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ZOOM MEETING
BookFest 2020 March 30, 2020
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This issue of our newsletter is sent to members and friends of the Emory University Emeritus College (EUEC). I hope the newsletter will help keep you informed about our activities and help you feel connected with our members throughout the U.S. On the left are links to our website and links to contact either me or the EUEC office.
With best wishes,
Gray
Gray F. Crouse Director, EUEC
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 Message from the Director
It is almost unfathomable that it has been only two weeks since our last newsletter went out. At the time the newsletter was sent, although there were increasing concerns about the novel coronavirus, we expected to meet the next week for a Lunch Colloquium, and activities on campus seemed relatively normal. There was increasing volatility in the stock market, but the Dow Jones was at 25,018. On Friday, the Dow Jones closed at 19,174, headed for who knows where.
From relatively normal operations, Emory is now in a situation where the campus is literally locked down, with all buildings locked 24/7 with access only to Emory card holders with that particular building access. Most faculty and staff are working remotely (or not working in the case of non-essential staff who can't work remotely), all residence halls are closed, libraries, gyms, bookstores, performing spaces, and most dining halls are closed. Even most laboratories are closed, or mostly closed. I think it is safe to say that there have never in Emory's history been such drastic changes in such a short time. We also have no idea how long this will last.
Most of us are experiencing drastic changes in our personal lives too, although the extent of those changes will depend to some extent on where we live. Atlanta is mostly shut down. All restaurants, bars, gyms, non-grocery stores, movie theaters, and most churches are shut down. The enforced social distancing is important for slowing the spread of COVID-19 and is particularly important for the many among our membership who are at increased risk. However, the resulting isolation is difficult. That is why we are continuing with our programming in a virtual form.
I hope you can join us for next Monday's BookFest. There will likely be some glitches with getting connected and passing the microphone, as it were, to various speakers with books to recommend, but we are among friends and we will all be very understanding if any of you have problems with the technology! Please don't hesitate to reach out to me for help. Once you pass the hurdle of getting connected on Zoom, I think you will find it is a great way to connect with other friends and family.
Finally, on an upbeat note, a video has been passing among our members, from Bill Dillingham to Bradd Shore to Gretchen Schulz and finally to me. If you have four minutes to listen to beautiful music produced in part by socially-distanced musicians in Amsterdam, you can click here.
I am very grateful to Gretchen Schulz, Ann Hartle, and Marge Crouse for help with editing and proofing.
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Zooming Together
Prior to last fall, Emory had various video conferencing tools. Many of you know that EUEC used Adobe Connect to webcast and record our Lunch Colloquiums as well as some other meetings. There were other solutions that were used on campus as well, such as Go To Meeting, etc. Last fall, Emory adopted Zoom as its video conferencing solution and made available a licensed account to all faculty, staff, and students as well as emeriti faculty. That was a prescient move, as Zoom has in a short time come to dominate the market. We have been using Zoom since last fall and it has proven to be a stable and generally easy to use product.
As you know, we canceled the Lunch Colloquium scheduled for last Monday (was it really only last Monday?--it seems like forever ago) due to concerns about COVID-19, and there was a sentiment that we would just have to suspend our Lunch Colloquiums until it became safer to gather. In an incredibly few days, it has become all too clear that "safer to gather" is a very long way away. Not only is that true, but with social distancing most of us are experiencing increased social isolation, which is unhealthy for anyone and probably more so for many of us. Therefore, just like our faculty colleagues who are teaching and have been thrown in the online pool and told to swim, we must try to adapt to what is likely to be a new normal for longer than we would like. Zoom is a tool that can help us do that.
Is Zoom for me? It sounds too complicated.
You are reading this newsletter on a computer, tablet, or smartphone. Therefore, you likely have what you need in order to participate in Zoom sessions. There are two steps in using Zoom: installing the program on a computer, or an app, on a tablet or smartphone, and then using the Zoom program or app to connect to a meeting. Instructions are provided in the links below. If you feel the first step of installing is too intimidating, perhaps you can get a relative or neighbor to help you with that step (keeping social distancing, etc.). Using it is fairly easy.
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Zoom Lunch Colloquium--Monday, March 30
BookFest 2020: Recommendations for Reading Now
Location: Wherever you are
11:30-1:00
Voracious Readers Anonymous, Assorted Members of the Emeritus College
Click here to read more below about this Lunch Colloquium
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New Members
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Faculty Activities
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The past two weeks have seen an astounding change at Emory. There were increasing concerns about what effect the novel corona virus that causes COVID-19 might have on Emory, but until Wednesday, March 11, operations were mostly normal. Below is a condensed timeline starting on March 11:
Wednesday March 11 - Spring Break is extended until Sunday, March 22. By that time, all students living in Emory residences are to collect their belongings and move out. Residential facilities will close and all instruction will be online.
