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OLLI
E-News #10-07 of Mar. 9, 2007
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|
FLASH
> TODAY: "MINI" TOWN MEETING.
11:30, Tallwood. Details. Bring
your lunch.
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ALERTS
> BOOK CLUB: will meet Wed, Mar
14, 10:00, Tallwood. The book for discussion is A Hope in the Unseen, by Ron
Suskind. All are welcome.
> BOARD MEETING: Fri,
Mar 16, 10:00, Tallwood. All members are invited to attend. The agenda
for the meeting will be emailed to the membership prior to Mar 16.
> NEW ON WEBSITE: OLLI's tax
return and independent
auditors' report.
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REMINDERS
> NOMINEES WANTED FOR
THE BOARD. Any recommendations? Read details.
>
LATE
ADDITION TO SPRING CATALOG. Course 113, Beginning Watercolor
Painting.
> SUNDAY, 2:00 AM: SPRING FORWARD.
Daylight-saving time starts (3 weeks early).
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| ARTICLES AND
NOTICES
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|
DEPARTMENTS
>
LETTERS TO THE
EDITOR: A member writes about today's mini town meeting
topic.
> CENTER FOR THE ARTS.
Upcoming arts and music events at Mason. By Jan Bohall
>
MASON
HIGHLIGHTS. Other events at nearby Mason. By Barbara Kyriakakis
> COMING ATTRACTIONS. Upcoming
OLLI non-class
events for the next two weeks. |
> CORRECTION. The new Sign
Language Club meets every Wed, except for Apr 4,
2:30-3:45 in the annex, starting on Mar 28. Everyone is welcome.
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DIRECTORS
CONFESS: THERE'S MORE TO IT THAN WORK
The benefits of being on the board
 By Debbie Halverson, President
WHY
DO THEY DO IT? GOLLY, WHY DO I DO
IT? Everyone knows that being on
OLLI’s Board of Directors is not for the faint of heart. It takes a lot
of time, there are those emotionally-charged differences of opinion to
deal with, and meetings can run long. But the third Friday of every
month they walk into TA-1 with smiles on their faces, ready to
deliberate the issues that determine important, and sometimes only
slightly important, aspects of OLLI’s present and future.
I put the above question to board members,
asking what they enjoy about board activity that they devote so much
time and energy to it. Here are some of their responses:
- I’ve felt
I’ve contributed to a great organization; made new friends; learned
from other board members and staff; broadened my outlook on various
OLLI issues; and relearned patience!
- I consider it
a three-year course in learning how a non-profit organization
functions; I enjoyed reaching out of my comfort zone and gaining new
skills, making new friends, feeling that I had contributed to making
OLLI a better place.
- It’s nice to
be on the inside of what is going on at OLLI and good to have a
heads-up on upcoming classes, special events, etc. Board members have a
wonderful opportunity to meet and get acquainted with more OLLI
members.
- You get a
sense of fulfillment; you get to know a bunch of very nice people much
better; you get lots of email; and furthermore, you get to spend all
day every third Friday of the month with those nice people.
- The positives
for me are being a part of a group that is trying to improve the
institute and being able in a small way to influence its policies.
- I enjoy
interaction with the other board members and especially from working on
several committees; these help to grow OLLI, expand capabilities and
provide improved facilities and infrastructure as we move forward.
- Board members
must serve on committees that have developed a high standard of
excellence. So before committee recommendations go to the board for
approval, there is a lot of work. But it is worth it for an
organization that excels and a membership that benefits from the
effort.
- Viewing the
future from the framework of the past presents a challenge because the
pasts of each board member are so different and we apply our pasts to
this voluntary endeavor with distinctive differences. There are many
satisfactions but not always win-win outcomes.
- Serving on
the board is almost exactly the same as attending an OLLI class that
never ends. You work with 17 other board members who have the same
goals and interests as you do, but who have different opinions as to
how to get there. Pluses include the satisfaction of having the board
forge a compromise on a sometimes-divisive issue and the minuses
include the frustrations of wrestling with an intractable issue with no
easy answer, or no answer in the near term.
As for me, I value this current board as a
dynamic group of men and women, each of whom is individualistic in
approach to any one question. True, that makes for sometimes-spirited
discussions, but respect for one another underlies each disagreement;
there’s a lot of listening going on.
