OLLI Observer
February 11, 2018   
 
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In This Issue

 We Remember 
burning candle  
.
James "Jim" Mitchell
January 22, 2018

  .
Lee Cooper  
"I love teaching at OLLI because students are so receptive to new ideas and so willing to share their experiences and opinions. "
 
Lee taught "Persistent Themes in Popular Music," "Novelty Records," "America in Transition 1945 - 1975" and will be teaching "Black Music Goes Mainstream: Cover Recordings as Catalysts" at College for Seniors in Spring 2018.
 

Are you planning to teach at College for Seniors? Plan to attend SkillTalks  Bi-annual skills development and workshops for teaching.

Questions?  Contact Herb Gunn, [email protected]
Meditation Special Interest Group

The Meditation SIG meets the 2nd and 4th
 Monday of the month at the Reuter Center from  4:15 - 5:45 p.m.  February programs will be:

  Feb. 12: Becca Demers 
Somatic Breathwork Therapy 
Feb. 26:
  Daniel Kane
Sound Healing and Acutonics Vibrational Medicine Atunement

Becca Demers ( www.thejoyfulbreath.com) offers a method of breathing called Somatic Breathwork Therapy.  We all breathe every day, but learning to pay attention and breathe on purpose unlocks access to all levels of your health and gets your mind on the same team as your body.  In this hour and a half intro, you'll not only learn the importance and benefits of better breathing, you'll also get to practice several techniques and see for yourself how good proper oxygenation feels! 

Meditation SIG contact: Sally Ekaireb [email protected]
 

A team of OLLI hiking enthusiasts has been hard at work developing the systems and processes to support a new Hiking Special Interest Group (SIG) and are ready to launch! 
If you wish to join, please visit

You will see some documents on the home page that describe how things work.  Many thanks to IT guru Glenn Peterson. The first hike will be in late February.

In addition we will have an
 Open Hiking SIG Meeting 
Tuesday, February 13, 4:15 p.m.
Reuter Center Manheimer Room

SIG members will demonstrate the website, answer your questions and provide assistance as needed. You might want to bring a tablet or laptop if you have one.

If you have questions or need assistance, contact [email protected] or
Marcia Markowitz at 631.987.7451

See you on the trail!
 
OLLI VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Habitat for Humanity's ReStore
Changing lives one house at a time

Veteran's Restoration Quarters
Cooking Team
Prepare a meal for homeless vets

ROOTS Foundation
The garden is the classroom

 
VOLUNTEER NOW ... You can make a difference!
Travel Special Interest Group

February's meetings of the Travel SIGS have been set for Friday, February 16 and Friday, February 23.  The original SIG has been divided into three separate regions.  Please contact the group leader for directions to the meeting that most interests you.

Asia group:  Kathy Buehner, [email protected],
Friday, February 16, 2-4 p.m.
Reuter Center, Room 206

Europe group: Linda Fitzhugh, [email protected],
Friday, February 23, 3:15 p.m.
Reuter Center, Room 205

USA group: Bebe Landis
Friday, February 16, 9:15 a.m.
Reuter Center, Room 230
More Than a Month Lecture
Friday, February 16, 2 p.m.
Reuter Center's Manheimer Room

"I Am a Recovering Racist"
by Bruce Mulkey, essayist & author 

Bruce Mulkey
Bruce Mulkey writes, "In an earlier incarnation, I was a hyper-masculine, self-indulgent, beer-swilling  rebel (without much of a cause). Having miraculously survived that era, I am now an open-minded, relentlessly inquisitive, politically progressive essayist and author. I live with my wife Shonnie Lavender and our daughter Gracelyn (largely outside the dominant cultural paradigm) in the eclectic little city of Asheville, North Carolina.

"I've dealt with topics ranging from racism (and my ongoing recovery from it), my brief encounter with Norman Mailer ("Are you still stabbing your wife?"), opposition to the Iraq War ("A few illogical arguments for the elimination of Saddam Hussein" published before the war began), Al Gore (not the stuffed shirt you might imagine) and the perils of climate change, my seventieth birthday (It's not that I mind growing old; I just don't want to be there when it happens.), spanking (and its unintended consequences), why I gave up my last handgun (after my wife asked me the simple question: "What are you afraid of, Bruce?"), trail running in the southern Appalachians, and fatherhood at sixty-seven."
 
