The Commonwealth April/May 2015 by The Commonwealth Club of California

JANET NAPOLITANO & MARK YUDOF page 8

CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS page 16

BRUCE BOCHY & LARRY BAER page 46

GLORIA DUFFY page 50

Commonwealth The

THE MAGAZINE OF THE COMMONWEALTH CLUB OF CALIFORNIA

APRIL/MAY 2015

T HE 2015 WALTER E . HOADLEY E CONOMIC F ORECAST WITH S TEVE F ORBES & A LAN AUERBACH

$5.00; free for members | commonwealthclub.org

S W I T Z E R L A N D WA L K Nature & Culture of Appenzell & Engelberg August 25 – September 6, 2015

HIGHLIGHTS Journey to Switzerland, the world’s oldest living democracy and a matchless paradise for walking. Luxuriate in the magnificent views of the Swiss and Austrian Alps. Discover the village of Appenzell, with its charming houses adorned by murals. Visit St. Gallen and the Abbey Library with manuscripts dating from the 8th century. Enjoy a curator-led tour of Engelberg’s Benedictine Monastery, housing the largest church organ in Switzerland. Experience an optional e-bike tour and take a boat ride on Lake Lucerne. Hike to a castle in Werdenberg, the only wooden medieval settlement, retaining its original character. Sample regional specialties during beer and cheese tastings. Explore the Rütli Meadow — the “Cradle of Switzerland.” Take the Mt.Titlis Rotair cableway — the highest glacier excursion in Switzerland. Cost: $4,695 per person, double occupancy $500 single room supplement

Commonwealth Club Travel CST: 2096889-40

Detailed brochure available at: commonwealthclub.org/travel Contact: (415) 597-6720 • travel@commonwealthclub.org Photos: provided by MIR Corporation

INSIDE The Commonwealth VO LU M E 109, N O . 03 | A P R I L / M AY 2015

8 Photo by Rikki Ward

FEATURES 8 JANET NAPOLITANO

14 Photo by Ed Ritger

& MARK YUDOF THE FUTURE OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Tuition is rising and the UC president says she wants to give students their money’s worth

10 THE 2015 BANK OF 46 Photo by Rikki Ward

DEPARTMENTS 5 EDITOR’S DESK Commonwealth Club radio

6 THE COMMONS Community voices, the mysterious black cat, an Antarctic marriage proposal, and more.

50 INSIGHT Dr. Gloria C. Duﬀy, President and CEO

AMERICA/MERRILL LYNCH WALTER E. HOADLEY ECONOMIC FORECAST WITH STEVE FORBES & ALAN AUERBACH The U.S. economy may be looking up, but what about the global economy? How will that impact business and pocketbooks here in the United States?

14 LISA JACKSON

& RAJENDRA PACHAURI A discussion on investing in clean energy

16 CALIFORNIA’S

STATE PARKS A BLUEPRINT FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

After weathering a financial crisis, the state parks department prepares to modernize

46 BRUCE BOCHY

& LARRY BAER The leaders of World Champions talk about how they won it all and hope to do it again

Photo by Rikki Ward

EVENTS 19 PROGRAM INFORMATION 19 LANGUAGE CLASSES 20 TWO MONTH CALENDAR 22 PROGRAM LISTINGS Events from April 1 to June 8

About Our Cover: Our bipartisan economic experts share their views on the trends shaping the economy in 2015 – here at home and from around the world. Design by Tyler Swoﬀord.

“People’s concern is not so much inequality in and of itself, but the fact that incomes for many people have stagnated.... People don’t mind if Bill Gates makes a zillion dollars; they want to know N E/J U LY 2013 THE COMMO N WE AL TH 3 are they moving up? AreJ Uthey moving ahead?” – Steve Forbes

Month ## – ##

There’s a revolution occurring in the world of social entrepreneurship. The Real Problem Solvers brings together leading entrepreneurs, funders, investors, thinkers and champions in the field of social entrepreneurship. Contributors include marquee figures such as Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, Ashoka founder Bill Drayton, Acumen Fund founder Jacqueline Novogratz and Skoll Foundation CEO Sally Osberg. The chapters weave together the voices of various contributors in discussions and Q&As. In no other book are so many leaders presented side by side, making this the ideal accessible and personal introduction for students of – and newcomers to – social entrepreneurship.

“In the past 10 years, a rich ecosystem has developed around the idea, energy and success of social entrepreneurs. With years of experience, Ruth Shapiro captures the complexity and complementarity of the men and women whose innovation and drive are changing the way we solve social problems and should be required reading for all.” —Bill Draper, Co-chair, the Draper, Richards, Kaplan Foundation; General Partner, Draper Richards LLC; and author, The Start-up Game “Ingenuity, initiative and determination are valued traits in any enterprise. Social entrepreneurs apply these talents to solving difficult social problems. This book showcases a number of these commendable people and inspires the reader to think deeply about his or her own contributions to society.” —George P. Shultz, Former U.S. Secretary of State

Order it from Stanford University Press: sup.org/book.cgi?id=20715

EDITOR’S DESK

J O H N Z I P PE R E R V P, M E D I A & E D I TO R I A L

Club file photo

It’s not just for Dinner Anymore

here was a time, illustrated by the grainy 1909 photo above, when if you wanted to engage with The Commonwealth Club of California you got dressed up in your finest and went to a Club program at San Francisco’s St. Francis Hotel. Starting in the 1920s, there was a second option: You could listen to the Club’s radio program. After that, it would be decades before video and online options came along. When I was a child – and some of you might remember this, too – television stations actually went oﬀ the air overnight. Today, TV stations and cable channels air programming 24 hours a day. Similarly, The Commonwealth Club now airs and makes available for ondemand access thousands of programs on the radio, TV and online. On page 19 of this issue, you can see a brief description of our main radio, video and podcast feeds. We are a regular presence on hundreds of radio stations, C-SPAN, California Channel, YouTube and Fora.tv. We also specialize with more targeted types of programs, including an Inforum radio program on KALW, Climate One radio and television programs on KRCB, and a weekly LGBT-themed show that I co-host with Michelle Meow (yes, her real name) on, FOLLOW US ONLINE

facebook.com/thecommonwealthclub

appropriately enough, The Michelle Meow Show. Meow is also partnering with The Commonwealth Club on nonLGBT-specific programming. In March we worked with her to start airing our Week to Week political roundtable on the Progressive Voices Network (which you can find at tunein.com). If you don’t listen to the radio or if like me you don’t even own a radio any more, you can also get all of our radio programs as well as thousands of other Club programs on our website (commonwealth club.org) and our iPhone app (free in the iTunes Store). It’s hard to list all of those media outlets and Club content access points when I am talking with people about our programs, so it usually comes down to me urging them to check out our website, where they can learn more about everything the Club does. People sometimes ask if having all that content freely available reduces the in-person audiences for our events, but over the past few years, our annual attendance has increased 40 percent. So whether you want to come see us in-person, listen to us on KQED while you drive home Friday nights, stream YouTube video, or watch us on TV, there are thousands of opportunities to engage with the Club today.

twitter.com/cwclub

commonwealthclub.org/blog

commonwealthclub.org

BUSINESS OFFICES The Commonwealth, 555 Post Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 | feedback@commonwealthclub.org VP, MEDIA & EDITORIAL John Zipperer | ART DIRECTOR Tyler R. Swofford | STAFF EDITORS Amelia Cass, Ellen Cohan INTERNS Zoë Byrne, Laura Nguyen, Christopher Wendt | PHOTOGRAPHERS Sonya Abrams, Ed Ritger, Rikki Ward ADVERTISING INFORMATION: Tara Crain, Development Manager, Corporate and Foundation Partnerships, (415) 869-5919, tcrain@commonwealthclub.org The Commonwealth ISSN 00103349 is published bimonthly (6 times a year) by The Commonwealth Club of California, 555 Post Street, San Francisco, CA 94102. | PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID at San Francisco, CA. Subscription rate $34 per year included in annual membership dues. | POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Commonwealth, The Commonwealth Club of California, 555 Post Street, San Francisco, CA 94102. | Printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink. Copyright © 2015 The Commonwealth Club of California. Tel: (415) 597-6700 Fax: (415) 597-6729 E-mail: feedback@ commonwealthclub.org | EDITORIAL TRANSCRIPT POLICY: The Commonwealth magazine covers a range of programs in each issue. Program transcripts and question and answer sessions are routinely condensed due to space limitations. Hear full-length recordings online at commonwealthclub.org/media, podcasts on Apple iTunes, or contact Club oﬃces to buy a compact disc.

A P R I L/MAY 2015

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

COMMONS THE

Talk of the Club

The Place for Discussion

THE TICKER

A community member tells lawmakers what makes the Club special

anuary was a milestone month for The Commonwealth Club’s new building. Appropriately for a community organization like the Club, the final flourish was added by an outspoken member of the community. In January, Club members, volunteers, Board of Governors members, staﬀ and supporters visited the San Francisco Board of Supervisors chamber for a final vote on the Club’s proposed permanent home at 110 The Embarcadero (see InSight, page 50). Supporters of the Club lined up to address the supervisors, and right near the end of the process, a man walked into the room and took his place before the microphone. The man was Larry “Juicye” Edmond, and he stood out. A well-known local activist, Edmond wore a fuzzy white hat and a long flowing coat covered in buttons. Edmond told the Board that he had attended Club events, most recently a program at the Castro Theatre

Black Cat vs. the Gavel

Antarctic Proposal

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

Photo by John Zipperer

featuring Dr. Cornel West and Van Jones, and the public discussion was very important to the community; the Club is discussion, he said, and we need more of it. In the photo above, Edmond holds up a photo of Coretta Scott King while posing with Club Board of Governors member Dr. Carol Fleming and Vice President of Programs George Dobbins after the vote, which took place immediately following Edmond’s comments. The vote was 11–0 in favor of the Club’s project.

about a black cat statue. If you stood in front of it, whatever you said was on the record, which meant that the journalists could report it and attribute it to you. But if you stood behind the black cat, you were oﬀ the record. At the Club, we’re all about being on the record and reaching as many people as possible. So when our gavel hits the table, our speakers know they’re playing the latest role in the 112-year history of this public forum. Illustration by Lilyu

For the love of penguins

hen Commonwealth Club member Clarissa Chin and her boyfriend Eric Gillum decided to join our latest expedition to Antarctica in January of this year, they both knew it would be the journey of a lifetime. Clarissa had been fascinated with penguins for many years. Finally, on the white continent, she’d have her first chance to be in the presence of the birds in their natural habitat. Though he didn’t share the same fervor about penguins, Eric cared deeply for Clarissa and was hoping to make her dream trip unforgettable. When the ship landed on the Antarctic continent, in Neko Bay, hundreds of gentoo penguins greeted them on shore.

Traditions new and old at 555 Post

hen the Club moved into its interim headquarters on February 1, we got more than just a nice new space. We also became the latest organization to add to the lively history of this building. Longtime San Franciscans know 555 Post Street as the location of the former Press Club. We know people who stayed overnight at the Press Club’s hotel rooms, and even the son of a press luminary who remembers playing pool with the journalists who hung out here. One piece of lore we like is the Press Club tradition

A P R IL/MAY 2015

In the News

As they left the ship, Eric peeled off his polar gear to reveal a tuxedo to match Clarissa’s feathered friends. Much to her surprise, he got down on one knee and proposed to her. Photo by Kristina Nemeth She said yes. They kissed, hugged and then exchanged a penguin bow. Back on board the ship, the captain invited them to the bridge for a celebratory champagne toast. Now back at home, they’re making wedding plans. Penguins are welcome to attend.

il executives almost universally demur when asked where prices are going.... Former ConocoPhillips board member ... William Reilly has a more straightforward answer. Sitting on a recent panel discussing ‘Cheap Gasoline,’ organized by the Commonwealth Club..., he was asked the usual question. Mr. Reilly’s advice on issuing “firm” predic tions about things as volatile as oil prices? Make them ‘for a period well beyond your own retirement.’” The Wall Street Journal MoneyBeat “No topic was off limits at the Commonwealth Club of California’s annual economic luncheon. “ SF Business Times “Ralph Nader told the Commonwealth Club ... the two major parties are not open to the grass-roots. He called them arrogant for labeling independents ‘spoilers,’ as if citizens should be vassals only to the two corporate parties. [V] oters ... should withhold party loyalty and hold politicians’ feet to the fire in civil debate issue by issue. “ Bangor (Maine) Daily News

Shared Ideas Richard M. Nixon: Vietnam Lessons

roop buildups. Weapons deliveries. A congressional confirmation to strike. Sound familiar? Probably. But we’re not talking about the events of recent days – we’re talking about the United States’ involvement in Vietnam 50 years ago. By April 1965, the United States was increasing its engagement in the smoldering war between North and South Vietnam. At The Commonwealth Club, speakers pushing for heightened U.S. support of South Vietnam – including exponentially raising the number of American troops on the ground – abounded. No advocate for greater intervention in Vietnam, however, matched the high profile of former Vice President Richard M. Nixon, who spoke to the Club on April 2, 1965. Nixon was convinced of Vietnam’s centrality to the future of American and global prosperity: “Today the most diﬃcult decision facing President Johnson is South Vietnam, the most diﬃcult decision he will make during his presidency, I believe, at home or abroad. And it is the most important decision for the United

Photo courtesy U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

States and the Free World.” To Nixon, the conflict in Vietnam was a struggle of ideological and geopolitical supremacy in which the United States had the most to lose. The costs of standing by while South Vietnam was overrun seemed all too apparent. After Vietnam fell to communist rule, the rest of Asia would follow. Therefore, the future president called for sticking it out militarily while increasing economic cooperation across the region to bolster the threatened nations against the creeping influence of communism. Today, that decision to double down in Vietnam is widely questioned, with many considering it one of the American political establishment’s greatest foreign policy blunders. Many who lived through that conflict argue

that those now calling for a greater American military presence in Iraq to fight the Islamic State or clamoring for weapons deliveries to beleaguered Ukraine might do well to heed its warning – especially considering how little stability there has been in the Middle East despite 14 years of U.S. intervention. On the other side, many argue that the United States has a responsibility to promote global security and to strike out at those who violently disregard human rights, just as Nixon expressed a concern for the “determination of the [South Vietnamese] people to save their freedom.” In Iraq and Syria, where the Islamic State regularly carries out mass killings, rules through repression, and has cruelly executed American citizens, the case for forceful action is self-evident to many. Looking back at Nixon’s lecture on “the most difficult decision” 50 years later, one thread can be drawn out: It’s extremely hard to predict the eﬀect of American bullets in far-oﬀ lands. There’s only one guarantee: a violent unknown. So what steps should the United States take in Iraq and Syria, and in southeastern Ukraine? That debate will carry on, as it did in the spring of 1965. —Christopher Wendt

LEADERSHIP OF THE COMMONWEALTH CLUB CLUB OFFICERS Board Chair John R. Farmer Vice Chair Richard A. Rubin Secretary Frank Meerkamp Treasurer Lee J. Dutra President & CEO Dr. Gloria C. Duﬀy BOARD OF GOVERNORS William F. Adams † John F. Allen Carlo Almendral Courtland Alves Dan Ashley Massey J. Bambara Dr. Mary G. F. Bitterman** John L. Boland Michael R. Bracco

Thomas H. Burkhart Maryles Casto** Mary B. Cranston** Susie Cranston Dr. Kerry P. Curtis Dr. Jaleh Daie Dorian Daley Alecia DeCoudreaux Evelyn S. Dilsaver Joseph I. Epstein* Jeﬀrey A. Farber Hon Katherine A. Feinstein Fr. Paul J .Fitzgerald, S.J. Carol A. Fleming, Ph.D. Leslie Saul Garvin Dr. Charles Geschke Paul M. Ginsburg Edie G. Heilman Hon. James C. Hormel Mary Huss John Leckrone Dr. Mary Marcy

Anna W. M. Mok** Kevin P. O’Brien Donald J. Pierce Frederick W. Reid Skip Rhodes* George M. Scalise Lata Krishnan Shah Dr. Ruth Shapiro Charlotte Mailliard Shultz George D. Smith, Jr. James Strother Hon. Tad Taube Ellen O’Kane Tauscher Charles Travers Dr. Colleen B. Wilcox Russell M. Yarrow Jed York ADVISORY BOARD Karin Helene Bauer Hon. William Bradley Dennise M. Carter Rolando Esteverena

Steven Falk Amy Gershoni Jacquelyn Hadley Heather Kitchen Amy McCombs Don J. McGrath Hon. William J. Perry Hon. Barbara Pivnicka Hon. Richard Pivnicka Ray Taliaferro Nancy Thompson PAST BOARD CHAIRS AND PRESIDENTS Dr. Mary G. F. Bitterman ** Hon. Shirley Temple Black*† J. Dennis Bonney* John Busterud* Maryles Casto** Hon. Ming Chin* Mary B. Cranston** Joseph I. Epstein * Dr. Joseph R. Fink *

A PR I L/MAY 2015

William German * Rose Guilbault** Claude B. Hutchison Jr. * Dr. Julius Krevans* Anna W.M. Mok** Richard Otter* Joseph Perrelli* Toni Rembe* Victor J. Revenko* Skip Rhodes* Renée Rubin * Robert Saldich** Connie Shapiro * Nelson Weller * Judith Wilbur * Dennis Wu* * Past President ** Past Chair † Deceased

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

UC leadership on how they’ll do right by students. Excerpted from “A Conversation on the Future of Higher Education,” February 5, 2015. JANET NAPOLITANO President, University of California; Former Secretary of Homeland Security; Former Governor of Arizona

MARK YUDOF

President Emeritus, University of California; Former Chancellor of the University of Texas System In conversation with

JOSEPH EPSTEIN

Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors JOSEPH EPSTEIN: So Mark, California is the most diverse state in the country. California’s demographics are changing, and we are headed toward becoming a state where a former minority population will be the majority population. How is the changing diversity impacting the University of California? Do you foresee a problem if the student body does not look like the diverse demographic of the state? How is the University of California working with this new diversity? MARK YUDOF: I think the university is trying very hard to recruit a more diverse student body, and I believe Hispanics are the second largest population; Asian-Americans I believe are the largest. So we’re doing a better job. I don’t want to say it’s evenly spread across all campuses, so that’s point one, and we need to adapt. I sometimes got resentful when my budget [was] cut a billion dollars, and I was thinking, “It’s the wrong time.” We educated the Caucasian folks, and we still do, and elites, but now that the state has substantial Hispanic, African-American and [other minority] populations, we owe it to them even more to provide an avenue in the same sort of course that, say, Earl Warren had when he was a poor kid growing up in California. JANET NAPOLITANO: Yeah, I’d have to

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

agree. And just to get a sense of the amount of public disinvestment in California, if you hold dollars constant for 2014/15, in 1990/91, the state of California put in roughly $18,000 per student at the University of California. Today, it’s $8,000 per student at the University of California. So there has been large-scale disinvestment; California is not unique in this regard. However, California is unique because it has always had larger aspirations for its public universities and where higher education is concerned. And this should not be a reason for continuing along the path we’ve set, but for really thinking about: Who are the next generation of Californians? How do we educate them? What do they need to be prepared to do? What’s our role in that? At what point for a public university should the state, on behalf of the public, play a larger part? EPSTEIN: Do you think that you’re going to have a kumbaya relationship with Governor Jerry Brown? Or is the gap between the governor’s proposed $120 million holdback of new state aid to UC and your goals to increase state aid to UC likely to end the honeymoon between the two of you? NAPOLITANO: No, I think that we’re both experienced public sector leaders. We both understand the pressures that we’re each under and we both understand the importance of trying to work through diﬃcult problems together. This is not easy. We understand that we’ve got a big set of issues here and we have to work together and jointly work our way through them over the course of this spring and in the future. EPSTEIN: One of your goals is to make student fee increases, should there be some, predictable and as low as possible. Could you comment on that please? NAPOLITANO: Both tuition and fees were very much in a peak-and-valley sort of situation, and so you’d kind of trundle along and then you’d have double digit increases. I believe one year there was [an] increase in the middle of the school year. That makes predictability for families and students virtually impossible. And what we’ve set out to do at the University of California is to say, “Look, we don’t want to have a large fee and tuition increase. We want to cap them at the most at 5 percent over the next five years Continued on page 42

