Teaching
— Marilyn Myerson
The Ides of March, 1945 —the air abounds with promises of Spring and an end to WW II. The three Fates are gathering stockpiles of shamrocks for St. Paddy’s Day. Their wind chimes ring— a new human is arriving— they spring into action. As they measure out the string of her life, two of the Sisters agree that all signs point to a career as teacher for the new babe, though the third holds out for belly dancer and, as usual, is rebuffed.
And so teacher I was destined to be.
I started my career at the ripe age of four. I had a gleeful time instructing my seatmates on how to distinguish a chicken from a cow in our workbooks, and we turned the page to the next lesson—until the teacher saw what we were doing…too much laughter at our table, tada! Alas, she must have felt upstaged by this young kid who could already read. And captivate the others.
But I was not deterred! Meanwhile I lost cookie privileges the day I sat blowing spit bubbles. I’d just learned how to blow bubbles with that overly pink, overly sweet hubba bubba gum and I needed the practice! But my innocent actions caused the other kids to giggle, and demerits for me! I vowed I’d always provide cookies for my students.
I was always on the alert to watch good teachers in action. Mr. Young, my grade six teacher, knew that my best friend, Barbara and I, were prone to finish in-class assignments before anyone else and thus chatter. Not one to punish us for disrupting the class, he instead provided outlets for our energy. He set up a reading chart and everyone was invited to list the books they’d read outside of class. Barbara and I competed to see whose list was longer. Not only were we provided the opportunity to use our time well, but also our love of reading was acclaimed and accelerated. He also suggested we create a classroom newsletter, replete with anecdotes and jokes. I still remember the smell of the mimeograph machine.
At university, my calculus professor, Dr Kingsbury, had a unique approach to the classroom. For each new concept, he devised a set of exams, ranging in difficulty. When someone got through all the tests, we were paired up with others who were struggling. His perspective was that someone who had just learned a new concept was in the best position to explain it. At times, the classroom was abuzz with math terms, competing with hockey scores for air time. And this method worked! All students in this classroom passed the course, whereas the classes that were taught the regular prescribed way, had its share of failures.
These two teachers taught me the value of unconventional methods. Meet your students where they are and offer them new adventures. Be flexible and be open to interrupting your lesson plans for a greater learning experience as it might arise.
Even in academia, I had a reputation for being on the eccentric side. I wore a belt made out of condoms to remind my students about safer sex. I would start some classes with meditation, and invited them to write poetry about the week’s topics. I provided cookies for all, literally and figuratively.
Time passes, I retired from almost forty years of teaching, I happily joined OLLI.
USF’s Role in Women’s Studies
In August 1972, the University of South Florida established one of the nation’s first undergraduate women’s studies programs. Spearheaded by Dr. Juanita Williams as a non-degree initiative offering 11 courses taught entirely by women, USF positioned itself at the forefront of academic inclusivity during the rise of Title IX and the Equal Rights Amendment. Over the past five decades, the initiative expanded significantly within the College of Arts and Sciences to become a full-fledged department offering undergraduate and graduate degrees. By branching into diverse academic areas like Black women’s studies and disability studies, USF cemented its legacy as an early institutional leader in advancing social justice and gender scholarship.
After retiring as Associate Professor Emeritus in 2010, Marilyn Myerson established the Marilyn Myerson Student Success Fund to help students present research at conferences and cover academic travel expenses.
Marilyn Myerson, Ph.D., Philosophy, has learned to take nothing for granted and to embrace the power of whimsy. Marilyn was the first outside hire in what is now the USF Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, starting in 1973, when it was just one year old. She was an administrator at various departmental and deans’ levels before her retirement as Emeritus faculty in 2010. She shepherded the Human Sexual Behavior class through its many incarnations, developed the original women’s health classes, and taught feminist research methods. She is happily involved with OLLI-USF, having taken painting and writing courses. She created and frequently teaches Imaginative Writing classes and facilitates the Imaginative Crew and several other writing groups.
Grift, Greed, and Corruption in Plain Sight?
by Donald Menzel
Do any of these practices apply to the Trump White House? You might say, “I don’t know—maybe, maybe not.” Fair enough; let’s examine it. Start with grift, short for grifter: someone who uses swindles, confidence tricks, or deception to obtain a desired product, usually money or property without a fair exchange. Consider Donald Trump’s promises to lower inflation and the cost of living, end the Russia-Ukraine war within 24 hours, and keep the United States out of foreign wars if voters supported him. Is that deception? A swindle? You decide, Dear Reader. Also consider the claim that we are living in a Golden Age—no, I’m not talking about your age, rather a new era of prosperity marked by record-setting economic growth fueled by tax reform, deregulation, and American innovation. So, I ask: are you better off now than you were before Trump was inaugurated the 47th President in January 2025? Has the Golden Age arrived for you?
