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HP/AGILENT ALUMNI CLUB NEWSLETTER HP/AGILENT ALUMNI CLUB MINUTES – 3/3/2009 The March 3, 2009 meeting of the HP/Agilent Alumni Club was called to order at 1:30 pm by President Joetta Hoewisch. The minutes for the last meeting, as published in the newsletter, were approved as written and filed, with the correction of Pat Bestgen’s name. Treasurer Laura Mattison gave her report: “Hard to believe it is only March when it feels like summer. Tulips and daffodils are all poking their heads out of the ground. They say water the grass and trees. Well, the trees are starting to show they are coming out of their winter sleep. Even the birds are twitter-patting, and the squirrels are flying around in the trees. But, I always seem to get off track when I get up here. We had a total of 172 members when I came into the meeting. We have added seven renewals and two new members. Our club membership now totals 181.” Laura’s treasurer’s report was filed. There were 39 attendees, including: Jan Allen, Mary Lou and Les Bailey, Pat Bestgen, George Blinn, Roger Christiansen, John Clayton, Kathy Colyer, Nancy Craig, Gladys and Dennis Dubas, Lorrine Farmer, Stan Farr, June Fritz, Ken Fulton, Molly Gauss, Lois Green, Juanita Hartman, Joetta Hoewisch, Carol Kibel, Anna and Steve Kochis, Pat Korenke, Mark Lambuth, Laura and Freeland Mattison, Wanda and Gerry McGonigle, Lorraine Morgan, Jerry Murphy, Helen Muterspaugh, John Powell, Gary Roberson, Chuck Smart, Mark Smith, Polly Tounzen, John Tulloch, Randy Walters, and Laura Winter First Time Visitors and Now New
Members: Anniversaries: No March anniversaries were announced. Health Updates: Aileen Link fell on March 2nd and broke her ankle. We wish her a speedy recovery. We continue to keep Gayle Hoenig in our thoughts. She had a stroke six weeks ago. For those who would like to send her a Get Well card, she will be moving to the Aspen Living Center, 1795 Monterey Road, Colorado Springs, CO 80915. PROGRAM Mary Beth Williams, Director of the GrandFriends program at District 11, spoke from a wheelchair due to a recent hip replacement. Here are some of her comments about the program. “District 11 has a lot of community involvement and we are always looking for more community volunteers. Mark Lambuth is one of our volunteers.” Mark Lambuth, a GrandFriends volunteer, talked about his experiences, saying, “I’ve worked with different-sized groups. This year, I’m working with a whole class of fourth graders. I can go outside the curriculum, unlike the teachers who have to strictly adhere to it.” Mary Beth Williams continued, “You’re also a mentor when you volunteer. The GrandFriend program matches retirees in the community with our young people in our schools. The kids love having another person in their lives, spending time with them. They love it. You can volunteer as little as one hour a week in the program. It’s your choice. “In our district overall, 45-46% of our students are classified as low-income, utilizing our reduced and free lunch programs. The kindergarteners come with very little enrichment. English learners are increasing each year. While a huge percentage of English-learning students speak Spanish, we have more than 50 different languages spoken in our schools. It is fascinating, but does present challenges. “UCCS Reading Specialist, Dr. Barbara Swaby, reported that kindergarteners who come from middle- and higher-income families have been read to for 15,000 to 17,000 hours. Low-income kids often receive zero to 25 hours of reading time. Not being read to makes a huge difference in readiness for school. “GrandFriends are very important in our district. They work with students of all ages, even in adult education. We place a huge emphasis on literacy in the elementary grades. GrandFriends also help students with math, and those working in the adult education area help adults learn English. “These kids that GrandFriends help are not bad kids, or stupid kids, they are just kids who need help. The importance of GrandFriends became apparent to me when I heard a third grader talk about her reading buddy. She said, ‘I hate school; I only want to come to school on the day my buddy is here.’ “To volunteer, you come for an interview. There is always a potential for a background check as our district conducts random background checks. You pick the grade you prefer, and school location, if you have a preference. “The great thing about this program is that it’s fun. You will find it very rewarding. You really can make a difference in these kids’ lives. “Scheduling is very flexible. Even when you commit to a schedule that suits you, there are always allowances for any travel plans and other absences. We send out a newsletter about training and upcoming events to GrandFriends volunteers. “Education has really changed over the last five or six years. The challenges teachers and staff face, and those the students face, are many. “Remember, you can try it, and if it works, great, or you can choose not to continue if you don’t enjoy being a GrandFriend. “You do not have to live in District 