‘Crucial licensing issues remain to be addressed’

The article Licensing is important to the good name of Rotary in the December, 2005, issue of Rotary Down Under is quite interesting but does not really address some of the crucial issues affecting Rotary clubs. I’m sure that most Rotarians, with their business backgrounds, are well aware of the value of trademarks and would not seek to misuse or devalue the marks of an organisation they have sworn to serve.

A Matatu from Nairobi. They are poorly-maintained and overcrowded vehicles.

However, the relevant sections of the Manual of Procedure have not been amended for many years and perhaps the time has come when they should be reviewed.

In particular, no Rotarian would expect that a non-Rotarian entity or individual should use the marks without prior approval and payment of a royalty or fee.

However, conversely it is not unreasonable to expect that Rotary clubs should be allowed to use the marks in furtherance of their normal fund raising, regardless of whether that fundraiser takes the form of the sale of a product, e.g., wines, Christmas cards, Christmas cakes or other items or the running of other functions, e.g., auctions, antique fairs, markets, etc.

Somehow we seem to have lost the real spirit of Rotary and become overly bureaucratic and legalistic.
Finally, how many Rotarians would be aware that to become a licensee a club must (a) pay an upfront application fee of $US1,000 and submit a sample of the product or item on which the marks will be displayed;
(b) pay a royalty to Rotary International calculated as a percentage of audited gross sales before deduction of expenses;
(c) provide R.I. with an audited list of customers and
(d) report to R.I. the sources of the merchandise sold.
Perhaps it would be helpful to my fellow Rotarians if R.I. could justify its actions by providing statistics on the number of Rotary entities and non-Rotary entities which have been successfully prosecuted for misuse of the Rotary marks, for say, the past five years.
Reg Chirgwin
Past President
Rotary Club of Caringbah, N.S.W.

The hazards of travel in Kenya
In the article titled Colourful Kenya in Rotarian Life (December, 2005) the author refers to "matatus nudging each other" on the streets of Nairobi.

For those who haven't been to East Africa these matatus are not shy young African women having some fun, but they are the inter-city taxis which are a hazard to life and limb wherever you travel in Kenya.

The apt title comes from the Swahili word matata which means trouble. (Hakuna matata or no worries is used in The Lion King).
These taxis have earned their name as they are generally poorly maintained, always overcrowded and always breaking down.
Ron Gray,
Rotary Club of Hamilton, Qld.

Winners are grinners No. 1
I’ve been a stamp collector for more than 60 years, so I was very pleased when Rotary Down Under sent me the collection of 2005 stamps from the Rotary Down Under/Australia Post competition.
Thank you very much for the collection.
John Williams
Rotary Club of Walcha, N.S.W.

Winners are grinners No. 2
Thanks for sending the 2005 collection of Australian Stamps which I won in the Australia Post–Rotary Down Under giveaway.
It is a beautiful and informative publication and, I am sure, will give a lot of future enjoyment.
I hope all at Rotary Down Under have a successful 2006.
John Cook
Rotary Club of Toowoomba, Qld.

Value in Youth Exchange
I was saddened to read Graham Nicholson’s letter titled Is YEP value for money in Mailbox in Rotary Down Under of December, 2005.

Of course it is value. Forget the money. Think of the effort, the overall result.

Past Youth Exchange Program (YEP) students are now reaching the top of their professions. Look at Australia’s ambassador to Germany, the chief of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in Tasmania, surgeons and lawyers, politicians, all of whom take every opportunity to sing the praises of the Rotary Youth Exchange Program and all the influence it had on their lives.

I suggest that failures in the program, and really there are not that many, stem from inadequate preparation.

I have been involved in YEP and we found that a strong letter sent to the incoming student before he/she left home had a profound effect on the student, whether or not he/she had been properly prepared by the sponsor club.

A letter along these lines (after a preliminary greeting) is sent:
‘‘When you come to our country you will find that we speak a different language even if you, too, speak English. We have a culture that is not better, nor worse, but different.
We expect that you will . . .
• Treat your host parents as if they love you, because they will.
• Go to school and adjust to the very different surroundings.
• Go the extra mile, teach us about your country, play in a team.
• Attend Rotary meetings and mix freely with the members.
• Help in the house. Behave as one of the family.
We expect that you will NOT go anywhere without the knowledge or permission of your host parents.
• NOT lock yourself in your room.
• NOT complain about the differences between what it is like there and at home.