University Unitarian Universalist Society The Connection

Volume 14, Issue 6 June, 2010

ADULT RE (OFFSITE) SUNDAY 9:00 AM PROGRAMS FOR JUNE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION SUNDAY 9:30 AM June 6th Catherine Giordano ' Thou Shalt Not Kill ' SUNDAY SERVICE 10:30 AM Cathy is a well respected speaker in area UU congregations. In honor of our 2nd Principle, Cathy will take a look at why capital punishment is neither just BEACON (TEENS) nor fair and why it should be abolished. SUNDAY 6-8 PM

FIND US/WRITE US: June 13th Rev. Mark Spivey 'Honor Thy Neighbor as Thyself '

UNIVERSITY UUS Mark comes to us from Hospice of Volusia County, with a wealth of experience 11648 MC CULLOCH RD ORLANDO, FL 32817 and knowledge, mixed with a quick wit and a performer’s soul. This month, he talks about how our capacity for experiencing compassion is related to our abil- 407 737-4018 ity to accept what we see reflected in our own mirror. He explores the truth VISIT OUR WEBSITE: about love, compassion, self care and being vulnerable in the presence of others (neighbors). It supports our First Principle. • www.universityuus.org

POTLUCK AFTER SERVICE Inside this issue:

June 20th Jim Scott 'Honor Thy Father' Programs for June 1 Annual Elections 2 UU folk singer and Green Sanctuary pioneer, Jim joins us to celebrate fathers, peace and serenade us with some of his favorite songs. Jim is on tour and will Alliance Schedule for June 2 Our HS Graduates 3 be performing in the area on June 19th if you wish to hear him in concert.

UU Notable News 4 Beacon, RE, Adult RE June 27th Jim Rucquoi 'Florida Hometown Democracy'

Social Concerns 5 FHD is a grassoots, non-partisan group which seeks to return land use deci- sions to local communities. This issue is on the ballot for November 4th and already is being misrepresented. Jim seeks to clarify what the new Calendar of Events 6 amendment actually would accomplish .

Groups, Clubs, Meetings 7 University UUS offers live streaming of the services! What this means is that if you're unable to attend the service, you can still listen to the service as it’s happening, instead of waiting for the recorded version to be put on the Inter- Directory (Back Cover) 8 net. To listen to the service, visit http://www.universityuus.org/audio.htm and follow the directions there. PAGE 2 THE CONNECTION VOLUME 14, ISSUE 6 ANNUAL MEETING: NEW BOARD AND TRUSTEES FOR 2010/2011 (7/1/10-6/30/11)

At our Annual Meeting on May 16, 2010, the following slate was elected by the congregation:

President...Martha Kirby Board of Trustees: (3 year terms) Vice-President...Joie Kohl Mike Christle...3 year term Treasurer...Dave Symonds Kim Carter-Williams...2 years remaining Secretary...Judy Minear Link Christensen...1 year remaining, replaced Grant Enright Endowment Committee: (3 year terms) Bill Long...1 year remaining Virginia Viles...2 years remaining Nominating Committee: Dan Metz...fulfilling 2 years remaining Evelyn Chiland-Long on Mike Christle’s term John McCormack Pat Moylan...3 year term

We had an extended discussion about the budget for the coming year, as our planned expenses exceed our pledge drive and estimated income. Most of the new building expenses had to be estimated. The budget was passed (with one against) with the understanding that we will continue to work toward its bal- ance. We are all looking for ways to cut expenses and bring in more income, such as actively seeking rental income. The Board has been approached by several members who are interested in volunteering to do jobs that we customarily pay for, a potentially significant savings. In the 2 weeks since the meeting, we have received more pledges and donations, (all are welcome!) cut back on other expenses and are getting closer to a balanced budget. We fully appreciate the importance of the programs we offer and of the community we share. Each and every one of us are precious and we are so thankful to have such an amazing community! We will keep the dialog open and thank you all for your ideas and support.

