Dear Fellow Phi Betes:
Now that we’ve turned back the clocks and are enjoying an extra hour of sunshine, it is time to reflect on what was and what is to be for PBK NCA. Submissions for the February newsletter were due before our Asilomar conference took place, and although I was looking forward to an outstanding experience, the actuality exceeded my expectations. The Emenhisers, along with program help from the Baronians, provided all attendees with a memorable conference. Jae Emenhiser remained “cool under fire” when faced with last minute program substitutions which would have rattled a lesser mortal, such as myself.
As many of you know, most of the $100 registration fee attendees pay goes to our graduate scholarships (see Jae’s Asilomar article, p. 4), and this year’s profits of over $10,000 fully funded two of these much appreciated awards. We found out this year just how much these scholarships are valued when one of our outstanding speakers, David Siddhartha Patel, presently a pre-doctoral fellow at Stanford and soon to be government professor at Cornell, agreed to speak to our group because of the scholarships PBK NCA had awarded not to him, but to his colleagues at Stanford. Since David’s research examines Islamic institutions and political action in a wide range of settings in Iraq, his excellent presentation was able to clarify many of the seemingly unintelligible issues surrounding our involvement there.
When I asked Jae how he had found such a wonderful speaker, he replied that he had heard David on NPR (David is a frequent guest on “All Things Considered”), contacted him, and he agreed to come because of our scholarship program. This is truly an example of “what goes around, comes around” in the best sense of that cliché. So, those of you who attended Asilomar can be proud of what your registration fees have achieved, as can those of you who have paid your regular dues and even generously added additional contributions. Because of you, our scholarship program is supporting outstanding scholars and is appreciated even by those who are not the recipients.
Speaking of scholarships, I hope you have signed up to attend our annual meeting and awards evening at the Berkeley Faculty Club on Sunday, May 6. There you can see your dollars at work and be truly impressed by the inspiring professors and exceptional graduate students who receive our awards.
One last issue: Stanley Kahn, whose work as First Vice President, Programs, finds me lacking an appropriate superlative to praise his work, is “retiring” at the end of 2007. We sorely need a replacement. So those of you who have enjoyed coming to our events, it is time for you to contribute to planning them. After all, our interesting outings are key elements in attracting members and their contributions, which, in turn, support our scholarship and teaching excellence programs. If you want to know what the office involves, both Stanley and I have job descriptions and arguments to overcome the usual excuses of “I travel”, “I work”, “I am too old”, “I don’t have any ideas for activities”, and whatever other objections you might raise.
But even if you can’t assume Stanley’s office, you can join us for the wonderful events he has planned for us this summer. Take out your calendars now and mark them before the pleasant days of summer slip away.
Respectfully submitted,
, President
PBK NCA needs an enthusiastic, energetic person as Program Chair to organize "Upcoming Activities". Thanks to Stanley Kahn’s hard work, we have enjoyed many interesting and educational activities listed herein. However, unless we get a volunteer to serve as Program Chair, there will be no additional activities after December 2007. If someone would like to "try out" the position of Program Chair for just one issue of the newsletter or is willing to book even one or two events in the January--March 2008 time period at an attraction you've always wanted to visit, your help would be gratefully accepted. Please contact , President
The sun shone on 117 Phi Betes and their guests who joined together for our Association’s twenty-first annual conference at Asilomar in Pacific Grove February 17-19, 2007. President Jean James ordered weather that brought out the Monarch butterflies and one of our largest attendances on record. If you were not able to enjoy the weekend, you may consult the web page, complete with pictures taken by Judson Goodrich.
Participants praised the quality of our speakers and the beauty of the venue, and, as in the past, many especially valued the opportunity to meet and converse with each other. We are truly an organization of interesting, exceptional folks.
In addition to the intellectual and social aspects of Asilomar, the conference is a major contributor to our scholarship program. Our net receipts this year amounted to more than $10,000–enough to fund two, $5000-graduate scholarships. This money comes from the $100 per person registration fee; the part that isn’t used for expenses is totally tax-deductible. This year $88.92 of the $100 registration fee you paid in 2006 or in 2007 for Asilomar 2007 is tax-deductible. And for those of you who were not able to attend and graciously donated your registration fees, the entire $100 per person may be deducted.
We are already planning for next year. If you did not turn in your evaluation questionnaire or would like to add comments, please send them to me. Again we shall have outstanding women and men speakers from arts, sciences, and letters, and hope to continue the morning T’ai Chi. We are exploring the possibility of having a common reading with small group discussions, as well as the regular sessions. Look for details in the September Newsletter. If you have decided to attend, you may send me your registration fee now and be among those who receive their housing registration form as soon as it is available from Asilomar, usually prior to the September Newsletter.
