USA: 98-year-old woman graduates from USU, oldest on record

LOGAN ,UTAH USA / KSL.COM / Active Aging / May 8, 2012

By Mike Anderson

A Cache County woman is proving it's never too late to get an education. She just graduated from Utah State University at 98 years of age. 

Twila Boston never quite got her bachelor's degree because life got in the way. She had only a few credits left so the college of Humanities at USU, helped her finish a degree in American Studies. She walked with the class of 2012 last Saturday. 

        Twila Boston is the oldest person to graduate from Utah State University in its long history, completing an American Studies degree at the age of 98.

Boston has several younger Aggie alumni in her family. "It was expected of us in our family to get an education," Boston said. 

She just never got around to getting her diploma until now because she took on a career in taking care of others. 

"When you're a nurse, you're always a nurse," Boston said. 

One history project later, she finally got to wear that cap and gown. 

"I tell you, I had to be forced to go there. They told me they wouldn't send me my diploma if I didn't come," she said. 

The moment was exciting, at least for the college of humanities and social sciences. Boston is the university's oldest graduate on record. You can imagine why professors coaxed Boston into walking the walk, even though she would have preferred to get the diploma by mail. 

The event brought several family members, some coming all the way from the east coast to show their support. But she doesn't think that he graduation is that big of a deal, though many people seem to. 

"I think it's stupid. Everybody graduated, they had three sessions of graduates up here," she said. 

That's a graduating class of more than 3300. Boston said she shouldn't be seen as any more special than the rest of them. She finished that degree for one simple reason: She loves learning. She said she'd keep taking classes if she could. 

"Yeah. Why not? All I do is read," she said. "Somebody asked me what I read, and I said, 'everything.'" 

Her advice for fellow grads is fairly simple. "Go out in whatever you want, in whatever you want to do the rest of your life." 

Boston does have a challenge getting around. She said that's really the only thing keeping her from taking more classes. Since she only had a few credits left, professors allowed her to graduate by completing an oral presentation on American History. 

 © 2012 ksl.com

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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights.
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

USA: Seniors take classes to sharpen computer skills

CHIPPEWA Valley, Wisconsin / The Chippewa Herald / News / April 17, 2012

By ROD STETZER | rod.stetzer@lee.net

Jill Hietpas, community development and broadband educator
for UW-Extension, gestures while teaching the finer points of
using computers at the Chippewa Falls Senior Center.
Rod Stetzer / The Herald

It’s a common concern Jill Hietpas has heard many times from senior citizens trying to learn how to use computers.

“The one thing to remember is that you can’t really ruin anything,” she told her eight students at the Chippewa Falls Senior Center on Friday.

Her students listened while she dispensed tips on how to how to use Internet browsers, such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.

Many of the students  were using new equipment purchased with a grant from the Edwin and Evelyn Nyhus Centennial Fund, through the Community Foundation of Chippewa County.

The grant money went to buy five computers, printers and assorted accessories for the senior center.

Charline Kozlowski of Chippewa Falls was in Hietpas’ class to sharpen her computer skills. She said she needed to learn more because after she is done using the family computer, younger family members use it and then change its settings.

Hietpas is a community development and broadband educator for University of Wisconsin-Extension. She teaches computer skills in Chippewa, Dunn and Eau Claire counties.

“We find that people want more information and access,” she said.

Asked what makes some of her older students frustrated, Hietpas said: “There’s so much to learn that, where do you begin?”

Also, young people seem to learn computer skills naturally, something that’s generally not the case for older students.

Hietpas said she also has iPads for her students to use later. The computer tablets are easy to use and some seniors enjoy them more than computers because no mouse is needed.

Friday’s class participants all navigated to the Herald’s website, www.Chippewa.com. Hietpas told the students  a computer address is really no different than ones used to mail a letter.

In upcoming lessons, Hietpas will show her class how to use search engines, such as Google, Yahoo and Bing, to find information. And she will cover Internet safety, which she said is very important not only for the very young but also for  seniors.

“The introduction to computers has opened the door for our seniors to communicate with their families and friends who are using email and Facebook,” said Angie Walker, the executive director of the senior center.

Not everything went smoothly for the students on Friday. Hietpas helped out after Beverly Hager of Chippewa Falls reported while using a laptop:

“I have a blank screen.”

Hietpas urged the students to be patient.

“You always have problems with computers. So you better get used to it now,” she said.

Copyright 2012 Chippewa.com
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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights. 
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

USA: Senior citizens continue to bear burden of student loans

WASHINGTON, DC / The Washington Post / Economy / April 2, 2012

(Sid Hastings/ For The Washington Post ) - Sandy Barnett stands in the rear doorway of her trailer home in Springfield, Ill. Barnett is struggling to pay student loan debt associated with graduate study at Sangamon State University and the University of North Texas.

By Ylan Q. Mui

New research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows that Americans 60 and older still owe about $36 billion in student loans, providing a rare window into the dynamics of student debt. More than 10 percent of those loans are delinquent. As a result, consumer advocates say, it is not uncommon for Social Security checks to be garnished or for debt collectors to harass borrowers in their 80s over student loans that are decades old.

That even seniors remain saddled with student loans highlights what a growing chorus of lawmakers, economists and financial experts say has become a central conflict in the nation’s higher education system: The long-touted benefits of a college degree are being diluted by rising tuition rates and the longevity of debt.

Some of these older Americans are still grappling with their first wave of student loans, while others took on new debt when they returned to school later in life in hopes of becoming more competitive in the labor force. Many have co-signed for loans with their children or grandchildren to help them afford ballooning tuition.

The recent recession exacerbated this problem, making it harder for older Americans — or the youths they are supporting in school — to get good-paying jobs. And unlike other debts, student loans cannot be shed in bankruptcy. As a result, some older Americans have found that a college degree led not to a prosperous career but instead to a lifetime under the shadow of debt.