Alliance Programs for June, 2010 In case you missed it last month: June 1 Board Meeting Continuing Bazaar May 1st is membership renewal time, and one of our members will match any June 8 Pot Luck money given over the $10.00 yearly Continuing Bazaar dues. The Alliance is essentially a giving cir- June 15 Making sandwiches for the homeless. cle. We raise money from donations and Continuing Bazaar our continuing bazaar and donate most of it to local charities. Last year we gave June 22 Virginia Thayer will present a monologue titled away $15,000. We also pledge to our two "Missing A Beat". The subject is Women's churches. heart health. Continuing Bazaar The Alliance is an important voice for Unitarian Universalists in the community. June 29 Alexis Collins, Resident Services Director of the Give your money with 70 other men and Orlando Neighborhood Improvement women and make a difference. Make Corporation will be our speaker. your check payable to The Alliance and Continuing Bazaar mail to the church (1st Church Orlando) or give to Shirley Jantzen. Thank you. Vicki Kirkland, Second Vice President for Programs VOLUME 14, ISSUE 6 THE CONNECTION PAGE 3 CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR GRADUATES WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND WISH YOU SAFE JOURNEYS, AMAZING EXPERIENCS AND HAPPY LIVES

MIRANDA HARMON:

Miranda Harmon is graduating from Oviedo High School on June 4th , 2010. She will be attending Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland in August, and plans to major in visual art and art his- tory. She began attending youth group at age 12, and has been active in UUUS ever since.

CHLOE MC ELROY:

Chloe McElroy is graduating from Winter Park High School on June 3rd, 2010. She will be attending Seminole State College in the Fall, having received a scholarship. She will be majoring in theatre arts.

ANDI SHAFER:

Andi Shafer is graduating from Winter Park High School on June 3rd, 2010. She will be attending Valencia Community Col- lege and will major in animal medicine. PAGE 4 THE CONNECTION VOLUME 14, ISSUE 6 UU NOTABLE NEWS — MAY 2010 In May Harvard Square Library presents a double bicentennial celebration.

MARGARET FULLER 1810-2010 recognizes the extraordinary early contribution to the liberation of women symbolized by the publication of her Woman in the Nineteenth Century . http://harvardsquarelibrary.org/Margaret_Fuller_Bicentennial/Margaret_Fuller.html

THEODORE PARKER 1810-2010 reminds us of the moving epistle the dying prophetic preacher wrote from Santa Cruz to his Boston congregation concerning his Experience as a Minister . http://harvardsquarelibrary.org/parker1/Experience_as_a_Minister_-_Theodore_Parker.html

Two other articles of note are being released online this month, one is a celebration of recent WGBH Ra- dio broadcasts of our First Parish Cambridge Forum founded in 1967. The other is a celebration of Lowell and Janice Steinbrenner ’s role in creating the Carnegie-Mellon University Steinbrenner Institute for En- vironmental Education and Research in Pittsburgh. http://harvardsquarelibrary.org/hsr/

Rev. Herbert Vetter, Director Harvard Square Library www.harvardsquarelibrary.org

BEACON NEWS….

Our teens hosted a CON May 28-30, “CONopoly.” This was a social action CON. They planned to provide volunteer time at Mending Hearts, an organization that provides activities and safe play opportunities for local children from 2 to 12 years of age. Additionally, they had a workshop on homelessness, led by Christine Tudhope, who spoke so powerfully to us in April.

RE for our young….

The RE classes will continue for another week or two, finishing up on the 7th Principle. The sum- mer classes are usually times when people share their talents or interests with the children. Please “stay tuned” to Happy and Michelle to hear what they have planned over the summer months.

If you have a hobby, craft, special interest or great idea and would love to share it with the chil- dren one summer Sunday, please get in touch with Happy Amein ([email protected]) or Mi- chelle Smith ([email protected])….they would love to sign you up!

The Adult R.E. (a.k.a. UUUS Breakfast Club) meets each Sunday morning from 9-10 @ the Holiday Select Hotel Dining Room, one block east of Alafaya Trail off University Blvd. (7 minutes from church). If you are curious about what type of subjects we discuss, please join us! To be placed on our mailing list to receive the Sunday Class Reading, contact our UUUS Office @ [email protected] & write UUUS Breakfast Club on the subject line PAGE 5 THE CONNECTION VOLUME 14, ISSUE 6

Status Reports Date: 2009-05-24 By: Gary Przyborski Social Concerns (SC)

The Urgency of the Immediate

The immediate always grabs ones attention as it did with Greece's unsustainable economy fed on ever burgeoning debt via a bubble facilitated by none other than the infamous Goldman Sachs. Few cared about Greece's poor fiscal policy until investors sent shockwaves throughout the global economy and Europe's currency was threatened. Reluc- tantly Germany finally stepped in to try to stem the crises.

More recently, the Gulf Oil disaster has focused public attention on offshore drilling. Almost daily for years, the indus- try has shown television commercials with an attractive middle age actress confidently telling viewers how the new deep water offshore wells are more productive and safer. The ads end with a pitch for more offshore drilling to “strengthen America's energy independence.” President Obama and a majority of Americans believed this before the Deepwater Horizon exploded and sunk into the Gulf, leaving a ripped open pipe at the ocean floor pumping spewing thousands of barrels a day into the ocean. The scope of the disaster continues to grow and has galvanized public opinion against offshore drilling once more.

