MEETING for Thursday, June 9 at Belle Vinez
The June meeting of the River
Falls Area Retired Educators’ Association will take place at a local winery! We will meet at the Heritage Park parking lot
in River Falls at 11:45 a.m. on June 9th and head to Belle Vinez
Winery for a winetasting, lunch, and an informal meeting. If you prefer to drive to the winery
yourself, you can meet us there at noon.
The winetasting is $7.00 for
three different samples as well as an introduction to the wines by
vintner. Lunch is also available. For menu and pricing information, see the
website at http://www.bellevinez.com.
You can reach Heritage Park
by coming into downtown River Falls via Main Street. At the Subway shop, turn right (if you are
coming from Highway 35 past Shopko; if you are coming from the other direction
past Dairy Queen, turn left) on Maple Street.
As soon as you cross the river, take the first left into the lot. You will see an old bell at the entrance of
the lot.
Please join us on June 9th. If you plan to attend and did not sign the
list during our May meeting at the West Wind, please RSVP by June 1st to
Ruth Wood, Programming Chair, at rwoodrf@gmail.com or at 715-426-9554.
CORRUPTED CAPITALISM MAY BE STIFLING OUR PENSION
By Bernie Brohaugh, President
Our retirement pension, long touted as one of the best in the country, and, in fact, as among the finest public pensions in the world, is about to enter a lackluster phase of indeterminate length.
Don’t panic! It is in no danger of meltdown; we needn’t expect a sharp reduction in our monthly checks. Still, there may be minor cuts, or no future increases, or a mixture of both. How long this period of stagnation might last is anybody’s guess, but the folks who keep watch over our Core fund and our Variable Fund are warning that this year may be the last of any increase for some time.
Causing the trouble, obviously, is the fact that our investments are not keeping up with our expenses. Or else they are bringing in too little to swell the surplus reserve that must be fed if we are to get any raises. Something has to change if the trouble is to cease.
Do we need a new portfolio? Probably not. Habitually lauded with great enthusiasm for their investment savvy and management skills, our pension fund engineers seem to have made no critical mistakes in handling our portfolio. If so, my best guess is that what ails our pension system is what ails the federal economy in general: Our trickle-up economics is stifling the economic activity that propels economic growth, the creation of new businesses and jobs, and, ultimately, the flourishing of pension funds.
Rana Faroohar, regular contributor on economic issues to Time Magazine, recently (23 May 2016) summarized an indictment of capitalism as it operates today in the U.S. Her essay “Saving Capitalism” is a summary of her new book, Makers and Takers: The Rise of Finance and The Fall of American Business, in which she describes the causes of the current sluggishness in the American business world. She says that factors such as globalization and the replacement of human workers with technology have certainly taken a toll. “ But,” she declares, “the single biggest unexplored reason for long-term slower growth is that the financial system has stopped serving the real economy and now serves mainly itself.”
What she means is that banks are no longer focusing on the traditional banking activity: converting individual, business, and institutional deposits into the wherewithal for business startups and expansions that used to create “new jobs and new wealth and, ultimately, economic growth. “ While this kind of activity constituted the majority of the activity of financial institutions at the beginning of the 20th century, today it has shrunk to the extent that only 15% of their capital is handled in this way. And the money that used to support research and development, essential for long-term health and growth, now goes to bolster existing enterprises like housing projects and the purchase of stocks and bonds.
What appears to be the most devastating revision of old-fashioned capitalism, according to Roohar, is the self-serving machinations of top-level administrators in the financial institutions. Executives who often receive most of their compensation in the form of company stocks—more than 50% in many cases—now spend exorbitant percentages of company earnings in buying back their companies’ stocks in order (1) to increase the value of the stocks, and (2) to enhance, consequently, their personal earnings. Says Faroohar, “S & P 500 firms now [spend] $1 trillion a year on bybacks and dividends—equal to about 95% of their net earnings.”
How does this maneuvering affect our pensions? The scenarios of existing investments can be simply described: Businesses don’t grow as they could, so stock values don’t grow as they would, and, therefore, pensions don’t grow as they should.
