This newsletter is brought to you by Human Resources.
|
|
Retiree Employee Assembly
Representatives Needed
|
|
Are you interested in representing the experience and needs of Cornell retirees within the larger university context?
Are you seeking a convenient and flexible way to volunteer?
Two Cornell staff retirees are needed to represent the retiree community on the Employee Assembly (EA) beginning June 2023. The EA advocates for staff interests and identifies matters of concern and works with the university administration/other key stakeholders to seek solutions. This is an excellent way to be involved in decisions that make Cornell a great place to work and retire from!
The one retiree seat/vote is shared by two volunteers to reduce the overall time commitment. Rotating off are retirees Stacey Coil and Alan Mittman, whom we thank for their dedication and willingness to serve in this important role. Alan says, "It was fun and rewarding to meet and work with employees I knew and worked with at Cornell. Everyone was welcoming and supportive."
Retirees who live outside New York state are eligible to volunteer and can join meetings remotely. Retirees who have returned to working at Cornell are eligible to volunteer.
What’s involved?
- Participate in noontime bi-weekly EA meetings with subcommittee meetings occurring on off weeks. You will work collaboratively with your fellow representative to determine participation and coverage for these various meetings.
- Join the Cornell HR Retiree Engagement Advisory Committee (HR REAC) meetings three times per year. This committee is charged with advancing Cornell as a retiree/retirement-friendly employer.
- Liaise with Work/Life in Human Resources to communicate with retirees, and inform them about specific issues/concerns
- Connect with the retiree community through events sponsored by Work/Life, the Retiree Newsletter, and/or other opportunities.
|
|
Special Virtual Retiree Event:
Climate Change and Fruit Crops in NY
|
|
Tuesday, March 21, 2023, 12:00 PM
Join us for a special virtual presentation for Cornell retirees featuring Dr. Alan Lasko.
Dr. Lakso is an Emeritus Professor at Cornell University with 50 years of research in apples and grapes, integrating crop development with environmental factors and cultural practices as they affect productivity and fruit quality. His research emphasized experimentation and simulation modeling approaches to understand physiological responses to management, weather, and climate change, as well as adapting and developing new precision technologies to help growers optimize fruit production.
Stay tuned for more special presentations for Cornell retirees in the coming months!
|
|
Local and Virtual Activities |
|
Science in the Virtual Pub - Catching the Buzz: The Amazing Honey Bee
Thursday, February 23, 2023, 7:00 PM
Although the plight of pollinators has become better known, not all appreciate the amazing biology behind our major pollinators like the introduced honey bee. In this session, we will explore the dynamics of colony behavior, bee products, and the threats that they face. Time to open a bottle of mead and appreciate our Apis friends.
Speaker Dr. Brenda Young, Professor of Biology, Chair of Local and Global Sustainability, Daemen University, is an amateur beekeeper who has become fascinated by the intricacies of the honey bee.
|
|
Meet the Sewing Machine
Thursday, March 16, 2023, 4:30-5:30 PM
Tompkins County Public Library (TCPL) - MakerSpace
Join TCPL Makerspace Librarian Cady for a free, introductory class about sewing machines! In this lecture-style class, Cady will go over the parts and functions of a modern sewing machine, show how to thread and prepare to sew, and the basics of machine sewing. This is an excellent "first touch" for folks who haven't sewed on a machine or may feel intimidated to do so.
|
|
Cornell Concert Series - Quartetto di Cremona
Thursday, March 2, 2023, 8:00 PM
Bailey Hall
The Quartetto di Cremona, one of the world's foremost string quartets, is known for its lustrous sound, refined musicianship, and stylistic versatility. Celebrating its 22nd anniversary in the 2022–23 season, they were established in 2000 at the Accademia Walter Stauffer in Cremona, Italy, the center of violin-building where Stradivari and Guarneri perfected their craft. Since then, the Cremonas have toured extensively in Europe, the United States, South America, and Asia. They have also appeared at leading festivals and performed regularly on radio and television broadcasts.
For their Bailey Hall performance, the group will present a program of works by famed Italian composers Boccherini, Puccini, Respighi, and Verdi.
