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OLLI
E-News #17-08 of May 2, 2008
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REPORT FROM
PHOENIX, PART 3
From the executive director
 By Thom Clement,
Executive Director
I
AM CONTINUING MY ANALYSIS of information from the
National OLLI Conference that Pat Carroll and I attended in early
April. Last week, I commented on the variations in how "membership" is
defined among the 119 OLLIs. I also described differences in the fees
and payment options as well as the number and duration of course terms.
There are also striking differences in the quality and numbers of courses
offered by OLLIs across the nation. Our OLLI at George Mason University
works hard to provide a wide variety of courses in six curricular areas
as well as numerous special activities and presentations that cover an
even wider spectrum of interests. This spring we are offering 63
courses, and the total for 2008 will be over 250. In many OLLIs, there
are fewer than 10 courses offered per term, with very few approaching
our totals. Although lifelong learning institutes generally offer
high-quality classes, our OLLI stands apart from most in the extent to
which we have top-quality faculty from Mason as well as current and
former officials from government and national institutions. This
quality is a reflection of the dynamic membership of OLLI at Mason,
which includes a high proportion of individuals with advanced degrees
and extensive backgrounds in academia, government, military, and the
business world.
What makes this quality programming even more
remarkable is the fact that all of our OLLI
instructors are volunteering their time! This is not the case at
many OLLIs, but it is a reflection of the culture of OLLI at Mason. The
passion and commitment of OLLI members who volunteer their time to
serve in many capacities is what truly sets us apart. When we see our
outstanding speakers and instructors obviously enjoying the
volunteering of their time, it inspires us to contribute in other ways
to support the classrooms and learning environment, the administrative
functions, the communication tools, and the fundraising efforts. The
chairpersons of the various committees and the elected members of our
Board of Directors set an example of service that is remarkable.
The
relationship between each OLLI and its host institution is
vital. The majority of OLLIs are located on campus and in the
departments of Extended Studies or Continuing Education. Staff
functions are provided by people who are hired, supervised, and paid by
the university or college. Although this has its advantages, it means
that the college has almost total control of the budget and programming
of the OLLI. OLLI at Mason has a unique "affiliation" agreement in
which we depend on the university for our main facilities, including
maintenance and utilities. However, we have a tradition of independence
regarding all other aspects of our operation, including the development
of our program, hiring and paying staff, and providing a variety of
support for members.
We certainly can learn from the excellent
programs offered by OLLIs across the nation. As we meet the challenges
of a growing membership and limitations of current facilities, we will
be seeking information from other institutes who are dealing with
similar issues. It’s an exciting time to be involved in lifelong
learning!
Back to top
THE CHAIRMAN VISITS OLLI
Gerry Connolly's talk last
Friday
Board members Susanne Zumbro and Lilyan Spero with Chairman Gerry
Connolly
Photo by
Gordon Canyock
spoke at OLLI last
Friday to a large gathering of OLLI members in TA-1. One topic of
interest to the audience was Fairfax County's "50+
Action Plan." Click here
to view the
plan's Web
site.
 EYE ON RESTON
Three news items
 By Sharon Gilman, OLLI
E-News Staff Writer
Lake Anne Plaza in Reston. Photo by Stan Schretter.
by taking advantage of the
opportunities that the Greater Reston area offers. We need to have
quality programs that appeal to the optimum number of members. A
request for volunteers was made recently to assist in this endeavor. We
are happy to report the following people have answered the call.
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Marilyn
Hedtke—History & Current Events Resource Group
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Betty
Weiner—Literature/Language/Theater Resource
Group
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Luci Martel—Finance &
Economics Resource Group
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Amy George—Art & Music
Resource Group
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Mary Rose
Komreich—Science/Technology/Health
Resource Group
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Sharon Gilman—Communications
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Stan Schretter—Photography
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Lillian Justice—Pending
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Len Libster—Brochure &
Pamphlet Design
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Bob Simon—Ambassador at Large |
In addition, the Lake Anne classrooms now have
access to the Internet. This is a very positive upgrade. We will now
have the potential to attract session leaders who require this type of
AV support.
