|
OLLI
E-News #8-08 of February 29, 2008
|
|
BE A FRIEND: DONATE TO
FRIENDS OF OLLI
 How
you can help improve OLLI
 By John Woods, Development Committee Chair
ARE YOU ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT OLLI?
Do you appreciate the wonderful learning
opportunities and
social activities with like-minded colleagues that OLLI offers? Then
become a "Friend of OLLI." How? Just donate any amount to the Friends
of OLLI.
Your donation is needed now more than ever.
Please add a donation when you register for the spring term. It's quick
and easy when you register online, or you can donate by sending a check
payable to "OLLI" to the office now or when you mail in your spring
registration.
Friends of OLLI funds are used primarily for
capital expenditures to improve our facilities and program and to fund
scholarships for a small number of deserving Mason students—items not
covered by operating funds. Friends of OLLI recently funded the
following improvements:
- Defibrillators,
- Head-set
microphones for instructors,
- The new
online database and registration system, and
- Reupholstering
of chair seats to provide extra padding.
Last year the Board approved expenses of some
$33,500 from the Friends of OLLI account. If it weren't for Friends of
OLLI funds, increased dues would have to pay for all such improvements
made.
Needs now under consideration for Friends of
OLLI funding include replacement of aging audiovisual equipment and
possible remodeling of the Tallwood social room annex. Projected 2008
enhancements exceed the amount spent in 2007. Yet our Friends of OLLI
account has a current unobligated balance of only $17,500. So OLLI
really does need additional contributions from members.
Your contributions will make a difference to
the quality of the OLLI experience. And, as you know, contributions are
fully tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Thank you in advance for your generous
contribution!
HISTORY CLUB
|
OLLI IS ON BREAK BUT HISTORY MARCHES ON. The
History Club will meet at 10:00 on Wed, Mar 5, at Tallwood.
Glenn Cassidy will present on the Virginia
Constitution. This remarkable document, crafted by George Mason, Thomas
Jefferson and James Madison, became effective in June 1776. Unlike the
United States Constitution, it begins with a Bill of Rights (shown above).
Glenn,
whom many of you may know as an avid John Adams fan, was a professor at
Mason where he taught classes before joining OLLI.
All members and guests are welcome.
|
GOOD BOOKS ABOUT HISTORY. If you
enjoy reading about history, check out "Good Books about History," a pdf
page on our Website compiled by Tom Hady that features book reviews
by members of the OLLI History Club.
|
LOUDOUN NOTES
|
The
following is extracted from Loudoun Program Chair Ray Beery's Loudoun
notes of Feb 22, 2008.
• Loudoun Open
House: Tue, Apr 1.
• Loudoun
Program
Committee Meeting: Mon, Mar 3, 10:30. We all pitch in for
brainstorming first and then development of concrete proposals. To
produce a course, two things are needed: (1) The subject matter must
have broad appeal; and (2) The potential instructor or slate of guest
speakers has to be identified. Everything is on a volunteer basis;
those who give courses are rewarded by the experience. It works!
Delegate
Poisson
|
Back
to top
 QUESTION
OF THE WEEK
Results of last week's Web poll on
Internet service
IF OUR
WEB POLL IS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE GENERAL MEMBERSHIP,
almost
all
members with some form of access to the Internet now have a high-speed
("broadband") connection.
145 members responded (a record high), which
is more than 21
percent of those with email accounts. Here are the Web poll results--
HOW TO EXPRESS YOUR VIEWS ABOUT OLLI
Questions/Comments/Suggestions
|
PUBLICLY:
Email
your "Letter
to the Editor" (see recent sample)
or "Letter to
Ms. Ollie Ettakit" (see recent sample)
to the editor. Anonymous
submissions are
acceptable if you provide contact information so we can verify that you
are an OLLI member. Whenever an official response to a letter to
the editor is
clearly appropriate, the editor will obtain and publish the OLLI
response in the same issue so members will have more complete
information and a balanced picture of the matter. |
PRIVATELY:
• Contact any Board member,
committee or
resource group chair, or the executive
director;
• Send an email
to the entire
Board
(email the editor or the office to have your
message forwarded to all members of the Board);
• Submit a
suggestion online
or in the box in the Tallwood social room; or
• Contact the
office by email
or phone (703-503-3384). |
|
RESTON STUDY GROUP ON LATIN AMERICA
|
A
POSSIBLE PART OF THE
SUMMER TERM AT
RESTON is a study group on Latin America to be led by OLLI
member Mary Coyne. We are trying to gauge the level of interest in such
a study group.
