olli south geek squad t - university of denver
TRANSCRIPT
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Denver Spring 2013
1
OLLI South Geek SquadT here are Geeks among us.
Four years ago, OLLI South facilitators relied mostly on flip charts, felt marker white boards, and mounds of printed material in presenting their class topics. As our classrooms acquired Audio/Video equipment and overhead projectors, facilitators moved to DVDs, laptops, and iPads. Today we have one of the most well-equipped classrooms among the local OLLI chapters. Facilitators and students love it.
But with this advanced equipment there can be gremlins. Any time you use cables to attach one piece of A/V equipment to another—e.g., a laptop computer to an overhead projector—you might encounter a problem. And since each of our classrooms has a different A/V setup, what works in one classroom may not work in another.
With students arriving and mere minutes to go before class starts, many facilitators have experienced complete panic when the A/V equipment won’t do what it’s supposed to do. That’s the last thing a facilitator needs. Believe me, we’ve all been there.
Enter the Geek Squad. A number of OLLI members who have experience and familiarity with the A/V equipment have volunteered to become designated Geek Squad members. OLLI Geek Squad members are: Bill Baird, Koz Badiozamani, Charlie Holt, Piet Kallemeyn, Paul Mauro, Ron Moon and David Williams.
We have a plan in place that takes the pressure off the beleaguered facilitator. The first step is to familiarize the facilitator with the A/V equipment and how it works with the facilitator’s laptop or iPad. Our current facilitator training, offered before the start of classes, will include a one-on-one facilitator training session in the room where the class will be held.
Second, during the first week of classes, Geek Squad members will be onsite to assist and resolve first-time problems that the facilitator may encounter.
And finally, we’re working to have at least one Geek Squad member in each classroom for the facilitator to call upon, if necessary, before, during, and after class.
Knowledge, training, and support—these are the keys to an effective classroom experience for the facilitator and class members. So when problems arise, turn to the Geeks. You’re no longer alone.
Piet Kallemeyn is the coordinator for the new OLLI South Geek Squad.
Volunteers Sought for Geek Squad
Do you have a knack for dealing with electronics? Do you yearn for new challenges? Or perhaps your blood pressure isn’t high enough yet? The new OLLI South Geek Squad is looking for additional members to add to its group. Contact Piet Kallemeyn at: [email protected].
2
Volunteer SpotlightALICE BRADBURN
R alph Waldo Emerson writes, “A man is a bundle of relations, a knot of roots, whose flower and
fruitage is the world.” I remain so grateful a “knot” was formed called OLLI South…to be able to nourish it with others. I heartily thank those who created it and am delighted to be one of its volunteers as a Class Room Assistant and the minutes taker for the Curriculum Committee.
Knowing only my daughter’s family here, I moved to Highlands Ranch after living, working and playing in Glen Arbor, Michigan for 10 years and St. Louis for 30 years. I raised four children there. But also enjoyed working at a florist, managing a small bookstore, being a real estate agent and later receiving a Legal Assistant Certificate. Those classes created a hunger for more education and are perhaps why OLLI South means so much to me today.
After one season in Colorado, I discovered the need to re-learn how to keep a plant alive. Four friends and I started the Highlands Ranch Garden Club to receive practical botanical advice for this climate. I was its first Treasurer and later President for several years. It is still a thriving club guided by Master Gardeners.
Today, I remain employed by HRCA at their Eastridge Recreation Center. After 3+ years, I still enjoy working in their Guest Services Department part-time. I also enjoy swimming at their Southridge pool.
But it is at OLLI South where I find the most joy…and am extremely grateful to be “rooted” as one of its volunteers! As OLLI continues to grow, bless yourself by becoming a volunteer, too. You’ll be glad you did!
OLLI South Key OfficersAdvisory Council Chairperson: Barbe Ratcliff
[email protected] Council meets bi-monthly
Curriculum Committee Chairperson: Dave Williams
[email protected] Committee meets monthly
Program Manager Jenny Fortenberry: 720-339-1379
Mom Always Loved YOU Best
J oin us for another OLLI South [very] Special Event on Thursday, April 18th 11:45am in
Room 218.
Bring a brown bag lunch and enjoy exploring the hu-man and humane side of family relationships when death, dying and money matters are involved. Docu-ments have little value without understanding the dynamics of families in times of change. David M Cook, J.D., L.L.M. will share with you the wisdom he has gathered over his many years of helping families create an extraordinary bond during the most chal-lenging of times.
Free to all OLLI South members and guests. Seating limited to 75. First come, first served.
