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September 2007

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Vol. 2007-2008 No. 2

Back to school with Dean Gonzalez

Gerardo Gonzalez, University Dean of IU’s School of Education, will speak to the IU Annuitants Association at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 10, on "Leading the School of Education in an Age of Globalization. He will share some of his personal experiences as an immigrant, non-speaker of English in the American educational system and relate these experiences to the demographic, technological, and economic changes taking place today in the United States and throughout the world. The meeting will be at the IU Foundation’s Showalter House.

Dean Gonzalez came to IU in 2000 from his alma mater, the University of Florida in Gainesville, where he had been an undergraduate, a doctoral student, a departmental chair, and associate dean. Under his leadership the school’s overall excellence continues. It has ranked in U.S. News & World Report’s top 20 schools of education for nine consecutive years. In the 2008 listing five specialty programs are in the top 10.

Dean Gonzalez is a proponent of creating a seamless system of education from pre-kindergarten through college. A tireless advocate of excellence in education for all, he has promoted the Pathways Initiative, through which the School of Education works directly with under-served populations in Indiana’s urban centers. A native of Cuba, he has addressed national and international groups and published scholarly works on the Cuban-American experience and Latino educational concerns.

September reprise

President Bob Ensman welcomed 100 guests to the first IU Annuitants event for 2007-08. Lou Moir, 332-0472, lmoir@indiana.edu, is refreshments chair. She encourages people to sign up to bring snacks for our meetings.

Marge Belisle introduced IU women’s head basketball coach Felisha Legette-Jack, who is enthusiastic about her team and about coaching at IU. She explained her CAB approach to coaching. Her priorities are C=character, A=academics, and B=basketball. She sees herself not only as a basketball coach but also as a coach for life. She focuses on helping her players to see themselves beyond four or five years of basketball, to have academic success at IU, to be leaders in their communities, and to have challenging careers.

In response to a question, Coach Jack said she has one player from Indiana, with the rest of the team members from other states. She wants to attract interested Indiana high school players to IU as her program matures, but she expects her players will come from many different places. She encourages patience during this building year, with many freshmen. One luncheon participant thanked Coach Jack for her efforts and said, "You are a breath of fresh air." A hearty round of applause fully supported this comment.

Coach Jack invited us to support the team. Season tickets are available through the athletics ticket office. Practices begin at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 12, during Hoosier Hysteria and continue from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday in Assembly Hall.

Here’s looking at the rest of 2007

Put these dates on your calendar now for the next meetings of the Annuitants Association:
Nov. 14 – 2 p.m., Monroe County Sheriff Jim Kennedy
Dec. 5 – noon, Heidi Gealt, director of the IU Art Museum

Annuitants support United Way

The 2007-2008 Monroe County United Way Campaign began officially Sept. 14, and by now each of you should have received our letter. We look forward to another great year for the Annuitants Campaign because of your steadfast generosity in supporting the 26 certified United Way agencies that work tirelessly to alleviate hunger, homelessness, and other adversities many people face. At our October meeting we will hear a brief message from a representative of Area 10 Agency on Aging, which provides services for many of our seniors.

The United Way Campaign is our opportunity to make our community a better place for all of us. Please consider increasing your pledge this year and perhaps joining the 43 Annuitant Vanguards of last year. Each of them gave $1,000 or more to further the important work of United Way agencies. Thank you in advance for your contributions. Please let one of us know if you have questions or concerns. Annuitants Association co-captains are Doris Burton, 336-7184, burtond@indiana.edu; Wain Martin, 336-4913, ewmartin@indiana.edu; and Harriet Pfister, 339-3364, pfisterh@indiana.edu.

Dues deadline for directory inclusion

Those who have paid their 2007-2008 dues by Nov. 1 will appear in this year’s membership directory, which will be mailed with the December newsletter. Send your check ($5 single, $9 per couple) to Treasurer Don Weaver, IU Annuitants Association, P.O. Box 8393, Bloomington, IN 47407.

