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View our newest Newsletter here!!!

Oceanids has a YouTube Channel !  Please follow us at: https://www.youtube.com/@ucsd_oceanids_soundingboard

 

Who Are We?

Oceanids is a University of California, San Diego organization and support group promoting friendship and services to the UC San Diego community.  Oceanids is open to all who are interested in UC San Diego as well as faculty, staff and active members of campus support groups and their spouses.  In particular, we shall:


Oceanids service activities include:  Undergraduate service awards, graduate fellowships and other service projects.  The Newcomers group welcomes and assists new members to the UC San Diego community throughout the academic year.  For more information on Newcomers, contact Liz Wills, (858) 454-6858. 

Our annual events include:  Fall Welcome Lunch, Whale Watching ,  Campus Focus, and Spring Luncheon, just to mention a few.

Interest Groups are the backbone of our Oceanids organization.  They are here to meet the many varied needs of our UC San Diego families.  If you are interested in book clubs, bird watching, practicing your French or German, wine tasting, playing bridge, join us.  For a more complete list and description of our groups, click on Interest Groups.

Join!

If you are a University scholar, researcher, staff member, visiting guest of the University or a person interested in being part of a vibrant University community, you are invited to join us.  We are located in the UC San Diego International Center.  For more information, please contact oceanids@ucsd.edu, or download a membership application and/or a donation form.

Renewing Members

If you would like to renew your Oceanids membership, download a renewal membership form and follow the instructions listed on the form.

President's Message    

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN OCEANIDS PRESIDENT

 I have experienced crime only five times in my life. Three of them were simple burglaries—in 1963 in Germany and in 1979 and 1989 in La Jolla. Two were more serious experiences.

 The first was in Lisbon in 1970. I was flying from Chicago to Nice for the International Congress of Mathematicians. In those days you were allowed 2 stopovers in each direction. I stopped in New York to visit IBM Yorktown Heights and in Lisbon because I hadn't been to Portugal and wanted to practice my Portuguese.

 As a grad student at Berkeley, I had some Brazilian friends, which made me want to go to Brazil. So, I took Portuguese, specializing in Brazilian pronunciation rather than Lusitanian a dialect spoken today in certain parts of Portugal. But I still hadn't been to Brazil by 1970, so Portugal would be a good second choice.

 I arrived in Lisbon on an August Sunday morning, got a hotel room in the Old City; it was 105F; I took a nap and then walked uphill to the New City in the evening. I went to the basement bar of a fancy hotel and had a beer. Along with the beer came a gratis bucket of delicious prawns. I had several beers and buckets of prawns. When the bar closed at midnight (6pm to my body). I walked downhill toward my hotel. The streets were deserted but brightly lit.

 While walking back, a guy jumped me, grabbed my watch, ripped it from my wrist (it had a flexible watchband), and ran off down the street. I said to myself: "At least, he didn't get my billfold". I reached for my back pocket and discovered that my billfold was gone. (My passport was back at the hotel.)  I never felt him taking it. The watch was probably meant as a diversion in order to get the billfold. My reaction was: "How dare someone mug ME!"

 What subsequently occurred must have been because I had had several beers. I hased the guy down the street. I don't think that I actually thought that I would catch him, but I was outraged. He turned into a dark alley, ran up some steps, and was climbing over a tall iron gate. I grabbed him by the leg; his other leg was over the iron gate. Then there were some shouts from the other side of the gate. That made me a little scared; maybe they were his accomplices. I pulled him back towards me. He dropped my watch and billfold and said "Policia", and ran off.

 It turned out that there were two policemen sitting on the other side of the iron gate; they were pulling him by his other leg from that side. Obviously, he let me pull him to my side of the gate so that he could get away. The police showed no interest in chasing him. They only wanted to know about me. Thus, my Portuguese came into great use explaining to them what happened. I walked on down to my hotel; later in bed I got scared. I was happy to have my watch and billfold back, but if I had done something like that in Chicago, I could have been killed. This was during the Salazar dictatorship, so he wouldn't have had a gun, but he could have had a knife.