A P R IL/MAY 2015

A PR I L/MAY 2015

by Rikki Ward THE COMMO N WEPhoto AL TH 9

T HE 2015 WALTER E . HOADLEY E CONOMIC F ORECAST

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

A P R IL/MAY 2015

Two economic experts weigh in on the euro, oil, social mobility and the year ahead. Excerpted from “Steve Forbes and Alan Auerbach: Bank of America/Merrill Lynch Walter E. Hoadley Annual Economic Forecast,” January 23, 2015. STEVE FORBES Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Media; Former Republican Presidential Candidate

ALAN AUERBACH

Professor of Economics and Law, and Director of the Center for Tax Policy and Public Finance, University of California, Berkeley; Former Deputy Chief of Staﬀ, U.S. Joint Committee on Taxation In conversation with

JOHN FARMER

Chair, The Commonwealth Club Board of Governors JOHN FARMER: In the press recently, we’ve read about historically low U.S. interest rates – but well above many developed countries’ interest rates – a significant rebound in housing, the lowest oil prices since the mid-’80s, unemployment at the lowest level since 2007, the [United States being the] world leader in job growth since 2010, and a robust domestic GDP with the deficit at a seven-year low. Can all of this be real? What is in store for us? ALAN AUERBACH: It’s real, and if I had to choose a country in which to live right now, the United States looks pretty attractive compared to most other developed countries. All of the things you mentioned are very positive signs. The U.S. economy grew very well in the second half of last year and is going to grow again this year, which is not true of many other economies. On the other hand, there are definite problems in our current economic performance, and some dark clouds on the horizon, which mean that while what you’ve mentioned is certainly real, there are still many things that we should be concerned about. STEVE FORBES: Yes, the U.S. economy has gotten better, as it well should have six years into a recovery. The recovery supposedly began, I think, in 2009, and it’s been [one of] the slowest, if not the slowest, in American history. While the unemployment rate is down, we all know [the prevalence of] part-time workers, and low labor force participation rates are still very, very worrisome. So we’re like a batter – I know I’m in the town of the world champi-

ons – batting .270 or .275, and winning the batting title only because the rest of the world is doing much worse than we are. While 2015 should be a good year for the U.S. economy, I think [there are] two things we have to watch out for. One is deterioration politically around the world. We saw the coup in Yemen, which means more volatility,

“T he weakness around the world is going to pose problems for the U.S. economy in years to come. ” –Alan Auerbach dangerous volatility, in that part of the world, which spills over to us. Russia is on the move again in Ukraine, and who knows what else is going to blow up, so the political situation is not good. The other thing is, the global economy as a whole is going to be very disappointing this year, below what the IMF [International Monetary Fund] and others think it is going to be. Europe is in a recession; Japan is in recession – it’s the third largest economy in the world; I think Mexico and Brazil are in or will be in recession; China is slowing down. So that’s going to impact us and bring us down. We’re not strong enough yet to be

Original photos by Rikki Ward; Lostnotfound11, Markus.Volodymyr/wikicommons

the locomotive of the world. FARMER: As a follow up, would you comment on other indicators of the state of the recovery in the United States? AUERBACH: Well, the economy is doing well in many respects. Investment was strong in the second half of 2014. There have been a lot of concerns that corporations were sitting on cash. That’s still true to a certain extent, but investment is starting to pick up. The concerns that I have about the U.S. economy, other than the fact that the growth we had last year is much delayed after a recession that ended over four years ago, are that we have very weak labor force participation, much below where it was at the beginning of the recession, and we don’t really have a good explanation for that. We have very, very weak wage growth that normally would be picking up as the unemployment rate falls. The unemployment rate has fallen to under 6 percent, but wage growth is still very weak. In some respects the U.S. economy looks good, and in other respects it looks less good. FORBES: One of the things that is a danger point in the world is this idea that cheapening your currency is the way to wealth. We saw that in the early ’30s with “beggar-thyneighbor” policies – everybody tried to outbeg each other and finally found out that this was a losers’ game for everyone. The prime minister of Italy a couple of days ago said, “Yes, let’s have a weaker euro, that’ll pull us out.” Japan believes a weaker yen will help pull them out. That’s going to have political repercussions eventually here in the United States – the strong dollar vis-á-vis some of these other major global currencies – and that’s going to roil the waters. So the lack of monetary stability, our convoluted tax code, and also the sheer uncertainty here about medical care, health care and the burden it poses on businesses, are real downers. I would argue that the Federal Reserve, in terms of quantitative easing – when you suppress the price of money, it’s like price controls on anything else: It distorts the market. One of the aftereﬀects is that it’s made it even more diﬃcult than normal for small and new businesses to get reliable lines of credit. They do, but the terms are much tougher than they were in previous years, and that is where the new job creation comes from. If you depend on existing large companies for job creation, you’re going to get the kind of pump-markets we have today, in terms of

A PR I L/MAY 2015

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

labor force participation rates, and ominously I think that sets the stage too to make it harder for young people to get jobs. You look at Europe – their youth unemployment rates are a disaster. Spain is almost 50 percent; France is about 24 or 25 percent; it’s not a good thing politically. So again, politics and economics are going to intermix, and there’s no way this situation can last. There’s got to be structural changes in Europe. [Mario] Draghi, the head of the European Central Bank, knows it. I think in his heart of hearts he knows this quantitative easing is not going to do very much at the end of the day, but he feels he cannot do anything more. The Germans won’t help lead the charge for structural change in countries like Greece that promote growth, so Europe has got to make changes, but I see no sign of major structural changes. Here at home, we saw with the president’s State of the Union address he’s thrown the gauntlet down again, which is going to make it extremely hard to get tax reform, which could’ve happened this year. I think there was a consensus to start making some changes that would’ve been very beneficial to our economy. AUERBACH: I guess I would take issue with the ability of the president to engage the Congress with more centrist ideas. We know that there have been attempts in the last few years on the part of the White House to do that, and they’ve been unsuccessful. About the best we got out of that was a government shutdown. FORBES: Not always a bad thing. AUERBACH: In this case, it was a bad thing. I think he’s just showing frustration and has decided that he’s not going to succeed in en-

gaging the other side, so he might as well put forward a political position rather than something he really thinks is going to be grounds for a negotiation. I agree with you, it would be nice if we had some more progress on our tax system – we can certainly do better than the one we have right now, but I think it’s very unlikely that we’re going to see any change on that in the next couple of years. FARMER: Could we continue with the theme about Europe? With Mario Draghi introducing the equivalent of a $1 trillion quantitative easing program, can Europe avoid a recession, defined as GDP growth less than 2 percent? And is there real risk of European deflation – and how would that aﬀect the United States? AUERBACH: The answer to both questions is pessimistic. Consensus projections for Europe’s growth for the next two years are below 2 percent for some countries – for many countries it’s negative. It’s unlikely that much is going to change that. On the point of quantitative easing by the European Central Bank, it’s not a panacea. There are other, more important measures that could have been taken by individual countries in the direction of structural reform. But those aren’t happening, and given that they’re not happening, the choice of the European Central Bank is to do nothing or to do what it’s done. I think in light of that, it’s doing the right thing. It’s not the best policy, but it’s better than doing nothing. In fact, I think it should have been done earlier. It’s a particular problem in Europe, because there’s no central government. The individual countries make their own decisions on fiscal policy and on regulatory policy, so the only

Photo by Rikki Ward

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

A P R IL/MAY 2015

thing that can be done for the group as a whole is monetary policy. It’s not the right thing to address many of the problems that Europe has, but it’s the only thing at the moment, given the structure of the European Union and the eurozone. That said, I’m not very optimistic about what’s going to happen in Europe – certainly in continental Europe – over the course of the next year. They may very well have a recession; they may very well have deflation, even with the quantitative easing that’s being undertaken by the European Central Bank. FORBES: Part of the problem is that what the ECB is now doing – we’ll see how well they actually carry it out – is soaking up bonds. Even though we think it’s creating money from thin air, what in eﬀect they’re doing is taking cash from banks, and the regulators there still cast a gimlet eye on the structure of banks’ balance sheets, so you’re not going to get any lending out of this program. If you don’t have lending, you don’t have an economy. Here at home, regulators have been very strict with banks, which is why you haven’t seen the leveraging here. Normally you get what you call “high-powered money”: [with] a dollar you can leverage it six, eight, ten times, and you get the money supply going up. But it’s not happening. In eﬀect, they don’t know how to inflate, which [is] very strange, that a government doesn’t know how to inflate. One of the things I think we have to get our minds around is a global economy. Perhaps instead of just looking at particular central banks, we should look at the big three, or big four: the Fed, [Bank of] Japan, the ECB and

the Bank of England. While we were goosing up quantitative easing, which we have now ended, the European Central Bank was actually reducing their monetary base, because of the way they tried to save – rightly – the euro three years ago. So while we’ve ended quantitative easing, Japan is going bonkers with it; the ECB is about to go bonkers with it, and we’ll see what the impact [will be]. If you look at the thing as a whole, we have a situation where the impact will ultimately be – I don’t think it will be expansionary initially, but we’re in uncharted waters, and I hope we’ll be prepared for some surprises. I hope they’ll be pleasant. I think Germany deserves a rap on the knuckles – not for their sobriety, which is good, but for the austerity policies they’ve recommended, not monetary and fiscal, but on the tax side, and the IMF is guilty as well. [They’re] anti-growth, in terms of structural changes, [and] not pushing it in terms of privatization in countries like Greece, where they can raise gobs of money from selling government assets. They haven’t put the kind of pressure for these pro-growth things that would get economies growing rather than contracting. FARMER: With this dire picture that exists for Europe, and some companies and some countries struggling for economic survival, can a monetary union continue to exist under this scenario? AUERBACH: I think so. It’s possible that it will continue to exist without Greece as part of it, but Greece is a very, very small part of the eurozone. The importance of changes in the relationship between Greece and Europe is only in terms of concerns about contagion and expectations of other countries, but Greece in itself is an insignificant part of the eurozone. Whether Greece stays in the eurozone or leaves, the fundamentals really haven’t changed that much, and I think actually that the more aggressive stance that’s been taken by the European Central Bank over time, especially now with its new quantitative easing plan in place, makes the collapse of the eurozone less likely. I think the period of crisis was a few years ago, when it very well could have fallen apart, and I think it’s less likely to fall apart now. FORBES: When Europe had its problems starting in 2010 and 2011 with the euro, that was not really a euro crisis; that was a credit crisis in particular countries. Take our country: If you take the word “Greece” and translate it

in English, you get Illinois [laughter], and that’s why they have a new governor, to try and cope with this. Illinois won’t default on its bonds, but let’s pretend that it did – that would be an Illinois credit problem; it wouldn’t mean that Illinois is going to leave the dollar zone and adopt the drachma or something else. One of the mistakes in Europe was the mixing, conceptually, of credit problems in certain countries with the euro itself. The euro should be able to sail along, just as the dollar sails along whether California has a credit problem or Illinois or New Jersey or anywhere else does. The euro should survive, and the euro, for all the mistakes they’ve made with it, is a good thing. It makes capital movements easier; it makes trading easier; it’s a great achievement. Given Europe’s history, you want the

“I t’s

hard to liberalize an

economy and not have to liberalize your political system.” –Steve Forbes European Union to survive, even if it has to be reformed. You want the euro to survive. You don’t want the forces of extremism, such as you have with [Marine] Le Pen in France, getting more strength because of stagnation. You just don’t want that. FARMER: We’ve had a number of questions from our audience about China. I think this summarizes a number of these questions: What impact, if any, do you think the slowdown of the Chinese economy will have on the U.S. economy, as well as the world economy? AUERBACH: Developments in China are important for the U.S. economy because of how big the Chinese economy is. Frankly, I would be more concerned with political developments in China than I am about economic developments, because China represents a very interesting experiment in terms of not having a political democracy, and at the same time having a strongly growing economy. But there are tensions between the political system and the economic system in China, and to the extent that I worry about the contribution of China to the world’s economic climate and developments in the U.S., I would worry about some fairly significant changes happening because

of political developments in China and the continuing repression of democracy in China. FORBES: The leadership in China knows – at least they’ve given indications that they know – the need for reform. China hasn’t had a major economic reform since the 1990s; they’ve had some changes, but I think they know that they need to open up more of their capital markets and develop those. They know the state-owned banks are not capable of financing the 44 million small businesses that make up about 70 percent of the GDP of China, but they don’t have regular access to what we think of as normal banking services. The head of China knows that changes have to [be made]. The question is, will they allow those changes to unfold that will have political repercussions? Technology may come to the aid of China. Take Alibaba – it has Alipay, which now has, I think, the third-largest money fund in the world. [It’s] very, very sizeable, because Chinese buy proportionally more on the Internet than we do. There’s a big chunk going through Alibaba. So Alipay, which is basically their PayPal on steroids, has information on individuals that would be the envy of credit-rating agencies here. In terms of small businesses, they know what businesses are reliable and what are not, because they deal with them on a day-to-day basis. They’re starting to make loans to small businesses, because they know which ones they think are good credits, and so maybe [it’s the] Alipays of the future that enable China to develop more of a market economy, where the 44 million small businesses that come and go can get credit at rates under 20 percent or 50 percent. FARMER: To get back to the U.S. economy – could you talk about oil? [What is the] impact of $45 to $50 [per barrel of] oil currently? What do you see going forward, and how will that impact the U.S. as well as both oil-producing and oil-consuming countries? AUERBACH: Just looking at the United States – the United States is still an oil importer. We don’t import as much as we did a few years ago because of the rapid developments in places like North Dakota, but we’re still a significant oil importer, and that means as a nation as a whole, we gain from the lower price of oil. That’s the simplest economic conclusion one could make. There are obviously going to be important distributional consequences of lower oil prices. It’s going to help places where heating Continued on page 44

A PR I L/MAY 2015

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

RAJENDRA PACHAURI Businesses and governments work together on climate issues. Excerpted from “Lisa Jackson and Rajendra Pachauri,” January 14, 2014. RAJENDRA PACHAURI

Ph.D., Former Chair, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

LISA JACKSON

Vice President, Environmental Initiatives, Apple; Former Administrator, EPA

GREG DALTON

Vice President of Special Projects & Director, Climate One - Moderator GREG DALTON: Dr. Pachauri, give us some good news about where progress is being made in the war on climate change. What’s going well? RAJENDRA PACHAURI: I think progress is being made right here in California. This is a state which is doing remarkable things. This is not only a model for the United States, it could be a model for the world. What really makes this state unique is the people and the leadership working together on the basis of

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

knowledge and information that tells you what will happen if you don’t take action and how attractive it is to take action. Lots of other cities, towns, companies, businesses [and] individuals are doing a lot. Of course, we need to scale up all these eﬀorts because we don’t have the luxury of time. We really have to move rapidly and adequately to deal with the challenge of climate change, because if we don’t do that, then the costs and the feasibility of getting on a pathway that gives you less than two degrees Celsius increase in temperature by the end of this century may go beyond our reach. DALTON: Dr. Pachauri, a lot of the policy world is focused on what governments can do or should do. What do you see as the role of business – Apple and other companies – in tackling climate change given the constraints they have? PACHAURI: You really need to look at it first as a long-term challenge. Even if you look at the history of businesses in the world, it’s those businesses that had a vision and that were able to foresee the future that actually turned out to be far more successful than others that only worried about the profits in the next quarter. I personally think that you need all stakeholders to be on board. You certainly need government. Government has to set policies in place that enable action in this area. You need businesses with vision, with leadership that focuses not on immediate and short-term benefits, but looks at what its standing in society would be. I

A P R IL/MAY 2015

have a feeling that today, reputational value is really important for a company. When the public demands companies be more responsible in terms of protecting this planet, I’m sure that will also translate into value in the stock market. DALTON: Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, created quite a stir last year when he responded to someone criticizing Apple’s expenditures on clean energy. He basically said, If you’re [just] interested in bean counting, get out of the stocks. So how does Apple balance long-term investments in clean energy and the quarterly demands of Wall Street? LISA JACKSON: First oﬀ, it’s probably good to get a sense of just how invested in clean energy we are. We run data centers. We actually run four of them and all four of those data centers run on 100-percent clean energy today. Whereas a lot of people are setting goals for how we want to move our data and the cloud to be clean, Apple’s section of the cloud is clean today. That didn’t happen by accident. Though I’d love to take credit for it, we were well on our way to doing that before I got to Apple a year and a half ago. You start with the kind of innovations that are required to take a challenge, and certainly that is a challenge, and say that we’re not going to be held to what’s been done in the past. We’re going to just go ahead and prove that it can be done. That takes innovation. Then you have to re-

LISA JACKSON Photo by Ed Ritger

ally believe that there’s no need to choose between a thriving economy, growth, and doing right by the planet and its people; our customers, our employees. When you believe those two things, it moves business to innovate. As important as government is, it’s so much easier to make policy when business has shown a way forward. When somebody has said, Hey, you know what, we actually can figure out a way to deal with automobile emissions with this thing called the catalytic converter, all of a sudden the head of the EPA can then say, Let’s cut down on the amount of pollution that you can put out, because we now know how to do it. So what business can do is innovate and find the “hows” that allow policymakers and regulators to then set the floor. DALTON: One thing that other tech companies do, Google and others, is make direct investments in clean energy. Apple has a very healthy balance sheet. Have you thought about using Apple’s economic muscle to either directly invest in clean energy or to divest from fossil fuel? JACKSON: What we’ve said is, first and foremost, Apple has done a pretty good job – I think the best in the industry – of really looking at what our entire life cycle carbon footprint is. There are a couple of things that we do there that I think lend themselves to real innovation. The first is that we take responsibility for the carbon emissions of our entire supply chain. Of the 33.8 million tons of greenhouse gases emitted in our carbon

footprint last year, about 70 percent of that is not at a facility that has our name on it. It’s someone in our supply chain, all the way back to the ore that’s in our products. So we have tons of work to do if we say this is our responsibility to help move our supply chain along. In fact, that’s what Tim [Cook] said recently when he was at Climate Week in New York City. He said to watch the supply chain space. That’s where we know we can take our leadership and transfer [policies] along to companies that do work for lots of people, not just Apple. That’s important. DALTON: And your new headquarters in Cupertino – is it going to be as green as possible? JACKSON: Yeah. Tim Cook has said that it’s going to be the greenest corporate campus in the world. We have some pretty ambitious goals. It is a carbon-neutral project. It’s designed from the ground up. It’s got innovative air-handling capabilities, so the hope is that the majority of the time down in the Valley we won’t need any conditioning of the air. There will just be a lot of movement. DALTON: Dr. Pachauri, recently 300 Stanford professors wrote a letter asking that Stanford divest. It’s happening among churches and universities. You used to serve on the board of an oil company in India. How do you view divesting from fossil fuels? Is that meaningful or is that just a symbol? PACHAURI: I was on the board of Indian Oil Corporation. At the very first meeting that I attended as a member of the board, I said, “You guys have to convert yourselves

from an oil company to an energy company.” There was a lot of discussion as [to] how to do that. We spent an entire day, and some actions were put in place to get into renewable energy, to bring about improvements in energy eﬃciency and so on. Soon after that I left the board and I’m afraid things are back to where they were. But that’s often what happens. It takes an individual; it takes just somebody’s motivation to get things going. What you see in Apple is a case of enlightened leadership. If we had more of this, this would also enable government policy to be put in place, because often what happens is that governments are worried about what businesses might do, and often they have reasons to worry because businesses can be very resistant. I had a meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany just before the Copenhagen Conference, and she asked me how to get the Americans on board. I said that one way to do it would be for President Obama to have a dialogue with business leaders in the country. She said, “Yes, I think you’re right.” I said, “Madam Chancellor, why don’t you get your business leaders to talk to some of their counterparts over there?” She shook her head and she said, “No, I’m afraid if the American giant wakes up, we’ll have competition.” I think she was saying that tongue in cheek. [Editor’s Note: After this event took place, Pachauri resigned from the IPCC in response to harassment allegations.]

