Right Angle Club (RAC) Monthly Member Newsletter
for
March, 2021
Upcoming Speakers & their Presentation Topics
March 5: A. James Meigs, journalist, editor, podcaster (“How Do We Fix it”). How the changing business model and digital competition is changing how we read the news.
March 12: Glenn Nye, President & CEO & Richard Phillips, trustee Center for the Study of the Preside, ncy & Congress, Washington, DC. CSPC programs on Space Policy, Geotechnology Completion, Political Reform and Nuclear Arms Control.
March 19: Honorable Ernest Istook, former member of U.S House, OK-5th District. An assessment of China’s “Belt and Road” foreign policy initiative
March 26: Michael Fitzgibbons, Adventurer. 50th Anniversary of Las Balsas – Ecuador to Australia in 177 days.
Right Angle Club 2021 Tentative Schedule
January
8th Yes – Annual Meeting
15th Yes – Speaker
22nd Yes – Speaker
29th Yes – Speaker
February
5th Yes – Speaker
12th Yes – BOC/Speaker
19th Yes – Speaker
26th Yes – Speaker
March
5th Yes – Speaker
12th Yes – BOC/Speaker
19th Yes – Speaker
26th Yes – Speaker
April
2nd No – Good Friday
9th Yes – Speaker
16th Yes – Speaker
23rd Yes – Speaker
30th Yes – Speaker
May
7th Yes – Speaker
14th No – BOC/President’s Dinner
21st Yes – Speaker
28th No – Memorial Day
June
4th Yes – Speaker
11th Yes – BOC/Speaker
18th Yes – Speaker
25th Yes – Speaker
July
2nd No – July 4th
9th Yes – BOC/Speaker
16th Yes – Speaker
23rd Yes – Speaker
30th Yes – Speaker
August
6th Yes – Speaker
13th Yes – BOC/Speaker
20th Yes – Speaker
27th Yes – Speaker
September
3rd No – Labor Day
10th Yes – BOC/Speaker
17th Yes – Speaker
24th Yes – Speaker
October
1st Yes – Speaker
8th Yes – BOC/Speaker
15th No – Fall Fling
22nd Yes – Speaker
29th Yes – Speaker
November
5th Yes – Speaker
12th Yes – BOC/Speaker
19th Yes – Speaker
26th No – Thanksgiving
December
3rd Yes – Speaker
10th Yes – BOC/Speaker
17th No –Xmas Party24th No – Xmas
31st No – New Year’s Eve
Events
President’s Dinner
The President’s Dinner is scheduled for 12 May 2021 on the porch @ the Merion Cricket Club. The time, cost & other details to follow.
Club Centennial
Celebration scheduled for Wednesday, 8 June to Friday, 10 June 2022, at the Hotel Bethlehem, in Bethlehem, PA
2 unsolicited donations have been received—1 for $500 & another for $200
Past Month’s Speakers’ Presentations Summarized
(prepared by Bob Haskell)
February 5, 2021. Bonnie Mueller discussed the origins, challenges, and opportunities for The Schuylkill Navy, which is the governing body for rowing in Philadelphia. The organization is America’s oldest amateur athletic association, established in 1858 by private rowing clubs to help them secure permanent homes, to promote amateur oarsmanship, to achieve collective action in support of rowing, and to help Philadelphia and Fairmont Park manage the growing recreation on the Schuylkill River. Bonnie is third woman Commodore in its long history. In the 1800’s, rowing was a national sport, primarily of working-class men. The best rowers then were from Philadelphia. Today, the Navy embraces eighteen member clubs. However, the clubs, and the houses on Boathouse Row, are all independent. The water is the true shared asset. PA law dictates that only rowers have access to the river below the Girard Avenue Bridge. The Navy has no offices per se, but they rent board room space in house #4, which is closest to the Art Museum. They have been meeting there every month since the house was built in the 1800s. It is an all-volunteer organization (no paid staff). The Navy’s responsibilities include river safety, event management (attendance at events by the river tend to be the highest in Philadelphia), communications, promoting best practices and opportunities for river use. Its strategic priorities and challenges are: 1) river stewardship and managing the river infrastructure (the buildings, water quality, riverbanks, grandstands, and river depth), 2) managing public engagement and inclusion (e.g., women, adaptive rowing for those with special needs, inner city and high school kids, dragon boating), 3) promoting the sport at the national level, 4) developing the next generation leaders and stewards for rowing in Philadelphia. The most immediate and biggest challenge is the dredging of the river to a depth of 6’-7’, which must be done every 17-20 years, and is long overdue. There were 48 participants.
