News Scrapbook 1980-1981
Back to School at60 - New Spark for Aged By PAULA PARKER, Times taff Writer
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Part II/ Monday, February 23, 1981 J SENIORS: Back to School at 60 Continued from First Pare
make hfe meaningful, she said. Intellectual timulation through that interaction 1s another key factor, she says. "We have people having to reexamine their own, per- haps old, unsubstantiated opinions," Fuellner said. "They come from a variety of backgrounds and when you put people together you get a lot of friendly debate You may also get a lot of argument ...." T,..,, of Effectlvene11 Currently, USD officials say, they lack the resources and funding to follow up on program participants to see 1f they are, indeed, leading more productive and active lives. It is hoped that such a study can be made in the near future. But through letters, phone calls and meetings of U3A's alumni group, held quarterly on the USD campus, Rafferty and Fuellner have kept in touch with many former participants. And more often than not, the re- ports are encouraging. Edith Englehardt, a 1979 U3A participant who lives in Chula Vista, can point to at least two activities she has undertaken as a result of her involvement in the pro- gram - researching her father's side of the family tree and tutoring teen-age boys at a local h1,:h school. A widow who shared an apartment with her elderly sister at the time, Englehardt remembers that the pro- gram had immediate appeal for her when she first learned about it on televiosn. (Channel 39 did a documentary on the U3A program in 1978). "I saw it on television one night and I told my sister, 'I've got to study something or go to school. I'm rotting on the vine,' " said Englehardt, who will celebrate her 80th birthday in March. And, while she has since moved into a convalescent home for health reasons, her life now is anything but monotonous.
"Our idea is not to educate but to stimulate intellectu- ally," he explained. Toward that end, the university draws on faculty members and guest speakers, usually leaders from San Diego's legal, medical, business and political communi- ties, who give participants a smorgasboard of food for thought in lectures and discussions. The only criteria are that the participant be at least 60 years old and pass a physical exam required for the exercise classes. The seniors pay $55 and attend classes four days a week, six hours a day. In January, USD launched an abbreviated, three-week version of the summer program that costs $30. After an hour of exercise in the morning, participants attend instructional sessions on a variety of topics in- cluding crime, the Equal Rights Amendment, health care and nutrition, economics, religion, nuclear energy, Social Security and law. Classes in conversational Spanish and French as well as jazz and classical per- formances are also part of the curriculum. Friendship F1dor But perhaps the most meaningful aspect of U3A 1s the opportunity it provides older people to meet and form friendships, not only with each other but often with undergraduates taking the course for credit. Many of the participants have suffered loss of spouses or Jobs, poor health or the other problems that too often mark old age. These problems can combine to make their world a restrictive, lonely place te be, said Patricia Fuellner, USO sociologist and academic director of U3A. "... I think many of them come from that (world ) and they find again the closeness" to people that helps
University of the Third Age, a pilot program at the University of San Diego aimed at rejuvenating senior citizens through a combination of seminars, lectures and light physical exercise. Now in its fou1-th year. the USD program 1s modeled closely after one begun in 1973 at the University of Toulouse in France. The idea is to re-invigorate the elderly by encouraging their active participation in the world around them. And Added Spark The USD program exposes the senior citizens to a variety of subJects through lectures and debates on the university campus, with a sprinkling of undergraduates included in the 5½-week program as an added spark. The physical exercise sees to it that the body, as well as the mind, is alert and fit. Although widely popular in France, where more than 30 college campuses operate "U3A" programs, USD be- came the first Amencan educational institution to undertake such an experiment when !ls program began in 1978. San Diego State University and UC San Diego have launched s1m1lar programs since then, but they are smaller in scope than USD's. USD finances U3A at an annual cost of $10,000 to $12,000. Now, three years and some 160 graduates after it began, the success of U3A is such that the concept has spread to at least five other private college and univer- sity campuses in the United States, according to Malachi Rafferty, USD's director of continuing education who helped establish the program and still watches over it.
SAN DIEGO i.1AGAZINI:.
