As my grandson likes to say “Grandad I have some great news”, and I have some great news for those members who like to receive obituaries. The transition from Becky Reiss to Tara Roesler as chair of the Obituary Committee is taking place as you read this.

November Board Meeting

Another Zoom meeting. Hopefully by January 4, 2022, when All ASU employees must be fully vaccinated for COVID- or have a religious or medical accommodation on file with the university, the rules for meetings will be revised and allow us to have in-person meetings next spring.

• I reported for Mary Stevens that the December Potluck in the Park was definitely happening and there were 19 members already registered. Side note: this is a great event for new members to meet some of the old salts and start some new friendships. If you don’t know what to bring consider a salad or deviled eggs, or holiday cookies. The food is secondary to the conversation.
• Pat Schneider, Seminar Chair, gave the dates for the spring seminar series: January 14, February 10, March 10, and May 12 (my brother’s birthday). She said these events would shortly be added to our events calendar. Pat also mentioned that the committee has mixed feelings about going back to in-person seminars; the convenience of not having to drive someplace is appealing.
• Jeri Meeks, Chair of the Government Liaisons, reported that the liaisons are starting to prepare for the next legislative session. When asked if she had heard anything about a special session, she said no. She then reported on the October meeting of the Community and Legislative Partners in Aging (CLPA) meeting (see below for details)
• Larry Carlson, ADOA Health Insurance Liaison, reported that a third party has developed an application to compare different ADOA health insurance plans and then, given some additional data about the user, make a recommendation for which plan would be best. The program is available for current ASU employees but not for retirees since the application does not include the ASRS plans and includes a plan (high deductible) that is not available to retirees. He said he was going to see what could be done to get this application enhanced so retirees could have this nice, useful tool.
• Larry Edmonds, ASURA President, initiated a discussion about duties for the Vice President. The Bylaws do not define any specific duty expect to stand by to be ready to take over. Larry thought it would be a good thing to get the VP more involved in preparation for taking on the Presidential mantle. Some of the ideas were to make the VP some type of uber chair over all the chairs, or be the Events Committee chair to coordinate the various events (which are hopefully about to come again), or to oversee the Ex-Officio members to get them energized to attend and present.

Fall Prime Times

I was in such a hurry to get the October E-News out that I forget to let everyone know that the color version of the fall Prime Times is available.

ASURA Board Nominations Due January 14, 2022

Carl Cross, Immediate Past President, and chair of the Board Nominating Committee, asked to have the following notice included in the November E-News.

• Each year in February, ASURA holds an election for five new members of the ASURA Board of Directors. The Board manages the affairs of the Association and establishes policies as needed to carry out its mission. Members of the Board are elected for a term of three years and meet monthly during the academic year.
• You may offer the name of a current ASURA member or your own name as a potential Board member by notifying the Nominating Committee chair of your nomination. To be sure that your nominee’s name gets on the ballot, you can (as mandated by ASURA Bylaws) submit a petition of nomination bearing the signatures of at least ten current ASURA members. All nominating petitions must be received by January 14, 2022.

Send names and/or nominating petitions to:

• Carl J Cross, Chair
• ASURA Board Nominating Committee
• P.O. Box 873308
• Tempe, AZ 85257-3308
• Email: carl.cross@asu.edu

Sneak Preview of January Seminar

The seminar topic is Downsizing and will feature a panel of ASURA members:  Dave Schwalm, Don Nilsen, and Ruth Jones. The panel will share their experiences in moving to smaller quarters. The Seminar Committee has developed a set of questions the panelists will be asked to address.

Highlights from the October CLPA Meeting - Pandemic and Long-Term Care Facilities Update

The Speakers were:

•  Will Humble, ED of AZ Public Health Director; former Director of the AZ Dept. of Health Services
•  Dr. Joe Gerald, MD, PhD, UA Associate Professor & Program Director, Public Health Policy & Management
• Dana Marie Kennedy, State Director, AARP Arizona and the 2021 Arizona Woman of the Year

Much of the meeting dealt with the current (i.e., October) situation which has changed some. Dr. Gerald stated that we are in the third large wave of COVID-19 infections, but cases are currently starting to decline. He went on to say the hospitals were full and 50% were COVID cases. His view was that Arizona has mounted a terrible response to this pandemic and that we will see COVID flare-ups for the next six to twelve months.

Will Humble focused on the improving vaccination rates. Much of his talk dealt with the anticipated approval of boosters and vaccines for children 5-11 years old, and the anticipated court ruling striking down the no-mask mandates; all of which has come to pass since the meeting.

There was agreement that there will be workforce shortages in assisted living and senior care centers. Seniors will be forced into congregate care, increasing the chance of exposure and transmission. The panel suggested that legislators should go after strike force dollars and possibly ask the National Guard for help. Further, Arizona legislators should pursue American Rescue Plan (ARP) Section 9817 funds to cover workforce shortages.

Website Highlight

I started this issue with some Obituary Committee news, so it is only proper that I end it with some obituary news. If you receive obituary notices, you should visit our website and visit the Obituary Archives (click on Pubs and then click on Obituaries). This will take you to a page where you can search for past obituaries. We haven’t quite moved all the old obituaries to the new site, but we are getting close.