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OLLI
E-News #4-06 of 2006
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| NEWSFLASH
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ARTICLE
ABOUT OLLI:
The Guide to Retirement Living
contains a recent
article on LRIs and OLLI-GMU by our Executive Director, Dr. Richard
Chobot. |
| ALERTS
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>> OLLI TRIP TO IRELAND:
14 people have signed up; the cut-off is 20. If you want
to go,
please send your registration and check to TraveLearn without delay.
>> A
WORLD-RENOWNED ASTRONOMER
will speak Mon, Jan 30, 9:30, TA-2, course 802, on Hubble telescope
discoveries. All members are welcome.
>> PHONE NUMBER CORRECTION:
The correct number for Lake Anne administrative assistant Ann Youngren
during OLLI classes is 703-865-3588. |
| REMINDERS
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>>
UNDERSUBSCRIBED
COURSES:
See the list
of the eight full courses. All
others are
undersubscribed, and you may register now to
attend any of them.
>> INCLEMENT
WEATHER: OLLI will be closed whenever Fairfax County schools are
closed
all day due
to
inclement weather. Schools Website. |
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QUESTION
OF THE WEEK
Our weekly Web polls provide member
feedback to OLLI management
Question: "Which
one
of the following best describes you, based on the majority of your work
background?"
Choices: Retired
military; retired
government/non-profit organization employee; retired teacher/academic;
retired housewife/househusband; retired
corporate/business/firm employee; or retired self-employed.
Vote
here in this Web poll and
then instantly see the results to date, including your vote. Later,
anytime
during the week, check back 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.
BOARD MEETING HIGHLIGHTS
A review of what happened at the last
Board meeting
 By Carol Henderson, OLLI Secretary
AT ITS
JAN 20, 2006 MEETING, THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS heard from
Treasurer Don Yesukaitis that OLLI ended the year with a strong cash
position. The Institute showed a net income of more than $12,000
against a budgeted loss of $11,000. He attributed this difference in
outcome mainly to a payroll total lower by $13,000 than budgeted due to
staff departures and interim periods with less than full staffing as
well as to some reduced expenses.
The Board approved President Charles Duggan’s
appointment of Florence Adler as Nominating Committee chair and her
appointment of Leo Brennan, Michael Coyne, Cloe Ingram, Richard
Lanterman and Ceda McGrew as members of the Nominating Committee.
Details are in a separate article by Florence.
The Board approved expenditures from the
"Friends of OLLI" funds of $8,000 in gift scholarships for deserving
GMU
students and up to $5,000 for defibrillators at Tallwood and Lake Anne.
Details on these uses of "Friends of OLLI" funds are explained in a
separate article by Eileen Duggan.
Charles Duggan reported that he and Eileen
Duggan represented OLLI at a Virginia legislature sponsored pre-session
for community representatives in Northern Virginia where they presented
testimony in support of strong state support for GMU.
The Board will meet next on Fri, Feb
17, at 10:00 at Tallwood. OLLI members are welcome to attend.
NOMINATING
COMMITTEE FORMED
It's time to prepare for the May 2006
election of six Board members
 By Florence Adler, Board member and Nominating Committee
chair
OLLI
PRESIDENT CHARLES DUGGAN HAS ANNOUNCED THE FORMATION of a
Nominating Committee that I will chair, consisting of Leo Brennan,
Michael Coyne, Cloe Ingram, Richard Lanterman and Ceda McGrew. The
appointments were approved by the Board of Directors at its regular
meeting on January 20th.
The Committee will be developing a slate of
candidates for election to fill the vacancies created by the completion
of terms of six current members of the OLLI Board. Recommendations
and
suggestions for candidates from all members will be gratefully received
by your Nominating Committee; please submit them to me by email
or telephone.
Candidates may also be nominated by petition
signed by at least five members in good standing. The deadline for such
petitions is March 17.
Details of the slate and of election and
voting procedures will be published in future issues of OLLI E-News and on the OLLI Website.
