IN MY DEFENSE

HELP WANTED

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OLLI TEACHER BEVERLY COSHAM TO SING SUNDAY

BEVERLY COSHAM, who taught the "Great Ladies of Song" course last fall at Lake Anne (and sang a terrific number herself each week), will sing at a Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Concert on Sun, Jan 14, at 5:00 at the Reston Community Center, 2310 Colts Neck Road in Hunters Woods in Reston.      According to a write-up in the Jan 11 Washington Post, the free concert features the Reston Community Orchestra led by Dingwall Fleary and a second Reston singer, soprano Ellyn Crawford, who has performed with the Washington National Opera. Musical selections will include the song "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing," selections from "Porgy and Bess," William Grant Still's Symphony No. 1, "Afro-American," which in 1931 became the first classical work by a black composer to be performed by a leading orchestra, and "A Prayer for Peace" to be performed as background to orator Harold Scott's delivery of the text of King's 1964 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech. The "A Prayer for Peace" musical selection was apparently composed by Alicia Bingham, who wrote it as a middle school student in Falls Church in the 1990s. Hearing Beverly Cosham would in itself be worth a trip to Reston, but the entire concert has many local area connections in its celebration of King's life.

This notice was contributed by OLLI member Carol Henderson.

NOTES FROM THE EDITOR

BACKUP YOUR DATA!

CONCERTS AT MASON

HOW MANY TIMES have you read that you should back up important information on your computer? I just learned that life lesson the hard way when my computer crashed last week. It took almost a week to get it back into operation, and I did lose some information.      If you're reading this, you probably own a computer. And you probably have not yet started a system for backups. It's not too late. (You do not have to backup your application programs since they can always be re-installed from your original discs.)      Reminder: Back up your data (important documents, financial data, favorite photos, etc.) onto a CD, DVD, flash drive or external hard drive on a regular basis.

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN to a concert at Mason's Center for the Arts? If not, you're missing a real treat. (So says Manny, too.)      Susanne and I attended the free, filled-to-capacity performance by the United States Marine Band last Sunday afternoon. Many other OLLI folks were there for a delightful, stirring concert that began with the National Anthem played the way it is supposed to be played -- by a military band -- and ended with the traditional "Stars and Stripes Forever" and "Marines' Hymn." In between was beautiful music by John Philip Sousa, Richard Wagner, Johann Strauss Jr. and Amilcare Ponchielli; afterwards was a post-concert chat with the conductor and band members.

-- Rod Zumbro, OLLI E-News editor

MASON HIGHLIGHTS
By Barbara Kyriakakis, OLLI E-News assistant editor
What’s happening at George Mason? The holiday season is over, the New Year has begun … students, professors and staff are gearing up for the start of classes on Mon, Jan 22 (the same day we start our winter term). 

• The Mason Arts Bus will be revving up again on Sat, Feb 24, for its trip to New York. Tickets, $60. Bus leaves at 6:00 am. 
• A new season of Krasnow Institute Seminars begins on Jan 29 at 4:00 in Room 229 with "Computational Study of Brain Aneurysms;" speaker Juan Cebral.
• Mason Men’s Basketball will host James Madison on Sat, Jan 13, at 2:00 in the Patriot Center. Tickets, $11. Call 703-573-SEAT.
• The Office of Parking and Transportation will hold a transportation fair in the Johnson Center, Dewberry Hall on Jan 24 from 11:00 until 2:00 for anyone wanting to learn about commuting options to and from George Mason campuses. Door prizes will be awarded. Contact Anne Whitley, 703-993-9530.
• Hot Topics in Technology Management Speaker Series presents "An Evening with Internet Pioneer Robert Kahn" in Mason Hall on Feb 6. Reception starts at 6:30; presentation starts at 7:15, followed by Q & A. All are invited. Contact Janet Palmisano, 703-993-1880.

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.

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Dear OLLI President and Board of Directors: I was both annoyed and confused after reading the Jan 3, 2007 President’s message regarding the almost 30 % increase in our yearly dues. While the board did request the Finance Committee to offer an explanation of the six-percent increase over 2006, the Committee fell short of providing the details that would justify the increase. The implications it will have on our membership - old and new - and how this revised assessment will improve our current position remains unstated.      Why isn’t the Board critically examining other ways of reducing the budget? Such an increase in dues could surely cause many members to forfeit their membership, placing undue burdens on those remaining. If hiring a director with a total compensation package of nearly $100,000 a year is partially responsible for this increase, then I think the individual’s accomplishments and organizational impact should be spelled out in detail. The Board has the responsibility to adequately justify these increases, so as members, we can know what directions OLLI is going in. Respectfully, -- Lorraine Daxe, OLLI member

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Dear Debbie:
First let me say that those of us who question OLLI expenditures, including dues increases, are not always doing so for the immediate question of monetary outlay though that is no small consideration.
     However there is a question the OLLI balance sheet you offered in your narrative today does not answer. How does additional cost (increase in our dues) correlate with the assets? Nowhere in your formulation (long view v. short view, unknown possibilities, etc.) is that clear. 
     The Program Committee, Resource Groups, Class Liaison Coordinators, Special Events Committee and Catalog Production are all staffed by volunteer members. That organizational component represents the nucleus of how our Lifelong Learning Institute operates and has successfully operated since its inception. That operation has not increased the costs of running the Institute.
     The Osher philanthropy provided monies that were not available in the past. To embrace your "long view" it is important that we clarify how the largess of the grant with its attendant requirements has affected the cost of our operation and how it may continue to affect those costs in future to the detriment of the membership.
Sincerely,
-- Joan Salemi, OLLI member

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Any increase in dues by a non-profit voluntary organization is a potentially dangerous step. If not carefully studied and justified to the membership, it can cause membership to decrease, drive the need to further raise dues, and then take the organization into a precarious financial situation. Now that the Board has raised the dues, we need to question whether the board has properly justified it. It appears that the primary need to raise the dues to $350 was caused by the need to cover the approximate $100,000 salary of the Executive Director (which is not covered by the endowment this fiscal year). Does the Board have a plan to cover the loss of revenue if we have a significant drop in membership because of the dues increase? As a dues-paying member, I would like to know if we are getting our money's worth.     It is normal practice in American companies for the board of directors to lay out a very clear and measurable set of objectives for the CEO to meet. What are the objectives for the Executive Director? I am requesting that the board meet to establish these objectives, disseminate these objectives to the general membership, and hold a public meeting to report on the achievement of these objectives prior to future decisions on staffing retention and changes to the dues structure. -- Maxine Sherwin, OLLI member

Editor's Note: The most recent president's message was written to address concerns such as those expressed above.

Comments/questions/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 ATTRACTIONS