The Financial Crisis and the Great Recession: How’s the Recovery?

Free and Open to the Public

Date:  Sunday, December 13, 2013
Speaker:  William T. Carlisle, Ph.D.
Time:  Meet & Greet: 1:45 pm •  Presentation: 2:00 pm   • Meeting Closes: 3:30 pm
Salt Lake Main Library, 210 East 400 South – Fourth Floor Meeting Room

Dr. Carlisle is emeritus faculty in the Department of Economics, University of Utah, where he taught for 35 years. He has taught courses in economic theory, American Economic History, and Current Economic Problems. One of his favorite fields of interest is the Great Depression of the 1930’s, and the one from 2008 to 2011.

“We’ll discuss the origins of the Great Recession and various processes the economy went through to avoid a greater calamity and promote recovery in the economy and the labor market. We’ll talk about policies as well. We’ll think about the recovery as being on-going and still incomplete.”

Advertisement

Reduction of Area Source Emissions through Improved Energy Efficiency in Buildings

Date:  Sunday, November 22, 2015
Speaker:  Ashley Miller, J.D

Meet & Greet: 1:45 pm – Presentation: 2:00 pm – Meeting Closes: 3:30 pm
Salt Lake Main Library, 210 East 400 South
Fourth Floor Meeting Room

Ashley Miller is an attorney originally from Lake Tahoe, California. She is the program manager for Breathe Utah, with an interest and focus in the correlation between improved energy efficiency in buildings and improved air quality on the Wasatch Front.

“Salt Lake City suffers from some of the worst air quality in the nation. Though most people in Utah understand that vehicle emissions are the largest contributor to air pollution, most Utahns misapprehend how large a role our homes and businesses play in our pollution problem. Most believe that point source emissions like refineries and mines are the second largest contributor, although according to the Department of Environmental Quality, our homes and small businesses account for 39% of our air pollution, while point sources contribute 11-13%.

Our attention must turn to the second largest contributor to our poor air quality. This is particularly important given the projections that the population along the Wasatch Front will double in the next thirty years, while our vehicle fleet will gradually be replaced with cleaner cars burning lower sulfur fuel.”

References and Resources
Envision Utah, http://envisionutah.org
Utah Division of Air Quality, www.airquality,utah.gov
Utah Department of Environmental Quality, www.deq.utah.gov
Salt Lake City’s Project Skyline, www.slcgov.com/projectskyline
The City Energy Project, www.cityenergyproject.org
Institute for Market Transformation, www.imt.org
UCAIR, www.ucair.org

ISIS vs isis: Does the Past Matter?

Date:  Sunday, November 8, 2015
Speaker:  Dr. Ewa Wasilewska

Meet & Greet: 1:45 pm • Presentation: 2:00 pm • Meeting Closes: 3:30 pm
Salt Lake Main Library, 210 East 400 South
Fourth Floor Meeting Room

 Dr. Ewa Wasilewska is a professor at the University of Utah (the Middle East Center) with more than 30 years of experience working on different aspects of both the ancient and modern Middle East and Central Asia. Her formal education includes master degrees in archaeology and history of the Middle East and Europe, Middle Eastern Studies with emphasis on Turkish and a doctorate in anthropology. She is an author of two books: Creation Stories of the Middle East, and Anthropology of Humor and Laughter, as well as of many articles for both specialized and general audiences.

“Does the past matter when people are dying as the result of violent conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere? Should any efforts be made to preserve ancient temples and past civilizations when modern housing is bombed daily and mass migrations challenge humanitarian principles of any religion to protect “the others’” identity? Who owns the past? These and other thought provoking questions will be raised and discussed during Dr. Wasilewska’s presentation on archaeology at war or and war.”

Creating More Just and Humane Law Enforcement

lawenforcementmemorial012-m

 

 

 

 


Date:  Sunday, October 25, 2015
Speaker:  Deeda Seed

Meet & Greet: 1:45 pm •  Presentation: 2:00 pm • Meeting Closes: 3:30 pm
Salt Lake Main Library, 210 East 400 South
Fourth Floor Meeting Room

Deeda Seed is a community activist and organizer who has worked for a wide variety of non-profit organizations and causes, addressing issues such as social justice and environmental sustainability. She is a former member of the Salt Lake City Council, and served as Mayor Anderson’s Chief of Staff and his Communications Director. She has worked on law enforcement issues as an elected official, a city administrator and now as a volunteer with the community summit for law enforcement accountability (CS4LEA).

“You’ve read the headlines about police shootings. Law enforcement is a critical element of civil society, yet it seems that the use of force by police is getting out of control. What do we really know about how law enforcement operates in Utah and nationally? What kind of data are collected by law enforcement agencies with regard to use of force? What kind of data need to be collected? What kind of training in de-escalation and social interaction do police officers receive? What additional training should they be getting? Take time out to consider creating more just, humane, and effective law enforcement.”

References and Resources

This web site has a lot of good information:  www.joincampaignzero.org

 Image provided by Microsoft.

