Welcome to the Fall Semester as we begin our 17th year of life-long learning adventures in ICL. We think that you will enjoy the presentations that the Curriculum Committee has prepared for this Fall semester.

If you have been away from an academic environment for a while, you might expect to have some fundamental beliefs challenged in class, maybe in “religion,” in “politics,” or even “patriotism,” just to name a few. As part of a university we participate in the “free flow of ideas” that is characteristic of an institution of higher learning. Since this can be often misunderstood, especially in our 24/7 twenty-first century world of instant communications and “spin,” we will begin our semester with a presentation on “Academic Freedom at Willamette University” by Carol Long, Dean of the School of Liberal Arts. You won’t want to miss this interesting and informative session that should help us understand this important concept.

In my opinion, the most important sessions of the schedule are those presented by our own ICL members. These are an integral part of our program both to meet goals of individual growth and also for budget/planning considerations. While some members are reluctant to make presentations, those who do reflect how valuable it was for them to do the research and the preparation required. A typical comment is “I can’t believe how much I learned!” The other response is usually related to the respect shown to them by the rest of the members. Our life experiences cover an incredibly wide range of activities and now we are able to sit back to enjoy each other and to learn.

For those who are new to ICL, you are going to find a perhaps “unexpected” benefit of being a member: that you are now part of a fine university with its many lectures, concerts and other extra-curricular events. We hope that you enjoy them as the rest of us have, and appreciate the privileges afforded us by the University.

On behalf of the Curriculum Committee, welcome to Fall Semester, 2008.

Don Gallagher
Director of Curriculum

 

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As the Director of Information Services for ICL, I'm expected to know something about technology, and in previous Letters from the Editor I have written about some of the benefits that technology has brought to education. However, the more I deal with technology, the more I have to agree with my wife's statement above. Let me give a few examples.

Recently I acquired what used car salesmen euphemistically term a "pre-loved" automobile. I won't mention the make, though it's motto is "The Ultimate Driving Machine." It is equipped with "iDrive," a system which substitutes a single large knob on the console between the front seats for the conventional array of individual knobs on the dashboard which usually control climate, entertainment, navigation, communication and other vehicle systems. Replacing multiple knobs with a single knob sounds great in theory, but in practice, a single knob can control multiple functions only by means of a complex series of computer menus. Navigating the menus while navigating the road is a suicidal exercise (according to Wikipedia, iDrive has been renamed iCrash by its detractors), so the company's legal department requires the driver to agree that iDrive will be used only when the vehicle is parked. If I want to select a non-preset station on the radio, or adjust the treble or bass, for example, I have to pull over and stop, open the driver's manual, and then struggle through a series of menus to accomplish what I could previously do while driving without taking my eyes off the road.

If you have a computer running Windows, you know that to turn the computer OFF you click on a button labeled "START." Every cell phone I have ever owned was turned ON by pushing a button labeled "END." Because of the imminent mandatory conversion from analog to digital television broadcasting, consumers who receive over-the-air TV broadcasts are required to buy and install a set-top box to allow their analog TV sets to receive the new digital signals. After half a day of struggling with the programming of one of these set-top boxes, assisted by what could laughingly be referred to as a manual, I managed to get reception from only four of the five TV stations my analog TV set previously picked up without difficulty.

The audio system in Smullin B-17 has been a repeated source of frustration since I have been a member of ICL. Even after the installation of our new audio-visual system last year, we have been subjected to recurring ear-splitting feedback and wildly varying sound volume. In the hope that a nation that can put a man on the moon (and bring him back safely) could produce an audio system free from such problems, I have obtained a professional-level, state-of-the-art, directional ear-set microphone, which is reputed to produce stable-volume, feedback-free voice amplification. However, I have no doubt that in some large or small respect, technology will strike again.

Peter Ronai
Director of Information Services
Editor, Curriculum Guide

 

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¹ Click on the appropriate month (September, October, November or December links above or below on this page) to go to that month's schedule.
² For changes & updates before and during the semester, please refer periodically to this web site.