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The Keweenaw Peninsula A Raw Sliver Of Nature 1 s Magic By RICHARD REILLY Art Critic, The Son Diego Union Most men think of a lake as a place to drop a fishing line. Arti t Glenn Bradshaw believes that an~ lake, but especially Keweenaw Lake, is a source of magic. In an introduction to his 49 casein-tempera paintings o~ oriental paper at the University of Sa~ Diego F~unde:S Gallery Bradshaw bas written: ''These images - m pamt and in ~ords - are a statement of my affection for the land and waterscape of northern Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, especially for a ragged piece of wilderness that extends into Lake Superior known as the Keweenaw Pen- insula "Although it was the site of an impor~nt mining boom in the 19th century, copper is no lo~ger impo~nt ther:, and it i the rugged landscape with its roc~y spme, he~v1- ly timbered hills, and varied coastline which make th1S unique part of mid-America. Lake Supenor surrounds it and is an ever present influence on a constantly changmg environment. the transient moods, a~d the urgency of th~ short summer. It is a landscape that is both awesome a~ mtimate grand and m1mscule. That I choose to deal with it roma~tically probably says more a~ut me_ than.about the area and I can imagine another artist deahng with the ame themes but emphasizing the ruthlessness, the unfor- giving qualities that are th re, too." After reading that intr action, one won!~ expec~ pic- tures of super realism However, Bradshaw s work IS to- tally abstract. (Continued oo E-8, Col 1)
S~ndoy, Morch 1, 1981
THE SAN DIEGO UNION
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Keweenaw Peninsula
SAN DI EGO UN ION
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1 198 Founders' Gallery: Paintings by Glenn Bradshaw, through March 17. University of San Diego. Mon- day-Friday, 10 a m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. 291· 6480.
(Continued from E-1) References to nature are never far beneath the art- st's abstract surfaces. Even ihe poems written by radshaw to accompany is exhibiton sing with pra- ises of the wind, sky, "water clouds" "night birds crying;-' .. trees dancing in calligraphic silhouettes," •marsh grass hissing" and 'pine boughs rustling." In looking at these works, one is reminded of twisted strands of hot ice shimmer- ing with color, atmospheric patterns, wispy markmgs, fractured strata, molten lava, billowy surfaces, glas- y froth, the erosive act!on of advancing masses of ice and the feathers of exotic birds that have been cross- bred to produce multico- lored plumages that resem- ble designs by Bakst. Bradshaw's work is hard to place in the various well- now .sc,llools, but he might a member of the &hool of Abstract Imagism since the "pres- ence" of each painting is paramount. Absolutely nothing is allowed to de- tract from the experience of the viewer. One "experi- ences" the flow of water saturated with colors, painted varying densities and modulations that he al- ways totally controls. Bradshaw's discipline, imposed on a lO-byH1-inch format, is astonishing. Uti- lizing a soft, textured pdper, he achieves extraordinary depth and color intensity. Using layer after layer of pure color, bis works show
SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE
paintings, but the abstract images glow with color and have a strong natural order that is visually appealing. Brn d - shaw is recognized nationally for his watercolors executed with casein- tempera paint on Oriental paper .u1d his work has been included m maJor na- tional exhibits since 1947. ·' Keweenaw Suite" will be shown at Founders Gal- lery. USO , through March 17. -C. w.
Lake-wise, I'm sure
SAN DIEGO UNION
Keweenaw Suite: It 's not a rustic resort or an Indian lament but the name of a series of 49 watercolor paintings by Glenn R. Bradshaw. professor of art at the University of Illinois. Keweenaw is also the name of a rugged lake in Min- nesota that inspired his work. There are few recognizable natural forms in the
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expressive powers of lumi- nescence, a quiet passion, lyricism and sensitivity. Because of the soft na- ture of the paper, each layer of paint must dry be- fore another layer can be applied. Consequently, Bradshaw often works on as many as a dozen pictures si- multaneous!y and a single painting may be in the pro- cess of crealion for as long
as a year. Frequently, Bradshaw also paints what will be the reverse side of a painting in ocder to achieve the greatest possible densi- ty and radiance. Bradshaw's abstract compositions are brilliantly executed coloristic passag- es marked by sumptuous textures that recall those wonderous photographs taken by our astronauts
during space flights. The of Bradshaw's works are part of an ongoing program which will bring prominent artists from various parts of the country to the Uni- versity of San Diego cam- pus. Founders' Gallery at USO, Alcala Park, is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. exhibition
'El Gron Brncelete' by Guillermo Acevedo, a 2-by-27-inch black and white lithograph with tur· quot colors in he jewelry, is on view weekends at Solart Goll ry, 900 Tenth Ave.
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