upcoming meetings

Nov 5 Allen Clark “Islamic Jihadist Terrorists”

Nov 12 Elizabeth Jones “2009 Annual Urban Mobility Report”

Nov 19 Bill Glass, former NFL pro bowl player “The power of a Father’s Blessing”

Nov 26 Happy Thanksgiving - No Meeting

Dec 3 Memorial Elementary Holiday Choir

Dec 10 Holiday Party Location TBD

Dec 17 Dr. David Crumpacker “Staying Sharp In Your Later Years”

Dec 24 Christmas Eve - No Meeting

Dec 31 New Years Eve - No Meeting

october birthdays

11/2 .............   Shawn Foster11/3................     Lissa  Smith11/5 ....................    Olin  Jaye11/12 .......... Martin  Jackson11/22 ....  James Youngblood11/23 ............ G.A. Davidson11/24 .............. Gary Mueller11/29 ........... Patti Schwartz

ReaderFall

Weekly

Volume 6, Issue 108 November 19,, 2009 The Plano Rotary Club www.PlanoRotary.com

continued on page 2

Ask Not For Whom the Road Tolls

SCARY Bob offered to punch out Sainted Editor’s lights if he dared to lampoon the Islamophobic Warrior (see the last

Weekly Reader), but when Sainted Editor presented himself for his thrashing,

Scary Bob clapped him on the back and said, “You did all right,” thus dismissing the perfect opportunity to earn his sobriquet. We met this day in the 1st Baptist Church for what appeared to be veal scaloppini. Although Howard Shapiro was absent, the Abrahamic tradition was upheld by Cary Israel, Mark Geller, and others, so a feared boycott never arose. The only allusion to the non-secular lunch

venue was Gary Mueller who marveled at “a Methodist Minister preaching in a Baptist Church” as he gave the Invocation.

President butterfly began the festivities at 12:17, assigning the Pledge to Flash, who (quelle surprise) handled it with dignity. Of course, a chorus of “Hello, Bob” greeted Epstein’s

vociferous rendition. No one was credited with greeting as we all shared that function with one another. Sergeant Jenkins couldn’t resist commenting on last week’s display of xenophobia. He said he couldn’t remember a talk

that generated more conversation about who and what we are. After several such discussions with friends, Skip said that he appreciates Rotary even more for the prosperity, hope, and peace that Rotary brings to all peoples around the world regardless of their faiths or creeds.

Clarence Gilmore from Plano West Rotary made his annual appearance, hawking $8 per pound shelled pecans to benefit Plano Scholars. He sold out regardless of the controversy he raised with some members seeking

pee’khans while others sought pee-kans’. Jeff Frauenheim stumped for Memorial Elementary and its need for Mentors. (Sainted Editor is one, but his mentee treats their time together as recess, so not a whole lot of mentoring gets accomplished.) He mentioned that Shepherd Elementary, his own Citizen of the Month school, has the same need, and that we can read the flyer he provided to learn how to contact a school counselor in this regard.Patti Schwartz noted that the Angel Tree was ready this day. She said there were 20 angels on it from Memorial Elementary. (But they must

have included siblings, as Sainted Editor got a 3-year-old.) Patti told us that we could have our pick of genders and ages. She would provide us with a large (garbage) bag to collect the gifts to be returned to a Rotary meeting by December 11th.Evelyn Molina told us of a networking event to be held from 5 to 7:30 pm on Thursday, November 19th (today, as you read this) at the Heard Museum (John Ernst’s old stomping grounds) for 500 people. (500 people ought to nearly overwhelm the Heard Museum!) Anyone interested was urged to take home one of the provided flyers or contact the Chamber of Commerce (presumably McKinney?). Shawn Foster lamented his poorly-posed picture in the last Bulletin, obligating Sainted Editor to choose this week’s more carefully. Shawn arose to introduce David M. Epperson, a Resident Fellow in the Center for Finance Strategy Innovation at the University of Texas at Dallas.

http://www.utdallas.edu/centers/cfsi

David earned his MBA at UT Austin and has travelled the world (Australia and South Africa) in search of innovation in finance. He would speak to us on the current funding sources for

S

continued on page 3

Ask Not For Whom the Road Tolls continued…“Road Infrastructure Finance.” After the talk, David kindly

offered to supply Sainted Editor with a copy of his presentation to steal for this bulletin. Unfortunately, Sainted Editor was (failing at) multitasking (emailing on his iPhone while out on his morning constitutional) and deleted the file before saving it! He mentioned something about winning the Darwin Award for that.