This presentation is a part of the More Than A Month series created by members of OLLI's Inclusion Committee who have come together to promote and celebrate inclusion at OLLI, develop partnerships with people of all backgrounds and raise awareness among fellow OLLI members and the greater Asheville community of issues of concern to all of our communities.  
 
This event is free and open to everyone.
OLLI Members Help Fight Hunger in Asheville
 
  Thank you to all of the OLLI members who are supporting our volunteer efforts at Asheville Terrace Apartments. Your donations to our "tip jar" are makin g a significant difference in the food that we able to purchase from MANNA. The residents now have the opportunity to select eggs, cheese, meat and other healthy nutritious food because of your generosity.

OLLI members are partnering with the residents of Asheville Terrace Apartments (ATA) and the MANNA Foodbank to improve the residents' access to healthy, nutritious food. Asheville Terrace Apartments, managed by the City of Asheville Housing Authority, provides safe, affordable housing to over 250 low-income residents, 90% of whom are over 62 years old and 10% of whom are handicapped. The residents' low income and limited mobility constrain their ability to get the food they need when they need it. The OLLI-Asheville Terrace-MANNA partnership helps to bridge that gap. Every two weeks, volunteers from OLLI and Asheville Terrace Apartments pick up food at the MANNA Foodbank and distribute it to the residents.

Dear OLLI Members,
We are nearing the end of our Winter 2018 term and looking forward to spring.  Our catalogs will be available online and in print in our office at the Reuter Center on Wednesday, February 14.  We will open our allocation registration period from Tuesday, February 20, 10 a.m. to Tuesday, February 27, noon. Please follow the link in this newsletter if you would like a sneak peek at this spring's courses.

This week is full of interesting programming that is open to all OLLI members, including our Fab Friday lecture, the Inclusion Committee's "More Than a Month" lecture from Bruce Mulkey, sessions of the Meditation SIG, the Hiking SIG, various Travel SIGs, a "Native Plant Primer" from the Gardening SIG and the weekly lively discussion at The Forum. Don't forget the World Affairs Council's "Great Decisions" series and plan ahead for our Advance Care Planning Workshop. 

Thanks to all of the OLLI volunteers who organize this great programming to enrich the thinking of our members and to provide learning and fellowship.  We encourage you to check out the link to the volunteer webpage and the job board on the upper level of the Reuter Center.  We are only as strong as our volunteers and appreciate every contribution to the vitality and continuous improvement of our offerings.

Thank you for recognizing the value of being part of a community of teachers and learners,
Catherine Frank
Executive Director


 Check the links here to see OLLI and UNC Asheville current events:
 
 Upcoming UNC Asheville Athletic Events 
February 2018
  • Sunday, February 11, 3 p.m., Women's Tennis, UNC Asheville vs. Kennesaw State,  Asheville Racquet Club Downtown
  • Tuesday, February 13, 7 p.m., Women's Basketball, UNC Asheville vs. Charleston Southern, Kimmel Arena          
  • Thursday, February 15, 7 p.m., Men's Basketball, UNC Asheville vs. Liberty, Kimmel Arena
  • Sunday, February 18, 3 p.m., Men's Tennis, UNC Asheville vs. UNC-Greensboro, Asheville Racquet Club Downtown
  • Tuesday, February 20, 7 p.m., Women's Basketball, UNC Asheville vs. Campbell, Kimmel Arena
  • Thursday, February 22, 7 p.m., Men's Basketball, UNC Asheville vs. Winthrop, Kimmel Arena
  • Saturday, February 24, 2 p.m., Women's Tennis UNC Asheville vs. NC Centr UNCA Bulldogal,  Asheville Racquet Club Downtown

Click here to visit the UNC Asheville Athletic's website.  