11 to be a volunteer. We have people from a lot of surrounding school districts that don’t have this program. We’re the only district doing the GrandFriends program. We celebrate with an awards dinner for our GrandFriends at the end of each school year. “People from all walks of life volunteer for this program. You don’t have to be an ex-teacher. Some volunteers spend 20 hours a week volunteering because they enjoy it so much. You can come for an hour, or two hours or three hours per week. It’s your choice. You can help in the library. We have about 270 GrandFriends spread across our 51 schools. “As a GrandFriend, you come into the classroom, sit in an area of the class, and the teacher will help you determine which kids to help and what to do. “Surprisingly, it has been documented that from sampling third grade reading scores, officials can predict how many prison beds they’ll need in the future. Reading is that important. “District 11 is the only district in Colorado that has seen an increase in its CSAP scores.” Mary Beth Williams then asked if there were any questions she could answer. She received enthusiastic applause for her presentation. A sheet of paper was passed around for anyone who wants to volunteer as a GrandFriend. Mary Beth Williams can be reached at 520-2311. ANNOUNCEMENTS Mark Smith thanked Mark Lambuth for suggesting today’s program. Mark Smith also announced that the April 7th meeting program will be Bonnie Riley from PILLAR, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization offering enrichment through lifelong learning. Mark mentioned that June Fritz recommended the April program. Mark welcomes suggestions from members for future programs. Joetta thanked Randy Walters for volunteering as Web Master for our club. You can see his handiwork at www.hpagilentalumni.org and access past newsletters with the correct username and password. Members who have not paid their 2009 dues can send their check for $5.00, payable to HP REC. Send it to: HP/Agilent Alumni Club, c/o Colorado Springs Senior Center, 1514 North Hancock Avenue, Colorado Springs, CO 80903. Joetta announced that the club was given the picture of HP Founders Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard that was hanging at the podium during the meeting. Joetta will bring it to meetings. Joetta asked if there is interest in some group trips. She has been checking into some options. Members encouraged Joetta to continue with her research and report back at a future meeting. Jerry Murphy suggested a visit to the Big Cat Sanctuary out east of town. He and his family visited there recently and enjoyed it very much. He recalled the cost was about $10.00 a person. Joetta mentioned that there are still openings for greeters in July and September and volunteers for refreshments needed for July and November. Contact a club officer if you wish to volunteer for one of these openings. Joetta thanked Mark Smith for being the greeter, assisted by Pat Korenke and June Fritz. She also thanked Nancy Craig for providing the refreshments. Nancy also thanked Laura Mattison for her help with the refreshments. The greeter for April will be Roger Christiansen. Claudia Christiansen and Evelyn Wall will provide the refreshments. Regular Monthly Meeting Events Door Prizes: Winning five Lotto tickets each were Ken Fulton and Gerry McGonigle. Helen Muterspaugh won a box of Patsy’s Chocolates. The meeting was adjourned at 2:25 pm. WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBERS We have 3 new members this month, and have now reached 183 for total. We met John Powell (his wife's name is Chardell) at the March meeting, and he became a new member. He worked 25 years for Hewlett Packard in the Facility Maintenance Dept. John took a day off from his job working for the County to be able to come to a meeting, and join. His interests since leaving HP is continuing to work and work some more. We are happy to have you John as a member of the HP/Agilent Alumni Club. Also joining at the meeting on the 3rd was Bob Miranda and his wife, Anne. He joined and Anne said next month she will join. They are a very cute couple; all smiles. Bob worked for HP/Agilent a total of 34.5 years in Computer Support and the R & D Lab. Bob retired in Oct. 2003 and finally retired from FedEx last November. He enjoys camping fishing, trailer traveling, dogs (he has 4), and also plays bass with the band "Pulpit Fiction". Another new member is Hubert (Hub) Brown, who sent in his application by mail. He is married to Star Doan, and he is still working at Target as Security Officer. Hub worked for many years in CRT and later as a photographer taking many product and assembly process photos. Hobbies are photography of all kinds, and more work. We will look forward to Hub attending one of the meetings soon so we can meet him in person.
GREETER & REFRESHMENT LIST
GREETER REFRESHMENTS
HISTORY
OF INCOME TAX IN THE U.S.
Ancient Times
Egyptians were not the only ancient people to hate tax collectors. Ancient Sumerians had a proverb, "You can have a lord, you can have a king, but the man to fear is the tax collector!"
