G.R.A.A.
Goddard Retirees and Alumni Association
P.O. Box 163, Lanham, MD 20703-0163

IMPORTANT DATES

COMMENTS FROM RON BROWNING, GRAA PRESIDENT: Our speaker for the February GRAA Luncheon was Tiffany Lundquist, AARP’s Communications Director in Maryland. She provided attendees with a timely and informative presentation on “Fighting Health Care Fraud” associated with Medicare and Medicaid. Ms. Lundquist stated that 10 percent of all health care expenses is lost to fraud and abuse and defined a ‘scam’ as the rip-off of an individual and ‘fraud’ as a method of targeting a system (e.g., overbilling or billing for services or products that were not provided). She talked about several recent scams, one being a TV commercial urging people to call a toll-free number to sign up for a new government insurance plan during a limited enrollment period. Another example involved a state attorney general who reported that telemarketers were calling senior citizens in an attempt to obtain personal information so they could send them a new Medicare card they said was required under the new health care law. Ms. Lundquist provided the following valuable information about helping detect and report health care fraud:
Watch for official communications: Government officials do not sell insurance policies door-to-door nor over the phone. As new insurance benefits take effect, only rely on trusted sources to tell you what you may need to do - ask questions, check the facts, and require any plan/agreement to be in writing.
Be skeptical: Guard your insurance identification and know with whom you are dealing. If you receive a visit, call, or e-mail from someone claiming to want to help you sign up for new programs, they may not be who they say they are. Do not pay anyone to help you receive new benefits. Do not reveal any of your personal identification to them, such as your full name, date of birth, or Social Security Number.
Review documents carefully: When you review a health care provider’s bill, statement or explanation of benefits, examine the document(s) carefully to verify that all information is correct. If there are any services, equipment or medications that were billed but not provided, or if you were billed for the same procedure or medications more than once, contact your provider and question the bill. When unable to resolve the issue, refer the matter to authorities. You can report potential Medicare fraud to Medicare at 800-633-4227, and you can locate your state attorney general’s office at http://www.naag.org/current-attorneys-general.php. Other useful web sites regarding Medicare can be found at: http://www.medicare.gov and/or http://www.aarp.org/medicare.

COPIES OF “READ YOU LOUD AND CLEAR!” AGAIN AVAILABLE: For members who did not request a copy earlier, we have secured a limited number of copies of the “Story of NASA’s Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network.” If you would like to be sent a copy, send a check to GRAA for $5.00 (to cover postage) to our Lanham address. If you want to pick up a gratis copy at our March or April luncheon, send a note to our Lanham address or e-mail to Strat Laios (stratlaios@verizon.net) and ask him to reserve a copy for you.

TREASURER'S REPORT : Bob Wigand reports that tax-deductible contributions were received from the following members: Ray Hartenstein, Jim and Janet Jew, George Kraft, Vern Kreuger, Don and Judy Lokerson, Tom Page (in memory of his wife, Sybille), Barbara Shavatt (in memory of Elaine Montgomery), Berl Wittig, Chuck White, Chuck Woodyard, Earle Young, and a donor who wishes to remain anonymous. A financial report was distributed to the Board of Directors at the February luncheon indicating an operating balance of $14,017.93 at the end of 2010.

THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH : There’s always a lot to be thankful for if you take time to look for it. For example, I’m sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don’t hurt.

REMEMBERING OUR FORMER COLLEAGUES:

•  Linda (Lindy) J. Bingham, of Gambrills, MD, passed away from liver disease on February 4^th. She was scheduled to retire at the end of February to become a fulltime grandmother to her six granddaughters. She began her career as a Secretary and in later years became the Center’s Equipment Storage Manager in the Logistics Division.

•  Wilbur (Buzz) Brandenburg, Jr., of Annapolis, MD, passed away on January 21^st . He was an Engineer who joined Goddard in the mid-60’s and was involved with developing and communicating data processing user requirements at remote science-related sites in the Requirements Section of the Manned Space Flight Engineering Division. He was involved in later years with numerous other networking-related assignments for satellite systems.

•  Gina Coates, wife of Dr. Robert (Bob) Coates, of Ellicott City, MD, passed away on January 27^th following a 50-year career as a nurse and Licensed Nursing Practitioner.

•  Joseph W. Cunningham, of Martinsburg, WV (formerly of Rockville, MD), passed away on December 10^th, 2010. He was a Design Engineer at Goddard and, among other assignments, worked for the Instrumentation Branch of the Sounding Rocket Division in the 70’s. One of his many inventions was placed on a Space Shuttle mission and he continued to work on additional inventions following his retirement.

•  Hay K. Lee, of Greenbelt, MD, passed away on February 1^st . He was a member of Goddard’s Power Plant crew and Head of the Building Engineers who were responsible for seeing that heating/cooling was properly distributed throughout the Center.

•  Robert (Bob) R. Nuttall, of Denver, CO (formerly of Silver Spring, MD) passed away on October 21^st, 2010. He was an Aeronautical Engineer at Goddard and worked on numerous managerial assignments during his career.

•  William E. O’Connor, of Seminole, OK, passed away on January 26^th . As a Power Plant Engineer, he was head of Goddard’s Power Plant crew responsible for administering the Center’s heating and cooling requirements.

FROM THE GODDARD ARCHIVES - IT HAPPENED IN MARCH:
March 25, 1961: This year marks the 50^th Anniversary of the launch of Explorer X on a Thor-Delta rocket from Cape Canaveral. This spacecraft was the first Goddard-designed, assembled, tested, and launched satellite mission. GRAA member James Heppner was Project Manager, Project Scientist, and the Principal Investigator for this satellite. The mission objective was to investigate the magnetic fields and plasma through the Earth’s magnetosphere and into cislunar space. Because of the limited lifetime of the batteries, the only useful data were transmitted in real time for 52 hours on the ascending portion of the first orbit. All transmissions ceased several hours later.

IN MEMORY OF A TUSKEGEE AIRMAN : Charles H. Flowers, Jr., distinguished Tuskegee airman, passed away on January 28th at the age of 92 from complications of renal and heart failure. He worked at Goddard for about 25 years, first as an Electronics Technician and later as Employee Relations Manager for Computer Sciences Corporation until retiring in 1989. He was among the first black cadets to enroll in the Army Air Corps pilot training program at Tuskegee Army Air Field, AL; first in his class to solo; selected as Cadet Captain, the highest ranking cadet on the base; and, selected upon graduation to serve the duties of Primary Flight Instructor. He trained a multitude of Tuskegee airmen for five years, but never saw combat. Upon retirement, he went on to mentor local students and in 2000 a new high school in Springdale, MD, was named in his honor. This was yet another commendation on his life, as he was the first living person to have a school named after him/her in Prince Georges County, MD.