Image of Sangren Hall through the fall leaves.

All Life is Learning - October 2022

Director's Note

Welcome to October! As we are returning to some normalcy in the operations of the OLLI office, we have a few reminders for you below:

Confirmations and Parking Permits:

If you register by mail or over the phone, you will receive a confirmation notice and a receipt of payment within two weeks. If you have an email address on file, you will receive confirmations electronically. Online users will get their confirmation notices immediately via email. Parking permits are received separately from confirmations and are also emailed; if you cannot print your parking permit or need one mailed by post, let us know at least a week before your course start date.

For courses held on 51福利社鈥檚 campus, your course fee helps cover the cost of your parking pass. Other course locations do not require a parking permit. Please let our office know if you already have a 51福利社 permit or a disability parking placard/license plate, as you will not need a parking permit. Parking permits are emailed one to two weeks before the first session of your course. If you do not use email, your parking permit will be sent via regular mail. 

Cancellations: 

If you registered for a course and it is canceled, you may receive a refund or apply your course fee to another course if space is available. Occasionally, an instructor needs to miss a session and will reschedule. Registrants will be notified of changes as they occur. If 51福利社 is closed due to weather, OLLI courses at all locations will be canceled and rescheduled.

Course Withdrawals: 

You may drop/withdraw from a course by contacting the OLLI office. Non-attendance or notifying the instructor is not an official cancellation.

Refunds: 

You will be eligible for a refund if you withdraw from a course at least two weeks before the first session. If you drop a course less than two weeks before the first session, fees will not be refunded. 

This will be a great semester and I look forward to lifelong learning with you! 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at (269) 387-4157.

Sincerely,

Toni Woolfork-Barnes, Ed.D.

Director, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at 51福利社

Curriculum

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Fall 2022 Registration is Open

The fall course schedule is available for viewing on our now! Registering online is the quickest way to secure your spot for the courses you want to take. If you need assistance when registering online, email us at wmu-olli@wmich.edu or call (269) 387-4157. Please leave a voicemail if we cannot answer 鈥 we will see it in our email. 

There is still time to register for October courses! Visit the website for dates and times of the October courses listed below.

  • Conversational Spanish for Travelers
  • Beginning Mah Jongg
  • Mindfulness for Health and Well-Being
  • Remember the Ladies
  • Why Parties? What鈥檚 Wrong 鈥 and Right 鈥 with Political Parties in the United States
  • The Joy of Intergenerational Scrapbooking
  • Banned Books 101
  • Sit Down? The Story of the Flint Sit-Down Strike of 1936-1937
  • Some New Tricks for Old Dogs
  • The Stories Behind the Hit Songs 1957-1967
  • The Sense of Aging 鈥 Empathy Dining Experience, Section 2
  • Scams 鈥 Origins, Types, Workings, Identification and Prevention
  • John Codman Ropes and Theodore Ayrault Dodge: A Story of Napoleonic Scholarship
  • Planning for Death 鈥 Leave No Stone Unturned

 

Membership and Marketing

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Attention New OLLI Members:

We are so pleased that you have chosen to join OLLI and participate in the wonderful courses, events and, trips that we offer! We are holding a special event just for you before our November 16 annual meeting from 1:15 to 1:45, where we hope you will experience an educational and fun time meeting your fellow OLLI members and making new friends. Be sure to sign up for the annual meeting either by calling the office at (269) 387-4157 or registering through the OLLI website in the "SIGS and Special Offerings" section. See you there!

Events

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OLLI Cares 鈥 Fill A Trunk

Drive up and Donate - Create a Better Tomorrow

 Date: Saturday, October 22       Time: 1 - 3 p.m.       Location: Corner of Westnedge and Kilgore

 Join us for our third year of OLLI Cares 鈥 Fill a Trunk! Let's give back to our community by donating critical supplies to support our partner organizations: Housing Resources Inc., Kalamazoo Drop-In Child Care Center, Kalamazoo Literacy Council, Ministry with Community, Seita Scholars Program, and the YWCA. Review the items shown on each organization's website (see our Events page for website links) and bring your donations to the vehicles with open trunks in the parking lot on the corner of Kilgore and Westnedge from 1 to 3 p.m. on October 22. You may also see some of your OLLI friends there to socialize as well! See you there.  

OLLI Annual Meeting

 Date: Wednesday, November 16       Time: 2 - 4 p.m.       Location: Fetzer Center

Register for the meeting. Complete details at wmich.edu/olli/events.

Travel

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Mark Your Calendars OLLI Travelers!

Calling All Auto and Art Enthusiasts 鈥 This is Your Day!

Have you ever wondered how the very first Model T was assembled and made available to the public? Well, wonder no more! OLLI Travel will whisk you away to Midtown Detroit and Dearborn for a full day of admiration and awe.

Our first stop will be a visit to the historic Ford Piquette Avenue Plant, known as the 鈥淏irthplace of the Model T.鈥 Experience the original Ford Factory with its worn wood floors and original brick walls, see Henry Ford鈥檚 office, and tour his famous Experimental Room, where the automotive revolution was launched. 