Go Bulldogs!

   

Gardening SIG
Tuesday, February 13, 4:15 p.m., Reuter Center Room 230

 Native Plant Primer
 by Pat Sommers, owner of Natural Selections Nursery
 
The talk will focus on the differences between species, cultivars or selections and hybrids and how each is legally written on nursery tags and how each impacts the natural world.  An expanded view of pollination, food source and shelter for insects and how they relate to plant origins will round out the program.  Questions are encouraged. 
Pat Sommers, owner of Natural Selections Nursery in Weaverville,  grows species plants native to the Southern Appalachians. 

World Affairs Council
Tuesday, February 13, 7:30 p.m., Reuter Center Manheimer Room
 
  "Global Health: Progress and Challenges"
by John Stewart 
 
The collective action of countries, communities and organizations over the last 30 years has literally saved millions of lives around the world. Yet terrible inequalities in health and well being persist. The world now faces a mix of old and new health challenges, including the preventable deaths of mothers and children, continuing epidemics of infectious diseases and rising rates of chronic disease. We also remain vulnerable to the emergence of new and deadly pandemics. For these reasons, the next several decades will be important as the last in determining well being across nations.
 
John Stewart grew up in Marietta, Georgia and graduated from Emory University. He then served in the US Navy for eleven years while he attended and graduated from Medical College of Georgia, interned at Portsmouth Naval Hospital, Virginia, and served as a General Medical Officer for five years. Upon completion of military obligation, Stewart completed residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of South Carolina. A 26 year career in private practice in Asheville followed, until he retired in 2012. Since then Stewart has continued to work as a Buncombe County Medical Examiner and been able to pursue a life long dream of doing medical humanitarian work by serving with Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders in Africa for four to six weeks each year for five years, experiencing global health disparities first hand "in the trenches".
 
Come to the Reuter Center for World Affairs Council (WAC) lectures and discussions that aim to advance international awareness and foster Western North Carolina's global ties. OLLI members receive a discount on WAC annual membership fee. 

All lectures are scheduled in the Reuter Center's Manheimer Room, free to WAC members and students; all others pay $10 at the door. For more details about programs, consult the WAC website. http://www.main.nc.us/wac WAC offers Great Decisions lectures at the Reuter Center on February 13, 20 and 27 and March 6 and 13.

Fab Friday Lunch and Learn Lecture
Friday, February 16,  11:30 a.m. - 1:15 p.m., Manheimer Room
 Purchase lunch in our Reuter Café or bring your own brown bag. Don't miss these great programs.  Free and open to everyone.
 
"American meets Arabia" by Larry Wilson.

With the Arab world so much in the news these days, and likely to be for decades to come, Larry Wilson will give an insider's view of living and working in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where he has worked for nearly twenty years while living there for more than a
Larry Wilson
  decade. In 1998, Larry Wilson was invited by His Excellency, Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak al Nahyan, the Minister of Higher Education in the United Arab Emirates, to be a part of a three-person team to design and launch Zayed University, a new government university for Emirati female students. He served as its Deputy Vice President and Provost for twelve years, with a year out to design, launch and direct reform of all the public schools in the UAE.

 Larry, a former provost and interim chancellor at UNC Asheville, will discuss Arab culture and traditions, the education system, the status of women in the Arab world, the impact of extremism and lower oil prices on the social and political system, some features of Islam, how Arab views toward the west and each other are changing and how American views of the Arab world do not always comport with his experiences. 