This year we were fortunate to attract a large number of first-time participants. To assure continued success of the conference, please pass the word along to others who have not attended this rewarding experience. Our best advertisement is “word of mouth,” and the best place to pass the word is at our many other Association activities. When you attend these events, please tell your friends about Asilomar and encourage them to join us. Each individual who comes directly supports our scholarship program.
To see and hear our scholarship recipients and the outstanding teaching faculty whom we honor, attend our annual dinner this year, Sunday, May 6, at the UC Berkeley Faculty Club.
Respectfully submitted,
, Asilomar Chair
PBK NCA has confirmed invitations from all eight of our university chapters to attend their initiations this spring from April though June. Thank you for your responses to our last newsletter request for volunteers. We still need someone for San Francisco State University and UC Santa Cruz. Attending the ceremonies gives us an opportunity to recruit additional members to NCA as well as ask for nominations for the Teaching Excellence Awards. And it is lots of fun, stirring up old memories of collegiate days. Here is the schedule:
Saturday, March 31: Marci Coglianese & Wilson A. Heefner, MD will represent PBK NCA at University of the Pacific. The Phi Beta Kappa Society will be officially installing the new Chi of California chapter as well as the initiates. The installation will take place at 3:30 PM in the Faye Spanos Concert Hall. Professor Greg Camfield will give the keynote address, “The Liberal Arts as Whack-a-Mole”. The installation will be followed by a reception at 5:00 PM in the Reynold’s Gallery, which is displaying Gregory Kondos’, “Mount Olympus to the Pacific Rim”. Special films and opera theatre events will help mark the long weekend of celebration.
Tuesday, April 10: Karen Belanger will represent PBK NCA at the Mills College initiation ceremony.
Thursday, May 10: Holly Ganz and Joanne Sandstrom will participate in the UC Berkeley initiation. Our Association wants to help the UCB Chapter with cost for a simple reception following the ceremony. UCB has several hundred initiates and uses all their money for scholarships, so they have been unable to have a reception for the initiates and families. Those of you who are UCB alumnae may want to send a contribution to our Corresponding Secretary, Georgia Maslowski (see address elsewhere in Newsletter). When we have more information, Georgia may contact the UCB Alumnae directly.
Monday, May 14: Jean James and Letitia Sanders plan to attend the University of California, Davis ceremony.
Thursday, May 17: 4PM Ceremony at San Francisco State University. We need a volunteer. Please email jn1137@aol.com if you can attend. It is a lovely event in academic robes, followed by a dinner.
Friday, June 8, tentatively at 1PM: University of California, Santa Cruz. We need a volunteer. Last year Karen Schroeder attended, but we have not yet been able to confirm with her. Please email jn1137@aol.com if you can attend.
Friday, June 15: Janiece Nolan will participate at Santa Clara University.
Friday, June 15: Muriel Bell, Narcinda Lerner and Hershey Julien will attend the event at Stanford University.
Respectfully submitted,
, Chapter Liaison
The Board offers many thanks to the members and friends who have joined or renewed their membership for the year 2007 as of March. 19. Your generous support makes our Scholarships and Awards possible. We extend a special thank you to those who have contributed at the Patron, Sponsor and Benefactor levels. A list of all members is in the hard-copy of the Newsletter.
The Board is still trying to form a group of young Phi Betes who might want to have their own activities. However, our first problem is what constitutes a "young Phi Bete." Traditionally for organizations, the cut-off age for "younger" members is 40. But as far as we are concerned, if you still have hair which is not completely gray and feel young at heart, and especially if you want to be in charge of some event, you qualify.
It seems the best way to communicate with younger members is through our website, so please check it out to see if anything is happening for those of you who don't remember life before TV.
Join the PBK NCA Board in celebrating this year’s accomplishments in the
charming setting and collegial atmosphere of the UC Berkeley Faculty Club. Take this opportunity to renew old acquaintances and meet and be inspired by the dedication and achievements of our scholarship and teaching excellence award winners.
Chinatown
Tour of the Audubon Canyon Ranch: The Bolinas Lagoon Preserve, Saturday, July 7, 2007
Tour of the Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton, Friday, August 10, 2007
Tour of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory September 7, 2007
Filoli Tour in the autumn - Friday, September 28, 2007