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http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2011/0...27766838012.txt

Speakers for 2011 season of The Sinai Forum announced

By Deborah Sederberg
Staff Writer
Published: Sunday, July 31, 2011 5:08 PM CDT
MICHIGAN CITY — One fine afternoon, the late Rabbi Karl Richter, then the spiritual head of Sinai Temple, saw the leader of the temple’s Girl Scout troop leading her young charges through a hallway.

Next, he heard the leader telling the girls, “And that is the rest room Eleanor Roosevelt used when she was here.”

When Richter and his dear friend, the late Sylvia Bankoff, told that story, they both enjoyed a healthy laugh.

Eleanor Roosevelt indeed did visit Michigan City and Sinai Temple in the second season of Sinai Sunday Evening Forum.

This year, the Forum, now known as Purdue North Central Sinai Forum, opens its 58th season on Sept. 18.

Sylvia Bankoff and her husband, the late Dr. Milton Bankoff, founded the Forum series all those many years ago. It is still bringing the best and the brightest as well as the controversial to Michigan City.

Itzhak Rabin, Oprah Winfrey, Dr. Ben Carson, Mike Ditka, Nina Totenberg the Rev. Dr. Martin Marty, Ralph Bunche, Elie Wiesel, Walter Cronkite, Dr. Charles Mayo, Ogden Nash, Jackie Robinson, Beverly Sills, Lisa Ling, F. Lee Bailey, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and many others have been here.

When former New York Governor Mario Cuomo spoke, he called the Forum “nothing less than remarkable.”

Judy Jacobi, assistant vice chancellor of marketing and community relations at Purdue North Central and a long-time member of the Forum board, said this year continues the tradition, with prominent speakers who “will approach some of the days most compelling issues.”

The 58th season will open at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 18 with Torie Clarke addressing, “Twitter vs. Tanks: Who Wins in the 21st Century?”

A former assistant secretary of defense, communications expert, author and lecturer, Clarke provides insight into how the increasing popularity of social networking and cyberspace communications impact the way all types of battles are organized and fought.

“Torie Clarke has spoken here before,” Jacobi said, “and she was a favorite.”

On Oct. 16, Nomi Prins will present, “Getting it Straight: Economic Revision Time.”

Prins, a former managing director of Goldman Sachs, is an author and journalist. She exposes the fundamental follies of the economic system and the schemes of those who have no intention of letting it change. For those who feel enraged and frustrated with how the bank bailout went bust for the American people, or how Wall Street continues to operate, Prins will provide a deeper understanding of the situation and how to fight for some real change.

Nov. 6 will bring Andy Buchsbaum discussing “How Healthy is Lake Michigan?”

The executive director of the National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes Regional Center will explore the condition of this natural resource that is so vital to the health and wellbeing of this area. Among the topics he will explore are whether the lake water supply is at risk due to the encroachment of Asian carp and other species and how the prospect of increased shipping throughout The Great Lakes may impact the beauty and recreational value of Lake Michigan.

The Duneland Health Council is sponsoring the Lake Michigan program.

On Dec. 11 the season will conclude with “An Afternoon with Wayne Messmer.”

For decades, Wayne Messmer has been known as the voice of the Chicago Cubs and other professional sports teams. His renditions of our national anthem, sports commentary and countless voice-over and narration spots have made his voice one of the most recognized in the country. One tragic moment in time put not only his life, but the way he lived his life, in peril. This promises to be a stirring program of personal journey to medical, emotional and spiritual recovery.

Horizon Bank sponsors the Wayne Messmer program.

All programs are at 3 p.m. on Sundays in the Elston Middle School Performing Arts Center in Michigan City.

If you go

Season subscription tickets for the Sinai Forum 2011 season are $75 for regular tickets and $150 for patron tickets. Any student with a valid ID will be admitted free.

Tickets are available for purchase in person with cash or check at the Lubeznik Center for the Arts, 101 W. Second St.; Kabelin Hardware, 512 Andrew Ave., La Porte; The PNC Advancement Office on the Westville Campus and at PNC – Porter County Undergraduate Center, 600 Vale Park Road, Valparaiso. Tickets also can be purchased via credit card at www.sinaiforum.org.

