asked how an innocent person could ever confess to these horrible crimes, McMurtrie said, “A question like that requires a long answer.”

Unfortunately, the time had elapsed, but the professor stayed after the program to engage in conversations with BBRC members.

A most intriguing program, which held the audience in rapt attention. Thanks to Tom Smith, who introduced Professor McMurtrie.

Wally Mahoney delivered the invocation and led the pledge to the flag. Will Einstein greeted four visiting Rotarians and other guests of Rotarians.

Shelley Noble read a letter of thanks from Kathleen, the deaf mother who had accepted a $2,000 scholarship on behalf of her son so he could attend the specialized training offered at the Wilderness School. The touching letter explained how the funds have already helped her son to become a more productive student and citizen. This was another project of the BBRC Community Service Committee.

Reminder for the Rotary Singers: be on hand at 6:15 p.m. at the new Hopelink Building dedication.

Will Einstein asked that members put Saturday, March 4, on their calendars for a Work Party at the Eastside Adult Day Center. An attic-cleaning project will keep the volunteers busy from 9:00 a.m. till noon. Will can be reached at 425-462-3170.

Two more students were added to the distinguished list of exceptional high school students participating in the BBRC’s long-standing Student of the Month Recognition Program. Co-chaired by Bob Holert and Kim Shrader, the program brings students from all walks of life, their parents, administrators, and teachers to have breakfast and be recognized for their accomplishments.

Bob introduced Sammamish High School senior Andrew Kim, who excels in cross country and track, as well as maintains a very high GPA. His favorite class is English, followed by technology. He plans to meld his interest in finance with technology into a college major at the University of Pennsylvania.

Lindy Talbott, a senior at Bellevue Christian, was introduced by Kim. A lively young lady, Lindy explained she was “completely committed to a career in the Christian mission field, having made mission trips to China, Vietnam, and Mexico. Her intention is to attend the University in Redlands, California.

President DeWater closed out the award ceremony by observing that the BBRC has been able to sustain the SOTM program because of the praise and encouragement offered from the heart. At the same time, he observed that the students selected for these honors have been nominated by their teachers, who “really care about you.” He also praised the involvement of parents in the lives of their students.

Congratulations, Mr. Brown!

Rotary First Harvest Report
Under the headline “Booming State Failing Hungry,” Earl Falk, the BBRC’s RFH representative, reported that latest statistics show that Washington is eighth-worst in the U.S., with 12 in 100 families pinched to provide food on the table each day. The three-year USDA study says that the Evergreen State is doing one of the poorest jobs in the nation of feeding its hungry. Nearly 1.1 million citizens used a food bank in the last fiscal year, and the number of visits to food banks has increased by one-third over the past decade.

Because of this critical need, Earl unveiled a program adopted by First Harvest whereby a solicitation project to the State’s corporations has begun. “We are looking for BBRC members to help us identify corporations for donations to Rotary First Harvest. If any member has such contacts, please get in touch with me.”

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Valentine’s Day
Dine Around

Bob Moloney, self-appointed Chairman of the Valentine’s Day Dine Around Dinner, announced that the final sign-up for the February 12 fellowship dinner is this Friday. Bob needs time to match hosts with guests and begin the process of notifying each member where they’ll be the evening of February 12. Don’t miss this wonderful evening, getting to know your fellow Rotarians better. It’s a great activity!

World Concern
Two projects underway: clothing drive for refugees in Afghanistan and school kits for students in North Korea.

Rio de Janeiro Cancer Project
The District grant has been approved; BBRC financial contribution capped at $1,600; all documentation has been sent to RI; the project is in concert with a Brazilian Rotary Club.

Healing The Children
$3,000 will be contributed to this organization for its next mission to Nukus, the Republic of Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan. This is considered one of the worst ecological disasters in the world and has caused a serious impact on the health of the people living in the region. Money will pay for surgical equipment and supplies.

Youth Exchange
Marina Petribu requires a host family for the spring of this year; she was pleased to receive her BBRC Christmas gift certificate to Bellevue Square; she continues to reside with the Redmonds.

Megan Sweeter’s daughter has been accepted for the summer exchange program. It is expected she will travel to the United Kingdom. No financial contribution is required from the Club.

Foundation
Funds received on an unrestricted basis have now reached $3,550; amount collected for the year is $7,885.

“Behind every great fortune there is a crime.”

– Honoré de Balzac

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MIX IN MOTION

"More coffee ... PLEASE!"

Submitted by John Martinka

The following quiz consists of four questions that tell you whether or not you are qualified to be in upper management.

The questions are not that difficult. You just need to think like a manager.

#1 How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator? Click here for the answer.

#2 How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator? Click here for the answer.

#3 The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend except one. Which animal does not attend? Click here for the answer.

OK, if you did not answer the last three questions correctly, this one may be your last chance to test your qualifications to be a part of the executive management team.

#4 There is a river filled with crocodiles. How do you cross it? Click here for the answer.

If you answered 4 out of 4 questions correctly, you are a true upper management material. Wealth and success await you.

If you answered 3 out of 4, you have some catching up to do but there’s hope for you.

If you answered 2 out of 4, consider a career as a hamburger flipper in a fast food joint. If you answered one out of four, try selling some of your organs. It’s the only way you will ever make any money.

If you answered 0 correctly, consider a career that does not require any higher mental functions at all, such as politics.