For more information, please visit the series on their website.
|
|
Thursday, March 2, 2023, 4:00 PM
160 Mann Library and Zoom
Professor of philosophy and ethics John Doris will reflect on his recent collection of essays spanning over 20 years of his work exploring questions of character, virtue, and agency, as well as discuss recent developments in the understanding of moral cognition and behavior, and the moral psychology of character.
|
|
Retiree Q&A with Gary Brandt |
|
Retiree Q&A is dedicated to sharing retiree experiences within our community. To share your story, email worklife@cornell.edu.
Tell us about your time at Cornell. I loved working with Mary Opperman as a Senior HR Manager. I also had an appointment with the Department of Athletics to teach a hockey class each semester at Lynah Rink. I served on the Employee Assembly, was a liaison to the Faculty Senate, and served one year as the Chair of the University Assembly. I served as chair of the Annual Cornell Campus Hockey Tournament where alumni, faculty, staff, grad, and undergrad student teams played for the Perry-Beavers Cup each spring at Lynah Rink. President Hunter Rawlings once said, “we need to remove the silos of the great institution” and my response was to start this annual Cornell Campus Hockey Tournament. Hundreds played in the games. I also coached the Men’s Club Hockey team for about a decade, and we won two league titles. That was amazing!
What do you miss most about Cornell? No question about this – I miss my great faculty and staff colleagues the most. Second, I miss Lynah Rink, especially the smell of the rink. We had hockey season tickets for 26 years and last year gave them to our daughter and husband. And I miss the students in my hockey classes and the boys from the various Club Teams (they still send me photos of their weddings and families).
How did you get into writing? All my working life I had to write proposals, evaluations, audits, etc. In my spare time as my children got older, I would write short essays for newspapers, personal short stories, and poems. I read a lot and admired great writers like Paul Theroux, Cornell alum Kenneth Roberts, Jane Smiley, Cormac McCarthy, etc. So in retirement, with more time for research, I said “It’s now or never buddy” and the pages just started coming out of my fingertips. I’m now writing the third book of the Giroux family trilogy, which is about a large Canadian-American clan from WWII to the present time.
How did you come up with the storyline for your books? Nearly all my characters are combinations of people that I have known or closely observed. Some great people, some contemptible, some abundantly kind, some brilliant, and a few just plain dumb.
What aspects of your own life helped inspire your writing? Many of my elementary, high school, and university teachers, especially a couple of my coaches in hockey, football, and baseball. Especially Coach Bill Dunn, a severely wounded US Marine from WWII who was like a father to me. Toughest, kindest person that I have ever known.
What else do you do for fun? The most fun ever is watching and playing with our youngest grandson, age 4. I built him a large playhouse/sandbox last summer. It has a slide from the top room and bunks to sleep in as he and his friends get older. His three buddies live across the street from us. It’s wild.
Any advice for new retirees? Yes. Honor your biological and Cornell families; stay healthy; find and keep spiritual friends; hire people to do stuff that you don’t like or want to do; and just smile every day. Forget any preconceived “bucket lists” as you are not on a treadmill. You’ve made it to retirement baby!
Learn more about Gary and his novels here.
|
|
Preparing Your Home for Caregiving
Thursday, February 23, 2023, 2:00 - 3:30 PM
Teressa Sivers, a NY Connects Specialist and Coordinator of the Registry Personal Aide Program, will present the basics of how to prepare your home for caregiving. This will include tools for basic safety, along with tips for accessibility.
To register, please call 607-274-5486 or email ajackson@tompkins-co.org. This program is offered through the Tompkins County Office for the Aging and Finger Lakes Independence Center.
|
|
Musical Companionship: How to be a Musical Companion for Your Loved One at End-of-Life
Mondays on March 6, 13, and 20 from 7-8:30 PM via Zoom
This is a three-part exploration of ways families and loved ones can include music as a care resource as they journey with those who have received life-threatening diagnoses, are critically ill, are traveling a hospice journey, may be approaching the end of life, or may be actively dying. This series will provide tools and ways to be with loved ones using live music, especially singing, as a support for those who are ill, as well as for the family and loved ones themselves who are gathered at the bedside. The class will explore teachings and facilitator anecdotal experiences, include opportunities for discussion, and provide song material for participants to learn and to keep.
Speaker Jayne Demakos is a certified therapeutic harpist and certified music-thanatologist (music and end-of-life care). She has worked in the care of the critically ill and dying for 17 years using harp and voice to address physical, emotional, and spiritual concerns special to this time. Jayne served on the faculty at Ithaca College developing and teaching specialized courses, ‘Exploring Music in Medicine’ with an emphasis on Hospice. She has presented her work at conferences and workshops in the United States, especially on the east coast, and in Ireland.