All programs are at 3 p.m. on Sundays in the Elston Middle School Performing Arts Center.

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http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/laporte...56a066024e.html

MICHIGAN CITY | A former assistant secretary of defense and chief Pentagon spokeswoman on 9/11 was the guest speaker Sunday at the Sinai Forum at Elston Middle School in Michigan City.

Torie Clarke, a senior adviser for Comcast Corp. and ABC-TV commentator, described the 1980s as the "dark ages" of mass communication and the growth of today's social media as an "information revolution."

"There are extraordinary changes in the information space that have a big impact on our lives and on the world," Clarke said. "The sheer volume and speed makes it something different. What is going on is very real and very different."

Clarke described how social media such as Facebook and Twitter played a pivotal role in the "Arab Spring" by empowering residents of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

"The thing that connected them was their use of social media," Clarke said. "Five years ago we never could have predicted how quickly oppressive regimes with a lot of control could be overturned. It is absolutely extraordinary how the leadership of these rebels depended upon and used social media."

When asked about the Republican presidential candidates, Clarke, herself a Republican, responded.

"Despite all the trouble, the economic numbers and the employment numbers, I think President (Barack) Obama still stands a very good chance of being re-elected," Clarke said. "I think it's going to be hard for a Republican candidate to beat him."

With the growth of alternative media, Clarke said today's journalism suffers from a "lack of credibility" and is "in tremendous trouble."

"The leadership of the major news organizations are all trying to figure out 'What's our place in life? What's our role in all this?'" Clarke said. "They're kind of into reacting for the sake of reacting."

Clarke warned the audience that social media are not "just a passing phase."

"If you're involved with government or politics ... and not engaged in social media, you need to ask why," Clarke said. "There is a level of transparency that comes with social media that is very valuable.

"In the long run, I think it is going to be a very, very positive influence," she said.

Read more: http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/laporte...l#ixzz1YQCl9mYo

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http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2011/0...0b898071695.txt

The changing speed of information

Dr. James Callaghan, president and CEO of Franciscan St. Anthony Health - Michigan City, a season sponsor of Purdue North Central 2011 Sinai Forum, chats with Torie Clarke following her presentation Sunday afternoon which opened the Forum's 58th season at the Elston Performing Arts Center.
Torie Clark presents "Twitter vs. Tanks: Who Wins in the 21st Century?" at Sinai Forum
By Deborah Sederberg
Published: Monday, September 19, 2011 5:08 PM CDT
Staff Writer

MICHIGAN CITY — The opening speaker for the Purdue North Central 2011 Sinai Forum is a dyed-in-the-wool Republican. But Torie Clarke, on Sunday afternoon, told the Sinai audience in the Elston Performing Arts Center she believes President Barack Obama is going to be hard to beat next year.

The president does have some issues, she noted.

"Despite his problems," said Clarke, who has served three Republican presidents, going back to Ronald Reagan, "I believe President Obama has a very good chance of being re-elected."

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Neither the Republican presidential candidates nor Congress is talking with the American people about the vital issues of national and world security, she said. She accused the Congress of having "a lack of political courage."

In reflecting on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the plane crash in Pennsylvania, she said she believes the country is safer. But it is important to remember that in 2001, the nation did not have Facebook, Twitter or blogs.

Back in 2001, she said, "I never could have imagined that we could go 10 years without another major attack on the country," she added.

A veteran of the Defense Department, she believes the modern-day military "is phenomenal," in better shape than it has been in recent memory.

Nonetheless, Clarke said, it is vital to keep imagining what kind of tragedy might be around the corner and who might be plotting it.

The author of "Twitter Vs. Tanks: Who Wins in the 21st Century?" Clarke said it is good to remember how Facebook and Twitter kept the news alive during recent revolutions against oppressive regimes.

"Five or 10 years ago, we never could have predicted the speed with which oppressive regimes would fall," Clarke said.

The most successful rebels, she noted, were those in countries in which they had access to social networks, she believes.

Clarke remembers a time when the media had what she called a "quaint" system of news cycles.

With Facebook and Twitter, she said, there is no such cycle. Today the cycle is around the clock.

A person involved in dealing with the media ignores social media at his or her own peril, she said.