“A student loan can be a debt that’s kind of like a ball and chain that you can drag to the grave,” said William E. Brewer, president of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. “You can unhook it when they lay you in the coffin.”

Sandy Barnett, 58, of Illinois thought she was doing the right thing when she decided to pursue a master’s degree in clinical psychology in the late 1980s. She had worked her way through college but said she took out a loan of about $21,000 to pay for graduate school so she would have more time to focus on her studies.

But even after earning her master’s, Barnett struggled to find a job that paid more than $25,000 a year and soon fell behind on her payments. She suffered through a layoff, a stretch of unemployment and the death of her husband — while her student loan ballooned to roughly $54,000.

Barnett filed for bankruptcy in 2005, but she couldn’t get out from under her student loan debt. She said a collection agency began garnishing the wages from her full-time job as a customer service representative a year ago, and now money is so tight that she must choose between buying gas and buying food. An air conditioner for her mobile home is an unimaginable luxury.

“I shake my head every day at the thought that I’m working for nothing,” Barnett said. “It’s really a black hole because there’s no end in sight.”

A college degree has traditionally been viewed as a virtual guarantee of a better-paying job and a higher standard of living. And on the whole, that remains true. The unemployment rate for Americans with only a high school education is 9.2 percent — more than double the rate for those with college degrees. The median weekly earnings for high school graduates last year was $638, according to government data, compared with $1,053 for college grads.

But with the recent recession prompting layoffs at white-collar law firms and investment banks as well as auto plants and construction companies, more Americans are finding themselves out of work and deep in debt. At a Senate subcommittee hearing last week, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said the cost of higher learning should reflect the quality of education received.

Many students “haven’t been able to earn a return that justifies the expense,” he said.

Over the past decade, the cost of college rose between 2 and 6 percent per year, depending on the type of institution, according to the College Board.

Meanwhile, the New York Fed estimates that Americans owed $870 billion in student loans during the third quarter of last year, significantly outpacing credit card debt or auto loans. Borrowers age 60 and above accounted for 5percent of that debt. The share for Americans age 50 and older is 17 percent.

In some cases, student debt has been a burden for even financially responsible older Americans.

Maxine Bass, 60, of Minnesota said her granddaughter dreamed of going to college since she was a child. But her mother could barely afford to provide her lunch money, much less pay for tuition. Bass had good credit and a steady job.

So when her granddaughter was accepted into St. Catherine University to study biology, Bass said she gladly co-signed for a $38,000 loan with her. But when the granddaughter fell behind on the payments as she hunted for a job with a decent salary, Bass’s own finances took a hit.

“I went into a panic, like, what was I gonna do?” Bass wondered.

Because of late fees and missed payments, Bass said she and her granddaughter owe about $69,000. They are now contributing monthly, but Bass is worried she won’t be able to catch up.

“Many parents who thought they were headed to retirement with a college-educated child end up continuing to work because of student debt that can’t be paid,” Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) said at last week’s hearing.

Durbin has introduced legislation that would allow private student loan debt to be discharged in bankruptcy, though borrowers would still have to pay off any federal loans. Sallie Mae, one of the nation’s largest private student lenders, as well as consumer groups support all types of student loans being forgiven during bankruptcy. Last year, President Obama addressed the issue by easing the repayment requirements for federal student loans. The new rules allow borrowers to pay 10 percent of their income for 20 years before the loan is forgiven.

Still, the bill would only address one aspect of what many believe is a more fundamental problem: the cost of college. Until that is solved, Suzanne Martin, an attorney with Consumers Union, said she anticipates older Americans’ share of student loans will only increase.

“This current generation of borrowers is going to be a generation of seniors who are burdened with debt,” she said.

© 1996-2012 The Washington Post

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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights. 
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

USA: Program teaches computer skills to older generation

LOS ANGELES, California / The Los Angeles Times / Nation / March 20, 2012

New York's Pace University connects its students with senior citizens who want to learn how to stay in touch with their more tech-savvy children and grandchildren.

Pace University student Alice Simmons tutors Pauline Lockman, 91, on how to use her computer in her New York City apartment. (Carolyn Cole, Los Angeles Times / January 20, 2012) 

By Tina Susman, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from New York

Thirty senior citizens squeezed around a long table designed for about 20, the crush made tighter by canes, walkers and wheelchairs. As late arrivals wriggled between others in search of a seat, snippets of conversation floated from the chatty crowd.

"I don't have a computer. I don't have any of that Google stuff," one exasperated woman said. "Facebook? What's that?" another asked loudly, to no one in particular. "It's a program. It's a computer program," a man responded knowingly, displaying a confidence rarely seen in the 75-and-over age group when talk turns to laptops, PCs, iPads, smartphones and all that comes with them.

That's why these seniors had gathered at the Hallmark, their assisted-living facility in Lower Manhattan. They wanted to begin the task of catching up with a technical world whose rapid-fire evolution has left much of America's oldest generation isolated from its children, grandchildren and tech-savvy friends.

"It's so hard to do. But at least I've stopped crying," said Roz Carlin, 92, speaking for many as she described breaking down in tears when she first tried using a computer. Like most of the students, Carlin initially resisted the technology until her daughter forced the issue by giving her an iPad.

Now, after mastering email, she was back to learn more.

Their teachers were students from New York's Pace University who earn credits participating in a program to bridge the gap created by the computer age.

"Let's face it — 20% of the population is going to be over 65 by 2050," said Jean Coppola, a gerontologist and information technology professor at Pace who started the program after officials in Westchester County, north of New York City, asked the university to conduct a computer seminar for senior citizens in 2005.

It proved so popular that Coppola expanded it, and it has become a model for similar efforts nationwide. She now has more seniors clamoring for the seven-week course, at senior facilities in Manhattan and in Westchester, than she has students to teach them.

