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OLLI
E-News #30-09 of July 31, 2009
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WHAT A STAFF!
From the executive
director
WE OFTEN EMPHASIZE
THAT OLLI IS "DRIVEN" BY ITS MEMBERS who develop and implement the wonderful
program of courses and activities. Indeed, the appeal of OLLI
membership is directly related to the value of contributions to every
aspect of the Institute.
I would like to take this opportunity to tell
you about the wonderful staff members who provide services for our
increasingly complex operations. As OLLI has grown to include over 860
members, the day-to-day responsibility of managing the work is more
than most volunteers would care to handle. I am responsible for
coordinating and supervising a very enthusiastic group of part-time
staff members. Please allow me to give them a little recognition.
At Tallwood in Fairfax, our staff members take
care of the needs of three very busy classrooms as well as the demands
of the total organization.
Maria Buczek
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Beth Davis
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Karen Nash
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Bill Walsh
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- Maria
Buczek is the Administrator
and Registrar. Starting in September of 2008, Maria quickly grasped the
intricacies of our registration system and helped many members learn
how to register online. She maintains our member database and is
responsible for generating class lists, confirmation emails and
letters, and other mass mailings such as the weekly OLLI E-News. She handles most
communications via email, phone, and postal mail. She also coordinates
the ongoing maintenance needs of Tallwood with the University.
- Beth
Davis
is the
Program Associate and joined us in July 2008. I think of her as the
"hub" of every communication related to the development of our courses
and activities, from the initial brainstorming of ideas by our resource
groups to the production of our catalog and subsequent support for our
instructors and speakers. She serves as our resident "task master" so
that everyone keeps up with deadlines for each step in the program
development process.
- Karen
Nash
has been
the Finance Associate since January of 2006. If it has to do with
money, Karen takes care of it. She processes all incoming revenue
and makes payments for all equipment and services, including payroll.
She reconciles financial reports and provides timely information to the
executive director and the Board of Directors as they develop and
implement the operating budget. Karen also processes contracts for bus
trips and other services. As you can imagine, her job has become more
complex with the addition of membership alternatives and payment
options.
- Bill
Walsh
is the
Site Assistant for Tallwood and the resident "techie." He makes sure
that computers and audiovisual equipment are working properly for each
class. He assists instructors, speakers, and class coordinators in the
use of microphones and other devices. Bill also handles most of the
coffee and cookie preparations in the Tallwood social room.
In
Reston…
- Ann
Youngren is the "face" of OLLI
in Reston and has been the Site Assistant there for four years. Ann
sets up the furniture in the morning and packs it away in the afternoon
in the classroom area of Washington Plaza Baptist Church. She obtains
the coffee and snacks and sets out display items. Until recently, Ann
has been responsible for all the audio-visual support for classes.
- For the last several months,
participants in Reston
classes
have enjoyed the additional "classroom technology" support from Randy Anderson. Randy has his own
private technology consulting business but has filled the important
role of setting up and maintaining the computers and assisting Ann with
other audiovisual equipment responsibilities.
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Kathy Breen (left) & Madeline Lynn
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In
Loudoun…
- The
Loudoun Site Assistant is Kathy Breen.
Her role is to provide support for the members as well as the
instructors of OLLI courses at the Loudoun site. She handles
communications as well as refreshments. This role has become a little
more technical now that we have microphones and sound-system speakers
to be used by instructors and lecturers.
- Providing support for development
of the courses in
Loudoun
is Madeline Lynn, the Program
Assistant. Madeline organizes meetings of the Loudoun Program Committee
and continually generates ideas for courses and leads for good
instructors.
I hope that you’ll join me in telling the OLLI staff members how much
we appreciate the work they do to support the efforts of our members
and fulfill the mission of OLLI!
PROGRAM
CORNER
Upcoming resource group meetings
 By Kathryn Russell, Program Committee Chair
HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED HOW OLLI'S
OUTSTANDING PROGRAM is developed? The fall catalog, now
online and soon to arrive in your mailbox, offers 88 courses, 26
special events, and 13 ongoing activities. Believe me, this impressive
line-up doesn’t happen by magic! It’s the result of hard work and
dedication of OLLI members just like you. Two or three times a year
enthusiastic volunteers from each of the subject areas meet to decide
on specific courses to develop in upcoming sessions.