Furthermore, potential investments in companies just starting up—which often provide handsome rewards to initial investors—are harder and harder to find. Such windfalls can make the difference between a ho-hum and a blockbuster performance of a portfolio. Finally, buy-back allocations that could have gone into dividends obviously shortchange investors, while the dearth of new real estate ventures prevents the generation of a brand new source of income.
So, the bottom line is that our pension checks are not going to increase any time soon and that the sharp increases many realized a decade ago are history. With Congress failing to provide a cost-of-living increase this year for Social Security, we somehow must absorb the skyrocketing costs of utilities, prescription drugs, groceries, and taxes while acknowledging that we are luckier than many retirees.
CURSIVE WRITING: AN ESSENTIAL PART OF OURSELVES
By Evelyn D. Klein
Chair, Education Committee
Is our love affair with technology making cursive handwriting as obsolete as the washboard, the horse and buggy, and the yardstick? The debate over dropping cursive writing from school curriculum is a much discussed topic. What is it about cursive writing that would bring about controversy?
In the mid-19th century, the typewriter first came into use. Subsequently, since
Probably one of the most significant aspects that contributes to our humanness is the ability to communicate with others, to record our thoughts and ideas, experiences and experiments, scientific findings and information, history and literature, and whatever else we think of. But does it really matter how we go about it?
As writer, visual artist, and educator, I have discovered some noteworthy pros and cons of computers vs. handwriting. While the computer is a convenient, though limited, tool, I see cursive writing as much more than a mechanical activity, although it is that, too. I would say that human ability to communicate finds its source in our mental images, which early humans first transposed into art, then language that the ancients, subsequently, represented with written symbols, carrying us into the present.
Handwriting has a long and distinguished history of evolution. Earliest findings of a recorded nature point to Cro-Magnon cave art that predates any traces of writing 30,000 years ago. Systems of writing began to develop about three thousand years ago. Early on, Sumerians inscribed pictographs on clay tablets. Egyptians used hieroglyphs and introduced papyrus on which to write. Phoenicians introduced an alphabet, and the ancient Greeks derived their alphabet from them. The Romans, in turn, derived their alphabet from the Greeks, initially consisting of 23 letters. The Roman alphabet eventually evolved into the one the western world uses today with minor stylistic variations. Parchment was generally replaced with papyrus as writing became more widespread in the ancient official and business communities.
Around 700 A.D. writing was standardized in Europe, and the Romanesque and Gothic style of writing evolved. By the 12th century, the alphabet contained 26 letters. Gutenberg created movable type in the 15th century, allowing books, such as the Bible, to be printed rather than handwritten. Along the way, cursive writing came about to make handwriting easier, more fluid compared to writing individual letters, and to increase writing speed. It continued to evolve further until the 17th century, when it began to take on its current form. Writing style continues to be developed further with the aim to simplify, streamline and standardize western writing, tending to a universally uniform version. By today’s standards, we can consider western handwriting and cursive writing as having a multicultural or international heritage.
As in so many scientific and technological advances, the consequences of changes brought about by advances in technology, including electronic devices, aside from obvious benefits, are not always as immediate as one might expect. While many advances have made life easier, such as cranes for construction, automobiles for travel, washing machines for the household, phones for communication, and so on, industrial production has led to pollution, which led to the necessity of environmental protection for the benefit of nature and people’s health, for instance. Further, the use of appliances and automated equipment makes work easier but cuts down on physical activity necessary for good health, so that part of dealing with a sedentary life style now necessitates regular exercise in addition to consumption of healthy foods.
The problem arises when we act on an all-or-nothing philosophy. When a new idea comes along, we discard everything that went before as if the new idea or means of doing something were the one and only way to live. Widespread obesity and its consequences is one of the earmarks of a technological society’s life style with tunnel vision. The psychological and physical effects of total immersion in technology are only just beginning to be sorted out by psychologists and others, while we may come to realize them on our own.