- It was recommended that all gatherings not essential to the academic mission be canceled.
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University travel to China, Iran, Italy and South Korea is to continue in suspension and travel to other countries should be reconsidered.
Friday, March 13
- All employees who are able to work remotely should be doing so on a routine basis by March 30, 2020 and until further notice is provided.
Monday, March 16
- Two undergraduate students residing at Emory Point test positive for COVID-19.
Wednesday, March 18 - Effective immediately, laboratory researchers should begin a pandemic-mitigation process to suspend and conclude experiments and reduce direct contact study visits with participants for all non-essential, non-critical, on-campus research. The process to wind down these activities should be completed no later than Monday, March 23.
- Undergraduates, volunteers, and visitors, including non-Emory students, are not permitted in any laboratory, even those conducting critical research.
- Critical functions should not be assigned to graduate students. Graduate students should begin working remotely immediately, or as soon as the research ramp-down process is complete, but no later than the March 23 deadline.
- Traditional May commencement activities are canceled.
Thursday, March 19
- An Emory University student who currently resides on campus has tested positive for COVID-19
Friday, March 20
- Beginning Monday, March 23, all Atlanta and Oxford campus buildings will be secured and will only be accessible with an active Emory ID card.
There is an extensive webpage devoted to the COVID-19 crisis at Emory. There is much more detail about the above decisions, as well as other decisions involving financial aid and support for students, etc. There is also a lot of information about COVID-19.
You can click this link to see that webpage:
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We note the death of member Barbara Bruner.
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Changes to the Emory 403(b) Retirement Plan--Postponed
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Walking the Campus with Dianne
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Zoom Lunch Colloquium--Monday, March 30
BookFest 2020: Recommendations for Reading Now
Voracious Readers Anonymous, Assorted Members of the Emeritus College
EUEC: VIRTUAL LUNCH COLLOQUIUMS, ACTUAL CAMARADERIE
We are in the process of planning for an ongoing series of Virtual Lunch Colloquiums that will enable those interested in topics our speakers will present to "meet" to hear those speakers (and offer comments and questions) via Zoom on just such a bi-monthly schedule as we have observed for our Actual Lunch Colloquiums.
Beginning on Monday, March 30, at the usual time of 11:30 to 1:00, and continuing on every other Monday or Tuesday, we will welcome any who'd like to attend such a "get-together in cyber-space." Gray will be glad to assist anyone who wants to "come" to such a gathering with instructions on how to do so--something quite easily accomplished, as you'll be happy to realize. Send an email to him at gcrouse@emory.edu requesting assistance, and he'll try to make your attendance possible.
NOW, A MATTER OF SOME URGENCY. For the first of our Virtual Lunch Colloquiums, on Monday, March 30, we are seeking presenters as well as attendees. We have moved the BookFest program originally scheduled for April 20 forward to this new date, and are looking for volunteers among our Voracious Readers Anonymous willing to offer brief presentations on favorite books (or perhaps book series) such as others among us might enjoy reading during this difficult period when we're all spending so much more time than usual at home. If you've got one book to recommend, we'll be happy to allot you five minutes of our BookFest time. If you've got two or three, we will schedule you for ten minutes. And of course you can choose a book or books of any kind at all.
If you would like to volunteer, please do so in an email to Gretchen Schulz (at gschulz@emory.edu). If you can name the book or books you'll be recommending, please do so. But if you'd like to volunteer without yet specifying titles, that'll be fine, too. All we do need to know at this point is if you're requesting five or ten minutes of time. We'll schedule accordingly--or try to. First responding, first scheduled, until we run out of time. PLEASE DO HELP US MAKE THIS FIRST VIRTUAL LUNCH COLLOQUIUM BOOKFEST AS MUCH OF A SUCCESS AS THE ACTUAL BOOKFEST WE SO ENJOYED LAST SUMMER.
We'll let you know more about plans for other Virtual Lunch Colloquiums to come as soon as we can.
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New Members
New members are the lifeblood of any organization. Please make a special effort to welcome them to EUEC!