Like the seniors signing up for the once-a-week tutoring sessions, Coppola knows that it is best to look outside the family for someone to teach elders the art of double-clicking, dragging and dropping, emailing, and ignoring spam that promises fabulous wealth or a free cruise.

"A son or daughter can't teach the 80- or 90-year-old computers," said Coppola, who tried to teach her grandmother computer tricks. "There's too much baggage there — emotional baggage. People get very funny — they don't have the same patience with their mom or their dad or older relatives that they have with a stranger."

The gap between young and old quickly came into view as the seniors introduced themselves to their tutors, most of whom were in their early 20s.

There was Dorothy, an elegant woman in a red vest, whose children had insisted she get a computer. She compared using it to trying to understand a second language. "It's that foreign to me," she said.

"I'm completely computer illiterate, except to play solitaire," said a woman named Anita.

"This gadget scares the living daylights out of me," said Frances, who was embarrassed to admit that she didn't know the make of her computer. "I'll tell you the truth, I almost got rid of the damned thing. It got a virus. Then it got frozen."

Several had taken the course before but had forgotten what they learned or were hampered by poor eyesight and other limitations, such as arthritic fingers and fading memories. Virtually all of them, though, said they needed to learn so they could keep in touch with distant relatives and friends, and see photographs of children and grandchildren.

"It scares me," Edythe Eisenberg said of her iPad. "But when I call my kids and grandkids they don't call back, so I have to use email."

Before the one-on-one tutoring sessions could begin, students were put through what Coppola calls "sensitivity training," a class designed to give the young teachers an idea of the ailments facing their elderly charges. It is conducted by Sharon Stahl Wexler and Lin Drury, registered nurses and Pace professors who work with Coppola on the program.

"We're going to have a lot of fun!" Wexler told the slightly dubious-looking young crowd as she and Drury passed out props. They included earplugs to stifle hearing; unpopped popcorn to put into shoes to give the feeling of corns and calluses; tape to bind fingers into arthritic-like claws; glasses to emulate vision problems.

There were boxes of clementines to peel while wearing gloves; tiny pill boxes filled with fake medications to be carefully picked through; and a page of the telephone book, to be read while wearing the special glasses.

For extra credit, there were adult diapers, which students were invited to dampen and wear for a few hours while seated in front of a computer.

"They're fun for the first couple of minutes, but imagine needing those implements to walk," Wexler said as the trussed-up tutors meandered the hallways using walkers, crutches, wheelchairs and canes. They included Alice Simmons, a theater major, who was being pushed in a wheelchair by Katie Allen, a history major.

A few days later, both of the young women began their tutoring sessions back at Hallmark.

One of Simmons' students, 91-year-old Pauline Lockman, had taken the course before but was rusty. She wanted to learn how to reply to incoming emails, and she struggled for nearly an hour to tap out a few lines to a friend who had emailed her more than a month earlier.

Lockman labored over details that the younger generation often ignores when writing on computers. As she leaned in toward the screen, straining to read its 16-point text, Lockman pondered whether to capitalize the start of each line, what to write in the subject line, and how to spell certain words. When she was finished with her brief message, she didn't want to send it because, she told Simmons, it wasn't good enough.

"No, that's not sendable," she said firmly despite Simmons' gentle prodding.

"The hardest part for me is not touching the mouse or computer myself," Simmons said later. Like the other tutors, she has been advised to make the seniors do things for themselves.

The challenge, she said, is helping people like Lockman overcome their fear of computers and the Internet, while also teaching them the perils of pop-up ads and virus-carrying attachments. "It's hard to say, 'Don't be scared to click on anything, but be scared to click on these,' " she said.

That's a comfort level that usually requires more than one pass through the course, said Coppola, whose oldest student was 101.

"The third or fourth time, something clicks," she said. "By the second time, they're beginning to understand. By the third or fourth time they're comfortable with it. They're no longer confused. They're no longer afraid."

That's how it was for Eisenberg, who met with Allen in her sunny, cream-colored 13th-floor apartment. She had been through the course twice — enough to feel comfortable flicking on her iPad and checking her email for the daily message whose subject line was "Thought for the Day."

But Eisenberg, who moved to New York from Florida to be close to her daughter, a Broadway producer and actress, was stalled. Her son had set up an Amazon account for her so she could buy books online, but she had forgotten how to log in and did not want to call her son for help.

"I hate to keep admitting defeat," said Eisenberg, who had yet to figure out how to view the family photographs that she knew were somewhere on the iPad.

Allen leaned in and guided her toward the flower icon, then showed her how to tap it to reveal pictures of her children and grandchildren on vacation. "I'm seeing these for the first time," Eisenberg said in wonder as the screen filled with photographs of a smiling little girl with dark, glossy hair.

Then, Eisenberg clicked on another icon and fell into a trance-like silence as the voice of her daughter, Jana Robbins, belting out "I'm Still Here" from the Broadway musical "Follies," floated from the iPad and filled the room.

"At first I didn't know anything," Eisenberg said, "but I'm picking it up, piece by piece."

tina.susman@latimes.com

Copyright © 2012, Los Angeles Times
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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights. 
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

IRAN: Aging and the Necessity of e-Learning in Tehran

TORONTO, Canada / International Federation On Aging / e-News / January 19, 2012

By Dr. Mohammad Taghi Sheykhi

This paper explores the effects of e-learning on the condition of the elderly in Tehran. The aim of the study, based on interviews with 400 elderly people in different parts of Tehran, was to find out how modern electronic communications such as internet and mobile phones can affect the elderly in Iran.

While those born in mid 1940s are now entering their old age, very few had the chance to acquire computer skills. Therefore, they are currently lagging behind in the digital era. Significant numbers of the elderly across the world suffer from chronic loneliness. This is especially true in the urban areas. Social technology which contributes to enhancing contacts with grandchildren and children, adds to the e-care of the elderly, and their happiness.

