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| OLLI
E-News #10-08 of March 14, 2008 |
|
| ALERTS |
> SUBMISSIONS FOR OLLI
E-NEWS. This week's issue was edited by Backup Editor
John West. Please send material for
next week and future issues
to Editor
Rod Zumbro.
> REINVENTING YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD. OLLI members are invited to
attend a meeting Sat, Apr 12, 8:00 am on creating supportive
communities for all ages. Flyer. Register
online.
> THE
CENTER FOR GLOBAL EDUCATION at Mason will make a special
presentation in TA-1 Wed, Mar 26, 1:00-1:45 about several exciting
trips planned for this summer. A light lunch will be provided. Flyers
are available in the social room. Check out the latest information at http://gmu.edu/global/.
|
| REMINDERS |
> SPRING TERM:
Starts Mon, Mar 24 (Loudoun starts two weeks later on Mon, Apr 7).
> RESTON
MEMBERS: Volunteers are needed to serve on resource groups. See
details here.
|
| ARTICLES AND
NOTICES |
> YES, YOU CAN SING!
From
the executive
director. By Thom
Clement
> SILENT AUCTION AND
PICNIC. Save the Date: May 2nd. By Debbie Halverson and
Bob Lawshe
> CLOSED SPRING
COURSES.
It's not too late to
sign up for open courses. By
Ann Hartmann
> EYE ON RESTON. Space
is
available in the Your County/Your Home course.
> RESOURCE GROUP
MEETING.
History
and Current Events Resource Group Tue, Mar 18.
|
| DEPARTMENTS |
> PROFILE.
OLLI's Special Forces: Bob
Bohall, History
and Current Events Resource Group Co-Chair. By
Elizabeth Crawford
>
CENTER
FOR THE ARTS. Arts
and music events. By Jan
Bohall
>
MASON
HIGHLIGHTS. Other Mason events. By Barbara Kyriakakis
> COMING
ATTRACTIONS. Non-class events at OLLI for
the next two weeks. |
CORRECTION
|
> OLLI'S
RESOURCE GROUPS in last week's e-mail edition
incorrectly listed the Loudoun contact's e-mail address. Send mail to
Ray Beery at rbeery@aol.com.
|
YES, YOU CAN SING!
From the Executive Director
 By Thom Clement,
Executive Director
AS
I JOINED IN THE LIVELY DISCUSSION of the Art and Music
Resource Group this week at Tallwood,
I was drawn into a discussion of a local instrumental music group that
actually promotes itself as being “not very good.” Apparently they are
enjoying modest success, partly because people are curious about any
group that would set such low expectations, and partly because they
actually aren’t bad! This discussion reminded me of my experiences with
adults who tell me that they “can’t sing.”
As a former elementary school educator and
parent of four sons, I observed that, up until the age of eight or nine
years, everyone can sing. Little children sing at the top of
their lungs with no inhibitions. Perhaps you can remember hearing the
joyful sounds of children singing. But then something happens to many
children, and before you know it, they stop singing. When you ask them
why, they will tell you that they “can’t sing.” When you press further
for a rationale, you will probably find that someone has told the child
that he is off key or that she is too loud, or simply that he can’t
carry a tune. What a shame that many of us lose out on opportunities
for the pure enjoyment of singing just because someone destroyed our
confidence with a thoughtless remark.
Why am I speaking about this as the executive
director of OLLI? Because OLLI members are rediscovering their ability
to sing – figuratively, at least! Just look around OLLI and you’ll see
your friends and classmates thinking about and doing things that are
stretching their minds and abilities. Now that you’re enjoying at least
some degree of retirement, you are becoming free of the expectations
that you can’t participate if you’re not perfect. You are exploring
areas of knowledge that always intrigued you but were perhaps out of
reach because you didn’t have the time – or motivation – or courage –
to try. Perhaps you’re learning about medieval art, or acquiring a new
language, or appreciating physics for the first time.
Or perhaps you’re learning that you really CAN
sing!
