Mariann Staupp, this year's Exchangite of the Year, invites members of the Exchange Club of San Jose to a spaghetti dinner at her house. If you have not told Rob Nuddleman if you prefer September 7th or September 14th, contact him now or be sure to show up at the 8/17 meeting where we will vote on our preferred date. Everyone should make an effort to come to Mariann's house because she has supported the Exchange Club of San Jose for many, many years.
August 28, 2004 Development Meeting
On August 28th, at 2:00 p.m. we will have our annual Development Meeting at Dan Webb's house. The Development Meeting is where we decide which projects we are going to work on and what resources are necessary to get the projects done. Everyone should make an effort to be there so they can make sure they get on the project they want.
There will be a Pot Luck BBQ after the meeting. Spouses and significant others are welcome!
Dan Webb has Football Pool Tickets from the District. For a $25.00 donation, you get a booklet with the opportunity to win $50.00 on each game shown in the booklet. There are 20 games in each book. The money raised goes toward the District Youth Programs. $5.00 from each booklet sold goes directly to our local club's project fund. Contact Dan for more information
Captains On Deck!
Date
Captain
Invocator
Finemaster
Speaker
Topic
8/17 Griego Jeffrey Pluff Jim Helm Transportation Issues in Santa Clara County 8/24 NO MEETING 8/31 Keys McReynolds Mowbray Christian Black Moral Code 9/7 Nuddleman Font Radunich Jeff Wynn Useful Household Tidbits 9/14 BOARD MEETING 9/21 Brandon Formusa Brown Terry Christensen Recall: The Aftermath! 9/28 NO MEETING 10/5 Font Griego Hall
Covenant of Service
Accepting the divine privilege, of single and collective responsibility as life's noblest gift, I covenant with my fellow Exchangites:
To consecrate my best energies to the uplifting of Social, Religious, Political and Business ideals;
To discharge the debt I owe to those of high and low estate who have served and sacrificed that the heritage of American citizenship might be mine;
To honor and respect law, to serve my fellow men, and to uphold the ideals and institutions of my Country;
To implant the life-giving, society-building spirit of Service and Comradeship in my social and business relationships;
To better serve in Unity with those seeking better conditions, better understanding and greater opportunities for all.
Top
Paraskevidekatriaphobia: Fear of Friday the 13th
From http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/02/0212_040212_friday13.html#main
This Friday some people will be so paralyzed with fear they simply won't get out of bed. Others will steadfastly refuse to fly on an airplane, buy a house, or act on a hot stock tip. It's Friday the 13th, and they're freaked out.
"It's been estimated that [U.S]
$800 or $900 million is lost in business on this day because people will not
fly or do business they would normally do," said Donald Dossey, founder
of the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina.
Among other services, Dossey's organization counsels clients on how to overcome
fear of Friday the 13th, a phobia that he estimates afflicts 17 to 21 million
people in the United States.
Symptoms range from mild anxiety
to full-blown panic attacks. The latter may cause people to reshuffle schedules
or miss an entire day's work. When
it comes to bad luck of any kind, Richard Wiseman—a psychologist at the
University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield, England—found that people who
consider themselves unlucky are more likely to believe in superstitions associated
with bad luck. "Their beliefs and behavior are likely to be part of a much
bigger worldview," he said. "They will believe that luck is a magical
force and that it can ruin their lives."
Wiseman found that one quarter of
the 2,068 people questioned in a 2003 survey associate the number 13 with bad
luck. People with such feelings, he found, are more likely to be anxious on
days like Friday the 13th and thus more prone to have accidents. In other words,
being afraid of Friday the 13th could be their undoing.
Ominous Number
So how did Friday the 13th become
such an unlucky day? Dossey, also a folklore historian and author of Holiday
Folklore, Phobias and Fun, said fear of Friday the 13th is rooted in ancient,
separate bad-luck associations with the number 13 and the day Friday. The two
unlucky entities ultimately combined to make one super unlucky day. Dossey
traces the fear of 13 to a Norse myth about 12 gods having a dinner party at
Valhalla, their heaven. In walked the uninvited 13th guest, the mischievous
Loki. Once there, Loki arranged for Hoder, the blind god of darkness, to shoot
Balder the Beautiful, the god of joy and gladness, with a mistletoe-tipped arrow.
"Balder died and the whole
Earth got dark. The whole Earth mourned. It was a bad, unlucky day," said
Dossey. From that moment on, the number 13 has been considered ominous and foreboding.
There is also a biblical reference
to the unlucky number 13. Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th
guest to the Last Supper. Meanwhile, in ancient Rome, witches reportedly gathered
in groups of 12. The 13th was believed to be the devil. Thomas Fernsler, an
associate policy scientist in the Mathematics and Science Education Resource
Center at the University of Delaware in Newark, said the number 13 suffers because
of its position after 12.
According to Fernsler, numerologists
consider 12 a "complete" number. There are 12 months in a year, 12
signs of the zodiac, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 tribes of
Israel, and 12 apostles of Jesus. In exceeding 12 by 1, Fernsler said 13's association
with bad luck "has to do with just being a little beyond completeness.
The number becomes restless or squirmy."
This fear of 13 is strong in today's world. According to Dossey, more than 80
percent of high-rises lack a 13th floor. Many airports skip the 13th gate. Hospitals
and hotels regularly have no room number 13.
On streets in Florence, Italy, the
house between number 12 and 14 is addressed as 12 and a half. In France socialites
known as the quatorziens (fourteeners) once made themselves available as 14th
guests to keep a dinner party from an unlucky fate.
Many triskaidekaphobes, as those who fear the unlucky integer are known, point
to the ill-fated mission to the moon, Apollo 13.
As for Friday, it is well known among Christians as the day Jesus was crucified.
Some biblical scholars believe Eve tempted Adam with the forbidden fruit on
Friday. Perhaps most significant is a belief that Abel was slain by Cain on
Friday the 13th.
Phobia Cures: So, what are triskaidekaphobes
to do? Dossey said "practical" cures are as simple as learning to
refocus one's thoughts from negative feelings to positive. His mantra: "What
you think about, you begin to feel. What you feel generates what you do. And
what you do creates how you will become." In other words, those stricken
with negative thoughts about Friday the 13th need to learn how to focus on pleasant
thoughts. Those, in turn, will create pleasant feelings that make one's fears
less overwhelming, according to Dossey. "They haven't lost their mind.
They've lost control of their mind," Dossey said of triskaidekaphobes.
"They are focused in the wrong direction. In their mind they have a big,
large, looming picture of something horrible that could happen."
Wiseman, the University of Hertfordshire
psychologist, offers similar advice to those stricken with the fear of Friday
the 13th.
"They need to realize that they have the ability to create much of their
own good and bad luck," he said. "And they should concentrate on being
lucky by, for example, looking on the bright side of events in their lives,
remembering the good things that have happened, and, most of all, be[ing] prepared
to take control of their future." Folklore offers other remedies, however.
One recommendation is to climb to the top of a mountain or skyscraper and burn
all the socks you own that have holes in them. Another is to stand on your head
and eat a piece of gristle.
So if you fear the 13th, take your pick of remedies and let tomorrow bring its luck—good or bad.
Dates for Your Calendar
President: Dan Webb; President-Elect: Steve Radunich; Immediate Past President: Jerry Hall; Secretary/Treasurer: Rob Nuddleman
Board of Directors for 2004-2006 Term: Phil Griego, Roger Brandon
Board of Directors for 2003-2005 Term: Lynda Brown