Surprising as it may seem, the usefulness of cursive writing can go well beyond its immediate purpose of communicating on paper or developing its artistic style. From a strictly practical point of view, a recent article in Time Magazine pointed out, one compelling reason for learning to write
Educationally speaking, a number of reasons favor the learning of cursive writing. While technology is more efficient in getting words down, the benefits are primarily mechanical. First of all, learning to write by hand has cognitive benefits, as it has been shown to improve reading and spelling skills. Ann Mangen, in her essay “Handwriting versus Keyboard Writing: Effect on Word Recall” (Journal of Writing Research, 2015), found that children who wrote out words by hand rather than on the computer learned new words more effectively. Cursive note taking has also been associated with better retention on part of those college students who used it as opposed to others who took notes on their computers. Cursive writing apparently engages parts of the brain that are not engaged when typing. Additionally, students with dyslexia or brain injuries can benefit from cursive writing, even if they have difficulty with print, according to “How Cursive Can Help Students with Dyslexia Connect the Dots,” PBS News Hour, 2015. Cursive writing also helps develop hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and memory.
Speaking as a writer, I have found the computer to be an indispensable tool both in completing and editing the final copy of a piece and in communicating with the publisher. But when it comes to the initial draft of a poem, story, or essay, whether creative or expository, cursive writing makes for a strong beginning, tearing down the block, where the hand to mind connection is at work in a way the computer never could be with its keyboard, light, and tool bar, all of which can be distractions to the inner creative impulses and images that come mind to hand as they surface.
From the point of view of the psychology of handwriting analysis, cursive handwriting, according to Jane Green in You and Your Private I, the psychologists Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and Alfred Adler all recognized handwriting analysis, because cursive writing reveals many things about the writer in a Gestalt kind of fashion (3). Thus, cursive writing with its individuality, its artistry can be as much a part of individual identity as a fingerprint.
While interactions between people and places of work in the world are increasingly conducted by means of paperless technology, there still remains an important place for cursive writing right alongside it. In addition to the reasons already stated, the mastery of cursive writing will continue to allow us to read historical documents like The Constitution of the United Sates or personal correspondence loved ones and friends or historical figures leave behind. In the world of business and industry, an engineer of a major Midwestern firm pointed out, there are also times when computers crash or are not permitted and informational notes need to be handwritten and passed along. At other times, a white board may spontaneously serve at a presentation for explanation of ideas to be written for benefit of attendees at the meeting. Even at home, sometimes a quick handwritten note is preferred over emails or texting with family members.
There is a need to retain cursive writing in our everyday lives just as much as word processing in whatever rendition. The alternative of replacing cursive writing altogether with technology is that we will, likely, move into a new kind of illiteracy distinctly of our own making, setting us apart in the western world. If, on the other hand, we keep both cursive writing and technology side by side, each for its own purpose, we will have greatly enriched our lives.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
By Glenn Potts
Wisconsin has joined 10 other states led by Texas suing the Obama Administration over guidance regarding transgender students.
The suit alleges the Obama administration has “conspired to turn workplaces and educational settings across the country into laboratories for a massive social experiment.”
It asks the federal court to declare the guidance unlawful, block enforcement of it and prevent the administration from issuing new guidance.
Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel said in a statement that after talking to Gov. Scott Walker, he decided to join the lawsuit — led by Texas — to challenge the administration’s “latest power grab.” The suit was filed in a federal court in Texas on behalf of Alabama, West Virginia, Tennessee, Arizona, Maine, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Utah, Georgia, Wisconsin and two school districts, in Texas and Arizona.
“President Obama’s attempts to re-write the laws of our country without congressional consent and approval are not going to be tolerated by the state of Wisconsin,” said Schimel.
Walker granted Schimel’s request to join the lawsuit “as this is yet another example of President Obama’s unlawful use of executive power,” Walker spokesman Tom Evenson said.
Evenson said the governor believes the decision of whether to set gender restrictions on school bathrooms or locker rooms should be made by local school districts and not the federal government.
Democratic legislators criticized the law suit as an attempt to maintain an antiquated ideology of discrimination against transgender people. Representative Lisa Subeck (D-Madison) released the following statement in response to Attorney General Brad Schimel’s decision to join a federal lawsuit challenging President Obama’s directive to public schools protecting the rights of transgender students to use restrooms and locker rooms designated for the gender with which they identify.