YOUR PERSONAL
INVITATION: We cordially
invite all interested OLLI members to
come to any of these meetings. Join in the lively program
discussion,
brainstorm ideas for courses, and take part in choosing classes for
future sessions. This is the perfect opportunity for you to learn more
about the OLLI program and to contribute ideas for interesting classes.
Below you’ll find dates and times of upcoming Resource Group meetings
(listed
by date, earliest first)
as well as people to contact should you need more information. We hope
you’ll join us.
LOUDOUN PROGRAM COMMITTEE
Contact: Lynda Hollidge
Madeline Lynn mlynn1@gmu.edu
Location and time: Loudoun Conference Room, Aug 18, 10:30
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PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, AND ETHICS
Contacts: Abbie Edwards
Bob Lawshe
rlawshe@cox.net
Location and time: TA-1, Aug 19, 10:00
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SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND HEALTH
Contact: Jayne Hart
Location and time: TA-2, Aug 24, 10:00
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HISTORY AND CURRENT EVENTS
Contacts: Emmett Fenlon
Bob Persell
Location and time: TA-1, Aug 25, 10:00
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ECONOMICS AND FINANCE
Contact: Leo Brennan
Location and time: TA-3, Aug 26, 11:30
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LITERATURE, LANGUAGE, AND THEATER
Contacts: Doris Bloch dbloch50@hotmail.com
Jane Tombes
Kathie West kathiewest@cox.net
Location and time: TA-2, Aug 27, 10:00
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RESTON PROGRAM COMMITTEE
Contact: Luci Martel
Location and time: Washington Plaza Baptist Church, Aug 31, 1:30
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SPECIAL EVENTS
Contact: Florence Adler
Location and time: Tallwood Annex, Sep 2, 10:00
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 DON’T FORGET FRIENDS OF OLLI WHEN
REGISTERING
It's easy to donate at registration time
REGISTRATION FOR THE FALL TERM BEGINS TUE,
AUG 18, and
continues through Wed, Sep 2. The need to replenish our Friends of
OLLI funds is great, as I explained in my article in
last week's OLLI E-News. So
we sincerely hope that
you will consider making a donation to Friends of OLLI when you
register. It's easy to donate at
registration whether you do it online (where you can donate by credit
card) or via the printed registration form.
Normally we do
acknowledge your contributions in OLLI publications, but we understand
that some members prefer not to be listed. Here's how to express that
preference.
- At the Member Portal,
after logging in please click Membership/Edit Personal Info, click Edit
at lower left of your personal page, check the box to "Keep
donations private," and click Update to save the change.
- Using the
printed registration form, check the applicable box ("Check here if to
you do not want your name listed as a contributor in OLLI
publications").
We want to continue to provide scholarships
for deserving George Mason University students and to enhance the OLLI
learning experience through enhanced audiovisual improvements, so we
hope you will be able to make a generous
contribution to Friends of OLLI when you register. Thank you!
FOR THE
FRIENDS OF OLLI...
An idea from the Membership chair
 By Debbie Halverson, Membership Committee Chair
THIS
WEEK I COMPLETED MY SILENT AUCTION DONATION with a little help from my OLLI
friends. And it gave
me an idea.
I had offered to teach cooking skills to
novices -- "Suddenly Singles" as
I called them -- but neither of the two who bought the auction item was
"suddenly
single." They’d been living and eating alone for a long time, just as I
had. One of them knew how to cook but wanted to upgrade her
skills, while the other said he hadn’t any experience in the kitchen at
all.
We worked in my kitchen on two different Mondays, baked chicken and salmon, and made a variety of
pasta dishes, desserts, appetizers, homemade chicken noodle soup, and a
wonderful quiche. Blueberries
in season became a great tart; shrimp were "creoled." Completing the
pleasure, we had lunch of
what we made, and my students left with doggie bags of the day’s
accomplishments.
