Four capable young professionals have been selected for our District's Group Study Exchange Team to Denmark next spring, with two equally competent alternates chosen from an outstanding field of qualified and enthusiastic candidates.

The GSE Team represents a cross-section of District 5300, in interests and geography. Esther Quisenberry (Las Vegas Northwest), 33, is a media advertising executive with a cable company. Lynne Hunter (Altadena), 35, is a CPA manager with a large accounting firm; Greg Custer (Pasadena), 30, is a banking trust and probate administrator. Holly Noel (Apple Valley), 37, is a public relations and communications manager with a regional medical center.

The first alternate is Emily Mayorga (Alhambra), 35, a YMCA administrative services director; the second alternate is William Whitney (Glendora), 40, in computer technology support services. Christine Montan (Alhambra), (age graciously undisclosed, but youthful enough to keep up with the great Danes), is the Rotarian team leader. Christine is deputy director of Alhambra City's Public Works Department.

The GSE Team will be traveling to Rotary's District 1460, in southern Jutland and Funen, Denmark, from April 11 to May 10, 1999. On their return, each of the Team members is committed to speak at Rotary Clubs throughout the District, sharing their GSE experiences.

Our District will be hosting a GSE Team coming from Denmark this spring, in time to speak at this year's District Conference. Look forward to meeting both teams at the conference's Rotary Foundation plenary session.

The trustees of the Rotary Foundation, with the enthusiastic approval of RI's board of directors, have renewed Rotary's commitment to the global eradication of polio.

There has been some discussion in the Rotary world of considering other global goals, as the PolioPlus program gets closer to complete success. The Foundation's trustees reaffirmed that polio eradication is our premier goal "until the day that the world is certified as being rid of the polio virus."

The statement of commitment, sent last month to all Rotary districts for each member's information, continues that "it is premature, and to the detriment of polio eradication," to adopt other programs before Rotary completes its astounding PolioPlus goal. The Foundation trustees fear "the potential distraction of Rotarians, the under-cutting of international advocacy efforts among governments, and the diminishment of Rotary's eradication efforts" could come from forming other international goals before Polio is truly eliminated.

The inaugural United States Scholar-Athlete Games (USSAG) will be held next summer in Rhode Island, and Rotary International is asking all American clubs to support the games with participants. You may remember reading and hearing about the 1993 and 1997 World Scholar-Athlete Games (WSAG), which brought together nearly 3600 of the world's brightest youth from 157 nations and all 50 States. The United States games continue this tradition and will bring the Institute for International Sport, the parent organization, a step closer to achieving its goal of hosting Scholar-Athlete Games on every continent.

The USSAG will bring together 2,000 high school scholars who are also talented in athletics or the fine arts. The Games combine sport, culture, and education at the same site, promoting world friendship through sport and culture. The young people join together to share their talents, their thoughts, and their dreams, coming to realize that ethnic and cultural diversity are causes for celebration, not conflict. Rotary's District 7950 is an official sponsor of the USSAG, and almost half the volunteers involved are local Rotarians.

USSAG events combine sports and arts. Athletic activities are baseball, basketball, bridge, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track & field, and volleyball. Cultural events include art, choir, dance, symphony, theater, and writing/poetry. The Games will be June 26-July 2 at the University of Rhode Island and Newport, Rhode Island. USSAG organizers seek high school student nominations from across the country, and hope each Rotary club will seek qualified participants. Scholar-athletes participate in one of the sports, and a separate group of scholars will participate in one of the cultural activities. Of course, scholarships are essential for many of the students who wish to participate in the Games.

If your club is interested in becoming part of this worthy project, call the USSAG office at 800-843-9724 for application forms, visit their WEB site at www.internationalsport.com, or e-mail ussag@internationalsport.com.

January leaves us all completely exhausted by the holiday season. We've just begun to think about getting our minds back into normal routines again. The last thing we need is for someone to remind us that Rotary needs us!

After all, we take care of those things we absolutely have to do - feeding, housing, and clothing our immediate families. Then we look to those things we must do regarding our extended families, and to our work, schools, churches, the other things which touch on our families. When we get around to it, we consider the volunteer work we do for Rotary.

Fortunately for Rotary, we Rotarians can usually schedule well enough that it all gets done. Some find it difficult to budget their time so the optional work in our lives can be done properly - difficult to "get around to it." Rotarians who are in a position to ask others for volunteer time might find this little trick helpful: Take a piece of laundry cardboard or other stiff paper, and trace a number of circles about the size of a silver dollar. Cut the circles out, and on each write the letters T, U, I, and T - in that order. Then when people tell you they will volunteer as soon as they get around to it, hand them one of the circles you made, for they are indeed "round tuits." Perhaps this may humorously jog a conscience or two to find more time for Rotary, especially when we are all so pressed for time just to get our necessities done. OK, so it's corny. But at least I didn't get into New Year's resolutions!

Many club presidents will be attending the Presidents' Advance this month on the Queen Mary. This is more than just a holiday - it is a time when we take stock of what has gone well, and what needs improving. We assess what we can do to make the second half of the Rotary year successful and productive. We discuss common problems and share triumphs, so we may better serve. If you have comments, suggestions, criticisms, ideas, please pass them along through your club's president.

I'll inform the presidents at our Advance that I have about $35,000 left in "DDF" - the District Discretionary Funds - and I'll urge each club to find a matching grant. I'll let the presidents know how great this District is for all the tremendous work we get done. I'll tell them that plans need to be implemented right now, so each can be completed by year's end six months from now. I'll remind them of the Dan Stover Music Contest, and of the Four-Way Speech Contest, to be sure each club has paid for their contestants to advance in the contests. I'll remind them of some past due District dues, and of the RYLA facilitator training sessions that come up right after the Advance.

I'll remind all our clubs of our $400,000 goal for Rotary Foundation support this year, and urge each club president to get their Foundation chairs to send in the Paul Harris money which has been accumulating. I'll also share with our presidents the generosity of several members of our District who have made particularly impressive donations to the Foundation. I'll remind everyone at the Advance that District 5300 is Number One in the world for Foundation support, after a few Japanese districts that rely heavily on corporate giving for their impressive Paul Harris donations.