European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 8, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine retired professionals mingle with Young students at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg Fla. Learning in retirement alternative lifestyle for seniors Wypa Leisner associated press Lorida one of America s most popular retirement havens has or decades wooed Golden agers with sunny Days slowed Pace and challenging Golf links. Bui today seniors Are being lured by an alternative lifestyle that gives new meaning to retirement. It s school. A Good example is the Academy of senior professionals or aspect at Eckerd College an innovative living learning Community tucked in the Corner of a Small private Liberal arts College in St. Petersburg. The Academy is a gathering place Lor retired men and women who find it hard to Mark time after demanding careers achievers not dissuaded by aches and pains that betray their years. They re assuming rotes of part time teacher part Lime student lecturer and adviser. They re hosting Public forums and serving As adjunct faculty members team teachers career Counselor role models and mentors to undergraduates the age of their grandchildren. And they re hitting the books again to keep in step. Among the 115 Academy members Are a retired major general who helped liberate Dachau and later served As a strategist to the joint chiefs of staff a former Anaesthesiologist who spent 21/. Years with the French underground an sex ambassador to the soviet Union a one Lime surgeon and six term congressman an academician who served As overseas director for a University a Rhodes scholar and a woman presbyterian minister who a age 60 was arrested during a civil rights March in the South. Others come from Law business arts humanities science government economics menial health and engineering. They Range in age from 48 to 93 and have lived and worked All Over the world the Rice paddies of Asia the classrooms of India Lebanon and Nigeria the embassies of Iron curtain satellites the medical facilities of Cambodia and Iran the education ministries of Sudan and Pakistan and the exhibition Halls of Europe and Tokyo. I m 77 years old and most of the time i feel like i did when i was 25," says retired surgeon Francis l. Browning a Grandfather of 13 who also admits of course there Are certain limes i feel like i m 90." Charles Smith a retired economics teacher and investment banking consultant from Philadelphia joined in search of a full and meaningful life an association with people interested in keeping the mind alive. Golf i could care less chasing a Little Ball around is someone else s game says Smith who s nearly 70. Mason Daly a recently retired educator was eager for Carefree Days but somewhat apprehensive. I was moving into a Community where i knew nobody " he met a mix of people developed a Circle of friends and says it s a Delight. To walk across Campus and have Young people wave or walk into a cafeteria with them and sit Down at ease " seniors pair with faculty to teach a freshman course on Western heritage which traces Man from ancient limes through the 20th Century they do the same for a senior requirement Judaeo chistian perspectives which sorts the ethical values of society. Despite a slow Start and a leery faculty the program ballooned trom three senior participants to 30 in Lour years tuesday septembers 1987 to cover a Broad ran rec of views Iho old Orr deliberately Are coupled with professors Iron an opposite Bent a pacifist with a general a scientist with a language and literature specialist students say the formal Fivos Thorn new perspectives we were talking about a moment in the past and Here we had a lecturer who lived through Attiat  said Tach aka Ray. 20, of Santa Monica. Calil the Academy was founded in october 1982 by Polar Armacost. President of Eckerd the conservative Church related school formerly Florida presbyterian College sits on 281 acres ii has an enrolment of t.200 students from 40 slates and 45 countries who pay an average of $8,220 annually and $3.000 More Lor room and Board. Armacost housed the Academy at Lewis House a waterfront building that once served As the president s quarters and has an atrium big enough to Seal 100. His goal Lor aspect was twofold to provide a stimulating environment for seniors and to enrich the learning experience of undergraduates. He envisioned a total living learning Community with Campus housing for retirees on 78 acres overlooking Boca Ciega Bay. His blueprint for College Harbor a progressive care retirement Center included 290 congregate care apartments and 60 skilled nursing Beds. He also planned 480 condominium units. However aspect s Early growth did t match the lofty predictions. Today the health care Center is partially opened but not restricted to Academy members. The condos Haven t been built yet. Five years ago Armacost tapped Leo Nussbaum retired president of Coe College in Cedar rapids Iowa to get the Academy off the ground. Organizers formed think tanks and made plans quietly not wanting to unleash the ire of a guarded faculty that fell threatened. Nussbaum picked timely topics biomedical ethics the environment the Bicentennial of the Constitution. Public events began to draw. Retirees found themselves Back at the books Joe Pezdirtz a 66-year-old retired army major general look part in the 12-series Bicentennial program his topic was Powers of the presidency. I spent seven months preparing for a 45-minute lecture he says. Nussbaum installed a series of meetings for a person say from a financial background to Brief Peers on How to read and interpret Bonds the advantages of stocks How to research a company. The sessions caught on pulling audiences from eight to 35 depending on the subject. Finally Nussbaum turned his efforts toward bridging the generation Gap to find ways retirees could share their experiences in the classroom. One big problem was some of the faculty looked at Academy members As an enemy or invader he says they did t see the enrichment and interaction it could  Nussbaum asked three faculty members to try a modest Experiment using a retired professional to assist in teaching Western heritage a freshman requirement taught by All the faculty members Tho teachers themselves propagated the concept through word of Mouth. Colleagues listened. And gradually they began lining up for aspect members to become part of their discussion groups. Aspect members May skip the classroom to concentrate on writing projects research or study. Or they May want the socializing which includes dinners or parties with colleagues acuity and students. Participation can be year round or seasonal. There Are no obligations to take part in specific activities. That s what makes it work says Frank Palmer an aspect organizing committee chairman and a psychologist who served As Provost at the stale University of new York at Stony Brook. It s a group of individuals whose needs vary enormously. Some might be interested in the undergraduate Experiment others the social end. The Academy attempts to satisfy those  an aspect member pays a $1,000 initiation Lee and $600 in annual dues fees go toward the Academy s annual operating budget of $150.000 the College supplies the rest or. Armacost is a smart  Palmer quips he probably saw somewhere Down the Road some of these old dodgers would have Money and Leaie it to Trie College the stars and stripes Page 13