December 2007
Vol. 2007-2008 No. 5
Reach out to welcome the new year
Welcome in the new year by hearing about Volunteers in Medicine at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 9, at the Peterson Room of the IU Foundation. Rajih Haddawi, M.D., will give us the scoop on this community-owned, community-operated, community-financed free medical clinic for adults in Monroe and Owen counties who are without health insurance or the economic means to pay for health care.
It’s fitting that a retired orthopedic hand surgeon should be the one to reach out and lend a helping hand. Dr. Haddawi was the driving force in founding the Monroe County chapter of Volunteers in Medicine. A native of Baghdad, he earned his medical degree in 1965 and opened his practice in Bloomington in 1972, retiring in 2005. When the Herald-Times named him to head its list of People of the Year in 2006, it described him as “part visionary, part organizer, part fundraiser, part cheerleader, and part recruiter.” Dr. Haddawi continues as chairman of the board of VIM.
More than 21,000 individuals in Monroe and Owen counties have incomes – for an individual, that’s $20,420 or less – entitling them to this service. The clinic, which opened in April 2007 at 333 E. Miller Dr., treats both acute and chronic conditions and offers health education to empower individuals to take responsibility for their own physical well-being. With Bloomington Hospital as a strong partner, the clinic, a United Way agency, operates because of its volunteers: physicians, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, social workers, psychologists, social workers, fitness and wellness instructors, and others.
Please join us for this fascinating program Wednesday, Jan. 9.
While you’re marking your calendar ...
Round out the academic year with these coming events, all at the IU Foundation:
Feb. 13 – 2 p.m., Ellen Surburg, manager of Bloomington Hospital’s hospice/home care program
April 9 – 2 p.m., Karen Hanson, provost, IU Bloomington
May 14 – 5:30 p.m., musical program and dinner
Taking spring break as seriously as befits people who are retired, the Annuitants Association does not meet in March.
A veritable surfeit of riches
Delicious food wasn’t the only draw as about 75 members of the Annuitants Association gathered at Terry’s on Dec. 5 for the annual gala holiday luncheon. The speaker, Heidi Gealt, director of the Indiana University Art Museum, offered up fascinating details of pictorial representations of the Nativity. Heidi wears her tremendous learning lightly, and her audience was enthralled by her explication of Nativity art: some of her favorites, some works owned by the IU Art Museum, and some work of Domenico Tiepolo, about whom she has written extensively.
One of her favorites, an Annunciation (1486) by a contemporary of Leonardo da Vinci, Carlo Crivelli, showed a ray of light permeating the wall of the impregnable palace where the Virgin sits. An earlier “Annunciation” (1333), by Simone Martini, of Siena, shows the Virgin shrinking at the angel’s unexpected news.
Visit the IU Art Museum to examine more closely Felipe Vigorny’s “Visitation” and his carved and gilded “Nativity,” two Adorations of the Magi, one by the Master of the Holy Kinship and another by Abraham Bloemaert, the most important Dutch artist before Rembrandt, and Luca Giordano’s “Flight into Egypt.”
Heidi immediately captivated her listeners by explaining that Domenico Tiepolo retired to do what he wanted, which included a vast history of Christianity, beginning with the parents of Mary and going through the acts of the apostles. Domenico embellished the classic Nativity stories to include a run-in with robbers on the flight to Egypt, as well as Mary changing diapers at a miraculous changing table beside a fountain.
President Bob Ensman welcomed people to the luncheon and recognized program committee chair Nancy White for her work arranging the luncheon. Other program committee members are Marge Belisle, Gene Faris, Sharon O’Bryan, and Don Weaver, who introduced the speaker.
Doris Burton said 116 annuitants already have pledged $75,000 to United Way. However, because our goal was $95,000, a reminder letter has been sent.
Ron Jensen paid tribute to longtime member Lowell Rose, who died Dec. 2. Ron described Lowell as “an absolute giant in public education,” a “man of sterling character” whose word you could trust absolutely.
About the enclosed directory
Entries in the attached directory are in alphabetical order across rows rather than down columns. So look across the row rather than down the column to find your name. If no e-mail address was listed on the membership form, none was included in this directory. Please send corrections to database manager Gerald Marker at marker@indiana.edu.
Emeriti House events
The following activities take place in January at 4 p.m. at 1015 E. Atwater:
Jan. 9 - Lewis Rowell, "Musical Icons, Designer Labels, and 21st Century Culture," with a few bars on the piano from Lew
Jan. 16 - Larry Friedman, "Why People Hate: Nature and Nurture"
Jan. 23 - Rob Stone, "Will the U.S. ever adopt a single-payer health system?"
Jan. 30 - Nazif Shahrani, "Afghanistan”
