PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

You should have received the June Emeriti Center Retiree Community Newsletter in the mail.  The information about our June 16 program is on the front page.  This should be a very interesting and timely topic.  Hope to see you.  Reservations can be made by calling or emailing the Emeriti Center: 213-740-7122 or <emeriti@usc.edu>.

Our dues renewal letters will be coming out this month.  Please send in your checks and, if possible, a little more to help meet the rising costs of everything.  The Board took the big step of creating an endowment account ($10,000) in the hope that with donations from our members we can increase the principal to an amount that will realize funds on an annual basis to help with our expenses in perpetuity.  Endowments in the USC portfolio have been producing income of over 12 percent with "spendables" of about 5 percent.

At the May Board Meeting, a revision to our bylaws was approved.  This changes the job descriptions involving the recruitment and retention of members and the management of our data files.  The new text is listed below.  Sadye Lawson is taking on the membership duties for this year, and Dick Martin will manage our data files.  A huge THANK YOU to both.

"Member Recruitment and Renewal committee:

"Responsibilities include all actions associated with the recruitment of new members, and the actions associated with the renewal of existing memberships.

"Report to the Board monthly the number and names of new members, the number of members lost, and the resulting total membership number."

"Data Base Management Committee:

"Responsible for the maintenance of the SRA data base and the retrieval of necessary information in support of activities of the SRA.

"Responsible for insuring that the data base, or a copy of it, is maintained up-to-date on the Emeriti Center computer network."

Save the dates:  October 24, 25, 26.  USC's Emeriti Center is hosting the AROHE Conference, and we will be assisting with a number of tasks.  AROHE is the Association of Retirement Associations in Higher Education and was founded by our own Paul Hadley.  The Emeriti Center is the Executive Office of the association that has member institutions across the USA and in Canada.

Carole Gustin
<cgustin@usc.edu>


SOCIAL SECURITY/MEDICARE HELP ON UNIVERSITY PARK CAMPUS

If you (or a family member) are ready to begin collecting benefits from the Social Security Administration, you can get help on the University Park campus to start the process.  We are launching a pilot program which will have representatives from the local Social Security Administration office on site each month to help with the following:

*Federal Disability Benefits
*Social Security Retirement Claims
*Medicare Claims
*Social Security Cards
*Federal Benefit Verifications

The Social Security Administration representatives will be available at the Credit Union Building (CUB), 2nd Floor the first Thursday of each month.  We are currently accepting appointments for June 5. Call Teri Aparicio at (213) 821-8106 to set up a half-hour appointment for yourself or a family member.

(Source: USC Office of Benefits Administration)


IMPROVED AARP WEB SITE

AARP is boasting a "dramatically revamped and expanded" Web site: <http://bulletin.aarp.org/>.  "We have added staff and expanded our expertise to provide a whole new dimension of news and updates. . .  Every day, we'll offer up-to-date features on such issues as health care, financial security, politics and lifestyle, tailored to your concerns."


FRAUD ALERT

Warnings against scam emails can be scam emails.  Scammers now are making their fraudulant emails appear genuine by having them warn against scam emails.  Example: an email purportedly from a bank warns its customers about scam emails sent in its name, tells them that their accounts have been "locked" to prevent anyone from losing money by falling for the the scam emails, and tells them that they can "unlock" their accounts by calling a phone number.

When customers call, they are asked for their account numbers, passwords, and other confidential information to "verify" their identities—and the scammer uses the information provided to commit theft.  Self-defense: look up the bank's phone number yourself and call it directly.  [Bottom Line Retirement, April 2008]


INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING IN USC RESEARCH STUDIES ON AGING?

There are a variety of research projects going on at the Davis School of Gerontology and in affiliated departments at USC investigating how aging affects thinking and emotion and what can be done to maintain healthy minds as we age.  If you think you might be interested in volunteering to participate in one of the studies, you can find more information here: <http://www.usc.edu/gero/participate/>.

Also, the information following provides contact information for one study that is currently recruiting participants." This study involves brain imaging using MRI." As part of the study, participants receive an image of their brain.

"Be a volunteer in a research study looking at how attention affects brain activity." Qualifications: Age 18-35 or 65+ at University Park campus." Parking provided." Duration is approximately 2 hours." Payment is $30." For more information, call (213) 740-9543."


BETTER DOG TREAT

Carrots.  Feed pieces of carrot or whole baby carrots when you want to give a dog something special.  Carrots are crunchy and tasty--and low in calories.

They are good for humans, too.


TWO BODY ODDITIES

Why do you get "ice cream headache"?  Very cold foods can overstimulate the nerves on the roof of the mouth.  The sudden stabbing pain in your head, also known as "brain freeze," is an example of referred pain.  To avoid it, eat ice-cold foods slowly and try to keep them away from your palate.  To counter it, press your tongue to your palate or drink something lukewarm.

Why do you get goose bumps?  The tiny muscles at the bottom of hair follicles contract in response to cold, fear, or other emotions.  In furry mammals, this causes hair to "stand on end," trapping a layer of air as insulation and making the animal appear larger to scare off predators.  In humans, it is a "vestigal reflex" (it no longer serves a purpose) and instead just makes skin look temporarily rough and pimply.  [UC Berkeley Wellness Letter, June 2008]


THE OBLIGATORY HUMOR

Upon arriving home in eager anticipation of a leisurely evening, the husband was met at the door by his sobbing wife.  Tearfully she explained, "It's the druggist.  He insulted me terribly this morning on the phone."  Immediately the husband drove downtown to accost the druggist and demand an apology.

Before he could say more than a word or two, the druggist told him, "Now, just a minute, listen to my side of it.  This morning the alarm failed to go off, so I was late getting up.  I went without breakfast and hurried out to the car, just to realize that I locked the house with both house and car keys inside.  I had to break a window to get my keys.

"Driving a little too fast, I got a speeding ticket.  Then, about three blocks from the store, I had a flat tire.  When I finally got to the store, there was a bunch of people waiting for me to open up.  I got the store opened and started waiting on these people, and all the time the darn phone was ringing its head off.

"Then I had to break a roll of nickels against the cash register drawer to make change, and they spilled all over the floor.  I got down on my hands and knees to pick up the nickels—the phone is still ringing—when I came up, I cracked my head on the open cash drawer, which made me stagger back against a showcase with a bunch of perfume bottles on it, and half of them hit the floor and broke.

"Meanwhile, the phone is still ringing with no let up, and I finally got back to answer it.  It was your wife.  She wanted to know how to use a rectal thermometer.

"And Mister, I told her!!!"


A SIMPLE ALZHEIMER'S TEST?

I was listening to "Day to Day" on May 27th (KPCC, 89.3 FM, 9:00–10:00 a.m.).  Madeleine Brand interviewed Sue Halpern about her new book, "Can't Remember What I Forgot: The Good News from the Front Lines on Memory Research."  The author cited a standard Alzheimer's test.  "If you misplaced your keys, that's one thing.  But if you forget what keys are for, that's a disease."


C L A S S I F I E D  A D S
(Listed in order of receipt)

None this month.

[To have your free ad appear (for things to give away, to sell, to buy, etc.) in the next issue, please send to <len@winesland.net> before the first of the month.]


_______________________________________

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*The content of this E-mail Newsletter is for the information of the members of the USC SRA.  It is not a University of Southern California official publication.  There is no intent to promote any particular product or point of view.  Personal decisions regarding health, finance, exercise, or other matters should be made after consulting with the reader’s own professional advisors.