“Attorney General Brad Schimel is wasting time and resources suing the Federal Government over a directive that will prevent states from institutionalizing discrimination against transgender students. The joint Department of Justice and Department of Education directive was timely and appropriate, ensuring that our schools are safe and welcoming places for all students. Unfortunately, A.G. Schimel has chosen to put politics ahead of fairness by joining his Republican counterparts in this discriminatory action.
UWRF faculty joined faculty from UW-Stout, UWE-Green Bay, UW-Lacrosse, UW-Madison, UWE-Milwaukee, and UW-Eau Claire by approving a “vote of no confidence” in UW President Ray Cross and the UW Board of Regents. The vote follows years of declining budgets and the recent Regent approved rule allowing UW Chancellors to fire tenured faculty in academic programs that have been chosen for elimination due to low enrollment.
The unfortunate defunding of the UW System by the Wisconsin Republicans seems likely to continue as long as Republicans control state politics. State support will continue to fall and Universities will be forced to eliminate once strong academic programs. This is a sad state of affairs in a state that once took pride in the “Wisconsin Idea” where a strong UW System was seen as a vital partner in the advancement of the state and its citizens.
It is time to step up and make your voice heard by Governor Walker and our legislators.
Representative Dean Knudson (R-Hudson) 888-529-0030, Rep.Knudson@legis.wisconsin.gov
Senator Sheila Harsdorf (R-River Falls) 608-266-7745, Sen.Harsdorf@legis.wisconsin.gov
Governor Scott Walker (R) 608-266-1212, 115 East State Capital, Madison WI 53702
HEALTH UPDATES
By Tom Possley
Democratic leaders send a letter to Gov. Walker wondering when he will tell the citizens of the state what we are doing about the Elizabethkingian bacteria outbreaks. This was on April 28.
Gov. Scott Walker’s administration wants to shift multibillion dollar programs serving more than 55,000 elderly and disabled people from longstanding nonprofits to national for-profit health insurance companies.
Administration officials contend the plan, affecting the Family Care and IRIS programs, would save money for taxpayers and improve the health of patients by combining care for their long-term needs with attention to their immediate medical issues.
No amount of savings is known yet. Tom Frazier, co-chairman of the Wisconsin Long-Term Care Coalition says “We need to phase this in slowly to make sure it works,” Frazier said. “The bottom line is we should not be disrupting the lives of nearly 60,000 frail elderly and disabled individuals unless we have a reasonable possibility that they’re going to be as well off as they are now. The state says they’ll be better off, but I think they’ve failed to prove that.”
Walker also wants to change the insurance plan for state workers and give the savings to schools. No one knows yet if there is any savings and what the coverage will be.
As many of us are aware, our long-time member Doug Johnson, age 81, passed away on April 6th at his home after a valiant battle with two types of cancer. The Fletcher Pechacek Post of the American Legion and the River Falls Community Arts Base hosted
Doug was both an artist and a musician. He spent his entire teaching career at UW-River Falls as a professor in the Art Department. Not only did he begin the glass blowing program—which has since gained a national reputation—and taught courses in that program, but he also taught sculpture and introductory art classes in the General Education program as well. Doug was also a trumpeter and lead singer for many years with the local group, Tin Pan Alley Cats. For decades, Doug served as the bugler with the American Legion Post 121 in River Falls, attending the funerals of area veterans.
RECENT MEETING UPDATES
APRIL 2016 MEETING
At the April 14, 2016, business meeting, we continued our new tradition of hearing from one of our members as a way of getting to know one another a little better.
Bob Krey has been a member of RFArea REA and WREA for a couple of years now. While his wife, DeAn, is a longtime resident of River Falls and taught at UW-River Falls for many years—and also received her undergraduate teaching degree from UWRF as well—Bob is a relative newcomer to the area.
Bob spent 23 years at UW-Superior as a professor of Education Administration and also chaired the Division of Education. He moved to River Falls after his retirement.
Born in Reedsburg in Sauk County, Bob began his teaching career in 1948 in a one-room rural schoolhouse. After getting his teaching legs, he moved to village graded school in Gays Mills where he taught 7th and 8th grades. He then moved on to Black Earth and eventually settled in Lake Geneva, where he taught for 11 years. It was during this time that he became interested in counseling and supervision. He began a master’s program during summers at UW-Madison and was accepted into the Ph.D. program. He was then given a fellowship and attended full-time, finishing his degree, co-authoring a textbook with his advisor and another author. Upon completion of his degree, he was offered a position at UW-Superior and never looked back!
