Issue No. 102
Octo 2018 
The MSCN Newsletter
  Welcome to Your October 2018 Newsletter!
The Salem Witch - Postcard from Salem
(circa 1930 and circa 1945)

This month's newsletter features a request for your support on an important bond issue from James Page, the Chancellor of the University of Maine System. Please see " For The Future Of Maine's Economy, Now Is The Time To Invest In Our Universities.

Thank you to the Lewiston-Auburn Senior College for inviting me to their Twentieth Anniversary Celebrations on September 27. The entertainment was provided by the Korean Spirit and Culture Promotion Project. If your Senior College is looking for enriching education  with delicious snacks and fascinating books, this is the group for you!

Read on for more information from the Maine Senior College Network.

Senior College Events
October 12 - Tom Deschenes: "Quest for the Antidote" Game Designer - LASC Food for Thought 

October 28 - Leila Percy & Friends: Celebrate Songs of the Great American Songbook - the UMA "Concerts at Jewett" Series

October 30 - WWI Film ScreeningOLLI and AARP 

Senior College Reports

Income Inequality - Gold LEAF Study Group

Senior College On Belfast Community TV


Happy Halloween on October 30th!

Anne Cardale.
Program Director. Maine Senior College Network
University of Southern Maine
UMSBondIssue
Extract taken from the Bangor Daily News
June 13, 2018

For The Future Of Maine's Economy, Now Is The Time To Invest In Our Universities


Maine's economic success depends upon a skilled workforce. From rural nursing homes and hospitals to Main Street banks and small businesses to high-tech global manufacturers, Maine employers say University of Maine System graduates are their top talent - they just need more of them. Yet, the current capacity and condition of our facilities is costing us students at the very time that Maine needs more graduates.

By 2025, Maine will need 158,000 additional workers with a postsecondary degree or credential. To meet this challenge, our campuses must be more competitive in recruiting and retaining Maine students and more attractive to those from out of state who want to study in Maine and often stay here after graduation to live, work and pay taxes. But meeting these outcomes requires modern facilities that foster the 21st century education and training students and employers expect. To make these infrastructure improvements while keeping tuition affordable for Maine families, public universities must have public investment.

Links for more information:

Visit the University of Maine System web page "Invest in Maine's Public Universities"
ToYourHealth
Western Mountains Senior College presents:

"To Your Health" - Communicating with Alzheimer's Patients

Thursday, October 11, from 4:30 to 6:00 pm 
West Parish Congregational Church in Bethel. 

On Thursday, October 11 Peter Baker, Program Director of the Alzheimer's Association, Maine Chapter will present a program that explores how communication takes place when someone has Alzheimer's disease. The program is sponsored by To Your Health of Western Mountains Senior College.


Peter Baker said, "Individuals living with dementia often experience changes in behavior that can be confusing to friends and families." He added, "For caregivers, learning to decode messages through attitude, tone of voice, facial expressions and body language can help both parties to communicate in meaningful ways. The program includes video interviews with professionals who explain critical aspects of communication throughout the Alzheimer's journey, and caregivers who share tips that have worked for their families.

Peter holds a Master's Degree in Social Work from the University of Southern Maine and has been working in dementia care since 2008. He has worked in long-term care centers as a Social Services Director, Dementia Program Director and as an Executive Director. As Program Director for the Alzheimer's Association, Peter oversees the care and support services provided by the Maine Chapter serving the entire state of Maine.

The program takes place on Thursday, October 11, from 4:30 to 6:00 pm at the West Parish Congregational Church in Bethel. It is sponsored as a community service by To Your Health of Western Mountains Senior College with the collaboration of the Bethel Family Health Center and MSAD#44/Continuing Education. Admission is free and light refreshments will be served. 

For more information, contact Peter Musso at 207-890-7034.


This post was originally published on the  Western Mountains Senior College Blog
Foof4ThoughtUniversity of Southern Maine, Lewiston-Auburn Senior College Presents:

Tom Deschenes: "Quest for the Antidote" Game Designer

Food for Thought Luncheon
Friday, October 12



Oh! No!  Shouts of dismay blend with shrieks of glee as one player triumphs over another.  Families who reached for 'Monopoly" on dreary winter days, friends who search the dictionary for new 'Scrabble" words are among those who are no strangers to the delights of board games.

Computer games, while popular, have not eclipsed the traditional board game format.

What does it take to create a new board game and bring it to market? Portland's Tom Deschenes will take us on his seven year long journey from first idea to finally launching "Quest for the Antidote" in the summer of 2017. To begin the game, each player has been fatally poisoned. Rolling dice, they move around the board collecting ingredients for their antidote. In addition they must slay monsters and fend off other players attempts to foil their quest.

This new game was immediately popular.  It was designated an "Amazon Choice Item" prior to the holidays, sold out repeatedly at major retailers and is sold around the world.  But there were many ups and downs before that success.  The author will share those and behind the scenes photos of his adventures in the world of creative gaming.