Were you unable to attend the Tallwood Silent
Auction and Picnic today? Well, on Fri, May 21, you will have another
opportunity to participate in a Silent Auction and Picnic—to be held in
the Reston area. Mark your calendars for May 21, 4:00 to 7:00. More
details will follow in next week’s Eye on Reston.
THE DAWN OF THE AGE OF
PERSONALIZED THERAPY
Developments in the use of nanotechnology
to treat diseases
 
Prof. Liotta and Prof. Petricoin
OLLI
IS PROUD TO WELCOME TWO SCIENTISTS from George Mason’s Center
for the Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine for the Tue, May 13,
session of course #803, "Science and Technology Today." Dr. Lance
Liotta and Dr. Emanuel Petricoin, co-directors of the center, will join
us to speak about dramatic developments in the use of nanotechnology to
treat diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, and schizophrenia. The new
technology can be programmed to target certain types of biomarkers and
latch on to them for early detection.
Drs. Liotta and Petricoin were selected to
make this presentation as part of the Mason Provost’s Vision series
this spring. Seats are still available for this session in TA-1 from
2:00–3:30. Email the OLLI office at olli@gmu.edu
to sign up!
WALKERS/HIKERS PLAN TRIP TO NATIONAL
ARBORETUM
Sat, May 10, unless it rains
THE
NATIONAL ARBORETUM IS A WASHINGTON, DC, TREASURE of beautiful
flowers and gardens. Join us to see a hillside covered in azaleas of
different colors, flowering dogwoods, the Japanese Garden and the
National Bonsai exhibit.
The
Arboretum covers 446 acres so there are
plenty of opportunities for walking. We will meet at the pool parking
lot next to Tallwood on Sat, May 10, at 9:30 and carpool to the
Arboretum. Please bring lunch. We should plan to return between 2:30
and 3:00. You can contact Sherry Hart for further
information. We will cancel in case of rain but misty is OK.
OLLI POET
RECOGNIZED
Mike McNamara receives honorable mentions
THE
POETRY SOCIETY OF VIRGINIA recently announced its 2008 awards,
and OLLI's Mike McNamara received two 1st Honorable Mentions and a 2nd
Honorable Mention. There were about 1,600 entries submitted for
this big competition. We congratulate Mike for this recognition and are
pleased to publish one of his poems, Honorable Mention in the Society's
Scott Kirkpatrick Memorial Award.
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Sweet Science
The second or third time
You read it,
It announces itself
At last: Clearly, certainly, loudly,
As through some descended microphone,
This deus ex machina,
Over your seat in this arena.
It comes across
So blindingly quick and absolute,
Like a wonderful right hook
After exploratory left jabs;
As when Ernest, Ezra, Norman,
Or whoever else
That cares for this damned stuff,
Spars seriously in that sweated,
Squared circle of this sweet science, to
Hammer those things home
That will eventually
Flatten you for a long, long count. |
Back to top
TONIGHT: FIRST
FRIDAYS AT OLD TOWN HALL RETURNS
Play readings plus free refreshments in
Fairfax City
 TONIGHT AT 8:00, Mason's Theater of the
First Amendment (TFA) returns with First Fridays at Old Town Hall. This
event is part of the Spotlight on the Arts celebration currently
happening in the City of Fairfax. TFA will present a series of staged
readings of the many plays that will be part of its Mason Festival of
the Arts coming in June. Selections will be read from Two-Bit Taj Mahal by Paul D'Andrea
and Mariela in the Desert by
Karen Zacarias, both of which will receive full productions in the
Festival.
In addition, see excerpts from the plays
selected for the First Light Development Program, including The Death of the Fourth Estate by
Kerry Gildea and Dirty Pictures
by D. W. Gregory.
Winning plays from TFA's Playwriting
Competition and Mentorship Program will be represented through Boxes by Sarah Congress, a student
from Hayfield High School, and Cyberdate.com
by Mason student John Touhy.
As always, this salon-like evening will
include wine and cheese, socializing, and best of all, it's FREE!
Questions? Contact TFA Managing Director Kevin Murray at 703-993-2195
or kmurra3@gmu.edu.
