Dan Gould – Page 89 – Charlottesville Podcasting Network

May 20, 2011 9:04 amMay 1, 2022 10:35 am

The Life and Military Career of General U. S. Grant

Bill Ferraro speaking before a packed house
at the Charlottesville Senior Center Wednesday.

Regular listeners of our podcasts might know Rick Britton. He’s an award-wining historian and cartographer and a frequent guest on WINA’s Charlottesville Right Now with Coy Barefoot. Rick also organizes a Civil War lecture and day-trip series in conjunction with the Charlottesville Senior Center. On Wednesday, May 18, 2011 Bill Ferraro —a former Editor with the Papers of U. S. Grant— delivered a fascinating talk on the life and military career of General Grant.

Bill Ferraro

Born in Ohio in 1822, and an 1843 graduate of West Point, Grant finished the Mexican War as a captain with citations for gallantry and meritorious conduct. After leaving the Army in 1854, he worked hard but nonetheless failed at a number of civilian undertakings. In the Civil War, however, Grant rose steadily in the ranks —from Colonel to General-in-Chief of the Armies— and, after coming east to take on Robert E. Lee and his seldom-bested Army of Northern Virginia, demonstrated his great inner strength and an iron-willed determination to grind down Confederate forces: two qualities sorely missing in previous commanders. Who was this successful Western General? Listen to find out why.

This is part two of a six part series for 2011. You can listen to all six parts of this series here.

May 11, 2011 2:40 pmMay 1, 2022 10:36 am

The 2011 General Assembly Session

Virginia House Delegates Rob Bell and David Toscano provided their perspectives on the issues that came before the 2011 legislature in this 49 minute podcast.

Delegates Rob Bell and David Toscano speaking before a full house at the Charlottesville Senior Center.

Delegates Bell and Toscano spoke at the May 11, 2011 meeting of the Senior Statesmen of Virginia. The meeting was held at the Charlottesville Senior Center. Following the presentation, questions were taken from the audience. The program was moderated by SSV Secretary Bill Davis.

Rob Bell

An honors graduate of the University of Virginia and the University of Virginia Law School, Rob Bell served as a state prosecutor for five years. He prosecuted over 2,400 cases, working with the police and crime victims to bring criminals to justice.

Representing the 58th House District (County of Greene and parts of Albemarle, Fluvanna, and Orange Counties), Rob has written laws that crack down on drunk driving. He was named the 2005 Outstanding Legislator by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)-Virginia. He is also interested in school safety. In recent years, he has written laws to ban criminal sex offenders from school property during school hours and to require additional background checks on school personnel. In 2008, Rob helped overhaul Virginia’s mental health laws in light of the tragedy at Virginia Tech.

An Eagle Scout, Rob was an active volunteer with the Boy Scouts and with the public schools prior to his election in 2001. Rob’s wife, Jessica, is a school teacher. She is currently staying home to raise their children, Robbie and Evelyn. The Bells live in Albemarle County and are members of Aldersgate United Methodist Church.

David Toscano

David Toscano was elected to his first term in the Virginia House of Delegates in November 2005 representing the 57th House District (City of Charlottesville and part of Albemarle County). David was born in Syracuse, New York, in 1950, the first of five children. He was educated in the public schools, received a bachelor’s degree from Colgate University in 1972, a Ph.D. from Boston College in 1979, and a law degree from the University of Virginia in 1986. He has taught at various colleges and universities, including Boston College, the University of Maryland (European Division), Piedmont Virginia Community College, the University of Virginia, and James Madison University. He is an attorney with Buck, Toscano & Tereskerz, Ltd., specializing in family law and real estate. David served on the Charlottesville City Council from 1990 to 2002 and as Mayor from 1994 to 1996. David is a resident of the City of Charlottesville, where he lives with his wife of 30 years, Nancy A. Tramontin, and their son, Matthew. David serves on the Courts of Justice, Transportation, and Science and Technology Committees in the House of Delegates. He is also a member of the Disability Commission, the Joint Commission to Study Math, Science and Technology Education in the Commonwealth, and the Joint Subcommittee to Study Land Use Tools in the Commonwealth. He is also a member of the United Way Board and the Chamber of Commerce.

April 23, 2011 11:08 amMay 1, 2022 10:37 am

The Battle of Cold Harbor

Ed Sanders speaking before a packed house at the Charlottesville Senior Center. Part one of six.

Regular listeners of our podcasts might know Rick Britton. He’s an award-winning historian and cartographer and a frequent guest on WINA’s Charlottesville Right Now with Coy Barefoot. Rick also organizes a Civil War lecture and day-trip series in conjunction with the Charlottesville Senior Center.

On Wednesday, April 20th—to a packed crowd—NPS Historian Ed Sanders delivered a fantastic talk on one of the war’s most vicious battles. Fought between May 31st & June 12th, 1864—and featuring hopeless Federal assaults on June 3rd—the Battle of Cold Harbor was the last combat of U. S. Grant’s aggressive Overland Campaign. At Cold Harbor R. E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, dug in along a line stretching six miles, inflicted 6,000 casualties while suffering very few. It was a bloodletting that future President U. S. Grant lived to regret.