Back
to top
SILENT AUCTION AND
PICNIC
OLLI Présente Une Vente Aux
Enchères Silencieux et Un Pique-nique au Printemps, 2008
  By Debbie Halverson and Bob Lawshe, Membership Committee
SAVE
THE DATE: MAY
2, 2008! The first-ever OLLI
Vente Aux Enchères Silencieux et Un Pique-nique
(hereafter to be referred to as the OLLI Silent Auction and Picnic)
highlights our spring OLLI event calendar. It coincides with the Annual
Meeting when the candidates for office of director make their speeches
to the membership. This is a must-remember group of events, and you
will
not want a dental appointment or a trip to the Galapagos to interfere
with your part of the fun.
Sounds like a lot of work so why are we doing
it? To benefit the Friends of OLLI Fund. This special fund was
established in 1998 to create another source of revenue to support
OLLI. Disbursements are limited primarily to capital expenditures and
George Mason  scholarships.
That’s where
you come in. We need lots of things for folks to bid on. Think
about your talents and then what you could put up for bid. There’s the
really good stuff (too good for a yard sale) in your closet. How about
the Recorder Group offering to play for someone’s next soirée?
Or a gourmet cook offering to put on a really nice dinner for four, or
more? Or Bob’s (that’s Lawshe) offering to bake unbelievably fabulous
bread? Or Debbie’s designed and created bead necklaces? How about a
weekend or longer at your vacation home, landscaping, or computer
services, a day of shopping for someone who doesn’t drive any longer.
We have talented people in OLLI … painters, photographers, skilled
artists. Someone would pay a pretty penny for your work to benefit
Friends of OLLI.
Can’t think of a thing you could offer? Not to
worry. We’ll have some fresh ideas to inspire you on the bulletin board
when you return for classes in a few weeks.
Here’s how
it will work: The main auction will take place at Tallwood and
begin fifteen minutes following the end of the annual meeting, running
for about two hours. While the bidding is open, we hope to have
entertainment… recorders and other OLLI performers available while you
munch on burgers and dogs from the grill and member-provided side
dishes, potluck style.
In addition just to build the excitement, some
items will be auctioned during April at all of our sites.
You will want to get involved in this; put on
your thinking cap and come up with what you might offer to auction and
be prepared to respond to requests for help. You can even do that now;
let Debbie ( debbyhalv@aol.com)
or Bob ( rlawshe@cox.net) know of
your desire to do just that.
Back
to top
It's not too late to sign up for open
courses
 By Ann Hartmann,
Tallwood Site Administrator/OLLI Registrar
YOU
SHOULD
RECEIVE YOUR
CONFIRMATION LETTER SOON, showing the courses in which you have
been enrolled. Many courses are not
full, and it's not too late to sign up. You may register for any of the
still-available courses by filling in a Change of Schedule
Request form available in the Tallwood social room. If you are unable
to come by Tallwood to fill out this form, you may email or call the
office (703-503-3384)
with your request.
Here is the
list of closed
courses and events for the spring term ( note:
this list of oversubscribed
courses is also
always available on our Website under the "Our Program" drop-down
menu). All other courses are still available
for you to sign up.
CLOSED SPRING COURSES AND EVENTS
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112
Music Sampler
310 The Silk Road
404 Readers' Theater
603 Western Philosophies
703 Pakistan
801 The Universe
802 Microbes: Good, Bad, Ugly
907 Trip Tales
908 Bridge Refresher
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SPECIAL
EVENTS
960 Lifelong Learning
963 Hillwood Estates Bus Trip
965 Chancellorsville Bus Trip
CANCELED COURSE
606 Question of God
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|
Note: If your plans
have changed
such that you will no longer be able to attend one of the courses in
which you are enrolled, PLEASE
NOTIFY THE OFFICE by email
or phone (703-503-3384) as soon
as possible so that if that course is full, members on the waiting list
can be given an opportunity to enroll.
NEW:
You may also do this online by visiting the OLLI registration portal; after
logging in, click the Courses menu and select Withdraw. Thank you! |
|
Back
to top
EYE ON RESTON
"Your County/Your Home"
THERE IS STILL ROOM
IN COURSE 903 for the spring term. Your County/Your Home starts Mon,
Mar 31, 9:30 at Lake Anne. Learn about Fairfax County services in the
Reston area and help OLLI become better known within County circles.