 Since that day I have never carried my billfold in my back pocket, only in a front pocket. I'll save the second, scarier, experience in Rio de Janeiro for the next newsletter.

But I do hope to see you all at our Spring Luncheon!

Jim Bunch, President, Oceanids

  Special Announcements

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Our new link to registering your Oceanids events is:

 https://ucsd.campusconnexionsuc.com/

For more information on registration, please visit  our Links page

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Save the Date - (Details to follow)

Oceanids Spring Luncheon

Thursday, May 30, 2024

Bali Hai Restaurant

2230 Shelter Island Dr.

 

11 - 11:45am  Social Hour

11:45am - 1:30pm  Luau Lunch Buffet

 

Speakers:  Oceanids Fellowship Scholars

Grab 'n Go Table

 

$30/person (RSVP by May 20, 2024)

$35/person (After May 20)

For more information or to RSVP, contact  Mary Woo or Barbara Bank.  (Reservation form can be found in Newsletter.)

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Are you interested in joining our

Horticulture Interest Group

Succulents, Orchids, Plumeria, Ferns, Bromeliadsm Citrus and Houseplants

Contact Nancy Groves if you are interested in joining.

 

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To be voted on at the Oceanids Spring Luncheon

Slate of Oceanids Board of Directors, 2024-2025

  President Jim Bunch  
  First Vice President Marion Spors  
  Second Vice President (Membership) Mary Cutchin  
  Recording Secretary Mary Hanson  
  Treasurer Jan Ouren  
  Financial Secretary Liz Winant  
  Nominating Committee

Hulya Saygin (cont), Sophie Haimsohn, Anne-France Saillot, Olivia Werner (alt)

*Two additional members to be elected at the June Board meeting

  

 

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Highlights from

Oceanids Fall Brunch

 

   

 

 

Thank you, Thespine and Marion for a wonderful afternoon!

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SDIS Speaker Series for 2023 - 2024

April 20, 2024 - Rigdon Currie, "Photojournalism of Birding"

May 18, 2024 - Gwenith Mapes, PhD, "Frida Kahlo and her Art"

All talks are from 1:30 to 3:00pm PST.  For more information, please contact Dorothy Parker.

 

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Oceanids' Gallery of Arts and Crafts

As our Oceanids' membership includes many artists, we are offering Oceanids members an opportunity to show and share their creations. We encourage you to submit one of your art works, along with a short bio of yourself, to be published in our newsletter--available online to members and the public.

To exhibit your work, please send a .jpg of your work and a short bio to jouren5353@gmail.com.

This month's gallery features Nancy Groves and some of her incredible pictures of Plants and Bromeliads.  You can see the article in this month's Newsletter on pages 4 & 58

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Volunteer Opportunity

UCSD International Students and Programs Office's

English-in-Action (EIA) Program

Conversation Program is looking for volunteers who will enjoy meeting with an international student, scholar or spouse for 1-2 hours on a weekly basis to assist them in improving their English conversation skills and to share our American culture. Participating in EIA is provides considerable cultural insight and a deeper appreciation for diversity which helps students gain a greater respect and appreciation for other cultures. No knowledge of foreign languages or teaching experience is required. EIA volunteers attend an orientation session and have access to the materials and resources of the International Students & Programs Office.   Conversation leaders can work with participants individually or in small groups and typically meet for 1-2 hours/week at a location that is convenient for both, including remote meetings, on campus or off campus.

Please visit http://bit.ly/EIATutorExperiences to hear what current and past volunteers have shared about their experiences with EIA. To apply or for more information, please visit our website: eia.ucsd.edu Questions? Please email Shelly Taskin at eia@ucsd.edu

 

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UCSD Art Power

Music, Dance, Special Events

For more information, visit

https://artpower.ucsd.edu/

 

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For questions regarding the website, please contact Mary Woo, mwoonew@gmail.com