A PR I L/MAY 2015

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

State An expert discussion about reinvigorating the state park system to better serve a larger population. Excerpted from “Transforming California’s State Park s: A Blueprint for a Sustainable Future” February 10, 2015. CARYL HART

Member, Parks Forward Commission; Director, Sonoma County Regional Parks; Former Chair, California State Parks & Recreation Commission

LISA MANGAT

Acting Director, California Department of Parks & Recreation

STEVE SZALAY

Special Advisor to California Natural Resources Agency for Parks & Recreation

KERRY CURTIS

Professor Emeritus, Ageno School of Business, Golden Gate University – Moderator

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

KERRY CURTIS: I’d like start with Caryl, who has a very broad background in parks over many years. In fact, she’s taught at Berkeley on managing parks. So I’ll let her talk about the big picture, about how the parks got to where they are and the nature of the problem. CARYL HART: I assume that all of you love state parks, and that’s why you’re here. That’s a very common feeling. Parks evoke a deep sense of connection. They’re critical to our economy here in this state, obviously to our environment, and really they represent all things California. The state park system goes back to 1864, so it’s 150 years old as of last year. It’s the oldest park system of the type that sets aside wilderness areas, or wild areas, because of their great beauty or because of their uniqueness. The founding of Yosemite [National Park] in 1864 [produced] the concept of it being America’s best idea to have parks. But because the state park system is so old, it’s really sort of the canary in the coal mine for all parks. That’s why it’s so very important and that’s why we’re spending so much time working on this project. [For] California State Parks – like a lot of state park systems, you have many, many years where a park system builds itself. Beginning with Yosemite and then Big Basin in the early 1900s, with the help of the fantastic partnership of Save the Redwoods League and Sempervirens Fund, [California] saved all of the redwood parks that we have today, set those aside and gradually built the state park system that we have.

A P R IL/MAY 2015

But the problem with that is, once the acquisition phase – the excitement around acquisition – starts to slow down, you enter a plateau where people begin to take their parks for granted a little bit, and maybe there’s less attendance or at least [fewer] donations. In California, what we saw was, as we moved into that phase, deferred maintenance grew in the parks and the parks began to have some real problems. As we moved into the first decade of the 21st century, those problems began to accelerate. With the recession and the budget cuts in the state, there was a proposal to close 70 parks in California, which came on the heels of another proposal to close a number of parks. That really was the crisis moment for state parks, and I think all of us who work on a daily basis in parks knew something had to be done. A lot of groups came together – a lot of nonprofit groups, regional agencies, the foundation world – to recognize that we needed to do something for parks. Subsequent to that, there was a revelation of some irregularities; [we found] that there were some funds that state parks had that they weren’t spending, that certain aspects of the state government weren’t aware of. All those things led to this moment. I would say, thank goodness that happened. We need a new state park system for the 21st century, and that’s what Parks Forward is about. With our partners, the Parks Forward Commission, the report that we produced, and now the action plan, the transformation of state parks is underway.

Parks

Original photos by Dallas Krentzel, Don Barrett, Jasperd, Steve Dunleavy, Ray Bouknight/flickr; Dick Rowan, Rick Cooper, Joseph Plotz/wiki; werner22brigitte/pixabay; Jon Sullivan

CURTIS: Now we’ll turn to Lisa for comment from a management perspective on the realities today in managing the parks. LISA MANGAT: I think it might help to provide some perspective on the importance of not only this report but what we’re doing going forward. The administration and the governor embraced the report. On January 9, when the governor announced the annual budget, every budget also included a list of highest priorities for the administration. In the world of natural resources, there are three key initiatives. One focus is going to be water and [another will be] making the state parks more robust for the future. That’s very meaningful. So the January 9 announcement acknowledged that there was a January 30 report from the Parks Forward Commission and announced that the key issues that they flagged are too important to sit back and wait. We needed to take action. It outlined many of the things that we’ve already done. It was very clear to us from our visitors that folks are not interested in a cash-only state park system, and we’re looking to expand and modernize. We’re proud to announce that right now we’ve got 120 parks where you can use ATM and credit cards, which was a huge advancement. We want to continue working to move the ball in that respect. For the first time, we are able to provide 360 [degree] panoramic views using Google Trekker. We released our second annual Park Unit Costing Report last week, and let me just pro-

vide some context as to why that’s important. During the 70-park closure discussions, we were so fortunate to have many partners and folks out in the public that wanted to come help us, and [they] asked a very basic business question: How much do you spend to oper-

“W e

need to do a better

job of reaching out to underserved populations. ” –Steve Szalay ate state parks today? We couldn’t answer it in a meaningful way. Now we can. So these are all good things that we’re doing. But I think the key thing is [that] the governor announced the establishment of a transformation team. That is one of the key recommendations in this report. There’s no interest in this report gathering dust. Instead, we want to kind of get out ahead of it. We’ve established a transformation team and the key initiatives are all based around the key themes that you see in the Parks Forward report. We need to increase the state park system’s relevance to all Californians. We need to open up the candidate pool for our park management leadership positions. We need to maximize partnerships. We need to be more innovative when we think about revenue generation. So all of those themes you’ll see are key

to us and it’s very easy, I think, when we talk about the Parks Forward report, to make it sound like we’re at the end of something, but we’re very much at the beginning of something, because now we’re transitioning into action, execution and implementation. CURTIS: To get to that implementation stage, the state has named Steve Szalay to manage a two-year implementation process of all of these steps that the Parks Forward Commission has identified. These are really important things. So I’d like to hear from Steve about those things. STEVE SZALAY: While the parks provide a lot of excellent services, their operations, their management and the way they’re organized is kind of stuck in the ’60s and ’70s. It really needs a complete transformation, and that’s what we’re about. We will be creating an environment in the parks that is continuous-change-oriented. When the parks’ transformation process is over, there will still be a lot of very important changes to be made. What we want to do is embed in the state parks department a unit involved in innovations and specific kinds of positive change that will be an active part of the organization going forward. The team is made up of eight committees, and the committees range from budget and finance to partnerships to relevancy. Relevancy [is] very important. The thought is, over time we’ll build these parks, we’ll set up services, and whoever comes can come and really enjoy themselves. It’s a wonderful environment. It’s not enough. If you look at the de-

A PR I L/MAY 2015

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

mographics of California, we need to do a better job of reaching out to underserved populations [and] to millennials. How can we involve technology to bring them to the park virtually and in actual fact? We need to reach out to the various ethnic groups around the state – especially the majority, the plurality of the population, the Latino group. Parks Forward has done a magnificent job so far in doing the research and trying to point us in the right direction, designing programs so that they’ll be more relevant to the population – not to the current population that has known state parks for years, but to new populations. We need that both for the sustainability of parks and for the enjoyment of our population in California and our visitors. Deferred maintenance [is a] big problem. That’s the first thing you do in a downturn. Your revenue goes down – you try to pick off the low-hanging fruit. How can we cut costs? We’ll cut our personnel process because frankly we’re not hiring anyone anyway. The money’s going the other way. So we’ll cut training, we’ll cut regular annual maintenance. That adds to the list of deferred maintenance. So this transformation team is going to embark on a couple of diﬀerent initiatives around deferred maintenance. Number one, what’s our system of analyzing the needs and actually putting up a credible system and list of deferred maintenance? The work that’s been done so far in California state parks [is] not the best, but it’s showing some potential. If you press the leadership of the parks department, they’ll tell you, our deferred maintenance is about $1 billion. In actuality, it will be less than that. But we really need to get a credible way of determining what projects belong on the deferred list. Second is devising a sustainable financing program for maintenance. The governor did approve $20 million for deferred maintenance – certainly a wonderful thing, but it needs to be ongoing every year. Parks itself could deliver about $50 million of maintenance a year. So we need to figure out how to go through some borrowing, probably bonding, with some creative way to pay the debt service. That’s another project we’re going to be working on. The marketing of parks – we do really pretty much a zero job of real marketing,

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

if you’re looking at how that works in the economy. CURTIS: What steps are you taking to increase equity – that is, making state parks accessible to the poor, especially the urban poor, people of color and people with disabilities? MANGAT: So this is one of the areas, I would say, where when you’re actually out in the field, there are really examples of excellence in this area. There are some great programs in these areas, but there’s this sense of haphazardness about them. They don’t necessarily get directed from Sacramento, and we need to find a way to support and scale them up. One of the conversations that we’ve been

“We need to find some way to tap into that passionate support at the local level. ” –Lisa Mangat having with regard to partnerships is that we’re not ideally positioned to benefit from these partnerships. There’s not a lot of desire for donating or making contributions to the machine of Sacramento. So we need to find some way to tap into that passionate support at the local level. There is tremendous support and interest in scaling up a lot of these programs and investing out of the local communities. We’re not structured to do that, so we need to be able to do that piece. One of the projects we have, in terms of increasing our relevance and targeting these nontraditional park users, has to do with the cabins initiative. I think a lot of people, when they hear about our cabins initiative, think it’s just about generating more revenue. But one of the key things the Parks Forward report revealed is that a significant barrier to coming and experiencing these state parks for a lot of these communities is that they don’t have all of the equipment or they don’t necessarily feel comfortable staying in, say, a tent. We want to solve that. So one of the key priorities is to establish some alternative housing – one [type] being cabins. We’re excited about that project, because

A P R IL/MAY 2015

we’re partnering and trying to tap into some potential philanthropic efforts and even thinking about a unique way to manage it so that the state park system itself doesn’t manage that particular arrangement, but [rather] some outside entity [does]. So those types of things all kind of come together. Everything that we’re doing right now threads back to that. Here’s the other thing: We also want to diversify the workforce within the state park system so that when Californians come and spend time with us, they recognize and relate to the people who are actually delivering the services. That’s something that happens over time, and one of the key ways to tackle that is just to be really thoughtful about how it is that you come into the state park system, [how] you stay employed with us a long time [and] change the career paths to leadership within the organization. CURTIS: Can the campsite reservation system be simplified – open up reservations one month ahead, rather than seven? For example, as of February 1, it’s now too late to reserve some gorgeous spots for the entire summer. MANGAT: Every January 1, it didn’t matter how late I was up celebrating New Years Eve, I got up and I logged into the Reserve America system to reserve specific campsites at specific campgrounds throughout the system for my family. My sister also logged in at the same time. So we figured there’s force in numbers. It’s a personal experience of mine. It’s definitely something that we are talking about. We are actually moving forward on an IT project to marry the point of sales system and the reservations system, so that should allow us a more streamlined way to interact with the public in reserving these campsites, and also help us collect data to get a better understanding of who it is that is visiting us. That gets back to those data-driven decisions. We’re also looking at various [options] – maybe not opening up all of the campsites, but trickling them out in phases to give people [more flexibility]. SZALAY: That relates to the relevancy issue that we talked about. It’s getting those underserved populations, underserved communities up to speed with regard to the information they need. What’s the proper time? How do we do it? What’s the drill? It’s about transparency; it’s about advertising; it’s about marketing.

Programs OVERVIEW

TICKETS

The Commonwealth Club organizes more than 450 events every year – on politics, the arts, media, literature, business and sports. Programs are held throughout the Bay Area.

Prepayment is required. Unless otherwise indicated, all Club programs – including “Members Free” events – require tickets. Programs often sell out, so we strongly encourage you to purchase tickets in advance. Tickets are available at will call. Due to heavy call volume, we urge you to purchase tickets online at commonwealthclub. org; or call (415) 597-6705. Please note: All ticket sales are final. Please arrive at least 10 minutes prior to any program. If a program is sold out and your tickets are not claimed at our box oﬃce by the program start time, they will be released to our standby list. Select events include premium seating; premium refers to the first several rows of seating.

STANDARD PROGRAMS Typically one hour long, these speeches and conversations cover a variety of topics and are followed by a question and answer session. Most evening programs include a networking reception with wine.

PROGRAM SERIES CLIMATE ONE programs are a conversation about America’s energy, economy and environment. GOOD LIT features both established literary luminaries and up-and-coming writers in conversation. Includes Food Lit. INFORUM is for and by people in their 20s to mid-30s, though events are open to people of all ages.

MEMBER–LED FORUMS (MLF) Volunteer-driven programs focus on particular fields. Most evening programs include a networking reception with wine.

FORUM CHAIRS MEMBERLED FORUMS CHAIR Dr. Carol Fleming carol.fleming@speechtraining.com ARTS

Lynn Curtis lynnwcurtis@comcast.net ASIAPACIFIC AFFAIRS Cynthia Miyashita cmiyashita@hotmail.com Lillian Nakagawa lillian.nakagawa@comcast.net BAY GOURMET Cathy Curtis ccurtis873@gmail.com SF BOOK DISCUSSION Barbara Massey b4massey@yahoo.com

ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES Ann Clark cbofcb@sbcglobal.net GROWNUPS John Milford Johnwmilford@gmail.com HEALTH & MEDICINE William B. Grant wbgrant@infionline.net Patty James patty@pattyjames.com HUMANITIES George C. Hammond george@pythpress.com INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Norma Walden norwalden@aol.com

Linda Calhoun sevenforty@yahoo.com LGBT James Westly McGaughey jwes.mcgaughey@me.com MIDDLE EAST Celia Menczel celiamenczel@sbcglobal.net PERSONAL GROWTH: Stephanie Kriebel stephanie@sunspiritwellness.com PSYCHOLOGY Patrick O’Reilly oreillyphd@hotmail.com SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Gerald Harris Gerald@artofquantumplanning.com Beau Fernald bfernald@gmail.com

FOREIGN LANGUAGE GROUPS Free for members Location: SF Club Oﬃce FRENCH, Intermediate Class Thursdays, noon Pierrette Spetz, Graziella Danieli, Beatrice Hallier danieli@sfsu.edu, hallierb@usfca.edu FRENCH, Advanced Conversation Tuesdays, noon Gary Lawrence garylawrence508@gmail.com

Hear Club programs on more than 200 public and commercial radio stations throughout the United States. For the latest schedule, visit commonwealthclub.org/broadcast. In the San Francisco Bay Area, tune in to: KQED (88.5 FM) Fridays at 8 p.m. and Saturdays at 2 a.m. KRCB Radio (91.1 FM in Rohnert Park) Thursdays at 7 p.m. KALW (91.7 FM) Inforum programs on select Tuesdays at 7 p.m. KOIT (96.5 FM and 1260 AM) Sundays at 6 a.m. KLIV (1590 AM) Thursdays at 7 p.m. KSAN (107.7 FM) Sundays at 5 a.m. KNBR (680 and 1050 AM) Sundays at 5 a.m. KFOG (104.5 and 97.7 FM) Sundays at 5 a.m.

Watch Club programs on the California Channel Thursdays at 9 p.m. and on KRCB TV 22 on Comcast & DirecTV the last Sunday of each month at 11 a.m. Select Commonwealth Club Silicon Valley programs air on CreaTV in San Jose (Channel 30). View hundreds of streaming videos of Club programs at fora.tv and youtube.com/ commonwealthclub

GERMAN, Int./Adv. Conversation Wednesdays, noon Sara Shahin sarah_biomexx@yahoo.com ITALIAN, Intermediate Class Mondays, noon Daria Siciliano (415) 839-5077 SPANISH, Advanced Conversation (fluent only) Fridays, noon Luis Salvago-Toledo, lsalvago2@gmail.com

Subscribe to our free podcast service to automatically download new programs: commonwealthclub.org/podcast.

HARD OF HEARING? To request an assistive listening device, please e-mail Valerie Castro at: vcastro@commonwealthclub.org seven working days before the event.

A P R I L/MAY 2015

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

www.commonwealthclub.org/events

Anne W. Smith asmith@ggu.edu

BUSINESS & LEADERSHIP Kevin O’Malley kevin@techtalkstudio.com

RADIO, VIDEO AND PODCASTS

APRIL

Eight Weeks Calendar MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

12:00 p.m. Barney Frank 5:30 p.m. Humanities West Book Discussion: To End All Wars FM 6:30 p.m. Week to Week 7:45 p.m. Our Food, Our Health, Our Planet

6 5:30 p.m. Book Discussion: You Are One of Them by Elliott Holt FM 7:00 p.m. How We All Can Make It Work

7 5:15 p.m. Technology Coming of Age: InHome Caregiving 6:30 p.m. Barry Royden: Reflections of a CIA Spy

www.commonwealthclub.org/events

12:00 p.m. Overcoming the Fear of Death FM 6:00 p.m. Evolutionary UpWising FM 6:30 p.m. Week to Week

5:15 p.m. Books or Behavior: Discipline, Trauma and Truancy 7:00 p.m. Laszlo Bock

15 6:00 p.m. The Digital Doctor: Hope, Hype and Harm

21 6:30 p.m. Grover Norquist: End the IRS 7:00 p.m. From Hotshots to Moon Shots: The World of Silicon Valley Innovation

27 5:30 p.m. Middle East Discussion Group FE 6:30 p.m. Week to Week

6:00 p.m. Barry Eichengreen 6:00 p.m. Dining Practices Around the World 7:00 p.m. Sal Khan with Black Girls Code’s Kimberly Bryant

20 12:00 p.m. When Cultures Collide FM 6:30 p.m. Cédric Villani: The Living Art of Mathematics FM

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

FRIDAY

SAT/SUN

4/5

11/12

1:45 p.m. Chinatown Walking Tour

9 1:45 p.m. North Beach Walking Tour 6:00 p.m. American Whistleblowers: The Peril and Promise of Science

16 6:00 p.m. Mantra and Meditation 6:00 p.m. Juan Enriquez and Steve Gullans: Evolving Ourselves

12:00 p.m. Big Weed: Adventures in the Legal Marijuana Business 5:15 p.m. Let’s Talk About Death: How Boomers Are Transforming the Last Taboo 6:30 p.m. Coal Wars

28 12:00 p.m. David Brooks 12:00 p.m. The Gene Therapy Plan: Taking Control of Your Genetic Destiny 6:00 p.m. Reimagining America’s Infrastructure 6:00 p.m. Hank Paulson

THURSDAY

29 6:30 p.m. What’s the Value of a College Education? 7:00 p.m. Joseph Stiglitz: The Great Divide

A P R IL/MAY 2015

9:00 a.m. 18th Annual Travers Conference on Ethics and Accountability in Government 12:00 p.m. Write the Book About Your Business to Increase Profits and Clients FM

17 12:00 p.m. The Islamic State FM

24 12:00 p.m. Arabian Shakespeare FM

30 1:45 p.m. Waterfront Walk

18/19

25/26

Legend

San Francisco East Bay/North Bay Silicon Valley

MONDAY

TUESDAY

MAY FM

Free program for members

Free program for everyone

Members–only program

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SAT/SUN

2/3

12:00 p.m. Out of Sight: LA Art in the ‘60s FM

5:15 p.m. Psychological Pseudoscience

5:30 p.m. Book Disc: All Quiet on the Western Front FM 6:00 p.m. Lights, Camera,Take Action: The SF Green Film Festival 6:00 p.m. Willie Brown Annual Lecture MO 7:45 p.m. Is the Sky Falling?

5:15 p.m. Unretirement: Changing the Way We Think About Work, Community and the Good Life 6:00 p.m. Jane Smiley

6:00 p.m. The Power of Ideals: The Real Story of Moral Choice FM 6:30 p.m. Week to Week

1:45 p.m. Nob Hill Walking Tour 6:30 p.m. An Evening of Culinary Delight with Rebecca Katz & Mollie Katzen 6:30 p.m. Cognitive Climate

6:00 p.m. The State of California’s Water: Now and In The Future 7:00 p.m. Leonard Mlodinow: The Evolution of Science

12:00 p.m. Jack Welch

18 5:30 p.m. Middle East Discussion Group FE 5:15 p.m. Explore the World from The Commonwealth Club Planning Meeting FE

12:00 p.m. Ken Walsh, U.S. News White House Correspondent: Presidents and the Cult of Celebrity

5:15 p.m. Elder Financial Abuse Prevention

1:45 p.m. San Francisco Architecture Walking Tour 7:00 p.m. Kelly McGonigal: The Upside of Stress

26 12:00 p.m. Andrew Hodges: Alan Turing - The Man Who Inspired The Imitation Game 6:00 p.m. Richard Thaler and Hal Varian: Behavioral Economics

27 6:00 p.m. Rise of the Robots 6:30 p.m. Two Generations, One Big Ocean

9/10

12:00 p.m. Hacking the Climate

16/17

12:00 p.m. The Rise of Islamic Radicalism FM

www.commonwealthclub.org/events www.commonwealthclub.org/events

4 6:30 p.m. Capturing Grace: Documentary Screening and Q&A with Filmmaker Dave Iverson FM 5:30 p.m. Book Discussion: The Last of the Wine by Mary Renault FM

23/24

30/31

1:45 p.m. Russian Hill Walking Tour

A PR I L/MAY 2015

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

April 1 – 6

WED 01 | San Francisco

W E D 01 | San Francisco

Barney Frank

Humanities West Book Discussion: To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918

Week to Week

Former Member of Congress (D-MA); Author, Frank

Debra J. Saunders, Columnist, San Francisco Chronicle Additional Panelists TBA

www.commonwealthclub.org/events

Frank relates his journey from the outskirts of New York City to Boston’s city hall to the U.S. Congress, where he played a vital role in the struggle for personal freedom and economic fairness for more than four decades. With his trademark directness and insight, Frank explores how he became the first member of Congress to voluntarily disclose his homosexuality. Join the discussion with this quirky and robust political figure.