O LLI strives for, and thrives on, the interaction between our members. Everyone brings a rich
background of life experiences which have shaped perspective, opinion, and outlook. Making our organization the best that it can be depends on a free-wheeling dialogue among our members. The following list contrasts the key principles of assuring open dialogue.
• Dialogue is collaborative: two or more sides work together toward common understanding. Debate is oppositional: two sides oppose each other and attempt to prove each other wrong.
• In dialogue, finding common ground is the goal. In debate winning is the goal.
• In dialogue, one listens to the other side(s) in order to understand, find meaning and find agreement. In debate, one listens to the other side in order to find flaws and to counter its arguments.
• Dialogue enlarges and possibly changes a participants point of view. Debate affirms a participant’s own point of view.
• Dialogue reveals assumptions for re-evaluation. Debate defends assumptions as truth.
• Dialogue causes introspection on ones own position. Debate causes critique of the other position.
• Dialogue opens the possibility of reaching a better solution than any of the original solutions. Debate defends one’s own positions as the best solution and excludes other solutions.
• Dialogue creates an open-minded attitude: an openness to being wrong and an openness to change. Debate creates a close-minded attitude, a determination to be right.
• In dialogue, one submits ones best thinking, knowing that other people’s reflections will help improve it rather than destroy it. In debate, one submits one’s best thinking and defends it against challenge to show that it is right.
• Dialogue calls for temporarily suspending one’s beliefs. Debate calls for investing wholeheartedly in one’s beliefs.
3
Dialogue versus Debate
This space for rent!
Cheap!Member Feedback Column
We are going to use this space in future
newsletters for member feedback. If you have
something you would like to share, perhaps
a special thank you, or a complaint, or a
suggestion for improvement for OLLI South,
please email your column to the newsletter
editor. Your input should be received the first
week of each new ‘semester’.
Unfortunately we must reserve the right to edit
your input for space and appropriateness.
Advisory Council Announces 2013 Slate
T he 2013 slate for the Advisory Council is pro-posed by the AC Nominating Committee and
presented to the membership via this newsletter. The following have been presented for three-year terms on the Council: Pat Proctor (Secretary), Sharyn Landis (Membership Chairman), and Larry Cerney (Mem-ber at Large). A member may nominate additional candidates by email ([email protected]) prior to June 1. If additional nominations are received, an email ballot will be distributed. If no additional nominations are received, this slate will be deemed elected.
4
Member SpotlightHAROLD JENSON
H arold Jenson is a native of Colorado. He currently resides with his wife in Highlands
Ranch but most of his formative years were in Fort Collins where he attended grade school, high school, and eventually Colorado State U. where he majored in Philosophy. He also attended the University of Colorado majoring in Business Systems. He and his wife have one child who works in Louisville, CO.
Harold started his career with the state of Colorado where he did computer management, analysis and programming for the Colorado Housing Finance Authority. Later he changed careers and became a tax analyst for H&R Block. Today he is enjoying retirement and filling his time with golf, reading, and of course OLLI.
Harold has been taking OLLI classes for 10 years. He started out at OLLI Central and was very pleased when OLLI South opened, attending there ever since. He has taken courses in the sciences, economics,
philosophy, music and many more subjects. The social aspect of OLLI was a particularly pleasant surprise to Hal and his wife. Since retirement, he reports OLLI has provided a social connection with lots of smart people who are interested in learning more about life.
Update from South Advisory Council
O LLI South is coming to the end of its fourth year of existence. Many amazing achievements
have been made through the efforts of numerous individuals. We have grown in numbers, in courses, in course content and in the creation of OLLI South special events. This year, with the final numbers nearly in, we have seen a continuation of our 20%
growth in membership, a host of new facilitators join-ing an already experienced and dynamic core team, an extension of the contract with Valley View Christian Church for future class sessions, and the ability to upgrade our audio/visual equipment. These enhance-ments create an even better OLLI experience for each of us who attend classes and engage in interactions in the ‘student union’.
As we are all volunteers, both on the Council and in the class room, we do have a favor to ask of each of you. If you are a member of any organization or know of any organization in our age genre looking for speakers, we would love to know about it. David Wil-liams has created a dynamic PowerPoint presentation about OLLI and we are happy to provide it to you OR to provide a presenter for the event. All we need is a contact name and number.
We all know how valuable OLLI is in each of our lives. Please assist us in sharing the OLLI message so others can enjoy this richness as well.
As we recess for summer, your OLLI Advisory Council will continue to focus on sharing the message of OLLI to the primary communities we serve as well as cre-ate a plethora of events for the coming year. Have a wonderful summer; see you in the fall; and thank you for your participation in OLLI South.