Following the Model T guided tour, our next stop is the Detroit Institute of Arts, where you can explore the caf茅s on your own for lunch and get ready to take in the long-awaited Van Gogh in America exhibit. This stunning exhibit features around 65 of Van Gogh鈥檚 paintings and works from collections around the world. Initially scheduled for 2020 but delayed due to Covid, this exhibit celebrates the status of the DIA as the first public museum in the US to purchase a painting by the Dutch artist 鈥 Self Portrait (1887). This is not a virtual exhibit 鈥 we will see actual paintings by this Modernist artist with our own eyes!

To register, call AAA Nebraska directly at (402) 390-1000, press 1 from the menu, and enter 203 for Dave or 204 for Michelle. The mailing address for AAA Nebraska is 815 N 98th St, Omaha NE 68114.  

When registering with AAA for this trip be sure to let them know if you are a member of the DIA. Also, the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant is an old building with limited heating and cooling, so dress accordingly, including wearing comfortable shoes.

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$189

for members

$204

for non-members

October 11

registration deadline

Wellness Moment

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Tyler Norman, Ph.D.
Manager of Corporate Outreach
ACSM Exercise Physiologist
NCFI Corporate Fitness Specialist
West Hills Athletic Club, 51福利社
(269) 387-0431

Cardio Goals

I hate it when individuals get discouraged with their workouts because they aren鈥檛 seeing results come fast enough. Losing patience with exercise is especially common when it comes to the boring and mundane act of cardiovascular exercise. Walking is one of the most common activities for retiree-aged individuals for recreation and exercise because it makes us feel better and it鈥檚 nice to get outside. 

When trainers write exercise prescriptions for cardiovascular exercise, however, to just say 鈥渨alking for 30 minutes鈥 is too vague. A complete cardio prescription includes 4 variables: frequency, intensity, duration, and mode. You may have heard the phrase 鈥渢arget heart rate鈥 鈥 which refers to the intensity of your cardiovascular exercise. Before I get into that, remember why we are doing cardio. We either want to increase our aerobic endurance and heart health, which relate to the body鈥檚 efficiency at transporting oxygen, or we want to lose weight. This is where 鈥渢arget heart rate鈥 comes into play.  

Our bodies select fuel based on the stress we put on them. Most people think that if they want to get a good 鈥渃ardio鈥 workout they need to be sweating and have labored breathing. This is true if your goal is to improve your aerobic endurance and heart health. If you are exercising at that intensity, your body needs a fuel source that is readily available and easily utilized for fuel, so it chooses carbohydrates because they are easily broken down and are usually easily available (we tend to eat a lot of carbs). If you do cardio at a lower level of intensity, your body doesn鈥檛 need a fuel source that鈥檚 readily available or as easily utilized, so it selects an alternate fuel source 鈥 fat

So, here鈥檚 the formula:

               220 鈥 age = estimated maximum heart rate

               60 鈥 70% of estimated max heart rate for fat metabolism

               75 鈥 85% of estimated max heart rate for aerobic endurance

               Example for a 70-year-old:

               220 鈥 70 = 150 estimated maximum heart rate

               60 鈥 75% = 90 鈥 105 heart beats per minute for fat metabolism

               75 鈥 85% = 112 鈥 127 heart beats per minute for aerobic endurance

So now that you know what target heart rate means you can tailor your workout specifically to your goals! Here鈥檚 the kicker 鈥 it takes the average person 15-20 minutes to get the core temperature of the body to a point where it starts to burn fat, which is when most people stop. I usually recommend a 45-minute duration for the lower intensity cardio and a 20- to 30-minute duration for the higher intensity. Frequency should be a minimum of 3 times per week.

To measure your heart rate during exercise, you can either get a heart rate monitor which usually costs about $100, or you can just take your own heart rate by monitoring your pulse. 5 minutes into your cardio session take your heart rate for 6 seconds and add a zero to get your per minute heart rate 鈥 then adjust your workout intensity accordingly to get yourself into your target zone. As for the mode, it doesn鈥檛 really matter! Treadmill, bicycle, elliptical, swimming, rowing, alligator dodging, or roller derby are all good forms of cardio.

What is the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute?

The program was initiated under the auspices of the 51福利社 Emeriti Council and 51福利社x. OLLI offers intellectually lively and culturally appealing learning experiences. We accomplish this by focusing on intellectual stimulation, personal growth, social engagement and enrichment.  Read more

 

What do we do?

We offer short courses for one to four weeks. Sessions are usually two hours long. Travel programs are also a part of our offerings. There are no tests and no required homework, just exploring lots of interesting topics.

In the near future we will offer courses in different formats -- noon hour discussions, several sessions in one week, and more evening courses. OLLI courses and activities are developed and produced by its members with the support of the staff of 51福利社x.

We need your ideas for course topics and instructors. Let us know your suggestions. Call the OLLI office at (269) 387-4157 or send an email. The curriculum committee will review all suggestions.