Join us to discuss To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918, by Adam Hochschild. It has been a century since the start of the Great War, whose cultural aftermath is still influencing us. Yet it remains relevant to ask if the solutions to the illusions that led to trench warfare are still eluding us a century later. Discussion led by Lynn Harris.

Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1 p.m. book signing Cost: $25 non-members, $15 members, $7 students (with valid ID); Premium: $60 nonmembers, $50 members (includes priority seating and a copy of the book) Notes: A Good Lit event underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation

Time: 5:30 p.m. program Cost: $5 non-members, MEMBERS FREE, students free (with valid ID) Program Organizer: George Hammond Notes: In association with Humanities West

WED 01 | North Bay

THU 02 | San Francisco

MON 06 | San Francisco

Our Food, Our Health, Our Planet

Chinatown Walking Tour

Book Discussion: You Are One of Them by Elliott Holt

Ken Cook, President, Environmental Working Group Gary Hirshberg, Chair, Stonyfield Farm Gibson Thomas, Editor-in-Chief, Edible Marin & Wine Country - Moderator

Enjoy a Commonwealth Club Neighborhood Adventure. Join Rick Evans for a memorable midday walk and discover the history and mysteries of Chinatown. Explore colorful alleys and side streets, and visit a Taoist temple, an herbal store, the site of the first public school in the state and the famous Fortune Cookie Factory.

Every day more people are deciding that they want to take control of their health and the impact they have on the planet by taking control of their diet. But is there a way to fill your grocery cart so that you can eat well and not harm the environment? Cook and Hirshberg will discuss how we can make choices to maintain both our personal health and the health of our world. Location: Outdoor Art Club, 1 West Blithedale Ave., Mill Valley Time: 7 p.m. check-in, 7:45 p.m. program Cost: $45 non-members, $35 members Notes: Hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar will be on hand. Sponsored by Relevant Wealth Advisors.

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

MLF: HUMANITIES Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco

At Week to Week, we explore the biggest, most controversial, and sometimes the oddest political issues with expert commentary by panelists who are smart, are civil, and have a good sense of humor. Join our panelists for informative and engaging commentary on political and other major news, an audience discussion of the week’s events and our news quiz! Come early before the program to meet other smart and engaged individuals and discuss the news over snacks and wine at our member social (open to all attendees). Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 5:30 p.m. social, 6:30 p.m. program Cost: $15 non-members, $5 members, students free (with valid ID)

Location: Meet at corner of Grant and Bush, in front of Starbucks, near Chinatown Gate Time: 1:45 p.m. check-in, 2–5 p.m. tour Cost: $45 non-members, $35 members Note: Temple visit requires walking up three flights of stairs. Limited to 12 people. Participants must pre-register. Tour operates rain or shine. Photo by H Sanchez/Flickr.

A P R IL/MAY 2015

San Francisco

Though Russia figures greatly in this book, the subtitle best describes the work: A Novel About Secrets, Betrayal, and the Friend Who Got Away. Set in Cold War America and post-Soviet Russia, it is a mystery at the heart of which lies the story of the aﬀection between girls and young women, love and loss. Inspired by the media sensation surrounding the letter of an American girl, Samantha Smith, to Yuri Andropov, the book has intrigue, plot twists and ambiguity. MLF: SF BOOK DISCUSSION Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 5:30 p.m. program Cost: : $5 non-members, MEMBERS FREE, students free (with valid ID) Program Organizer: Barbara Massey Notes: The author will not be present.

East Bay/North Bay

Silicon Valley

TUE 07 | San Francisco

T U E 07 | San Francisco

How We All Can Make It Work

Technology Coming of Age: In-Home Caregiving

Barry Royden: Reflections of a CIA Spy

See website for panelists

Barry Royden, Former Director of Counterintelligence, CIA Matt Levine, CEO and Managing Director, SourceUSA — Moderator

Tim Gunn, Co-host, “Project Runway”; Author, Tim Gunn: The Natty Professor In Conversation with Brad Rosenstein, Program Producer, Presidio Trust

Tim Gunn is known for his kind but firm approach in providing wisdom, guidance and support to design hopefuls on Lifetime’s “Project Runway.” He knows about how to convey invaluable wisdom in an approachable manner. Join Gunn for a candid, inspirational and witty discussion of life’s lessons – from the runway to the therapist’s oﬃce and beyond. Grab your tickets quickly to avoid hearing us say, “You’re out.” Location: Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St., SF Time: 6 p.m. check-in and premium VIP reception, 7 p.m. program, 8 p.m. book signing Cost: $25 non-members, $15 members, $10 stu.

Baby boomers turning 65 in the next decade will result in a historic demand for caregivers, which might not be met by human resources alone. Meanwhile, an unprecedented number of devices are connected to the Internet. Can technology play a more meaningful role in supporting caregivers and care recipients? How can we harness these innovations to create new home health strategies for individuals as they age? MLF: GROWNUPS Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 4:45 p.m. networking reception, 5:15 p.m. program Cost: $20 non-members, $8 members, $7 stu. Program Organizer: John Milford Notes: In association with SteppingStone Adult Day Health

What does it take to work for the CIA? Royden will share his experiences of what works, how it’s done and the process of recruiting and handling agents. He oﬀers his thoughts on the CIA’s role in counterterrorism as well as spy motivations and their common personality types. Join Royden as he highlights his years at the CIA, including major counterintelligence cases such as Robert Hanssen, the FBI special agent convicted in 2001 of spying for Russia. Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 6 p.m. check in, 6:30 p.m. program Cost: $20 non-members, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID)

WED 08 | San Francisco

Barry Eichengreen

Dining Practices Around the World

Sal Khan with Black Girls Code’s Kimberly Bryant

The two great financial crises of the past century are the Great Depression and the Great Recession. Both occurred against the backdrop of sharp credit booms, dubious banking practices, and a fragile and unstable global financial system. When markets went into cardiac arrest in 2008, policymakers invoked the lessons of the Great Depression in attempting to avert the worst. The question is, why didn’t policymakers do better? And how could the experience of the Great Recession permanently change how we think about the Great Depression? Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 non-members, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID)

San Francisco

East Bay/North Bay

Syndi Seid, Founder, Advanced Etiquette

Have you ever been afraid of committing an unintentional cultural faux pas at a business dinner, or perhaps are just curious about how different cultures approach eating? Seid will lead us through a lively discussion on how people dine in different countries. She’ll touch on the similarities and differences of eating with your hands, chopsticks and flatware, so for added fun, bring your own pair of chopsticks and a spoon, knife and fork to practice proper usage. MLF: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 5:30 p.m. reception, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 non-members, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID) Program Organizer: Norma Walden

Silicon Valley

Kimberly Bryant, Founder, Black Girls Code In conversation with Sal Khan, Founder and Executive Director, Khan Academy

In 2011, only 6 percent of STEM workers nationwide were black. For black women, the minority of minorities in the STEM world, access to opportunities that will shatter Silicon Valley’s “boy’s club” and diversify the industry have been long coming. Join us as Kimberly Bryant, founder of Black Girls Code, and another innovative educator, Khan Academy founder Sal Khan, discuss how to bridge the digital divide. Location: Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St., SF Time: 6 p.m. check-in and premium reception, 7 p.m. program See web for pricing Note: Reception sponsored by Oracle

A PR I L/MAY 2015

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

www.commonwealthclub.org/events

WED 08 | San Francisco

Professor of Economics and Politics, UC Berkeley; Author, Hall of Mirrors

April 6 – 8

MON 06 | San Francisco

April 9 – 13

THU 09 | San Francisco

FRI 10 | East Bay

North Beach Walking Tour

American Whistleblowers: The Peril and Promise of Science

The 18th Annual Travers Conference on Ethics and Accountability in Government

Join another Commonwealth Club Neighborhood Adventure! Explore vibrant North Beach with Rick Evans during a two-hour walk through this neighborhood with a colorful past, where food, culture, history and unexpected views all intersect in an Italian “urban village.” In addition to learning about Beat generation hangouts, you’ll discover authentic Italian cathedrals and coﬀee shops.

See website for panelists

Location: Meeting spot is Washington Square Park at Saints Peter and Paul Church (Filbert & Powell). Our guide will be on the steps of the church. The oﬃcial address is 666 Filbert, between Columbus and Stockton. Time: 1:45 p.m. check-in, 2-4 p.m. tour Cost: $45 non-members, $35 members Notes: Limited to 20 people. Must preregister. Tours operate rain or shine. Photo by Flickr user Clemson.

Theme: Money and Politics

Who shines a light on the convoluted realm of health care, a massive industry that brought in over $1.6 trillion in revenue over the past year? With health-care choice at the nexus of our constitutional rights, and scares like measles grabbing international headlines, how do we know we’re getting information that is truthful? Come hear about the scientists who decide to go public with information that many in the industry don’t want us to see.

Presented by The Charles and Louise Travers Department of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. The conference will consist of several panels with presentations of research and roundtable discussions with scholars and experts in the field of money and politics.

www.commonwealthclub.org/events

MLF: BUSINESS & LEADERSHIP Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 non-members, $8 members, students free (with valid ID) Program Organizer: Kevin O’Malley

Location: Social Science Matrix, Barrows Hall 8th Floor, UC Berkeley campus, Berkeley Time: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. conference Cost: FREE Notes: Continental breakfast, lunch and light refreshments will be provided. To register, please contact Sharon Lyons-Butler, Administrator of the Political Science Department: slyonsbutler@berkeley.edu

FRI 10 | San Francisco

MON 13 | San Francisco

Write the Book About Your Business to Increase Profits and Clients

Overcoming the Fear of Death

Evolutionary UpWising

Kelvin Chin, Consultant; Public Speaker

Swami Beyondananda, Humorist; Satirist; FUNdamentalist

Francine Brevetti, Business Journalist;

Ghostwriter; Memoirist

You say you’re an expert, but who else knows? Publishing a book based on your business expertise is a great way to establish your credentials and attract prospective clients. Brevetti sets out an easy-to-follow program for writing your own book, with guidance on how to start writing, structure content and approach publishing your work. Learn her process to write a book that has the potential to raise your business profile and expand your customer base. MLF: BUSINESS & LEADERSHIP Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program Cost: $20 non-members, MEMBERS FREE, students free (with valid ID) Program Organizer: Kevin O’Malley

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

Why are we so afraid of death? After all, death is inevitable. But what is death? Is it the end, the beginning or a transition? Kelvin Chin will help people rethink how they respond to the death of a loved one and how they think about their own deaths. His new approach is sensitive, insightful and non-religious. MLF: HUMANITIES Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program Cost: $20 non-members, MEMBERS FREE, $7 students (with valid ID) Program Organizer: George Hammond

A P R IL/MAY 2015

San Francisco

Once in many lifetimes there comes a being so enlightened that the whole world is transformed. Unfortunately, Monday Night Philosophy couldn’t find anyone like that. But we did find Beyondananda, whose favorite yoga pose is tongue-incheek. A spiritual and political pundit (if anyone punned it, Swami probably punned it first), Swami will oﬀer a healthier alternative to a revolutionary uprising to overthrow the system – an evolutionary upwising to overgrow the system. MLF: HUMANITIES Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 non-members, MEMBERS FREE, $7 students (with valid ID) Program Organizer: George Hammond

East Bay/North Bay

Silicon Valley

Exploring Tunisia Ancient Sites, Rich History & a Modern Democracy Movement OCTOBER 21–NOVEMBER 1, 2015

Join author, journalist, and cultural historian Hatem Bourial on a unique tour of Tunisia’s vast historical sites and Mediterranean culture, with a particular focus on what has transpired since the country’s revolution in January 2011. Come see why many political experts believe that Tunisia will serve as a model for democracy movements in the region.

HIGHLIGHTS • • • • • • • •

Meet political activists, media, students and leaders of Tunisia’s vibrant civil society. Visit Tunis, the capital city, with its elaborate medina and ville nouvelle and discover the picturesque Andalusian town of Sidi Bou Said. Experience ancient Carthage (including the tophets, the port, Antonine’s baths and Byrsa Hill) and the Bardo Museum’s world-class collection of mosaics. Tour Dougga, known as the city of temples and dates back to the 4th century B.C. Explore El Jem, with its amphitheater similar to Rome’s coliseum. See Kairouan’s Great Mosque, dating from the 7th century, and reputed to be the oldest mosque in Africa. Experience the Matmata region where crater-like topography is dotted with troglodyte dwellings. Relax in the seaside resort of Jerba, and learn about an ancient Jewish community.

“I came away from the experience with a much better understanding of Tunisia and the entire Arab world. The tour surpassed my expectations.” – Susan Milstein, 2014 Exploring Tunisia

Trip Details

Itinerary

Dates:

Wednesday, October 21 U.S./Tunis Depart the U.S. for independent flights to Tunis, Tunisia.

October 21–November 1, 2015 (12 days)

Group Size:

Minimum 11, Maximum 25

Cost:

$4,695 per person, double occupancy; $875 single room supplement

Included:

Tour leader, local guides, and all guest speakers; activities as specified in the itinerary; transportation throughout; airport transfers on designated group dates and times; accommodations as specified (or similar); meals (B=breakfast, L=lunch, D=dinner;); wine and beer with welcome and farewell events; bottled water on all coach vehicles; Commonwealth Club rep with 11 or more participants; gratuities to trip leader and driver; pre-departure materials.

Not included:

International air to Tunisia; visa and passport fees; meals not specified as included; optional outings and gratuities for those outings; alcoholic beverages beyond welcome and farewell events; travel insurance (recommended, information will be sent upon registration); items of a purely personal nature.

Thursday, October 22 Tunis Transfer to our hotel in the Gammarth area of Tunis, a wonderful setting less than ten minutes from Carthage and the picturesque Andalusian village of Sidi Bou Said. Enjoy a traditional Tunisian meal at our welcome dinner. Movenpick Hotel (D) Friday, October 23 Tunis Enjoy a morning orientation and lecture about Tunisia’s revolution. Then visit Borj Louzir, an economically challenged section of Tunis, where we meet with the female founder of an NGO focused on empowering women and helping to spawn entrepreneurs in the region. This afternoon explore the Bardo Museum’s worldclass collection of Roman and Byzantine mosaics. Movenpick Hotel (B, L, D) Saturday, October 24 Tunis Morning lecture about “Women and Islam in Tunisia.” Visit Carthage, founded around 800 B.C. by the Phoenicians, and a flourishing city for centuries. Our visit includes Antonine Baths, Byrsa Hill, cisterns, and the Carthage museum, which houses an unparalleled collection of Punic artifacts. In the afternoon take a walking tour of the Tunis medina, including the Zitouna Mosque, dating from the 7th century. Movenpick Hotel (B, L) Sunday, October 25 Tunis/Dougga En route to Dougga, we stop for lunch in the Medjez river valley. Dougga was known as the

Online: commonwealthclub.org/travel

Phone: 415.597.6720

city of temples and its existence is thought to date back to the 4th century B.C. Visit several sites including the Capitol, and the theater, which today is used for the Dougga Drama festival and accommodates almost 3,500 people. Return in the early evening to Tunis for dinner and overnight. Movenpick Hotel (B, L, D) Monday, October 26 Tunis/Kairouan/Souse Meet with U.S. Embassy staff for a briefing, then depart for Kairouan, located along the old caravan routes. Discover the medina, and wander past sellers of carpets, leather goods, brass works, and spices, on our way to Kairouan’s Great Mosque. Dating from the 7th century, it is reputed to be the oldest mosque in Africa and able to accommodate 200,000 people. Meet with some of the locals in this traditional and small historic town. Continue to Sousse for the night. Movenpick Resort (B, L, D) Tuesday, October 27 Sousse Explore Sousse, Tunisia’s third-largest city, and meet with students and faculty from the University of Sousse to hear their perspectives on the revolution. Visit the ribat, the historic heart of Sousse, followed by free time and dinner on your own. Movenpick Resort (B, L) Wednesday, October 28 El Jem/Sfax Drive to El Jem, which is noted for its amphitheater, similar to the coliseum of Rome. Explore the amphitheater and the impressive mosaic collection at the museum. We depart for Sfax, the country’s second-largest city, and the only remaining fully walled city in Tunisia. Les Oliviers Palace (B, L, D)

Email: Travel@commonwealthclub.org

Malta Post-Trip Extension November 1–4 Thursday, October 29 Matmata/Jerba This morning drive south toward the ksour region and a visit to the area of Matmata. With its crater-like topography dotted with troglodyte dwellings, it provided one of the film locations for the movie Star Wars. Explore some of these dwellings and have lunch in a troglodyte home. Continue to the coast on to the island of Jerba, where we enjoy our seaside resort Radisson Blu (B, L, D) Friday, October 30 Jerba Visit Ghriba synagogue, located amidst one of the island’s two historically Jewish communities, and continuing to live in harmony with the island’s larger ArabMuslim community. Afternoon at leisure to explore Houmt Souk, Jerba’s main market town, where the Mediterranean atmosphere of cafes, restaurants and shopping underscore the island’s serenity. Radisson Blu (B, D) Saturday, October 31 Jerba/Tunis Fly back to Tunis and transfer to our hotel in the heart of the city. Independent exploration of the medina, as well as the nearby streets of “ville nouvelle”, the adjacent quarters of Tunis that were developed during the French period. Our farewell dinner tonight is in the kasbah. Mouradi L’Africa Hotel (B, D) Sunday, November 1 Jerba/Tunis Transfer to the Tunis airport for flights home.

Explore Malta on this 3-night/4-day extension staying at the boutique Victoria Hotel in Sliema, a town with a wonderful Mediterranean atmosphere. Visit pre-historic M’dina, including the Roman Villa and St. Paul’s Catacombs; see the Hypogeum of Paola and the Pre-Megalithic Temples of Malta; experience Valletta, Malta’s capital and home to the Barracca Gardens, St. John´s Cathedral and the Grand Master´s Palace; and visit the island of Gozo including the temples of Ggantija. Complete details available on request, and provided with trip confirmation. Cost: $1,875 per person, double occupancy; $200 single supplement (air from Tunis to Malta included)

Trip Leader, Journalist Hatem Bourial

The author of nine books, a weekly column for Tunis-Hebdo (a Tunisia-French weekly), and editor of many independent news magazines, Hatem Bourial is a frequent commentator on Tunisia’s radio and television. A well-known figure in Tunisia’s world of culture and the press, he will provide insightful analysis of Tunisia’s culture, history, politics and literature.

Tour Host, Jerry Sorkin

Hosting portions of this tour is Jerry Sorkin, a Middle East/North African specialist who resides much of the year in Tunisia and has been awarded Conde Nast Traveler magazine’s “Top Travel Specialist” five years in a row for his work in Tunisia. He is currently also the Director of George Washington University’s International Institute of Tourism Studies for Tunisia.