David told us Texas, with its population of 20 million, is akin to a European country. Of course, you can travel for a day and cross the borders of a dozen European countries, but “the sun is riz; the sun is set, and here we is in Texas yet” as the old doggerel goes. By 2030, it is estimated that Texas will exceed 40 million! And we aren’t going to do that with fecundity (although that might be fun), but rather we will accomplish the expansion with an influx of auslanders.

Texas, after all, is weathering the Rotten Economy (thank you, Phil G r a m m ) better than any other region of the country. The job situation may be bad, but it is considerably worse elsewhere, driving jobseekers here…literally. Because when they come, they bring their automobiles, taxing the capacity of Texas’ highways and byways.

http://texas2030committee/tamu.edu

The 2030 Committee, created to analyze just such problems, notes that the “lane miles” are not keeping up with the “drive miles.” Indeed, their estimates of infrastructure cost for maintaining adequate roads in Texas is about $14 billion ($11 billion is the State’s share). But we’re actually spending only $9 B, leaving us $5 B short. Even with bond sales, the State is still woefully short. The State gas tax is currently 20¢/gallon with 1¢ going to the State Comptroller, 5¢ going to support schools, and the remainder landing in the lap of TxDOT for maintenance of roads. Conspiracy theorist point to the 15% of that money diverted for purposes other than intended, but those are just loans that get paid back, so it’s just a cash flow problem. The Federal gas tax is 18.4¢/gallon, but Texas ranks dead last among all the states in the recovery of those funds at 89% and $5 B lost! Since the average car produces 2.5¢ per driven mile now, the State would capture about $100 million for every 1¢ increase in

the gas tax. Put another way, each 1¢ increase generates $0.1 billion revenue. Since we need $5.0 billion, we’d have to drive the tax up an additional 50¢/gallon to make up the shortfall. Texas legislators would rather eat their children than propose any such increase. (See Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal.) The problem is that the gas tax was never indexed for inflation. Had it been so indexed from the get-go, it would be 85¢/gallon by now, which would, of course, have closed the gap. But the children of Texas legislators are safe from infanticide, and the gap persists. It’s amusing to note that Texas has a gas tax lower than almost any other state, whereas in Europe, gas taxes can exceed the cost of the fuel (100 %+)! The North Dallas Toll Authority started in the 60s, but it never created a “sinking fund” for the maintenance of roads. However, it did provide for the development of toll roads. Although the perception is that “toll roads are taking over the State,” in reality, only about 7% of the mileage, where toll roads are possible, have actually been captured by them. Comprehensive Development Agreements (CDAs) have created such public/private cooperative toll roads. (Texas forbids private ownership of its roadways.) They are economically justified in major urban centers, but they usually arise from unrealistic expectations for vehicular traffic. Thus many such projects fail, taking the private investment with them, and, in a rare turn of events, benefitting the public anyway. (Contrast that to recent bank failures.)

Apparently American investors are far more wary of such risky, quasi-governmental “enterprises,” because the majority of the projects find their funding overseas. Spain predominates since Spaniards have been at such projects since the days of Franco. (See Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Road Tolls.) Public acceptance is critical for Public/

Private Partnerships, so transparency is their most important aspect. The public needs to know that, in contrast to brokerage firms, toll roads involve investor risk but public gain, not the other way around. Bob Botts wanted to know about the traffic at the Lake Lewisville Bridge, but David didn’t know. Lenny asked about that with the George Bush Turnpike, and he was told that it is one of the rare ones that have exceeded all expectations. In response to a question about substitutes for oil, David remarked that asphalt, a byproduct of oil production, depends upon the price of oil. Randy wanted to know if there were plans to meter highway travel by miles and weight, tolling accordingly. David said that those experiments were currently in progress in Kansas, but vehicular GPS monitoring has privacy ramifications. But he expects such procedures to be common in 20 to 30 years. Cary asked about telecommuting and was told it has gone the