Paying attention is vital because of the volume and velocity of electronic communication which makes news "rocket around the world," she said.

The audience expressed surprise with murmurs and other expressions as she recited some statistics about social networking:

• People spend 500 billion minutes per week on Facebook.

• 600 million people search Twitter each day.

• 180 countries now have access to Facebook.

• 60 percent of Twitter users are outside the U.S.

At the same time that social networks are exploding, she said, traditional journalism is in trouble. Like the Congress and the Republican presidential candidates, journalists are failing to ask important questions and failing to investigate important issues.

Dr. James Callaghan, president and CEO of Franciscan St. Anthony Health - Michigan City, introduced Clarke. Wendy Levenfeld, executive director of the forum, thanked Callaghan for the hospital's contribution to the forum. "St. Anthony has agreed to be a season sponsor for three years," Levenfeld said.

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http://www.valpolife.com/index.php/communi...ures-nomi-prins

The 58h season of the Purdue University North Central Sinai Forum will feature author and journalist Nomi Prins, on Oct. 16 at 3 p.m. at Elston Middle School.

Nomi worked on Wall Street as a managing director at Goldman Sachs and ran the international analytics group at Bear Stearns in London. Today, she is a journalist, lecturer and a Senior Fellow at Demos, a non-partisan public policy research and advocacy organization founded in 2000.

Prins will speak to "Getting it Straight: Economic Revision Time." She will expose the fundamental follies of the economic system and the schemes of those who have no intention of letting it change. Anyone who may be angry and frustrated with how the bank bailout went bust for the American people, or how Wall Street continues to operate, Prins will provide a deeper understanding of the situation and how to fight for some real change.

She has authored several books. Her most recent is "It Takes a Pillage: Behind the Bonuses, Bailouts, and Backroom Deals from Washington to Wall Street." She also published "Other People's Money: The Corporate Mugging of America," an exposé of corporate corruption, political collusion and Wall Street deception. It was chosen as a Best Book of 2004 by "The Economist," "Barron's" and "The Library Journal." Her book "Jacked: How 'Conservatives' are Picking your Pocket (whether you voted for them or not)" details her travels across the country as she talks to people about their economic lives.

There will be a book signing after the program.

The 2011 Forum season is sponsored by the Franciscan Alliance Northern Indiana Hospitals, including Franciscan St. Anthony Health in Michigan City and Crown Point, Franciscan St. Margaret Health in Dyer and Hammond, and Franciscan Physicians Hospital in Munster.

Sinai Forum season subscription tickets are: $75 for regular tickets, $125 for donor tickets and $150 for patron tickets. Any student with a valid ID will be admitted free.

Tickets can be purchased in person with cash or check at the Lubeznik Center for the Arts, 101 W. Second St., Michigan City; Kabelin Hardware, 512 Andrew Ave., LaPorte; The PNC Advancement Office on the Westville Campus and at PNC - Porter County Undergraduate Center, 600 Vale Park Road, Valparaiso. Tickets can be purchased via credit card at www.sinaiforum.org.

Additional information about the Purdue University North Central Sinai Forum is available at www.sinaiforum.org.

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http://www.valpolife.com/index.php/community/education/14136

Sinai Forum Presents Andy Buchsbaum Nov. 6

PNC-Sinai-Forum-AndyBauchsbaumThe 58th season of the Purdue University North Central Sinai Forum continues on Nov. 6 at 3 p.m. at Elston Middle School in Michigan City with Andy Buchsbaum, executive director of the National Wildlife Federation's Great Lakes Regional Center, discussing "How Healthy is Lake Michigan?" The program is sponsored by the Duneland Health Council.

The 2011 season is sponsored by the Franciscan Alliance Northern Indiana Hospitals, including Franciscan St. Anthony Health in Michigan City and Crown Point, Franciscan St. Margaret Health in Dyer and Hammond, and Franciscan Physicians Hospital in Munster. The Forum Reception sponsor is Family Express.

Buchsbaum will explore the condition of Lake Michigan, a natural resource that is vital to the health and wellbeing of this area. Among the topics he will explore are whether the lake water supply is at risk due to the encroachment of Asian carp and other species and how the prospect of increased shipping throughout The Great Lakes may impact the beauty and recreational value of Lake Michigan.