OLLI MILITARY OUTREACH
An update
 By
Helen Goff, OLLI
Liaison to Mason
Military Outreach Committee
HERE
IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE of how your continued support
of Mason Military Outreach is helping our soldiers:
My
son also let me know that he received his goodies from me and Mason. He
was thrilled. He really appreciated you and all the people who
contributed and worked on the assembly line to put together the
wonderful care packages. On behalf of my son, his dad and all the other
military families, we all say HOOAA! -- GREAT JOB, YOU ARE TERRIFIC.
-- Yolanda |
To date, OLLI has donated $199 towards mailing
packages and two large boxes and two shopping bags of items to Mason
Military Outreach. Keep up the good work. Your efforts make a
difference.
HISTORY CLUB MEETING
"THE BROWN WATER NAVY"
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 THE HISTORY CLUB WILL MEET on Wed,
May 7, in TA-1 from 2:00 to 3:30, when OLLI’s Ben Gold will give
another splendid multi-media presentation, this time on "The Brown
Water Navy: U.S. Navy Inshore Operations During the Vietnam War."
OLLI members and guests are always welcome at
any of the club's meetings.
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Back
to top
LOUDOUN LINES
(FOR ALL OLLI MEMBERS!)
Four more weeks in Loudoun's spring term
By Sharon Gilman, OLLI
E-News Staff Writer
SINCE
OLLI AT LOUDOUN STARTS TWO WEEKS
LATER than OLLI at Tallwood and Lake Anne, there
are
still four weeks remaining in the Loudoun spring term. OLLI members who
don’t usually come to Loudoun are encouraged to come and try out a
couple of our programs. Times and titles follow:
- Mondays at
1:00: Explorations in Religion
- Tuesdays at
10:30: Great Decisions
- Tuesdays at
1:00: Campaign Issues
- Wednesdays at
10:30: Visiting Authors
- Thursdays at
10:30: Aging Productively
- Thursdays at
1:00: Broadway Musicals
Read details about these courses in the Loudoun
catalog (pdf). Come try us out!
SINGLES
GROUP EVENT
GAME
DAY
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THE OLLI SINGLES GROUP IS HOLDING a
game day featuring an assortment of board and card games on Sun, May
18, from 1:30 to whenever at Barbara Lynch's home. Nibbles, beer and
wine will be served at this afternoon event that offers fun and
friendship.
Attendees will be the first 16 people to sign
up with Barbara (email only!).
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 CENTER FOR THE ARTS
Arts and music events at Mason,
May 2-11
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.
GMU
Dance Company
May
Concert
Fri, Sat, May 2, 3, at 8:00
Admission: seniors/students $7, other adults, $10
Dance Performance Studio (3rd floor of the Performing Arts Bldg.,
adjacent to the Concert Hall).
GMU Players #3
Measure
for Measure
by
William Shakespeare
Directed by Rick Davis, artistic director of the CFA/Theater of the
First Amendment, this play brings Shakespeare’s most sustained
investigation of the role of law and justice, applied to a wide variety
of human circumstances. Stay for a post-performance discussion with the
director and members of the Players.
Fri, Sat, May 2-3, at 8:00
Sat, Sun, May 3-4, at 2:00
Admission: $8 seniors/students, $12 other adults
Theater Space (From Level 2 of Parking Deck take the bridge, enter the
first door on the left and follow hallway through the gray doors and
down stairs.)
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Diavolo
This group is made up of dancers, gymnasts and actors that use oversize
structures and surrealistic sets of commonplace items. Performers leap,
fly and twirl to portray metaphors for the absurdities of life.
Fri, Sat, May 2, 3, at 8:00
Admission: $44, $36, $22
Family friendly: Children 12 and under half price with an adult
Concert Hall
Come at 7:15 for a pre-performance artistic discussion in the Grand
Tier III Lobby.
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GMU Opera
Tartuffe
by Kirke
Mechem
Fri, Sat, May 2, 3, at 8:00
Admission: $15 seniors/students, $20 other adults
Harris Theater
2008 GMU Music Scholarship Concert
featuring
University Symphony Orchestra, Choirs
and
Concerto Soloists
The groups will perform Slava!
by Leonard Bernstein as well as selections from Gilbert and Sullivan
operettas. Musicians well-known to OLLI members include Anthony
Maiello, conductor of the Symphony Orchestra, and Dr. Lisa A.
