March, 2015 Luncheon
Tue, March 24 2015, 11:30am
Conference Room ABC, Campus Club, Fourth Floor, Coffman Memorial Union
UMRA grant recipients take the stage with stories about their projects
Assisted by awards from an UMRA-initiated program—the Professional Development Grants for Retirees (PDGR)— University retirees have been able to pursue 62 projects over the past six years, making many different and important creative contributions.
Like the very successful PDGR presentations last year, this year's panel will provide a sampling of those contributions. Jan Hogan-Schiltgen, chair of the PDGR program, will moderate the panel.
This luncheon presentation and discussion has been designed not only to bring you relevant new knowledge and perspectives, but also to show first-hand how the grants program fits into (and adds to) the lives of retirees. The format will emphasize memoir experience rather than technical reports.
Philip O. Larsen, emeritus professor of plant pathology, will relate some stories about training Tanzanian farmers in advanced farm management. He is a former associate dean, College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resource Sciences.
In 2012, Professor Larsen with his colleague Fred Bergsrud, emeritus professor of bioproducts and biosystems, received a PDGR grant supporting their volunteer work at the Institute of Agriculture at Tumaini University, Iringa, Tanzania.
Their roles were to advise, assist, and teach in a project that delivered maize seed and fertilizer at 44 crop demonstration sites in the Iringa region in central Tanzania and to teach fertilizer application, planting, measuring yield, and weed management to local farmers at each site. Larsen will talk about this project and his experiences living for several weeks in rural Tanzania.
Travelers may wish to follow in their footsteps. Iringa, a city of 113,000 people at an altitude of 5,000 feet, has an ideal climate and lush, green terrain.
Ron Anderson, UMRA past-president and professor emeritus of sociology, received PDGR grants in 2009, 2013, and 2014. The last two supported his pioneering research on the concept and prevalence of suffering. With a topic that was new to him only five years ago, he has already published two books.
Human Suffering and Quality of Life was written in early 2014. He also edited World Suffering and Quality ofLife, which he says is, "the first book to address global suffering head-on."
With the intention to launch a new field of research, he is well into his third book, Alleviating Suffering. Ron Anderson will put forward answers to such questions as: Why is global suffering rising when poverty and hunger supposedly have declined? Is suffering greater for those with lower income, and if so, why? Why is the meaning of suffering different for the elderly? His brief presentation will show how visual images and icons of suffering differ across news media, entertainment media, social media, and the public sphere.
Upcoming Events
Our July 15 "hike" is going to be a kayaking adventure on Bde Maka Ska (formerly Lake Calhoun) and Lake of the Isles! If you don't have a kayak (or paddleboard), Wheel Fun Rentals, located next to the new concession stand rents single kayaks at $15 an hour and double kayaks at $25. The second hour is free if we rent before noon. Life jackets are provided with the rental.
Laura Ericksen will lead the discussion of How Stella Learned to Talk by Christina Hunger, a true story by a speech-language pathologist who taught her dog, Stella, to communicate using buttons associated with different words.
Our August 5 hike will be a reprise of our hike last summer at William O'Brien State Park. This is a beautiful park with a winding trail and a great view of the countryside. The hike is about 5.5 to 6 miles and we'll go at a moderate pace with frequent water breaks. After the hike, we will eat lunch at Rustic Roots Winery, a half mile north of the park.
Kathy Cramer will lead the discussion of The Bookbinder by Pip Williams, a book set in 1914 Oxford chronicling the life of Peggy who works in the University bindery, but craves a life beyond binding books but to being a scholar herself.
Enjoy a two-hour cruise on the Jonathan Padelford, leaving from the Harriet Island dock in St. Paul, boarding time at 5:30 p.m. We will have a brief program on board by Patrick Nunnally from the River Life Program of the Institute on the Environment.
August 31 is the due date for annual reports and updates. Annual Reports, Toolkits, web page updates, operating document updates and archives collections are all due each year on this date.
Autumn is a wonderful season in Minnesota so plan to join UMRA at the Andersen Horticultural Library at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Kristen Mastel, head librarian and curator, will reveal its treasure trove of publications and artifacts relating to plant history, horticulture, and natural history. After the tour, those who are interested may stay to eat lunch together, sitting outside if the weather is nice. Later, you are invited to a one-hour tram tour of the entire Arboretum that includes natural areas of flowering shrubs, bogs, and forests, family garden and landscaping showpieces, and the red barn farm
After a summer break the UMRA Photo Club will next meet September 10, 2024 in the meeting room of the Hennepin County St. Anthony Branch Library. For those interested in lunch, meet at the Great Dragon at 11:30 am. For September the THEME will be Curves
We will continue to discuss the pros and cons of Medicare Advantage. You will also hear about notable non-health plan and non-broker resources.