Tales from the Underbelly: My Journey to Know and Love Great Salt Lake

Date:  Sunday, October 11, 2015
Speaker:  Jaimi Butler

Meet & Greet: 1:45 pm • Presentation: 2:00 pm
Salt Lake Main Library, 210 East 400 South
Fourth Floor Meeting Room

Biologist Jaimi Butler earned her Fisheries degree in 1999 from Utah State and in a giant twist of irony inadvertently found herself working in fish-less Great Salt Lake as a brine shrimp biologist (with an ever-expanding affinity to the birds who eat them). She immediately found our unique salty neighbor to be her place and since 1999 has been an enthusiastic student of all aspects of the lake. Jaimi’s entire professional career has been at Great Salt Lake including working in academia, with the brine shrimp harvesting industry and Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Great Salt Lake Ecosystem Program. Currently coordinator for Great Salt Lake Institute at Westminster College Jaimi helps faculty and students perform lake research and works to convince people how great the Great Salt Lake really is. In her free time Jaimi can be found trying to maintain her sanity as a wife of a government employee and mother of a threenager and a teenager.

The underbelly of Great Salt Lake is where Jaimi Butler came to know and love our salty neighbor. Through a series of unique–and sometime irreverent–stories and characters she will take us on a journey through the science of the Great Salt Lake, from the barges of brine shrimp harvesters, the gambling habits of native peoples and birding at 50 miles per hour. We will come to know the lake with a unique perspective emphasizing the inter-connectedness of our Great Salt Lake to us, its human neighbors.

References and Resources:

Experience and immerse yourself in Great Salt Lake before you dig into the literature. Just a few ideas for experiences (in no particular order):

After you visit the lake you can learn more about it here (also in no particular order):
Great Salt Lake Institute: http://www.greatsaltlakeinstitute.org
Friends of Great Salt Lake: http://www.fogsl.org
Genetics Science Learning Center: GSL info and activities:
Great Salt Lake Ecosystem Program: http://wildlife.utah.gov/gsl
US Geologic Survey: http://ut.water.usgs.gov/greatsaltlake
UGS: http://geology.utah.gov/popular/general-geology/great-salt-lake

 

“Swimming Against the Current: The New Struggles of the Middle Class”

UPDATE: The final report  Middle Class on the Ropes–Perspective from Salt Lake City is available via electronic file (PDF format) for reading. Please request a copy in the Comments Section below, or contact the Forum directly at forumforqm@gmail.com.

Date:  Sunday September 27, 2015
Speaker:  Tillie McInnis

Meet & Greet: 1:45 pm • Presentation: 2:00 pm • Meeting Closes: 3:30 pm
Salt Lake Main Library, 210 East 400 South
Fourth Floor Meeting Room

Tillie McInnis holds an Honors Degree in Political Science with a minor in Economics from the University of Utah. Tillie dedicated her undergraduate education to understanding the complexity of the interaction between economics and social conditions. She participated in the year-long Honors Think Tank, “Middle Class on the Ropes”, spent 3 months at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington D.C., and assisted with research at the London School of Economics. Tillie’s honors thesis focused on how non-elites can influence the policymaking process after economic downturns. She currently works for a consulting firm focused on local elections and messaging for local organizations and non-profits.

“This presentation focuses on the growing inequality of income and wealth, both nationally and in Utah. I will provide an overview of the major themes of economic inequality, and what that means for those in the middle class, specifically as it relates to mobility, political voice, and financial security. We will also explore ways in which we can combat these trends. How can we redefine our capitalistic democracy? Can capitalism and equality thrive simultaneously in our current democracy? We must change our thinking in order to meet current economic realities.”

References and Resources
Film
Inequality For All (Robert Reich film available on Netflix)
Literature
The Price of Inequality – Joseph Stiglitz
Winner-Take-All Politics – Jacob S. Hacker & Paul Pierson
Unequal Democracy – Larry Bartels
People’s History of the United States – Howard Zinn
Free Lunch – David Cay Johnston

CLIMATE CHANGE, PEACE, AND PROSPERITY

Date:  Sunday, September 13, 2015
Speaker:  Tariq Banuri

Meet & Greet: 1:45 pm • Presentation: 2:00 pm • Meeting Closes: 3:30 pm
Salt Lake Main Library, 210 East 400 South
Fourth Floor Meeting Room

Tariq Banuri, Professor of Economics at the University of Utah, was formerly the Director of the UN Division for Sustainable Development in New York. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University, and has taught at several universities around the world, authored a number of books and professional articles, provided policy advice to the UN and national governments, and contributed to the design of institutions and networks on sustainable development. He has served on prominent forums for policy and research, including as Coordinating Lead Author on the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

“In 2007, the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) received the Nobel Prize for peace, perhaps the most prestigious prize in the world. The talk will explore the multi-faceted relationship between climate change and world peace, including a brief review of the quest for world peace, including the history of the Nobel peace prize, the role played by economic prosperity in peace building, and the threat posed by climate change to peace both directly and indirectly through its impact on future prosperity.”