Resistance to
Taxation A much less gory example of resistance to taxes is the story of Lady Godiva. Although many may remember that in the legend, Lady Godiva of the 11th century rode through the town of Coventry naked, most probably do not remember that she did so to protest her husband's harsh taxes on the people. Perhaps the most famous historical incident that relates to the resistance to taxes was the Boston Tea Party in Colonial America. In 1773, a group of colonists, dressed as Native Americans, boarded three English ships moored in Boston Harbor. These colonists then spent hours smashing the ships' cargo, wooden chests filled with tea, and then throwing the damaged boxes over the side of the ships. American colonists had been heavily taxed for over a decade with such legislation from Great Britain as the Stamp Act of 1765 (which added taxes to newspapers, permits, playing cards, and legal documents) and the Townsend Act of 1767 (which added taxes to paper, paint, and tea). The colonists threw the tea over the side of the ships to protest what they saw as the very unfair practice of "taxation without representation." Taxation, one might argue, was one of the major injustices that led directly to the American War for Independence. Thus, the leaders of the newly created United States had to be very careful as to how and exactly what they taxed. Alexander Hamilton, the new U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, needed to find a way to collect money to lower the national debt, created by the American Revolution. In 1791, Hamilton, balancing the need of the federal government to collect money and the sensitivity of the American people, decided to create a "sin tax," a tax placed on an item society feels is a vice. The item chosen for the tax was distilled spirits. Unfortunately, the tax was seen as unfair by those on the frontier who distilled more alcohol, especially whiskey, than their eastern counterparts. Along the frontier, isolated protests eventually led to an armed revolt, known as the Whiskey Rebellion. Revenue for War Alexander Hamilton was not the first man in history with the dilemma of how to raise money to pay for war. The need for a government to be able to pay for troops and supplies in wartime had been a major reason for ancient Egyptians, Romans, medieval kings, and governments around the world to increase taxes or to create new ones. Although these governments had often been creative in their new taxes, the concept of an income tax had to wait for the modern era. Income taxes (requiring individuals to pay a percentage of their income to the government, often on a graduated scale) required the ability to retain extremely detailed records. Throughout most of history, keeping track of individual records would have been a logistical impossibility. Thus, the implementation of an income tax was not found until 1799 in Great Britain. The new tax, viewed as a temporary one, was needed to help the British raise money to fight the French forces led by Napoleon. The U.S. government faced a similar dilemma during the War of 1812. Based on the British model, the U.S. government considered raising money for the war through an income tax. However, the war ended before the income tax was officially enacted. The idea of creating an income tax resurfaced during the American Civil War. Again considered a temporary tax to raise money for a war, Congress passed the Revenue Act of 1861 which instituted an income tax. However, there were so many problems with the details of the income tax law that income taxes were not collected until the law was revised the following year in the Tax Act of 1862. In addition to adding taxes on feathers, gunpowder, billiard tables, and leather, the Tax Act of 1862 specified that the income tax would require those that earned up to $10,000 to pay the government three percent of their income while those that made over $10,000 would pay five percent. Also notable was the inclusion of a $600 standard deductible. The income tax law was amended several times over the next few years and eventually fully repealed in 1872. Beginnings of a Permanent Income Tax In the 1890s, the U.S. federal government was beginning to rethink its general taxation plan. Historically, most of its revenue had been from taxing imported and exported goods as well as taxes on the sale of specific products. Realizing that these taxes were increasingly bearing on only a select portion of the population, mostly the less affluent, the U.S. federal government began looking for a more even way to distribute the tax burden. Thinking that a graduated-scale income tax placed upon all citizens of the United States would be a fair way to collect taxes, the federal government attempted to enact a country-wide income tax in 1894. However, because at that time all federal taxes had to be based on state population, the income tax law was found unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1895. To create a permanent income tax, the Constitution of the United States needed to be changed. In 1913, the 16th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified. This amendment eliminated the need to base federal taxes on state population by stating: "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration." In October of 1913, the same year the 16th Amendment was ratified, the federal government enacted its first permanent income tax law. Also in 1913, the first Form 1040 was created. Today, the IRS processes more than 140 million returns annually and collects more than $1.3 trillion in taxes on individual income. Now you might be interested in how the tax rates in that first year compared to today's. Here's how it all started. And remember, a dollar was a lot of money then. The initial tax Form 1040 was a single page. Of course, everyone had to pay a share of the taxes in the beginning, as opposed to today when more than a third of our citizens pay nothing, and perhaps get a refund anyway.
Tariff Act of
October 3, 1913
Married Filing
Jointly
Tax
Rate Over But Not Over TAX HUMOR … AN OXYMORON Do you realize that some tax forms ask you to check a box if you are BLIND? This country is as free today as it ever was. . . unless, of course, you happen to be a taxpayer.
President Herbert Hoover was the first President to give his salary back to the government. Now the government would like everybody to do it.
The income tax forms have been simplified beyond all understanding.
The average man knows as much about the atomic bomb as he does about his income-tax form.