Let’s move on to greed. Have you heard the saying that “too much is not enough!” I’m not talking about food. No, I’m talking about wealth—the one percenters, perhaps the small number of Americans with a net worth of $10-12 million. Or, if you are imagining Trump’s billionaire top appointees the number is 0.0001%—sixteen of Trump’s 25 wealthiest appointees are among the 813 billionaires in the United States. And then you surely know that President Trump is no laggard among this crowd. In 2025 he had a very good year pocketing more than $2.4 billion that included a billion dollars in crypto deals along with $635 million in royalties linked to his memecoin, $620 million in real estate, hotel and golf businesses ($77 million from Mar-a-Lago)—he also received $86.5 million from settlements in five lawsuits, $236 million in crypto token sales and $29 million from cryptocurrency wallets connected to a crypto-currency-founded enterprise by the Trump family. Not one to sit on his financial hands, he is now offering early access to online posts on Truth Social for $100,000 per month. Last year he published more than 100 posts in a single day while global markets tumbled. Need I list more? Too much money is not enough for Mt. Trump—is it? Greed is good, some say. Not the Bible, greed is among the seven cardinal sins—right up there with lust and envy.
Turning next to corruption, where to start? The 927-page (yes, it’s that long) annual disclosure report filed with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics documenting the greed listed in the prior paragraph illustrates the breathtaking scope and complexity of White House self-dealing. No bribes under the table or kickbacks? Difficult to say, but all suspect. Corruption in plain sight? Perhaps. Let me provide a few more examples for your consideration.
A South Korean aluminum company facing a trade investigation by the Commerce Department made a $2 million nonrefundable payment to President Trump’s holding company, with the explanation that it was for a golf course project. His family flagship crypto venture World Liberty Financial is also in the news as it has received conditional approval from the U. S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to become a bank.
Stay with me, I know this is complicated stuff.
World Liberty Trust will operate as a federally chartered national trust bank to issue and redeem the dollar backed Stablecoin that was launched by World Liberty in 2025. Stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency that is backed by safe reserve assets such as U.S. Treasuries and is convertible one-to-one into U.S. dollars. Receiving approval for the bank would be financially lucrative for the Trump family. Is such an arrangement a conflict of interest or an act of corruption for Mr. Trump? So it would appear. As Senator Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass) put it: “we have never seen financial conflicts or corruption of this magnitude.”
This guest opinion essay ends with one question for you, Dear Reader: Is the Trump White House overwhelmed by grift, greed, and corruption—or are American taxpayers witnessing the greatest scam in plain sight? It’s your call.
Sources: brainbound.blog
Vickie Ge Huang, www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/trump-family-s-world-liberty-financial-gets-preliminary-approval-to-launch-a-bank/ar-AA2a8NxX?ocid=BingNewsSerp
Rick Klapool, https://www.bing.com/search?q=trump%27s+billionaire+cabinet+represents&form=APMCS1&PC=APMC
Updated Reporting
Since this writing, financial disclosures released in late August 2026 revealed that the president’s investment accounts executed more than 1,000 stock trades in June alone, totaling between $78 million and $263 million. Investigative reports and fact-checkers, including Snopes, highlighted dubiously timed purchases—such as acquiring up to $500,000 in Boeing stock on June 18, 2026, the exact same day the U.S. Navy awarded the aerospace manufacturer an $880 million contract. While the White House maintains that assets are independently managed in discretionary third-party accounts, ethics experts continue to flag the overlapping transactions for conflict-of-interest concerns. — Editor
*(Sources: The New Republic, Snopes
Donald C. Menzel, Ph.D., is a past president of the American Society for Public Administration, author and international speaker on ethics reform. Don organized OLLI-USF’s China Special Interest Group. He also served as an OLLI-USF faculty member for over 10 years. Together with his wife, Kay, Don divides his time between Florida and Colorado, and contributes commentary on life’s moments and current issues in both locations.
The OLLI Sketchbook
A 1982 Cartoon by Art Henrikson
My dad drew this September 1982 cartoon a year after my spouse and I moved to Tampa for his USF faculty job. The USF Oracle reprinted it a few days later. In it, the small car transported the student’s bass drum, turntable and large speakers. Students do continue to write to their parents for money—via text instead of snail mail. —Diane Henrikson Russell
A Modern Cartoon by Gemini
We prompted Gemini a.i. to create a modern companion piece. Today’s parents deposit their offspring at university or college with all the comforts of home: brand new furniture, designer decor, high tech gear, streaming and cell accounts, and a credit card. Instead of writing for cash, they text for emergency funds to fill bin #38. How things have changed! — Editor
Leave a Reply