I mention all this as a reminder that as a species we are notoriously bad at judging risk. Simply because there has not been a major oil disaster in years, doesn't mean that the risk is not there; it's a statistical thing which would be better if BP or the government did their jobs, but still their. A far better stance is greater diligence about safeguards while be- ing conscious of the mid to long term risks of our policies and actions, or inactions. Obviously, continued fossil fuel use will produce future oil spills and ever more destructive climate changes, which to this point have not captured the imagination like buildings collapsing, homes torn apart by hurricanes or ten mile long oil slicks. The effects are pro- ceeding as predicted using climate models: bird migration changes, increased insect populations with a rise in ma- laria and decreased arid land. Global Warming remains a far greater threat to us all, but most Americans, like our President, ignore the real changes that could lead us to a better future.

One such change we could make would be better conservation of water and power. At the UUUS assuming the new classroom building is certified LEED Silver by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), will mean nothing if we are not serious about reducing our negative effect on the planet. Being aware of lights that are left on, water left running, thermostats set too low and the such. On May 23 rd we found a malfunctioning thermostat, apparently due to a bad battery. Here are some energy consumption figures that are startling. First off, note that 2008 (highlighted) was our lowest power consumption, 22.5% lower than 2007. 2009 costs were $1151 more than 2008, with $416 of that due to a price hike. Energy use for 2010 is currently even worse than 2009 without factoring in an increase from the additional building. I suggest that we redouble our efforts to conserve (restore thermostats to 80F before you leave, turn off unnecessary lights, monitoring temperature) while making additional changes to the existing building to cut future power use even further, such as the reflective window film that we attempted to add back in 2008 but that was rejected by someone on ascetic grounds.

A talk on individual steps toward water conservation was given to Adult RE on May 16 th . The talk outlined simple ways to find and fix leaks as well as conserve water (less baths, low flow shower heads, low flow toilets). During that talk I mentioned the President's Cancer Panel report was controversial in the U.S. for mentioning that cancer risk from environmental exposure is greater than the 6% currently listed. Note: Most cancers are due to cigarette smoking (~30%). However, scientists have known for decades that various compounds that we are exposed to are carcino- genic. Items singled out were BPA plastics used as liners in canned goods and some plastic bottles, contaminants in municipal water supplies, pesticides, unnecessary x-rays. One of the key points made by the panel is that we are ex- posed to some 80,000 chemicals of which only 600 are controlled for exposure. For more info on the report, see http://deainfo.nci.nih.gov/advisory/pcp/pcp08-09rpt/PCP_Report_08-09_508.pdf and http:// www.onpointradio.org/2010/05/the-risks-of-environmental-cancer. At the end, I showed a Lifeline BPA-free stainless steel water bottle with a foam cover that the SC is selling for $9 each- thanks to Martha Kirby!

By the way, the UUUS average water use for the last year 220 gal/day due in part to a leak that showed on the De- cember bill. If one just used March and April 2010, the average is 130 gal/day. Average water consumption at home should be less than 25 gal/day per person. Remember to avoid using potable water for watering or for refilling a pool. Take care and remember that SC meets on the last Sunday of the month... = PAGE 6 THE CONNECTION VOLUME 14, ISSUE 6 June 2010

Meetings, Holidays, Celebrations, Gatherings of Interest to the UUUS Community

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

Ongoing Sunday events: 1 2 3 4 5 Circle Sup- Adult RE 9a per at the Children’s RE Alliance meets 9:30a at 1st Church Lerman’s Service 10:30a 6:30 p Dreamwork 6-8p Beacon 6-8p

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Investment Alliance meets Novel Book Group 11:45a at 1st church Group 10a Last Dream- work Group 6-8 Board Meets 7p Men’s Group 6:30-9:30p Ocean Day

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Potluck Alliance meets at 1st Church

20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Book Group Council Meets Alliance meets 10a 11:45a at 1st Church UUUS

Women’s Group Father’s Day

27 28 29 30

Social Con- Alliance meets cerns 11:45a at 1st Church PAGE 7 THE CONNECTION VOLUME 14, ISSUE 6 GROUPS, CLUBS, MEETINGS:

Alliance: The Alliance meets every Tuesday at First Church, downtown Orlando. Members from UUUS and 1st Church enjoy a variety of activities, share a lunch, hear speakers and make sandwiches for the homeless. Come and join this wonderful group! For more information, see the schedule on page 2 or call Kathy Anderson or email Marilyn Stewart: [email protected]