This program is offered to the community free of charge through Hospicare and anyone with or without musical training or experience is invited.
|
|
Caring for Aging Loved Ones: Declutter Your Older Loved Ones Home
Wednesday, March 15, 2023, 1:00 PM
Part of the well-home design is removing obstacles to better health. Learn tips on using principles from The Home Edit and Marie Kondo but with a twist for seniors living at home.
This Care.com session also talks about “visitability” which is how to make your home age-friendly for visiting relatives and how to help seniors with “solastalgia” the latest mental health issue for older adults based on living spaces.
|
|
Funding for Family Caregiver Respite
The Tompkins County Office for the Aging has a limited amount of funding to help family caregivers afford to hire substitute care that enables them to take a break from caregiving, usually a few hours a week.
-
Title IIIE Respite: This is federal funding that pays for respite service for family caregivers who are caring for an older adult (60 or older) who needs assistance with 2 or more Activities of Daily Living (ADL’s) (dressing, bathing, incontinence, transferring, toileting, eating) OR needs substantial supervision due to cognitive impairment (e.g., Alzheimer’s or other dementia).
-
Alzheimer’s Respite Scholarships: This is New York State funding granted to Tompkins County through the CNY Alzheimer’s Association. This funding pays for respite service (at home or in a licensed care facility) to give a break to family caregivers of persons diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or other dementia.
Although neither program is means-tested, we do try to target these funds to those who find it difficult to privately hire enough substitute care.
-
To Apply or Inquire: Please encourage family caregivers to contact Joanne Wilcox or Terry McCann at Tompkins County Adult and Long-Term Care Services (607-274-5278). Due to the overall shortage of aides, or if clients prefer it, they may able to use this funding to privately hire friends or relatives through the Finger Lakes Independence Center (FLIC) Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP).
|
|
Cancer Resource Center Volunteers Needed
The Cancer Resource Center needs volunteers for various roles. Here are a few examples of how you can help - choose an activity that fits your schedule best:
- Provide patient support at Cayuga Medical Center’s chemo & radiation wards
- Donate handmade hats, scarves, mittens, and socks to their boutique
- Write or call someone with cancer to brighten their day
- Drive cancer patients to their medical appointments
- Help out during their annual Walkathon and 5K
- Wash and package donated boutique items
- Assist with agency administrative tasks
For more information, please visit their volunteer web page.
|
|
Discussion Facilitators Needed
Do you like working with international, multilingual students, or are you interested in learning about other cultures? Join the English Language Support Office’s Speaking Groups Program (SGP) this spring as a Discussion Facilitator! It’s a great way to connect with new people on campus, meet graduate students, learn from others, make friends, and offer support to others.
Facilitators commit for 8 weeks of a semester to help lead and organize small 1-hour or 30-minute weekly discussions with multilingual graduate and professional students. For Spring 2023 groups will meet online, on campus, or a combination of both beginning the week of March 6 and continuing until May 6.
To be a facilitator, you need to be a Cornell undergraduate student, staff member, graduate student, post-doc, alumni, retiree or faculty, should be fluent in English, and have knowledge of US culture.
For more information visit the SGP web page. For any questions or specific concerns, please contact Melissa Myers.
|
|
Volunteers needed for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Kid’s Discover the Trail (KDT)
During the month of May, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology welcomes over 800 5th-grade students from across Tompkins County. Volunteers lead students on a biodiversity walk in the morning, followed by a post-lunch rotation of stations focused on bioacoustics and bird identification.
What is required of KDT volunteers?
- Volunteers must be 18 years or older, be available to attend the trainings, and lead a minimum of 4 programs. Programs run from 9:00 AM – 1:15 PM during the month of May.
- Volunteers should have experience working with youth and an interest in birds, plants, and natural history. You don’t need to be an expert! We’ll provide a thorough training.
Volunteer Schedule:
-
February-March: Sign volunteer forms, undergo a background check (for working with minors), take a short online course.
-
April: Attend volunteer training and sign up for program dates.
- Returning volunteers can expect one half-day of training to review the program.
- New volunteers should plan to attend two half-day trainings.
- All volunteers should plan on attending a final practice walk in late April.
-
May: We expect 15 program dates between May 1 – June 1 (exact dates TBA). New volunteers shadow / assist for their first two programs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