We agreed it was a success, and that caused me to do some thinking
about
how I might make this an ongoing offer for the benefit of Friends of
OLLI. Perhaps there are others of you who might like to join me
in my kitchen, maybe to learn more about the pleasures of cooking for
one if you are in a single situation. Although many people at this
point in life
feel there’s no incentive in cooking without a family to feed, I’m here
to tell you that creativity in the kitchen is as fun for one as for
many. Consider yourself important enough to fuss over; achieve some
aromatic culinary successes that will have your neighbors beating down
your doors for a taste.
So, if any OLLI members think they might like to learn with me in my
kitchen for a fee that will go to
Friends of OLLI, do get in touch. And, if others who donated a
service at the silent
auction also want to make
their offer ongoing, let me know and we’ll set up a network to
inform our members. Always for the good of OLLI while learning, which
is what we do best.
VISIT TO NAVY
YARD
Includes slideshow of photos taken at the
Navy Museum
 By Florence Adler, Special Events Resource Group Chair
Slideshow:
five
photos by Abbie Edwards and one photo by Bob Persell of OLLI's "top
gun,"
President Emmett Fenlon, at the big
gun.
ON
TUESDAY, JULY 21, 34 OLLI MEMBERS toured
the U. S. Navy Museum and Historical Center at the
Washington Navy Yard. We were led by
OLLI members Tom Kyriakakis and
Pat McGinty, both of whom are docents at the museum. With its
display of naval artifacts, models, documents and fine arts, the museum
chronicles the history of the U.S.
Navy from the American Revolution to present-day conflicts.
After
lunch in the Navy Yard dining hall we reassembled in the Museum
Education Center for a very interesting lecture and discussion by
Dr. Edward J. Marolda, senior historian of the Naval Historical
Center. He talked about the U. S. Navy in the Korean War and how
it defined the role of sea power in today’s world. Our
day, including the breezes
wafting off the Anacostia River, was very
enjoyable.
Related
Web link: U.
S. Navy Museum.
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Windows 7 Home Premium
One of many available versions
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OLLI
PC USER GROUP MEETING
Presentations on Skype and Windows 7
By Paul Howard,
OLLI PC User Group Coordinator
THE OLLI PC USER GROUP WILL MEET at
1:00 on Sat, Aug 15, at Tallwood. The "Learn 30" session is on Skype
4.1 -- OLLI staffer Bill Walsh will
examine the basics of this Internet communications service that allows
video chats between two PCs (a great way to "see" the grandkids!).
Then Gene Barlow will host a mini-Webinar
during which he will answer questions about Acronis True Image Home,
the PC backup and recovery software product that was presented at the
July meeting. If you missed that meeting and are interested in
obtaining the
software, click here
for a discount order form (pdf).
Our main presentation will be on Microsoft's
new operating system, Windows 7, which will replace Vista. Speaking
will be IT network professional Mark Mabee, a longtime
member of the
Capital PC User Group. He has been the featured presenter at a number
of CPCUG events and has handled technical questions during
pre-presentation Q&A sessions at other events.
Curious about what the upcoming Microsoft
Windows 7 operating system will look like? About its new features?
About whether you can anticipate using it effortlessly after
suffering through or working around the Microsoft Vista operating
system? Mark Mabee shares the fun of exploring the Windows 7 "release
candidate" and investigating the capabilities of the next Microsoft
Windows operating system, now scheduled to be available Oct 22, 2009.
Related
Web link: OLLI PC User Group's Web site -- OLLI PC Computer
Users Group.
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FOUR
YEARS AND COUNTING...
A fourth anniversary for OLLI E-News
DURING
THE PAST FOUR YEARS we've provided a total of 195
weekly issues to you, our readers, in our effort
to keep you informed, educated and entertained. My friend Gordon
Canyock (Communications
Committee Chair) and I decided to try out our idea of an OLLI email
newsletter in July 2005. We've since discovered that yes, there really
is enough
content for a new issue every single week. That's because of the
generosity of so many of you -- OLLI members who submit unsolicited
articles, notices and photos as your way of sharing
information of interest with the rest of the membership. Thanks very
much to all
of you who have contributed and in so doing, helped make OLLI E-News a
success.
Special thanks to reviewers Gordon Canyock,
Barbara Kyriakakis and John West, who carefully check the draft issue
each week with their eagle eyes and give me numerous suggested changes
to correct my errors and improve the wording of articles. As an example
of their dedication, Barbara -- while on vacation this week at the
beach with lots of her grandchildren -- found a quiet corner to review
this week's draft and sent me seven excellent suggestions.
