Program: Redistricting, An Introduction

Great education!

An excellent discussion. I'm sure I never had it explained so clearlly. I may have been asleep during that civics lesson.

Great meeting and another very informative program. I have been under false assumptions for years.

Very interesting. Thank you for the presentation.

Very interesting -- Ive certainly heard these terms bandied about before, but didn't really understand them. Now I do!

A very interesting program for your neighbour to the North

Redsitricting is clearly a complex process, very interesting.

timely civics lesson

I found Kagle's article very interesting. I've long thought that, in this Information Age, we are heading for information overload and more and more we will be losing out on the naatural beauties of life. I've moved to a very small town in Brazil. Here there are new and wonderful cultural events almost every week. They are well attended. People do not seem to be nembed by the constant barrage of propaganda, news, and other types of information.

I wonder what will happen in Arizona when we get our new seats. We will probably kill each other trying to redistrict them

Very interesting. I appreciated the history lesson at the beginning on the origins of the term gerrymandering (I vaguely recall the history from high school!). It seems that many times, efforts to support one side of partisan politics at the expense of the other side come back to bite both sides equally.

Fascinating article

Very Informitive. One of the better programs. I look forward toi a follow-up to the redistricting plans once the census is concluded.

Wow! What a mess we have to work with. I know here in Texas the district lines look like the GA map. CRAZY. Thanks for the education

It was very interesting.

Re districting seems to be a very complicated issue. Thanks for shedding some light on this

Never knew the orgin of the term gerrymandering. Nicely written article that helps explains how this whole thing works.

yes, interesting non-Rotary topic -- a topic very relavant to us all

Excellent and understanding explanation of redistricting.

I live in California and I can atest to the fact that term limits has caused more problems than they has solved. Before term limits there certainly were Senators and Asemblymembers who were in office far too long, but the current system has created a legislature that does not function well. There is a lack of experience and a lack of statesmanship.

Good meeting with great information.

very intersting

A very informative, basic outline of reapportionment, redistricting and gerrymandering. In terms of population trends, I wonder what, if any, impact the recession (and any shifts it may produce in where people go to find jobs) will have on the 2010 census and the resulting reapportionment of House seats.

I think it's a good idea the formation of this club

Interesting information on redistricting. Thank you.

Hmmm . . . if you wander around in the supporting link provided (the Wikipedia article on Gerrymandering), you find a wide variety of electoral processes. There even seem to be some that might come closer to popular election than ours, by which I mean that its less likely that one can win the most votes but lose the election. I wonder if that only happens in the Presidential election?

I think the program and the introductory story by Joe both remind us of the need to be suspicious when problems seem simple.

the American system is so different to our Aussie way.

Interesting presentation, and for those of us in Arizona, we'll likely pick up two seats in Congress!

None

Very interesting!

great information. Thanks!

Had to do two meetings to get one to work right - not sure what went wrong. Excellent service, though.

I enjoyed both the preface to this meeting with comments on understanding and also the redistricting information which is very timely right now.

Very good, infomative (and timely) program.

I agree with the speaker. Nothing is fair!

Enjoyed the program.

Excellent resource and information. I will recommend to others as well. Thank you.

Makeup for 11/11

Loved the redistricting article. fresh insight into complicated political mess.

Good basic presentation on redistricting. The maps are helpful to understanding.

Very interesting information and program. I always learn something from attending a meeting.

Very interesting meeting, Article "Do you need more information" and "Redistricting, An Introduction"

My first make up on line and it was interesting. I sent a quote to our Club from this meeting.

Great notes on information from the president. The redistricting program was understandable, included informative maps showing population and representation changes. Top quality lessen in the knitty-gritty side of how the democratic works--or not.

Very good and timely topic for our current political climate. A good opportunity for Arizona representatives to step up to their new positions and perhaps move the current health care debate along the lines of their constituents desires.

This was a great meeting - a little history mixed in with very current events. It really helped me better understand the entire process.

I am a new member to this club so am not acclimated to the types of presentations that are "usual" for RECSWUSA. Larry and Rushton have asked I help them with programs so I will do what I can to assist where needed. My experience attending clubs in Maricopa and other Arizona clubs and also as a guest in quite a few in Japan I can say that this presentation, which not focusing on Rotary work, is very much in line with what those clubs provide for programs, "timely issues". One program in Japan was on the Olympics in China which had nothing to do with Rotary but was an interesting presentation from a very famous person. Another in Maricopa was on QWEST's goals for infrastructure development in Maricopa, a rapidly growing city in Arizona, one which I did not feel was particularly interesting. Any comments posted here or sent to Rushton are important to prepare future programs.

Good meeting.

thank you

I'm always amazed whenever I see anything that Joe Kagle has created. One of this works is in my wife's office, a gift to Sherry for allowing me to work for Joe rather than do housework.

This week's program explains the Cogressional origin, process and challenges involved in the "once-in-a-decade event" of Reapportionment and Redistricting, an occurrence that will reappear in December 2010. Begun in the 1930s when the U.S. government decided to fix the number of Representatives in the House at 435, the process applies individual state population totals to the number of Representaives that state may seat for the succeeding ten years. The U.S. Census Bureau submits the "tallies" to the House clerk, who then notifies each respective state's Secretary of State what their new Representative total will be. Interestingly, the average population per District has climbed from 283,000 in 1930 to 713,000 now. Following a state's notification of its allotted number of Representatives, the state must then redraw its political districts to match approximately the average population to each allotted district. This is a very difficult and often controversial process, with each state responsible for its own re-districting rules. Abuses are well documented. The term gerrymander originated to describe the practice of bizarre district configurations perpetrated to achieve particular political results compatible with the views of the gerrymanderers. A very interesting program!

Although the article on redestricting and Gerrymandering was extremely interesting, I was not able to find how this knowledge can serve Rotary. I would like to genltly remind all of us that programs should mostly be related to Rotary´s activities. We seem to be drifting away from Rotary-related topics.

Thought the topic was timely and informative.

THis is one of the best discussions about how the redistricting process works that I've read. As a resident of a state (Ohio) that stands to lose members in the next census, it helps to understand how this works.

THis is one of the best discussions about how the redistricting process works that I've read. As a resident of a state (Ohio) that stands to lose members in the next census, it helps to understand how this works.

Always good to know how our country continues to keep track of increasing populations so as to keep the representation "for the people." Just need to make sure we keep our voice by keeping contact with our representatives.

Very educational.

very interesting article on Redistricting

Although I became a writer in college, I started speaking Pittsburgh (and writing it) instead of English. Luckily, I got into Dartmouth because I played football, my art honors and my math skills. It took much of those skills to weed through the discussion of redisricting. I found the discussion fancinating and, I agree, it is complex. Our system of two major parties makes for multiple ways of approaching any complex problem. Neighter party is a saint when it comes to moving boundaries to gain advantages. Interesting! Also, it was interesting reading again my own essay that I have not look at for several years (on gestalt thinking in the 20th and 21st century). I still use that lesson to start each class in Art Appreciation. This program does challenge how we think and how we solve complex problems. I really enjoyed it. Joe