Online: commonwealthclub.org/travel

Phone: 415.597.6720

“Our

guide was brilliant. His knowledge about Tunisia from the Phoenicians through the present was encyclopedic. However, the best part was his ability to bridge to the locals, and enable a sharing across cultures. An exceptional experience!” – Edie Heilman, 2014 Exploring Tunisia

Email: Travel@commonwealthclub.org

Tunisia

Ancient Sites, Rich History & a Modern Democracy Movement

Commonwealth Club Travel

RESERVATION FORM October 21–November 1, 2015

Phone: 415.597.6720 Fax: 415.597.6729

NAME 1 NAME 2 ADDRESS

CITY/STATE/ZIP

HOME PHONE

CELL

E-MAIL ADDRESS

SINGLE TRAVELERS ONLY: If this is a reservation for one person, please indicate: ___ I plan to share accommodations with _______________________ OR ___ I wish to have single accommodations. OR ___ I’d like to know about possible roommates. I am a smoker / nonsmoker. (circle one) PAYMENT: Here is my deposit of $______ ($500 per person) for ___ place(s). ___ Enclosed is my check (make payable to Commonwealth Club). OR ___ Charge my deposit to my ___ Visa ___ MasterCard ___ AMEX CARD#

EXPIRES

SECURITY CODE

AUTHORIZED CARDHOLDER SIGNATURE

DATE

Please note that final payment must be made by check. ___ I/We have read the Terms and Conditions for this program and agree to them. SIGNATURE

PLEASE RETURN THIS FORM ALONG WITH YOUR DEPOSIT TO: Commonwealth Club Travel 555 Post St. San Francisco, CA 94102 You may also fax the form to 415.597.6729

Terms and Conditions: The Commonwealth Club (CWC) has contracted TunisUSA to organize this tour. Reservations: A $500 per person deposit, along with a completed and signed Reservation Form, will reserve a place for participants on this program. The balance of the trip is due 90 days prior to departure and must be paid by check. Cancellation and Refund Policy: Notification of cancellation must be received in writing. At the time we receive your written cancellation, the following penalties will apply: • 91 days or more prior to departure: $350 per person • 90-60 days to departure: 50% fare • 59-1 days prior to departure: 100% fare Tour can also be cancelled due to low enrollment. Neither CWC nor TunisUSA accepts liability for cancellation penalties related to domestic or international airline tickets purchased in conjunction with the tour. Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance: We strongly advise that all travelers purchase trip cancellation and interruption insurance as coverage against a covered unforeseen emergency that may force you to cancel or leave trip while it is in progress. A brochure describing coverage will be sent to you upon receipt of your reservation.

Medical Information: Participation in this program requires that you be in good health. It is essential that persons with any medical problems and related dietary restrictions make them known to us well before departure. Itinerary Changes & Trip Delay: We reserve the right to change a program’s dates, staff, itineraries, or accommodations as conditions warrant. If a trip must be delayed, or the itinerary changed, due to bad weather, road conditions, transportation delays, airline schedules, government intervention, sickness or other contingency for which CWC or TunisUSA or its agents cannot make provision, the cost of delays or changes is not included. Limitations of Liability: CWC and TunisUSA its Owners, Agents, and Employees act only as the agent for any transportation carrier, hotel, ground operator, or other suppliers of services connected with this program (“other providers”), and the other providers are solely responsible and liable for providing their respective services. CWC and TunisUSA shall not be held liable for (A) any damage to, or loss of, property or injury to, or death of, persons occasioned directly or indirectly by an act or omission of any other provider, including but not limited to any defect

in any aircraft, or vehicle operated or provided by such other provider, and (B) any loss or damage due to delay, cancellation, or disruption in any manner caused by the laws, regulations, acts or failures to act, demands, orders, or interpositions of any government or any subdivision or agent thereof, or by acts of God, strikes, fire, flood, war, rebellion, terrorism, insurrection, sickness, quarantine, epidemics, theft, or any other cause(s) beyond their control. The participant waives any claim against CWC/ TunisUSA for any such loss, damage, injury, or death. By registering for the trip, the participant certifies that he/she does not have any mental, physical, or other condition or disability that would create a hazard for him/herself or other participants. CWC/ TunisUSA shall not be liable for any air carrier’s cancellation penalty incurred by the purchase of a nonrefundable ticket to or from the departure city. Baggage and personal effects are at all times the sole responsibility of the traveler. Reasonable changes in the itinerary may be made where deemed advisable for the comfort and well-being of the passengers.

CST: 2096889-40 Photos: (cover) isawnyu/flickr; Jerry Sorkin; Alex Cardeno; Cezary p/wikicommons; (inside) Naf/flickr; David Bjorgen/wikicommons; Mónica Gomes/fotopedia; Ghiyaal/wikicommons ; Jerry Sorkin

TUE 14 | San Francisco

T U E 1 4 | S i l i co n Va l l e y

Week to Week

Books or Behavior: Discipline, Trauma and Truancy

Laszlo Bock

Panelists TBA

Christine Stoner-Mertz, LCSW, Pres. and CEO, Lincoln Child Ctr. Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW, Sr. Dir. of Equity and Ed. Initiatives, Lincoln Child Ctr.

The intersections of trauma, poverty and race create hidden barriers to accessing quality education for youth in the Bay Area and around the country. Stoner-Mertz and Payne will discuss how early investments on a community level can help to dismantle those barriers. Lincoln’s social impact model for reducing chronic absenteeism and partnering with school districts, parents and funders will be highlighted.

Senior VP of People Operations, Google; Author, Work Rules! Insights from Inside Google that will Transform How You Live and Lead

What is the secret to attracting the best talent? Whether you’re a team of one or part of a team of thousands, Bock believes it is important to strike a balance between structure and creativity. Learn more about the new philosophy that will transform the way we live and work. Bock leads Google’s “people function” and is responsible for attracting, developing and retaining the best talent. Location: TBA Time: 6:30 p.m. check-in, 7 p.m. program, 8 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 non-members, $12 members,$8 stu. Notes: Sponsored by Accenture

WED 15 | San Francisco

THU 16 | San Francisco

The Digital Doctor: Hope, Hype and Harm

Mantra and Meditation

Juan Enriquez and Steve Gullans: Evolving Ourselves

Robert M. Wachter, M.D., Professor and Associate Chair, Dept. of Medicine, UCSF

Prabha Duneja, Vedic scholar; Author, The Legacy of Yoga in Bhagawad Geeta and Hinduism: Scriptures and Practices

Juan Enriquez and Steve Gullans, Co-founders, Excel Venture Management; Co-authors, Evolving Ourselves

Meditation with mantra has been highly glorified by the Vedic sages as a powerful means for inner peace and yogic unity in transcendence. A mantra can be a syllable, a single word, a hymn or a verse. It is a word of power believed to be imbued with enormous latent energy. Constant recitation of a mantra is said to enclose the thoughts into a small circle and the scattered attention into a collective, thus preparing the mind for concentration and calmness in meditation.

Why are humans living longer, getting smarter and having fewer kids? Even more, why are rates of conditions like autism, asthma, obesity and allergies exploding at an unprecedented pace? As technology enables us to take control of our genes, we will be able to alter our own species and many others. Join us as Enriquez and Gullans conduct a sweeping tour of how humans are changing evolution’s course – sometimes intentionally, sometimes not.

MLF: ASIA PACIFIC AFFAIRS Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 non-members, $8 members, $7 stu. Program Organizer: John Batcheller

Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 non-members, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID)

MLF: HEALTH & MEDICINE Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 non-members, $8 members, $7 stu. Program Organizer: Mark Zitter

San Francisco

East Bay/North Bay

Silicon Valley

A PR I L/MAY 2015

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

www.commonwealthclub.org/events

Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 5:30 p.m. wine-and-snacks social, 6:30 p.m. program Cost: $15 non-members, $5 members, students free (with valid ID)

MLF: PSYCHOLOGY Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 4:45 p.m. reception, 5:15 p.m. program Cost: $20 non-members, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID) Program Organizer: Patrick O’Reilly

Everyone had high hopes that computers would be the magic bullet to improving health-care’s safety, quality and eﬃciency. In the past five years – due to billions in federal incentives – medicine has finally, reluctantly, gone digital. This talk explores some of the unforeseen consequences of information technology, ranging from the movement to hire scribes to the tendency of clinicians to defer to a new kind of authority: an electronic one.

April 13 – 16

MON 13 | San Francisco

April 17 – 22

FRI 17 | San Francisco

MON 20 | San Francisco

The Islamic State

When Cultures Collide

See website for panelists

Cédric Villani: The Living Art of Mathematics

The meteoric rise of the Islamic State has had a disastrous eﬀect on those caught in its path. With a zone of control stretching across the border of Syria and Iraq, ISIS has brought its violence to bear on the diverse mix of peoples who had called the group’s newest fiefdoms home. As the region’s strongest political actors find themselves ineluctably drawn into the conflict, their representatives must weigh the risks that forceful intervention and purposeful disengagement carry. Take part in this discussion on the catastrophe of ISIS.

Unforeseen cultural diﬀerences often lead to misunderstandings between globally engaged individuals and businesses. Cultural predispositions, which inform our sense of nationality, have especially far-reaching implications for organizations working across the globe. Predicting how diﬀering cultures will allow (or hinder) communication is a source of great advantage. Richard Lewis and Michael Gates share with us the advances brought to bridging cultural impasses through the internationally respected Lewis Model.

MLF: MIDDLE EAST Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 non-members, MEMBERS FREE, students free (with valid ID) Program Organizer: Celia Menczel

Cédric Villani, Mathematician; Author, Birth of a Theorem In conversation with David Eisenbud, Director, Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI)

In 2010, French mathematician Cédric Villani received the Fields Medal, the most coveted prize in mathematics, in recognition of a proof that he devised with his close collaborator to explain one of the most surprising theories in classical physics. In mathematics, as in any creative work, it is the thinker’s whole life that propels discovery. Villani welcomes you into his.

www.commonwealthclub.org/events

MLF: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 non-members, MEMBERS FREE, $7 students (with valid ID) Program Organizers: L. Calhoun/ C.. Martin

Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 6 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program, 7:30 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 non-mem., MEMBERS FREE, $7 stu. Notes: Photo credit Pierre Maraval. In association with MSRI.

TUE 21 | San Francisco

T U E 2 1 | S i l i co n Va l l e y

WED 22 | San Francisco

Grover Norquist: End the IRS

From Hotshots to Moon Shots: The World of Silicon Valley Innovation

Big Weed: Adventures in the Legal Marijuana Business

Steve Jurvetson, Partner, Draper Fisher Jurvetson Alison van Diggelen, Host, “Fresh Dialogues”; Contributor, BBC – Moderator

Christian Hageseth, Founder, Green Man Cannabis

President, Americans for Tax Reform; Author, End the IRS Before It Ends Us

Arianna Huﬃngton calls Grover Norquist “the dark wizard of the Right’s anti-tax cult.” Newt Gingrich says Mr. Norquist is “the most innovative, courageous leader of conservative grassroots activism in America.” Norquist contends that the IRS has abused and bullied the American people and proposes to replace all federal taxes with a single retail sales tax. Bring your questions for this controversial figure, who will present an alternative future where the IRS is radically curtailed. Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program, 7:30 p.m. book signing Cost: $25 non-members, $15 members, $7 students (with valid ID); Premium: $55 nonmembers, $45 members

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

Steve Jurvetson believes in moon shots and puts his money where his mouth is. As managing director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, he has invested in SpaceX and Planet Labs, and proved to have an uncanny knack for backing successful startups, including Tesla Motors. He will share his perspective on disruptive innovation as well as his unique insights on the future of artificial intelligence, biotech and Silicon Valley. Location: Schultz Cultural Hall, Oshman Family JCC, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto Time: 6:30 p.m. check-in, 7 p.m. program Cost: $20 non-members, $12 members, $8 stu.

A P R IL/MAY 2015

San Francisco

Hageseth – an entrepreneur and father who worked in the white-collar world for 20 years before opening his first dispensary – is the face of the legal marijuana revolution. As founder and chairman of Green Man Cannabis, the fastest-growing marijuana company in the country, he guides us through a wild frontier where police hardly know what laws to enforce and parents don’t know what to tell their kids. MLF: BUSINESS & LDRSHP./HEALTH & MED. Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program,1 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 non-members, $8 members, $7 stu. Program Organizers: K. O’Malley/B. Grant

East Bay/North Bay

Silicon Valley

WED 22 | San Francisco

FRI 24 | San Francisco

Let’s Talk about Death: How Boomers Are Transforming the Last Taboo

Coal Wars

Arabian Shakespeare

Richard Martin, Author, Coal Wars: The Future of Energy and the Fate of the Planet Additional Panelists TBA

William Brown III, Director, Arabian Shake. Festival Asma Dhaif, Masters Student in Instructional Technologies, SFSU Philippa Kelly, PhD; Educator; Shakespeare Expert – Moderator

Suzette Sherman, CEO, Founder & Blogger, SevenPonds Peter Stathis, Member, Board of Directors, SevenPonds

Nobody likes to talk about death, yet a cultural shift is taking place where the macabre reaper of the past is being replaced with a progressive attitude toward the end of life. As Boomers face their own mortality, they’ve begun to transform the last taboo: death. Sherman and Stathis will immerse the audience in a surprising spectrum of end-of-life choices. MLF: GROWNUPS Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 4:45 p.m. reception, 5:15 p.m. program Cost: $20 non-members, $8 members, $7 stu. Program Organizer: John Milford

Coal is taking a beating in the United States, but it is gaining market share in Asia. Coal-fired electricity is lifting people out of poverty. It is also “frying the sky.” Join us for a journey from the mines of Wyoming to China’s coal region. Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 6 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program, 7:30 p.m. networking reception Cost: $20 non-members, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID)

In 2010 the Arabian Shakespeare Festival was born following the enthusiastic response of UAE theater students to a Shakespeare workshop led by three Bay Area actors. The company uses the Bard’s universal themes to build bridges between the U.S. and the Middle East. Join us to explore Shakespeare’s global reach and tackle the ongoing enigma of his true identity. MLF: MIDDLE EAST Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program Cost: $20 non-members, MEMBERS FREE, students free (with valid ID) Program Organizer: Celia Menczel

MON 27 | San Francisco

T U E 2 8 | S i l i co n Va l l e y

Middle East Discussion Group

Week to Week

David Brooks

Make your voice heard in an enriching, provocative and fun discussion with Club members as you weigh in on events shaping the face of the Middle East, North Africa and Afghanistan. Each month, the Middle East Member-Led Forum hosts an informal roundtable discussion on a topic frequently suggested by recent headlines. After a brief introduction, the floor will be open for discussion. All interested members are encouraged to attend. There will also be a brief planning session.

Panelists TBA

Op-Ed Columnist, The New York Times; Author, The Road to Character Judge LaDoris H. Cordell (ret), Independent Police Auditor, San Jose – Moderator

MLF: MIDDLE EAST Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 5:30 p.m. program Cost: FREE Program Organizer: Celia Menczel

San Francisco

East Bay/North Bay

Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 5:30 p.m. wine-and-snacks social, 6:30 p.m. program Cost: $15 non-members, $5 members, students free (with valid ID)

Silicon Valley

How is character developed? In a society that emphasizes success and achievement, Brooks illustrates what humility, inner worth and moral depth really mean. Brooks is a popular political commentator, and his New York Times column reaches over 800,000 readers around the world. Location: Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1 p.m. book signing Cost: $35 non-mem., $25 members (includes book) $8 stu.; Premium $50 non-mem., $40 members (priority seating and book) Notes: Part of the American Value Series underwritten by The Koret Foundation

A PR I L/MAY 2015

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

www.commonwealthclub.org/events

MON 27 | San Francisco

April 22 – 28

WED 22 | San Francisco

LARRY BAER

SAL KHAN

Join the Leadership Circle and As a Leadership Circle Member you’ll get the white-glove treatment and the backstage pass. Join today and tomorrow you’ll start receiving these exclusive benefits:

www.commonwealthclub.org/events

• Meet high-profile speakers at private receptions and events • Free admission to events for you and a guest (some exclusions apply) • The feeling of doing something good for an organization you admire!

TIMOTHY GEITHNER

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

A P R IL/MAY 2015

JANET NAPOLITANO

San Francisco

East Bay/North Bay

Silicon Valley

LEON PANETTA

JASON COLLINS

get ready to rub some elbows! Join or upgrade your membership to $1,000 by June 30th and receive a commemorative Commonwealth Club travel mug. Don’t miss your chance to meet upcoming speakers like: • Former Congressman Barney Frank

www.commonwealthclub.org/events

• Project Runway’s Tim Gunn • New York Times Columnist David Brooks • Author Judy Bloom • And more! For more information: Call Kimberly Maas, Senior Philanthropy Oﬃcer, Individual & Major Gifts 415-597-6726 • kmaas@commonwealthclub.org

BRUCE BOCHY

San Francisco

East Bay/North Bay

SENATOR BARBARA BOXER

Silicon Valley

A PR I L/MAY 2015

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

April 28 – 30

TUE 28 | San Francisco

The Gene Therapy Plan: Taking Control of Your Genetic Destiny

Reimagining America’s Infrastructure

Hank Paulson: Dealing with China

See website for panelists

Hank Paulson, Former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury; Author, Dealing with China

Mitchell Gaynor, M.D., Founder and President, Gaynor Wellness

Once a point of national pride, America’s infrastructure is showing its age. Over the past two years, journalists at Orion, an influential environmentalist magazine, have documented how communities are responding to new challenges, from protecting cities against hurricanes to renovating antiquated transportation systems. Listen as our panelists discuss how regions like the Bay Area can advance innovative, creative infrastructure solutions with a global reach.

With the 21st century barely underway, the field of epigenetics has become the century’s first evolutionary leap into health optimization. Gaynor demonstrates how carefully analyzed practices target major diseases like cancer, heart disease and diabetes, and he shows how certain epigenetic considerations – food, nutrients, meditation, exercise – can optimize health and minimize damage to the body. MLF: HEALTH & MEDICINE Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 non-members, $8 members, $7 stu. Program Organizers: Adrea Brier/Bill Grant

MLF: ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURC ES/BUSINESS & LEADERSHIP Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 5:30 p.m. reception, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 non-members, $8 members, $7 stu. Program Organizer: Ann Clark

For decades Hank Paulson has enjoyed rare access to the highest levels of China’s ruling elite. As head of Goldman Sachs, Paulson was pivotal in opening China up to private enterprise. As Treasury Secretary, he encouraged trade with the newly emerging economic powerhouse and safeguarded the teetering U.S. financial system. He also is co-chair of Risky Business. Join us for a conversation with one of America’s top dealmakers about dealing with an economic superpower. Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 non-members, $12 members, $7 stu.

www.commonwealthclub.org/events

WED 29 | San Francisco

W E D 2 9 | S i l i co n Va l l e y

THU 30 | San Francisco

What’s the Value of a College Education?

Joseph Stiglitz

Waterfront Walk

Professor, Columbia U.; Author, The Great Divide Michael Moritz, Managing Member, Sequoia Capital – Moderator

Join Rick Evans for his new walking tour exploring the historic sites of the waterfront neighborhood that surrounds the location of the future Commonwealth Club headquarters. Hear the dynamic stories of the entrepreneurs, controversial artists and labor organizers who shaped this recently revitalized neighborhood. This two-hour tour will give you a lively overview of the historic significance of this neighborhood and a close look at its ongoing development.

See website for panelists

For the United States to remain competitive in the global economy, our citizens need to be innovative, versatile and well educated. To provide for these qualifications, does our model of higher education need a wholesale renovation? Join this distinguished panel of public and private college educators to tackle the diﬃcult challenges ahead: What is the value of a liberal arts college education versus a vocational skill-building model? How can we take the financial burden off of students?

Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 5:45 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program Cost: $20 non-members, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID) Notes: Program sponsored by Charles Schwab. Photo credit saadandalib.

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

We are living in an era defined by economic uncertainty and bitter politics: The gap between the rich and the poor continues to grow, Wall Street has shrugged oﬀ regulation, and important political policies have become the playthings of financial interests. Still Stiglitz believes that a healthy economy and a fair democracy are within our grasp and that we can once again create the opportunities that have for so long defined America and get the country back on track. Location: Schultz Cultural Hall, Oshman Family JCC, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto Time: 6:30 p.m. check-in, 7 p.m. program, 8 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 non-members, $12 members, $8 stu.; Premium (includes priority seating and copy of book): $50 non-members, $40 members

A P R IL/MAY 2015

San Francisco

Location: Meet in front of Boulevard Restaurant, 1 Mission (corner of Mission at Steuart Street) Time: 1:45 p.m. check-in, 2–4:30 p.m. tour Cost: $45 non-members, $35 members Notes: Limited to 20. Must pre-register. Tour operates rain or shine.