The review team makes OLLI E-News
a more perfect newsletter for your reading enjoyment.
To paraphrase The
Washington Post: If you don't
read it, you don't get it. In other words, the way to stay fully
informed about what's happening at OLLI is to read the entire
newsletter
from top to bottom. We do
provide a table of contents so you can easily
read only the articles you're interested in, but the issues are full
of information; if you don't read everything, you're missing out.
(The other reason for linking each article to the table of
contents is so there is a Web link to every article in every issue
published, which comes in handy when it's appropriate to provide
additional information to members.)
Doing OLLI
E-News is still fun, and I enjoy
exercising my creativity, so I'll probably keep doing this for a while
longer.
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OLLI FIELD PHOTOGRAPHY
COMPLETES THIRD YEAR
Four excursions along Metro
 By Stan Schretter, OLLI member
Left
to right, Bruce
Mercer, Anita Ohlhausen and Larry Krupnik shoot the White House. Photo
by the writer.
has become
a fixture of the OLLI summer. This year up to 15 enthusiastic
photographers in the Field Photography course participated in four
excursions along the Metro line, including Arlington National Cemetery,
National Zoo, Capitol Hill, and the National Mall. As illustrated
above, the photography was firmly grounded ... with a great time had by
the participants who often extended the morning shooting excursions by
taking long lunches.
PROFILE
OF BOARD MEMBER
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Dick Young
Photo
by Bob Lawshe
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Meet
newly elected
director Dick Young
By Elizabeth Crawford, OLLI
E-News Staff Writer
IN HIS
TWO YEARS AS A MEMBER OF OLLI, new Board of
Directors member Dick Young has volunteered in several areas. He
has taught courses such as "California: From Missions to Millions,"
"The Galapagos Islands: Then and Now," and "Escape of an Assassin
(John Wilkes Booth)." He has been a class liaison and member of the
History and Current Events Resource Group, the History Club, and the
Communications Committee. This spring he ran for the Board and was
elected to a three-year term in May. Recently Dick has accepted another
leadership position as co-chair of
the History and Current Events Resource Group.
A native of Hutchinson, Kansas, Dick attended
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, on an NROTC
scholarship; after commissioning, he served three years in the Navy.
Dick's subsequent career was in law: he
graduated from Georgetown Law Center, worked as a patent and trademark
attorney, and became a partner in a DC law firm. Since 1970, Dick has
served the Northern Virginia Swimming League in various capacities.
Dick is interested in researching and
recording family history and, in fact, has taught two courses based on
his ancestors' journals. In a writing class this spring, he focused on
his family history and his long ties to Northfield, Massachusetts,
where he and his wife, Willie, own a summer cottage. He enjoys
organizing reunions with family, friends, and classmates. In August,
Dick and Willie will celebrate their fiftieth anniversary with their
four children and six grandchildren.
Dick was delighted to discover OLLI in 2007
and, among other contributions, will use his position on the
Board to encourage volunteers so that our organization can
maintain its diversity of courses and high quality of instruction. He
hopes to continue "to get interesting people interested in OLLI."
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
A forum for members to voice their views
on OLLI matters
WE ARE HAPPY TO
PUBLISH your brief letters about OLLI and, if
a response seems appropriate, we will include an OLLI response from the
executive director or the applicable officer or committee
chair in the same 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.
To be published in a given Friday's issue, the editor must receive the
letter no later than 7:00 pm on Monday so that any applicable OLLI
response can also be published. 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.
Trying
classes
at Loudoun
Dear
Editor:
I live in Arlington and decided to check out the Loudoun campus by
enrolling in a class. It is a lovely facility and only took me 33
minutes to get there. I am not sure I would take an eight-week class
there but I would take a single or short-term class if the subject is
of interest. Try it! It may not be as difficult and as far as you would
think.
