President/Publisher:
Susan Sackett
Vice President/
Webmaster:
J.B. Wright
Treasurer:
Ann Marie Eisentraut
Program Director:
Henry Geist
Secretary:
Shelley Newman
Members at Large:
Alan Newman
Myra Rubinstein
Matt Schoenley
Bruce Stiles |
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The Humanist Society of Greater Phoenix meets at 9:00 a.m. on alternate Sunday mornings at a local restaurant. Currently, we meet at the HomeTown Buffet, 1312 N. Scottsdale Road, in Scottsdale. Map to the HomeTown Buffet. We enjoy the company of our fellow Humanists during brunch followed by a lecture from a guest speaker and topic discussion.
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Upcoming Meetings and Topics
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Jul 12th |
Space-Based Solar Power
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Speaker: Chuck Lesher
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Once again, we are happy to welcome our HSGP member Chuck Lesher. Chuck was born in Kansas, raised in Colorado, graduated high school in Southern California, and then moved to Phoenix, where he joined the Army. He spent the next four years in Maryland, Germany and Texas. Upon returning to civilian life, Chuck earned a BS in Engineering Mechanics-Aerospace from the University of Wisconsin and a MS in Materials Science from Arizona State University. After graduation, Chuck worked at Space Data/Orbital Sciences Corporation designing, building and launching small sounding rockets and high altitude weather balloons. Later, he served as Quality Assurance Manager for Hybrid Design Associates in Tempe, a small manufacturing company that specializes in harsh-environment electronic assemblies.
Chuck is married to HSGP member Peggy, has three grown children and four grandchildren. He writes Speculative Fiction under his full name, Charles Lee Lesher. His debut novel, Evolution’s Child, was selected as 2007’s Best of the Moon Fiction by the Lunar Library. Check out his website at: http://www.charleslesher.com
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Jul 25th |
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
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Event: Book Club
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The Humanist Book Club meets on the fourth Saturday of each month at 10:30 a.m., Mesa Main Library, Main Branch, 64 East 1st Street (East of Country Club Way at the intersection of N. Centennial Way -- N.W. corner)
From Amazon.com:
Malcolm Gladwell poses a more provocative question in Outliers: why do some people succeed, living remarkably productive and impactful lives, while so many more never reach their potential? Challenging our cherished belief of the "self-made man," he makes the democratic assertion that superstars don't arise out of nowhere, propelled by genius and talent: "they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot." Examining the lives of outliers from Mozart to Bill Gates, he builds a convincing case for how successful people rise on a tide of advantages, "some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky."
Outliers can be enjoyed for its bits of trivia, like why most pro hockey players were born in January, how many hours of practice it takes to master a skill, why the descendents of Jewish immigrant garment workers became the most powerful lawyers in New York, how a pilots' culture impacts their crash record, how a centuries-old culture of rice farming helps Asian kids master math. But there's more to it than that. Throughout all of these examples--and in more that delve into the social benefits of lighter skin color, and the reasons for school achievement gaps--Gladwell invites conversations about the complex ways privilege manifests in our culture. He leaves us pondering the gifts of our own history, and how the world could benefit if more of our kids were granted the opportunities to fulfill their remarkable potential. --Mari Malcolm
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Jul 26th |
Humanism: The Next Generation!
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Moderator: Susan Sackett
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Join us for a discussion and planning session for educating the "next generation" of Humanists! We will welcome parents and grandparents as well as interested members as we discuss the plans for our Childhood Education program. Share your ideas, interests and concerns. Discover how we can make our organization "family friendly."
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Aug 09th |
Hot Topics
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Speaker: Dr. Maureen Sander-Staudt
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Dr. Maureen Sander-Staudt returns for her third talk to our group. Always delightful, Dr. Sander-Staudt will speak on a number of hot-button issues, including same-sex marriage, gender identity and inter-sex, the ethics of pornography, care-giving, the ethics of public breast feeding and more!
Dr. Sander-Staudt holds a BA in English Literature from Alverno College in Milwaukee, WI and an MA from the Univ. of WI-Milwaukee. Dr. Sander-Staudt completed her Ph.D.at the Univ. of Colorado-Boulder where she specialized in gender theory and feminist ethics. Her dissertation work was on the topic of the political implications of the ethics of care, and in it she develops the beginnings of a political philosophy of care. During this time, she received several fellowships and served as a teaching mentor to her department.
Her current scholarly interests continue to be in the area of care ethics, as well as applied ethics, particularly bioethics, reproductive technologies, and moral education. Her most recent work examines the impact of women’s responsibilities as care-givers on their political understandings and activism. Dr. Sander-Staudt has also written an essay using feminist ethics to assess the development and use of artificial womb technology. She has continued an interest in philosophy and popular culture, Eastern philosophy, and the applications of gender and sexuality to reproductive technology, criminal justice, and spirituality. Future projects include a paper on the role of bodily perception in moral experience, an analysis of the human genome project and stem cell research from the perspective of Care Ethics, and an application of Care Ethics to the comparative status of fetuses in abortion and crimes against pregnant women.