And there’s a lot of laughter too. I like to reflect that
we are volunteers, retired from the serious routines of the working
world, and that these days in our lives should include fun. Board talk
is often interspersed with chuckles, if not guffaws, and fellowship
brightens at-ease moments. There’s always one or more persons on this
board who knows just how to get that laughter rolling.
THE GREATEST
GENERATION
Third in our WW II veterans series
 By Barbara Kyriakakis, OLLI
E-News assistant editor
 IN APRIL OF
1943, a seventeen-year-old Phil True enlisted in the Aviation
Cadet Program; five months later the Army Air Forces called him to
active duty. In December 1944, following basic training, college
training, preflight school and navigation school, he was commissioned
as a second lieutenant, navigator. Selected
for the B-29 Superfortress
program, he underwent
crew training prior to flying a new B-29 to Tinian Island in May of
1945.
Phil flew 12 missions over Japan, landing
three times on Iwo Jima. A mission to Kobe resulted in the loss of two
engines on the same side by enemy action and a perilous return and
landing on Iwo Jima. Phil’s account of this mission, "Will We Make
Iwo?," was published in the Air
Power
History Journal in 1994 and can be read here.
Returning from its last mission on August 9,
1945, Phil’s crew noticed a parade of jeeps at the airfield with a
four-star flag flapping in the breeze. The colors belonged to General
Carl A. Spaatz, commander of the 20th Air Force, who had flown to
Tinian to decorate the crew of Enola
Gay.
Just before the war ended, Phil’s crew was
selected to be a ‘lead crew’ and flew to California for specialized
training. The lead crew in a 30-plane group was responsible for the
group’s exact course. The lead bombardier was the first to drop his
bombs, followed by the "V" formations behind him which "toggled" or
dropped their bombs. The accuracy of the group depended on the
navigation and bombing of the lead crew. The war ended during their
training.
Phil served 20 years in the Air Force Reserve,
retiring as a major. He was recently interviewed for two forthcoming
books on the Pacific war by authors Max Hastings and Larry Smith.
Phil and his wife Fern have been OLLI members
for three years, and he has taught several courses at OLLI. (Above photo shows Phil in 2007; insets
shows Phil in 1944 and a B-29 Superfortress.)
OLLI TO PARTICIPATE
IN MASON'S FIRST LIGHT FESTIVAL
OLLI Drama Club to perform publicly at
Mason
OLLI
Cast: left to
right, standing, Mo Mason, Sandy Lisiewski,
Ryan Mulkay, Palmer McGrew, Charles Duggan and Dave Mason; seated, Eileen Duggan, Thelma Weiner and
Helen Anderson (not pictured: Chester Myslicki, Robert Osborn, Carolyn
Sanders and Susanne Zumbro). Photo by play director
Kathie West.
 FOR THE THIRD YEAR
IN A ROW, OLLI will be part of the two-day play-reading event
called the First Light Festival, sponsored by Mason’s Theater of the
First Amendment. The event will be held next weekend – Sat, Mar 17, and
Sun, Mar 18. Six plays will be read, three on Saturday and three on
Sunday, refreshments will be served, and the best news of all, the
event is free.
Come support your OLLI friends as they present
the first play reading on Saturday, "These are the Days (of our
Lives)," a comedy written by the collaborative OLLI team of Vera
DeWeese, Carolyn Sanders, Jane Tombes, and Kathie West. The play
humorously deals with issues facing senior citizens – adult children
returning home, online dating, etc. The play reading is being presented
by the OLLI Drama Club under the direction of Kathie West. It will take
place at 11:30, preceded by a continental brunch at 11:00.
The festival will be held in Theater Space,
located in the red brick building behind the Center for the Arts.
Following the 11:30 reading of the OLLI play on Saturday, readings of
the other five plays will
be at 1:00 and 3:00 on Saturday and at 1:00, 3:00 and
5:00 on Sunday. Discussions with the playwrights will follow each
reading, and catered refreshments will be served at all intermissions.
There will also be a raffle of theater memorabilia from past Theater of
the First Amendment productions throughout the festival. For complete
festival details, check out the TFA Website.