Back to top
HOW WE SPEND OUR
"FRIENDS OF OLLI" FUNDS
An update on recent decisions
 By Eileen Duggan, Development Committee chair
ONE OF THE
MOST IMPORTANT
RESPONSIBILITIES of OLLI Board members is spending "Friends of
OLLI" funds. The annual dues pay for salaries and keep the lights
burning, but the "Friends of OLLI" monies fund scholarships and pay for
critical extras to improve our program. The "Friends of OLLI" raised
$18,171 in 2005. With a carryover from 2004, we have
approximately $30,000 available for disbursement, thanks to the
generosity of our members.
At January’s Board
meeting, the Board agreed
to offer four $2,000 gift scholarships ($8,000 in total) to deserving
students at George Mason University. These scholarships are our way of
saying thank you to GMU for our rent-free facilities and for providing
us teachers.
 Selection of worthy
students is left to the deans of the
respective schools. This year we are specifying that one scholarship
each be awarded to New Century College, the College of Visual and
Performing Arts, the School of Social Work and the College of Arts and
Sciences. Each of these schools has provided us with generous support
and assistance. Awards will be made during the Teacher
Appreciation Event this spring, and we will provide you with the names
and majors of the respective students once they become known.
Also in January, the Board voted to
allocate
up to $5,000 to purchase defibrillators to be installed at
Tallwood and
Lake Anne. Placed on the chest of
someone suffering a heart attack, defibrillators return the heart to a
normal rhythm using a high-energy electrical impulse. The Board felt
that, given the
age of our membership, this was a wise investment. If only one life is
saved, the purchase will be well worth the cost. At one time,
defibrillators were extremely expensive and required expert medical
personnel to administer. With improved technology, the price of
defibrillators has dropped dramatically, and they are now easy to
operate. We will train every member of our staff in their use.
The above expenditures represent $13,000 of
our "Friends of OLLI" funds. In addition, some computer hardware
and other technology upgrades will be required. The Board will approve
such expenditures as they are needed, and we will keep you apprised of
how we are spending your contributions. Thank you to one and all. A
list of the 2005 contributors will appear in a coming issue of OLLI
E-News.
 ON GOLD
Say hello to new OLLI members
 By Elizabeth Crawford, OLLI
E-News staff writer
GOLD,
THE COLOR OF PRECIOUS METAL AND SYMBOL OF WEALTH, is used
this semester at OLLI to identify the new members who add to the wealth
of our organization. When you see the GOLD STARS on the nametags of the
following members, please stop
and say hello.
| Davis
Balderston, Andrea
Barna, Lori Brady-Neuman, Jill (Louise) Campbell, Lorraine
Daxe, Marianne Farage, Bonnie Firestone, Ed Fisher, Bill Flemming,
Lydia Flemming, Donald
Greenwood, Pam Harmon, Barbara Helm, Thomas Hogarty, Barbara Inge, Jane
Jammes, Trudi
Lando, Eleanor Lee, Priscilla Lotsberg, Charles Magrum, Robert McArter,
Steve Montague,
Judy Montague, Carolyn Morris, Don Nelson, Judy Nolan, James Poppe,
Shini Ratra, Charles Russo, Nancy Scott,
Pat Simon, Tom Solak, Ann Solomon, Rona Steckler, Samuel Talley, Joan
Tolle, Robert Tolle, Robert
Ward, John Ware, Enid Weber, Jim Wentworth and Bob Westall |
In joining OLLI, our new members have chosen
to sample the social and intellectual riches that our institute
provides. For old members, new faces present a wonderful opportunity to
enrich our circle of
friends.
| Editor's note. OLLI members new in
the fall term or earlier may not yet have removed the red dots from
their name tags. Don't hesitate to welcome them too. |
LEARNING CURVES
AND SPEED BUMPS
An explanation of problems during
registration
 By Dr. Richard Chobot,
Executive Director
SOME OF
YOU MAY BE AWARE THAT WE HAD SOME PROBLEMS with the Winter Term
registration. They stemmed from a combination of time lost due to
software glitches and the learning curve of a new staff team conducting
their first registration. We apologize for any inconvenience that has
occurred. This is what is being done to fix the problems.
