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Call to Order — President David Lin called the meeting to order and led in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Invocation – Dave Hunter - We thank Thee, Lord, for this food, which nourishes our bodies, for the faith which restores our souls, and for these friends who enrich our lives. Amen. Vittles – Spaghetti and meat balls, mixed vegetables, salad and toppings, garlic bread and butter, dessert, tea and coffee.

Attendance – 25 members, 3 visitors. Guests – John and Sarah (grandkids of Weldon); Larry (guest of Fonda)

Birthdays – No birthdays. Lions Report – No report; If you are ill or know a fellow Lion that is under the weather, please call Pat at 586-4535.

Lottery – Sarah won the $13 lottery.

Announcements – Weldon announced Tootsie Pop Day May 4-5; 56 spaces are open for volunteers.

Rich announced that Saturday April 28 our club will have the water station for the Marathon.

Ted announced that Sight and Sound Swepstakes is coming to a close in April. The Bowling Social on April 7th also brought in some money for our charities.

at Old Orchard Lanes in Savoy… the Few, the Proud.

Program – Charlie introduced Dr. Tom Ramage, President of Parkland College.

Dr. Ramage stated that enrollment is up 22% since about 2007, which typically increases during recessions. Funding differs from that at UIUC. Parkland has 3 sources, State (11%), property taxes (35%), tuition (~50%).

The state’s portion has continually declined. Fortunately, the state’s payments are current. The tax assessment has remained steady but tuition is allowed to increase in a very planned approach so people can plan ahead.

Tuition is $107 per credit hour for in district; $152 for out of distict and over $400 for out-of-country. About 25% of students come from outside of county, primarily Chicago and they enroll in criminal justice and business.

Nursing is also popular but there are only 53 slots open each year for over 1000 applicants. Faculty pools are very good but in Nursing the faculty are in demand. Industrial maintenance is also growing in collaboration with Kraft. They have 9 sports on campus, some of which are paid for by student fees.

Starting salary for instructors at Parkland is $50,000. Salaries depend upon experience and level of degrees. Collision repair faculty are also hard to find. The last original faculty member just retired after 45 years. Our Teachers are 100% focused on being good teachers.

Building plans are long range and one is for the automotive programs. What about the Institue of Aviation? A team at Parkland is meeting with the UI to make sure the major problems can be overcome.

Parkland has 10,600 students enrolled, but they serve about 22,000 per year. About 2000 students from Eastern Illinois are enrolled in Parkland also. Transfer of credits is very easy for acceptance to the University of Illinois.

Tail Twister – Omer asked

John to carry the bucket.

He fined Weldon for the lottery that was won by his granddaughter. Weldon also bragged about his granddaughter being selected for cheer leading.

He fined David for bragging about his bowling score;

Kathy and her table for the highest score of the women bowling;

and Ted for the birth of his first granddaughter.

Gordy’s GotchasGordy’s Gotchas

Each week, Gordy provides us with a quiz question. The Lion who can telephone Gordy at 355-0566 first with the correct answer will be recognized as the winner in our next Chatter.

This week’s question: What member left our club to start another and took several of our members ?

La Triviata

Last week’s winner, with 10 right out of a possible 12, was…

Our Club Past President, Nomy Sharief up in Wisconsin

Last week’s question: In the last 5 years eleven of our members have died. Can you name 6 of them?

La Triviata

April 18 - Angie Armstrong – CU 1 to 1 Mentoring

Greeters: Weldon and Ted

April 25 - To be announced

May 1 - Board Meeting

Coming up

Thank you for watching

Editor

Rex Hess

Publisher

David Hunter

To email Dave with your comments, click here → hunter4000@comcast.net

To go to the our website, click here → http://www.champaignlions.org/