He has testified before Congressional committees and state legislatures on a range of Great Lakes issues. He co-chaired the 90-member "Healing Our Waters - Great Lakes Coalition," the primary non-governmental coalition championing Great Lakes Restoration and was a lead negotiator on behalf of the conservation community on the proposed Great Lakes Water Resources Compact to protect the lakes from diversions and unwise water use.


Visit the PNC Website
1401 S US 421
Westville, IN 46391
Phone: 219-785-5200

Forum subscription tickets are $75 for regular tickets, $125 for donor tickets and $150 for patron tickets. Any student with a valid ID will be admitted free.

Tickets can be purchased in person with cash or check at the Lubeznik Center for the Arts, 101 W. Second St., Michigan City; Kabelin Hardware, 512 Andrew Ave., LaPorte; The PNC Advancement Office on the Westville Campus and at PNC - Porter County Undergraduate Center, 600 Vale Park Road, Valparaiso. Tickets can be purchased via credit card at www.sinaiforum.org.

Additional information about the Purdue University North Central Sinai Forum is available at www.sinaiforum.org.

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http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/laporte...1fdc509b9b.html

MICHIGAN CITY | The Great Lakes are suffering from "massive ecosystem breakdowns" and are "heading for trouble" wildlife expert Andy Buchsbaum said Sunday night.

Buchsbaum, the executive director of the National Wildlife Federation's Great Lakes Regional Center, was the speaker at the Purdue North Central Sinai Forum held at Elston Middle School in Michigan City.

"People think (the lakes) are indestructible and that we can do anything to them," Buchsbaum said. "Over several centuries we have done that, and now we are learning how vulnerable they are."

Buchsbaum said among the problems scientists have identified are the decline of tiny freshwater shrimp that are the "basis of the food chain," toxic algae, fish-killing viruses, Asian carp and water depletion.

Invasive species such as zebra and quagga mussels, introduced through discharged ballast water of ocean-going vessels, have caused a 94 percent decline in the shrimp, called diporeia, from the lakes' bottoms. The mussels also have brought a virus that causes fish to "bleed out" and die.

"Instead of being full of food and full of life, they've become underwater desserts," said Buchsbaum, of the lake bottoms. "There are dead zones where fish can't live appearing in Green Bay and Saginaw Bay."

Buchsbaum said phosphorus from farm fertilizer runoff causes "too much food in the wrong form," on which algae thrives. The "explosion" of algae blooms on Lake Erie appears as "green mud, 6 inches thick" on the water.

"Most alarming is that charter boat captains are getting sick," said Buchsbaum. "The algae emit fumes. It is toxic and poisonous to fish, animals and people."

Despite all the bad news about the lakes, Buchsbaum said the problems are "fixable," and that a comprehensive plan is in place designed to restore, protect and preserve the lakes.

"We need to restore the Great Lakes immune system, prevent new stresses from hitting the Great Lakes and preserve the parts that are already in good shape," he said. "There is huge hope at the end of this, and we need that hope because we have a lot of problems to fix."

He said legislators, business leaders and residents of the Great Lakes region are motivated to restore the lakes because they are "incredible resources."

"They are places where we manufacture our family memories," Buchsbaum said. "They are part of our identity and they are incredibly important."

Copyright 2011 nwitimes.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Read more: http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/laporte...l#ixzz1dJXVz6C4

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http://www.portagelife.com/index.php/commu...ai-forum-season

Wayne Messmer Concludes 58th Sinai Forum Season


PNC-Sinai-Forum-WayneMessmerThe 58th season of the Sinai Forum Presented by Purdue University North Central will conclude on Dec. 11 at 3 p.m. at Elston Middle School in Michigan City with "An Afternoon with Wayne Messmer." This program is sponsored by Horizon Bank.

The 2011 season is sponsored by the Franciscan Alliance Northern Indiana Hospitals, including Franciscan St. Anthony Health in Michigan City and Crown Point, Franciscan St. Margaret Health in Dyer and Hammond, and Franciscan Physicians Hospital in Munster. The Forum Reception sponsor is Family Express.

