THE AMHERST CLUB WEEKLY LUNCHEON MEETING MINUTES FOR TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2011
President Vivienne Carey welcomed members and guests. She said:
1. She was wearing a skirt, scarf and earrings from the Hospice shop. (Looked great!)
2. Envelopes for the Cambodian Water Project are on the table with donations welcome.
3. Hub Smith’s is doing well after heart surgery.
4. Our fashion show in support of Hospice will be Thursday, April 28. Eight men and women have already volunteered as models. A few more are needed. Contact Vivienne. Electric kettles/urns to boil water for tea are also needed. (All clothes will be from the Hospice shop. Should be fun!)
Guests included:
Former Amherst teacher Debbie Carey Pease and alpaca rancher Susan Rice, friends of Joan Hanson.
Ann Levinger, a friend of Ruth Hooke.
Announcements: Bonnie Isman drew attention to the Hands Across the Valley Quilters Guild show at the Mullins Center, March 26-27, 10 am – 4 pm. Adults $8, children 6-12, $2. See 400 quilts on display.
Arthur Kinney spoke about the Renaissance Center’s programs, and the need for cooks for the annual Dakin Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, March 19, 8 am – noon, with proceeds to benefit the Great Hall project. (Suggested donation $10 adults, $5 children, for pancakes, bacon, sausage, beverages.)
Ruth Hooke mentioned that March 8 was International Women’s Day, the 100th anniversary, with a program starting at 5:30 pm at the Unitarian Church in Northampton. The Raging Grannies and others are on the program.
Rachel Mustin added that, in 1917, factory workers took to the streets in Russia, the Czar abdicated, and women got the vote three years before women in the U.S. did.
A NEW MEMBER Chris Hern, was introduced by Ellen Kosmer, inducted by President Vivienne, and welcomed by the multitude. Chris studied at the London School of Economics, has a PhD from Northwestern, and came to UMass in 1972. He often travels to England, is active in Learning in Retirement, and is the first male member of the Garden Club. (He is the newest Amherst Club member with an English accent!)
SPEAKER FOR THE DAY Phyllis Lehrer introduced Ray Bradley. Ray holds degrees from Southampton University and the University of Colorado at Boulder. He has traveled all over the world, written and edited a dozen books and numerous articles, received several honorary degrees, and is presently Distinguished Professor and Director of the Climate System Research Center at UMass.
Ray is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and presented an illustrated talk which clearly and convincingly pointed out that there is global warming with possible catastrophic consequences on the way. (The charts and graphs were frightening in what they portrayed.)
He began his presentation with quotes from various politicians and commentators who don’t believe that global warming is actually happening. These included Rush Limbaugh, who (paraphrasing) says we have two worlds: one controlled by leftists, communists and anti-free market people, and the other world, his own, where reality reigns supreme.
Ray then posed the question of who is fighting control of greenhouse gases (which are the product of industry), and who supports the work of climate scientists who are trying to develop new means of saving the planet.
Two thousand weather stations plus information from NASA show that warming is continuous, with records being broken each year. Snow and sea ice are melting, with sea levels expected to rise three to four feet by the end of this century – affecting every coastal city in the world, from London, Tokyo and Amsterdam to Miami, New Orleans and Boston’s Back Bay. Glaciers, a prime source of water for many countries, are also melting. This is so because greenhouse gases are trapping heat close to the earth instead of allowing it to escape.
The dramatic upsurge in greenhouse gases and global warming started with James Watt’s invention of the piston engine in 1784, followed by the internal combustion engine – with both using fossil fuels which (they were once plants which absorbed CO 2) contain CO 2.
Ray is writing a book and holds out hope IF microbiologists, chemists, physicists and polymer scientists can develop new materials and new processes for producing energy. He has faith in technology, however, he points out that even with new discoveries, there is no quick answer – not in our time, or in the time of our grandchildren.
An important and sobering presentation which your scribe-for-the-day wishes could be repeated in every high school, college and town meeting in the country, and on all TV channels.
Now – let’s switch our focus back to Hickory Ridge.
RAFFLE TIME! Surprise – Ray’s wife, Jane, won the wine. Tina Berins won the raffle.
Respectfully submitted, Ruth Miller |
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