East Bay/North Bay

Silicon Valley

MON 04 | San Francisco

Out of Sight: LA Art in the ‘60s

Book Discussion: The Last of the Wine, by Mary Renault

Capturing Grace: Documentary Screening and Q&A with Filmmaker Dave Iverson

William Hackman, Journalist; Former Managing Editor, J. Paul Getty Trust; Author In conversation with Patricia Albers, Journalist; Author

Art, perhaps more than any other medium, has a way of serving as a road map for a society’s political and social shifts. In the 1950s and ’60s, it was the LA art scene that revealed the sort of country America was rapidly becoming. Hackman, a longtime arts journalist, reveals how artists’ works interact with the city’s geography, presenting a vivid picture of mid-century LA.

In The Last of the Wine, the long Peloponnesian War against Sparta underpins a story centering on the life of Athens and the circle of young men around Socrates. The novel’s chief concern is the sort of Greek love that inspired Plato’s great dialogues, Symposium and Phaedrus. The Last of the Wine captures the private lives of Athenian citizens, especially the intersection of the individual with the public life of the city that defined the Athenian soul. This clearly ranks among the three best novels Renault wrote, and an argument can be made for it as the best novel ever written about the ancient Greeks.

Capturing Grace is an award-winning documentary that tells the unlikely story of what happens when New York’s legendary Mark Morris Dance Group joins forces with people with Parkinson’s disease to stage a unique performance. It’s a story about the power of art and the enduring strength of the human spirit. Dave Iverson was the writer, correspondent and co-producer/director of the 2009 PBS “Frontline” documentary, “My Father, My Brother and Me,” which explored his family’s battle with Parkinson’s.

MLF: THE ARTS Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 non-members, MEMBERS FREE, $7 students (with valid ID) Program Organizer: Anne W. Smith

MLF: SAN FRANCISCO BOOK DISCUSSION Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 5:30 p.m. program Cost: $5 non-members, MEMBERS FREE Program Organizer: Barbara Massey

TUE 05 | San Francisco

WED 06 | San Francisco

Psychological Pseudoscience

Humanities West Book Discussion: All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque

Lights, Camera, Take Action; Storytelling for Change: The San Francisco Green Film Festival

Join us to discuss the classic novel about World War I, All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque. The discussion will be led by Lynn Harris.

See website for panelists

As medical doctors battle anti-vaccine myths, anthropologists counter creationist claims, many a skeptic is oddly silent on dubious claims from fringe psychology. Helms will discuss unsupported and sometimes dangerously pseudo-scientific claims from the field of psychology, giving a brief history and explanation of each practice or theory, and demonstrating how a simple application of the scientific method reveals its flaws.

MLF: HUMANITIES Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 5:30 p.m. program Cost: $5 non-members, MEMBERS FREE, students free (with valid ID) Program Organizer: George Hammond Notes: In association with Humanities West

MLF: PSYCHOLOGY Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 4:45 p.m. reception, 5:15 p.m. program Cost: $20 non-members, $8 members, $7 stu. Program Organizer: Patrick O’Reilly

San Francisco

East Bay/North Bay

Silicon Valley

Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 6 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. - 8 p.m. program Cost: $20 non-members, MEMBERS FREE, $7 students (with valid ID)

Environmental action stories struggle for coverage on major networks. Documentary films, conversely, are a powerful way to build momentum on environmental causes. Hear and watch clips from award-winning activist filmmakers who are using this impactful medium to tell stories that advance sustainable progress. MLFS: ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURC ES, BUSINESS & LEADERSHIP Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 5:30 p.m. reception, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 non-members, $8 members, $7 stu. Program Organizer: Ann Clark Notes: In assoc. with the SF Green Film Festival

A PR I L/MAY 2015

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

www.commonwealthclub.org/events

Sheldon W. Helms, Assoc. Prof. of Psychology, Ohlone Col.; Board of Dir. Mbr, Bay Area Skeptics

May 1 – 6

FRI 01 | San Francisco

May 6 – 8

WED 06 | San Francisco

WED 06 | North Bay

THU 07 | San Francisco

Willie Brown: Annual Commonwealth Club Lecture

Is the Sky Falling? Asteroids and the Earth

Former Mayor, San Francisco; Former Speaker, California State Assembly

Ed Lu, Astronaut; Chairman, B612 Foundation Brian Hackney, Meteorologist and Reporter, KPIX Television, SF– Moderator

Unretirement: Changing the Way We Think About Work, Community and the Good Life Chris Farrell, Author; Senior Economics Contributor, “Marketplace”; Economics Commentator

www.commonwealthclub.org/events

Former San Francisco Mayor Brown will give his annual lecture on national and regional political trends. A twoterm mayor of San Francisco, legendary speaker of the California State Assembly and widely regarded as one of the most influential African-American politicians of the late 20th century, Brown has been at the center of California’s politics, government and civic life for an astonishing four decades.

Dangerous collisions between asteroids and our planet are the only natural disasters that we have means of stopping. Astronaut Lu and the B612 Foundation’s Sentinel Mission will map and catalogue near-Earth asteroids, helping to ensure that we are aware of potential asteroid strikes. Join Lu to hear more about why the mission matters and what technological innovations will make it possible.

MEMBERS-ONLY +1 paying guest Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 5:15 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program Cost: $25 non-members, $15 members, $10 students; Premium: $45 non-members, $30 members

Location: Outdoor Art Club, 1 West Blithedale Ave., Mill Valley Time: 7 p.m. check-in, 7:45 p.m. program Cost: $45 non-members, $35 members Notes: Hors d’oeuvres and cash bar. Sponsored by Relevant Wealth Advisors.

MLF: GROWNUPS Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 4:45 p.m. reception, 5:15 p.m. program Cost: $20 non-members, $8 members, $7 stu. Program Organizer: John Milford

LANGUAGE GROUPS

THU 07 | San Francisco

FRI 08 | San Francisco

Jane Smiley

Hacking the Climate

Novelist; Author, Early Warning

Ken Caldeira, Atmospheric Scientist, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford University Additional Panelists TBA

Join The Club Membership is open to all. Support for The Club’s work is derived principally from membership dues. For more information, visit commonwealthclub.org/join

Pulitzer Prize-winner Smiley has written about a journey through mid-century America, as lived by the extraordinary Langdon family. Capturing an indelible period in America through the lens of richly drawn characters, Early Warning is an engrossing story of the challenges – and rich rewards – of family and home, even in the most turbulent of times. Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 5:30 p.m. check in, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 non-members, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID) Notes: Good Lit event, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

A P R IL/MAY 2015

San Francisco

The U.S. is on the verge of a broad transformation of its economy and society. The old idea of “retirement” is going away as the boomer generation is increasingly embracing “unretirement,” continuing to do some kind of work during the retirement years. Farrell will oﬀer key insights into the forces behind the unretirement trend, and oﬀer practical advice for navigating this exciting, but unsettled, frontier.

Could the world get so hot that humanity is tempted to break the glass and spray heat-deflecting gases into the sky? The National Academy of Sciences recently issued a report cautiously endorsing research into such techniques known as geo-engineering. Join us for a discussion of hacking the climate to cool the Earth. Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 11:15 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1 p.m. networking reception Cost: $20 non-members, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID)

East Bay/North Bay

Silicon Valley

MON 11 | San Francisco

TUE 12 | San Francisco

The Power of Ideals: The Real Story of Moral Choice

Week to Week

Nob Hill Walking Tour

William Damon, Professor, Stanford Graduate School of Education; Co-author, The Power of Ideals: The Real Story of Moral Choice

The Power of Ideals thoroughly examines the full range of available research on moral choice and presents a compelling new theory. It takes into account current scientific claims and explores our undeniable capacity to act on noble ideals, to make principled moral choices, and to live lives of generosity, integrity and genuine human connection.

Panelists TBA

Explore one of San Francisco’s 44 hills, and one of its original “Seven Hills.” Because of its great views and central location, Nob Hill became an exclusive enclave of the rich and famous on the West Coast, who built large mansions in the neighborhood. Visit the city’s largest house of worship, Grace Cathedral, and discover architectural tidbits and anecdotes about the railroad barons and silver kings. A true San Francisco experience of elegance, urbanity, scandals and fabulous views. Location: Meet in front of the Fairmont Hotel’s Caﬀe Centro, 801 Powell St. (at California) Time: 1:45 p.m. check-in, 2–4:30 p.m. tour Cost: $45 non-members, $35 members Note: Limited to 20. Must pre-register. Tour operates rain or shine.

Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 5:30 p.m. wine-and-snacks social, 6:30 p.m. program Cost: $15 non-members, $5 members, students free (with valid ID)

TUE 12 | San Francisco

TUE 12 | East Bay

WED 13 | San Francisco

Cognitive Climate

An Evening of Culinary Delight with Rebecca Katz & Mollie Katzen

The State of California’s Water: Now and in the Future

Additional Speakers TBA

Signs of dangerous climate disruption are everywhere, and yet many people are going about business as usual. What’s up with that? Are humans wired to deal with climate reality? Building a clean economy can be a positive and empowering story. The key lies at the intersection of economics, psychology and emotional intelligence. Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 6:00 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program, 7:30 p.m. networking reception Cost:$20 non-members, $12 members, $7 stu. Notes: A Climate One program

San Francisco

East Bay/North Bay

Felicia Marcus, Chair, State Water Resources Control Board

Rebecca Katz, Chef; Educator; Author, The Healthy Mind Cookbook In conversation with Mollie Katzen, Author, The Moosewood Cookbook

Healthy eating tends to focus on keeping our bodies physically fit, but what about improving the health of our minds? In The Healthy Mind Cookbook, Rebecca Katz takes cutting-edge brain research on improving cognition, memory and mood and applies it directly to the plate. Join Katz and Katzen for a conversation on science-based culinary delight and promoting healthier minds through food. Location: Lafayette Library, 3491 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Lafayette Time: 6:30 p.m. program Cost: $25 non-members, $15 members, $10 students (with valid ID)

Silicon Valley

California is in the midst of a historic drought, with agriculture, communities, and fish and wildlife, struggling with water shortages. At the same time, the state is looking at a future where these conflicts will be exacerbated by climate change, increased population and other factors. Learn what California is doing at this point in the drought and what plans it has to prepare for an even more challenging future. MLF: ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURC ES/BUSINESS AND LEADERSHIP Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 5:30 p.m. reception, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 non-members, $8 members, $7 stu. Program Organizer: Ann Clark

A PR I L/MAY 2015

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

www.commonwealthclub.org/events

MLF: HUMANITIES Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 non-mem., MEMBERS FREE, $7 stu. Program Organizer: George Hammond

Per Espen Stoknes, Economist; Psychologist; Author, What We Think About When We Try not to Think About Global Warming

May 11 – 13

MON 11 | San Francisco

May 13 – 20

W E D 1 3 | S i l i co n Va l l e y

Thu 14 | San Francisco

FRI 15 | San Francisco

Leonard Mlodinow: The Evolution of Science

Jack Welch

The Rise of Islamic Radicalism: A Panel of Consuls General

Former Chairman and CEO, General Electric; Co-author, The Real-Life MBA

Theoretical Physicist; Author, The Upright Thinkers

See website for panelists

The rise of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq has served to extend a dark shadow across the rest of the world. Reactions to the terror militia’s advances have taken many forms, from a surge in brutal attacks on Jews and Jewish sites, to a vicious countermovement of Islamophobic violence and rhetoric. Is there any way to reconcile deep-rooted religious, societal and political diﬀerences to stop the cycle of violence from spinning further out of control? A distinguished panel of consuls general will confront the issues.

www.commonwealthclub.org/events

Humans are naturally inclined to question how the world around us works. This thirst for understanding has been the driving force behind scientific breakthroughs from antiquity through modernity. Mlodinow, himself a groundbreaking physicist, celebrates the curious nature that forms the cornerstone of scientific inquiry and brings to us the history of science, from the birth of reasoning to the formation of the defined fields of physics, chemistry and biology.

In the decade since their blockbuster international bestseller Winning was published, Jack and Suzy Welch have dug deeper into business, traveling the world consulting for organizations and starting their own fully accredited online MBA program. Welch’s knowledge infuses The Real Life MBA with fresh, immediately applicable, sometimes even counterintuitive lessons about how to create great organizations, build high-powered teams and forge fulfilling careers in today’s new business environment.

Location: Schultz Cultural Hall, Oshman Family JCC, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto Time: 6:30 p.m. check-in, 7 p.m. program, 8 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 non-members, $12 members, $8 stu. Notes: Photo credit Heather Mlodinow

Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 non-members, $12 members, $7 students; Premium (includes priority seating): $55 non-members, $45 members

THU 17 | San Francisco

MON 18 | San Francisco

TUE 19 | San Francisco

Explore the World from The Commonwealth Club Planning Meeting

Middle East Discussion Group

Ken Walsh, U.S. News White House Correspondent: Presidents and the Cult of Celebrity

All interested Club members are welcome to attend our bimonthly, one-hour planning meetings of the International Relations Member-Led Forum. We focus on Europe, Latin America, Africa and worldwide topics. Join us to discuss current international issues and plan programs for the remainder of 2015. MLF: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 5:15 p.m. program Cost: FREE Program Organizers: Norma Walden and Linda Calhoun

MLF: MIDDLE EAST Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program Cost: $20 non-members, MEMBERS FREE, students free (with valid ID) Program Organizer: Celia Menczel

Chief White House Correspondent, U.S. News & World Report; Author, Celebrity in Chief: A History of the Presidents

Walsh joined the U.S. News & World Report in 1984 as a congressional correspondent and has covered presidential politics since 1986. Walsh says since the beginning of the republic, presidents have needed to be celebrities and build on their fame. This fame has allowed them to get things done by propelling their agendas and rallying public support for themselves as national leaders. Come hear tales about the intersection of the presidency and pop culture. Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 non-members, $12 members, $7 stu.

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

A P R IL/MAY 2015

San Francisco

East Bay/North Bay

Silicon Valley

THU 21 | San Francisco

T H U 2 1 | S i l i co n Va l l e y

Elder Financial Abuse Prevention

San Francisco Architecture Walking Tour

Kelly McGonigal: The Upside of Stress

Elizabeth Landsverk, M.D., Founder, ElderConsult George Gascón, SF District Attorney Helen Karr, Elder Abuse Specialist Moderator

May is the month to focus on the prevention of elder financial abuse. D.A. Gascón has made combating elder abuse a top priority by assigning the White Collar Economic Crimes Unit to prosecute financial crimes against seniors. Landsverk, a private practitioner, has collaborated with the D.A. to address elders’ needs, while moderator Karr has focused her entire law career on elder abuse. MLF: GROWNUPS Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 4:45 p.m. reception, 5:15 p.m. program Cost: $20 non-members, $8 members, $7 stu. Program Organizer: John Milford

Explore San Francisco’s Financial District with historian Rick Evans and learn the history and stories behind some of our city’s remarkable structures, streets and public squares. Hear about the famous architects who influenced the building of San Francisco after the 1906 Earthquake. Discover hard-to-find rooftop gardens, unique open spaces and historic landmarks. This is a tour for locals with hidden gems you can find only on foot! Location: Meet in lobby of Galleria Park Hotel, 191 Sutter St., San Francisco Time: 1:45 p.m. check-in, 2–4:30 p.m. tour Cost: $45 non-members, $35 members Notes: Tour operates rain or shine. Limited to 20 people. Participants must pre-register. The tour covers less than one mile of walking in the Financial District. This tour involves walking up and down stairs.

Health Psychologist; Lecturer, Stanford University; Author, The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good for You, and How to Get Good at It

We’ve all heard that stress can make us sick, but can it be a good thing? McGonigal debunks stress myths and shares how it can make us stronger, smarter and happier. So stop losing sleep – you don’t need to get rid of stress, she says, just learn how to embrace it. Location: Cubberley Community Theatre, 4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto Time: 6:30 p.m. check-in, 7 p.m. program, 8 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 non-members, $12 members, $8 students (with valid ID)

TUE 26 | San Francisco

WED 27 | San Francisco

Andrew Hodges: Alan Turing – The Man Who Inspired The Imitation Game

Richard Thaler and Hal Varian: Behavioral Economics

Rise of the Robots

It is only a slight exaggeration to say that the British mathematician Alan Turing saved the Allies from the Nazis, invented the computer, and anticipated gay liberation by decades – all before his suicide at age 41. Join us for insights into this remarkable man with the author of the book behind the Oscar-nominated film The Imitation Game. Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 non-members, $12 members, $7 stu. Notes: Good Lit event, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation

San Francisco

East Bay/North Bay

Martin Ford, Author; Software Developer; Computer Designer

Richard Thaler, Behavioral Science and Economics Professor, U. Chicago; Author, Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics Hal Varian, Chief Economist, Google Andrew Keen, Columnist, TechCrunch – Moderator

Whereas traditional economics assumes rational actors, everyday life tells us that people are error-prone and unpredictable. Originally dismissed by economists, the study of human miscalculations now drives expanding fields of research. Drawing on economics and psychology, Thaler and Varian oﬀer innovative strategies to approach an increasingly complex world. Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 non-members, $12 members, $7 stu.

Silicon Valley

Artificial intelligence is already well on its way to making “good jobs” obsolete: many paralegals, physicians and even computer programmers are poised to be replaced by robots. Ford, a successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur, oﬀers a vision of this new technology and a call to face its implications, made more potent by his own integral role in creating this automated future. His warning: Robots are coming, and we must decide now what course our future will take. MLF: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 non-members, $8 members, $7 stu. Program Organizer: Gerald Harris

A PR I L/MAY 2015

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

www.commonwealthclub.org/events

TUE 26 | San Francisco

Professor, Senior Research Fellow, Oxford U.; Author, Alan Turing: The Enigma

May 21 – 27

WED 20 | San Francisco

May 28 – June 8

WED 27 | San Francisco

THU 28 | San Francisco

WED 03 | San Francisco

Two Generations, One Big Ocean

Russian Hill Walking Tour

Sylvia Earle, National Geographic Explorer in Residence; Founder, Mission Blue David de Rothschild, National Geographic Explorer; Environmentalist Greg Dalton, Founder, Climate One – Moderator

Join a more active Commonwealth Club Neighborhood Adventure! Russian Hill is a magical area with secret gardens and amazing views. Join Rick Evans for a two-hour hike up hills and staircases and learn about the history of this neighborhood. See where great artists and architects lived and worked, and stroll down residential streets past some of the most historically significant houses in the Bay.

A Passion for Paris: Romanticism and Romance in the City of Light

Dr. Earle has garnered countless honors as a leading oceanic researcher capable of crossing any barrier. Likewise, de Rothschild is an activist who shines a light on global environmental issues by traveling to the earth’s ends. Witness an intergenerational conversation between two adventurers devoted to the sea. Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 6 p.m. networking rec., 6:30 p.m. prog. Cost: $20 non-members, $12 members; Premium: $65 non-members, $45 members Notes: Co-organized by Climate One

Location: Meet in front of Swensen’s Ice Cream Store located at 1999 Hyde St. at Union. Tour ends at the corner of Vallejo and Jones. Time: 1:45 p.m. check-in, 2–4 p.m. tour Cost: $45 non-members, $35 members Notes: Steep hills and staircases, recommended for good walkers. Parking diﬃcult. Limited to 20. Must pre-register. Tour operates rain or shine.

