NEW EIN WEB POSTINGS FOR SEPTEMBER
Under MANAGING YOUR LLI
Celebrating Diversity – A.L.L., NY
Summer Programs 2007 – LLI, Christopher Newport, VA
New Course for Study Leaders, ILEAD, NH
Science Courses, CALL Program, PA
The 9th Week – OLLI Program, ME
New Discussion Group – JILL, VA
Senior College on Vacation - Maine Network

Under UPCOMING CONFERENCES
Positive Aging Conference - Florida

LLI News
LLI News for September

Under LLI CELEBRATIONS
LLI Celebrations & Congratulations for September

AN ALL-TIME HIGH
Membership in the Elderhostel Institute Network has reached an all-time high. We now have 376 affiliated programs. It’s nice to get an email or phone call about a new program that wants to join EIN. Keep spreading the word!

POSITIVE AGING CONFERENCE
Greetings from Eckerd College, host of the 2007 National Positive Aging Conference-Beyond the Cutting Edge, December 6-8, 2007. If you haven't looked at the conference website for a while there have been lots of additions. You can now register on-line. Pre-Conference information for the Life Planning for the Third Age Network, 2young2retire facilitators retreat and Bolton Anthony's Second Journey program are all now available. Each of the Conference's seven focus areas/tracks has details available on workshops and presentations. More information about individual presenters can be found under Speaker Profiles. We encourage you to register early to take advantage of the cost savings early bird registration rates. Registering on line is quick and easy, or you can download a registration form and either mail it or fax it to us. Lots of details are now on the website: www.eckerd.edu/positiveaging. One last thing. One the EIN web site is a conference promotional flyer. You may have received this one or an earlier version, so pardon the possible duplication. Please copy and share the flyer with your colleagues and forward it on to your network of contacts. We would also appreciate a mention of the Conference in any newsletters or other publications that you create or contribute to. All of the Planning Team members hope to see you in December. Thank you. Jim Frasier, Eckerd College, The 2007 National Positive Aging Conference, December 6-8, 2007, St. Petersburg FL www.eckerd.edu/positiveaging

15th ANNIVERSARY THEME
The Academy for Lifelong Learning in Saratoga Springs, New York has chosen Celebrate Diversity! as their 15th anniversary year theme. Carrying out this theme, they will be offering diversity study groups, as well as three free-and-open-to-the-public special events: a program on Chinese culture in September, during NYS Lifelong Learning Month, and programs featuring the cultures of India and Ireland in the spring. Each of these events will focus on the traditional music, dance, culture and food of a country representative of the population of our area. They are collaborating with local ethnic groups to bring authentic traditional experiences to the community - the Chinese Community Center of the Capital District of New York, the Tri-Cities India Association and Albany Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann. Prestwick Chase is sponsoring A.L.L. Celebrates Diversity - Chinese Culture on September 29; The Adirondack Trust Company is their sponsor for Irish Culture on June 1, 2008, Saratoga Springs' Annual Diversity Day; and, Karavalli restaurant is donating Indian food for The Culture of India on April 27, 2008. Saratoga Today newspaper and WQAR Star 101.3 radio are their media sponsors for the anniversary year. EIN has posted an example of one of the programs – Chinese Culture – on our web site under Managing Your LLI. You can click on the link at the beginning of this newsletter.
Since the Academy has recently changed its name, pens inscribed with the new name of the program were handed out to attendees at the Annual Meeting. They have also been giving the pens away to members of the media, college staff, etc., and the pens are proving very effective.

LLI PROMOTES LIFELONG LEARNING
Ed Aqua, Director of the Lifelong Learning Institute at Nova Southeastern University in Florida gave a presentation earlier in the summer at Covenant Village, a retirement village in Plantation, Florida. Ed gave the audience a taste of lifelong learning by talking about local LLIs as well as those in other parts of the country. He also discussed the programs offered by Elderhostel throughout the world and passed out literature to those present. Well done, Ed!

