2004 Book Club Activities

Art Group Seminar: May 1, 2004

"Be a Visionary- Deploy a Powerful Tool for Digital Photography to Enrich Life" 數位攝影，美化人生 --羅惠文,Artist and Professional Photographer.

         

Summary:

“喜歡, 就拍下來” --羅惠文教大家如何用數位相機來美化人生

照相, 不管是拍或被拍, 無非是希望將那一剎那化做永恆. 許多人對攝影雖有濃厚興趣但常會為了出門要扛一大堆裝備而心生卻步. 但隨著科技的進步, 攝影器材的裝備日益短小輕薄, 出門只要拎著巴掌大小的數位相機, 便可隨時隨地隨心所欲的利用鏡頭將風華盡收於底.

北卡書友會,華美協會,及華人聯誼會日前聯合邀請到俄亥俄州多麗都中華協會會長羅惠文,至三角地區與當地華人分享她的攝影心得. 由於數位相機是極為普遍的攝影工貝, 大家均對她如何能將鏡頭裏的影像處理成一幀幀的藝術作品而十分好奇. 接連上,下午的二場演講中, 自稱入行不久的她以個人的經驗與作品為例,與在場的聽眾進行交流, 反應十分熱烈

她覺得照相時的構圖是靠攝影者的藝術眼光，也是作品的靈魂，但在運用電腦處理照片時，透過軟體調色打光，則是很有趣的遊戲，也可增加照片的生命力與攝影者的個人特色.

本身企業管理碩士並做商務分析師的羅惠文，目前是福特汽車公司的資訊顧問，從小喜歡攝影的她，去年秋末初冬之際，開始嚐試使用數位相機更專心投入攝影，羅惠文的攝影作品目前已打入多麗都美術館附設的兩家藝品店、多麗都市的Seagate畫廊、底特律的Scarab畫廊、密西根州的Cranbrook藝術中心的藝品店等五家畫廊及美術館商店，她更於今春邀集12位華人藝術家在多麗都大學多元文化中心合辦第一屆多麗都華人藝術展覽會，廣獲當地媒體報導，成果可算是相當豐碩.有興趣的朋友可至她的網址: http://www.pbase.com/hslak 觀賞許多精彩的作品

Literature Group Seminar: April 18, 2004

"The World As I See It" 信懷南看世界 --信懷南, 國際管理顧問公司資深顧問, 為世界日報撰寫專欄, 在過去七年中信懷南出版了九本不同風格的書. His website: The Last Generation of NDR.

       

Summary:

四月十八日（星期天）是資深專欄作家信懷南到北卡來演講的日子，當天中午不到，北卡州立大學教職員俱樂部(NC State Faculty Club)就開始有參加者前來報到。

信懷南近年來在台海兩岸三地從事專案管理訓練，並同時在國內外各報章雜誌上寫專欄，很吸引了一批他口中「四十歲以上，受過高等教育的知識份子」，在很多地方有忠實讀者。在當天的演講中，自謙「年紀有一大把，學問一點沒有，笑話倒有一大籮筐」的信大掌門人，在一個小時的時間裏，時兒而恢諧，時而感性的跟與會大眾分享了自己的生活經歷，和他從中所學到的功課，不時引起聽眾的會心一笑。在演講之後的問答互動中，他也非常誠懇的回答聽眾們所提出各式各樣的問題，一直到三點半，才意猶未盡的結束。

由于場地的限制，最多只能容納七十五人的演講廳，一個月前，在北卡書友會開放登記後不久便額滿了，一直到演講當天早上，還陸續有人打電話來詢問能否前來參加，結果最後還是盛情難卻的硬擠了八十多人，是北卡書友會這兩年中參加人數最多的一次演講，還有得到消息遠從佛州前來的讀者，可見「信掌門人」的號召力著實不小。

"Common Psychiatric Illnesses and Mental Health with Heart Diseases" -- Dr.Wei Jiang 蒋 蔚, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center.

       

Summary:

1. What is health?
   World Health Organization (WHO)’s definition of health: physical and mental
   
   
2. What is psychiatric illness or disease (try to decrease the stigmata of psychiatric disease)?
   Commonly seen psychiatric illnesses:
   • Mood or affective disorder
     • Depression
     • Bipolar disorder
   • Anxiety
     • Panic disorder (note the difference between panic attacks and panic disorder)
     • Agoraphobia
     • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
     • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
     • Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
   • Thought or psychotic disorder
     • Schizophrenia
     • Brief psychotic disorder
     • Other psychosis (PTSD)
   • Cognitive deficits or declined disease
     • Dementia
     • Delirium
     • Mental retardation
   • Pre-menstrual Syndrome (PMS)
   
   
3. Differentiation of having symptoms of psychiatric illnesses from having psychiatric illnesses
   
   
4. Why mental health is important
   Evolution of human life in modern society: from striving for food and basic living condition to long for well-being Define mental health: Being healthy mentally does not equal one do not experience emotional difficulties; it implies that we are able to recognize feelings/symptoms are good or bad for us, learn and stick with the good or positive ones and modify or eliminate the bad or negative ones Mental health affect physical health (discuss mind-body connections)
   
   
5. A well-known example—depression and ischemic heart disease:
   A very commonly encountered disease, i.e., depression, is an invisible killer for patients with heart disease and a promoter of heart disease in individuals without heart disease, also in hypertension, diabetes, and stroke
   1. a. Prevalence: life time female vs. male, point prevalence in patients with heart disease
   2. b. Depression and cardiac events in heart disease
   3. c. Depression and development of heart disease
   4. d. Symptoms of depression (emphasis A symptoms, irritation/fatigue, psychotic symptoms, and suicidal ideation)
   5. e. Mechanisms: platelet aggregation and mental stress-induced myocardial ischemia; mental stress-induced myocardial ischemia and prognosis; others
   6. f. Common triggers of depression: loss, stress, and medical conditions—inflammatory process
   7. g. Depression may occur endogenously
   8. h. Depression is a medical disease, like diabetes, hypertension, heart diseases, etc (discuss the biological, behavioral, and psychosocial model)
   9. i. Results of SADHART and ENRICHD trials, and stroke study
   
   What can people do if one has depression (symptoms)?
   1. a. Nothing to be shamed about for having depressed mood or depression
   2. b. Talk to friends and/or family about loss or stress in life
   3. c. Maintain a positive view toward life events
   4. d. Regular exercise (various, such as walking, jogging, swimming, dancing)
   5. e. Professional help, such as medications and/or psychotherapy
   6. f. Contact professional people immediately for suicidal ideation and/or homicidal ideation.

"Understand Your Retirement Plans and Distribution Options" -- 廖夢玲 Monling Liao, Financial Services Professional, New York Life

   

Summary:

1. “二零零一年協調經濟增長及稅務減免法”(The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001) 對401(k), 403(b), Simple IRA, SEP, 傳統IRA 和 羅斯Roth IRA個人退休儲蓄帳戶在省稅,延稅(Tax Deferred),免稅,和 抵稅 （Tax Credit) 有許多新條例.
   
2. Roth IRA 和Traditional IRA 的 區別. Rollover IRA 的好處.
   
3. Inherited IRA 受益人 (Beneficiary) 的指定的差別.
   
4. 年金 (Annuity) 的延稅 和其他功能的優缺點
   
5. 離職,退休時又應如何處理或提領您的退休金 (the distribution options)