ROTARY MEMBERS ATTEND INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION

Jim Biundo, president of the Cape Girardeau Rotary Club, and Dan Cotner, club member, were among some 18,000 Rotarians and guests from 116 countries to attend the Rotary International's 89th annual convention.

The convention was held in Indianapolis, Ind. Participants focused on literacy, poverty and hunger, international humanitarian projects, exchange programs and planning for Rotary's future.

The Rotary Award for World Understanding, the organization's highest honor, was accepted by Dr. Catherine Hamlin, an Australian surgeon who has worked in Ethiopia for more than 40 years.

Responding to the question "What Makes News?" journalists from CNN, NBC Nightly News, Voice of America, L.A. Times and ECO Televisa discussed news media trends, why the coverage of "good news" often seems difficult to obtain and what it takes for a story to make it to the headlines.

"This was my first experience with a Rotary International convention," said Biundo. "Most notable was how international the organization really is with programs printed in several languages, currency exchange services and language translation phones provided to participants.

"Also apparent was the broad scope of humanitarian projects and initiatives being conducted not only by the International organizations but by many Rotary districts, regions and individual clubs throughout the world."