Events Bulletin

Online Marathon Training
The Wisconsin Alumni Association and Ron Carda, kinesiology, are offering marathon training during spring semester. Learn and train online alongside current students and alumni from around the country. Online course runs Jan. 22 through May 14, with a new lecture posted each Wednesday. Cost is $75-$90. The course will guide trainees through the process of designing and implementing an individual personal training plan. Each week, lecture notes, graphs and all related materials will be posted and archived on the class Web site. Participants can stay in regular contact with Carda through e-mail, as he will provide individual feedback and coaching throughout the course. In addition, class members will develop an online community through a message board, where ideas, questions and encouragement can be shared. Information: http://www.uwalumni.com/marathon/; 262-2551; or sarahschutt@uwalumni.com.

Sri Lanka Travel-Study Trip Offered
Two dates are offered for a 16-day travel-study-service tour to Sri Lanka with a stopover in Japan: March 14-30 and July 26-Aug. 10. An information session will be held Monday, Dec. 16, at 7 p.m. in the Red Gym’s Mezzanine AB. Rick Brooks, Professional Development and Applied Studies, will lead the tour.

International volunteers and university students will join the group in Tokyo in March. The summer tour offers the chance for students, teachers and others who cannot attend during the academic year to take part. The trip is hosted by the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement of Sri Lanka, a people’s self-help movement with participants in more than 11,400 villages. It is the largest non-government organization in the country. Based on Gandhian and Buddhist principles, Sarvodaya is known the world over for its “bottom up” approach to community development.

In the past 43 years, the Sarvodaya movement has helped build more than 6,000 preschools, hundreds of village banks; and thousands of wells, homes, sustainable agriculture projects and small businesses. Many political observers credit Sarvodaya with establishing the momentum for a peaceful settlement of the decades-old civil war. In the past two years alone, Sarvodaya brought together millions of Sri Lankans of diverse religions and ethnic backgrounds to meditate for peace.

The trip is for adults, students, professionals and retirees. The plan is to participate in a village work camp, building a road and a preschool. Travelers will visit an organic demonstration farm and eco-village as well as a 2,000-year-old city where the sacred bodhi tree, under which Buddha was said to be enlightened, still grows. Activities related to women’s issues, community health, youth development and civil society will be tailored to participants’ interests. Total cost is likely to be around $3,000. Partial scholarships may be available. For information, see http://www.sarvodaya.org, or contact Brooks, rbrooks@dcs.wisc.edu.

Financial Advice Available
A financial planning workshop is available for those participating in the Wisconsin Retirement System Variable Fund. Workshop attendees will: analyze current risk; assess the benefits and disadvantages to remaining with the WRS Variable Fund; review the historical perspective when making financial decisions; identify the impact of financial decisions; and create an action plan.

The workshop will be held three dates: Dec. 17, 18 and 19 at the Pyle Center, 5-6:30 p.m. Sessions are sponsored by the Wisconsin Alumni Association. Dorie Geniesse will lead the workshops. The workshop costs $30.

For more information contact WAA, 262-9651, or register on-line at www.uwalumni.com/prw/wrs.