January

Welcome back! Announcements and updates...

Joan Robinson is the Executive Director of ICL. She has been a member since September 2014.

 Helen and Don will discuss the historical context of the Electoral College. Why did the Framer's of the Constitution favor indirect election of the President over direct selection? How many times has the winner of the popular vote not been selected by the Electoral College? What are the pros and cons of the Electoral College? What are the most popular proposals to reform the Electoral College? Is there any consensus for reform? In 2020 Oregon became one of six states to gain an additional seat in the House of Representatives, going from 5 to 6. How is this redistricting process playing out in Oregon?

Helen graduated from Mills College (BA American Studies) and Willamette University College of Law (JD). She was a law clerk for Chief Justice Wallace P. Carson, Jr. on the Oregon Supreme Court and taught at Willamette University College of Law for 28 years.

Don graduated from Montana State Northern (BA Ed./Math, Physics) and the University of Montana (MA Mathematics). In addition to teaching high school for 8 years he taught Mathematics and Computer Science at Central Oregon Community College for 25 years. In 1988 he was an Oregon Presidential Electoral casting his ballot for Michael Dukakis.

What is the filibuster, how and why did it come about, and what impact has it had on the current state of our nation? Is it democratic, or even constitutional? The filibuster is on its surface simply a rule of the Senate ostensibly designed to allow full and unlimited debate on legislation. In practice, it gives a minority in the Senate full veto power over all federal legislation. The existence of the filibuster - something not derived from the Constitution or envisioned by our Founding Fathers - has perhaps impacted our nation as much as the choices we have made for President.

George was born and has spent most of his life in Salem. He majored in Physics and then Geology at Oberlin College in Ohio and then returned to Oregon for a teaching certificate at the UO, where he met his wife Janet. At SOC (Southern Oregon University) he earned a MS in Outdoor Education/Environmental Science. He taught in Prospect, Oregon before returning to Salem where he taught Physics and assorted sciences at Sprague HS. He and Janet raised two boys. The family left for a year while George obtained a Masters in Library Science/Information Management in Denver, and then he went on to serve as a librarian at several Salem/Keizer middle schools. George retired after 32 years as an educator and joined ICL in 2005. He has presented talks an Astronomy, Geology, Natural History, Climate Change, and WWII. He is a Chemeketan, enjoys riding his bike, reading, making music with friends, and staying informed about current events. His greatest joy is spending time with his family, especially helping with his three granddaughters in Portland.

The biography and art of Shamsia Hassani, Her art is very expressive and moving even though, by necessity, is simplified and designed to be completed in less than 15 minutes.

Wayne Wallace has been a member of ICL since 2015. Wayne has a passion for street art, whether it is in Portland, Salem, Afghanistan or other areas in the world. He has led tours of sites of Portland Street Art for ICL members and other groups.

Despite politics and inadequate messaging, the science behind Covid (or lack thereof) is pretty straightforward. I'll review things you should have been taught from the beginning, discuss discoveries from 2 years of rapid research, and finish with the current state of Covid, including future predictions. Come prepared with questions.

As a hospice and palliative care physician, Dr. Sheila Sund became involved with disaster medicine following the H1N1 influenza outbreak in 2009. As part of a statewide workgroup, she helped develop Oregon's Crisis Care Guidance--guideline for healthcare response to public health crises such as pandemic or mass trauma. She served as Director of the Marion County Medical Reserve Corps, was the physician representative on Oregon's Region Two Coalition for Healthcare Preparedness, and provided numerous preparedness trainings, and presentations to community, healthcare, and business groups throughout the Pacific Northwest, both before and after retirement in 2016. From 2016-2018, she was the feature writer and editor of ChartNotes, the Marion Polk County Medical Society quarterly magazine, focusing on investigative reporting about national changes in healthcare and how those were reflected in the local community. In 2020, she started doing Covid education (including multiple Willamette Valley wineries, where she was paid in wine--a wonderful deal!).

Theatre 33, in residence at Willamette University, is a new play development company that helps Oregon/NW playwrights develop their new scripts from an initial workshop performance (lights, sound, props, set, costumes, and fully blocked scripts in hand), to a world premiere full production.