Scheduled sessions include:
March 31 Fairfax Reston Police
units Officer Katy Fernbacker
April
7 County
Supervisor
Cathy Hudgins
April
14 Reston
Hospital
Joanna Fazio
April
21 Fairfax Fire &
Rescue
Lt. Baily |
Participating departments for the remaining
sessions will be announced in future editions of E-News.
Back to top
RESOURCE GROUP MEETING NEXT WEEK
History and
Current Events Resource Group
THE
HISTORY, INTERNATIONAL STUDIES & CURRENT EVENTS Resource
Group will meet 10:00, Tue., Mar 18, in TA-3. All OLLI members
are welcome, and their suggestions are needed.
These meetings are held twice a year to
brainstorm ideas and suggestions on future courses, lectures and
potential instructors and coordinators for the 300 and 700 series
offerings. It is an opportunity for you to take a direct part in
planning interesting and useful courses for the summer and fall 2008
terms and beyond.
If you cannot attend or would like to send in
ideas in advance, please provide your thoughts on priorities, topics
and potential speakers/instructors. You can provide your input to any
one of the three co-chairs: Bob
Bohall, Emmett Fenlon,
or Phil
True.
|
HOW TO EXPRESS YOUR VIEWS ABOUT OLLI
Questions/Comments/Suggestions
|
PUBLICLY:
Email
your "Letter
to the Editor" (see recent sample)
or "Letter to
Ms. Ollie Ettakit" (see recent sample)
to the editor. Anonymous
submissions are
acceptable if you provide contact information so we can verify that you
are an OLLI member. Whenever an official response to a letter to
the editor is
clearly appropriate, the editor will obtain and publish the OLLI
response in the same issue so members will have more complete
information and a balanced picture of the matter. |
PRIVATELY:
• Contact any Board member,
committee or
resource group chair, or the executive
director;
• Send an email
to the entire
Board
(email the editor or the office to have your
message forwarded to all members of the Board);
• Submit a
suggestion online
or in the box in the Tallwood social room; or
• Contact the
office by email
or phone (703-503-3384). |
|
OLLI'S SPECIAL
FORCES
Bob Bohall, co-chair of the History and
Current Events Resource Group
By Elizabeth Crawford, OLLI
E-News
staff writer 
TO
OLLI VETERANS, BOB BOHALL NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION. Newer
members will be impressed to hear how much he has done for our
organization. Bob served on the Board of Directors from 1999 to 2005
(the maximum number of years allowed in the by-laws), including terms
as secretary and president. He has chaired the Economics/Finance
Resource Group and now co-chairs History/Current Events. He has been
University Liaison Committee Chair, planning the annual and other
meetings with Mason officials, and a member of the Program Committee,
which has the ultimate responsibility to present a full catalog of
courses each semester. In addition, he has coordinated several
multi-speaker courses, chaired the History Club, and currently chairs
the Nominating Committee.
Bob's secret to keeping so many balls in the
air seems to be his relentless organization and note-taking. Meet him
in the Social Room, tell him about a course you would like to take, and
he will make a note. Before long, you are likely to see the course
listed in the catalog. He may even teach it himself.
His willingness to research a variety of topics has resulted in
challenging courses such as "Perspectives on Crime and Corrections,"
"Cabinet War Rooms: Churchill," "Deep Roots: Mythology, Pagans and Us,"
and "Late Antiquity to Early Middle Ages."
Somewhere throughout the years, Bob could have
said, "Been there, done that." Fortunately, Bob continues to believe
that time given to OLLI is more than well spent.
 CENTER FOR THE ARTS
Arts and music events at Mason, Mar 14-23
By Jan
Bohall, OLLI
E-News Staff Writer
FOR
TICKETS, call
1-888-945-2468 (phone orders are handled by tickets.com)
or visit the Center for the Arts Box Office, Tue-Sat, 10:00-6:00. More
info on tickets at the CFA tickets page.
|
United States Marine Band
National
Trumpet Competition
David Krauss,
principal trumpet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, will perform
Bohme’s Trumpet Concerto in F minor. Vincent DiMartino, professor of
music at Centre College, Danville, Kentucky, will play Chance’s Trumpet
Concerto. The program will also include Aaron Copland’s An Outdoor
Overture and Nicholas Maw’s American Games.