Younger age-groups being more e-literate are much more comfortable with technologies such as mobile phones or computer. But, there is still a long way to go to see the elderly in Iran easily using e-instruments and e-Network. Young people must learn how to value the elderly in our society and similarly, the elderly could learn a lot from them through e-education, e-Learning, which would prevent them from social exclusion.

As the number and proportion of the elderly people increase due to high population growth rates of 1960s, the health-care system will be faced with unprecedented age-related issues such as shortage of e-education, social stigma and low status, employment issues, transport or medical treatment are highly problematic for the elderly people in Tehran and Iran in general.

To read the whole paper click Here 

Source: International Federation on Ageing

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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights. 
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

CZECH REPUBLIC: 22,000 attended third-age varsities in 2011

PRAGUE, Czech Republic / Prague Daily Monitor / January 18, 2012

Some 22,000 people studied at Czech universities of the third age in the 10.5 million Czech Republic last year, Petr Vavrin, chairman of the Association of Universities of the Third Age (AU3V), told CTK on the sidelines of a conference on active aging held in the Senate yesterday.

He said the people attended 912 courses that some 20 public universities and faculties offered them.

Vavrin said elderly people's interest in education is rising, yet they only constitute 1 percent of 2.4 million old-age pensioners.

He said third-age universities registered a total of 33,712 students in the past academic year 2010/11, but the real number is lower because some of them attended two and more branches.

Vavrin pointed to the need to spread seniors' education from large towns to the countryside.

He said some universities have workplaces in regions where third-age university courses could also be organised.

Another opportunity is e-learning that has already started to be applied at the universities of the third age.

"Politicians should realise that the seniors sitting in university benches cost the state less money than those who are sitting at the doctor's," Martin Solc, from the AU3V, said.

Experts say investment in elderly people's education benefits the state because it keeps them fit and encourages their activities.

Besides, they are capable of using Internet banking, mobile telephones, digital photo cameras, and other modern equipment.

The first universities of the third age were opened in the Czech Republic in the academic year 1986/87.

Copyright 2011 by the Czech News Agency (ČTK). 

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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights. 
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

MALAYSIA: Children and senior citizens study under one roof

PETLANG JAYA, Selangor / MySinChew Daily / January 17, 2012


MyKampung
Children and senior citizens study under one roof

A group of people have been perseveringly learning English in Kg Perting, Bentong. Aged from 10 to 76, the group learns the language in a public library once a week.

Chen Ti An is the English teacher of the class. As a vegetarian, he believes that human should practice a healthy diet and share knowledge with others. He symbolically charges his students only RM10 a month and the money is actually meant to spend on treating the students dinner.

Chen said that English is an international language used in all places and occasions.

He said that most of his students are senior citizens and undeniably, they understand and learn slower compared to young people. Moreover, some of them are too shy to speak in English or ask questions. These affect their learning. However, they still worked very hard to learn. Such a spirit should be learned by the younger generations.

Chen said that it is not a problem to learn slowly as what he wants is actually to train them make sentences in English, so that that can later communicate in English. Vocabulary, grammar, as well as the ability to read and listen are important in learning English.

He said that there is also another way to learn the language, namely listening to English songs. Therefore, he teachers his students an English song every time before the class ends.

He believes that singing is a good way to remember English words.

Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE
Sin Chew Daily


Copyright © 2012 MCIL Multimedia Sdn Bhd
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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights. 
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

LITHUNIA: University of the Third Age strives to improve older people’s social integration

KLAIPEDA, Lithuania / The Baltic Times / News / December 7, 2011


‘Grandparent boom’ in the auditorium
By Egle Juozenaite

The elderly in Lithuania constitute an increasingly growing group, and along with it grows the average age of the overall population. According to Eurostat, the median age of the Lithuanian population in 2060 will be 48.1 years, whereas in 2010 it was 39.2 years. Therefore, during the next fifty years the average age will increase by nearly a decade, so there is a need to think now about how these elderly people will be employed. What will they be doing on a late autumn day? Knitting socks, watching TV melodramas and rarely coming out of the house?

TAKING ATTENDANCE: Professors face
a classroom of students eager to learn.

On Oct. 1, 2010, a day which commemorates the International Day of Older Persons, Klaipeda University signed a contract with the public institution Treciasis Amzius (Third Age) establishing a chapter of the University of the Third Age, in its Faculty of Health Sciences. 

This initiative was led by Arturas Razbadauskas, dean of Klaipeda University’s Faculty of Health Sciences and Irena Linkauskiene, director of Third Age.

The first University of the Third Age was established at the University of Toulouse, in France in 1972. It was started by Professor Pierre Vellas and was mostly associated with the local university. The idea was so successful that it spread to many other countries, and by 1975 the International Association of U3A branches had been formed. “In 1995, Lithuanian Medardo Coboto University of the Third Age joined the International Association of Universities of the Third Age (IAUTA), which has its headquarters in Lyon, France,” says the official Medardo Coboto University Web site.

Klaipeda University investigated the situation in other countries. “It seemed that in many places the largest public universities, and not only them, have universities for elderly people, so we decided to establish the University of the Third Age in Klaipeda,” said Razbadauskas, who is also a working surgeon.

“Klaipeda’s University of the Third Age, as well as other U3As (University of the Third Age) around the world, strives to improve older people’s social integration into society, to promote meaningful learning, maintain employability, physical activity, and tries to increase the level of knowledge and culture. U3A also provides opportunities for people of retirement age to remain an active part of society and to have the opportunity to enjoy an easy senescence,” he added.