 
Special Interest Group The Forum
Friday, February 16, 1 p.m., Room 205  
 
Meeting Topic: "Artificial Intelligence (for example: Self-Driving Cars) and Changes in Our Labor Markets" 
 
Mark your calendar to attend this free-flowing dialogue designed to enrich and expand participants' thinking on topics ranging from changing demographics of retirees to nuclear disarmament.  All OLLI members are invited and welcome!   SIG contact: Beth Johnson, [email protected] 
STEM Lecture
Tuesday, February 20, 4:30 p.m., Reuter Center Room 102

 Women in NURSING
by Dr. Cindy Stephens, Family Nurse Practitioner

In higher education, STEM is all the rage and with good reason. Graduates who choose one of these majors are
 often in line for well-paying entry level jobs. But how would you respond if a son or daughter came to you wanting to pursue a career in science? Would you think of
nursing? Probably not. Why then do we give these nurses a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science degree? Even a Doctor of Science in Nursing? Nursing research has gained significance in advancing our nation's healthcare. Nursing research tackles issues of great importance such as symptom management, health disparities and the value of nursing care .As healthcare reform evolves, nurses will pay key roles in improving health outcomes; but they still face barriers to funding their research and regulatory barriers to their practice. This
seminar will call attention to registered nurses and their contributions, both in the role they  play as expert clinicians and as leaders who influence healthcare quality. The benefits of n ursing as a STEM field will be discussed
Advance Care Planning Workshop
Thursday, February 22, 4:30 p.m., Reuter Center Room 102


 This workshop will feature a panel whose members are experienced in addressing end-of-life issues. Discussion will include communicating your treatment wishes to loved ones and to medical personnel, ethical and legal issues, and the uses of advance directives.  Ample time will be reserved for questions. Assistance will be provided for anyone wishing to complete a legally valid advance directive, including the notarization required in North Carolina, using the NC Advance Care Planning (ACP) "Short Form."
 
Preparation for you to do before the workshop:  Talk to your possible "power of attorney for healthcare," the person who would make health care decisions if you are unable.   Click here for a video of a sample conversation, starring OLLI member Mary Campbell.  Click here for access to a copy of the NC ACP form .  Please print the form, study it, and bring it to the workshop along with any questions you might have for the panel. 
If you have never been admitted to Mission Hospital, but want your advanced directives added into the Mission Medical Record, click here for an Advance Directive Permission form to fill out. Also, if you have existing advance directives, you may mail the "Permission Form" along with a copy of your existing Advance Directive to Mission for addition to the Mission medical record (and you can get help doing this at the next ACP workshop).
This workshop is free and open to adults of all ages.  For more information, call OLLI, 828.251.6140 or email   [email protected].  
 
Storytelling Performance
Friday, March 2, 7 p.m. 
Southside Center, 285 Livingstone Street, Asheville
 
On the Row by Dr. Wesley Grant, Sr.   

The Northwest Arkansas Prison Story Project is a storytelling/creative writing project benefiting incarcerated women and men in Arkansas since 2012. Inmates share their stories, inspired through the use of poetry, creative writing, literature and songwriting. Their work is edited into a staged reading, initially performed by professional actors inside the prison and then outside for the community.
 
The Asheville performance features local actors, including three current UNC Asheville students. It will be only the second performance of this piece ever outside of Arkansas. 
 
The performance is free and open to everyone. Donations are accepted and will benefit the Wesley Grant Center. Seating is on a first-come, first-serve basis.
OLLI Craft Swap Meet
Saturday, March 10, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. , Reuter Center Manheimer Room

This is a new endeavor designed for OLLI members ONLY as a  free craft swap meet where you can swap/sell/buy craft supplies and "stuff" from other OLLI members.  It is recommended you register for a table by emailing [email protected]. Tables will be assigned in order of registration - first come, first served.

Suggested items to bring to swap/sell/buy include paint supplies, beads & jewelry making supplies, buttons, polymar sculpy clay, fiber arts & yarn, weaving supplies, paper goods, colored pencils, pastels, photography, marbles, mosiac items, fabric, ribbon and sewing notions....almost any craft and art supplies!

This is a closed event for OLLI members ONLY - - to have tables of craft supplies to swap/buy/sell and other OLLI members to attend and see what's on offer.  There is no cost to participate, and we suggest you pack a lunch!  It will be a fun time for all and you may need a bite to eat before it's all said and done.

For more information or if you have questions, email [email protected]
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute | 828-251-6140 | [email protected] | http://www.olliasheville.com
Reuter Center, CPO #5000
UNC Asheville
One University Heights
Asheville, NC 28804