Fri,
Mar 14, at 7:00
Admission: Free, non-ticketed
Concert Hall
|
|
Army Blues Jazz Ensemble
National
Trumpet Competition
Sat,
Mar 15, at 3:00
Admission: Free, no tickets required
Harris Theater
|
This Canadian
octet of brothers and sisters is capturing fans with compelling
fiddle-driven music, precision step dancing and delightful vocals.
Building on their Irish and Scottish roots, the group will explore a
broad range of genres and cultures.
Sat,
Mar 15, at 8:00
Admission: $44, $36, $22
Family friendly: Children 12 and under, half price with an adult
Concert Hall
Come early at 7:15 for a free artistic discussion on the Center’s Grand
Tier III.
|
|
|
GMU Jazz Ensemble Concert
Wed,
Mar 19, at 8:00
Admission: $10 seniors/students, $15 other adults
Concert Hall
|
Dr. Smith is
Director of Theory & Composition at Mason. He has written more than
500 pieces, including choral, chamber and orchestral works, as well as
jazz and electronic music for concert, dance, video, film and
television.
Fri, Mar 21, at 8:00
Admission: Free, no tickets required
Harris Theater
|
This
Harlem-based
company is recognized as one of the most innovative and powerful forces
in
modern dance today. Choreographer and dancer Bill T. Jones combines
video, text and autobiographical material with dance in large-scale,
abstract presentations.
Sat,
Mar 22, at 8:00
Admission: $44, $36, $22
Concert Hall
|
|
MASON HIGHLIGHTS
Other Mason events
 By Barbara Kyriakakis, OLLI
E-News Staff Writer
- NBC4
Community
Shred – “Safe and Secure Community Shred.” Bring up to five boxes
of personal papers to have them shredded for free. Drive up only. Sat,
Mar 15, 8:00 to 11:00, Mason Parking Lot K.
- Antique
Show
– Sat, Mar 15, 10:00 to 6:00, Mason Field House. Sponsored by
Soroptomist International of Fairfax County. $7. Classic Promotions
(301) 654-6483.
- Departmental
Recital
– Mon, Mar 17, 12:30, Harris Theater. Free. Music Department (703)
993-1380.
- The
Middle East
Studies Program Film Series – “Iraq in Fragments” offers a
series of intimate, passionately-felt portraits in three parts: A
fatherless 11-year-old is apprenticed to the domineering owner of a
Baghdad garage; Sadr followers in two Shiite cities rally for regional
elections while enforcing Islamic law at the point of a gun; a family
of Kurdish farmers welcomes the US presence. Named Best Documentary at
the Chicago International Film Festival, and nominated for Best
Documentary at the 2007 Academy Awards. USA - Arabic, Kurdish with
subtitles in English. Tue, Mar 18, 7:30, JC Cinema. Free and open to
the public.
- Cinema
Series
– P.S. I Love You, Thu,
Mar 20, 6:00 and 9:00. National Treasure 2:
Book of Secrets, Fri and Sat, Mar 21 and 22, 6:00 and 9:00. $1.00
with Mason ID. JC Cinema.
- Finance Seminar Series – “Mind
the Gap: Unmapped Holdings and the Performance of US Equity Mutual
Funds,” presented by David Hunter, University of Maryland, Fri, Mar 21,
10:30-12:00, 204 Enterprise Hall.
|
COMING
ATTRACTIONS
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 master calendar maintained by the office (see the Forecast
of Non-Class Events for more details, including active links to
more
information on certain events, and to view the
actual OLLI online calendar used by the office). Note: Board,
committee, resource-group and 'membership-type' meetings/events below
are highlighted
in bold. OLLI members are
welcome at all Board, committee and resource-group meetings (except
during executive sessions).