JOE SCORPION RETIRES
Joe Scorpion, long-time Administrative Director of the Lifelong Learning Program at Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh, recently retired after more than 15 years at the helm. During his time at A.L.L. Joe got to know most members and everyone else on the CMU campus who might be of help to the program. He became a kind of roving ambassador of goodwill between A.L.L. and their host. He is especially proud of initiating the first member journal, Signatures, which is still being published today. Joe and this writer enjoyed a running “feud” about the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. Now Joe will have the enjoyment of experiencing A.L.L. from the other side of the desk. Best of luck, Joe, in your retirement.

OLLI AND THE PRESCHOOLERS
Over the summer, members of the OLLI program at Yavapai College in Arizona worked with local preschoolers at the Sharlot Hall Museum. They actively assisted and observed the children, who ranged in age from three to six years old as they explored various aspects of the museum. Activities with the children included walking the grounds, standing during demonstrations, dancing and singing. As a required part of each class, members ate lunch with the children on picnic benches. After the children left there was an evaluation/feedback session so adjustments could be made to provide a meaningful experience for all.

UGA RESEARCH PROJECT
The University of Georgia has asked LIR members who might be eligible to think about taking part in the following research study about Steps taken per day and physical function in different living arrangements. The study, undertaken by the UGA Department of Kinesiology and Institute of Gerontology seeks to understand how living settings and physical function influence the number of steps taken per day. Who is eligible? Men and women from 70 to 85 with stable health conditions. Required living situation: Community apartment, house, retirement home, assisted living. How much time is involved? 1 ½ hours on 2 days, and wearing StepWatches (small, light instruments on your ankle pictured above) for 2 days. What a valuable way for LIR members to serve society, and help cement the relationship between the program and the host, at the same time.

THE WAR AGAINST HEZBOLLAH
The QUEST program in New York City held a special summer guest lecture. “The War Against Hezbollah: Background and Update,” a lecture with visual presentation, was given by Lt. Col. Ehud Kauf, Israeli Liaison Officer to the United States Armed Forces. A question and answer period followed this fascinating and informative session.

ABOUT ILEAD
Over this last year the ILEAD program at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire conducted a member survey, the results of which were printed in their Winter/Spring 2007 newsletter. Here is the second section (other sections will appear in later newsletters) of the survey results – What is Important to Us -
Dartmouth support for ILEAD, use of its facilities, library and faculty are important elements of our relationship with the College. Members rate full-length courses as by far the most important program followed by the Summer Lecture Series. The relative importance of factors that help us select a course are course topic, Study Leader, and time of day, followed by parking facilities, course location and convenience of transportation. We prefer mid-morning and mid-afternoon class times, and most preferred was the addition of more courses followed by course locations with convenient parking.

DONATIONS TO LIBRARY
The Lifetime Learning Institute at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale has donated books and videos used during the summer 2007 Great Decisions series to the college library for use by faculty and students. Materials from previous Great Decisions courses will also be donated by members who wish to do so.

BUFFALO SOLDIERS
The Adult Learning Institute at Columbia Greene Community College in Hudson, New York hosted a program entitled Buffalo Soldiers. Their guest speaker was Charles B. Swain, Minority Historian for Greene County. Mr. Swain is a folk historian who has spent countless hours meeting, talking with, learning from and recording the stories, legends, and memories of black people in the Hudson River Valley. His talk on Buffalo Soldiers, black men who fought in the U.S. Army during the Indian Wars, covered the history of who the Buffalo Soldier was, as well as what became of the black soldier after the Civil War.

ANNUAL MEETING SPECIAL GUESTS
The Annual Meeting of the Adult Learning Program in Hartford, Connecticut was fortunate to have a special presentation this year by the State Archaeologist with the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History and Archaeology Center at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Nicholas Bellantoni spoke about Case Studies from the Files of the State Archaeologist. His office maintains comprehensive site files and maps, has in-state networks of supportive public groups, serves as a clearinghouse of information, coordinates the salvage of archaeological sites and represents Connecticut on national issues pertaining to archaeology.

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Alabama, Huntsville had as their special guest at their Annual Meeting, the Mayor of Huntsville, Loretta Spencer. As Mayor for 11 years, she had much to talk about with the members.

THE SCIENCE AND DEVELOPMENT NETWORK
The Science and Development Network - http://www.scidev.net - aims to provide reliable and authoritative information about science and technology for the developing world. Plenty of material here for talks and discussion. Our thanks to the U3A August 2007 newsletter, Signpost, for this lead.

