We knew it would be a great meeting when President Don started us off with one of his special jokes. (There is some question about the joke's ability to pass the "preacher" test.)
     Susan Hutchins introduced a number of visiting Rotarians and guests including Jim and Gloria Hintz from the University Club, who had as their guest Hernando Clavijo, the President of the Bogota-Chico Columbia Rotary Club. President Hernando thanked Charlotte Rotary for its participation in the renovation of a school for handicapped children in Columbia. This is one of the many exciting and worthwhile projects that our Club supports. President Don promised to present more information at future meetings on the wide range of activities that Charlotte Rotary supports.
     As part of "Health and Happiness," Richard Rankin informed us that Jerry Grohowski is doing much better and that Jim Evans had back surgery. Please remember both in your thoughts and prayers. Richard also shared an interesting visit to his home county of Gaston with his children. He had always thought that the sometimes unflattering press was because other areas were jealous of Gaston County. After his trip and some of the interesting people that the Rankins met, he's not so sure. Richard will go back, but President Don had some reservations.
     Don Sanders led us in the singing of that Woody Guthrie favorite, "This Land is Your Land," followed by Andy Zoutewelle with the invocation.
     John Tabor introduced our own Hal Bouton, President of WTVI-TV, who presented a very interesting program on High Definition Television and technology changes in the television industry.
     As an introduction to his presentation, Hal showed a video that presented the wide range of programming that WTVI makes available to its viewers. There is something for everyone: a full range of children's programs — 60 hours a week; education programs such as "Ready to Learn"; governmental programming featuring local political leaders and analysis of what is going on in the political arena; programs that feature all the arts; local programming that highlights activities in the viewing area; business programs such as Carolina Business Review that highlight business activities in the viewing area; and medical programs that deal with health issues that affect us all. WTVI is truly a station for all of us and a very important asset for our community. We are fortunate to have had WTVI here for the last 35 years.
     Hal believes that the change to digital technology for television production and the resulting High Definition Television is going to make WTVI even better than it now is. He described the magnitude of the change as being comparable to that which occurred when color replaced black and white. The WTVI of the future will actually be four stations in one — the current station, twenty-four hours of children's programming, twenty-four hours of adult learning, and a community partnership with other agencies that use digital technology for information exchange.
     The move to digital technology and high definition television is supposed to be compleled by 2006, although it looks like that schedule is going to be difficult to meet. The commercial stations are ready to go now, and WTVI will be on-line in late summer 2001. All we need are enough HDTV sets to make this the preferred method of television viewing.
     The quality of the picture with digital technology will be much better than what we experience with conventional television cameras. The difference in pixels (points of light that make up the picture) is a factor of approximately 10. The ability to work with other agencies that use digital technology information exchange will allow for a greater variety of programming. Hal mentioned a partnership with Central Piedmont Community College for wireless courses and monitors at the airport that will introduce visitors to many activities of our area. The list of possibilities is endless as more and more uses for information exchange are found.
     Hal introduced his associate, Gary Desantis, who conducted a poll to see just how much Charlotte Rotary knows about WTVI. It was great to see that our members really know the answers to questions such as:

     President Don closed the meeting with a reminder that our District Governor Dot Green will be with us during our August 29 meeting.

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New Member

DARREL W. STEPHENS

Joined 1980
Rejoined 1983
Rejoined 1986
Rejoined 2000

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Dept.
601 E. Trade St. (28202)
704-336-2337

     Darrel W. Stephens was appointed Charlotte Police Chief in September 1999. He was the City Administrator for the City of St. Petersburg for just over two years after accepting the position in June 1997. He was responsible for day-to-day oversight and management of all city operations and a workforce of over 3000 employees. He also served as Police Chief of St. Petersburg Police from December 1992 to June 1997.
     Darrel spent most of his career in policing, including six and a half years as the Executive Director of the Washington, DC-based association Police Executive Research Forum (PERF). He began his career in 1968 as a police officer with the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department which included a 10-month visiting fellowship at the National Institute of Justice in 1972. He became the Assistant Police Chief in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1976. In 1979 he accepted the Largo, Florida, Police Chief position. In 1983 he took the Police Chief's position in Newport News, Virginia, where that department became nationally recognized for its work with problem-oriented policing that provided much of the foundation for community policing.
     He has coauthored several books and published many articles on policing issues. He holds a BS degree in the Administration of Justice from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and a M.S. degree in Public Administration from Central Missouri State University.
     Welcome to Charlotte Rotary, Darrel.

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POWELL'S
OBSERVATIONS

POWELL  MAJORS

     Bill Spencer was cited as a Hero of Democracy by the "Observer" July 4th, for his impact on the Foundation for the Carolinas. Under his watch the assets of the foundation grew from $22 million to over $200 million. Also cited was the citizens task force that included Madine Fails and Anthony Fox. The task force reviewed student assignment and equity issues and made recommendations.
     Chuck Lineberry and family were in Moffat, Scotland, where Chuck presided over the 1000th anniversary of the founding of the clan. About 2000 people were in attendance coming from 34 states, Canada, New Zealand, England and the Argentine. Chuck, whose middle name is "Moffitt," claims that the principal occupation of the clan was stealing cattle from the Scottish then hiding them across the border.
     Rex Welton is now the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Presbyterian Hospital Foundation. His wife Linda wrote an article about waiting for the triplets born to their daughter for the July 6th edition of the "Observer."
     Bill Furr has been elected to be chairman of the Board of Trustees of the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra.
     Katie Tyler is pictured in an ad in the Business Journal in which she says "The Business Journal is a partner with Tyler II in building my business."
     Mary Mack and Mary Rinehart were winners of awards in the fourth annual Women in Business Achievement Awards of the Business Journal. Mary Mack oversees the wholesale and retail activity of 900 employees at First Union in a 13 county area. Mary Rinehart is the founder and president of Rinehart & Associates, a firm with 10 associates and over $90 million in assets under management.

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