Las Madres '80 East
JUNE 2005 NEWSLETTER

COMING EVENTS

June 16
Meeting at Ruth's House
7:15
RSVP: Ruth

June 18
Coffee Field Trip
9 am
Le Boulanger at Blossom Hill/Santa Teresa
Contact: Randi

June 3-5
Los Padres Golf Trip
Forest Meadows
Contact: Lou

October 7-9
Ladies Fall Trip
Aptos
RSVP: Sue Butler

 

JUNE BIRTHDAYS
1st        Ed Ryan
2nd       Sally Brooks-Schulke
14th      Jeffrey Caso (Happy 25th!)
25th      Kevin Ballard (Happy 22nd!)
29th      Andreas Tsafos
30th      David Ryan (Happy 23rd!)

JUNE MEETING
When: Thursday, June 16, 7:15 pm
Where: Ruth's House
What: Chinese Food, Chat, Games, Chocolate, Coffee, etc.

Hi Ladies...I see that I'm scheduled to host the June meeting.  I think that I'll just have everyone here and treat whoever comes to Chinese takeout from Panda Express...afterwards we can play games, chat, swim, laugh, cry, dance, eat chocolate, drink coffee, do tequila shots...whatever!    I'll just be getting back from a road trip so my house/yard are apt to me in disrepair but I won't care if you don't care.  If members have the energy to email and let me know that they're coming...I'll be sure to have enough food and drink.  
 
Looking forward to seeing everyone....I know I've been the phantom member this past year...but it looks like I survived my first year of grad school...a huge relief...so I can relax for a few months! We all deserve to relax after a hectic school/work year!..............Regards, Ruth

Happy 30th Anniversay
Betty & Rob Verhoeven will be celebrating 30 years of wedded bliss on the 6th!

 

Update of May Meeting and Reunion Plans from the Prez

There was just a handful at the May meeting at Robin's. The date conflicted with the Matsumoto School book fair. There was a presentation by a new rep to "PhotoMax". There are many other companies that offer similar programs with organizing
your photos. The difference is they store them at a Utah location where you are able to access them any time. If anyone is interested please contact me, and I will get you in touch with Kim Fields.

Also, there was plenty of time to talk about the reunion. Due to expensive costs at Dave & Buster's, it's has been decided to host the party at the Creekside Cabana Club on September 17th. We are looking into renting blackjack tables, bingo supplies, and roulette wheel, etc. to make it a game night. We will volunteer to be dealers to save on costs. We are planning on bringing a ping pong table, foosball, etc. The evening will start at 7:00 p.m. and the food will be appetizers, snacks and desserts. Beer,
wine, soda and water will be served. We'll be delegating those to do the shopping at a later date. We are toying with a cost of $10.00 per person. How's that sound to all those that were not able to be at coffee at Santana Row or the May meeting at Robin's?

The luncheon will be at the Chicken Coop in Campbell on the same day. More details will follow. I will be designing an invite that you can send out to those you keep in touch with either by e-mail or snail mail. I should get that out by mid June. Be sure to spread the word to all you are in contact with.

Anyone with ideas, we would love to hear from you. Please e-mail me with suggestions.

Happy Father's Day to all the Los Padres, and have a great time golfing the first weekend in June.

 

Graduations and Future Plans

Jessica Caso is graduating from Oregon State University with a B.A. degree in education. She is planning on being a physical education teacher in elementary school.

David Gerlinger is graduating from Mt. Pleasant High School on the 9th. He is going to Jr. College in the fall (hopefullly, says Janis).

Melinda Gomez will be walking graduation at UC Davis on June 19th to receive her B.A. degree with a double major in Philosophy and Political Science. She will begin working on June 8th as the billingual legal advocate for the Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Center of Yolo County. She plans to go to law school in a year or two.

Lauren Grady graduated May 21 from CSU-Chico with a degree in Human Communications.

Chad Kranak will be graduating on June 11th from UC Santa Cruz with a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. He also received a cash prize for Outstanding Scholarship and Performance and the Dean's Award and Highest Honors in the Music Department.

Abbey Nevoli is graduating from Ley Va Middle School and will be attending Notre Dame High School in the fall..

Krystal Nevoli is graduating from Santa Teresa High School and is planning on attending West Valley College in the fall.

Kacey Roessler graduated from San Jose State University on Memorial Day weekend with a degree in Business with an emphasis in Human Resources Management. She is very excited to FINALLY graduate after getting her AA in Professional Photography 4 years ago.

Scott Simmons graduated from The Juilliard School, Drama division, in Manhattan.

Leah Verhoeven will be graduating on June 11th from Santa Clara University with degrees in Business Management and Psychology. She is graduating Summa Cum Laude and has been accepted into Phi Beta Kappa along with several other honor awards. She also received the Management Department Award. After graduation she is going to Europe for 8 weeks.

FUTURE WEDDING PLANS - Leah D'Agosta is engaged to Travis Laughton.....no wedding date has been set.

(Send me info on others as well as additional info on the ones above.....and I'll update the list!)

 

Mediterranean Cruise on the Celebrity "Millennium"
You should have all received a flyer about the July 13, 2006  cruise to the Mediterranean. ( If for some reason you did not get a flyer, let Randi know. ) It has the details such as the 12 night/13 day itinerary (6 exciting countries) and cabin prices.  If you need questions answered, call Randi at 227-5221 or e-mail at penguin9@aol.com or call my mom, Betty, at the travel agency at 800-688-8500. Also visit the website at:  www.celebrity.com.    You are welcome to invite anyone to go.  We hope to have a big fun group!