What the present income-tax form needs is a section which would explain the explanations.
It is difficult to predict the future of an economy in which it takes more brains to figure out the tax on our income than it does to earn it.
In 1913 Uncle Sam collected only 13 million dollars in income taxes. That's why they were called the "good old days."
There was a time when $1200 would buy a car. Now it's the sales tax.
Did you ever notice? When you put the 2 words "The" and "IRS" together it spells: "THEIRS."
A man pays a luxury tax on a leather billfold, an income tax on the stuff he puts into it, and a sales tax when he takes the stuffing out of it.
There is nothing more permanent than a temporary tax.
A man admitted he lied on his income-tax return - he listed himself as the head of the household!
While driving in Pennsylvania, a family caught up to an Amish carriage. The owner of the carriage obviously had a sense of humor, because attached to the back of the carriage was a hand printed sign... 'Energy Efficient Vehicle: Runs on oats and grass. Caution: Do not step in exhaust.' The teacher of the earth science class was lecturing on map reading. After explaining about latitude, longitude, degrees and minutes the teacher asked, "Suppose I asked you to meet me for lunch at 23 degrees, 4 minutes north latitude and 45 degrees, 15 minutes east longitude...?" After a confused silence, a voice volunteered, "I guess you'd be eating alone." A blonde woman goes to the post office to buy stamps for her Christmas cards. She says to the clerk, "May I have 50 Christmas stamps?" The clerk says, "What denomination?" The woman says, "God help us. Has it come to this? Give me 6 Catholic, 12 Presbyterian, 10 Lutheran and 22 Baptists." A minister parked his car in a no-parking zone in a large city because he was short of time and couldn't find a space with a meter. Then he put a note under the windshield wiper that read: 'I have circled the block 10 times. If I don't park here, I'll miss my appointment. Forgive us our trespasses.' When he returned, he found a citation from a police officer along with this note. 'I've circled this block for 10 years. If I don't give you a ticket I'll lose my job. Lead us not into temptation.' When told the reason for daylight saving time the old Indian said.... "Only a politician would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket and sew it to the bottom of a blanket and have a longer blanket." Little Billy wasn't getting good marks in school. One day he surprised the teacher with an announcement. He tapped her on the shoulder and said, "I don't want to SCARE YOU, but my daddy says if I don't start getting better grades, somebody is going to get a spanking!"
"Wal-Mart?" the preacher exclaimed. "Why Wal-Mart?"
"Then I'll be sure my daughters visit me twice a week"
ADVICE FROM TWO EXPERTS You are all familiar with Martha Stewart. Many of you are probably also fans of Maxine, the comic strip character. Here's some advice from both of them on common situations any homemaker may face. Martha's Advice: Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugar cone to prevent ice cream drips. Maxine's Advice: Just suck the ice cream out of the bottom of the cone, for Pete's sake! You are probably lying on the couch with your feet up eating it, anyway! Martha's Advice: To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes. Maxine's Advice: Buy Hungry Jack mashed potato mix and you can, keep it in the pantry for up to a year. Martha's Advice: When a cake recipe calls for flouring the baking pan, use a bit of the dry cake mix instead and there won't be any white mess on the outside of the cake. Maxine's Advice: Go to the bakery! They'll even decorate it for you. Martha's Advice: If you accidentally over salt a dish while it's still cooking, drop in a peeled potato and it will absorb the excess salt for an instant "fix-me-up." Maxine's
Advice: If you over salt a dish while you are cooking, that's too bad.
Please recite with me the real woman's motto: "I made it and you will
eat it and I don't care how bad it tastes!" Maxine's Advice: Celery? Never heard of it! Martha's Advice: Brush some beaten egg white over pie crust before baking to yield a beautiful glossy finish. Maxine's Advice: The Mrs. Smith frozen pie directions do not include brushing egg whites over the crust, so I don't. Martha's Advice: Cure for headaches: Take a lime, cut it in half, and rub it on your forehead. The throbbing will go away. Maxine's Advice: Take a lime, mix it with tequila, chill and drink! Martha's Advice: If you have a problem opening jars, try using latex dishwashing gloves. They give a non-slip grip that makes opening jars easy. Maxine's Advice: Go ask that very cute neighbor if he can open it for you. Martha's Advice: Don't throw out all that leftover wine. Freeze into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces. Maxine's
Advice: Leftover wine??????????? PICTURES FROM THE MARCH MEETING Pictures taken at our most recent meeting will be posted on our Club's website: www.hpagilentalumni.org. From the homepage, click on "Meetings > Photos > March".
SEE
YOU AT OUR TUESDAY, APRIL 7TH |