Patricia Hulsey Bridges, PT, EdD, MMSc, Associate Professor Emerita of Rehabilitation Medicine
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Faculty Activities
John Scott Professor Emeritus of Cell Biology
Over the last few weeks, we have watched the impact of the coronavirus become a global crisis and one that is impacting thousands of Metro Atlantans. The United Way of Greater Atlanta has just announced a partnership with the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta to launch the Greater Atlanta COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund to support those most impacted by the pandemic. As we know, the coronavirus isn't just a health crisis. It's an economic crisis. The Greater Atlanta COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund will provide immediate support to those most vulnerable to the economic and health-related impacts caused by the coronavirus pandemic with a focus on supporting: - Families living in areas of low and very low Child Well-Being
- Seniors (60+)
- Families with children receiving free and reduced lunch
- Families in need of childcare
- Hourly, low wage workers, and front-line staff most impacted
Some of you may know that I have been a member of the DeKalb County Advisory Board for several years. June and I have made the United Way one of our main avenues for contributions to the needy. As a committed United Way volunteer, I am asking for your help. In one easy step, you can click here and support your fellow neighbors. While this is only one of many ways to support our community, I support it because I know how the United Way monitors the agencies it funds, both through financial oversight and through volunteer reviews. This initiative is directed to local agencies that the United Way has experience with, so that we have confidence in their ability to rise to this challenge. I have made an immediate contribution, and I invite you to consider a contribution to United Way or similar group working to support the vulnerable in this crisis. If you have questions about the fund or would like to learn more about the work the Greater Atlanta COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund is accomplishing, please visit www.unitedwayatlanta.org. With gratitude, John Scott P.S. Please refer those in need of assistance to United Way's 2-1-1 Contact Center. Just dial 2-1-1! Our team is working around the clock to connect those most in need of critical resources.
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In Memoriam
Barbara Bruner, MD, Professor Emerita of Pediatrics
Barbara Stephenson Bruner, MD, age 88, passed away peacefully on February 25, 2020. Barbara was born in Pittsburgh, PA on December 10, 1931. Barbara moved to Atlanta in 1944 and attended E. Rivers Grade School before graduating from North Fulton High School at age 16 in 1948. She returned to Pittsburgh for college, attending her mother's alma mater, PA College for Women, now known as Chatham University. She graduated in 1952 with a BS with Honors in Chemistry. She entered Emory University School of Medicine in 1952 as the only female in her class (although two more joined before graduation.) Although met with some prejudice about "taking a man's spot," she flourished at Emory and became known as the class mom in short order. She completed her Pediatric internship and residency at the St. Louis Children's Hospital in MO, followed by a 3rd year as senior resident at The Children's Hospital Medical Center in Boston. Following her training, she was offered and accepted a faculty position at Emory, joining the new pediatric section of Emory Clinic, seeing private patients there while teaching at both Grady and Egleston Hospitals. Barbara remained an active faculty member from 1959-1990, retiring with the title of Professor Emerita. In 1968 she began full-time academic pediatrics at Grady, teaching and providing on-the-job patient care of clinic patients as Assistant Director of Ambulatory Pediatrics. She was Assistant Director of the Georgia Poison Control Center from 1970-1985. In addition, she held a joint appointment in the Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine from 1968-1975 as Grady Hospital liaison for the Atlanta Southside Comprehensive Health Center. In 1973 she was appointed to be Director of the Pediatric Core Program for Physician Assistant students in the Division of Allied Health. In 1985 she became Director of the Emergency Clinic and the Assistant Chief of Service of Pediatrics. Her particular interests led to expertise in the fields of Child Abuse and Neglect and SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). After retirement from Emory, she became a part-time doctor filling in for doctors on vacation. This led to work in Kansas, Massachusetts and Florida. She also worked part-time for several years at Florida clinics in Pensacola and Crestview and several other Northwest Florida locations before ceasing active practice in 1996.
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Installing Zoom on a Computer
Note: If you have a Mac computer, before installing the Zoom program you may need to alter your computer's Privacy and Security Settings. This is explained on the Zoom support page that you can read by clicking here.
Open a browser on your computer and go to emory.zoom.us You should see a screen like this:
At the bottom of that screen, you will see the "Download Client" link. Click on that link and you will get the following screen:
Click on Download and the installer will be downloaded. The installer file on a PC is ZoomInstaller.exe and it will be downloaded to your computer. Click on that file [sorry to be vague here, but there are so many possibilities about how to find that file and click on it, that I can't give more accurate instructions] and the Zoom program will be installed.
Once it is installed, you should have an icon something like this on your computer:
Click that icon, and Zoom will start and give you a screen like this:
At this point, you are set to go and you could click "Join a Meeting" and be ready to participate in any of our meetings.