David Downie, Author, A Passion for Paris

Downie seeks to uncover why Paris has reigned as the world’s most romantic city for over 150 years. While walking hand-in-hand with Victor Hugo, Flaubert, Georges Sand, Baudelaire, Balzac and many others, Downie finds hidden sources of Paris’ chic, glamorous allure in its bizarre culture of heroic negativity, and in the carefree atmosphere created by its subversive literature extolling rebellion, mayhem and melancholy. MLF: HUMANITIES Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1 p.m. book signing Cost:$20 non-members $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID) Program Organizer: George Hammond

www.commonwealthclub.org/events

SUN 07 | San Francisco

MON 08 | San Francisco

Late Breaking

A Sunday with Judy Blume

A God that Could Be Real

MON March 30

Judy Blume, Author Molly Ringwald, Actress, – Moderator

Nancy Ellen Abrams, Author

Judy Blume, called “the Queen of YA” by The Washington Post, releases her first book in 15 years, In the Unlikely Event, this June. Blume – prolific, controversial, beloved – is a literary iconoclast whose novels have been among the first to discuss teen sex, masturbation, menstruation and divorce. Blume will discuss her latest book, her career spanning eight decades of writing, children empowerment and her favorite stories about the young and young at heart. Location: The Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St., SF Time: 5:45 p.m. check-in and premium reception, 6:30 p.m. program Cost: See website

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

Cannabis Healing Our Kids: A New Paradigm for Recovery See website for panelists

Many people find it hard to put their faith in a god that is based upon their own beliefs, without any external evidence. As a philosopher of science, lawyer, atheist, environmental activist Nancy Ellen Abrams was one of them – until she surprised herself by asking the question: “Could anything actually exist in our strange and counterintuitive universe that is worthy of the name God?” Come experience a fresh approach to an ancient topic that has intrigued scientists and theologians. MLF: HUMANITIES Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 non-mem., MEMBERS FREE, $7 stu. Program Organizer: George Hammond

A P R IL/MAY 2015

San Francisco

There’s a whole new movement emerging around the medical uses of cannabis for children. Amazing success stories have created a new wave of advocates for this radical new approach. Yet, despite the health solutions that cannabis treatments oﬀer, will they ever become part of the medical mainstream? Join us for a discussion with experts and advocates on the challenges facing the movement and the unfolding opportunities for a collaborative system to better heal our kids. MLF: BUSINESS & LEADERSHIP Location: 555 Post St., San Francisco Time: 5:30 p.m. reception, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 non-mem., MEMBERS FREE, stu. free Program Organizer: Kevin O’Malley

East Bay/North Bay

Silicon Valley

Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow. Over the decades, the Club has hosted speakers for such programs as: 1936: “Our State’s Finances,” with Arlin E. Stockburger 1958: “The Role of Women in the Armed Forces,” with Mary Louise Milligan 1961: “Federal Aid to Education,” with Abraham Ribicoff 1977: “What China Policy?” with Shirley Temple Black 1984: “Venture Capital,” with William R. Hambrecht 1993: “Labor Unions at a Crossroads,” with Owen Bieber 2010: “The Ethical Imperative of America’s Involvement on the World Stage,” with James A. Baker III

All of these topics are still being discussed today around the world. Can you think of another organization that has been addressing these important topics for more than all of those years?

www.commonwealthclub.org/events

The Club continues to have hundreds of programs and speakers each year exploring differing philosophies of government and life, and differing solutions offered by experts. We can do that because of the commitment of our members.

You may know that membership dues and event program fees only cover about 45 percent of the expenses of the Club. In this time of rapid change, your support is more important than ever – your gift will help us to continue to host timely, provocative debates from a variety of viewpoints here in Northern California heard around the world.

To make a contribution, go online to support.commonwealthclub.org/donate. or call 415-597-6714. Every gift, no matter what amount, helps the Club to shine the light on the truth. Thank you for your continuing generosity. We can’t continue without you.

The Commonwealth Club

putting you face-to-face with today’s thought leaders San Francisco

East Bay/North Bay

Silicon Valley

A PR I L/MAY 2015

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

UNIVERSITY continued from page 9 depending on what the state appropriation level is, but the notion that we can continue ad infinitum with no tuition and no fee increases has real impacts. This is the best public research university in the world. You don’t want to start seeing tremendous diminishment in quality. This big jigsaw puzzle has to come together, and after three years of tuition and fee freezes, it was time to relook at that situation. YUDOF: [University of California] tuition is not particularly expensive compared to most other good public universities around the country. [The reason tuition has increased] is not because the cost of education is going up; the cost per credit hour is actually going down. How could that be? Because class size is larger, primarily. It’s not that I’m proud of that, but it’s true. And why is it going up? Well, it’s like your health insurance. You go to the drug store one day, you pay $10 on the co-pay, you go back the next week, they charge you $20. Is the price of the drug double? No, but the insurance company doesn’t want to pay. Your price is doubled on the co-pay, and our co-payer, the state of California, had a billion dollar cut – Janet has all those numbers – and that is a major problem. It’s a particularly diﬃcult cost problem, because increases in cost are not necessarily correlated with increases in output or eﬃciency. Think of a symphony orchestra: You give the violinist a raise, it doesn’t mean you get a better Mozart; it doesn’t mean that people will want to pay the ticket prices. EPSTEIN: If the federal government were to at some point remove educational funding from its budget, what would happen to Pell Grants? YUDOF: It’s sort of hard to speculate, but the Pell Grants are a fundamental building block for allowing low-income students to attend universities and community colleges and so forth all across the country. Now the problem is the costs have really gone up. I believe the Pell Grants are over $30 billion, so it would be a problem. The tax deductions and tax credits are larger than the total magnitude of the Pell Grants, and they’re primarily middle class. They go up to $180,000 a year, we’re not

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

talking $40,000 or $45,000 or $50,000. So if that were to change, I think it would devastate the middle class and cause them real problems. EPSTEIN: In the State of the Union speech, President Obama asked Congress to approve funding so that student enrollment at a community college would be free and without tuition. In addition, experiments are in place to increase the number of community colleges that would oﬀer a four-year bachelor’s degree. Do you think free tuition and four-year degrees at the community college level is in

“Y ou want a mechanic that can think, a banker who can think, a physician or a nurse that can think. Thinking is something we ought to be teaching these students. ” –Mark Yudof keeping with the spirit of the master plan? NAPOLITANO: I was delighted that the president put higher education at the community college level in the State of the Union, recognizing that we need to be lifting expectations beyond high school. Community colleges exist for a whole host of reasons. Not every community college student is there to get ready to go to a four-year college. They do a lot of training programs, tech-ed [and] other things that don’t necessarily require a four-year degree. If there’s a change that can happen that would make it better, then we should consider it. If we’re simply looking for a way not to pay for higher education that’s of a quality level that will sustain these young people, not just into their first job, but [through] their jobs after those first jobs, then I think we’re fooling ourselves. YUDOF: I have some questions about the president’s proposal. In principal, I think it’s fine, but community college tuition across this country is already very low. I am not sure it is the major impediment. There are a lot of impediments. There’s a lot of

A P R IL/MAY 2015

remedial education that goes on [and] a lot of kids that don’t want to go. The two-year graduation rate in this country is abominable. It’s frequently in the 10 to 15 percent range. So, before we invest a lot of money, I’d really like to see more accountability in that system, and maybe a careful parsing out of the diﬀerent types of students. I want to make sure that it hits the central problem. I think the sentiment is right, but it’s a complicated set of questions. When it works well, you can get dynamite students who messed up in high school, go to community college, get [their associate degrees], get admitted to a four-year institution and do well. I mean, that’s the optimum, but there aren’t nearly enough of those kids. EPSTEIN: What in your view should be the primary job of a major university like the University of California? YUDOF: Your first obligation before you get to anything else is to do right by the students. I don’t like a mechanical approach to education. What I worry about is that it is not a commodity. Yes, you need to know something. I’d prefer that my surgeon be both analytically smart and have taken anatomy. I don’t want one or the other. But having said that, you want an automobile mechanic that can think; you want a banker who can think; you want a physician or a nurse that can think. Thinking is something we ought to be teaching these students. NAPOLITANO: Higher education in the United States today has a paradigm: You go to high school, and then you go to a four-year college and you get your bachelor’s degree, and then maybe you go on to get your medical degree, or law degree, or Ph.D., whatever. In point of fact, there are a lot of diﬀerent models for higher ed in the United States today, so students have a lot of choice. Some of those choices are very good. I think some of the choices, quite frankly, take a lot of money from the students and don’t give them much by way of a degree or an outcome that they can use. The University of California is a particular model: It’s public; it’s accessible; 42 percent of our students are first generation students; [another] 42 percent are from families that come from less than $80,000-a-year income thresholds. It’s a

Photo by Rikki Ward

research university. What does that mean? It means you can take a class with a Nobel laureate, you will undoubtedly have some lab experience, work in teams, be challenged to think critically and to have analytical skills. And the notion is that you will have some things that will go into a job, but it is for beyond just your first job. It is actually for what will happen thereafter and all the different types of things young people will do over the course of their lifetimes. Those were types of cognitive skills you were just talking about. So the public research university has both the accessibility and affordability aspect to it, but also this particular aspect of the research. EPSTEIN: President Obama has asked for a universal rating system for colleges and universities. Comment on that please. NAPOLITANO: I’m rather skeptical. If the idea is to put some basic information out there so that students and their families can look at, for example, loan default rates of particular schools – which is one way of seeing whether if you take out a loan to go to this school you will be able to pay it back – that can make a lot of sense. But I think that, as we discussed this evening, the realm of higher education in the United States has lots of different ways to do it and lots of different players, and so [it’s] very difficult to design a cookie-cutter system that really does what it’s intended to do.

The Education Budget and Sacramento Is Napolitano headed for a face-oﬀ with Gov. Brown?

Pundits discussed Governor Brown’s vision for California, including UC’s place in it, during a January 1, 2015, special edition of the “Week to Week Political Roundtable.” BILL WHALEN, research fellow at the Hoover Institution: In his [State of the State] Speech, [Governor Jerry Brown] also dangled a lot of very big, large futuristic ideas, I suspect for this reason: So much of what happens in Sacramento is going to happen behind the scenes in the next few months. And it’s going to be Jerry Brown sitting down with Janet Napolitano and coming to some deal, some agreement, some common ground on what to do with the University of California’s financing system. JOHN ZIPPERER, Week to Week host: Who do you think will win? WHALEN: I think they will both declare victory and retreat in this regard [laughter]. The governor will hold his ground; there will not be tuition increases; more money will go to UC. I suspect [Napolitano] will respond in kind by oﬀering some sort of reforms to how UC operates and they both will, again, declare victory and step out of it. So that’s one behind-the-scenes negotiation. Jerry Brown is the son of Pat Brown, Edmund G. Brown Senior, the great builder – universities, water projects, highways [and] freeways. Jerry Brown has that DNA in his blood. He wants to do some big splashy things. He’s been constricted his first four years with state finances, and the fact that he ran in 2010 as really a kind of a technocrat, a guy who’s going to go in and fix the budget and the process to get the finances back in order. CARSON BRUNO, research fellow at the Hoover Institution: One thing that was completely absent from the State of the State address was reforming the tax code, which everyone thinks is bad in California. It’s very volatile, very problematic for budgeting purposes; it creates lots of problems in economic downturns that then usually [aﬀect] education and other social services, all the things on the chopping block. WHALEN: One thing you would look at is [that] the state of California has become incredibly reliant upon personal income tax. You can’t rely on being 60 to 80 percent dependent on income tax for revenue, so tax reform has to be a discussion about how to broaden and deepen the revenue stream without just being reliant upon people hitting it big in the stock market each year.

A PR I L/MAY 2015

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

FORECAST continued from page 13 oil is used, where people drive cars, which is pretty much everywhere. It’s going to hurt places like Texas and North Dakota, and so there are going to be winners and losers in the U.S., but the U.S. as a whole will win as a result of lower oil prices. Now you might say there is a dark cloud enveloping this silver lining, which is that to the extent that we worry about global warming, pollution, and other things associated with fossil fuel consumption, the lower price of fossil fuels will slow down any progress we’re making in those areas. Of course, there’s a way we can deal with that, such as by raising the gasoline tax, having a carbon tax or doing something like that – along with all the other things that aren’t going to happen in Washington, that may not happen either. In terms of international developments, one of the things that we’ve often complained about over the years when importing oil is that a lot of the places we import oil from aren’t very nice, and we certainly regret sending so much money their way. The good news is we’re going to be sending less money their way. The bad news is, this will probably destabilize many of these areas. [I’m] thinking of the Middle East, Iran, Venezuela, Russia – these are all places we weren’t particularly happy sending our dollars to, but they need those dollars, and they’re going to be getting fewer of them. This could have destabilizing eﬀects in parts of the world that need all the help they can get in remaining stable. FORBES: We’ve been through oil collapses before. None of you are old enough to remember the 1970s – that’s called pandering [laughter] – but in the 1970s, because of the collapse of the dollar and other things, oil went from $3 to almost $40 a barrel, [and there was] a huge amount of money invested in energy. Then when the terrible inflation of the ’70s was killed in the early ’80s, when Reagan took over and Paul Volcker applied harsh brakes at the Federal Reserve, oil collapsed down to almost $10 a barrel by the mid-’80s, then stabilized to $20 to $25 a barrel, and stayed there until the early part of the last decade, when we started to cheapen the dollar again. But in the ’80s, the U.S. economy boomed. So you can do both at the same time: You can have an energy industry going through a tough time and still have a vibrant economy. But today, we have not made the

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

structural changes that made possible the boom in the ’80s and ’90s. So we may get the downside of energy but not as much of the upside. In terms of energy, I think we just realized we’re part of a global market in oil. We’re moving the barriers to exporting oil, which has been a great boon – we’re a continental nation, so it makes sense in some parts of the country to export oil, while we import it in other parts. But in terms of what’s happening now, crude producers love the ban on the export of oil, because it gives them a cheaper price, and they don’t pass it on to us in terms of processing that crude, where if you have a global market, we would benefit even more. So the volatility in the oil market has been made worse by bad monetary policy going

“The California government is coming to rely more and more on Silicon Valley to fund itself.” – Alan Auerbach back to the early part of the last decade. FARMER: The Bay Area obviously benefits immensely from the growth of the technology business, but can high-tech innovation continue to drive job growth in this area, and what is the impact on the rest of the nation? AUERBACH: I think this area is blessed to have all the innovation that happens in the Valley. It is the thing that has made the San Francisco Bay Area the strongest part of the U.S. economy over the last few years. Whether that growth rate continues is certainly questionable, and as happened 15 years ago, there are going to be recessions, there are going to be slowdowns, there will be sectoral reallocations as people discover that certain things aren’t working, but certainly the trend is very positive. It’s making over the Bay Area: It’s becoming a wealthier, more educated population over time, and there’s very little reason to think that’s going to change. It’s going to be good for California; it’s going to be good for the rest of the economy. There are problems associated with it. One is that the California government is coming to rely more and more exclusively on Silicon Valley to fund itself, and that’s

A P R IL/MAY 2015

good when times are good, and not so good when times aren’t good. We haven’t figured it out, or at least not had the political will to do anything about that in California. So we’ll probably have another painful period when the next recession hits Silicon Valley, the way we did the last time the dot-com bubble burst. But on the national scale, that’s a minor concern relative to the benefits that we gain from having Silicon Valley here. FORBES: With the Valley you can’t predict ups and downs. It is an absolutely unique national and global asset. We should remember if there is another recession [that] the last one was not the end of the Valley, even though a lot of people got swept away from it. It came back pretty quickly, and it will again. You remember in the movie The Social Network where Justin Timberlake [as Sean Parker] says to [Mark] Zuckerberg, “You have to go to the Valley.” This was when Facebook was going to get some financing. That’s still true, and even though there are many other centers of high tech, this is the epicenter. Unfortunately, the state of California, as Alan said, [has] depended on the Valley, and the rest of the state has done not nearly as well – the rest of the state, a lot of it, has been hurting. It’s like an oasis in the desert – the Valley – and California’s got to make structural changes, because the rest of the state is not doing well. In terms of future things in tech, because it’s such a flexible and reversible industry, I think you’re going to see it more and more in the next generation hit areas that it really hasn’t hit before, like aircraft. You know, we’ve had a very slow evolution in aircraft; they get better, but we haven’t had massive breakthroughs there that we’ve seen in other areas. So in areas that have traditionally had evolving changes, I think high tech in the next generation is going to hit those with a firestorm – a positive one, in terms of radical changes. It’s going to be pretty exciting, but it’s also going to be pretty convulsive, which will have political repercussions. We lived through it in the media industry: Our whole model of 150 years shattered. We had to reinvent the whole thing, and it’s not easy. Especially if you’re an incumbent, [it’s] very, very painful – exciting, but painful. FARMER: There’s concern that’s been voiced about income inequality and the wealth gap. What are the economic consequences of growing income inequality in the U.S.? Will

income inequality continue to increase? And is this an economic problem, or more of a social problem? FORBES: I think people’s concern is not so much inequality in and of itself, but the fact that incomes for many people have stagnated. I may reference that median incomes today are still lower than they were in 2007, and this has been a top-tier recovery. The top 10 percent have done very well, though the members of the top 10 do change, but it hasn’t been a very broad-based recovery. People don’t mind if Bill Gates makes a zillion dollars; they want to know, are they moving up? Are they moving ahead? That’s the problem: It’s not so much inequality [as] it’s that we’re not growing the way we should. The thing we should keep in mind is that the quality of life gap between the very rich and the rest of the world is narrowing. If you look at “The Simpsons” 22 years ago and look at the possessions they had, even though their incomes have gone nowhere after 22 years in cartoon land, it’s a very diﬀerent quality of life [that they have today]. So things that we now take for granted – handhelds and the like – [it’s] amazing, in terms of the quality of life. You’re going to see more of that gap [closing]. You’re going to see the same things in other areas as far as closing the gap in the quality of life between the West and the rest of the world. We’ve got to get some policies right, and then the rest of these things will come to pass. AUERBACH: First of all, I think the fact that “The Simpsons” is central to our discussion is indicative of the decline of American

civilization. [Laughter.] That’s equally shared and not an issue of inequality. There are interesting issues about [these challenges], whether it’s inequality, whether it’s levels of income, whether it’s levels of standard of living, which as you say, are more equal than levels of income. First of all, this is not anything that is due to U.S. policies, although some people suggest it. I think the most important factor driving it is globalization, and the fact that if you have a skill that is in demand worldwide, you do very well, and if you have a skill for which there are great substitutes in developing countries with lower incomes, you’re not going to do very well. It’s here to stay, in terms of the underlying market forces that are driving inequality. Not only is there concern about the level of inequality, but also [about] mobility. One of the things that used to be argued in favor of the American system of having more inequality than, say, continental Europe, was that there was mobility in the U.S., and that people toward the bottom of the income distribution could aspire to be at the top, and have more chance of getting there than they might in a more static country. That may still be the perception in the U.S., but it’s not the reality, at least based on recent analyses that economists have done, which suggest that the U.S. is at the moment not a more mobile society than continental Europe. That may not be the perception. It still may be that people perceive that they have more opportunity here, and certainly one

can’t be in California or teach at the university where I teach and be ignorant of all the mobility that is still present, particularly among immigrant groups who, if they have good ideas and work hard, can do very well. But for the country as a whole, mobility is not what it may have been once, and what it may be in other countries. FARMER: The age-old question, particularly in the U.S., [concerns] politics and economic policy: Are they intertwined forever? We have a Republican Congress and a Democratic president for the next two years. What should get done, and what can get done? AUERBACH: Well, those are two very distinct questions. I think that very little will get done, unless we have a crisis. In 2008 we adopted TARP [Troubled Asset Relief Program] because we were in a crisis and we had to, even though Congress and the White House had their differences then. If we have another crisis, we’ll have bipartisan agreement to do something. But short of that, I think we’re going to be nibbling around the edges over the next couple of years. I don’t see any important policy initiatives being adopted. FORBES: No, deadlock will continue. But I do think in 2016 we will get a mandate for radical, positive change. In the meantime, Alan is right – if you do get a crisis, which could very well happen in a place like Japan, or Europe, or who knows where else, then people realize something has to be done. And usually you don’t go over a cliff. You may come close, but you usually don’t go over the cliff. Photo by Rikki Ward

A PR I L/MAY 2015

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

2010

WORLD CH BRUCE BOCHY

Pausing before spring training, the champs check in. Excerpted from “San Francisco Giants’ Bruce Bochy and Larry Baer”, February 4, 2015. BRUCE BOCHY

Manager, San Francisco Giants

LARRY BAER

President and CEO, San Francisco Giants; Key Strategist, Giants’ Baseball and Business Transactions In conversation with

ROY EISENHARDT

Former President, Oakland Athletics

ROY EISENHARDT: Bruce, this year probably set a new paradigm for how teams go about winning the World Series. Take us through your rollercoaster ride and how you got to where you did. BRUCE BOCHY: Well, Roy, it was a roll-