The Third Age studies last for two years. University students average in age from 66 to 75 years. Lectures for the elderly occur once every two weeks, for two academic hours. The first year of studies were successfully completed by 652 students - 600 women and 52 men). “Now, there are about 700 people in the first year course, and about 300 at the second course of studies,” notes Arturas Razbadauskas.

Studies at the university could be described as a voluntary activity for all. Students do not pay tuition, and teachers do not receive any compensation. “It is just a desire to give and share, the initiative, which promotes solidarity between the generations,” says Razbadauskas.

Linkauskiene, currently director of Third Age, said, that “already in 1996 there was the bud of the U3A’s formation, but the government did not support it. For a long time we needed a gerontology specialist, who could work with health. Even before the establishment of U3A we had been inviting doctors and academics to give lectures, so now we are very happy that, finally, we have got our own university.”

The NGO Third Age is an institution of Third Age People with Disabilities. “However, disability does not mean that we are sitting in a wheelchair. We have a variety of ailments and illnesses, but we all can walk and we are supporting each other. The enthusiasm maintains us,” adds Linkauskiene.

Many elderly people attending the lectures already have a university education and work in occupations such as teachers, doctors or journalists, so that during lectures some things are already familiar to them, and others simply add to their existing knowledge. “We didn’t expect to meet so many students. They do not fit into one classroom; we had to put them into two rooms. The lectures are read using a multi-media method and broadcast to the two audiences. There are so many students at the University, as it rarely happens that so many gathers together, but seniors fill all the places. The rooms are packed,” exclaimed Razbadauskas.

Klaipeda U3A students listen to a variety of lectures. They are also trained in computer literacy. Students can go to computer classes, use the university libraries. Seniors have their own email. They are active users of social networks such as Facebook. Here they have their own group, where they talk with each other and discuss topical issues.
U3A also focuses on health sciences. At this university people are taught a healthy lifestyle where they listen to lectures on disease prevention, the impact of age, the aging of the body, as well as on non-traditional medical procedures. “We introduce to people non-traditional medicine, such as dolphin therapy. In addition, at University of the Third Age we had a guest professor, Partap Cauhan, from India. He gave a lecture on Ayurveda. Course instructors are focused on the philosophy of life and practical tips for helping understand, and helping [students],” explained Razbadauskas.

“Sometimes we meet with [potential] guest speakers who offer to read lectures to students on a variety of medications, dietary supplements or procedures. These are promotions; we do not accept these teachers, as they are just here for profit, to sell more pharmaceuticals. I myself, as a doctor, can say that a handful of various drugs and dietary supplements will not solve the problems. The most important thing is to eat healthily, to exercise and live a balanced life,” he added.

Such education is a kind of informal education, but it could be formalized. “If students want, they can formalize their studies. If students would like to study for a bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences, it would be decided on how many credits could be received,” explained Razbadauskas.

On whether the University promises to expand, Razbadauskas said that “everything will depend on funding; if the University of the Third Age will receive support, then there will be further discussion on U3A activity expansion. Now the university gets support for various institutions such as libraries, theaters, but in order to obtain more support and funding for U3A, we need to submit a variety of projects, which could help to get more support.”
Elderly people are also the subject of students who study Health Sciences at Klaipeda University. They learn how to help them, how to work with them and rehabilitate them after serious illness, so students and seniors are closely tied together. “Ergo therapy, or occupational therapy, is an area for us; we involve the students in activities related to this, developing a relationship between generations,” noted Razbadauskas.

The elderly are very active and willing to participate in various activities, to express themselves in artistic fields as well. Linkauskiene herself in 2008 published a book of poetry: Ugniazole Zalia (Celandine Green), the same year the Third Age’s creative chronicle almanac Saulejauta 8 (Sense of Sun 8) and six other seniors’ books were published. The organization also has its own ensemble Juraine (Marine antecedents), and actively collaborates with other U3A groups from other Lithuanian cities.

Seniors with smiling faces rush to their lectures; they arrive by public transport or in their own cars, some of them accompanied by relatives. U3A student Aldona Marija Gedviliene said “I am coming to the classes by car, no problem.”
“We could have more lectures; now we don’t have [very] many of them. I like to go to the University and, no matter whether it rains or snows, I go there to meet people and to listen to valuable information. When I will graduate from the U3A I will receive a certificate showing that I attended the University of the Third Age, so that I can show it to my grandchildren,” laughs another senior student, Joana Kaktaviciene.

“We are very busy; immediately after the lecture we will go to the Alternative Art Center where we create paper cutouts, learn floral basics, monotype. Together with my colleague Prane Kaminskiene, we held our art exhibition. My grandson also attends art school, so I’m helping him to draw sketches; we cooperate and work together,” says Joana, a ripe old age student, before returning to the auditorium to listen to another lecture.

© 2011 BALTIC NEWS LTD.
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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights.
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

SINGAPORE: Helping the needy and elderly get IT-savvy

SINGAPORE / ChannelNewsAsia / Singapore News / September 17, 2011

By S Ramesh

The government is stepping up efforts to get more senior citizens and low-income Singaporeans to embrace Infocomm Technology (ICT).

It's raising the income cap for needy households to own computers and introducing more programmes to teach IT skills.

The effort to encourage computer ownership among needy families started in 1999.

Since then, more than 31,000 households whose gross monthly income did not exceed S$2,500 have benefitted from the programme by the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA).

From November, the income cap will be raised to S$2,700 - to enable more low-income homes to own a brand new computer at an affordable price.

And that's not all. Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Chan Chun Sing said more help will also be extended to needy students from households with an income of S$1,800 and below.

Major-General Chan said schools will be given more autonomy from the third quarter of this year to buy devices and software to suit the specific learning needs of students from low-income families.

Turning to senior citizens, MG Chan, who joined them at their Silver Infocomm Day, noted that there has been growing interest in the Silver Infocomm Programme.

Since 2007, nearly 45,000 of them have taken advantage of the various courses.