On Wednesday, April 27nd, Rick Britton will conduct an afternoon tour of the Cold Harbor Battlefield (just outside of Richmond). We’ll start off the day by taking in the new Civil War exhibit at the Virginia Historical Society. Then we’ll enjoy lunch at the Tobacco Company. Bus tour departs at 9:00 am and returns at about 5:00 pm. There is a fee for the tour. Call 974-6538 for more info!

This is the first of a six part series for 2011. You can listen to all six parts of this series here.

April 13, 2011 3:57 pmMay 1, 2022 10:37 am

Coming Out of the Great Recession: Changes in Workforce Development

Valerie Palamountain

What can we expect as the economy recovers? Where will the jobs be? What skills will be in demand? How do we plan for the changes? These are the questions that PVCC Division of Workforce Services grapples with everyday. Join us as we gaze into our crystal balls to find the answers.

Valerie Palamountain is the Dean of Workforce Services at Piedmont Virginia Community College. In her position, Ms. Palamountain works with business organizations, the Virginia Workforce Center, and economic development agencies within the Charlottesville region to develop training programs that meet the needs of the business community.

Prior to joining PVCC, she held a similar position at Bucks County Community College in Newtown, Pennsylvania. Ms. Palamountain also worked in private industry for 15 years as a project management consultant in the information technology industry. Her experience includes marketing, training and consulting with Fortune 1000 companies.

Ms. Palamountain holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY, and a Master’s degree in Higher Education Administration from the University at Albany, Albany, NY.

Ms. Palamountain is on the boards of the Albemarle County Rotary Club, the Small Business Development Center, and the Charlottesville One Stop Committee. She resides in Palmyra, Virginia, and enjoys gardening, music and outdoor activities.

Ms. Palamountain spoke at the April 13, 2011 meeting of the Senior Statesmen of Virginia. The meeting was held at The Charlottesville Senior Center. Following the presentation, questions were taken from the audience. The program was moderated by SSV member Grace Zisk.

March 13, 2011 9:08 amMay 1, 2022 10:39 am

Our Current US National Interest and Policies in the Middle East

Donald E. Nuechterlein

Can the United States police the world? Can we identify and act on another country’s national security interests? These are some of the issues addressed by Donald Nuechterlein at this month’s meeting of the Senior Statesmen of Virginia.

Donald E. Nuechterlein grew up in Saginaw, Michigan, and received his undergraduate and PhD degrees in political science from the University of Michigan. He served on active duty in the Navy during World War II and was commissioned in 1945. After the war ended, he served in the U.S. military occupation of Germany, in Bremerhaven and Berlin.

Mr. Nuechterlein had a long career in the federal government, at home and abroad. After joining the State Department in 1952, he served in Washington, D.C. and at U.S. embassies in Reykjavik, Iceland, and Bangkok, Thailand. In 1965 he joined the senior staff, International Security Affairs, in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, as a specialist on Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. In 1968, he became a founding faculty member of the Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville and lectured and conducted seminars on U.S. foreign policy. He retired from government service in 1988.

Dr. Nuechterlein has taught U.S. foreign policy both in the United States and abroad, including George Washington University in Washington, D.C., Queen’s University in Canada, the University of Kaiserslautern in Germany, and the University of Virginia, where he taught most recently in 2008. He was a Rockefeller fellow at the University of California, Berkeley (1963-64), a Fulbright scholar at the University College of Wales (1976), visiting faculty member of St. Antony’s College, Oxford (1982-83), and research fellow at the Australian National University in Canberra (1991) During each of these fellowships, he wrote a book on various aspects of U.S. foreign policy.

Don is the author of ten books, the most recent: Defiant Superpower: The New American Hegemony (2005). He writes a monthly commentary on international relations for several Virginia papers, including in Charlottesville, Richmond, Lynchburg, and Roanoke.

Don and his wife, Mildred, have four children and six grandchildren, and reside in Albemarle County near Charlottesville.

Mr. Nuechterlein spoke at the March 9, 2011 meeting of the Senior Statesmen of Virginia. The meeting was held at The Charlottesville Senior Center. Following the presentation, questions were taken from the audience. The program was moderated by SSV board member Sue Liberman.

February 12, 2011 12:40 pmMay 1, 2022 10:41 am

Will We Ration Health Care? The Coming Public Policy Debate

Eric Patashnik

The passage of the Affordable Care Act has generated concerns that the government will ration valuable health care services. But what exactly is rationing, and how does the U.S. health care system allocate scarce resources today? In this podcast, University of Virginia Professor Eric Patashnik discusses his research on the politics of evidence-based medicine and why rationing has emerged as a major public policy issue. He covers the role of doctors, political leaders, and public opinion in shaping the context in which the debate over rationing is playing out.