- Software: The Board has allocated
funds for some short-term upgrades to the registration software. One
major change will be an upgrade to Microsoft Access 2003. During the
next few months we will be seeking a more long-term solution that will
allow, among other things, online registration and fee payments.
- Process: The failure to include
class lists in the instructor letters
was a procedural error. This will not occur again. Errors or missing
data that were found in some of the confirmation letters occurred, in
part, due to press of time in getting the letters out. Software
upgrades will permit more review time and allow us to eliminate such
errors in the future.
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Again, we apologize for the inconvenience that these errors have
caused. One thing I can assure you is that they were not due to
lack of dedication by OLLI staff. The team worked diligently and
cohesively to make the best of a challenging situation. Look for
a smoother road in the Spring.
OLLI
NEWS MERGED INTO OLLI E-NEWS
A single weekly newsletter for OLLI members
 By Gordon Canyock,
Publications Committee chair
I HAVE
RELIEVED MYSELF OF THE JOB OF EDITOR OF OLLI NEWS.
I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and learned a lot about publishing,
but it is time to move on to other things within OLLI.
Rod Zumbro is now the editor of our single
weekly newsletter, OLLI E-News,
which will be produced all year long, except for holiday periods when
the office is closed. When classes are in session, printed copies of OLLI E-News will be distributed in
classrooms, primarily for members without email.
This is a lot of work for one guy, even if he
is a retired Navy captain, but fortunately I was able to recruit the
following
committee members to form an editorial staff.
| Deputy
Editor |
Assistant
Editor,
Database Manager |
Assistant
Editor |
Photo
Editor |
Karen
Hamilton
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Barbara
Kyriakakis
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Arleen
Richman
 |
Luci
Martel
 |
I
thank them all for agreeing to help ease the
workload on the editor's shoulders.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have a news item or
article
for OLLI E-News ready or
planned, please
communicate directly with Rod Zumbro.
He can add last-minute items, but it is very helpful for him to know
about and receive items as
far in advance as possible so he can plan the best possible newsletters
for the membership.
TALLWOOD HOUSE
DOES NOT GO GENTLY…
An update on the planned demolition of
Tallwood House
By Dr. Richard Chobot,
Executive Director
TALLWOOD
HOUSE CONTINUES TO CLING STUBBORNLY to its (structural) life.
As we learned on Monday last, the gas was cut…a bit too cut as it
turned out! All that remains is the rerouting and re-installation of
the phone lines.
On Monday, the Verizon and the GMU
Telecommunications Office representatives met, and agreed, we hope, on
a
plan of
action. When this plan is implemented, hopefully within the next 10
business days, the last element of Tallwood life support will have been
removed. This opens the way for demolition to proceed. I am still
trying to find an exact date, but have strongly suggested to the GMU
Project Manager that it not be until after the Winter Term has
concluded.
One
final note: When the phone lines are
re-routed, OLLI phone service and on-line access may be interrupted for
up to a day. Staff will try to provide as much advance notice of this
interruption as possible. Also, staff will be accessible by cell phone
during that period. Cell phone numbers will be provided when the phone
interrupt is announced.
GMU'S
CONVERSATION PROGRAM
Can you volunteer time to chat with
foreign students?
 By Joan Crawford, George Mason University
THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
INSTITUTE AT GMU will again sponsor "The Conversation Program," a
conversation program for international students
who would like to improve their oral English skills by participating in
small-group discussions. This is an excellent volunteer opportunity for
retired teachers and others who enjoy meeting internationals; OLLI
members have been regular volunteers in the past.
A core of experienced volunteers
who have previously led groups will provide orientation and training
for those new to the program on Tues, Feb 7.