GuesTs:Guest: Guest of: Kip Moravec Jeff Frauenheim

Frank Whitney Evelyn Molina

way of the paperless office. Susan told David about the flashlight he’d earned but could not keep. Then she informed us that we needn’t recycle our plastic utensils, but we would have to bus our own dishes. She emphasized that we’d have no Rotary meeting on Thanksgiving, and, when challenged, admitted that Christmas and New Year’s were missing from our Rotary calendar as well. Then Susan hitched up her courage and congratulated Karen MacDonald on her Panthers heading for the playoffs. Had Doyle Dean been present, she’d have wished him luck in the same endeavor. “It’s hard for me to say how proud I am of Plano.” Badgered from all sides, Susan conceded that Wylie might make the playoffs NEXT year when it becomes an AAAA team. Someone unkind said the same was true

of Scary Bob’s fantasy football team. Susan gave herself an award for the least distance travelled to the luncheon today, noted Howard’s absence, led us in the Four Way Test, and tolled the bell for thee at 1:04.

If Texas were a country, its economy would

be the 15th in the world!

Member NEWS

The 4 Way Test:Of the things we think, say, and do:

1. Is it the truth?2. Is it fair to all concerned?3. Will it build goodwill & better friendships?4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

Know someone who would make a great Rotarian?

Invite them to be your guest at Rotary!

AWARDS:

Harold Sullivan Award Chris Parr

Athena Award Alice Hobbs

Fred Moses Award Richard Butterly

Business Executive of the Year Ray Huffines

Kersey Cane Holder Earl Simpkins

Citizen of the Year: Beth and Duncan Webb

Rotary Make Up Website: www.rotaryeclubone.org

New Member Proposals:

AbseNT:

VIsITING RoTARIANs:Name Home Club Classification: Clarence Gilmore

Plano West Pharmaceuticals

plano rotary club board of directors

2008-2009president Susan Shulerpresident elect John ErnstVice president Brad Shanklinsecretary Lenny Schwartztreasurer Karla Oliverpast president Rick Maucierisergeant at arms Skip Jenkinsmembership chair Nathan Barberamembership Vice chair Ben Cristeservice chair David Ellisservice Vice chair LB Showalterpublic relations chair Mehrnaz Iranmehr public relations Vice chair Bob Bauer club admin. chair Camille Usseryclub admin Vice chair Octavio OrtizFoundation David AllisonFoundation Vice chair Earl Simpkinsat Large Chris Parr Ean Sullivan Boyd Craig Earnest Burke Kenny Wilson Kirk Bell Casey Stewart bulletin editor Chris Parrbulletin photographer Barry Bentonbulletin designer Kim Oliva AlphagraphicsPrinting by Alphagraphics Park & CoitThe Plano Rotary Club PO Box 864316 Plano, Texas 75086 972.596.2585

Ask Not For Whom the Road Tolls continued…

PLANO ROTARY FANTASY FOOTBALL LEAGUE STANDINGS

(week 10)NFC Division1. Marshall Johnson.....6:42. David Allison...........6:43. Nathan Barbera.......5:54. Brad Shanklin..........5:55. Gerald Brence..........4:66. Bob Epstein..............3:7AFC Division1. Martin Jackson........7:32. Ben Criste................6:43. Mark Waterbury......5:54. Ean Sullivan.............5:55. Michael Baldwin......5:56. John Ernst................3:7

Photographer Barry Benton is resigning from the Club due to business considerations. These pages will be graced henceforth by Charles’ and Ean’s photos.

Alex Johnson Mark Johnson Rick Kasmiskie J. Marc Lewis Jim Monroe Tom Muehlenbeck Karla Oliver Octavio Ortiz, III Doug Otto John Pittman Harry Polly Ken Roberts Jamie Schell Ken Sellers Brad Shanklin John Shao Howard Shapiro Earl Simpkins Jim Smith Lissa Smith Camille Ussery Jo Via Mark Waterbury Sarah Watkins George Wong James Youngblood

Charles Awalt Nathan Barbera Gary Base Kirk Bell Gerald Brence Ben Criste G. A. Davidson Maribelle Davis Doyle Dean Lee Dunlap Phil Dyer John Edwards IIIDavid Ellis John Ernst Hugo Esparza Bruce Glasscock Al Godwin Rutledge Haggard Dave Hammel Wayne Hendrick Alice Hobbs Herb Hoxie Sr.Martin Jackson Matt Jackson Olin Jaye

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President | CHUCK MORGAN, CSA, MBA

4100 Spring Val ley Rd., Sui te 500Dal las, Texas 75244

P. 972.267.8181F. 972.267.8180E. chuck.morgan@morganlegacygroup.comW. www.MorganLegacyGroup.com