So, come to the festival, enjoy the
entertainment and refreshments, and support your fellow OLLI members.
| VOLUNTEER PARTY REMINDER |
 INVITATIONS TO THE VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION
LUNCHEON on March 23rd were mailed on
Mon, Mar 5, to all those OLLI members who have contributed their
services in non-teaching capacities, either as a committee member or as
a liaison during the last two terms. (Those who served this past year
as teachers or coordinators will be feted at the Teacher Appreciation
Event to be held at the end of April.)
If you plan to attend, please RSVP to the
office (703-503-3384) or email Debbie
Halverson by
Mon, Mar 19, to be included in the final count.
Those of you who do not receive an invitation
and feel that you might have been overlooked should let Debbie know so
that your name may be added to the list. |
Back to top
 THE PHILADELPHIA TRIP
An update
 By Dick Chobot,
Executive Director
NOT
HAVING MADE OUR NUMBERS, consideration
was
given to canceling the trip to Philadelphia described in my earlier
article. However, we have decided to make one
final attempt to save the trip. Here is what we have done:
- Reduced the
bus from a 47- to a 28-passenger vehicle. This
means we only need 14 more registrants to fill the bus.
- Cut the room
block in half at the hotel to avoid any
penalties to OLLI.
The program is the same as previously
advertised. The
price will be $650.00 for single occupancy and $430.00 for double
occupancy. A $100 non-refundable deposit is still required.
To make this
event happen, we must hear from those interested by Tue, Mar 13. If we
are unable to fill the smaller bus, we may have to cancel the trip.
Please print the updated registration form
(pdf), complete it and return it with your deposit to Karen Nash in
the Tallwood
office.
HISTORY,
INTERNATIONAL STUDIES & CURRENT EVENTS
Resource Group meets Tue, Mar 13
By Bob Bohall, History, International Studies and Current Events
Resource Group co-chair
THE
OLLI HISTORY,
INTERNATIONAL STUDIES AND CURRENT EVENTS (HISCE)
Resource Group will be meeting at 10:00 on Tue, Mar 13, at Tallwood.
We need your help!
OLLI courses take time, energy and plenty of
ideas
and suggestions to come into being. The meeting will focus on
last-second ideas for summer and potential fall courses and lectures.
We will take time to discuss general content and longer-term themes for
HISCE offerings.
Are we interested in developing a focus on
Central and South American countries? Is Ireland a good choice for
attention in Europe? What about westward expansion, the New Frontier
and post-Civil War through WW I or II American history? How about
courses regarding legal issues; great trials and civil liberties; local
northern Virginia towns, politics and settlement; and histories of
particular interest to women? Can the U.S. rebuild some semblance of
foreign relations? What other topics need to be considered?
We need and will appreciate your input. Leads,
suggestions and concepts are what we are after as well as the names and
organizations that can be invaluable as a source of instructors. Thank
you for your past support and we hope to see you on Tuesday. If you
cannot make the meeting or would like to send in material in advance
you can email me or co-chair Phil True.
VISION
SERIES LECTURE
Prof. Rick Davis to talk at Mason
ON MON,
MAR 19, AT 8:00 at Mason's Center for the Arts Concert
Hall, hear Prof. Rick Davis, popular OLLI instructor, on "Words Into
Music.
Or, How an Old Play Becomes a New Opera."
Many of
opera’s greatest hits, from Mozart’s The
Marriage of Figaro to Puccini’s Tosca, have been adapted from
dramatic sources. The opera librettist’s job is to select the most
important elements from the original play, re-envision the story and
the characters in operatic terms, and—most importantly—to make the
language “sing” so that the composer can do his or her work.
In this free presentation, Rick Davis and a
company of actors and musicians will demonstrate how he and composer
Kim D. Sherman have approached their new operatic adaptation of Love’s Comedy, a little-known early
work by the famous Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Side-by-side
performances of excerpts from play and opera will illustrate the role
music plays in storytelling and characterization, and how language is
altered to meet the demands of the operatic form. Order tickets.
ART AND MUSIC RESOURCE GROUP MEETING
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DO YOU HAVE AN INTEREST in the Art
and Music program at OLLI? The Art & Music Resource Group will be
meeting on Thu, Mar 22, at 10:00 at Tallwood.