"The Infocomm Development Authority says it wants to make it convenient for senior citizens to enhance their IT skills. So it has added three more community clubs to its list of Silver Infocomm junctions where senior citizens can enhance themselves with a whole array of IT skills," said MG Chan.

With the growing popularity of tablet PCs, the IDA has extended its Silver Infocomm PC Incentive Scheme to cover tablet PCs.

It'll introduce iPad courses from October to enable more senior citizens to adopt ICT on the move.

Copyright © 2011 MediaCorp Pte Ltd.
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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights.
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

CANADA: When Seniors Make Mistakes, Are They Learning From It?

SAINT CANNAT, Bouche-du-Rhone, France / French Tribune / August 25, 2011

By Annabelle Tautou

Learning from mistakes is the thing that applies to kids and seniors as well, revealed a latest research.

A new study conducted at Baycrest, a Toronto-based research centre revealed that seniors learn better from their mistakes. The new research is in contrast of the earlier beliefs that mistakes were a barrier in elderly people’s learning process. This Canadian research studied the relation of Ageing with trial-and-error learning and passive learning and came to conclusion that the former method is more effective in adult learning.

Andree-Ann Cyr, Lead Researcher said, “Making a lot of effort or being very active when you're trying to remember something is better than being passive and just hearing the information”.

The research involved both the young and the old people ageing 20 to 70. The elderly people showed better response to ‘trial and error methods’ when compared with the younger ones. The response of older people was 2.5 times more than the younger ones.

Cyr believes that this maybe because of the reduced memory abilities in the elder people. The mistakes and errors make a big impression on the memory than some random theory.

The study was published in the online edition of Psychology and Aging.

© 2010 FrenchTribune
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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights.
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

NEPAL: Senior citizens unimpressed‚ no takers for literacy classes

KATHMANDU, Nepal / The Himalayan Times / July 2, 2011

Himalayan News Service

MYANGLUNG: With participation of senior citizens dwindling progressively, the government-launched literacy classes in Terhathum district have gone down the drain.

There are 160 literacy centres in 32 village development committees across this eastern district.

A village in Terhathum district of eastern Nepal.

However, most of the classes look good only on paper, thanks to a low turnout of the district’s senior citizens.

Inspector for literary classes in Simle and Isibu VDCs, Yubaraj Bhattarai, said the classes have been a fiasco after the target group stopped attending the classes, citing different reasons.

According to inspector Bhattarai, very few parents are taking up the classes, despite the fact that the number of illiterate people in the district is pretty high.

Literacy volunteer Sabitra Khabas of Myanglung-4 said the classes had been closed several times after the elderly people stopped attending the literacy classes.

According to the District Education Office, though 30 students are required to conduct a literacy class, many literacy centres do not even have a single student.

District Education Officer Baburam Dhungana said there were no students at all in many literacy centres.

“Elderly people hesitate to turn up, saying they will not get anything by studying at old age,” Dhungana said.

According to the Terhathum District Education Office, Rs 52, 34,960 was spent in the district under informal education and national literacy programme this year alone.

© 2009 The Himalayan Times
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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights.
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

SWITZERLAND: Leaming and Longevity - Critical Thinking

Learned flies die young LONDON, England (The Economist), April 24, 2008 YOU do not usually get something for nothing. Now a new study reveals that the evolution of an improved learning ability could come at a particularly high price: an earlier death. Past experiments have demonstrated that it is relatively easy through selective breeding to make rats, honey bees and—that great favourite of researchers—fruit flies a lot better at learning. Animals that are better learners should be more competitive and thus over time come to dominate a population by natural selection. But improved learning ability does not get selected amongst these animals in the wild. No one really understands why. Tadeusz Kawecki and his colleagues at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland have measured the effects of improved learning on the lives of fruit flies. The flies were given two different fruits as egg laying sites. One of these was laced with a bitter additive that could be detected only on contact. The flies were then given the same fruit but without an additive. Flies that avoided the fruit which had been bitter were deemed to have learned from their experience. Their offspring were reared and the experiment was run again. After repeating the experiment for 30 generations, the offspring of the learned flies were compared with normal flies. The researchers report in a forthcoming edition of Evolution that although learning ability could be bred into a population of fruit flies, it shortened their lives by 15%. When the researchers compared their learned flies to colonies selectively bred to live long lives, they found even greater differences. Whereas learned flies had reduced life spans, the long-lived flies learned less well than even average flies. The authors suggest that evolving an improved learning ability may require a greater investment in the nervous system which diverts resources away from processes that stave off ageing. However, Dr Kawecki thinks the effect could also be a by-product of greater brain activity increasing the production of reactive oxygen particles, which can increase oxidation in the body and damage health. No one knows whether the phenomenon holds true for other animals. So biologists, at least, still have a lot to learn. Copyright © The Economist Newspaper Limited 2008.

INDIA: 'DISCOURSES ON AGING AND DYING' Coming

BOOKS DISCOURSES ON AGING AND DYING SUHITA CHOPRA CHATTERJEE PRIYADARSHI PATNAIK Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur VIJAYARAGHAVAN CHARIAR Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi Published: April 2008 Pages: 272 Size: Demy: 5.5" x 8.5" Imprint: SAGE India Cloth Paper India, Nepal, Bhutan (INR) Rs 350 Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives(USD)$8 ISBN 9780761936442 About the Book Aging and dying are inevitable. However, coming to terms with this truth can be difficult, especially in the modern context with an excessive dependence and faith in biomedicine. Advances in biomedicine and life-prolongation strategies along with changes in social-cultural structures pose a different kind of predicament—the percentage of aging population is on the rise and, at the same time, traditional strategies for taking care of the elderly and their problems are being replaced by more impersonal state-driven methods. India, with its large population, poor biomedical facilities for the average person and widespread poverty, yet fast changing attitudes towards family and the aged, faces a great crisis today. The collection of essays in this volume addresses different aspects of this issue. The first section is both philosophical and prescriptive. It explores our rich religious and philosophical tradition to probe the very concepts of life and death and then suggests strategies—age old and time-tested—for coping with the inevitability of aging and dying. Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic perspectives on aging, dying, euthanasia and related concepts are explored and coping strategies suggested. The second section deals with socio-ethical issues related to aging and dying in the Indian context, in light of the existing state of affairs and possible directions for the future. The third and final section looks at the most pressing problems that confront both Indian society and medicine—end-of-life care. To order this book in North and South America visit www.sagepub.com and in UK, Europe, Africa and the Middle East visit www.sagepub.co.uk Source: SAGE Publications