If you are interested in participating in a Reston
study group on Latin America, please contact Mary Coyne.
|
FOREVER YOUNG TV
A recommended episode featuring an OLLI
instructor
| THE TRUTH BEHIND REVERSE MORTGAGES, JOINT
REVOCABLE LIVING TRUSTS AND MORE |
 YOU'VE PROBABLY HEARD ABOUT the
supposed benefits of reverse mortgages and other products and services
marketed to seniors. What about the downside? Watch episode #58 of
Forever Young TV this week for a jaw-dropping episode featuring Lee
Cutler, who teaches at OLLI and the Hollin Hall Senior Center. Ms.
Cutler will shed light on the shadowy side of products and services
targeted to seniors.
•
Fairfax County residents: Forever Young TV is on Cox Cable Channel 10
and Verizon FiOS Channel 10. This episode, originally shown this past
Monday at
3:00, will repeat on Sun, Mar 2, at 7:30 AM and 9:30 PM.
•
Arlington County residents: Forever Young TV is on Comcast Cable
Channel 69 and Verizon FiOS Channel 38. This episode, originally shown
this past Monday at 11:00 AM, will repeat today, Fri, Feb 29, at 4:00
PM and Sun,
Mar 2, at 3:00 PM.
|
Leo Brennan, Chair of the Economics and
Finance Resource Group, has seen this episode and recommends it to OLLI
members ("Thoroughly enjoyed [it]. Lee is continuing the message that
needs to be heard.").
Forever Young TV is a multi-media program
featuring a weekly 30-minute television show, weekly blast emails,
monthly luncheons for viewers and an interactive Website, www.ForeverYoungTV.org.
In recent years OLLI representatives have appeared on two episodes of
Forever Young TV, thereby helping market OLLI to the Northern Virginia
community.
SUGGESTIONS FOR COURSES?
Philosophy, Ethics and Religion
|
 RELIGION
IS BACK IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE. Greek
philosophy isn't ancient anymore. Ethic solutions aren't easy to come
by. Would you like a course to address your interests?
Bring your
requests to a meeting of the Philosophy, Ethics and Religion Resource
Group on Thu, Mar 13, at 10:00 at Tallwood, or contact co-chairs Bruce
Reinhart, Bob Lawshe or Abbie
Edwards.
|
 CENTER FOR THE ARTS
Arts and music events at Mason, Feb 29-Mar
9
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 Players #2
Humble Boy, by Charlotte Jones
Fri,
Feb 29, at 8:00
Sat, Mar 1, at 2:00 and 8:00
Sun, Mar 2, at 2:00
The setting is an
English country garden, in this play directed by Kristin
Johnsen-Neshati of the Mason theater faculty. Felix is a gentle
scientist whose stammer returns when he is asked to speak at his
father’s funeral. His mother, Flora, has little patience with him and
believes that he plots to disappoint her. There will be a
post-performance discussion with the director and members of the
company.
Admission: $8 seniors/students, $12 other adults
Harris Theater |
Fairfax Symphony Orchestra
Masterworks 4
with
Amanda Gosier, soprano
Remembered for her performance in the summer 2006 Rodgers &
Hammerstein program at Shenandoah Valley Music Festival and with the
FSO on the 2004 "Opera Gala," Ms. Gosier will sing Mozart’s Exsultate
Jubilate and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 in G Major.
Sat, Mar 1, at 8:00
Admission: $55, $45, $35, $25
Concert Hall
|
Rik Reppe
Staggering
Toward America
Rik Reppe gave up his career after 9/11 and made a cross-country
odyssey to visit the crash sites at the Pentagon and in New York City
and Pennsylvania. In this one-man show he recalls his experiences with
people met along the way and weaves a picture of patriotism as he asks,
"What does it mean to be an American?"
Sun, Mar 2, at 7:00
Admission: $30, $22, $15
Concert Hall
|
Faculty Artist Series
Dale
Underwood, saxophone
Tue,
Mar 4, at 8:00
Admission: Free, non-ticketed
Harris Theater
|
Doc Watson
Hills
of Home
with
Richard Watson and David Holt
Doc Watson has
won six GRAMMY awards, a National Medal of the Arts, a National
Heritage Fellowship and a Lifetime Achievement award from the National
Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. He will perform with his
grandson Richard and GRAMMY-winning banjoist David Holt. They will play
ballads, fiddle tunes, blues, gospel, country and contemporary music.
