THE SENIOR MEN'S CLUB OF NEW CANAAN
Regular Meeting January 19, 2001
MINUTES
President Don Hunziker opened the business meeting with 151 members present.
Current membership is 497, with 3 invited and 21 on the waiting list.
ANNOUNCEMENTS & ACTIVITIES
Activities: Bowling rolls on, paddle is nosing onward, defectors to Florida & Bermuda
have thinned racquetball ranks; bridge continues to sort higher-order, lateral cortex
functions from mis- functions. Ted
Robitaille will lead 4-Fs giving Nino's in Vista the supreme survival test --1/26.
Couth: It's menu choice time for trippers to Mme. Tussaud's and Cathedral of St.
John the Divine, 2/14; Bridgeport Downtown Cabaret Theater goers have until 3/16 to plan
their box dinners; the United Nations 4/19 trip and luncheon may feature Chinese.
People, etc: Ed Codel is still in Waveny; a funeral for Ted Clary will be at St. Mark's, 1/20.
Gretchen James, coordinator of Kid Line of New Canaan, pitched for volunteer SMC mentors
in a program of after school phone calls to youngsters ages 6 to 13.
Jester: John Berg revealed the naked truth about how they run the Norwegian do-se-do in Minneapolis.
SPEAKER
Vice President Bob Witt introduced SMC's Paul Strassmann,
former computer executive for General Foods, Kraft and Xerox and a
current consultant to the U.S. Department of Defense. He was recently cited by the
Office of the Secretary of Defense as a "Pioneer of U.S. Information Superiority."
Paul's presentation on "Defending the U.S." focussed on "The Why and How of Ballistic
Missile Defense."
In words, pictures and simulations, he covered this enormously complex subject. He
outlined the current potential missile threat,
primarily from China, North Korea, Russia, Iran and Iraq, with estimates of their
equipment, capabilities and potential for blackmail or damage. Concluding a capsule
survey of the technical factors of building,
deploying and defending against missiles, Paul said we currently have no capability
to protect ourselves against missile attack. He walked us through the intricate process
of intercepting missiles.
Responding to questions, Paul said it would take 11 years to
deploy "the earliest semblance of a missile defense." He said that nobody else has the
money to do this and his stated conclusion is that: "defense is the unnegotiable price of
freedom."
Les Brooks, Asst. Secretary