“We all know how valuable OLLI is in each of our lives. Please assist us in
sharing the OLLI message so others can enjoy this richness as well. ”
5
I n addition to stretching their minds, OLLI South women (l to r) Sharyn
Landis, Phyllis Gaskill and Barbara Chap-man are stretching their bodies and athleti-cism in the tennis world. Last month, their Highlands Ranch Super Senior team won the US Tennis Association (USTA) Wom-en’s 6.0 Intermountain Sectional Tourna-ment in Las Vegas. It was a case of what happens in Vegas comes home! Next up: the national tournament in Phoenix, where they will compete with teams from fourteen other sections for the U.S. National Tennis Championship.
OLLI Women in USTA National Tournament
OLLI South’s Hot Topic Luncheon Murder & Mayhem: Colorado and BeyondFriday, May 3, 2013 • 11:30-1:30pm
Lone Tree Arts Center, 10075 Commons St. Lone Tree, CO 80124
C ome join Dr. John Nicoletti as he shares his insights into the thinking of serial killers,
awareness of the trends in violence, responses from law enforcement departments, and tips for personal safety. Dr. Nicolette is a nationally recognized diplomat in police psychology who has specialized in identifying, assessing, and defusing attack related behaviors and violence in workplaces and schools. Don’t miss this very engaging presentation.
Cost $20 per person
Catered gourmet boxed lunches with assorted sandwiches will be served.
Make check payable to OLLI and mail to: OLLI Hot Topics 2211 South Josephine St. Denver, CO 80208
A Word from Director Vonnie
R esearch indicates that the retiree in 2020 will lead a different life style that retired people
today. It is also a reality that technology will advance more in the next ten years than in the last 100 years. Considering the impact this will have on OLLI we formed an OLLI 2020 Committee to better understand these changes to come so that will be more prepared for their inclusion in to OLLI at DU.
Four members each from OLLI Central, West and South formed the OLLI 2020 Committee. We hired an outside professional meeting facilitator and began meeting on a regular basis. Our first step was studying the research conducted by the Regional Council of Governments and the Rose Hospital Foundation regarding the demographic changes to expect within the next ten years. Then we looked at our financial and membership growth patterns to reveal future facility needs. We established a list of our Core Values that we felt characterized our program and were important to communicate to future OLLI members.
The result is our OLLI 2020 (and beyond) Vision. We are in the final stage of this exciting and important forecast and will be posting it on our website soon.
Yet the OLLI 2020 Vision is not etched in stone. It will continue as a “work in progress” as new facts and new ideas influence new ways of thinking and doing. We want to be open and ready.
Memoirs in the Mountains Returns
A s a result of a successful experience last summer, OLLI is offering another Memoirs in the
Mountains weekend this year. If you’re an alum, wel-come back! If you’re new to memoirs, you’ll feel right at home.
Although the topics and structure will be different previous, we’ll still create an atmosphere of safety and comfort for you to wander through your memories and record them in your own, inimi-table way.
Join your friends on Friday afternoon, August 23, through Sunday morning, August 25 for a relaxing weekend of brainstorming, writing, relaxing, hot-tub-bing and hiking or biking as you find inspiration in a rustic Winter Park lodge, surrounded by mountains, streams, forest and possibility. Our group of writers will be the only guests at the lodge, insuring plenty of space for group gatherings and private nooks for individual pursuits.
You’ll be given the tools and strategies to design your own journey down memory lane, with options at every step along the way. You’ll have the opportunity to write in either poetry or prose, and will leave with a course plotted out that will serve your own purposes and intentions.
The cost is $290 per person for a single room and $265 per person for a double room (two beds) and includes all meals, lodging and multiple workshop sessions. As space is limited, we expect this special weekend to fill quickly! To ensure your spot, send a $50 deposit to: OLLI West – Memoir Retreat, 2211 So. Josephine St., Denver, CO 80208 right away. Deposits will not be refunded after July 20. Questions? Call Karen at (303) 717-4299.
O LLI is proud to present its 2013 Summer Semi-nars schedule. Once again, the program in-
cludes a wide variety of topics presented by renowned lecturers from a variety of academic and intellectual disciplines. The schedule:
June 12
“Denver: An Archaeological History” Professor Dean Saitta, DU Department of Anthropology.