This group is responsible for planning and
implementing the classes you see listed in your catalog under the "100"
category. The meeting is open to all interested OLLI members. Please
join us and share your ideas. |
Back to top
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
A forum for members to voice their views
on OLLI matters
WE
WILL
PUBLISH your brief letters about OLLI and, if
applicable, we will try
to include follow-up information from the relevant officer, committee
chair or staff
member in the same or a subsequent issue. Submit your letter via email to the editor or
submit it as a "letter to the editor" via
the online
suggestion box or the suggestion box in the Tallwood Social Room. Letters can be published
anonymously but you must include your name and email address or phone
number so we can verify that you are an OLLI member.
|
'Sportive leisure' and public-interest
programs
In her article last week, the OLLI president referenced the Fairfax
County's recent finding that future baby-boomer retirees will reject
"stereotypical days of endless sportive leisure" and choose active
volunteer participation in public-interest programs to fill their
leisure time. Ms. Halverson suggests that OLLI move in that direction.
May I suggest that numerous volunteer
opportunities already exist
In the Washington, DC area: Meals on Wheels, the Sierra Club or any of
the PIRGs (Public Interest Research Groups) - many projects from health
care to clean air come to mind. OLLI is not an outreach program, nor
was that the mission it set forth when it was created.
As residents of the Capitol area, we are
overwhelmed with the
minutia of the political world and its burdensome details. Most of us
get involved when necessary in various causes and issues that affect
us. However that is not why I and many of my colleagues joined LRI (now
OLLI). Its appeal lies in the pleasure it provides in the programs and
events offered throughout the year. And it is the reason so many of us
are willing to volunteer our time. If that is a description of
"sportive leisure" then place my name at the top of the list of
subscribers.
-- Joan Salemi, OLLI member
Response
from President
Debbie Halverson:
Joan’s
letter is right on
target in
that there are many opportunities in the Washington, DC area to
volunteer one’s efforts. And I am sure many of our members are already
doing so.
The opportunities she mentions
are not exactly what I was suggesting, but other LLIs have
engaged in
activities more in the area of senior learning. The reason I opened
this area of discussion for the town meeting to be held today at 11:30
at Tallwood, is to let members kick such ideas around. I’m not
particularly advocating that we change our mission and run around the
county doing good deeds (even though that might qualify us for grant
money). An occasional discussion of our purpose is always healthy, and
I hope today’s will be just that. |
Comments, questions or suggestions about
OLLI?
Here's how to express your views--
- Privately--
- Contact any Board member
or the Executive Director;
- Send an email to the entire Board
(email the office, which will
forward your
message to the Board of Directors distribution list);
- Submit a suggestion online
or in the box in the Tallwood social room or on one of the "parking
lots for ideas" in classrooms; or
- Contact the office by email
or phone (703-503-3384).
- Publicly
(if you would like your comments to be seen by other members, including
the Board, and the Executive Director): Email a "Letter
to the Editor" or a "Letter to
Ms. Ollie Ettakit" for publication in OLLI
E-News.
|
 COMING EVENTS AT THE CENTER FOR THE ARTS
Something for everyone at nearby Mason,
Mar 9-19
By Jan Bohall, OLLI
E-News staff writer
For tickets, call 888-945-2468 (phone orders are handled by tickets.com)
or visit the Center
for the Arts Box Office, Tue–Sat, 10:00–6:00.
Their choreography is based on authentic Hungarian folk dances, some
centuries-old and collected in remote villages. The orchestra will
feature traditional instruments and gypsy melodies.
Sat, Mar
10, 8:00
Admission: $44, $36, $22
Family Friendly: Children under 12 and under half price, with an adult
Concert Hall
Come at 7:15 for a pre-performance artistic discussion in the Grand
Tier Lobby.
Theater of the First Amendment
Sat, Mar
17, 11:00–p.m.
Sun, Mar 18, 1:00–p.m.
Admission: Free
TheaterSpace
(From
Level 2 of Parking Deck take the bridge. Enter
first door on left and follow hallway, go through gray doors and down
stairs).
