OLLI's Civic Engagement Committee presents

What We Know Can Kill Us: Hunger, Obesity, and Policy Gaps in the USA

by Dr. Ameena Batada

Reuter Center Room 102A  

  Dr. Batada's talk will highlight the connections between food insecurity and obesity in the U.S. and the significant costs to our society.  At the heart of the issue is the importance of healthy food over any food, and the role of government and corporate policies to support healthy choices.  She will discuss how policies pertaining to school foods, marketing, labeling, and taxation are outdated compared to current nutrition and social sciences, and how we can take action personally and politically to reduce and prevent obesity and improve access to and consumption of healthy foods in our communities.

Ameena Batada, DrPH, is an assistant professor in the Health and Wellness Department at the University of North Carolina Asheville.  Dr. Batada teaches courses on health parity, maternal and child health, community health promotion, and health communication.   

Audubon Society Meeting 

Bats: The Yang 

to the Avian Yin?

 Dr. Chris Nicolay 

Tuesday, April 16,  7 pm

Reuter Center, Room 206

Free and open to the public.  

The April presentation will cover the diversity and ecological

importance of bats worldwide, and provide an overview of the species in North Carolina and their behavior. Bat populations throughout the eastern United States are being decimated by a disease called White-Nose

Syndrome, which has extended into our area within the last two years. The status of local bat populations and actions that people can take to

help will be addressed.  

Chris Nicolay, UNC Asheville associate professor in biology has research interests in comparative anatomy, ecological physiology, and bat biology.

For more information about the Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society, click here. 

Buddha's First Teaching: 

The Four Noble Truths

The essential insights of all Buddhist traditions stem from the initial discourse of the Buddha on the Four Noble Truths: suffering, its cause, its cessation and the path. Often misunderstood or trivialized, the psychological significance of the Four Noble Truths will be explained in relation to our 21st century problems. There will be a guided meditation and an opportunity for questions.  

REWINDING THE FIFTIES is the theme of the 2013 Spring Concert by the Reuter Center Singers. The concert will be full of favorite tunes from high school and college days!  A car from the '50s will be on-site for photo ops and will add to the fun!      

  Don't miss this toe-tapping good time!   

Please note the date of the concert has changed to 

Friday, May 17, 7 pm

May 21-June 4  

Join older adults from Western North Carolina for friendly competition in a variety of events: 

Click here to download more information and event registration form 

or you may contact: 

This Week   

April 7-13, 2013      

Next Week

April 14-20, 2013

And Beyond

 The Global Longevity Revolution

A Conversation with Dr. Mariano Sanchez and Dr. Ron Manheimer

Tuesday, April 16, 6 pm

The graying of the global population is creating historically unprecedented challenges to societies the world over. More generations are coexisting and interacting than ever before. This has dramatically altered relationships within families, communities, the work place, and in the halls of government. The arena of lifelong learning is no exception. What strategies might centers for lifelong learning embrace in this growing aging and multigenerational context?

Hear University of Granada, Spain, sociology professor Mariano Sanchez, an international expert on intergenerational relationships, currently doing his research at Penn State University, in a dialogue with Dr. Ron Manheimer, former founding director of the NC Center for Creative Retirement (now OLLI at UNC Asheville).

                     POETRY READING

Celebrate National Poetry Month with four of OLLI's poets. Pat Harvey, Ann Karson, Bill Petz, and Mike Ross will read selections of their own poetry on  

Wednesday, April 17, 4:30 pm,  

 Reuter Center Room 206. 

The reading is free and open to the public.

Poetry has been called "an insurgent art," "beautiful and pointless,""the language of the imagination and the passions," and "a kind of ingenious nonsense." Whatever you think of poetry, whether you "get it" or not, these poets will evoke something of the heart and the head. Each poet, in his/her own style, reveals something of who they are and how they experience the world. You may hear new perspectives, experiences of beauty, reasons to laugh, unanswered questions, and unquestioned answers. From their poetry readings you will know them better and perhaps our world as well.

A book sale and signing will follow the readings.