The public is invited to attend all Food for Thought luncheons.
Doors will open at 11:30 a.m. and the program will begin at noon. Food for Thought luncheons take place in Room 170 on USM's Lewiston-Auburn campus located at 50 Westminster Street in Lewiston. If you wish to have lunch, the cost is $8.00 and an advance reservation is required. To reserve, call 753-6510 before noon on Wednesday, October 10. Food may also be purchased at the campus café.


Submitted by Mary Jane Beardsley,  USM Lewiston-Auburn Senior College

UUMAForumOnTheFutureUniversity of Maine in Augusta (UMA) Senior College & UMA College of Arts and Sciences present:

Leila Percy & Friends: Celebrate Songs of the Great American Songbook 
"Concerts at Jewett" Series
Sunday, October 28, 2018, 2PM at UMA Jewett Auditorium.

Leila Percy

Bandleader and vocalist Leila Percy enjoys a wide variety of musical genres from Broadway show music to country and folk, jazz and the Great American Songbook. Gerry Wright, pianist, and Tony Shay,
drummer, have played with the Al Corey Band for years. They will be joined by Jim Lyden, a bassist who has performed at Jewett often, and Sherry Walrath, an American Sign Language interpreter for more than
40 years who has signed many concerts with Leila Percy. Leila and her friends plan to share how they put a show together and how important they feel it is to remember our musical heritage.

Tickets are $10, students $5, 12 & under free. Tickets are available at Dave's Appliance in Winthrop and at the door.  Call 621-3551, or email   for more information or for mail order tickets.

The next concert is Sunday, November 18, 2018, 2PM (1PM pre-concert talk) - George Lopez, Classical Pianist (Snow date: Dec. 2)

Media contact: Irene Forster 445-5227

OLLIandAARPOLLI at USM and AARP Maine Present:

WWI Film Screening
Tuesday, October 30
9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
USM Hannaford Hall
88 Bedford Street, Portland

AARP Maine and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Southern Maine present a screening of the Smithsonian Channel's Documentary, Americans Underground: Secret City of WWI.  Q+A with Maine National Guard Historian will follow the film. 

The event is free, registration is required



GoldLEAFThe Gold LEAF Institute

Income Inequality Tackled by Gold LEAF Study Group
The Crinoline in Winter - Honoré Daumier

As the summer term drew to a close up here in the foothills, members of a hardworking study group stayed focused on a serious theme in societies around the world, that of the ever-widening disparity in income and wealth between the rich and the poor, especially here in the U.S.  

The class was listed as "The Gilded Age" with implied reference to the past, but the problems we examined are very much in the present.  A team of three "researchers" presented the class:  past GLI president Mary Viruleg, Eileen Liddy and Judy Rawlings.  They have been providing participants with an unlimited supply of reading lists, references and website urls for participants to explore on their own time.

A recent study group session saw two group members present a summary of their reading into the subject. Another session included consideration of steps that might be taken to alleviate the worst contributing factors, such as addressing the extreme disparity between workers' and CEOs' pay scales by setting limitations on executive pay scale.

Concerns were voiced about taxpayer monies going to pay government contractors whose executives make more that 100 times their median workers' pay.  In extreme cases within the private sector CEOs are paid 300+ more than their workers. This is a far cry from Ben & Jerry's, in nearby Vermont, who capped their own pay to exceed a paltry THREE times that of their lowest paid employees.

It has been said that we no longer have a problem that points to the 1% (at the top) but to the .01% who hold more wealth than the rest of us combined.  Known as Ultra High Net Worth (UHNW), this concentration of wealth has an affect on the livelihood and productivity of the planet as a whole.

Submitted by Eileen Kreutz, The Gold LEAF Institute

BELFASTscTVSenior College in Belfast

Senior College On Belfast Community TV

Senior College Curriculum Committee chair, Lila Nation, and President, Arlin Larson, were interviewed on the September 8/10 edition of Good Morning, Belfast. The interview, conducted by Arts Director and Senior College member, Kristin Frangoulis, constitutes about the last twenty minutes of the hour long program. 

Good Morning Belfast: 9-10-18
Good Morning Belfast: 9-10-18
(Fast forward the video to the 36.20 mark to go straight to the Senior College at Belfast stars Arlin and Lila.)

This post was originally posted on the Current Newsletter page for the Senior College at Belfast


literacyVolunteers
Androscoggin Literacy Volunteers
Tutor Training Information

Adults are eagerly waiting for the assistance of a one-on-one tutor to help them gain critical reading, writing, English conversation, and math skills. Many of these individuals need these skills to better qualify for a job, or to become more independent in their day-to-day lives. 

Literacy Volunteers-Androscoggin will hold a 12 hour, Tutor Training Workshop on October 18 & 19, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at USM/LAC, room 107. 

Registration is required. 
For more information call 753-6658 or email
Many details can also be found on our website Literacy Volunteers-Androscoggin

FALL2018catalogs

Fall 2018 Catalogs

University of Southern Maine Aging Initiative


The MSCN newsletter is sent to each Senior College board. The boards then forward the newsletter to their membership. However, if you are not a member of a Senior College or perhaps you are, and you simply want the news "hot off the press" subscribe here! 
 
Newsletter Submissions Deadline Date:
The 26th of each month!

Please submit your articles and photographs to Anne Cardale at [email protected] .


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