For decades, Messmer was known as the voice of the Chicago Cubs and other professional sports teams. His renditions of our national anthem, sports commentary and countless voice-over and narration spots made his voice one of the most recognized in the country. One tragic moment in time put not only his life, but the way he lived his life, in peril. This promises to be a stirring program of personal journey to medical, emotional and spiritual recovery.

Messmer will speak about "Facing the Challenge of Change" and recount his 1994 experience as the victim of a random act of violence and how after this experience, he found a deeper resolve to become more engaged in life after his had been spared.

Season subscription tickets are: $75 for regular tickets and $150 for patron tickets. Any student with a valid ID will be admitted free.


Visit the PNC Website
1401 S US 421
Westville, IN 46391
Phone: 219-785-5200

Tickets can be purchased in person with cash or check at the Lubeznik Center for the Arts, 101 W. Second St., Michigan City; Kabelin Hardware, 512 Andrew Ave., LaPorte; The PNC Advancement Office on the Westville Campus and at PNC - Porter County Undergraduate Center, 600 Vale Park Road, Valparaiso. Tickets can be purchased via credit card at www.sinaiforum.org.

Additional information about the Purdue University North Central Sinai Forum is available at www.sinaiforum.org.

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http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/laporte...594381a471.html

MICHIGAN CITY | Reflecting on his life as a singer, husband, father, businessman and someone who survived a near fatal gunshot wound, Wayne Messmer mesmerized the audience Sunday at the final program of the 2011 Sinai Forum at Elston Middle School.

Messmer, as the "Voice of the Cubs," sings the national anthem at Cubs games and other professional sports games. He also owns Messmer and Associates, a financial services company.

From the time he was a young boy, Messmer said he paid "attention to people who had the interest in succeeding" or what he called "the spirit of a champion."

"Success is to do what you love and to love what you do," Messmer said. "I truly am blessed to be able to do that."

Success, he continued, is a combination of commitment, consistency, confidence, attitude, action, persistence and perseverance.

"Always be on the lookout for opportunities," Messmer said. "Take delight in doing things that people say you cannot do."

Messmer recounted his April 9, 1994, mugging in Chicago after a Blackhawks game. The incident resulted in a gunshot wound to the neck that nearly robbed him of his signature voice, which after months of therapy, was restored.

"The gift I had been given was stolen; it was gone," Messmer said. "The miracle of the gift of a voice becomes even a larger miracle when it is restored. God gifted me with a voice again."

Messmer said although he felt angry, he eventually visited one of his attackers in jail, which resulted in "healing."

"My life has always been built on the three-legged stool of faith, family and friends," Messmer said. "When you move toward the fourth F of forgiveness, it sets you to the fifth F of freedom."

Messmer said he learned a great deal through his experience, and feels he has an "opportunity to continue."

"We need to take advantage of an opportunity when we are given a second chance at life," Messmer said. "Each of us contained within us has the stuff of which novels are made. We all have the kind of lives that are so rich if you take the time to look at them."

Read more: http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/laporte...l#ixzz1gWwNni9j

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http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2011/1...49637675974.txt

PNC’s Sinai Forum provides quality programming in its 58th season

Published: Tuesday, December 13, 2011 3:59 PM CST
Congratulations to the Purdue North Central 2011 Sinai Forum, which wrapped up its 58th season in a truly memorable fashion with Wayne Messmer, the voice of the Chicago Cubs, on Sunday night at Elston Middle School.

This speaker series is a wonderful example of the quality of programming available to Michigan City area residents. This year’s speakers included Messmer, known as the voice of the Chicago Cubs and other pro sports teams; Torie Clark, a former assistant secretary of defense and an author and lecturer; Nomi Prins, a former managing director of Goldman Sachs and also an author; and Andy Buchsbaum, executive director of the National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes Regional Center.

These outstanding speakers were featured in the forum series which began in September and concluded Sunday night.

Season sponsors Franciscan Alliance Northern Indiana Hospitals, including Franciscan St. Anthony Health-Michigan City, Franciscan St. Anthony Health-Crown Point, Franciscan St. Margaret Health in Dyer and Hammond and Franciscan Physicians Hospital in Munster also deserve our thanks for helping bring these speakers to our community.

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It's really cool that Michigan City continues to host this series which has brought in so many well known celebrities to our community over the years.