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OLLI
E-News #14 of Oct. 28, 2005
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REMINDERS
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>> TOWN MEETING
FOR OLLI MEMBERS next Friday, Nov
4, from 10am to 12 noon in TA-1. Details in this article.
>>
FLU CLINIC FOR OLLI MEMBERS at
Tallwood next Friday, Nov 4, from 12:30-3:30, following the Town
Meeting. See article below for details.
>>
SPECIAL EVENT "P," ROMEO AND JULIET:
Eleven discount tickets at $60 each for the Virginia Opera Company's
2:00 performance on Dec 4 are available in the office to both members
and non-member guests. |
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HERE IS
THE NEW QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
"How often do you
visit the OLLI Website?"
Vote
here in this Web poll and
instantly see the results of your vote. Check back
anytime during the
week to see how the online membership has voted.
A new question will be posted each Friday, for
your voting pleasure.
Note:
We apologize
if the Question of the Week is not visible, which can sometimes happen
when
this free service we are using exceeds its bandwidth, and we ask you to
re-visit
the site later to see if you can vote.
Last
week's
question was, "Should OLLI
News/E-News continue publishing letters to the editor and to Ms. Ollie
Ettakit?"
Results: A
record high number of members participated (108). Members
overwhelmingly said "Yes" (85 percent of voters). Thirteen percent
voted to drop Ms. Ettakit, two percent to drop both. |
Note: The OLLI Website has a new
"look and feel." You'll see a new OLLI-GMU logo; pages that
re-size
automatically to fill your screen, so you won't have to scroll down as
much; a horizontal gold navigation bar with clickable menu selections
that drop down when you hover your mouse over a menu category; and a
horizontal green bar that tells you what page you are on. We hope this
new design will make it easier for you to quickly find information on
our Website.
|
 By Dr. Richard Chobot, OLLI Executive Director
THE SECOND FLU SHOT CLINIC is scheduled for Friday, Nov 4, from 12:30
to 3:30 at Tallwood. This is immediately following the OLLI Town
Meeting.
At the moment we have fewer than 30
individuals signed up for the clinic. I have heard that Safeway
canceled all clinics scheduled for their stores after October 23.
Yesterday, a member told me that her doctor had yet to get his supply
of vaccine.
If you are at all interested in getting a
flu
shot, I would encourage you to take advantage of this clinic.
The cost
is $21. You can pay by cash or check. If you have Medicare Part B,
INOVA will submit the paperwork. If you have Part B, but have signed
benefits over to an HMO, you will have to pay for the injection. There
will be no pediatric vaccine available at the clinic.
Please sign up in the Tallwood office so that
I can let INOVA know how many doses of the vaccine to bring. Back to top.
| A Few Words from the
Treasurer |
 By Don Yesukaitus, OLLI Treasurer
A FEW OF OUR MEMBERS HAVE ASKED SOME OF OUR DIRECTORS how much and
where we’ve spent our Osher grant funds. Before I answer that for you,
I wanted to give you a brief background on the protocols followed by
the Osher Foundation.
- First, as with other lifelong learning
institutes (LLIs)
throughout the country who receive Osher funds, the funds are given to
the university with which the LLI is affiliated, which in our case is
the George Mason
University Foundation that acts as the steward for and
accounts for the expenditure of the funds.
- In addition, prior to receiving any
funds, the LLI must
indicate, and Osher must concur with, how the funds are intended to be
used.
IN OUR CASE, OUR INITIAL $100,000 GRANT WAS RESTRICTED to helping us
provide needed capital and grounds improvements as well as to assist us
in our membership recruitment and marketing activities. In essence, the
funds were and have been used to help us fulfill and expand our
educational mission to our members.
The
first grant has been spent, after OLLI board approval, as follows
(rounded to nearest $100):
- Building repairs and new
restrooms--$37,500
- Furniture, A/V equipment and
computers--$24,600
- Membership brochures and
Expo--$12,800
- Landscaping (including a shed
costing $2,000)--$5,500
Spent to
date--$80,400
Remainder--$19,600
(intended
to be spent in whole or in part
on modular furniture to increase office efficiency)
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OUR NORMAL ANNUAL OPERATING EXPENSES ARE COVERED BY MEMBER DUES and
donations by members and/or others who wish
to contribute to our LLI.
Consistent with fulfilling and expanding our
mission, our second $100,000 Osher grant is being used as requested and
approved
by Osher to fund the first-year cost of our recently-hired executive
director, Dick Chobot.
I also wanted to mention to you that the
Finance Committee, in
cooperation with other committee chairs and Dick
Chobot, is currently working on the preparation of the calendar year
2006 operating budget, which we hope to present to the board for
discussion at its next meeting on Friday, Nov 18 at 10:00. As always,
members are
invited and encouraged to attend our board meetings. Back
to
top.
| Annual OLLI Holiday Party
|
 By Sandy Driesslein, Hospitality Committee chair
OLLI WILL HOLD ITS ANNUAL HOLIDAY PARTY from 11:00 to 3:00 on Friday,
Dec 2, at the Country
Club of Fairfax. The price for each member is $30.00, payable to
the office. There will be hors d'oeuvres, salad, stuffed chicken or
pasta primavera, and carrot cake or tiramisu.