OLLI INSPIRES STUDENT SPEAKER
This past spring at the University of S. Maine’s 127th Commencement, the student speaker made mention of the OLLI program when she said, “…the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute on the Portland campus is an organization for continuing education for people 50 and older...What an inspiration!...These men and women bring a multigenerational environment onto campus, adding their lives and experiences to the pot of living knowledge you can find on campus on any given day.…Being immersed in an environment of highly motivated people with diverse histories and dreams has helped me to embrace my own.” What a wonderful endorsement for the value of having lifelong learning programs on college campuses.

FEWER ADULTS LEARNING
The Annual Adult Learners Week Survey on adult participation in leaning, commissioned by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) in Great Britain, reports half a million adults lost to learning in the last year. The proportion of adults currently learning or having done so in the last three years has fallen to 41%. There is a five-point rise – to 15% - in over 75s learning and a three-point increase – to 19% - for learners over 65, but older adults’ overall participation rate is still less than one in five, according to the study available at www.niace.org.uk/publications.

SPECIAL FILM EVENT
Next month, the Academy for Lifelong Learning on Cape Cod in Massachusetts is bringing the world renowned Simon Wiesenthal Center to the college for a showing of the film I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life and Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal. The outstanding feature-length documentary is narrated by Nicole Kidman and deals with the life and deeds of legendary Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal. It was recently shown at the Cannes Film Festival and has been viewed by sellout audiences around the world.

NEW BOOKS FOR LLI COURSES
Thanks to the OMNILORE program at California State University Dominquez Hills for these fiction suggestions that would make great reading for a LLI book club.

Q&A, by Vikas Swarup, an Indian diplomat who has served in Turkey, Great Britain, Ethiopia and the U.S. A beguiling blend of high comedy, drama and romance in which humanity is revealed in all of its squalor and glory.

One Last Look, by Susanna Moore is a story taken from an actual journal and diaries and tells of a man who is appointed Governor General of India in 1836, the beginning of the end of English imperialism.

Widow of the South, by Robert Hicks. Taking place in Tennessee during the Civil War Battle of Franklin, the novel centers on a bitter, reclusive woman who, because of the battle and its consequences, changes her outlook.

My Jim, by Nancy Rawles, is the story of the runaway slave in Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. The story is told from the perspective of Jim’s wife.

NEW WEB SITES FOR LLI COURSES
GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER - http://library.louisville.edu/government/subjects/hist/custer.html
Links to information about General George Armstrong Custer, his activities in the Civil War, and the event known as Custer's Last Stand (June 25, 1876), in which Custer and the troops he was leading died in the Battle of Little Big Horn. Includes links to related history topics. From the University of Louisville Libraries, Kentucky.

JUST THE ARTI-FACTS: WOMEN'S HISTORY -
http://www.chicagohs.org/AOTM/Mar98/mar98artifact.html
This site highlights the achievements of four Chicago women with different backgrounds but similar aims: equality, justice and freedom. The women profiled are Jane Addams (social worker, feminist, internationalist), Ida B. Wells (journalist, anti-lynching advocate, co-founder of the NAACP), Bertha Honorà Palmer (philanthropist), and Mary Richardson (abolitionist). From the Chicago Historical Society.

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHICAGO - http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org
Thousands of historical resources--including articles, photos, maps, broadsides and newspapers--related to Chicago's colorful and complex history are at your fingertips. Includes authored entries and special features on water in Chicago, labor unrest in 1886,
video clips (of politicians, entertainers, and more), and a timeline. Searchable and browsable. From the Chicago Historical Society, the Newberry Library, and Northwestern University.

JEAN-PAUL SARTRE - http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sartre/
Profile of Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980), who is commonly considered the father of Existentialist philosophy, whose writings set the tone for intellectual life in the decade immediately following the Second World War. Includes a bibliography. From the
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, maintained by the Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University.

That’s all for this month.
Nancy Merz Nordstrom, M.Ed., Elderhostel Institute Network
Nancy.merz-nordstrom@elderhostel.org
www.elderhostel.org/ein/intro.asp - 617-457-5564

“You don’t grow old: when you cease to learn you are old.”
…Reuel L. Howe