As a professional actor Susan Coromel has appeared in more than 65 roles in New York and regional theatre, summer stock, and film. She is a founding member, actor, director, and current Artistic Director of Theatre 33, a new play development company in residence at Willamette University. Previously she was Associate Artistic Director at Salem Repertory Theatre. Ms. Coromel has worked with leading theatre directors, and was a member of the acting company at the Idaho Shakepeare Festival for seven seasons. She created and performed the solo play for Maresfield Gardens, a play about one woman's journey through psychoanalysis with Anna Freud and performed at the SpringWorks Festival in Stratford, Ontario Canada as well as premiered the play at Theatre 33. Before her tenure at Willamette University, she taught and directed in both BFA and BA nationally recognized programs. She is a certified master teacher in the Meisner Technique, and also teaches the Michael Chekhov technique, and Edith Skinner and Linklater voice techniques. Susan Coromel is a member of the Screen Actors Equity Association, the Screen Actor's Guild and the Actor's Training Program at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and studied at several studios in New York City including the Acting Studio and the Michael Howard Studio.

  

Tracy Ragland will present, The Lewis Chessmen. Lewis Island, in the Outer Hebrides, is the site where a number of chess pieces were found in the 19th century. It is believed they were carved in Norway of whale or walrus ivory in the 12th century.
Ann Boss' presentation is Exploring the Creation of the Patriarchy."As a labor and employment lawyer, I investigated and handled many claims based on unequal treatment of women, including claims of hostile environment based on sex, beginning in the early 1980s until I retired. I believed our country had made some progress in making workplaces more equal and reducing sexually-hostile work environments, albeit very slowly. Then 2016-2017 the “MeToo” movement exploded that myth with multimillion-dollar claims being brought against governmental agencies and private companies in almost every industry. This inspired me to learn about how and why the patriarchy originally developed and how women ended up subordinate to men, even today. No one knows exactly why the patriarchy in the western world started 5,000 years ago but there are some leading theories that I would like to share with you. In particular I will share the factors that led to the creation of the patriarchy in Mesopotamia from around 3100 to 600 B.C.E., and some theories on why it continues to exist even today."
Eric Reif will discuss Mackinac Island. This beautiful Island is a National Historic Landmark located in Lake Huron on the eastern end of the Straits of Mackinac between Michigan's Uppeer and Lower Peninsulas. First discovered by the French in 1634, it was controlled by France and later the British because of its strategic location in the primary transportation corridor fueling the North American fur trade. It was eventually ceded by Great Britain to the United States following the War of 1812. As the fur trade declined and commercial and sport fishing became dominant, hotels and restaurants became popular on the island in the 1880's to accommodate tourists arriving by train or boat from Detroit, transforming it into the popular tourist and vacation site it has become today.

Tracy Ragland has been a member of ICL since 2017. She retired as an Operations and Policy Analyst after 36 years working for the Oregon Employment Department. She started with the agency as a receptionist in 1978 in order to pay back her college loans, never thinking she would make it a career. Who knew? She has been interested in history since she was a child. She majored in history and minored in anthropology in college and is an avid history buff. She saw the Lewis Chessmen at the British Museum in 2016 and was fascinated by the intricate and humorous carvings.
Ann Boss is a new member to ICL this year and she has recently joined the Curriculum Committee. Ann had a long career as a labor and employment lawyer. Welcome Ann!
Eric Reif is a retired trial lawyer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who obtained both his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Michigan. In 2013 he and his wife, Donna, moved from Pittsburgh to Silverton where their son and his family live. He joined ICL in 2018 and has been active on the Curriculum Committee as ICL’s University Support Services Director.

The Grange was started around 1860 when many fraternal organizations came into being. People wanted fellowship, insurance offered, and the ability to be important. The Grange offered farmers and small town people a place to dance on Saturday night; insurance for their outbuildings and lives; and a chance to be an office holder in the organization. Rural mail delivery was a big win for the group. By the 1930's membership was still strong; programs on things like getting rid of weevils in your cabbages were important, potlucks and card playing were staples of rural life, and the Grange Insurance was inexpensive. By the 1990's, these were no longer important to most people and the Grange turned its attention to community service. Today, most individual Granges are saddled with an aging hall and decreasing membership. People are no longer joiners. Grange halls are rented out for Zumba and bingo and usually depend on a small core of individuals for upkeep. The State and National Grange are no longer lobbying power they used to be; they hire outside lobbyists who sometimes lobby for interests that compete with Grange rural issues.

Susan is the President of the Oregon State Grange and has held that position since June 2012. A resident of Springfield, Oregon, she currently serves as the Secretary of the Executive Committee of the National Grange. Susan graduated from the University of Oregon with a B.A. in Geography in 1976. She worked in the building products industry for most of her career. She fully retired from Springfield Lumber Products after 20 years of working for this company and related entities.