Entertainment will be provided by OLLI’s own
Recorder Group during the cocktail hour, the Reader's Theater troupe
between the meal and dessert, and the Singing for Fun group immediately
following dessert. We will have a drawing for the poinsettia
centerpieces at the tables and two $50 Borders gift certificates.
Don’t forget to sign up for this event in the office
by Nov 28. We look forward to seeing all of you there. Back
to top.
| Fairfax County
Library Offerings |
 By Kitty O’Hara, OLLI
News Staff Writer
FAIRFAX COUNTY LIBRARIES WILL BE HOSTING FREE PRESENTATIONS by
the
Social Security Administration to explain the new Medicare prescription
drug benefits between Nov 1 and Dec 17. The new prescription drug
coverage will be available beginning Jan 1, 2006. While registration is
not necessary, the library suggests that you call the branch where
you’re interesting in attending two weeks before the briefing.
The following is the November schedule: Centerville
Regional – Nov 12 at 2:00; Chantilly Regional – Nov 21 at 10:30; Dolley
Madison – Nov 5 at 10:30; George Mason Regional – Nov 18 at 11:00; John
Marshall – Nov 12 at 1:00; Kings Park – Nov 16 at 7:00; Kingstowne –
Nov 1 at 7:00; Martha Washington – Nov 9 at 7:00; Richard Byrd – Nov 7
at 10:30; Sherwood Regional – Nov 2 at 2:00; and Thomas Jefferson – Nov
4 at 1:00.
Some other programs at the libraries that might be
of interest to OLLI members in November include a lecture by OLLI board
member and Reston Support Committee chair Abbie Edwards entitled
“Staying Happy & Healthy in Retirement” at Chantilly Regional
Library on Nov 2 at 7:00; a presentation on the Drive Well Program to
help older adults stay safe on the road at Fairfax City Regional
Library on Nov 10 at 7:30; and a session from an expert on Elderhostel
at Dolley Madison Library on Nov 12 at 10:30.
You do need to register
in advance for these programs. Back to top.
| Theater of the First
Amendment Event |
GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY'S PROFESSIONAL THEATER COMPANY, the Theater of
the First Amendment, presents a salon-style evening of literary
readings by local writers. Writers, actors and the community will come
together in a unique event at 8:00 pm on Nov 4.
Please join us as we gather in Fairfax City's
Old Town Hall to hear professional actors offering dramatic readings of
short
stories and excerpts of novels written by authors from our own
community. This event is free, and refreshments will be served. The
following are among the selections:
| Triumph
in Exile |
The
Rust Preventer |
| Victoria
D. Schmidt’s 2002 historical account of Germaine de Staël, an
uncommon woman who helped depose Napoleon Bonaparte. |
By
Jessica Anthony, imagines the life of a man left behind in WW II on
a deserted island, accompanied by his only friend, a little monkey
named Pamela. |
| Almost
Home |
Across
the Wire |
| By
Mark Farrington, is a touching look at a young boy’s attempt to connect
with his ailing grandmother. |
By
Rachel Lazarus, takes us to a land suffering under military
occupation, in which a mother and her son do what they can to survive
while dreaming of the freedom that lies beyond their world. |
| LLI Review: Call for Papers
|
 By Anne Sprague, OLLI
News Staff Writer
WRITERS ANYWHERE? A new journal set for publication in late spring 2006
has announced a call for papers. Called The LLI Review, the Annual Journal of the
Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes, its publisher will be OLLI's
National
Resource Center. The mission for this peer-reviewed journal is
to present "thoughtful and engaging commentary on issues related to
learning among persons over age 50."
Subjects are varied and will range from poetry
and brief fiction to articles describing a completed empirical research
study. If you are interested in making an important contribution to
knowledge about older learners, please contact E. Michael
Brady, Ph.D., OLLI, at the University of Southern Maine, Bailey
Hall 400-B, Gorham, ME 04038, or telephone 207-780-5312.
For further information regarding this call
for papers, check the National Resource Center's Call
for Papers page. The deadline for submissions is Jan 15, 2006. Back to
top.
| Coming
Events at GMU, Nov 5-6 |
By Jan
Bohall, OLLI Catalog editor
For
tickets, call
888-945-2468 or visit the Center
for the Arts Box Office, Tue – Sat, 10:00
– 6:00
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Aterballetto
ALL
STRAVINSKY EVENING!