February 12, 2021. David Kasievich, co-founder and current Head of Saint James School, discussed the objectives and characteristics of the school, its successes as a community anchor, and its future challenges. It is an inspiring and uplifting story. The Saint James School was founded ten years ago as a tuition free, private Episcopal middle school (grades 4-8) dedicated to providing year-round academic, physical and creative nourishment to students in the under-resourced Allegheny West community of Philadelphia. Some of the school’s characteristics include: housed in old historic landmark church building; current enrollment of 87 students (87% African-American); uniforms provided; faith-based learning; 18 or less students per class; open daily 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM (with dinner), six days per week (Saturday with lunch) and Sunday dinners, eleven months per year (closed August); full time staff of four, including a chef. Support is tailored to the individual students (even after graduation), their families, and their local community. To be accepted, students must live in the neighborhood, live at or below poverty level, and have a person 18 years or older as a point of contact. Funding comes from individuals, corporations, and the community. Families voluntarily donate whatever small amounts they can. They are not able to handle local children with special needs, but they help place them in other schools. Volunteers are critical to school efforts. They support community food and clothing distribution, community service, Saturday academic clinics, after school tutoring, field trips chaperones, kitchen work, etc. The school also works with community organizations to help manage neighborhood gentrification, and its potential loss of identity. There were 31 participants.
February 19, 2021. Gail Harrity, President and COO of The Philadelphia Museum of Art (“PMA”), discussed her 20 years at the PMA and her earlier work in museum management. The PMA is an economic engine for Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. For fiscal year 2019, it attracted visitors from 131 countries and all 50 states; had an economic impact of over $368M; created 2,900 FTE jobs; generated $281M in tax revenues. For the five-year period ending June 2019, total economic impact was $1.6B. It also supports strong civic engagement and is an iconic symbol for Philadelphia. Prior to joining the PMA in 1997, Gail worked in NYC at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for seven years and the Guggenheim Museum for ten years. She carried this experience forward into the formation of a Strategic Plan, to leverage and improve the strength of the PMA collection, architecture, and international footprint, and an associated tactical Facilities Master Plan, to primarily modernize organizations physical assets, primarily the main building (e.g., vacating and repurposing all non-public-facing space, fixing the façade, and improving visitor amenities and experience). To implement the Facilities Master Plan, Gail also carried forward her relationship with architect Frank Gehry, from their work together on the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain. Phase 2 goals of the Core Project, currently in progress, are to transform the heart of the Museum (improve internal and external visitor sight lines, open up and renovate the South Entrance vaulted walkway, upgrade the West Terrace entrance and balcony, remove the old auditorium, improve and expand gallery space) and upgrade critical infrastructure. All-in-all, 90K of space is being repurposed without any impact on the existing façade. It is an excellent example of looking to the past to innovate; to renovate and modernize without destroying the beauty and history of the old. There were 45 participants.
February 26, 2021. Mikhael Simmonds, Mid-Atlantic Region Manager & Multimedia Lead for the Solutions Journalism Network (SJN), discussed how SJN is striving to train journalists on how to provide a view of the world that’s faithful to reality while strengthening engagement with audiences and rebuilding trust. Solution journalism is “rigorous, evidence-based reporting on responses to social issues.” It is about journalism focusing on solutions to problems, not sensationalism and “clicks”. There is a negativity bias in the news, which leads to a feeling of despair and news avoidance by the readers, because they feel they can’t do anything about the issues. People want to make difference, but they do not get the information they need to know how. As an antidote, solution journalism provides: 1) not just a problem, but a response to a problem and how it happened; 2) available evidence of results, looking at effectiveness, not just intentions; 3) insights that can help others respond, not just inspiration; 4) limitations, and avoids reading like a puff piece. The best solution journalism tries to focus on issues that might keep you up at night. As one early example from 2014, most headlines about Ebola in Africa tended to be doom and gloom. Little to no press was initially provided about how Nigeria was able to stop the virus, and how they did it. As another example, lead poisoning in Cleveland was being reported and neglected. Solution journalism reported how other cities were employing effective lead poisoning strategies, which ultimately forced dramatic change in Cleveland. As well as journalism education and publishing stories with major news outlets, SJN also offers Solutions Story Tracker on their website, which currently contains more than 1,000 stories on how people are containing, coping, and caring for each other during the COVID-19 pandemic; how people are talking to each other again and building a more civil society; and how people are improving race relations. There were 36 participants.
Carter Broach
Corresponding Secretary
