Fighting Terrorism With Schools

In case you missed the article by Greg Mortenson in last Sunday's Parade, click here to read it. There's also a nice photo gallery accompanying the article.

In December we will be giving away one pair of tickets to Greg Mortenson's sold-out January 9th Forum program. Details about the giveaway will be shared on The Forum's Facebook, and the winner will be selected from among Forum Facebook Fans, so if you aren't a Fan yet, become one now!

"We're going to show young people how cool science can be."

On the heels of Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson's appearance at The Richmond Forum last Saturday, when he talked about America's declining role as a leader in the "science of tomorrow," President Obama has pledged more support for science education in this country.

In a speech yesterday, President Obama said, "Today, we are launching the Educate to Innovate campaign, a nationwide effort to help reach the goal this administration has set: moving to the top in science and math education in the next decade. We've got leaders from private companies and universities, foundations and non-profits, and organizations representing millions of scientists, engineers, and teachers from across America. The initial commitment of the private sector to this campaign is more than $260 million –- and we only expect the campaign to grow."

President Obama also announced an annual science fair at The White House.

"If you win the NCAA championship, you come to the White House. Well, if you're a young person and you've produced the best experiment or design, the best hardware or software, you ought to be recognized for that achievement, too. Scientists and engineers ought to stand side by side with athletes and entertainers as role models, and here at the White House we're going to lead by example. We're going to show young people how cool science can be."

Read the full transcript of President Obama's speech here.

Astronomical Opportunity for Students

I watched most of last night's program featuring Dr. Tyson from the student viewing room that we were able to set-up at the Landmark Theater thanks to donations from our subscribers to our Krueger Memorial Fund. This was a first-time outreach event for The Forum, and it was fantastic! We were able to include close to 100 extra young people in the audience for this sold-out program, including Scouts from seven different area troops, students from Monacan High School in Chesterfield County, from the astronomy club at Godwin High School in Henrico County, and students from Oak Grove-Bellemeade Elementary School (who we did not have enough seats to accommodate to watch the program from the student viewing room, but who joined us there during the intermission visit from Dr. Tyson.)

Dr. Tyson seemed particularly pleased to visit with the students, stopping in before the program started, spending the entire intermission with them answering questions, and even visiting the room again after the program ended.

And what kinds of questions did the students press Dr. Tyson with? The first question was "How and when will the world end?" and the last was "Will you explain the Big Bang?" No problem! In the brief 15-20 minutes that Dr. Tyson was off The Forum stage, he rattled off answers to the biggest questions in the Universe.

A subscriber popped his head into the student viewing room to see what was happening just in time to see Dr. Tyson pulling a Scout up to the front of the room to pretend to be a meteor to help answer another question, and the subscriber commented, "You know, this could change these kids' lives!"

Thanks to Dr. Tyson for spending so much time with our young people, thanks to the teachers and parents who coordinated with us to get their kids to the program, and an especially big thanks to the subscribers who donate to the Krueger Fund for making the student viewing room possible. We hope this is just the first of many events like this one!

Greg Mortenson Hospitalized

Greg Mortenson has been hospitalized for viral carditis, an inflammation of the lining of his heart, possibly contracted during his latest trip to Afghanistan.

According to Mortenson, the inflammation "gives me an oxygen saturation around eighty-five percent on room air (for most people it's around 99 percent)." Additional tests are now being conducted by his doctors.

The Richmond Forum wishes Greg all the best for a speedy recovery.

Greg is scheduled to address The Richmond Forum on January 9, 2010.

And so it begins...

It has been widely considered to be just a matter of time before Carly Fiorina, former Hewlett-Packard CEO, threw her hat into the political arena.

When she addressed The Richmond Forum in January 2008, one audience member asked the question, "Would you ever consider running for president?"

To which she laughed and replied,

"Well, first of all, I'm flattered by the question. Thank you. My husband, who's in the audience, is whispering, 'No...no...no!' But I get asked the question enough that it causes me to at least consider that maybe one of these days politics is in my future."

Months later, Fiorina served as an economic advisor to John McCain and she was rumored to be given some consideration as his running mate.

Yesterday Fiorina, who has recently completed chemotherapy for breast cancer, announced that she is launching a campaign in California to unseat three-term Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer. Fiorina will be running as a Republican.

"After chemotherapy, Barbara Boxer just really isn't scary anymore," quipped Fiorina.

This should be an interesting campaign to watch as the opinions are already heating up, including this editorial in the Los Angeles Times.

Visit Carly Fiorina's new campaign site here.