Note:
The first play reading on Saturday (at 11:30) will be presented by the
OLLI Drama Club; see article
above.
|
Fairfax Symphony Orchestra
William
Hudson, conductor
Ji-Yong,
piano
American composer Joan Tower will guest conduct her recent work, Made
in America. Ji-Yong, a Korean-American pianist, will play Beethoven’s
Concerto No. 3 in C Minor. The orchestra will also perform Dvorak’s
"New World" Symphony.
Sat, Mar
17,
8:00
Admission: $55, $45, $35, $25
Concert Hall
Vision
Lecture Series
Words
into Music. Or, How
an Old Play Becomes A New Opera
Rick Davis, Associate Dean/Professor of Theater, College of Visual and
Performing Arts
In this seventh in the series of eight lectures, Rick Davis with actors
and musicians will demonstrate how he and composer Kim D. Sherman
approached their operatic adaptation of Ibsen’s Love’s Comedy.
Side-by-side excerpts from play and opera will show the role of music
in storytelling and characterization, and how language is altered to
fit the operatic form. See article above.
Mon, Mar
19, 8:00
Admission: Free, tickets available at www.gmu.edu/cfa/vision, or at
CFA
Ticket Office during hours above and on the evening of the lecture.
Concert Hall |
Back to top
MASON HIGHLIGHTS
A brief listing of other events at nearby
Mason
By Barbara Kyriakakis, OLLI
E-News assistant editor
- SOM’s
Hot Topics in Technology Management Speaker Series
offers "Heading Back to Shore: An Updated Look at Outsourcing,"
presented
by Paul Almeida, President of the AFL-CIO's Dept. for Professional
Employees. He will explore the current state of outsourcing from a
variety of innovative perspectives. Free. Speaker's reception at 6:30;
presentation at 7:15 in Mason Hall Conference Room on Wed, Mar 14.
- Women’s
History Month - Women and Globalization Film
Festival presents The Take by Avi Lewis and Naomi
Klein on Mon, Mar 19,
4:30 in the Harris Theater. Free.
- Visiting
Writers’ Series
- Suzannah Lessard, a
writer/editor for the Washington
Monthly and a staff writer at the New
Yorker for more than two decades, will speak on Wed, Mar 21, at
7:30 in
Student Union Building II, Rooms 5-7. In 1996 Ms. Lessard
published "Architect of Desire: Beauty and Danger in the Stanford White
Family," a story about her murdered great-grandfather.
- The
Center for Social Science Research presents
"Immigration Policy and Family Reorganization: Experiences of
Salvadoran and Guatemalan Immigrants" by Dr. Cecilia Menjivar, Arizona
State University, on Thu, Mar 22, at 6:30 in the Center for the Arts,
Grand Tier III.
Non-class events at OLLI for the next two
weeks
The following
list covering the
next two weeks is extracted for your
convenience from the more
complete OLLI
Staff Forecast of Non-Class Events. Board, committee, resource-group and
'membership-type' meetings are highlighted
in bold. OLLI members are
welcome at all Board, committee and resource-group meetings (except
executive sessions).
