The speakers were Stephanie Fieckenster and Sara Klemuk from the Wendell Johnson Speech and Hearing Center
 
Visiting Rotarians and Guests
 
Kate Gfeller--Guest of Casey Cook
Stephanie Fieckenster-- Speaker
Sarah Klemuk-- Speaker
 
Announcements
 
Deb Dunkhase announced that the TAKO event was successful and that we raised around $500 from food sales. A big thank you to all who helped out that day or prepared by donating food and cash for supplies. (Remember to turn in a make-up slip if you helped out.)
 
The Crisis Center "Food Fight" between the area Rotary Clubs is in its 3rd week and so far AM Rotary appears to be in the lead.  Mark Ruggeberg from the Downtown Club has made a special award to give to the winning club.  We have achieved over 2000 lbs for our club so far and the area-wide goal is 10,000 lbs contributed during July to the Crisis Center.
 
Congrats to Hazel Seaba for achieving her Paul Harris +3 award.
 
Liz Loeb and Deb Ockenfels have contributed polar fleece to use to make scarves to take on the next IA MOST trip.  At 3 pm on August 5 there will be a scarf-making session at the Ockenfels hangar at the IC Airport for any who would like to donate some time to the project.  (This is a make-up worthy event!)
 
Rotarians in the News
 
Liz Nichols' husband, Paul, is in the news with the announcement of his new work title.  Roxy Mitchell appeared on "Big Old Fish" segment of KCRG news.
 
Happy Bucks
 
Among the bucks given:  by Liz Nichols for her mother's 101st birthday this week.  Deb PVA reminded folks of the County Fair and urged people to buy pies that are judged at the fair.  Peggy Doerge is packing to move in the next couple weeks (different place but still in town).  Greg Probst talked about the wonderful send-off to the 10 District 6000 Youth Exchange Outbound Students at a picnic last Saturday in Newton.  Myrene Hoover just got back from a week in Minnesota.  Deb Dunkhase has also been visiting with family.
 
Speakers
 
Kate Gfeller, Casey Cook's wife, introduced the speakers from the Wendell Johnson Speech and Hearing Center at UI.  Kate has done research on music perception to those with cochlear implants.  The program for Tuesday was on helping people to hear better and to preserve their hearing.
 
Most people wait about 7 years after they first notice some hearing loss before they go in to do something about it.  Hearing loss affects 25-40% of those between the age of 65 and 75% and can be as high as impacting 66% of the people over 75.  It is the third most prevalent impairment of those in old age after arthritis and hypertension.
 
There are two types of hearing loss-- conductive and sensory neural.  Conductive loss stems from outside forces and is often temporary, such as from a build-up of ear wax or fluid in the middle ear.  The sensory neural loss is more permanent and stems from the aging process, a virus or permanent damage to the ear.  The speakers showed the difference between healthy hairs in the inner ear that conduct sounds and the damage that can happen over time to the inner ear to cause loss of the hairs so necessary to conducting sound properly.
 
Another common problem is tinnitus, or the perception of ringing in the ears.  It is thought that this problem stems from some location in the central brain rather than in the ears, but it is a problem that can be debilitating and permanent.
 
Solutions to hearing loss include amplification equipment or hearing aids, and teaching those around us to speak a little louder and slower and to speak facing the person who is speech-impaired.  Unfortunately, amplification devices cannot cause selective amplification, so that background noises will get amplified right along with the sounds that the user wants to hear. There are many different types of amplification devices to choose from.