June 26
“The Colorado Supreme Court: A Perspective from the Bench”Michael Bender, Chief Justice of the Colorado Su-preme Court, and Valerie Dewey, Judicial Assistant to the Chief Justice
July 10
“ How Immigration is Shaping Colorado and Ameri-ca in the 21st Century”Ken Stern, Denver Immigration Attorney
July 24
“The Necessity of Uncertainty and the Nature of Faith”Professor Buie Seawell, DU Daniels College of Business
August 7
“Homeland Security Twelve Years In: Working, Work in Progress, or Waiting to Fail?”Professor Lewis Griffith, DU Korbel School of Inter-national Studies
August 21
“Why Civil Resistance Works: Unarmed Struggle in the Past and Future”Professor Erica Chenoweth, DU Korbel School of International Studies
September 4
”Drones: From the Battlefield to our Backyard”Professor John Steele, Colorado School of Mines
2013 Summer Seminars
Woodspur Lodge
6
L ike my every OLLI class, the 5 day OLLI Wash-ington, DC trip exceeded my expectations.
We enjoyed private tours and receptions at places the average tourist would rarely see. We had a local ‘guide’, a knowledgeable longtime DC resident and friend of Vonnie. For me, sitting in the courtroom of the Supreme Court and hearing Justice Ginsburg read a decision; listening to a brilliant scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center discuss the current situation in Egypt minutes after he had met with the Egyptian ambassador; and savoring a delicious candlelight din-ner at 18th century Gadsby’s Tavern, an establishment frequented by Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Monroe, and Madison, were unforgettable experiences. We had the special privilege of visiting the Egyptian Embassy where the consul met with us for a question-and-an-swer session covering his country’s ancient history to today’s unrest. Also unique was our private audience at a magnificent mosque and the opportunity to learn about the Islamic faith. Trips to the John F. Kennedy Center and the United States Capitol included guided tours. Sitting in the gallery of the House of Represen-tatives and listening to members of Congress address budget-related issues certainly demonstrated their
party differences. Stops at the various presidential, war and Martin Luther King, Jr. memorials were moving and inspirational. Washington’s unique Newseum, USA Today’s museum of the news industry, in my opinion, is almost worth a trip in itself.
Recently a friend inquired what event I liked best. That question I could not answer as I felt that every activity was special. Overall, though, most outstand-ing was the camaraderie within the group. Not previ-ously knowing any of the other travelers, my husband and I were delightfully surprised at how quickly all of us from diverse backgrounds were sharing common experiences, interests and lots of laughs. Beginning the day together at the nearby excellent French café and winding down before dinner at the Hotel Mona-co’s generous happy hour gave us an appreciation for each person’s contribution to a well-blended group. Just as I am thankful for the continued learning that OLLI offers, I am also so very grateful for the memo-rable OLLI trip to Washington, D.C.”
Note: Susan was joined on this trip by OLLI South members Pam and Jon Skeels and Gigi and Tom Van Egeren.
OLLI Washington Visit by Susan Foster
7
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI)
2211 South Josephine St., Denver, CO 80208303-871-3090
www.universitycollege.du.edu/olli
Jenny Fortenberry, Program ManagerOLLI South 720-339-1379
OLLI South classes meet at 11004 Wildfield Lane, Littleton, CO 80125
After the Storm
Frequent OLLI Facilitator Karen Kirkpatrick recently received the Best in Show award for one of her photographs. Karen’s depiction of ducks under a storm filled sky, titled “After the Storm”, won the award from the Greater Castle Rock Art Guild. Karen also won an award for another of her photos at the 2012 judging.
M A R K Y O U R
CalendarBrown Bag Lunch Mom Always Loved You Best Thursday, Apr 18
Hot Topic Luncheon Murder & Mayhem, Colorado and Beyond Friday, May 3
Spring Term Ends Friday, May 17
Hot Topic Luncheon Friday, May 17th
Summer Speaker Series Jun 12–Sept 4
Fall Term Registration Thursday, Jul 18
Curriculum Committee Retreat Monday, Aug 19
Fall Term Sept 16–Nov 8
Share Your Passion
O LLI is ‘powered’ by its members. Some refer to this as run by the inmates for the inmates. A
more tactful statement might be the strength of OLLI is its members. The simple fact is all our facilitators are members of OLLI. Without our facilitators where would we be? The Curriculum Committee is always searching for new ideas AND new facilitators. If you have an idea for a class you would be willing to lead, or if you have a passion you think others might share with you, contact the Curriculum Committee to dis-cuss your idea. Email: [email protected]
Introduce OLLI to a friend. . .
Bring a Buddy to Class. Any day, any time. As a courtesy, please let your
facilitator know in advance.