Friday
Mar 14 10am Recorder Group - TA-2
10am Italian Club - Annex
Monday Mar 17
Confirmation Letters Mailed
Tuesday
Mar 18 10am History & Current
Events Resource Group - TA-3
10am 18th Cent. French Painting Movie - TA-1
Wednesday Mar 19
10am Investment Forum - TA 2
10am Genealogy Club - TA-1
10am Bridge Club - TA-3
1:30pm Planning Comm Mtg
- TA-Annex
Thursday Mar 20
11am Fiction Writers Club - Kings Park Lib
Friday Mar 21
10am Italian Club - Annex
10am Recorder Group - TA-2
Monday
Mar 24 SPRING TERM Begins
1pm
Lake Anne Bridge Club
Wednesday
Mar 26 1pm Literature, Language,
Theatre Resource Group Mtg - TA-2
1:30pm Bridge Club - TA-3
2pm
951 Spec Event-Shuffle Now - TA-1
Friday Mar 28
9:30am Drama Club - TA-3
9:30am Photography Club - TA-1
10am Recorder Group - TA-2
10am Italian Club - Annex
10:30am New Member Coffee
- Annex
11:30am Board of
Directors Mtg - TA-1
1pm
952-Spec Event-Witchcraft - TA-1
Monday Mar 31
9am Loudoun Walk-in Registration, 9-12 - Sterling
|
John West
Editor
for this issue
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. Comments,
suggestions or complaints? Please contact the OLLI
E-News Editor or the Communications Committee Chair, Gordon
Canyock.
| Submissions. We encourage members
to submit news items, articles and photos for this newsletter; deadline
to
the editor is 7:00 PM Wed (Mon for letters to the editor for which an
OLLI response is appropriate) for that
week's issue. Please limit
articles to about 250 words. Submit material to editor Rod Zumbro
(email rzumbro@gmu.edu, phone
703-569-2750); email strongly preferred. |
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 five popular email systems:
•
Microsoft Outlook
Express and Windows Mail.
Click Tools; select Options; in the Read tab, uncheck "Read all
messages in plain text."
• Mozilla Thunderbird.
Click Tools; select Options and click the Privacy icon; click the
General tab. Uncheck "Block loading of remote images" and uncheck
"Block Javascript." Click OK. Now click View; select "Message Body As
... Original HTML" (not Plain Text). Also in View, select "Display
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• 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.
| Read the Latest
Issue Before Email Distribution. Eager to read the latest news
from
OLLI? The
new weekly issue of OLLI E-News
is
usually posted to the OLLI Website some time Thursday evening. So
Thursday night or first
thing Friday morning, just go to http://www.olli.gmu.edu/pubs.htm#enews,
where you will find a list of the last 12
issues, and click the issue with Friday's date. |
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 unless
you are using Firefox as your browser; in Firefox, just click
the text/html
link to view the newsletter. This does not normally work with Internet
Explorer (although you may be able to make it work by clicking Open
after clicking the text/html link and then selecting Internet Explorer
as the program to use to view the link).
• You
could forward the
newsletter to your alternate Web-based email account such as Yahoo Mail
or
Hotmail and read it there ... or read it online at
the OLLI
Website each Friday.
• Perhaps
the easiest solution for those of you with gmu.edu email accounts
is to configure your desktop email system such
as Microsoft Outlook Express, Microsoft Windows Mail or Mozilla
Thunderbird to retrieve mail
sent to your gmu.edu address. To do this, see these
instructions.
|
OLLI
E-News Editorial Staff
Reviewer and Backup Editor
John West
Database
Manager
Barbara Kyriakakis
Photo Editor
Michael Coyne |
|
Updated:
March 14, 2008
Copyright © 2008 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at
George Mason University. Materials in this publication subject to
OLLI-Mason copyright may be reproduced for noncommercial educational
purposes as long as credit is given to OLLI-Mason.
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at George
Mason University, 4210 Roberts Rd., Fairfax, VA 22032-1028
Phone: (703) 503-3384; Email: olli@gmu.edu;
Fax: (703) 503-2832
Original site design and construction by OLLI-Mason member Rod Zumbro. |
|