Sat, Mar 8, at 8:00 (Rescheduled from Nov 3, 2007)
Admission: $40, $32, $20
Family friendly: Children 12 and under, half price with an adult.
Concert Hall
Come early at 7:15 for an artistic discussion in the Grand Foyer Lobby.
|
Monterey Jazz Festival
For lovers of
great jazz, the Monterey Jazz Festival has always been the ultimate
jazz experience. On its 50th
anniversary national tour, it brings together performers Terence
Blanchard on trumpet,
James
Moody, saxophone;
Benny Green, piano; Nnenna Freelon, vocals; Derrick Hodges, bass; and Kendrick Scott, drums.
Sun, Mar 9, at 7:00
Admission: $42, $34, $21
Family friendly: Children 12 and under, half price with an adult.
Concert Hall
|
MASON HIGHLIGHTS
Other Mason events
 By Barbara Kyriakakis, OLLI
E-News Staff Writer
- Astronomy Observing Session –
Mon, Mar 3, 8:30, Research I Observatory. Check site one hour before
session for weather cancellation.
- Mason
Community Art
Gallery Showing – "Reve(a)ling: Feminist Art" – Mon, Mar 3,
through Fri, Mar 14, in Johnson Center 123 Gallery. Opening reception
and discussion, Mon, Mar 3, 4:30, JC 123 Gallery.
- Faculty
Artist Series
– Tue, Mar 4, 8:00, Harris Theater. Dale Underwood, saxophone.
- Visual Voices Series – "Links
Between Religious and Contemporary Art," presented by James Elkins.
Thu, Mar 6, 7:30, Harris Theater.
- Cinema
Series
– Into the Wild, Thu, Mar 6, 6:00
and 9:00. $1.00 with Mason ID. JC Cinema.
- Vision Speaker Series –
"Satisfying Victims and Healing Societies: The Promises of Justice
After Extreme Violence," presented by Susan F. Hirsch, Director,
Undergraduate Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. Mon, Mar
17, 8:00, Concert Hall. Free but tickets
required. Reception follows.
- College
of
Humanities and Social Science's Interdisciplinary Committee's Moments
of Truth Series - Distinguished Scholar Bell Hooks, author of Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope,
to speak on Mon, Mar 17, 3:30 to 5:00, Harris Theater. Professor Hook's
theme is "Democratic Education: What is the role of higher education in
promoting participatory democracy and social justice?" For more
information, contact Heather Hare at hhare@gmu.edu.
For more upcoming events, see last
week's column.
|
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, including active links to
more
information on certain events, 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
Feb 29 9:30am Photography
Club - TA-1
10am Italian Club - Annex
10am Recorder Group - TA-2
1:30pm Homer, etc. - Annex
Tuesday
Mar 4 9:30am Planning Comm
Mtg - Annex
Wednesday
Mar 5 10am History Club -
TA-1
10am
Special Events
Resource Grp Mtg - Annex
10am Investment Forum - TA-2
10am Bridge Club - TA-3
Thursday
Mar 6 11am Fiction Writers'
Club - Kings Park Lib
Friday
Mar 7 SPRING TERM
Registration Ends
10am Recorder Group - TA-2
Wednesday
Mar 12 10am Book Club at
Tallwood - TA-2
10am Investment Forum -
TA-1
10am Bridge Club - TA-3
Thursday
Mar 13 10am Religion,
Philosophy, Ethics Resource Group Mtg - Tallwood
10am Singles Group Mtg
- TA-1
Friday
Mar 14 10am Recorder Group -
TA-2
Monday
Mar 17 Confirmation Letters
Mailed
|
Rod
Zumbro
Editor
Karen
Hamilton
Deputy
Editor
|
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 the OLLI
E-News Editor or the 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
clickable links in this message, you might want to ask a teenaged
grandchild or a neighborhood teenager or college student 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 five popular email systems:
•
Microsoft Outlook
Express and Windows Mail.
Click Tools; select Options; in the Read tab, uncheck "Read all
messages in plain text."
• Mozilla Thunderbird.
Click Tools; select Options and click the Privacy icon; click the
General tab. Uncheck "Block loading of remote images" and uncheck
"Block Javascript." Click OK. Now click View; select "Message Body As
... Original HTML" (not Plain Text). Also in View, select "Display
Attachments Inline" so that selection is checked.
• 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.
| 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.
|
OLLI
E-News Editorial Staff
Reviewer and Backup Editor
John West
Database
Manager
Barbara Kyriakakis
Photo Editor
Michael Coyne |
|
Updated:
February 29, 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. |
|
