SAGE this September

Tuesdays 9:30-11:30 A.M.

Hybrid: In-person or via your laptop or alternative device

September 19: Tarlan Ahmadov, President, Azerbaijan Society of Maine, former Maine State Refugee Coordinator, expert on refugee resettlement & migration

The Impact of Global Migration on US Domestic Refugee Resettlement and Maine’s Unique Challenges and Opportunities

Tarlan Ahmadov was born and raised in Baku, Azerbaijan, during the Cold War era. He will talk about his experiences and the hardships that lead people around the world to migrate. He will review the impact of global migration on US domestic refugee resettlement policy, changes over the past five years, and the unique opportunities for diversifying Maine’s workforce. He will talk about state and local service programs in the areas of health services, employment, and social adjustment, as well as services for older immigrants, to name a few. Tarlan will share his belief that “We belong to the world, and the world belongs to us,” and how our responsibility for our actions can serve our new Mainers.

September 26: Tom Judge, Founder and Executive Director, LifeFlight of Maine

Lifeflight of Maine: Primary Provider of Critical Care Air and Ground Transport in Maine

Thomas Judge is the founding Executive Director of LifeFlight of Maine. LifeFlight is a non-profit hospital consortium of critical care systems. It serves over 40 hospitals in Maine and New England as well as providing primary response to accident scenes and medical emergencies in remote and island communities. Tom has an extensive background in air transport medicine, EMS, and is known nationally and internationally for designing and implementing emergency care systems and standards. Tom will talk about the critical role and services provided by LifeFlight and explore the moment when the phone rings at 911 to summon help in a medical emergency. The response to the call is simple, says Tom, but among the most profound is, "If you call us, we will come!"

October 3: Shankar Narayan, Attorney & Advocate for Community-Centric Technology; Board Member, CETI (Creative Emergent Agency)

Artificial Intelligence (AI): Its History, Data, Algorithms & Accountability

Shankar will tell how artificial Intelligence (AI) influences our daily lives from healthcare to credit, and housing to policing. He will trace the history of AI systems, which are becoming harder to detect and challenge, as AI algorithms, such as ChatGPT, become more embedded in our society. As an independent consultant for tech equity, he will speak about how we can bring fairness, transparency, and accountability to surveillance and AI technologies, and how we can empower the leadership of impacted communities, including people of color, immigrants, and religious and gender minorities. An immigrant himself, Shankar is a graduate of Bates College, Yale Law School and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He has taught law, technology, and ethics at Seattle University School of Law.



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We are excited our SAGE Series of eight presentations will be a hybrid offering for the first time in our history. This means you can attend a presentation in-person on the USM campus, or you may attend via Zoom from wherever you may be, in Maine or elsewhere. All presentations will be recorded and available to those who have signed up for the SAGE Series or for any single presentation for which you have registered ahead of time to attend online. The exact location on campus for our presentations will be announced via a separate email prior to our first presentation.

OLLI Members can subscribe to the entire Fall Series for $50, though the earlier the better because subscribers get the series of eight programs for the price of five single programs. The entire SAGE Series can be purchased on the OLLI website in the same manner as an OLLI class.

Single SAGE lectures cost $10 each and are open to the general public on a walk-in basis or by registering for online viewing. You do not need to be an OLLI member to attend a single lecture; however, when purchasing a single lecture for online viewing, you need to contact the OLLI office at 207-767-4406 no later than the Thursday prior to the lecture.

You can register by using this link: https://usm.maine.edu/osher-lifelong-learning-institute/registration/

Reminder: Interested in joining the next Trivia Po-Up? You can sign up on the OLLI website under Special Events.

Here are answers for the best Trivia Night questions this summer.



1. What east-coast city was the first to use written exams at the elementary school level?

Answer: Boston. Horace Mann initiated the use of written exams in elementary schools in 1845. Only oral exams had been used at the elementary level prior to that. His goal was for all children to have access to best teaching practices and equal opportunities for education. He focused his work on elementary schools and teacher training.

2. Who starred in the comic strip that invented the word “jeep?”

Answer: Popeye. The word “jeep” was first used in 1936 in a comic strip titled, “Wha’s a Jeep?” Eugene the Jeep was a dog-like animal that walked on two feet and had magical abilities. When Popeye asked Professor Braintime what exactly a jeep is, he answered that a jeep is an animal living in a three-dimensional world who really belongs in a four-dimensional world.

3. How often is the Eiffel Tower painted?

Answer: An average of once each seven years. Eiffel wrote, “…it [painting] is the essential element in the conservation of metal works and the more meticulous the paint job, the longer the Tower shall endure.” The Eiffel Tower was constructed of puddle iron.

4. What unusual condition did the rock band Van Halen put into the contract rider for their tour performance venues—and why?

Answer: A bowl of M&Ms with absolutely no brown ones in their backstage space. The M&Ms were one of the munchies listed on page 9 of the 11-page rider. The purpose was to see if the managers at the venues were reading the contract and paying attention to all of the details, including safety-related items. Brilliant!

5. What is a grawlix?

Answer: A cluster of typographical symbols or other unpronounceable characters that substitutes for a profanity. It is typically made from the characters above the numbers on the top row of a computer keyboard, e.g. @,#,$,%,&,*. It is mainly used to get around restrictions or censorship in publishing.

6. What is actor Michael Keaton’s real name?

Answer: Michael Douglas (born 9/5/1951). The Stage Actors’ Guild (SAG) prohibits two actors having the same name, and Michael Douglas was already taken! Michael Douglas aka Michael Keaton is the son of actor Kirk Douglas (1916-2020), who also changed his name! He was born Issur Danielovitch and often called Izzy Demsky. Kirk’s reason for changing his name was that he feared it was too Jewish for Hollywood at the time; he regretted doing so later in life.

7. What is the national flower of the United States?

Answer: The rose. The US did not have a national flower until November 20, 1986, when Ronald Reagan made the declaration in a special ceremony in the White House Rose Garden. Each state has adopted a state flower; five of them are roses.

8. One more White House question for our final question this month: What animal did President Wilson use to keep the White House lawns trimmed?

Answer: Sheep, up to 48 of them! During World War I, Woodrow Wilson kept a flock of sheep on the White House lawns to save labor and money. When the sheep were sheared, each state got two pounds of wool to auction off and benefit the Red Cross. They raised over $50,000!