Book Discussion Group: May 29 - Evolution for Everyone (continued from last meeting); June 26 - Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. Authors: Nicholas D. Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn. The paperback will be available from Amazon on June 1. New York Times columnist Kris- tof and his wife, WuDunn, a former Times reporter, make a brilliantly argued case for investing in the health and autonomy of women worldwide . Contact Steve Hall for more info: [email protected]

Circle Suppers: Roberta and Harvey Lerman will be our hosts. They are celebrating their 50th anniver- sary, so it promises to be a special evening! Saturday, June 5th, 6:30 pm. Look for the sign-up sheet on the back table in the sanctuary. This is a great way to socialize and get better acquainted! If you would like more information about hosting one of these monthly suppers, please contact Julie Symonds, who is in charge of scheduling them.

Dreamwork: This group is facilitated by Judy Minear and Mary K Swanson. They are taking May 30th off and will meet for the final time in this session on June 6th. They meet on Sunday from 6:00 - 8:00 pm in the UUUS sanctuary to share dreams and offer insight into each other’s dreams. If you are interested in finding out more about this group, or would like to know when the next series will start, please contact Judy at [email protected] . Suggested $5 per class donation to the UUUS building fund.

Investment Group: The purpose of this group is to examine the current and future trends in the stock, bond, currency and other financial markets. The resulting information is intended to assist participants in maximizing the return from their own investment portfolio. Meetings are usually held at 12 noon, following the service, on the first Sunday of each month. You are invited to join us! For further information, please contact Bill Long via email at [email protected]

Lunch Bunch: The Lunch Bunch is on vacation for the summer! They will begin anew in August, so watch for more information at that time. Questions? Contact Dutton Ashcraft ([email protected])

A Novel Book Group: The group meets on the 2nd Saturday, June 12th at 10 a.m. This month's book is the much acclaimed, "," by and David Oliver Relin. A Balti dear friend told Greg, "‘If you want to thrive in you must respect our ways,’ Haji Ali said, blowing in his bowl. ‘The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family, and for our family, we are pre- pared to do anything, even die,’ he said." When 'Dr.' Greg left Korphe after an amazing adventure, he made a promise to Haji: "I will build a school, Mortenson said, I promise". He did. From a mountaineer to a humanitarian from to Afghanistan. Won't you join us for our amazing adventure on June 12?

The UUUS Women’s Group: All women are welcome! UUU Women's Group usually meets the last Friday of each month for an adventure! Please contact Christina Miller at [email protected], or Jill Metz at Jill@metzbridges for more information on upcoming events!

The UUUS Men’s Group: All men are welcome! The Men’s Group meets monthly and shares fellow- ship and a meal. June 6th is the next planned meeting, 6:30-9:30 pm. Contact David McElroy for more information: [email protected] UNIVERSITY UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST SOCIETY 11648 McCulloch Rd. Orlando, Florida 32817 Phone: 407 737-4018 Email: [email protected] Website: www.universityuus.org

Directory of University UUS Communications UUUS Board Webmaster...Mike Christle… President Chris [email protected] [email protected] Vice President Martha [email protected] Newsletter...Chris [email protected] Secretary...Judy [email protected] Information Tech Mgr...Mike Christle… Treasurer Dave [email protected] [email protected] Trustee...Kim [email protected] Youth Trustee..Link [email protected] Owl ...Kim Carter-Williams... Trustee... Joie [email protected] [email protected] Administrator: Michelle Smith… Eric and Rachel Christensen… [email protected] [email protected] Committee Chairs Beacon ...Cleveland Williams.. Alliance...Marilyn [email protected] [email protected] New Building ..Barry Lundin [email protected] & Kim Carter-Williams… Mike [email protected] [email protected] Facilities...John [email protected] Eric and Rachel Christensen… Finance...Julie [email protected] [email protected] Hospitality...Kathy Anderson Activities Member Concerns...Joie [email protected] Book Group..Steve [email protected] and Joe [email protected] Chess Club...Paul [email protected] Pastoral Care...Sylvia [email protected] Circle Suppers...Julie Symonds... Programs...Judy [email protected] [email protected] Public Relations...Joe Mendoza…[email protected] Dreamworks...Judy Minear…[email protected] Religious Education (youth)...Happy Amein… Great Decisions...Bill Long…[email protected] [email protected] Investment Grp..Bill Long..billlong5@yahoo. com RE (adult)...Roy [email protected] Lunch Bunch...Dutton [email protected]. Social Concerns/Green Sanctuary...Gary Przyborski … com [email protected] Novel Book Club...Bethed Keifer… [email protected] Women’s Group...Jill [email protected]