USA: An Age-Old Lesson Comes Alive For Ohioans

CHAGRIN FALLS, Ohio (Associated Press), December 24, 2007:

The Rev. Hamilton Coe Throckmorton shivered with anticipation as he gazed at the loot — wads of $50 bills piled high beside boxes of crayons in a Sunday school classroom.

Cautiously, he locked the door. Then he started counting.

It was a balmy Friday evening in September. From several floors below, faint melodies drifted up — the choir practicing for Sunday service.

Throckmorton was oblivious. For hours, perched awkwardly on child-sized wooden stools surrounded by biblical murals and children's drawings, the pastor and a handful of coconspirators concentrated on the count.

Forty-thousand dollars. Throckmorton smiled in satisfaction as he stashed the money in a safe.
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That Sunday, the 52-year-old minister donned his creamy white robes, swept to the pulpit and delivered one of the most extraordinary sermons of his life.

The Rev. Hamilton Throckmorton puts on his robes before a service at Federated Church in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.

First he read from the Gospel of Matthew.

"And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his ability."

Then he explained the parable of the talents, which tells of the rich master who entrusts three servants with a sum of money — "talents" — and instructs them to go forth and do good. The master lavishes praise on the two servants who double their money. But he casts into the wilderness the one so afraid to take a risk that he buries his share.

Throckmorton spends up to 20 hours working on his weekly homily, and his clear diction, contemplative message and ringing voice command the church. Gazing down from the pulpit that Sunday, Throckmorton dropped his bombshell.

Like the master, he would entrust each adult with a sum of money — in this case, $50. Church members had seven weeks to find ways to double their money, the proceeds to go toward church missions.

"Live the parable of the talents!" Throckmorton exhorted, as assistants handed out hundreds of red envelopes stuffed with crisp $50 bills and stunned church members did quick mental calculations, wondering where all the money had come from. There are about 1,700 in the congregation, though not everyone attends each week.

The cash, Throckmorton explained, was loaned by several anonymous donors.
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In her regular pew at the back of the church, where she has listened to sermons for 40 years, 73-year-old Barbara Gates gasped. What kind of kooky nonsense is this, she thought.

"Sheer madness," sniffed retired accountant Wayne Albers, 85, to his wife, Marnie, who hushed him as he whispered loudly. "Why can't the church just collect money the old-fashioned way?"

In a center pew, Ann Nagy's eyes moistened as she remembered her late beloved father, his suffering, and the song she had written to comfort him near death. She nudged her husband Scott. "Give me your $50," she whispered. Nagy knew exactly what she would do.

Throckmorton wrapped up his two morning services by saying that children would get $10. And he assured the congregation that anyone who didn't feel comfortable could simply return the money. No consignment to outer darkness for those who didn't participate.

Throckmorton is warm and engaging and approachable, as comfortable talking about Cleveland Indians baseball as he is discussing scripture. At the Federated Church, he is known simply as Hamilton.

But as church members spilled into the late summer sunshine that morning to ponder their skills and their souls, there were many who thought: Hamilton is really pushing us this time.
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"There was definitely this tension, this pressure to live up to something," said Hal Maskiell, a 62-year-old retired Navy pilot who spent days trying to figure out how to meet the challenge.

Maskiell's passion is flying a four-seater Cessna 172 Skyhawk over the Cuyahoga County hills. He decided to use his $50 to rent air time from Portage County airport and charge $30 for half-hour rides. Church members eagerly signed up. Maskiell was thrilled to get hours of flying time, and he raised $700.

His girlfriend, Kathy Marous, 55, was far less confident. What talents do I have, she thought dejectedly. She was tempted to give the money back.

And then Marous found an old family recipe for tomato soup, one she hadn't made in 19 years. She remembered how much she had enjoyed the chopping and the cooking and the canning and the smells. With Hal's encouragement Marous dug out her pots. She bought three pecks of tomatoes. Suddenly she was chopping and cooking and canning again. At $5 a jar, she made $180.

"I just never imagined people would pay money for the things I made," Marous exclaimed.
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Others felt the same way. Barbara Gates raised $450 crafting pendants from beads and sea glass — pieces she had casually made for her grandchildren over the years.

Kathie Biggin created fanciful little red-nosed Rudolph pins and sold them for $2.50. Twelve-year-old Amanda Horner pooled her money with friends, stocked up at JoAnn's fabric store, and made dozens of colorful fleece baby blankets, which were purchased by church members and then donated to a local hospital.

And 87-year-old Bob Burrows rediscovered old carpentry skills and began selling wooden bird-feeders.

But it wasn't the money; everyone said so. It was something else, something far less tangible but yet so very real. For seven weeks an almost magical sense of excitement and energy and camaraderie infused the elegant red-brick church on Bell Street, spilling over into homes and hearts as the parable of the talents came alive.
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In her sun-filled studio on Strawberry Lane, Shirley Culbertson felt it — a joyful sense of purpose that she had rarely experienced since her husband passed two years ago. Culbertson, 81, is a gifted painter and watercolors fill her house. But she discovered another talent during this time — knitting whimsical eight-inch stuffed dolls with button noses and floppy hats. She raised $90.

