After I began my studies at Stanford University in 1955, I started working with the Quakers and the Fellowship of Reconciliation in Palo Alto and Berkeley. I was a co-organizer of the first Stanford University protest of the 1950s--a teach-in regarding dangers of nuclear testing.

I lived in Warsaw, Poland, for two years as an exchange student when I was writing my MA Thesis and again 3 years later when I was working on my PhD dissertation.

In 1966 I moved to Gainesville and taught in the Political Science Department at UF until my retirement this January. [I taught courses on International and Comparative Politics, Minority Politics, Leadership, Politics of Modernization, Politics of Post-Industrial Societies, Marxism in Theory &h; Practice, and Contemporary Critics of American Society.]

In 1974 I organized an exchange program with the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland, and spent two more years as a visiting professor and 15 summers as director of our UF summer program in Poland.

At UF I was faculty advisor for many student groups, including the Rainforest Subcommittee of the Environmental Action Group. We worked primarily with the Seacology Foundation-which focuses on saving island rainforests and helping indigenous people improve their communities and learn to make their native medicinal plants a source of income.

I have 4 grown children. My oldest daughter and her family have their own farm in Poland, where they raise horses. My oldest son is an information systems specialist in Pittsburgh. My youngest son is a hydrologist working in Tampa; my youngest daughter is an Environmental Engineer working in Alaska. I have two younger sisters, one a school counselor in Vermont, and the other a technical writer in Fremont, California.

Now that I have retired I am trying to establish a Center for Creative Problem Solving and Policy Initiatives-and/or a Center for Personal, Economic and Community Development-at my "Village" 6 miles SW of Newberry. I also organize informal discussion groups and film discussions in my home or in the community and am open to any invitations to lead group discussions on a wide variety of subjects. (I have a video tape and DVD collection of many thousands of documentary and feature films

I have recently "rediscovered" the Friends of Gainesville as a warm and welcoming community and a spiritual home where I feel a very comfortable, nurturing, and stimulating environment. I have especially enjoyed working on the Peace and Social Concerns Committee. Jim Morrison

Supporting our Yearly Meeting

How we solve problems is at least as important as addressing and solving them. Reaching out to Quakers around the world is vital to our understanding of the issues facing all of us. This helps us see what action we can take to make a positive difference.

SEYM's budget for the coming fiscal year is $50,000. This year's deficit was $49,000. The expected deficit is two to eleven thousand for the coming year. The budget includes support for Quaker organizations such as Friends World Committee for Consultation and our SEYM projects such as Pro-Nica, the work of committees and the expenses of having a part time secretary.

This year we have laid down a monthly meeting and a worship group and the apportionment for these groups was not reapportioned to the remaining meetings. Many meetings have been busy culling their membership lists of people no longer in contact with their meetings. So with fewer people in some meetings we are being asked to do more to support SEYM. Apportionment of SEYM's '05-'06 budget is $67.30 for members and $33.65 for regular attendees. Gainesville Monthly meeting is being asked to contribute $6,293 towards the SEYM expenses this year.

Connie Ray, meeting representative to SEYM

The Gainesville Friends School: An Update

We have researched other, well-established Quaker Schools, studying their mission and philosophy statements. We have completed a Mission Statement: "The mission of The Gainesville Friends School is to create a culture of peace and service, based on the Quaker traditions of simplicity, integrity, equality, and excellence. This is to be achieved by teaching strategies for creating community, including peaceful conflict resolution; providing opportunities for service learning; and maintaining high standards of educational achievement through inquiry and reflective thinking."

We continue to discuss the meaning of our mission statement. Our current focus, however, is to develop a clear and concise philosophy statement, that would provide readers with an immediate understanding of the distinctive characteristics of the proposed school. Our philosophy statement includes brief definitions of peace, service, simplicity, integrity, equality, and excellence - concepts forming the foundation of the school. We hope to achieve greater clarity regarding the meanings each of the committee members brings to these words and achieve consensus regarding our vision for the school. Our last meeting focused primarily on discussing two aspects of our philosophy: the meanings of "community" and "academic excellence." We seem to view community as involving equitable relations among students, teachers, and parents, in the development, implementation, and evaluation of our aims. Our conversations regarding "excellence" focused on the role of students in setting goals, choosing curriculum, and evaluating progress. We explored the tension between setting high standards for student performance, while maintaining flexible expectations for students given each child's interests, strengths, and abilities.

If you have any questions or comments regarding our evolving mission and philosophy statements, please contact one of the committee members listed above.

Committee member, Karen Kilgore