There are four time slots for the training and the
weekly hour-long meetings with small groups of students: 1:30 and
4:30 Tuesdays; 9:30 and 3:30 on Wednesdays. The eight weeks of sessions
with students begin the following week, Feb 14 and Feb 15.
If you are interested in volunteering or in
learning more about the program, please email me
(phone 703-993-3660) and provide your phone number and the best time to
reach you. I'm looking for commitments by Feb 3. Thanks much.
COMING
EVENTS AT GMU'S CENTER FOR THE ARTS
Something for everyone at nearby GMU
 By Jan Bohall, OLLI
E-News staff writer
For
tickets, call
888-945-2468 or visit the Center
for the Arts Box Office, Tue–Sat, 10:00–6:00
GMU
Theater
of the First Amendment
Lift:
Icarus and Me |
The
Black Watch and Band of the Welsh Guard
The Pipes, Drums and Highland Dancers of
1st Battalion |
American
Youth
Philharmonic Orchestra |
Through
Sun, Feb 5
Thursday and Friday at 8:00, Saturday at 2:00 and 8:00, Sunday at
4:00 (February 5 at 2:00)
GMU’s Harris Theater
Tickets $30 on Fridays & Saturdays, $25
all other performances
Family friendly
All children 12 and
under, half price |
Saturday,
Jan 28, at 2:00 & 8:00
Admission $44, $36, $22
Family friendly: Children 12 & under, half price
Concert Hall
Charge tickets by phone at 703-218-6500
or visit www.tickets.com
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Sunday,
Jan 29
at 1:00
Admission $10 for seniors/students
Concert Hall
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| Young
Artists Piano Musicale |
Keyboard Conversations© with Jeffrey
Siegel
Mozart and Chopin: Virtuoso Variations |
GMU
Players Studio
Series Eccentricities of a Nightingale
by Tennessee
Williams |
Sunday,
Jan 29
at 6:00
Admission free
Concert Hall Lobby |
Sunday,
Jan 29, at 7:00
Admission $35, $27, $17.50
Family friendly: Children 12 & under, half price
Charge tickets by phone at 703-218-6500
or visit www.tickets.com |
Friday,
Feb 3 – Sunday, Feb. 5
Friday and Saturday at 8:00
Saturday and Sunday at 2:00
Admission is free, tickets are
required.
Black Box Theater, Center for the Arts |
Back to top
GMU HIGHLIGHTS
A brief listing of other events at nearby
Mason 
By Barbara Kyriakakis, OLLI
News assistant editor
WANT TO DO SOMETHING SPECIAL with your small-fry grandchildren? How
about a night out at the Patriot Center to catch Barney Live! The Let’s Go Tour--you
know, that cute little purple dinosaur that all the kids love. Tickets
are reasonable and he is coming on Feb 7 and 8, 2006. Check out the
Patriot Center Website
for times and prices.
If that’s not your style, then how about an
evening at the cinema, the Johnson Center Cinema, that is. Admission is
$1.00 with a Mason ID, which we all should have,
and the popcorn is
free. On Fri, Jan 27 and Sat, Jan 28, Elizabethtown
will be showing at 6:00 and 9:00. If you missed this movie the first
time around, now is your chance to catch it at a terrific price.
If you are looking for a more cultured event,
try the upcoming exhibition in Room 123 of the Johnson Center presented
by the Fine Arts Gallery titled " Collapse " by
Artist Ledelle Moe. This “exhibit evokes images of war, loss and human
suffering…the fall of the Twin Towers, the toppled statue of Saddam
Hussein, and the dusty explosions in Afghanistan of the giant Buddhas.”
Exhibition dates: Jan 31—Mar 3; reception: Thu, Feb 2, 7:00-9:00;
artist's talk: Tue, Feb 14, 4:30 in the gallery.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
A forum for members to voice their views
on OLLI matters
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, in the same or a subsequent issue. Submit your letters via
email to Rod
Zumbro, OLLI E-News editor or to me, or
submit them (please indicate that it is a 'letter to the editor') via
the online
suggestion box or the suggestion box in the Tallwood Social Room.