Marty Culbertson, left, and Martine Scheuermann pooled their church money to turn Scheuermann's kitchen into an "applesauce factory," making batch after batch Scheuermann sold to fellow church members.

Zooming down country roads clinging to the back of a leather-clad biker, Florence Cross felt it too. For the challenge, Barry Biggin had parked his 2006 Harley Davidson Road King outside the church, offering 12-mile rides for $30. Cross was the first to sign up. Never mind that she is in her mid-80s, had never been on a bike, or that her husband of 60 years had to hoist her up.

"Oh, it was such a thrill!" said Cross, her face glowing at the memory. Her friends now call her "Harley Girl."

Martine Scheuermann lived the parable in her Elm Street kitchen, transforming it into an "applesauce factory" for several weeks. The 49-year-old human resources director would rise at 6 a.m. on Sundays in order to have warm batches ready for sampling at church services.

In his origami-filled bedroom on Bradley Street, Paul Cantlay lived the parable too. Surrounded by sheets of colored construction paper, the 9-year-old crafted paper dragons and stars and sailboats. He set up an origami stand at the end of his street, charged 50 cents to $5 depending on the piece, and raised $68.

Talents began multiplying at such a rate that the church held a bazaar after services on two consecutive Sundays for people to display — and sell — their wares.

The pretty little village on the Chagrin River falls had never seen anything quite like it. Everyone seemed to be talking about the talent challenge: over the clatter of coffee cups at Dink's restaurant, at the Fireside bookshop on the green, sipping drinks at the Gamekeeper's Taverne. Even members of other churches weighed in: Have you heard what's happening at Federated?

"Anyone can open their wallet and give cash," Kris Tesar said. "This was just an extraordinary process of exploration and discovery and of challenging ourselves. It became bigger than any one of us or than any individual talent."

Tesar, a 58-year-old retired nurse, discovered her talent in buckets of flip-flops for sale at Old Navy. She stocked up on yarn and beads and made dozens of funky, fluffy decorative footwear that were a huge hit with teens. Tesar raised $550 for the church, is still taking orders and is thinking of starting a business. Now even her children call her the "flip-flop lady."
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People also got to know the "hen lady" — Gabrielle Quintin, who took to raising chickens on a whim 23 years ago when she moved into a 180-year-old house with a barn. Her "ladies," as Quintin calls her backyard flock, provide a welcome distraction from her nursing job in a cancer center. Quintin decided to put her brood to work for the church. For $10 church members could "hire-a-hen" and get three dozen fresh eggs complete with a photograph of the "lady" who laid them.

"Hen lady" Gabrielle Quintin, who began raising chickens as a hobby 23 years ago, used her $50 to provide "hire-a-hen" service. For $10, people got three dozen fresh eggs and a photo of the bird that laid them. Photographs by Amy Sancetta -- Associated Press.

"It wasn't exactly spiritual, but I had a lot of fun," said Quintin, whose husband, Mike, made glass birdfeeders. "And it was just this great way of bringing everyone together and connecting with the church."
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Kathy Wellman quilted. Mary Hobbs knit shawls and penciled portraits. Cathy Hatfield auctioned a ride in her hot-air balloon. Norma and Trent Bobbitt pooled their money with another church member to hire a harpist from the Cleveland orchestra and host an elegant evening dinner party. Folks paid $50 each to attend and the Bobbitts made over $1,200.

And physician Peter Yang took over shifts from other doctors in his partnership (he used his $50 for gas to get to the hospital) and raised $3,000.
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The deadline to return the money was Sunday, October 28. Nervously, some church council members suggested posting plain clothes security guards at services that day. But Throckmorton would have none of it. He insisted that the spirit of the challenge, which had already inspired so much goodwill, would carry them safely through. And it did.

Organ music filled the church as people silently filed down the aisle, dropped their proceeds into baskets, and offered testimonials about what living the parable had meant to them. Throckmorton thanked everyone for their generosity. Then he started counting.

A week later he delivered the joyful news: They had more than doubled the amount distributed.

The initial take was $38,195 over the loan, but the amount is still growing. Some people didn't make the deadline, or extended it in order to finish their projects.

The final sum will be divided equally between three charities: One-third will go to a school library in South Africa where the church is involved in an AIDS mission; one-third will go to micro-loan organizations that provide seed money for small businesses in developing countries; one-third will help the Interfaith Hospitality Network in Cleveland, specifically programs for homeless women.
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Throckmorton is asked all the time if the talent challenge will become an annual event, but he is doubtful. It was a special time and a special idea, he says, and he is not sure it could be re-created or relived.

Yet in a very real sense, it lives on. Church members who never knew each other have become friends. And orders for applesauce, flip-flops and Rudolph pins are still rolling in for Christmas.

There are other, more poignant reminders. Like Ann Nagy's haunting tribute to her father, who died of brain cancer on October 11.

Nagy, 44, has always been a singer with a clear lovely voice. It wasn't until her father grew ill and moved into a hospice that she started writing songs. She found solace in the music and a way of communicating that was sometimes easier than spoken words.

At hospice, patients are taught five simple truths to tell their loved ones before they die: I'll miss you. I love you. I forgive you. I'm sorry. Goodbye.

Borrowing from that theme, Nagy wrote a farewell song for her Dad. She pooled her $50 talent money with her husband's share and cut a CD to sell to church members.

Ironically it was finished just an hour before her father passed. Nagy stood by his bed and sang it for him anyway.

On November 11 — her father's 72nd birthday — Throckmorton preached a sermon about dying. He invited Nagy to the altar. There, accompanied by a cellist and a pianist she sang "Before You Go."

Her voice soared.

The congregation wept.

The parable of the talents had never seemed so alive.

By Helen O'Neill
2007 The Associated Press