MAR
9 Friday 9:30 AM
Drama Club TA-3
9:30
AM Planning Comm Mtg TA-2
10:00
AM Membership Comm Mtg Annex
11:30 AM
Recorder Club TA-2
11:30
AM Mini Town Hall Meeting TA-1
12:30 PM Drama
Club Rehearsal TA-3
1:30 PM Homer
Book Club Annex
12 Monday 10:00
AM Drama Club Rehearsal
TA-3
13 Tuesday 8:15
AM Walking Club Lake Anne Church
10:00
AM History,
Int Studies, Current Events
Resource Group Mtg TA-1
14 Wednesday End
of Spring07 Registration
10:00 AM Drama
Club Rehearsal TA-1
10:00 AM
Nominating Comm Mtg TA-2
10:00 AM
Bridge TA-3
10:00 AM Book
Club at Tallwood Annex
15 Thursday 10:00
AM Drama Club Rehearsal TA-3
10:00 AM
Investment Forum TA-1
16 Friday 9:30 AM
Drama Club TA-3
10:00
AM Board of Directors Meeting TA-1
11:00 AM
Fiction Writers' Club Annex
11:30 AM
Recorder Club TA-2
12:30 PM Drama
Club Rehearsal TA-3
1:30 PM Homer
Book Club Annex
20 Tuesday 8:15
AM Walking Club Lake Anne
Church
21 Wednesday 10:00
AM Investment Forum TA-1
10:00 AM
Genealogy Club TA-2
10:00 AM
Bridge TA-3
10:30 AM New
Display Set-up Annex
12:00 PM Spec
Event K: Let's Do Lunch Bamian Afghan
Cuisine
22
Thursday 10:00 AM Art & Music
Resource Group Mtg Annex
23 Friday 9:30 AM
Drama Club TA-1
10:00 AM
Classic Fiction Book Club Reston Regional Library
11:30 AM
Recorder Club TA-2
11:30 AM
Volunteer Recognition Lunch Church of the Good
Shepherd
1:30 PM Homer
Book Club Annex |
Back to top
Rod
Zumbro
Editor
Karen
Hamilton
Deputy
Editor
|
About OLLI
E-News. OLLI
E-News, OLLI's weekly newsletter, is emailed to OLLI
members with email addresses on Fridays. When classes are in
session, printed copies of this newsletter are distributed in
classrooms, primarily for members without email. We encourage OLLI
members and
staff employees to submit news items and write articles; deadline to
the editor is 7:00 PM Wed for that week's issue. Comments,
suggestions or complaints? Please contact the OLLI
E-News editor or the
Publications Committee chair, Gordon
Canyock.
Note
about HTML graphics. If
you do NOT see
photos and
clickable links in this message, you might want to ask a teenaged
grandchild or a neighborhood teenager or college student to fix things
for you. Or you could change your
email settings yourself. Here's how to view html-formatted messages
like this newsletter in
three popular email systems:
- Outlook
Express.
Click Tools; select Options; in the Read tab, uncheck "Read all
messages in plain text."
- Yahoo
Mail.
Click Mail Options/General Preferences; under Security, uncheck "Block
HTML graphics in email messages from being downloaded."
- AOL.
Upgrade,
if possible, to an AOL version above 5.0.
GMU Webmail.
If OLLI E-News is being sent
to your gmu.edu email address, we recommend against
using GMU Webmail
(i.e., iPlanet "Messenger Express") to read this newsletter
because it
is normally impossible to view the newsletter in GMU
Webmail
as a single
integrated
document, with text and accompanying images. You could forward the
newsletter to your Web-based email account such as Yahoo Mail or
Hotmail and read it there ... or just read it online at
the OLLI
Website after it is posted
each week.
Perhaps the easiest solution for those of you with GMU email accounts
is to configure your desktop email system such
as Microsoft Outlook Express or Mozilla Thunderbird to retrieve mail
sent to your gmu.edu address. To do this, see these
instructions.
Finding
the Latest
Issue Online. The
new weekly issue of OLLI E-News
is
usually posted Thursday evening. Here's how to read the online version
right after
it is posted:
- It is identified by
the next number in
sequence for that year -- e.g., if last week's issue number were
enews1-07, the next issue number would be enews2-07 and could be found
at www.olli.gmu.edu/enews2-07.htm.
- Thus, go to the list of the last 12
issues, click the most recent issue (probably last week's), change
(in the address field of your browser) the enews number to the next
number, and then press Enter.
|
OLLI
E-News Editorial Staff
Assistant
Editor, Database Manager
Barbara Kyriakakis
Assistant
Editor
Arleen Richman
Photo
Editor
Michael Coyne |
| Copyright
©
2007 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at George Mason University.
Materials in this publication subject to OLLI-GMU copyright may be
reproduced for noncommercial educational purposes as long as credit is
given to OLLI-GMU. |
|
Updated:
March 9, 2007
Copyright © 2007 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at
George Mason University. Materials in this publication subject to
OLLI-GMU copyright may be reproduced for noncommercial educational
purposes as long as credit is given to OLLI-GMU.
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at George Mason University
4210 Roberts Rd., Fairfax, VA 22032-1028
Phone: (703) 503-3384; E-mail: olli@gmu.edu;
Fax: (703) 503-2832
Original site design and construction by OLLI-GMU member Rod Zumbro. |
|
By 