References and Resources:
Athanasiou, Toma, Paul Baer, and Sivan Kartha, The Greenhouse Development Rights Framework. http://www.ecoequity.org/docs/TheGDRsFramework.pdf.
Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, Better Growth, Better Climate. http://newclimateeconomy.report/TheNewClimateEconomyReport.pdf.
Pope Francis, Laudato Si, Papal Encyclical on the environment and human ecology. http://w2.vatican.va/content/dam/francesco/pdf/encyclicals/documents/papa- francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si_en.pdf.
IPCC AR5, Climate Change 2014, Synthesis Report: Summary for Policy Makers,

Click to access AR5_SYR_FINAL_SPM.pdf

Schellnhuber, John, Common Ground: The Papal Encyclical, Climate Change, and the Protection of Planet Earth. https://www.pik-potsdam.de/images/common-ground.
United Nations, Climate Change and its Possible Security Implications, Secretary General’s report No. A/64/350.
http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/64/350.
Questioning Minds is a non-profit, educational forum with 501(c)(3) status. Meetings are held on the second and fourth Sundays of each month, September through April, except major holiday weekends, in the Salt Lake City Main Library.

Annual Membership Meeting

Date:  Sunday, May 27, 2015

Annual Meeting at 2:00 pm
Salt Lake Main Library, 210 East 400 South
Conference Room “D” Downstairs

As outlined in the bylaws of the Forum for Questioning Minds, the annual meeting for the purpose of choosing board members, reviewing topics for the coming year, and approving a budget for 2015-2016 will be held in Conference Room “D”, located at the foot of the stairs.  Please note this meeting is only open to those who have been members for more than 60 days. If you are a member, please consider serving, as we will have open board positions this year.

 

Latinos United – Promoting Education & Civic Engagement

Date:  Sunday, March 22, 2015
Speakers:  Azenett Garza & Luis Lopez

Meet & Greet 1:45 p.m. – Presentation 2:00 p.m. – Meeting Closes 3:30 p.m.
Salt Lake Main Library, 210 East 400 South, Fourth Floor Meeting Room

Luis Lopez was born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico. He immigrated to the United States at the age of 19. He graduated from Weber State University with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish teaching, and a Master’s degree from the University of Utah in Education Leadership and Policy. Luis has lived in Ogden, Utah for 19 years. He is married and has three children. Luis has worked in education for 12 years. He currently works at Weber State University as the Director of the Community Education Center (CEC). The mission of the CEC is to help disenfranchised members of the community access post-secondary education. Luis also serves as the president of LUPEC, Latinos United Promoting Education and Civic Engagement. LUPEC is an organization that provides advocacy and leadership for the Latino community in Ogden.

Azenett A. Garza Caballero was born in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. She immigrated to the United States with her family when she was 11 years old. She graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Ph.D. from The University of Texas at El Paso in Applied Experimental Psychology. Azenett has lived in Ogden, Utah for 12 years. She is married and has four children. Azenett has worked at Weber State University for 12 years in the Psychology Department and is currently an Associate Professor. She is also the Coordinator for the Community Research Extension of Weber State University’s Center for Community Engaged Learning. Azenett also serves as the Vice-President of LUPEC, Latinos United Promoting Education and Civic Engagement.

“Our presentation examines current social issues affecting the Hispanic community in Utah. We explore solutions to such issues through a framework of community organizing and organizational leadership and advocacy. The umbrella organization for our framework is called LUPEC (Latinos United Promoting Education and Civic Engagement). Through our presentation, we make the case about the need for Latinos to unite, organize and take action. The only one that can save us is our-selves.”

Questioning Minds is a non-profit, educational forum with 501(c)(3) status. Meetings are held on the second and fourth Sundays of each month September through May, EXCEPT holiday weekends. See www.questioningmindsforum.wordpress.com for coming events and speaker-suggested readings.

HUMOR AS SOCIAL CONTROL

Date:  Sunday, March 8, 2015
Speaker:  Ewa Wasilewska, Ph.D.

Dr. Ewa Wasilewska is an Associate Professor Lecturer at the University of Utah, Department of Anthropology and the Middle East Center with more than 30 years of experience working on different aspects of both the ancient and modern Middle East and Central Asia. Her formal education includes masters degrees in archaeology and history of the Middle East and Europe Middle Eastern studies emphasis on Turkish and a doctorate in anthropology. She is an author of two books Creation Stories of the Middle East, and of Anthropology of Humor and Laughter, as well as of many articles for both specialized and general audiences.

“All humor is offensive as long as its joking matter involves human characters, human actions, and/or human emotions, regardless of its subject matter. There are always winners and losers but rarely do we think how humor not only influences our lives but also controls them. Humor is a double-sided sword reflecting both perception and reality by capturing contemporary values, exposing conflicts and proposing solutions. This is a weapon that does not kill but may cause many deaths while, at the same time, protects all ideals of freedom as understood by all Americans. This lecture will focus on humor as social control and social conflict, using the famous (or infamous) Danish cartoons of 2005 as a starting point for a discussion about the potential of humor to correct all human behavior. ‘I think therefore I am.’ (René Descartes). ‘I laugh therefore I will survive.’” (Ewa Wasilewska)

References & Resources:  Ewa Wasilewska, ed.,  Anthropology of Humor and Laughter.   Cognella Press. 2013
“West Bank Story” – a musical comedy. 2005.