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Opera Verdi Europa
Macbeth
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Choral
Classics
with
GMU Singers and Chorale
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Contemporary dance, Italian
style
Saturday, Nov 5 at 8:00
$44,
$36, $22
Concert Hall
Center for
the Arts
Ask
about the free
pre-performance discussion
at 7:15 |
Sunday, Nov 6
at 4:00
$40,
$32, $20
Concert Hall
Center for the Arts
Ask
about the free
pre-performance discussion
at 3:15 |
Works by Bach, Brahms,
Mozart and more
Sunday, Nov 6
at 7:00
Free
Providence Presbyterian Church
9019 Little River Turnpike
Fairfax, Virginia |
 By
Ms. Ollie Ettakit, OLLI
News
staff manners expert
Celfonitis
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Dear
Gentle Readers,
Almost
every day in class we are shaken from our rapt concentration on the
often
inspired and informative words of our lecturer by the
harsh tones of a
cell
phone ringing impudently in someone’s purse or pocket. I would
encourage all
class liaisons to remind the audience to silence their cell phones. In
my
humble opinion that is even more important than reminding the class to
remove
their coffee cups afterward.
P.S. It is heartwarming to hear that 85 percent of voting OLLI members
approve of my commentary.
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| Email
your OLLI
etiquette questions to Ms.
Ollie Ettakit (who is distraught that she cannot reply personally) via
the print-edition OLLI
News
editor, Gordon
Canyock. Back to
top. |
Click
the above image to submit your suggestion on how to improve OLLI. Back to
top.
THE
EDITORIAL STAFF WILL
PUBLISH your brief letters commenting on OLLI activities and will try
to include follow-up information from the relevant committee or staff
member, usually the next week.
-- Gordon
Canyock, OLLI News editor
Scroll down or click to read the Letters
EDITORIAL
 By Gordon Canyock, OLLI
News editor
MANY OF THE SIGNED LETTERS TO THE EDITOR that we have published to date
were ascribed to “Anonymous” at the writer's request. This has recently
led some readers to drop unsigned letters for us in the suggestion box.
We need to know that the letter is intended for publication, that it is
not a prank, and that we can contact the writer for clarification and
acceptance of editing, if necessary. We will not publish any letter
whose authorship is unknown to the editor. In view of this policy, we
suggest that anyone who has sent an unsigned letter, either directly to
the editor or via the suggestion box, and now wants it to be considered
for publication as a letter to the editor, resubmit it with name and
phone number or email address included.
Our readers may, however, continue to
request anonymity from the
editor, in which case we will identify you as “Anonymous,” i.e., we
will not print your name as the writer without your consent. We will
ask you to consider at least letting us use your town and/or initials.
If you use the suggestion box, please address your note to “Editor OLLI
News” so that whoever empties the box knows to give the note to
us.
Written or online suggestions that are not identified as letters to the
editor will be passed on to the appropriate person within the OLLI
leadership. If you want a response to any such suggestion, please
include your name and phone number or email address.
Letters to the Editor are but one means
of communicating with OLLI’s
leaders. Unless you specifically want your letter published in OLLI
News, we encourage you to go directly to a committee chair,
director,
or the Executive Director with your concerns. If for whatever reason
you prefer to use the editors of OLLI
News as your ombudsman or your
conduit to the membership, we will give careful consideration to
publishing your letter and we will at the very least respond to you
personally.
LETTERS
Keeping
Tallwood Beautiful
This morning I
observed the Dirty Knees Gang removing a tree behind the
soon-to-be-a-memory Tallwood House. The
tree will be replanted at a more suitable/less vulnerable location. I
for one appreciate the efforts of this group -- even though they tried
to shame me into picking up a shovel -- to keep OLLI beautiful.
And while we're at it ... I arrived at the
office this morning to find a member of the University Cleaning Crew
sweeping the leaves off the sidewalks and decking outside TA-2 and
TA-3. While this may seem like a small thing, it lessens the chance of
slips and falls. We should recognize that this is one of a number of
ways in which the University contributes to the support of OLLI.
Janitorial services would be a significant cost if it came out of the
OLLI budget. Just thought you would like to know.
-- Dick Chobot, Executive Director
Hamlet
Those of us taking Course 403 [Hamlet:
Shakespeare's Mosaic] had a special treat last Wednesday when GMU
Professors Rick Davis
and Ken Elston
read and commented on four scenes from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The presentation
complemented Kathryn Russell’s approach of comparing different
productions. The dynamic, humorous, and informative interpretations by
these two talented actors was one of the highlights of the fall term.
-- Joan White, Fairfax
Rod
Zumbro
Karen
Hamilton
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OLLI E-NEWS
Editor
Proofreader
|
About OLLI
E-News. OLLI
E-News is
emailed to OLLI
members on Fridays when sufficient content is available. Each issue
contains new content (during class terms, the same content will appear
the following week in the printed OLLI
News
distributed in classrooms). We encourage OLLI members and
staff employees to submit news items and write articles. Comments,
suggestions or complaints? Please contact the OLLI E-News editor or the
Publications Committee chair, Gordon
Canyock.
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Updated:
May 15, 2006
Copyright © 2006 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. |
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