Previous Forums
Below is a list of previous forums and their descriptions. Many forums have text and/or audio. See the Sunday Forum posts.
May 19th: "Legislative Wrap-Up" by Stephanie Garcia Richard
May 12th: "Healthcare Costs in the United States" by Dr. Tyler Taylor
May 5th: "Mesa Public Library" by Steven Thomas
April 28th: "The Los Alamos Historical Society" by Raffi E. Andonian
April 21st: "The New Budget" by Patrick Sullivan, Steward
April 14th: "Los Alamos Visiting Nurse Service" by Sarah Rochester
April 7th: "Guiding a Tour in a Foreign Land" by Sherry Hardage
March 31st: "Publishing Fiction in Today's World" by Cary Neeper
March 24th: "Trees and Urban Forestry in Los Alamos" by Laural Hardin
March 17th: "Living in the Scandinavian Welfare State" by Galen and Susan Gisler
March 10th: "Alzheimer's Disease" by Mary Amada
March 3rd: "The New Mexico Consortium" by Katharine Chartrand and Patrick Sullivan
February 24th: "Los Alamos Daily Post" by Carol Clark
February 17th: "The Iran Issue - Some 20th Century History, Some Facts, Some Images, Some Thoughts, Some Questions" by Arvid Lundy
February 10th: "Mystery Friends Party" by Mark Petersen
Are you curious about all the sausage-making during the last 60-day legislative session in Santa Fe? Do you want the inside scoop on committee meetings, rowdy legislators and those infamous "last 12 minutes" of the session? Get the freshman perspective from our own brand new lawmaker.
May 12th: "Healthcare Costs in the United States" by Dr. Tyler Taylor
Tyler Taylor, a local family physician, will take a look at the costs of healthcare in the US, how those have been changing, and possible explanations for why are they so much higher here. He'll share his perspective from "in the trenches", and look ahead to how a few health system changes, both planned and proposed, might affect healthcare costs in coming years.
May 5th: "Mesa Public Library" by Steven Thomas
Steven Thomas is the manager of Mesa Public Library. He received a B.A. in History from the University of Arkansas and an M.L.S. at the University of Tennessee (where he met his wife, Lisa). After starting his career as an Assistant Branch Manager in the Brooklyn (NY) Public Library System, he went on to work as an Assistant Director in the Fayetteville (AR) Public Library, Kanawha County (WV) Library System, and the Washington County (AR) Library Systems. For both Steven and Lisa, Northern New Mexico generally and Los Alamos specifically have always been one of their favorite places in the country and they are thrilled to have been able to join the community over the past five months.
April 28th: "The Los Alamos Historical Society" by Raffi E. Andonian
Raffi E. Andonian is the Museum Educator at the Los Alamos Historical Society. He has lived in Taos, Albuquerque, Las Cruces, and Los Alamos -- and he loves New Mexico history. He has previously worked for The Archaeological Conservancy, the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Trail Association, and the National Park Service at the Gettysburg battlefield and the Martin Luther King Jr. birth home.
April 21st: "The New Budget" by Patrick Sullivan, Steward
Each year the Finance Committee and the Board of Trustees develops a budget for the next fiscal year. You should have already received the mailing for this year's pledge drive that will support this budget. Also, every year we use the Forum before the annual meeting of the congregation to go over the budget especially the areas that we want to increase. Patrick Sullivan, our steward, will go over next year's budget and then he and members of the committee will answer any questions. The budget itself will be voted on by the congregation at the annual meeting on April 28th.
April 14th: "Los Alamos Visiting Nurse Service" by Sarah Rochester
I went to school in New York City, St. Luke's Hospital School of Nursing and then to New York University. I had the opportunity to work for the Visiting Nurse Service in NYC and found that I loved Home Care. Though much different than what we do now, I think it was the best job I ever have had, It was educational, exciting, filled with a variety of people and stayed in my mind after marrying and moving to Los Alamos, Hence the Visiting Nurse Service here. I still love what I do after nearly 40 years. Lots of opportunity for growth and expansion including becoming certified in various areas of Homecare and Hospice. Next step, an inpatient unit / Hospice House: Sanctuary at Canyon's edge.
