Cicelia Welna, Secretary
AMERICAN ACCOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS
EMERITUS ASSEMBLY
CONNECTICUT CONFERENCE
(minutes of meeting on April 10th, 2006)
(22 members present)
The April 10th meeting of the Emeritus Assembly was held at the Mark Twain
Museum in Hartford, Connecticut. Members met at 10:30 a.m. Two docents
conducted the tours of the Mark Twain House. Following the tour, the two groups
returned to the cafeteria for a box lunch.
BUSINESS MEETING. At 12:45 p.m. President Welchman called a business meeting
to order. Minutes of the November meeting were distributed and approved.
New members were introduced and welcomed. The May meeting, a visit to the New
Britain Museum of American Art, was mentioned. Of special interest is the fact
that the Museum is to have a ribbon cutting ceremony in late April in order
to introduce the extensive renovation and building addition that has occurred.
Lunch will follow at Portofino's Restaurant in Kensington.
Treasurer John Kolega distributed his report: the Assembly has 62 paid-up
members. The savings account has $451.54, the check book balance is $1849.54
(Mark Twain visit expenditure must be subtracted). Approved.
May Giger presented a report on improving communication through establishing
a Web Page. She is spearheading the effort. Items which may possibly be
included are : guest editorials, a comment page, minutes, programs, future
events. The President praised May's effort and suggested that members contact her
directly with suggestions and support. The publishing of the Newsletter ( in
paper form) would continue.
Mort Tenzer made a motion concerning the possibility of securing a paid site.
The motion passed with one abstention. The Treasurer reminded the members
that the group in not subsidized by the State any longer but a fee of $127
seemed reasonable at this time. If the fee increased then the "paid site" would
need to be revisited.
The nominating committee, chaired by Mort Tenzer, presented its
recommendations for the years 2006-2008: for President -- Nicholas Welchman (emeritus,
ECSU); for Vice President -- Timothy Killeen (emeritus, UConn). Voting will take
place at the May meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 1:20 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Cecilia Welna, Secretary.
P.S. The cafeteria was not the best place for a meeting as it was difficult to hear reports due to noise.
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS
EMERITUS ASSEMBLY
CONNECTICUT CONFERENCE
(minutes of meeting on May 9th, 2006)
(25 members present)
The May 9th meeting of the Emeritus Assembly was held at Portofino's Restaurant in Kensington. Members met at 10:40 a.m. at the New Britain Museum of American Art. Following the Museum tour, all traveled to Kensington for lunch and meeting.
BUSINESS MEETING: At 2:30 p.m. President Welchman opened the business meeting. He announced that the Executive Committee shall meet in June to plan the Fall agenda. Suggestions from members are most welcome.
The Secretary's report was approved with one correction. (Last paragraph: "subsidized by the State" should read " subsidized by the State Conference"). The Treasurer, John Kolega, presented copies of his report. The savings account has $451.54 and the checking account $1045.19 (after payment of $250 to the New Britain Museum). The report was approved.
Mort Tenzer, State Conference representative, announced that the State Conference will continue the subsidy for the distribution of the NEWSLETTER.
The Nominations Committee, headed by Mort Tenzer, presented the following slate: President: N. Welchman; Vice-President: Tim Killeen, for a term of two years. The Secretary cast one ballot for the slate.
The Executive Committee plans to meet June 15th. Esther Cohen suggested that one fall meeting might be devoted to changes in retirement rules.
Mary Rogers asked for a list of all members. It was not clear as to what list could be made available: a list of those retired last year, this year, three years ago or a list of the 63 paid-up members. No resolution reached.
COMMUNICATION: May Giger introduced Judy Lefelar. Judy has been working with May to develop a web site. She had her computer available at the restaurant and, following the business meeting she presented all of the web site that is available at this time. All were impressed. (Click on
www.EmeritusAssemblyCt. org.) May distributed a page of "Progress Notes" dated 4-11-06 through
5-3-06. Now volunteers are needed to help with all aspects of the site. We need an archivist, a domain administrator, technical contact and owner. A June meeting is planned at the University of Hartford.
The meeting adjourned at 3:20 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Cecilia Welna, Secretary
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS
EMERITUS ASSEMBLY
CONNECTICUT CONFERENCE
(minutes, Executive Meeting, June 15, 2006)
Present: M. Giger, W. Giger, T. Kileen, J. Kolega, M. Rogers, N. Welchman, C. Welna, R. Wurst.
A planning meeting was held on June 15, 2006 at Central Connecticut State University. President Welchman opened the meeting at 10:10 a.m.
Tentative dates were discussed for the fall and spring meetings. September 18 or 19 and November 13th were favored for the fall meetings. Spring dates were merely mentioned to be planned for May and June.
President Welchman spoke about letters which he read in the "Financial Times" and which suggested speaker possibilities: Ralph M. Coury, Professor of History at Fairfield University, whose research topics deal with Arab countries and nationalism in Egypt. Mary Rogers suggested a title for the presentation: "Understanding Arab Policies of the Middle East" with a subtitle of: " What American Voters and Candidates Should Know?" The second person of interest is George Lang, Professor of Mathematics at Fairield University, who is active in AAUP and faculty leadership activities. These suggestions will be followed up.
May Giger expressed interest in having AAUP representatives give brief reports after lunch at our meetings.
For the November 13th meeting the University of Connecticut polling people shall be approached.
Plans for the May meeting were not well formed as yet. Several places were mentioned: a visit to Avery Point, University of Connecticut; Connecticut College Lyman Allen Museum; the Puppet Museum; David Wagner on "Politics of Conservation"; Hudson Valley art exhibit.