Billingham and Dr. Stanley Engebretson, conductors of the University
Chorale and University Singers. Provost Peter N. Stearns will make a
special guest appearance.
Sun, May 4, at 7:00
Admission: $15 seniors/students, $20 other adults
Concert Hall
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Fairfax Symphony Orchestra
Masterworks 6
Elmar Oliveira, violin
Oliveira is the only American violinist ever
to win a gold medal at the famed Tchaikovsky International Competition
in Moscow. With the FSO he will perform Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy which features a
prominent role for harp. The orchestra will also play Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
and Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5.
Sat, May 10, at 8:00
Concert Hall
$55, $45, $35, $25
Come early for a free, pre-concert lecture at 7:00
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2008 Honors Recital
Sun, May 11, at 3:00
featuring selected student performers
Harris Theater
Free/Non-Ticketed
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MASON HIGHLIGHTS
Other Mason events
 By Barbara Kyriakakis, OLLI
E-News Staff Writer
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Dance Performance – Mason Dance Company Concert, Sat, May 3,
8:00, Performing Arts Building, Dance Performance Studio. $7 with Mason
ID. Call Center for the Arts Box Office at 703-993-8888.
•
Cinema Series – Cloverfield, Sat, May 3, 6:00
and 9:00, JC Cinema. $1.00 with Mason ID.
•
Krasnow Seminar - "Development of Complex Skills in Great Apes:
A Comparative Perspective on Social Influences," presented by Elizabeth
V. Lonsdorf, Director of The Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and
Conservation of Apes, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago. Mon, May 4, 4:00, 229
Krasnow Building.
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Undergraduate Student Art Exhibition – May 1-19, 9:00 to 9:00
M-F, Fine Arts Gallery in the Fine Arts Building, and Gallery 123 in
the Johnson Center.
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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 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
May 2 10am Annual Membership
Meeting including candidate speeches - TA-1
9:00 to 9:55am and 11:30am (about) to 1:30pm
Silent
Auction -
TA-3
11:30am (about) OLLI Picnic - Tallwood Grounds
Monday May 5
1pm Lake Anne Bridge Club
Wednesday
May 7 10am Spec Events Res
Grp Mtg - TA-2
1:30pm Bridge Club - TA-3
2pm Program Review Comm
Mtg - TA-2
2pm History Club - TA-1
Friday
May
9 Loudoun Spec
Event - Dodona Manor and Lightfoot Restaurant
9:30am Drama Club - TA-3
9:30am 963-Spec Event-Hillwood Estate - Bus Trip -
Fair Oaks
10am Italian Club - TA-Annex
10am Recorder Group - TA-2
1:30pm Homer, Etc. Book Club - TA-Annex
Monday May 12
1pm Lake Anne Bridge Club
Wednesday May 14
1:30pm Bridge Club - TA-3
2pm 964-Spec Event-Chancellorsville Part I - TA-1
Thursday May 15
11am Fiction Writers Club - Kings Park Library
Friday May
16 SPRING TERM Ends
9:30am Drama Club - TA-3
9:30am 965-Spec Event-Chancellorsville-Part II - Bus
Trip-Fair Oaks
10am Italian Club - TA-Annex
10am Recorder Group - TA-2
12noon
Ballots due at Lake Anne or Tallwood office
for Board of Directors election
1:30pm Homer, Etc. Book Club - TA-Annex
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Rod
Zumbro
Editor
Karen
Hamilton
Deputy
Editor
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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 Editor Rod
Zumbro or 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
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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
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• Mozilla Thunderbird.
Click Tools; select Options and click the Privacy icon; click the
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Click Mail Options/General Preferences; under Security, uncheck "Block
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AOL. Upgrade,
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| 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.
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OLLI
E-News Editorial Staff
Reviewer and Backup Editor
John West
Database
Manager
Barbara Kyriakakis
Reviewer and Photo Editor
Michael Coyne |
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Updated:
May 2, 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. |
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