Saturday Coffee Clatches Continue
Meet your Las Madres friends for some coffee and conversation at the Starbuck's at White and Aborn on Saturday mornings at 9am. Every third Saturday is a field trip. June "Away Coffee" will be on Saturday, June 18th, at Le Boulanger at the Main Street on Blossom Hill and Santa Teresa.  Hope you can come and join us!

e-Mail Tidbit
      
Subject: No Dentist Left Behind

My dentist is great! He sends me reminders so I don't forget checkups. He uses the latest techniques based on research. He never hurts me, and I've got all my teeth. When I ran into him the other day, I was eager to see if he'd heard about the new state program. I knew he'd think it was great.

"Did you hear about the new state program to measure effectiveness of dentists with their young patients?" I said.

"No," he said. He didn't seem too thrilled. "How will they do that?"

"It's quite simple," I said. "They will just count the number of cavities each patient has at age 10, 14, and 18 and average that to determine a dentist's rating.

"Dentists will be rated as excellent, good, average, below  average, and unsatisfactory. That way parents will know which are the best dentists. The plan will also encourage the less effective dentists to get better," I said. "Poor dentists who don't improve could lose their licenses to practice."

"That's terrible," he said.

"What? That's not a good attitude," I said. "Don't you think we should try to improve children's dental health in this state?"

"Sure I do," he said, "but that's not a fair way to determine who is practicing good dentistry."

"Why not?" I said. "It makes perfect sense to me."

"Well, it's so obvious," he said. "Don't you see that dentists don't all work with the same clientele, and that much depends on things we can't control?

For example, I work in a rural area with a high percentage of patients from deprived homes, while some of my colleagues work in upper middle-class neighborhoods.

Many of the parents I work with don't  bring their children to see me until there is some kind of problem, and I don't get to do much preventive work. Also many of the parents I serve let their kids eat way too much candy from an early age, unlike more educated parents who understand the relationship between sugar and decay.

To top it all off, so many of my clients have well water which is untreated and has no fluoride in it. Do you have any idea how much difference early use of fluoride can make?"

"It sounds like you're making excuses," I said. "I can't believe that you, my dentist, would be so defensive. After all, you do a great job, and you needn't fear a little accountability."

"I am not being defensive!" he said. "My best patients are as good as anyone's, my work is as good as anyone's, but my average cavity count is going to be higher than a lot of other dentists because I chose to work where I am needed most."

"Don't' get touchy," I said.

"Touchy?" he said.  His face had turned red, and from the way he was clenching and unclenching his jaws, I was afraid he was going to damage his teeth.

"Try furious! In a system like this, I will end up being rated average, below average, or worse. The few educated patients I have who see these ratings may believe this so-called rating is an actual measure of my ability and proficiency as a dentist.

They may leave me, and I'll be left with only the most needy patients. And my cavity average score will get even worse. On top of that, how will I attract good dental hygienists and other excellent dentists to my practice if it is labeled below average?"

"I think you are overreacting," I said. "'Complaining, excuse-making and stonewalling won't improve dental health'...I am  quoting from a leading member of the DOC," I noted.

"What's the DOC?" he asked.

"It's the Dental Oversight Committee," I said, "a group made up of mostly lay persons to make sure dentistry in this state gets improved."

"Spare me," he said, "I can't believe this. Reasonable people won't buy it," he said hopefully.

The program sounded reasonable to me, so I asked, "How else would you measure good dentistry?"

"Come watch me work," he said. "Observe my processes."

"That's too complicated, expensive and time- consuming," I said.  "Cavities are the bottom line, and you can't argue with the bottom line. It's an absolute measure."

"That's what I'm afraid my parents and prospective patients will think. This can't be happening," he said despairingly.

"Now, now," I said, "don't despair. The state will help you some."

"How?" he asked.

"If you receive a poor rating, they'll send a dentist who is rated excellent to help straighten you out," I said brightly.

"You mean," he said, "they'll send a dentist with a wealthy clientele to show me how to work on severe juvenile dental problems with which I have probably had much more experience? BIG HELP!"

"There you go again," I said. "You aren't acting professionally at all."

"You don't get it," he said. "Doing this would be like grading schools and teachers on an average score made on a test of children's progress with no regard to influences outside the school, the home, the community served and stuff like that. Why would they do something so unfair to dentists? No one would ever think of doing that to schools."

I just shook my head sadly, but he had brightened. "I'm going to write my representatives and senators," he said. "I'll use the school analogy. Surely they will see the point."

He walked off with that look of hope mixed with fear and suppressed anger that I, a teacher, see in the mirror so often lately.

If you don't understand why educators resent the recent federal NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT, this may help. If you do understand, you'll enjoy this analogy, which was forwarded by John S. Taylor, Superintendent of Schools for the Lancaster County, PA, School District. Be a friend to a teacher and pass this on.

JUNE WEB SITE
http://www.123greetings.com/
Send an online Father's Day or Grad card.


CLUB OFFICERS
President - Sue Butler
Treasurer - Vicki Rasmussen
Newsletter & Webmaster - Ginny Gomez
Coffee Coordinator - Randi Heinrichsen
Executive Committee - Randi Heinrichsen, Joan Wilson and Sally Brooks-Schulke
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