For the June meeting the consensus seemed to be a tour of Elizabeth Park in West Hartford, Ct. to view the rose gardens and perhaps to have lunch in the Pond House Restaurant in the park.
Next, M. Giger explained the layout of the web page. R. Wurst prepared a web page inclusion "Emeritus Assembly Ct. Information" which includes what we are, when do we meet, where do we meet, who can be a member, why was the Assembly formed. Some time was spent in discussion. Minor changes to the document were made.
It was moved, seconded and passed that Judy Lefeler be offered honorary membership as recognition for the work that she has done and is doing in helping the Assembly set up a web page.
The meeting adjourned at noon.
Respectfully Submitted,
Cecilia Welna, Secretary.
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS
EMERITUS ASSEMBLY
CONNECTICUT CONFERENCE
(minutes of meeting on September 19. 2006)
Members of the American Association of University Professors, Emeritus Assembly, Connecticut Conference met at Fairfield University on Sept. 19, 2006. The group was welcomed to Fairfield University by George Lang, Professor of Mathematics at Fairfield. The Faculty Welfare Committee arranged for the meeting to be held at Alumni House. Professor Lang gave a brief history of the University. Founded by the Jesuits in 1942, the school now has six colleges (Arts and Sciences, Business, Nursing, Engineering, Graduate School of Education and Allied Professions, and University College). Masters level programs are offered in Education, Nursing, Engineering, American Studies, Mathematics and Business.
At present the University has 5200 students, of which 3200 are full time undergraduates; 225 faculty members ( only 5 Jesuit faculty members); a student-teacher ratio of 13:1; an AAUP chapter with no union agreement.
Professor Lang is optimistic about the future of AAUP. At present it has a 10 million dollar capital campaign underway. The money will help AAUP chapters to gain contract negotiation recognition. Kerry Nelson , the new president of AAUP, is looked upon favorably. He is a good scholar and a poet with national and international standing.
The main presentation was "Churchill to Bush: Western Imperialism and the Middle East" by Dr. Ralph M. Curry, Professor of History at Fairfield University. Our former chair, Walter Giger, wrote a summary of Ralph Curry's talk. (This was condensed from a 28 page talk.) A copy of the summary is attached to these minutes. ( The complete talk is available upon request.) Some very interesting questions that impact the picture of the world were raised.
BUSINESS MEETING: The minutes of the May 9th meeting were approved
unanimously. The Treasurer's report was approved unanimously.
Two programs were proposed for the spring of 2007 :
1) For April or May: the Hartford Symphony orchestra matinee; and
2) for June: Elizabeth Park Rose Garden and lunch at the Pond House (in the park). Fred Cazel will organize this meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Cecilia Welna, Secretary
P.S. The Secretary was unable to attend the meeting but received all information from:
1) extensive and detailed work by Walter Giger. He wrote the Coury Summary
and supplied meeting information for the minutes; and 2) Mary Rogers for what she called "my very rough and incomplete notes" that were quite helpful.
Thank you to both.
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS
EMERITUS ASSEMBLY
CONNECTICUT CONFERENCE
(minutes of meeting on November 14, 2006)
Members of the American Association of University Professors, Emeritus Assembly, Connecticut Conference met on November 14, 2006 at 10:30 a.m. The meeting took place at the University of Connecticut Whetten Library. (The Roper Center is located on Mansfield Road, in Storrs.)
Prof. Mark Abramson, director of the Roper Center, gave a brief introduction to the Center. The Roper Center is the largest public opinion data archives in the world. It was started in 1947 by Elmo Roper, pioneer in polls. The Center was originally located at Williams College, then became a consortium of UConn, Williams and Yale. The Center at present, wholly a UConn activity, contains thousands of data sets from about 70 nations around the world. Polling data is routinely sent here from all networks (CBS, NBC, etc. ) , newspapers, magazines and polling operations in the U.S. and abroad. The Roper Center picks particular studies for its archives (which are mostly digital).
Prof. Abramson commented that post election polls for the most part this year did a good job.
Next, Lois Timms-Ferrara, associate director, continued to report on the Center. It is the largest collection of public information in existence. Its poll databank, dating from 1935, at present contains half a million questions. There are 17,000 data set files.
The Center also provides teaching tools through courses dealing with data collection and data analysis. A brief question period was followed by adjournment at 11:50 a.m. Members re-assembled for lunch at a restaurant on Route 44 .
BUSINESS MEETING. At 1:00 p.m. President Welchman called for a brief business meeting. The secretary's report (minutes of the last meeting) was accepted. The treasurer, John Kolega, reported a checking account balance of $1797.99 ($476 due for lunch). There are 56 paid members. The treasurer's report was accepted.
The President thanked member Killeen for his help with arrangements for today's meeting. the second spring meeting will be held June 21st at Elizabeth Park, West Hartford. This will be a guided tour of the rose gardens. Lunch shall be reserved at the park's cafe. Fred Cazel was appointed to make all arrangements.
Next, President Welchman made several suggestions for the first spring meeting:
--- a Sunday matinee with the Hartford Symphony;
--- "Murderers" by Thatcher at Theatre Works on Pearl Street in Hartford;
--- Mardi Gras Jazz Orchestra;
---Woodwind Trio, Renaissance Music.
"Murderers" was selected. Arrangements shall be made by Nick Welchman.
May Giger made a few comments about the progress of our web site. She thanked all who have helped with the internet project.
The meeting adjourned at 1:16 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Cecilia Welna, Secretary
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