Dilbert’s newest additions to add to your vocabulary in the early 2000’s

1. Blamestorming - Sitting around in a group discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed and who was responsible.
2. Seagull Manager - A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps all over everything, and then leaves.
3. Salmon day - The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed and die in the end.
4. Chainsaw consultant - An outside expert brought in to reduce the employee headcount, leaving the brass with clean hands.
5. CLM - Career Limiting Move - Used among micro serfs to describe ill-advised activity. Trashing your boss while he or she is within earshot is a serious CLM.
6. Adminisphere - The rarefied organizational layers beginning just above the rank and file. Decisions that fall from the adminisphere are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant to the problems they were
designed to solve.
7. Dilberted - To be exploited and oppressed by your boss.  Derived from the experiences of Dilbert, the geek-in-hell comic strip character. “I’ve been Dilberted again. The old man revised the specs for the fourth time this week.”
8. Flight Risk - Used to describe employees who are suspected of planning to leave the company or department soon.
9. 404 - Someone who’s clueless. From the World Wide Web error message “404 Not Found,” meaning that the requested document could not be located. Used as in - “Don’t bother asking him ..he’s 404, man.”
10. Generica - Features of the American landscape that are exactly the same no matter where one is, such as fast food joints, strip malls, and subdivisions. Used as in - “We were so lost in generica that I forgot
what city we were in.”
11. Ohno-second - That minuscule fraction of time in which you realize that you’ve just made a BIG mistake.
12. Percussive Maintenance - The fine art of whacking an electronic device to get it to work again.
13. Umfriend - A sexual relation of dubious standing or a concealed intimate relationship, as in “This is Dyan, my... um ...friend.”
14. Cube Farm - An office filled with cubicles.
15. Idea Hamsters - People who always seem to have their idea generators running.
16. Mouse Potato - The on-line, wired generation’s answer to the couch potato.
17. Prairie Dogging - When someone yells or drops something loudly in a cube farm, and people’s heads pop up over the walls to see what’s going on.
18. SITCOMs - What yuppies turn into when they have children and one of them stops working to stay home with the kids. Stands for Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage.
19. Squirt the Bird - To transmit a signal to a satellite.
20. Starter Marriage - A short-lived first marriage that ends in divorce with no kids, no property and no regrets.
21. Stress Puppy - A person who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiny.
22. Swiped Out - An ATM or credit card that has been rendered useless because the magnetic strip is worn away from extensive use.
23. Tourists - People who take training classes just to get a vacation from their jobs. Example - “We had three serious students in the class; the rest were just tourists.”
24. Treeware - Hacker slang for documentation or other printed material.
25. Xerox Subsidy - Euphemism for swiping free photocopies from one’s workplace.
26. Alpha Geek - The most knowledgeable, technically proficient person in an office or work group.
27. Chips and Salsa - Chips = hardware, salsa =software. i.e. - “Well, first we gotta figure out if the problem’s in your chips or your salsa.”
28. G.O.O.D. Job - A “Get-Out-Of-Debt” job. A well-paying job people take in order to pay off their debts, one that they will quit as soon as they are solvent again.
29. Irritainment - Entertainment and media spectacles that are annoying but you find yourself unable to stop watching them. The O.J.trials were a prime example.
30. Deinstalled - Euphemism for being fired. Heard on the voicemail of a Vice president at a downsizing computer firm - “You have reached the number of a deinstalled vice president. Please dial our main number and ask the operator for assistance.” (See also,”Decruitment.”)
31. Vulcan Nerve Pinch - The taxing hand position required to reach all the appropriate keys for certain commands. For instance, the warm re-boot for a Mac II computer involves simultaneously pressing the Control key, the Command key, the Return key and the Power On key.
32. Yuppie Food Stamps - The ubiquitous $20 bills spewed out of ATMs everywhere. Often used when trying to split the bill after a meal “We owe $8 each, but all anybody’s got are yuppie food stamps

The following was acquired from an email explaining this information came
from a Canadian newspaper.

ONLY IN AMERICA

1) Only in America...can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.

2) Only in America ... are there handicapped parking places in front of a skating rink.

3) Only in America ... do drugstores make the sick walk to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people buy cigarettes at the front.

4) Only in America ... do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a diet coke.

5) Only in America ... do banks leave both doors to the vault open and then chain the pens to the counters.

6) Only in America ... do they leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put their useless junk in the garage.

7) Only in America ... do they use answering machines to screen calls and then have call waiting so they won’t miss a call from someone they didn’t want to talk to in the first place.

8) Only in America ... do they buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.

9) Only in America ... do they use the word ‘politics’ to describe the process so well: ‘Poli’ in Latin meaning ‘many’ and ‘tics’ meaning ‘bloodsucking creatures.’

10) Only in America ... do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.

All those who believe in telekinesis, raise my hand.

I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before we met.

OK, so what's the speed of dark?

Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.

When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.

Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don't have film.

Shin: a device for finding furniture in the dark.

Many people quit looking for work when they find a job.

I intend to live forever - so far, so good.

Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

24 hours in a day ... 24 beers in a case ... coincidence?

When I'm not in my right mind, my left mind gets pretty crowded.

What happens if you get scared half to death twice?

I used to have an open mind but my brains kept falling out.

I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.

The correct answer to #1 is:
Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe and close the door. This question tests whether or not you are doing simple things in a complicated way. Next question

The incorrect answer to #2 is:
Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant and shut the refrigerator.

The correct answer to #2 is:
Open the refrigerator, take out of the giraffe, put in the elephant, and close the door. This question tests your foresight. Next Question

The correct answer to #3 is:
The elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator! This tests if you are capable of comprehensive thinking. Next Question

The correct answer to #4 is:
Simply swim through it. All the crocodiles are attending the animal meeting! This question tests your reasoning ability. How did I score?