April 7th: "Guiding a Tour in a Foreign Land" by Sherry Hardage
Last fall, Sherry Hardage organized a tour of the Mexican state of Chiapas for the Los Alamos Mountaineer's Club, while she was living in a cave in Turkey. Sherry will discuss the challenges of organizing a tour from afar and talk about how a well-balanced tour can change one's perspective on a country and a culture. Tourists see only what they've come to see, while travelers see what is really there. A good tour transforms you from tourist to traveler. Sherry will also give a slide show with photos taken during the tour and while she lived in Chiapas for nine months.
March 31st: "Publishing Fiction in Today's World" by Cary Neeper
Cary, a member of this congregation, published a sci-fi novel in 1975 and a sequel last December, with two more books due for publication this year. She will discuss the drastic changes in the publishing world where major publishers consider only works promoted by agents, publishers require that the author do most of the marketing, an agent may receive one hundred queries per week, many agents insist that a prospective author have an established following on the internet, and even Los Alamos cannot support a book store due to cutthroat sales policies of internet marketers. Electronic books (Kindle, Nook) are becoming popular, which is both a blessing and a curse. ??Cary will discuss all of these trends that create new possibilities and nearly impossible challenges for authors.
March 24th: "Trees and Urban Forestry in Los Alamos" by Laural Hardin
Arborist Laural Hardin-Smith will give a fact filled presentation on our native Ponderosa Pine. She will discuss the mortally rate of this tree in the urban landscape and give specific tips to combat disease and loss.
March 17th: "Living in the Scandinavian Welfare State" by Galen and Susan Gisler
The five Scandinavian/Nordic countries (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland) regularly sit at the top of lists of the world's countries with desirable qualites: "happiest", "most prosperous", "most productive", "best places to live", etc. These countries are also among the most expensive places to live. Over the past hundred years, social-democratic governments have gradually built up extensive welfare states that have broad public support. How well do the welfare states really work?
Susan and Galen Gisler lived in Norway for 6.5 years and also travelled among other countries in the region. We will share our experiences of the culture and the social system and discuss its benefits and its costs.
March 10th: "Alzheimer's Disease" by Mary Amada
Mary Amada from the Los Alamos Retirement Community will speak on Alzheimer Disease. She will discuss early signs and symptoms and share how the Retirement Community can help those who suffer from this ailment.
March 3rd: "The New Mexico Consortium" by Katharine Chartrand and Patrick Sullivan
Executive Director Katharine Chartrand and Financial Manager Patrick Sullivan will discuss the New Mexico Consortium's programs in Advanced Computing, Plant Biology, Bio-medical Engineering and Modeling and Analysis as well as the collaboration with Los Alamos County to construct a 27,000 square foot Biology Laboratory in Los Alamos. The laboratory studies will include algae as a biofuel. The New Mexico Consortium (NMC) is a non-profit corporation formed by the three New Mexico Universities (University of New Mexico, New Mexico Tech, New Mexico State University) under a teaming agreement with The University of California (UC) to partner with Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to advance scientific research and education in New Mexico.
February 24th: "Los Alamos Daily Post" by Carol Clark
Carol A. Clark is the founder and publisher of the Los Alamos Daily Post, the local online newspaper she launched last March that features people, governance, and events in our town. Carol will describe her experiences in starting and maintaining such a venture. She will share what her day is like now that the newspaper is drawing more than 30,000 readers each month in 50 states and 115 countries around the world.
February 17th: "The Iran Issue - Some 20th Century History, Some Facts, Some Images, Some Thoughts, Some Questions" by Arvid Lundy
Arvid is a long time member of this church, but has lived in Santa Fe for the last ten years. During that decade he has been studying Iran on his own and as a LANL paid "cost free expert" at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. At IAEA his focus was on Iranian technology capabilities as shown primarily in open Iranian scientific and technical publications. He will give impressions of the country, the culture, the people, and the government as well as the nuclear program.
February 10th: "Mystery Friends Party" by Mark Petersen
Come meet your mystery friend in person during this inter-generational, active forum hour. For the past month, children and adult mystery friends have been exchanging letters on the board. Have you been figured out? Adults not signed up as mystery friends may participate upon arrival as a substitute.
