My niece shared a story with me that makes me giggle every time I think of it. It was springtime and to motivate her five-year old daughter to help clean up the yard she offered her a penny for every twig that she picked up. This was a great motivator and her young daughter was very busy scurrying around their small yard picking up sticks. After a short time, Mary noticed her daughter taking the sticks to the side of the house and then disappearing for a period of time. So, she walked around the corner of the house to check on her daughter's progress. There she sat beside her tidy pile of sticks breaking each one in half so that she could earn twice as much for her efforts! What a clever child!

Motivation is wonderful isn't it? It certainly can be when it guides us to succeed or attain a goal or even avoid a negative outcome. There are theories about positive reinforcement versus punishment as a means of motivation, and I can certainly attest to a few punishments from my childhood when I didn't get my chores or homework done and the results were a decrease in my allowance or poor grades. I think I learned quickly to do what was in my best interest. As adults we know the consequences of not paying bills on time; arriving to work late; or eating one more piece of that mouth-watering dessert!  

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The Northwest Ohio Intensive Stuttering Clinic at the University of Toledo was voted to receive $100,000 as our new Long Term Project at Convention 2012.  It was sponsored by Beta Delta, Van Wert, Ohio.

Dr. Rodney Gabel, Ph.D. spoke and was extremely appreciative of being chosen as our new Long Term Project.  You can read about donations made at the convention in the 2012 Helicon, on page 23, and in a newsletter article in April of this year, written by Brenda Bonner.  These may be accessed from the website, www.psiiotaxi.org.  Dr. Gabel is also featured in a video on the website.  This helps to describe his work even further. 

Below is an e-mail we received from Dr. Gabel. It will give you an idea about how his clinic went this past summer and his future plans.  

"What a successful year. We had 18 clients attend the clinic. All of them made measurable changes in such a short period of time. The participants came from five different states and one was from Canada. We had a large increase in our number of participants from Ohio (over half of our total numbers), which was positive. A total of 10 students participated as clinicians, experiencing between 50-100 hours of therapy with individuals who stutter. We will be continuing to follow this group throughout the academic year, with students both observing therapy and offering services during the fall and spring semesters. So, in many ways, the initial mission of this important program is met. We are hoping to build off of our momentum this year..."

SYMPHONY TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE!

Dame Elsie Irwin Sweeney was a member of the Epsilon Chapter, in Columbus, IN.  She received the title, Dame, by Royal Decree in the 1960's for her major contributions to the arts on both sides of the Atlantic. To say the least, she was an extraordinary Psi Ote, and she helped us in our development as Philanthropists in the area of music.  It began as a challenge to the membership at a mid-summer meeting. She agreed to match each dollar that Psi Ote chapters earned for symphonies with one of her own. There is much more history about this topic which could be covered in a later newsletter article. 

The Elsie I. Sweeney Endowment has made it possible for many students to attend symphonies this year. There are also concerts which go into June of 2014 as well. This has been a rewarding and hands on part of the National Project Chair position.  I am grateful for this opportunity