-- Gordon
Canyock, Publications Committee chair
EDITORIAL -- DIALUP USERS CAN STILL ENJOY
OLLI E-NEWS
We understand that some OLLI members with dialup Internet access may
not be reading OLLI E-News
because the email newsletter takes some time to download, and it has
been suggested that a text-only version be offered. If you are
one of those members, we want to encourage you to continue to read
OLLI's most important means of communcating with its members, and we
offer a simple way to do so.
Yes, OLLI E-News
does take a little time -- perhaps 30 seconds to a minute or two -- to
download via
dialup modem because of the html format of the newsletter. Most members
really like the html format, and we regularly receive very positive
comments about it.
A text-only version would require extra effort
to prepare and extra staff
resources to create and maintain a separate email distribution list.
Moreover, a text-only version would not provide
readers with the benefits of the html format: photos, colors and
clickable links. The simple solution for dialup users is to do
something else -- read a magazine article, do a chore, etc. -- while
the newsletter is downloading. When you return to the computer, your OLLI E-News will be ready for you
to read, with all of its colors, photographs, articles and active
hypertext links.
We will be the first to admit that nothing in OLLI E-News is of such
earth-shattering importance that it must be read 'right now' rather
than two minutes from now (or tomorrow, for that matter). So please,
don't let a few minutes prevent you from staying in touch with
our wonderful lifelong learning institute.
-- Rod Zumbro, OLLI E-News editor
LETTERS
Volunteers
needed at Fairfax Hospital
At the suggestion of OLLI Executive Director Dick Chobot about
volunteering in our community, I know, as a volunteer, a great need in
our INOVA Fairfax Hospital on Gallows Road. The hospital just opened
two new
buildings, the heart and cancer buildings. One day a week for five
hours will really solve the emergency problem there. If interested,
please call or visit the volunteers' office, in the Grey Bldg. on the
first floor; the director is Rose Keene at 703-776-3447. Thank you.
-- Renata Bardo, OLLI member
|
Recent
kudos from board members
| "Wow!
What a great
edition! The colors, the format, the articles, and all the pictures are
terrific." |
"Your
newsletter is fantastic."
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COMING ATTRACTIONS
Non-class events at OLLI for the next two
weeks
The following list is extracted for your convenience from the more
complete OLLI
Staff Schedule of Non-Class Events.
JAN
31 Tuesday 8:15 AM Walking Group Lake Anne Church
FEB
1 Wednesday 1:30 PM Fiction Writers's Club FFX City Library
1:30 PM Bridge Club TA-3
2:00 PM History Club TA-1
3 Friday 10:30 AM Homer Book Club TA Annex
4 Saturday 12:00 PM Spec Event C: Damn Yankees Bus Trip 12:30-6:00 pm
7 Tuesday 8:15 AM Walking Group Lake Anne Church
8 Wednesday 1:30 PM Book Club TA-2
1:30 PM Bridge Club TA-3
2:00 PM Spec Event D: Fitness for Mature Adult TA-1
10 Friday 10:30 AM Homer Book Club TA Annex
Back to
top
Rod
Zumbro
Karen
Hamilton
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OLLI E-NEWS
Editor
Deputy Editor
|
About OLLI
E-News. OLLI
E-News is
OLLI's weekly newsletter; it 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. 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.
Note
about HTML graphics. If
you do NOT see
photos and
clickable links in this message, you might want to ask a child or
teenager 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
three popular email systems:
- Outlook
Express.
Click Tools; select Options; in the Read tab, uncheck "Read all
messages in plain text."
- 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.
|
Editorial Staff
Assistant
Editor
Barbara Kyriakakis
Assistant
Editor
Arleen Richman
Photo
Editor Luci
Martel
Database
Manager
Barbara Kyriakakis |
|
Updated:
January 27, 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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