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2010-2011 Newsletter

   Some people say that life begins at Retirement and an excellent part of your retirement could be attending the UTA Retiree Club meetings. They are stimulating, informative and just plain fun...! We meet on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at the Maverick Activity Center for most of our meetings. Our program goals include providing interesting, engaging topics for the members or visiting a variety of areas of campus. We either have a respected, known speaker or have a visit to some of the different facilities on the campus (new engineering bldg.). We are fortunate that the President's Office continues to provide refreshments at the meetings.

We began the 2010-2011 year with an awesome presentation by Dr. Steven Prouty. He spoke to us about “brain” health, ability to reason, and reducing stress in our lives. His talk included information about eating and sleeping habits, exercise, and our attitudes…so much to know!

The October meeting was hosted by the UTA President and extremely well attended. Mr. John Hall provided us with University Updates and a slide presentation projecting plans and programs scheduled for the year.

For November, we traveled to the UTA Studio Arts Center and had the opportunity to listen to several presentations about the academic programs in the Art Center including glass blowing, metal sculpturing, printing, and clay making to name a few. We visited with numerous faculty/staff and saw many student creations/projects.

December was our annual Christmas Musical program in the Hereford Center provided by Jing Ling-Tam, Professor of Vocal Studies and others from the Music Department……excellent as always.

Finding “Joy in Life” was the focus of the January meeting and most appropriate after the busy holidays. Dr. Frank Lawlis who has written many publications/books expanded on the information we received in September about maintaining a healthy brain and detoxifying our attitudes so we can enjoy our retirement, experiences with friends and life in general.

February brought us a Winter Luncheon meeting hosted by the UTA Development Office. Our speaker, Ms.Laura M. High, Senior Financial Associate, challenged us “Will My Money Last? Five Things Today’s Retiree Must Know. Not surprising….lots of notes were taken.

Just when it seemed we had already had the most informative, entertaining presentations possible, Dr. Susan F. Franks visited with us in March about “Growing Older with Wit and Wisdom”. She suggests that we need social support, humor, good physical health and a thankful attitude every day. She is an excellent speaker and is the daughter of Ms. Bernice Franks, one of our retirees. We were fortunate to have her last year and hope to have her again next year.

Our April meeting found us at the UTA Library, 6th Floor Special Collections area to tour three current exhibits.  These included:

1) Remembrance-photos of the second battle of Fallujah

2) Memorabilia of UTA Personal from Iraq

3) Six Flags Time Frames, 50th anniversary

Ms. Evelyn Barker served as spokesperson for the library and shared with us written materials about the exhibits.

The Planetarium seemed the perfect place to visit for our May meeting.  We had the opportunity to view two most entertaining videos and see first hand what is happening at the UTA Planetarium. Our first video was a roller coaster ride and believe me it did seem real. Our second video was a movie relating to the creation of the telescope…..very informative. I definitely recommend you make a visit to the planetarium to see the movie. We traveled on a UTA bus and that was fun!

The June meeting was provided by Ms. Judy Oslund from Human Resources. The good news was that there are only a few changes to the Benefits program for retirees.  One change is that sign up dates decreased and are now July 15th to July 31. If you need clarity or want more information, there will be a Benefits Fair on July 20th from 12 noon to 7PM in the Bluebonnet Ballroom of the Hereford Center.

Those who have retired during the 2010-2011 will be presented at our annual dinner meeting in June. They will be introduced to the audience, greeted by the President and given a memento to acknowledge their years of service…….always excellent food, wonderful visits with those we know and some we didn’t until the dinner, and a chance to honor those who have served UTA as employees for a few years or for many years.

If you have not taken the opportunity to attend one or more of the Retirees Meetings this year, I hope you will next year. I think you will be pleasantly surprised and thoroughly enjoy your visit with other retirees and the programs that are offered.……So many great programs and fantastic ideas this 2010-2011 year! Help us to make 2011-2012 even better. Share your thoughts with us!!!

 

 

          Dr. Josie Lu O’Quinn,

          President, UTA Retirees Club                                        June, 2011