You meet such interesting people

One of the unsung benefits of the Annuitants Association is meeting new people and hearing about their adventures. I first met Ann and Jim Allen at an Annuitants meeting and learned from them about the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s coffee concerts. I asked the Allens to write about their experience for this issue of Newswatch. Here’s their account. – Judy Schroeder

Instead of driving back to Bloomington following a Friday or Saturday evening concert, consider attending the Thursday morning 11 a.m. Coffee Concert Series at the Hilbert Circle Theater. The eight-concert series begins in September and ends in late May or early June. Individual tickets are available on the Web at http://www.indianapolissymphony.org or by phone at 317-236-2040. We have even gone to the box office on the day of the concert and bought tickets. You save if you buy the entire series.

The remaining programs for this season are Oct. 25, Jan. 17, Feb. 21, March 27, May 8, and May 29. The doors open at 10 a.m., with coffee, tea, and pastries provided. At 10:30 a.m., Doug Dillon, the recording engineer and producer of the orchestra’s radio broadcasts, provides useful insights about the music that will be performed. Students from local middle and high schools are often in the audience.

We choose to purchase the "cheap" seats in the balcony because, at $18, you can't beat the price. Acoustics are great, as is the view of the orchestra. The only drawback is that the performances are slightly shorter than the Friday or Saturday evening concert. But the 20 percent reduction of the program hasn't reduced our enthusiasm, especially because we can go to lunch after the concert at one of the many good restaurants in Indianapolis.

Getting to know you

Among the annuitants attending the Sept. 12 University Club reception (announced in your August Newswatch) for new IU President Michael McRobbie and Provost Karen Hanson was President Bob Ensman. Bob took advantage of the opportunity to network with several officers of the University Club and Emeriti House. Officers of all three associations are exploring possibilities for cooperation. Indiana University is the only Big Ten University that services the needs of retirees through three separate organizations, resulting in duplication of overhead, membership, and resource utilization. Stay tuned for more news of cooperative ventures.

It’s happening at the Emeriti House

All members of the Annuitants Association are invited and encouraged to participate in the activities of the Emeriti House at 1015 E. Atwater. Two brown-bag luncheons are scheduled on Tuesdays in October, Oct. 2 and Oct. 16, from noon to 1:30 p.m. Coffee, tea, and cookies are provided.

Regular programs are on Wednesday afternoons at 4 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Here is the schedule for the next six weeks:

Oct. 3 - Don Lichtenberg, physics, "The Universe and the Atom"
Oct. 10 - Clarinet Ensemble, Jacobs School of Music
Oct. 17 - Harry M. Geduld, comparative literature and film studies, "Fairy Tales of New York"
Oct. 24 - Patten Lecturer Neta Bahcall, astrophysics, Princeton. (at 11 a.m.)
Oct. 31 - Trombone Choir led by Carl Lenthe, "Halloween Trombone Treats, No Tricks"
Nov. 7 - Audrey McCluskey, Afro-American studies, "Images of
African Americans in Theatre Posters"
Nov. 14 - Phil Stafford, Center on Aging and Community (Indiana Institute on Disability & Community)

Retirement and the Big Ten

When we think "Big Ten," many of us think of athletic competition. But IU cooperates with our sister universities in numerous ways. One of them is the annual meeting of the Big Ten Retirees Association. This year’s conference was held at Penn State Aug. 17-19, and Sandra Churchill and I represented IU.

The first thing I observed is that IU is unique in having two separate organiza-tions with confusing monikers. We have an "Annuitants Association," which sounds like insurance, and an "Emeriti House," which sounds like real estate. Illinois has one organization with an even more cumbersome name, "Illinois Chapter of State Universities Annuitants Association." Penn State calls its group the "Retired Faculty/Staff Club," and six Big Ten universities say the "Retirees Association." (Wisconsin calls it the "Retirement Association," and Northwestern doesn’t attend.)

The conference topic was "celebrating retiree wellness," and the business session featured reports about how each university supports activities for its retirees. Purdue, for example, supports all the expenses of its retirees association, which operates, therefore, independent of dues. Working with its human resources office, the Purdue Retirees Association produces a handbook that enumerates retiree privileges and tells people how to get involved. Each year Michigan’s association offers a full-day conference on healthy aging, with sessions on such topics as skin cancer, shingles prevention, and improving memory. Because Ohio State provides office support and subsidizes printing and mailing, its association sends out a monthly 10-page newsletter, including articles of special interest to retirees.

I expect that by the time IU sponsors the Big Ten Retirees Association conference in 2010, we’ll have an even stronger organization. President Bob Ensman has started the ball rolling by outlining three goals for the year:

- Judy Schroeder