We are glad to have gotten to know you a little better, Bob.
April Legislative Committee Report
Legislative Chair Glenn Potts reported that the large cuts to the UW System budget is having profound effects on UW-River Falls and other campuses. Locally, 38 full-time positions were eliminated. The Modern Languages Department no longer exists. Students finishing degrees in French and German will have to complete them next year. Spanish will be the only remaining degree program. Japanese and Chinese will be offered by remote instruction. Serious cuts to the Art and Music Departments were also implemented. Cuts all across campus have also been made. In 1974, the state supplied 79% of the university’s budget; in 2016, it amounted to 15.6% only.
A Dane County judge struck down Wisconsin’s Right-to-Work legislation. The state supreme court will no doubt reverse that decision.
The ACLU is reviving a lawsuit against the state’s Voter ID Law. It is asking for a review by a federal panel, hoping to get it before a federal appeals court.
A non-partisan group in River Falls is presenting petitions to the City Council to pass a resolution calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United.
MAY 2016 MEETING
The program for the day included two guest speakers: District III Co-Leader Darlene Parkinson and State Senate candidate Diane Odeen. (Current State Senator Sheila Harsdorf will be invited to speak in the fall.)
Ours was the 15th unit in District III that Darlene has visited since being appointed co-leader to District III. Born in Tomah, Darlene found herself in Germany and Colorado before returning to Wisconsin. She got a teaching degree from Bemidji State and taught secondary English and journalism. After receiving a master’s degree in Career and Technical Education from UW-Stout, she spent most of her career in technical colleges. Since retirement, she has been very active in WREA.
Darlene reported on some recent activities in WREA. The bylaws have been recently revised and will be available. She encouraged our unit to apply for the $100 grants available from the Spotlight on Education program to promote connections between WREA and public education. She also asked that our members consider serving on District committees as well as statewide WREA committees. She reminded us of the state convention September 27-28 in Wisconsin Rapids.
Diane Odeen introduced herself—born in Black River Falls, an attorney in River Falls, husband teaches at UWRF, children are graduates of River Falls School District, brother attended UWRF. Public education is high on her list of political priorities. She wants to work to stop attacks on public education, to increase public financing of education, to make education and the Wisconsin Idea priorities again in the state. She also sees health care as a major concern in the state and the country. More information about her candidacy can be found at http://www.dianeodeen.org/index.html.
Announcements included two items from Glenn Potts: 1) The state is exploring the possibility of moving from the current insurance system of private insurance companies to self-insurance; 2) Campuses across the state have taken no confidence votes in Ray Cross and the Board of Regents.
Tony Pedriana announced the 2016 scholarship winners.
Rebecca Fesenmaier, Spring Valley High School. She had an almost perfect grade point average and held officer positions in Student Council, Future Farmers Association and National Honor Society. She was also captain of of the volleyball, basketball and track teams.
Hailey Schultz, St. Croix Central High School. She earned an excellent grade point average and served as officer for the Roberts Ribbon Reapers 4-H Club and was a member of the National Honor Society as well as the Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA).
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
- Invitations to our end-of-the-year wine tasting event and information about WREA and RFArea REA were sent to more than 60 recent retirees from the school districts of Ellsworth, Spring Valley, St. Croix Central, and River Falls. Hudson and Prescott did not respond after several inquiries. If and when we hear from them, we will send information to their retirees and invite them to our fall meeting.
- Memorial contributions to the River Falls Public Library were made in the names of June Gibson and Doug Johnson. June passed away in March, Doug in April.
- Bernie Brohaugh and Ruth Wood attended the District III regional meeting of WREA in Black River Falls on May 10th. Marylin Plansky and Laura Zlogar attended the District I meeting in Rice Lake.
- Don and Ann Leake will be leaving in August for a second stint in the Peace Corps! This time they will be going to teach teachers in Sierra Leone. Since Don kept an accounting of our volunteer hours this year, how will he calculate his and Ann’s service? 11 months X 24 hours a day = how much? Evie is going to have to work to beat that!
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