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

ercoaster ride. In spring training I felt really good about this club – where the pitching was, and as far as our position players, we picked up [Michael] Morse, and so we had a power bat out there to help us out. As we started the season, we played as good as any team in baseball. We might have been the best team in baseball. Oakland and our club just took oﬀ. Oakland kept it going longer than we did, and we went the other way. We were the worst team in baseball. We had meetings – we tried everything to get on track. Really, the oﬀense left us, but the pitching stayed consistent, so I was encouraged that we would come out of this, and it had to be sooner rather than later, because as we got down to the last two or three weeks, we were battling to get to the postseason. That last road trip, we still felt we could catch the Dodgers. We started in Arizona; we took two out of three. Then we had to go to San Diego, then LA. It might have been three games [we were behind] at that time. [We thought,] “If we keep it close, we’ll put some pressure on them and maybe take the series if not sweep them there in LA.” Well, we ran into San Diego, and they just pummeled us. Their pitching was unbelievable; they had

A P R IL/MAY 2015

three starters that were on fire, and we got swept there. So then we were scrambling to get to the postseason. We ended up winning 88 games. Milwaukee had their struggles, so we clinched early enough where we could rest some guys, including the big guy, [Madison] Bumgarner, which was the key to our postseason. We needed him for that game in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh’s home record was 51 and 30 – it was crazy, and we needed our horse to be fresh to go there. He got us oﬀ to a good start, and from then on we just rolled. Everybody did something to contribute. We went on to Washington, and we got a great eﬀort by [Tim] Hudson and by [Yusmeiro] Petit in that huge 18-inning game, which helped turn that around. Of course, [in] St. Louis Bumgarner was leading the way again. We played a team [in the World Series] that was on fire, too. Kansas City had swept the Angels, which was a really good team, and then Baltimore, so I knew this would be a dogfight. It went to Game 7, and we had our big guy available. I just remember after we won the thing, the players embraced, the coaches and I embraced, and out there Buster [Posey]

012

2014

HAMPIONS LARRY BAER

Photo by Daniel Schwen/wikicommons

and I embraced. And at the same time, it was unbelievable, we pulled away and we said, “How in the hell did we do it this time?” Because it was an up-and-down thing, but it was really a neat moment. EISENHARDT: You probably had the best DH [designated hitter] in the National League with Bumgarner. [Laughter.] BOCHY: And I’m going to hear it all spring too, trust me. He was on me – I think it was August [when I heard], “I’m not going to hit ninth today, am I? [Laughter.] I’m going to hit fifth or sixth…” You know, this young kid, he’s a man-child. He takes a lot of pride – you know, he’s holding runners better, fielding his position a lot better, and he’s swinging the bat very well now. So that’s a lot of pride in a great athlete that wants to be good at everything. EISENHARDT: When you brought him in in the seventh game, there was a bit of a tension there before things settled down. What do you think [would have happened] if Joe Panik hadn’t bailed you out on that ground ball up the middle? BOCHY: Yeah, you look at plays that really are the turning points in games. That play [a diving stop to turn a double play in the third-inning] was as big as any play we had

throughout the postseason. At that point – if he doesn’t make that play, I’m headed out to get [Jeremy] Aﬀeldt and bringing in [Tim] Lincecum [next]. I’ve got to make a change, [with runners on] first and third [base], and he not only got an out, but he got two outs. You talk about Morse’s big hit and what Bumgarner did, but that kid Joe Panik with what was at stake – it doesn’t get any bigger. LARRY BAER: One thing, Roy, that’s lost in that play is that Boch actually had a role in that play. You talk about getting two outs – do you remember how the second out was recorded? The second out was recorded on an umpire review. The second out [originally] was [for a play in which] the runner was called safe at first. And Boch went out and asked for a review. EISENHARDT: [To Bochy] So you get a bonus in there? [Laughter.] BAER: Hey, wait a minute! BOCHY: It’s still in the mail. You know, actually that review – managers are getting help from inside the clubhouse. Shawon Dunston, he looks at it for us. They let us know if it’s worth reviewing. EISENHARDT: You come oﬀ a year where you finish third or fourth or second or what-

ever, and it’s easy to figure out how you’re going to get that team motivated. How do you deal with coming oﬀ a year where you’ve won, and it’s your third time in five years, and you create that sense of freshness and newness and competitiveness all over again with these guys going into the season? BOCHY: Well, these are things that we will talk about in spring training, at the Opening Day talk, as we get ready to open the season. You’re never more vulnerable to complacency than when you’re riding a wave of success, so you have to remind the guys: The target is on your back. But also when you’re in a situation like us, [where you win] three out of five years, hopefully you want more – you’re getting greedy, you’re getting hungry, and you want to be known as a dynasty. It’s getting back to what I talked about with the great players: they never feel like they arrive. They’re always trying to improve and get better. Teams should be the same. But it’s such a great group of guys with so much character. I’ve got Hunter Pence; he’ll be on them. Of course Posey’s a professional. They make my job a lot easier, because they’re going to come in and they’re going to want to do it again, and they take it personally when

A PR I L/MAY 2015

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

the oddsmakers put us where we’re at. And, escape. You can be with a son or a daughter, [with] some of the comments, they look at or a parent or a grandparent, and you can that as a challenge. enjoy that two and a half to three hours. EISENHARDT: Larry, the days of [when] I’ll tell you a quick story. We were buildyou go out to the ballpark and watch the ing Pac Bell Park [now AT&T Park] and we game and buy a beer are long gone. It’s almost were talking to companies about naming an inversion between rights. One was a television and scoreSilicon Valley comboards – you can pany, I won’t mena s e b a l l i s t h e m o s t tion its name, but it watch them on your cellphone now. How [ t r a c k a b l e ] o f a l l t h e was a very big Silicon do you see, if you Valley company at do, the prominence s p o r t s , i n a g o o d w a y. the time. They said, of the availability of “We’re interested in these games on so putting our name –Larry Baer many diﬀerent delivon the ballpark, but ery systems changing we want to do ‘smart the way fans approach the game? seats.’” I said, “What’s a smart seat?” Well, BAER: It’s interesting. I think it’s kind of when you sit down, because we have so much a tale of two extremes in some ways, Roy, technology out there, you’ll be able to plug because what all of us had in our childhood – in, and you’ll be able to push a button and those of us who were baseball fans as kids – I get on your device at the time and you’ll be don’t think that’s lost. I think there are still a able to see a replay when you want. We said, lot of people that want to go to a ball game “We don’t know if that’s a good idea or a bad and sit for three hours. We play a lot of day idea. We’ll test it.” games, which is great and can be a wonderful We tested it with our fans and found that

“B

”

Photo by Rikki Ward

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

A P R IL/MAY 2015

about 15 or 20 percent wanted it, and the other 80 percent said, “We go to the ballpark to get away from all of that.” Then on the other hand, people are busy. People want to keep up with baseball and their team. Baseball is the most [trackable] of all the sports, in a good way. Fans are very tied into their team – it’s an everyday sport and it’s seven months long. The great thing about baseball is there are a lot of games and it’s information rich. When people are busy, to be able to connect in and find exactly what’s happening, how it’s happened, whether they’re at work or whatever, is great. EISENHARDT: It’s like everything else – baseball has to adapt to the way the world is going, but you don’t want to lose the fundamental core of the game. We all know the fact that Pablo [Sandoval] went to Boston. But the question that several people are wondering about is the nature, today, of economics in baseball and the way the system works: [What is] the cost of trying to keep a player versus investing in your farm system and bringing players up to fill a hole? BAER: We have a good track record, but it’s not going to be perfect, and there’s no way you can get it to 100 percent. Once a player spends his first day in the major leagues, the clock starts and you have a six-year period where you can be retained by that team. The first couple of years [there’s] a controlled salary – you can pay the player the minimum. Then after that it’s an arbitration system, and then after six years the player is a free agent. There’s a lot of strategies you engage in to try and mitigate the eﬀects of free agency, meaning signing players in that six-year period to buy out free agent years so you can keep them going forward. We’ve done that with lots of guys. We did that with Matt Cain; we did that with Buster Posey; we’ve done that with Madison Bumgarner, thankfully, who’s signed through 2019, and a number of folks. When you get to your six, as we did with Pablo, and you don’t have him signed, you run into the potential peril of 29 other teams competing for the player’s services, and it puts the player at risk. In the case of Hunter Pence, we were in that situation where he came upon his free agent year and he re-signed. We’ve done that with a number of folks. One of our strategies is to sign players that we like before we get to the end of the line and to buy out those

free agent years. It’s something we tried with Pablo; we had negotiations at the beginning of last year and weren’t able to conclude them. EISENHARDT: You have an organization that has been able to stay stable in a system that has the potential for so much turmoil. A lot of clubs can’t seem to handle it, and you do very well. BAER: So much of it is the farm system, and it’s a credit to Brian [Sabean, the Giants’ general manager] and his staff, and Bruce and his staff. If you looked when we took the field last year in the World Series, the entire infield was homegrown: Posey, [Brandon] Belt, Panik, [Brandon] Crawford, and Sandoval. BOCHY: You don’t see that very often. Our scouting has done an unbelievable job, especially [with] the pitching: Cain, Lincecum, Bumgarner – they’re your core. Those are the guys you have hopefully for long term, and they lead you the way. And Posey, those type of players. EISENHARDT: Bruce, going back on to the field, your division looks tougher this year. BOCHY: Oh, it’s gotten a lot tougher. It’s going to be more balanced than ever. Down south, the Dodgers have made some changes down there – they had their pitching and they’re still the team to beat, with their two big horses there [Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke]. I think you go further south to San Diego – they’re the ones who have really made a lot of noise this year. It seems like they’re determined to try and get their fan base back and get back to the playoffs. So they have signed some guys that are really going to provide some offense for them. The guy leading the way is [Matt] Kemp. The one problem they had was that they couldn’t score runs, but they’ve had pretty good pitching – their pitching is one of the top staffs in baseball. Now when you go down to their park, Petco [Park] is a pitcherfriendly park, probably more so than AT&T, so pitchers get their confidence going down there. Now you have to deal with a better offensive team. Arizona made some changes; they’re going to have their first baseman [Paul Goldschmidt] back. Colorado, I’m not sure. I think they’re counting on Tulo [Troy Tulowitzki] and their guys being healthy, [Juan] Gonzalez. But this is going to be a very tough division, and it’s going to be more balanced than ever. EISENHARDT: You know, all you have to

Photo by Rikki Ward

do is get to the wild card play-in game and Jake Peavy – this guy, I’ve had for years and you’re all set. [Laughter.] he’s back with us – but to go in the second BOCHY: I don’t want a wild card; that’s like inning and pull him out of a World Series five years off your life, doing that wild card game – sure I care about him, but I felt I had game. I’m done with it. Look at this grey. to do it. The one thing that worked for us It’s funny; I felt more pressure in that was the unselfish ways in which they played. game than in the seventh game of the When these moves were made, like [Sergio] World Series. Romo going, not once did they come in EISENHARDT: How do you see yourself my office and complain; not once did they having changed as a question what I was manager from when doing. you first started doIt gets back to don’t want them singing the character, the ing this to the way you feel about your- ‘Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah’ when I makeup of the ball self now? club: It’s a very unBOCHY: It’s a hard pull them out of the game. selfish group. And question for me to I’m sure they’re answer how I’ve ticked off, they’re –Bruce Bochy changed. Hopefully upset – they’re comI haven’t changed petitors, and I want too much except for maybe [having] learned them to be. I don’t want them singing “Zipfrom my mistakes and gotten a little smarter. a-Dee-Doo-Dah” when I pull them out of I will say, because of some moves in the the game. [Laughter.] I think it’s why we’ve earlier playoffs, I know I’ve changed in that had so much success, because these guys I don’t concern myself with the personal feel- do set their egos aside when they go out ings of a player at that point. I mean, I love that door.

“I

”

A PR I L/MAY 2015

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

INSIGHT

D R . G LO R I A C . D U F F Y P R E S I D E N T & C E O

“The City that Knows How,” Then and Now

wonderful celebration is included architect Maybeck, banker William Crocker, Chronicle underway in San Francisco publisher M. H. de Young, the owners of Levi Strauss, department of the centennial of the store proprietor Marshal Hale, and banker Isaias Hellman. After the Panama Pacific International Expo- exposition was over, the Club advocated for preserving some of the sition. With typical style, San Fran- buildings. A hundred years later, Club Board Member Tad Taube cisco is revisiting the history of this donated the funds to gloriously light up the Fine Arts Palace, the extraordinary 1915 world’s fair that Ferry Building and other landmarks around the city as they had commemorated the 1913 comple- been illuminated during the exposition. tion of the Panama Canal. The San A century later, San Francisco is still “The City that Knows Francisco Historical Society, the How.” The mayor and Board of Supervisors provide great leadership Exposition Centennial Committee to get things done effectively. When seeking to attract more tech and Heyday Press published the company headquarters to the city a few years ago, San Francisco magnificent book San Francisco’s devised creative tax breaks that brought Twitter to the Mid-Market Photo courtesy of Gloria Duffy Jewel City, by Laura Ackley. A Com- area, increased the net tax revenue from this district and boosted monwealth Club panel in early March, with historian Kevin Starr, revitalization of the area. Ackley and others, explored the lasting significance of the event. The Club experienced “The City that Knows How” in the Through the ongoing events and reading Ackley’s book, we recently concluded process to obtain its building permits for our refreshed our memory that San Francisco new headquarters on The Embarcadero. A was selected by the U.S. Congress to host statutory process allows multiple appeals the exposition in part because of the rapid c e n t u r y l a t e r , S a n of building projects, and if individuals or rebuilding the city accomplished after the groups take advantage of this process, it 1906 earthquake and fire, which prompted F r a n c i s c o i s s t i l l “ T h e forces even those trying to do ultra-responPresident Taft to christen San Francisco sible development to go through repeated “The City that Knows How.” Discussion of C i t y t h a t K n o w s H o w.” hearings before public bodies. an exposition had begun before the canal’s The Club is renovating an unoccupied, completion in 1913, but the outbreak of dilapidated building into a modest LEED World War I in 1914 delayed the project’s Platinum or Gold building, well under the start. San Francisco was chosen as the city in the United States best waterfront height limit, with historic preservation and commemorasuited to accomplish the massive preparations for the exposition in tion and broad support among neighbors, businesses, non-profits a very short period of time. in the area, historians, beautification organizations, architects and True to the nation’s trust in the “City that Knows How,” in just unions. two years land leases were negotiated on 200 parcels held by 175 It took eight months for the Club to go through the process of different owners. Tidal marshes were drained and landfill added. In approvals for its building, with two hearings before the Planning 1913 and 1914, an entire district of San Francisco was prepared for Commission and one before the Board of Supervisors. From start to development and 400 buildings, even if ersatz and temporary, were finish, the city of San Francisco ensured that the Club’s project had the constructed for the exposition in what is now the Marina District. appropriate public oversight, but that it also moved along as effectively Eighty thousand exhibits were created, and 19 million people as possible. This took leadership by the mayor, the city planning staff visited the exposition over 288 days, learning about new technology, led by Planning Director John Rahaim, the Planning Commission agriculture, transportation, the economies and cultures of other and the Board of Supervisors. The supervisor representing the district countries, the fine arts and many other fields. And then very rapidly, where our building site is located, Jane Kim, was both a stringent the entire exposition was dismantled and the land returned to its reviewer of our project and a great help in seeing that the Club was private owners – except the Bernard Maybeck-designed Fine Arts able to address all questions and move through the process effectively. Palace, which was retained as the symbol of the exposition. “The On a daily basis, The Commonwealth Club plays a role similar City that Knows How” more than lived up to its expectations for to the exposition, bringing information about many subjects to the drive, style and efficiency. public. Its new headquarters will expand this role. Today, “The City Many of the civic boosters who raised funds for the exposition, that Knows How” continues to move forward with projects for the designed it, and built it were Commonwealth Club members. These public good.

THE COMMO N WE AL TH

A P R IL/MAY 2015

Kenya Safari Maasai Mara, rift valley & the Great Migration

August 5–15, 2015

Dr. Reza Aslan, an internationally acclaimed writer and scholar of religions, is author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. Aslan’s first book is the International Bestseller, No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, which has been translated into seventeen languages, and named one of the 100 most important books of the last decade. His degrees include a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard, a Ph.D. in the Sociology of Religions from UC Santa Barbara, and an M.F.A. from the University of Iowa. He is the founder of Aslan Media, a social media network for news and entertainment about the Middle East and the world, and co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of BoomGen Studios, the premier entertainment brand for creative content from and about the Greater Middle East. During our trip he will lecture on Kenya as part of the origin of religions, myths and rituals.

Jessica Jackley is an entrepreneur and investor focused on financial inclusion, the sharing economy, and social justice. She currently serves as an investor and advisor with the Collaborative Fund, investing in entrepreneurs who champion the sharing economy. Jessica was a co-founder and CEO of ProFounder, a pioneering crowdfunding platform, which later joined forces with GOOD. She was a co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Kiva, the world’s first peer-to-peer microlending website, one of the fastest-growing social benefit websites in history. Jessica has taught Entrepreneurial Design for Social Change at Drew University and Global Entrepreneurship at USC. She was named one of Fast Company’s 60 in the 2012 League of Extraordinary Women, and has received numerous awards for her work. She holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Commonwealth Club Travel CST: 2096889-40

Join study leader team Jessica Jackley and Reza Aslan on a safari in Kenya where tradition and modernity mix and contrast against a backdrop of astonishing beauty and biological diversity.

•

Explore Sweetwaters, one of the only places where one might see the endangered northern white rhino.

•

Discover the Great Rift Valley and Lake Nakuru, with rhino, leopard, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest and 350 species of birds.

•

Visit a 200-acre Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Daphne Sheldrick’s Elephant Orphanage.

•

Meet with Mary Wykstra from Action for Cheetahs in Kenya, and see the Karen Blixen Museum, the former home of the Danish Baronness, author of the book Out of Africa.

•

Experience the “Jewel of Africa,” the Maasai Mara, a site with one of the largest and the most spectacular animal migrations in the world.

•

Take an optional balloon ride over the savannah at sunrise, or join an optional pre-tour extension to Amboseli National Park (3 days, 2 nights).

Cost: $6,995 per person, double occupancy

Detailed brochure available at: commonwealthclub.org/travel Contact: (415) 597-6720 • travel@commonwealthclub.org

The Commonwealth Club of California 555 Post Street San Francisco, CA 94102

Purchase event tickets at commonwealthclub.org or call (415) 597-6705

PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID IN SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

or (800) 847-7730 To subscribe to our free weekly events email newsletter, go to commonwealthclub.org and click on “MY CLUB ACCOUNT” in the menu at the bottom of the page.

PROGRAMS YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS Monday, April 6

Wednesday, April 8

Tim Gunn “Project Runway” Cohost; Author, The Natty Professor: A Masterclass on Mentoring, Motivating and Making it Work Tim Gunn is known for his kind but firm approach in providing wisdom, guidance and support to design hopefuls on Lifetime’s “Project Runway.” Having begun his fashion career as a teacher at Parsons, The New School for Design, Tim knows about mentorship and how to convey invaluable wisdom in an approachable, accessible manner. Join Tim for a candid, inspirational and witty discussion of life’s lessons – from the runway to the classroom to the therapist’s oﬃce and beyond. for event details, see page 23

Sal Kahn with Black Girls Code’s Kimberly Bryant Kimberly Bryant, Founder, Black Girls Code Sal Khan, Founder & Executive Director, Khan Academy Founder of Black Girls Code, a nonprofit oﬀering after-school programs and summer programs for young women of every color, Kimberly Bryant seeks to give Silicon Valley’s next generation of girls a fighting chance to program the future, one line of code at a time. Join us for a conversation between Kimberly Bryant and another innovator bridging the digital divide, Khan Academy founder Sal Khan. for event details, see page 23

Tuesday, April 28

Thursday, May 7

David Brooks

Jane Smiley

Op-Ed Columnist, The New York Times; Author, The Road to Character

Novelist; Author, Early Warning

for event details, see page 31

Pulitzer Prize-winner Smiley has written about a journey through mid-century America, as lived by the extraordinary Langdon family. Early Warning opens in 1953 with the Langdons at a crossroads. Their stalwart patriarch Walter, who with his wife had sustained their Iowa farm for three decades, has suddenly died, leaving their five children looking to the future. Only one will remain to work the land, while the others scatter to Washington, DC, California, and everywhere in between.

for event details, see page 36