-- Mary Lou McMorrow, OLLI member
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 EYE ON RESTON An unusual event in a Reston class
 By
Carol Henderson, OLLI member
Instructor
Gloria
Sussman (left) and her piano partner, Ellen Winner (right). Photo by Al
Hodgdon.
morphs
from teacher to performer, as Gloria Sussman did on Tue, Jul 28, in the
summer-term finale to her popular Ongoing Pleasures of Music class in
Reston. The first half of Gloria’s program began downstairs in the
usual church classroom. Then, as part of OLLI’s new arrangement to make
occasional use of the handsomely modern sanctuary portion of the Lake
Anne Church (equipped with a grand piano), Gloria and her piano
partner, Ellen Winner, played four-hands piano pieces by Debussy and
Faure. Ellen had come from her home in the Annapolis area just to play
with Gloria for the 30 lucky attendees. Both women included witty
commentary about the series of short pieces they played. And after they
decided to start one piece over, Ellen noted that the slogan for piano
duet players is "Meet you at the next bar!"
KEY CONTACT
INFORMATION
How to contact OLLI
HERE
IS A READY REFERENCE on how to contact OLLI. For email
addresses and phone numbers not listed below, please consult the online
Membership Directory (log in to Member
Portal).
- President:
Emmett Fenlon
- Executive
Director: Thom
Clement, phone 703-503-7866
- OLLI Office, phone
703-503-3384
- Tallwood
Administrator/OLLI Registrar: Maria
Buczek, phone 703-503-3384
- Board
members: See Organization page
(to send an email to the entire Board, send it to the office or the OLLI
E-News editor, and your
message will be forwarded to all members of the Board)
- Committee
chairs, resource-group chairs: See Organization
page
- Suggestions: Online
suggestion box
- Letters to
the editor or letters to Ms. Ollie Ettakit
(etiquette
matters): OLLI
E-News Editor Rod Zumbro,
phone
703-569-2750
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 Upcoming
Non-Class Events to view the real-time 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).
Fri Jul
31 Summer Term Ends
10am Recorder Consort
- TA-2
11am Homer Group -
Social
Room Annex
Mon
Aug 3 -- Fri
Aug 14 OLLI Closed
Tue Aug 4
10:30am Knitting
and
Needlework Club - Lake Anne Coffee Shop
Tue Aug 11 10:30am Knitting and Needlework
Club - Lake Anne Coffee Shop
Sat Aug
15 1pm
OLLI PC Users Group
(OPCUG) - Tallwood
Mon Aug
17 10am Bridge Club - TA-3
Tue Aug 18
Fall
Registration Begins
10:30am Knitting and
Needlework
Club - Lake Anne Coffee Shop
10:30am Loudoun Program
Committee Meeting - Loudoun Conference Room
Wed
Aug 19 10am Philosophy,
Ethics, Religion Resource Group Meeting - TA-1
10am Investment Forum
- TA-3
Fri Aug 21 10am
Recorder
Consort - TA-2
11am
Homer Group
-
Social
Room Annex
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About OLLI E-News and the
member/volunteers who
produce it
Rod
Zumbro
Editor |
John West
Deputy
Editor |
Barbara Kyriakakis
Associate
Editor |
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Review Team: Gordon Canyock,
Michael Coyne, Barbara Kyriakakis, John West, Susanne Zumbro
Database
Manager: Barbara
Kyriakakis; Photo
Editor: Michael Coyne
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- About
this newsletter. OLLI's
weekly newsletter, OLLI E-News,
is emailed to current
OLLI
members with email addresses on Fridays. When classes are in
session, printed copies of this newsletter are distributed in
classrooms. 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. The deadline
to
the editor is 7:00 pm Wed (7:00 pm Mon for letters to the editor
for which an
OLLI response is appropriate) for that
week's issue; submissions earlier in
the week are strongly encouraged and greatly appreciated. Please
limit
articles to about 250 words. Submit material via email to Editor Rod
Zumbro
(email rzumbro@gmu.edu).
- Read the latest
issue early. The
new weekly issue of OLLI E-News
is posted to the OLLI Web site Thursday evening. Read it by visiting http://www.olli.gmu.edu/pubs.htm#enews,
where you will find a list of the last 12
issues; click the latest issue listed.
- Viewing or searching past
issues. Your options for finding items in past issues of OLLI E-News include viewing the last 12
issues; searching the content of
ALL issues for any word or words; and searching our
archive of all past issues by date or issue number.
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Updated: July 31, 2009
Copyright © 2009 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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