Elderhostel program has plenty of food for thought for education-hungry students

Merilyn Potters

Thursday, Feb. 29, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

With a bounce in their steps and smiles on their faces, 40 students filed into a UNLV Beam Hall classroom. It was their first day of a desert geology course.

Professor Stephen Rowland began his lecture with a slide presentation featuring Frenchman Mountain. One of the many curious students asked if radiocarbon dating was used to determine the age of the 1.6 billion-year-old mountain base, which borders the valley to the east.

Rowland, who teaches geoscience to UNLV undergraduate and graduate students, turned off the projector. He and the class launched into a detailed discussion about geological dating of rocks and fossils.

Already, Rowland had begun to digress from his outline.

While that might be unusual in a normal college classroom, it's not for this group.

Recently, these 55-and-older men and women from all over the country met for a two-week Elderhostel program.

After arriving in Las Vegas, they left for a week in Independence, Calif., where they learned about the Great Basin. En route, they explored Death Valley, Calif. They returned to UNLV for another week to learn about the Mojave Desert -- its water, dams and history.

"It's always a refreshing surprise to find out how spontaneous and enthusiastic these students are," said Rowland, who has taught in five Elderhostel programs at UNLV.

"I let their enthusiasm and questions steer the discussions. It makes the course more interesting and dynamic."

After Rowland's lesson on desert geology and a coffee break, students filed back to their seats for Professor Chris Chairsell's class, "Liquid Gold: Water Want, Water Waste and Water Wars."

Ten minutes into her lecture, a student asked about the effect of water politics on Indians.

"You folks are 10 yards ahead of me, and I want it to stop now," she deadpanned, eyes twinkling.

The group laughed heartily.

"I never turn down a chance to teach Elderhostel," she told her captive audience. "You're a well-bonded group. I learn more than you do."

At about half the age of the average attendee, Chairsell has been teaching at UNLV's Elderhostel program for four years.

"What I am teaching, they have lived. But over a period of years, people forget. And then it comes back to them. You see their eyes get wide, you know they have a story to tell.

"They are reliving their childhood. They have such energy, such spunk, such a wonderful sense of humor.

"It brings so much life to what I studied in books."

Variety of programs

A network of more than 2,000 educational and cultural institutions throughout the world, Elderhostel is a nonprofit organization that combines learning with informal lodging.

It was founded in 1975 by a social activist and a university administrator who sought to extend the European youth hostel concept to older people. These days, at least 250,000 people a year participate in the program.

The spring catalog lists 4,500 programs in just about every subject and place imaginable. A sampling:

* One week at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa, for a taste of the local Dutch heritage and celebration at the Iowa Tulip Festival.

* A five-day course on the food and wine of New York's Hudson Valley.

* A three-week program at three different universities in Brazil.

* A five-day, hands-on marine adventure at Texas A&M University that includes a visit to a sea-turtle hatchery and beach-sand sculpting.

* A one-week stay at Alaska Pacific University to study Alaska's Eskimos and hike its trails.

In addition to hearing lectures, visitors to UNLV toured Hoover Dam and hiked through 150 million-year-old petrified sand dunes east of Frenchman Mountain.

Repeat customers

Former Marin County jewelers Barbara and Robert Husak came to this program in part because they love the outdoors.

It was their seventh Elderhostel since their retirement last year, having been to programs in Mexico, Florida and Bryce Canyon, Utah.

"We like things like canoeing and camping, but you can go to an Elderhostel and study opera or calligraphy," Barbara said.

Locals Harry and Peggy Ashenberg have attended two out-of-town Elderhostel programs. One was at Lake Havasu City, Ariz., for instruction in magic, Southwest art and local history. The other was at the University of Judaism in Southern California, where they studied Jewish diaspora and Bible interpretations.

Harry has just whetted his appetite.

He'd like to go on some of the hiking and rafting expeditions into the Grand Canyon listed in the catalog.

Peggy, on the other hand, prefers a more relaxed, indoor environment. "I look for a more sedentary location, where I can exercise the brain and not the body."

The 'criteria'

People choose their programs for various reasons.

"This is my 34th Elderhostel," noted John Shea, a retired California judge, during the UNLV coffee break.

"First you pick a place you want to go. The minute I saw that this included Death Valley, I said, 'That's for me.'

"I've been to New Orleans, Salt Lake City and Baltimore. In certain instances, you pick a topic, such as Indian lore, music or geology. We all have our criteria."

Las Vegas' climate appealed to many attendees.

"It's so cold at home this time of year," said Luella Schwartz of Lincoln, Neb., as the warm, dry air moved through the campus breezeway.

For most attending the local session, such as Donna Bjorn, a retired Northern California health-insurance executive, it was the intrigue of the desert.

"The two things I love best are travel and learning something I didn't know before," she said. "This time it was about the West, the water and the deserts."

Lodging

She and others insisted Elderhostel is not simply a senior citizen bus trip, nor does it necessarily require living in a Spartan dormitory.

"We've stayed in some of the nicest places," Barbara Husak said. "And better still, you don't have to spend a dime once you get there."

While in Las Vegas, the group stayed at the Golden Gate hotel-casino. In Independence, they stayed at a "very nice" bed-and-breakfast inn.

The $700 rate for the two-week program included room accommodations, meals, local transportation and the classes.

The typical charge for a six-night domestic program is $340. International programs cost more but include transportation.

"The only other thing I had to pay for was my trip from Oakland to Las Vegas, $19 each way," Donna Bjorn said.

Go-getters

She wants to dispel another myth.

"The stereotype about older people is that they are bitchy, inflexible and complain all the time," she said.

During her five Elderhostel trips, she has yet "to run into anybody that meets the stereotype. I meet flexible, healthy, active people."

"We have a lot of preconceptions about senior citizens -- that they are behind the times," said Tom Jones, a UNLV hotel management professor, who taught a class in resort operations during November's Elderhostel program.

"Not so. These are the best students I have had. They're very eager to learn, and sometimes that's not the case for traditional college-age students."

He took his older students on a "backstage tour" of local hotel-casino operations, where they saw boilers, refrigeration equipment and energy-saving devices.

"They responded favorably to how these palaces of pleasure operate behind the scenes and provide heat, light, air and comfort.

"I was particularly impressed over how these folks were very cognizant of energy and water use. There were many good, community-spirited citizens with an eye toward the environment.

"They were very quick and more than willing to express their opinion instead of sitting back passively and folding their arms."

'Pure play'

SUN columnist Joe Delaney, another UNLV instructor, who has taught the history of Las Vegas entertainment to Elderhostel students for three years, also made the comparison to his undergraduate students.

"The younger students lack discipline and the ability to apply themselves. They think in terms of 15-second sound bites. Whereas the Elderhostel groups know that life is short. They are going to enjoy themselves in the process."

From his class, they expect to learn more about the entertainment of an earlier era, he said.

"They are not into the Red Hot Chili Peppers or Gin Blossoms. They want to hear about the Jack Bennys and the Milton Berles ... and the great stars who are woven into Las Vegas history."

Perhaps these students' alacrity also comes from a newfound freedom.

"It's a lot of fun when you get older -- pure play," Donna Bjorn said. "In class, you don't have to pass a test, there are no credits and you don't have to prepare for a job.

"You learn whatever you want to learn. That's what you're here for."

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