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PLEASE NOTE: Because no electronic version of the newsletter has been made available to me, what follows is a summary of the main points. Photographs will be included when they are made available.
My apologies go to those contributors whose notices of events have been omitted because their date had already been passed.
From the President
Welcome to our second newsletter for the year. Owing to a misunderstanding last time we omitted to send newsletters to some tutors but this has been rectified and everyone will be covered from now on.
I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge to all members the resignation from committee and office duties of one of our most dedicated life members—Gwen Turnbull.
Gwen has been a tireless worker for our organisation for many years, occupying several positions on the management committee including Vice President. Over all this time we have relied on the tireless support that Gwen was happy to give, not only relating to U3A matters, but extending to personal problems that often seemed to find their way to her. She ran the office, always in the most efficient and effective way, keeping everything in place and in supply. If anyone wanted to know how to fix something or who to contact, Gwen had the answer.
From the committee and all members we thank Gwen for her great contribution and wish her good health and happiness in the future.
—Reg Grace
From the Treasurer
I have just completed some preliminary figures for the Chapter from 1 July 2005 to 30 April 2006 and find that we have made a small profit of $59 to that date, and have projected that the loss for the financial year will be in the vicinity of $4,000. This is allowing for printing and sending of a further newsletter with associated postage, rent for the various venues, running costs of the office (ie telephone, photocopying, stationery, cleaning, insurance, etc.)
As your treasurer I have asked the committee to have a serious look at all our income and expenses and determine if a fee variation is necessary for the coming year. The fee change I will be recommending will be in the vicinity of $35 for the coming year. We have approximately 800 members including tutors, which brings us in about $21,600 in fees and the running expenses are about $28,000 pa. This does vary, but you can clearly see that we have a problem.
You are probably aware that we have financial reserves but (there is always a but!) we dipped into our reserves last year to buy new computers, tables, white boards, etc. We could probably do it again this year, but it really is putting off the inevitable: eventually we are going to run out of money. Also, should some catastrophe happen, we would not be in a very good position to start again.
The Committee is aware that this is never a popular decision as many of our members are on fixed income and/or pensions, but when you look at what you get for your very small annual fee it is certainly excellent value. The Committee would welcome your input on this matter. If you write to our office your views will be discussed by the Committee as a whole.
—Linda Sinclair
Bus Trip to Canberra
Recently, Jackie Kelly, the Federal Member for Lindsay, invited the members of our Legal Studies class to visit her at Parliament House, Canberra. Then, at our request, this offer was extended to all U3A members of the Chapter.
Your committee took up this offer and have now organised a coach trip to visit Jackie on Thursday, August 17. She has told us that, if she is not required in the Chamber at the time, she will take us behind the scenes to places the public does not normally go.
The coach will leave Springwood at 6.45 am, picking up along the highway as indicated below with the last pick-up at Panthers, departing from there at 7.30 am. We will be in Canberra before lunch and, depending on the traffic, we expect to be back in Springwood by 6.00 pm. It will be quite a long day but should be enjoyable.
The cost for the return trip is $35 each. This includes morning tea. Extras you will need to pay for are lunch, which can be obtained at various points with the Parliament House complex, and whatever you want when the coach stops for a break on the way home.
For those members who would like a trip to Canberra but would like to see something else, there is an exhibition at Old Parliament House called Mrs Prime Minister, which is about what it is like to be married to a powerful man. Among other items on display you can see Sonia's dress.
Stagecraft is Fun
I am writing to let members know how much fun it is to be a participant in the new course Practices for Stagecraft, for late beginners tutored by Joan and Ross Vaughan-Taylor. It is held on Thursday mornings from 9.30 – 11.30 in a nice, carpeted room at the Uniting Church near Springwood.
Drama practices are known to be beneficial for developing personal confidence and the ability to interact with others. In my own case I have found it helpful to learn about the use of my voice, as this is something I have had difficulty with, particularly in later years.
There is a laugh a minute as we all try our hand at acting, mime, directing, and also enjoy some gentle movement and relaxing meditation. More participants are welcome to make this course an even richer experience. I can assure you it is not too physically demanding or too scary, even for a fairly shy chap like me.
—Lloyd Fell
Bridge too!
I am attending the U3A Bridge classes and am enjoying them very much. The instructions are clear and concise and well presented by our teacher.
The venue (a private home) is comfy and inviting and our group have enjoyed much laughter along with in-depth discussion and practice in the subject at hand.
—Helen Honeywood
Still Walking—With a Touch of History, of course!
Walking with a touch of history is now in its third year. Judith and Nick Hill have put together great programs which cover all sorts of areas, but mostly located in the Blue Mountains. They are easily accessed by public transport, making it affordable for all seniors.
Occasionally the group ventures east, around the harbour or beach areas, which is a change of pace and very pleasant on a summer's day. The last two years they have visited "Sculptures by the Sea" at Bondi, which has been very interesting to see at close range.
A lot of history and beautiful scenery are a lot closer than you may think. Once you venture off the highway and away from the highly publicised tourist attractions, all sorts of historical relics can be found. A lot of these have been left to the elements without thought of preservation.
The program, which operates on Mondays during the term, allows time to stop and look, have a spell, or enjoy the scenery; and because of Judith and Nick's knowledge of these areas the walks are always easily achievable.
—Reg Grace
Through My Lens
Until Lesson 2 of Photography with Luciano Vranich, I was unsure of how I felt about my new venture. At the same time to say that I had not enjoyed Lesson 1 would be an erroneous statement. For I had met new people, experienced a "site" visit for capturing shots focusing on our initial targets of "line", participated in some social interactions during "review" time, and my mind was directed onto new pathways with an even deeper appreciation of my love of life's beauty in natural and man-made form.
With Lesson 2 came presentations of our own interpretations of our understanding of what was required—and, of course, the inevitable critique. This critique "fine-tuned" our understanding considerably and many of us learned that we had unknowingly progressed to the next lesson about "shape". I do believe, however, that we learned the intended lesson of "line" with a strong preview of the lesson "shape".
Each participant then presented a review of a photography-related printed article. As it happened, no two reviews covered the same aspect and we learned and discussed a myriad of historical and technical aspects of recording images through a lens.
—Joan Manna
Food for Thought
U3A – TO BE OR NOT TO BE A UNIVERSITY?
The original concept of universities as "communities of learning" as opposed to schools (with clearly defined teachers and students) was no doubt always an ideal rather than a reality, since they have from the beginning been controlled by the Church or some other patriarchal institution. However that control was significantly subverted by the time that any current members of U3A attended a university.
When I was at sydney Unviersity women were everywhere, at least in the Arts Faculty, and the liberal arts tradition was thriving, i.e. a tradition which promoted learning for the love of it rather than for narrowly vocational reasons. And even students from vocational faculties like Medicine and Engineering were very active in the student organisations. Those of us on a Teachers College Scholarship had a great deal of freedom in our choice of subjects, and also in the way we spent our time outside the lecture halls. As a North American alternative educator wrote in the 70s, "The one problem with a university is that not everyone can go." Only in the last few weeks of the academic year was everything sacrificed in order to prepare for the annual examinations.
Now it is this kind of university (without its exams) which inspired the U3A Movement, and I wonder if we can return the favour now that our universities are not only much more narrowly vocational, but also so expensive for students, and increasingly governed by commercial considerations.
For this reason I think we should definitely retain our name U3A, but the phrase "A Learning Community" needs to be in larger letters than "University of the Third Age" in our promotional material. What do you think?
—Liz Connor
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