Perk Series
The Perk Series is a bonus series of short lectures on a variety of topics and campus-based experiences. The Perk Series is offered twice a month during spring and fall sessions. These programs are open only to OLLI members and carry no charge in addition to your membership fee. For some sessions there are space limitations so an early RSVP is encouraged. For more information, call 970-491-7753 or 970-491-5288.
See below for details about each session or view the Fall 2008 Perk Series document.
Academic Village: 21st Century Student Life
Date: Sept. 8, 2008 – 2-4pm
Contact: Stacy Dotson, 970-491-3858 or stacy.dotson@colostate.edu
Location: TBD
Take a tour of CSU's Academic Village which is a state-of-the-art living learning community that integrates academic experiences in the living environment. This $42 million dollar village is the first of its kind on the Colorado State University campus and is serving as a model for future housing projects. The new dining facility has incorporated many environmentally friendly initiatives that are reducing waste and energy costs and uses 100 percent green electric power.
So You Want to be a Public Speaker?
Date: Sept. 15, 2008 – 2-4pm
Contact: 970-491-7753 or 970-491-5288
Location: Columbine Health Systems Market Centre, 802 West Drake (Café entrance)
Whether you want to learn how to speak for fun and profit or update and polish your current speaking skills, this class will give you the tools and confidence. You will learn a step-by-step process for designing presentations in a relaxed, easy, and fun atmosphere. Enjoy hearing learning from other class members in addition to having the support and help that you need to achieve success. This is your chance to stop saying, "I'd like to" and start saying, "I'm going to learn how to be a public speaker."
What Can the US Learn from Other Countries to Fix our Ailing Health Care System?
Date: Sept. 22, 2008 – 2-4pm
Contact: 970-491-7753 or 970-491-5288
Location: Columbine Health Systems Market Centre, 802 West Drake (Café entrance)
Veteran Washington Post correspondent, T. R. Reid, traveled to five other capitalist countries that provide health care to all — with less cost and better outcomes than the US The result of his study was captured in the PBS Frontline special Sick Around the World and a soon-to-be released book. He discovers the successes and failures of the system in the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Taiwan and Switzerland, and raises the question, "What can the US learn?"
The one-hour documentary will be shown and followed by discussion led by Christina Moorcroft. Moorcroft was a professor of accounting and management for 18 years at Luther College in Decorah, IA. During that time, she researched the economic, political, and social factors affecting health and health care in Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania, Russia, Canada, and, most extensively, Sweden. She developed and team-taught multidisciplinary courses in health care management and health care ethics. Currently she is a business consultant and small business owner in Fort Collins and active with Health Care for All Colorado.
Nutrition 101
Oct. 13, 2008 – 2-4pm
Contact: Stacy Dotson, 970-491-3858 or stacy.dotson@colostate.edu
Location: TBD
The mission of the Nutrition Center @ CSU is to enhance health and quality of life in Fort Collins through nutrition outreach, research, and collaboration with community groups, while providing training and practical experience for students in the department of Food Science and Human Nutrition. This tour will include a hands-on cooking component in the newly-opened nutrition classroom.
Time to Think
Date: Oct. 27, 2008 – 2-4pm
Contact: 970-491-7753 or 970-491-5288
Location: Columbine Health Systems Market Centre, 802 West Drake (Café entrance)
What is the self? From where do will and intention arise? These questions have long puzzled students of human nature, but for centuries they have been considered to be outside the scope of scientific investigation. In the 1970s, Benjamin Libet, a courageous pioneer in the field, began to study the time dimension of consciousness — just how long it takes for one to become aware of what is happening and to act upon that awareness. His stunning discoveries, long contested by cognitive psychologists and philosophers, are now being replicated, confirmed, and extended at the Max Planck Institute in Germany and other research centers. The findings indicate that we might not actually be what we usually think we are, and they call into question the very nature of the self. Come to this seminar to learn more!
Facilitator: Jim McCauley is a retired engineer and teacher and is an active Osher member. He has had an ongoing interest in the study of consciousness since 1966. Jim lives in Fort Collins with his wife Mary, their daughters Elizabeth and Victoria, and a gentle German Shepherd named Cody.
Global Energy Solutions
Nov. 10, 2008 – 204pm
Contact: Stacy Dotson, 970-491-3858 or stacy.dotson@colostate.edu
Location: TBD
The global demand for energy is rising, even as global production of petroleum will soon decline. Pollution from fossil-fuel combustion has a worldwide impact on health, and the buildup of greenhouse gases is forcing global climate change. You will visit Colorado State University's Engines & Energy Conversion Laboratory, the largest facility of its kind in North America. This lab is confronting the global energy challenge through research and the creation of innovative energy solutions and entrepreneurial models which benefit the human condition and achieve global impact.