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HSGP BUILDING UPDATE
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Our building is located at 627 West 8th Street (between Alma School and Country Club) in Mesa. The adobe home is situated on .8 of an acre of land. We anticipate completion sometime this year! When renovated, we will have a huge 1800 square foot meeting space, a kitchen, library, children's activities, storage and office space. We will be presenting many exciting fund-raising events. Note: We really need your tax-deductible donations of $$$$ cash! |
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FUND RAISING STATUS FOR OUR NEW HOME
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As of the end of June, 2009, our generous members had donated a total of $83,236 through fund raising activities for our building. Most of this amount has already been spent in getting the building up to code with the City of Mesa. We will need to raise at least $30,000 to $40,000 more to complete the building (Stage II); additional money will need to be raised to pave the parking lot (Stage III). Please consider donating today! |
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REMEMBERING HSGP MEMBER
HANK WINTERMUTE
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HSGP has lost another valued member. Hank Wintermute (who along with his wife, Carol) had been a member of HSGP for a few years, succumbed to heart disease on June 26th. His son, David, wrote of his dad: "He lived life to its fullest and was truly a success in every sense of the word. He had a wonderful wife and two kids as well as four grandchildren. He traveled the world and lived in a beautiful house in Cave Creek, AZ. He had countless wonderful friends and loved ones. No one could ask for a better father, grandfather, husband or friend. His spirit and zest for life will live on in all of us who knew him." We send our condolences to Carol and the rest of Hank's family. |
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HSGP WELCOMES NEW BOARD MEMBER
MYRA RUBINSTEIN
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With the departure of Member-at-Large Dr. Eugene Bukhman, who has left Arizona to do his residency at Georgetown, the HSGP Board has appointed Myra Rubinstein to fill this important position. Welcome, Myra! |
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MEMBER NEWS
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HSGP Board Member Myra Rubinstein's daughter, Ariel Leela David, graduated from Patchogue-Medford High School in NY and has enrolled at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut, where she plans to double-major in English and History while competing with the SHU Bowling Team.
Kelsey Newman, daughter of HSGP Board Members Shelley and Alan Newman, graduated Summa Cum Laude from Tempe Preparatory Academy and will be studying engineering in the Honors college at the University of Arizona in the fall.
Lifetime member Paul Dewey is proud of his wife of 38 years, Patty Finch Dewey, who recently became the Executive Director of the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries. Paul and Patty, who live in Payson, are both major animal lovers. Paul writes: "I hope you will agree that we don't need a 'mythical sky god' to tell us that cruelty to all sentient beings is inexcusable and just plain wrong. Hope to see you at an HSGP meeting in the not-too-distant future." We hope so too, Paul!
HSGP members: Please send your news items before the end of each month! |
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HSGP FREE MONEY WITH eSCRIP!!
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HSGP has signed up for the eScrip Program. It's easy to earn money for HSGP just by doing your everyday shopping!
Go to the website www.escrip.com to sign up. Our Account ID is: 500020562. When signing up, use this and type in Humanist Society of Greater Phoenix for the charity you want to support. Their website is secure, and you can put in your credit card numbers safely. Follow the instructions to select your own password. Then, when you shop at select merchants, we will get credit. (Unfortunately, Safeway will not donate to us because we are not a K-12 school.)
You can shop online at eBay, or Barnes & Noble, Sears, Amazon, and many more! If you book your American Airlines tickets through the approved eScrip travel service, we also get a percentage, as we do if you book a Carnival Cruise! These are just a few of the many easy, painless ways to help HSGP! |
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USED CELL PHONES NEEDED!
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Don't turn in your old cell phone to your provider! Bring them to HSGP meetings! Please bring your working used cell phones, with their batteries, to HSGP meetings. Bring only the phone and battery, not the accessories (chargers, cases, headphones, etc.), as they will not accept these. Thank you for helping us with this fundraising activity! |
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HSGP SUPPORTS HOMEBASE!
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 The people at HomeBase are thrilled with our support! Our next drive will be on JULY 12th. Please bring NEW white crew socks, bottles of shampoo and conditioner (especially needed), as well as toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant and other toiletries for distribution to young people living on the streets of Phoenix. They also appreciate gently used clothing, which the young people can wear on job interviews.
Bruce and Kathy Pettycrew, who volunteer to take our donations down to HomeBase, would like to remind you that while it may be tough to donate in these difficult financial times, even ONE pair of new socks will be greatly appreciated. Thank you! |
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DO YOU YAHOO?
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A special Yahoo! Group has been set up for paid HSGP members only. It's free and only takes a minute to sign up! Join Yahoo Humanists. Susan Sackett is Moderator; sign up and if you are a paid member, you will be approved by the Moderator, usually within 24 hours. Messages and archives of this group will be accessible only by members, so there is no spamming or flaming. Messages will be posted once they are approved by the Moderator, so if your posts are within the normal Yahoo! guidelines, they will be approved and posted.
We continue to have lively discussions on religion, politics, ethics and other Humanistic concerns. We've had some extremely interesting posts lately, covering topics such as stem cell research, gay issues, theocracy, global warming, and other important areas of interest to Humanists. We now have 56 members signed up. Join our group today! |
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Susan Sackett, Certified Humanist Celebrant, would like to remind you that she is available for all your life passage ceremonies, including weddings and commitment ceremonies, baby namings, coming-of-age celebrations, funerals/memorial services, and even divorce celebrations! Special 10% discount for all HSGP members and their immediate families! Humanist Celebrant. Discounts for HSGP members! Contact her at humanist@hsgp.org. |
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