However, if you are an active faculty member or have emeriti status, you are eligible for a Zoom Pro account, and now would be a good time to access the Zoom Pro account for it will give you additional features that could be useful in other situations. You can see the instructions below for accessing the Zoom Pro Account by clicking here, which will take you to that article in this newsletter.
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Installing the Zoom App on Tablets and Smartphones
Zoom works quite well on tablets such as the iPad and on smartphones, with the only issue being the smaller screen on smartphones. To use Zoom on them, you will need to install the Zoom app from either the Apple Store or the Google Play Store. If you go to the app store you would search for Zoom and find something like this in either store:
You would then click the app and click on Install and the app would be installed on your tablet or smartphone. After installation, click on the app and the initial screen will look something like this: You are then set to Join a Meeting. If you are eligible for a Zoom Pro account (you are either an active faculty member or have emeriti status), you can click on Sign In and follow the instructions below to access the licensed Zoom Pro account.
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Joining a Zoom Meeting
Once the Zoom program or app is installed, Joining a Meeting is easy!
Open the Zoom program and you should see a screen like this:
To Join a meeting, you should have been given a Meeting ID number by the convener of the meeting. You would enter that number in the box, enter your name, and click Join. For some types of meetings, such as webinars (which we use for our in-person Lunch Colloquiums), you might be asked for an email address, but there is little else to do in joining.
The one exception to the above is if you Join the meeting from a computer that does not have a microphone. My desktop, for example, does not have either a webcam or a microphone. That is actually not a problem if you don't plan on wanting to talk at a meeting. You will be able to see and hear everything that takes place at the meeting. However, if you try to Join from such a computer, you will get the following screen:
If you click Join with Computer Audio you will then enter the meeting, but of course cannot talk. If instead you would like to be able to talk at the meeting, you would click Phone Call in the dialog box and that would open a screen like the following:
In that case, you would see a list of phone numbers such as those shown above, one of which you could call and you would then watch the meeting on your computer and listen and talk through your phone.
Testing Your Zoom Installation
You can test Zoom on your device by clicking here. This site tests your speaker and also tests your microphone. If you don't have a microphone you will fail that part of the test and you will be given the option of using your phone to call in. If you just close that dialogue box, you will enter a Zoom room where you can remain for at least a few minutes.
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How to Access Your Zoom Pro Account
if you are an active faculty member or have emeriti status, you are eligible for a Zoom Pro account. This licensed account is not necessary to connect to our programs, but the Zoom Pro account will give you additional features that could be useful in other situations.
You can access that account by starting Zoom, where you will see this screen:
You then click on Sign In and will see this screen:
It is not obvious what you should do here! Click "Sign In with SSO" and you will be taken to this screen:
Fill in the Company Domain box with emory as shown above and click Continue. You will be taken to the usual Emory WebLogin screen: Fill in your Network ID and password, click Login. If you are signing in from a device you don't normally use to access the Emory network, you may get a Two Factor Authentication notice like you have seen before. Once you are past that step, the screen will change to this screen in your browser:
I find, though, that I usually don't see that screen because the Zoom client is automatically logged into the Emory Pro account and it appears in front of the browser screen like this:
From that main screen, you can Join a meeting or Schedule or start a New Meeting. Also note that once you have logged into your Zoom Pro account, you will stay logged into that account and you won't have to login each time. [An exception is if you use Zoom on more than one device. Logging into Zoom on a device will log you out of other devices.] You can click Log In and after doing the standard Emory WebLogin, you will be taken to your main Zoom Pro page where you can access all aspects of your account.
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Walking the Campus with Dianne
The brick and concrete from the last walk can be found in Goodrich C. White Hall at 301 Dowman Drive on the main campus.
According to a few sources:
White Hall, home to many undergraduate classes, honors Goodrich C. White, a 1908 graduate of Emory College who returned after graduate school to teach psychology.
He went on to serve as Emory College dean, graduate school dean, vice president, university president, and chancellor.
The building is also used for weekly film screenings by the Department of Film and Media Studies, and is occasionally used for student group music performances. In the 1970s White Hall became a hub for performances and rehearsals.
Another interesting bit of information: White Hall houses Room 208, the largest classroom on the Emory University campus with a capacity for 280 in stadium-style seating, as well as Room 205, which often hosts film screenings.
Our current situation might require social distancing but we can still walk! Let's go outside and as most people do, watch where we step....which will allow us to see the item in our next photo.
Where will you find this on the Emory Campus?
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Emory University Emeritus College The Luce Center
825 Houston Mill Road NE #206 Atlanta, GA 30329 |
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