Eric Patashnik is Associate Dean and Professor of Politics and Public Policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. He is also Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. Patashnik received both his MPP and PhD (political science) from the University of California, Berkeley. He previously held faculty positions at Yale University and UCLA. Patashnik’s latest book is Reforms at Risk: What Happens After Major Policy Changes Are Enacted (Princeton University Press, 2008), which received the 2009 Louis Brownlow Book Award given by the National Academy of Public Administration. His two other books are Promoting the General Welfare: New Perspectives on Government Performance (co-editor with Alan S. Gerber, Brookings Institution Press, 2006), and Putting Trust in the U.S. Budget: Federal Trust Funds and the Politics of Commitment (Cambridge University Press, 2000). His essays have appeared in Political Science Quarterly, Governance, Journal of Health Politics, Policy & Law, Social Service Review, and in many edited volumes. His current major research project, with Alan Gerber of Yale University, explores the politics of evidence-based medicine in the United States and is supported by grants from the Smith Richardson and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundations.

Mr. Patashnik spoke at the February 9, 2011 meeting of the Senior Statesmen of Virginia. The meeting was held at The Charlottesville Senior Center. Following the presentation, questions were taken from the audience. The program was moderated by SSV board member Bob McGrath.

January 15, 2011 10:56 amMay 1, 2022 10:46 am

Comprehensive Wealth Management

David John Marotta speaking on wealth management at the January meeting of the Senior Statemen of Virginia.

David John Marotta, CFP(r), AIF(r), is president of Marotta Wealth Management and an American Association of Independent Investors Life Member. He is a graduate of Stanford University and president of Marotta Wealth Management, a fee-only financial planning firm with offices in Charlottesville and Richmond, Virginia. David is the author of a weekly financial column, “Marotta on Money,” and a well respected leader in the financial industry. He has appeared in publications including The Washington Post, the LA Times, Money Magazine, Dow Jones MarketWatch, Financial Planning Magazine and the Central New York Business Journal, and is a monthly guest on the Rob Schilling Show of Charlottesville’s WINA. David is a frequent speaker on topics including preparing for college expenses, investing, taxes and retirement planning at the Consumer Education Foundation of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors and American Association of Independent Investors.

In today’s presentation David reminds us that thoughtful wealth management is more than just maximizing net worth. It also gives us the best chance of meeting our life goals. Wealth is only valuable because it helps us make a significant impact on our world. It doesn’t give us meaning. Retirement therefore isn’t an age; it is the state of being financially independent. The goal is to have enough money to be able to achieve the success and significance in life that you desire. A holistic approach to wealth management builds your finances around your core values.

Mr. Marotta spoke at the January 12, 2011 meeting of the Senior Statesmen of Virginia. The meeting was held at The Charlottesville Senior Center. Following the presentation, questions were taken from the audience. The program was moderated by SSV member Charles Smith.

January 6, 2011 12:01 amMay 1, 2022 10:48 am

Virginia History 101: Jeffersonian Architecture

Ed Lay speaks to history enthusiasts at the Charlottesville Senior Center. This is the sixth and final part of this series.

Regular listeners of our podcasts might know Rick Britton. He’s a historian and cartographer and a frequent guest on WINA’s Charlottesville Right Now with Coy Barefoot. Rick also designs and hosts Virginia history programs for the Charlottesville Senior Center.

In the fall of 2010, the Senior Center offered one of Rick’s programs entitled “Virginia History 101.” Running from October 7th through November 18th, this six-session lecture series was designed for those interested in Virginia’s fascinating early history. The series focused on some of the big topics that dominated the Old Dominion’s first two centuries, including, Native Virginians, Tobacco, Slavery, the Revolution, George Washington’s Presidency, and Jeffersonian Architecture. The series was followed with a travel session where participants experienced Virginia history first hand.

The lecture for November 11th, “Jeffersonian (or Federal) Architecture,” was presented by Ed Lay, the Cary D. Langhorne Professor Emeritus of Architecture at the University of Virginia. A veritable font of architectural knowledge on the Old Dominion, Professor Lay has also taught abroad in Edinburgh and Vicenza. After a brief description of the differences between Georgian and Jeffersonian period architecture, Lay familiarizes the audience with the many structures designed by our third president, Thomas Jefferson–who introduced neoclassicism to the United States–as well as the many central Virginia homes influenced by his beautiful creations.

This is the sixth and final part for this series for 2010.

Click here to listen to all six lectures in this series:

* December 2, 2010 – The Monacan Nation – Rick Britton
* December 9, 2010 – Tobacco, The First Cash Crop – Susan Kern
* December 16, 2010 – Foodways of the Enslaved – Leni Sorensen
* December 23, 2010 – The Yorktown Campaign – Ed Lengel
* December 30, 2010 – Washington’s Presidency – David Hoth
* January 6, 2011- Architecture in the Jeffersonian Period – Ed Lay

December 30, 2010 12:01 amMay 1, 2022 10:48 am

Virginia History 101: George Washington & His Presidency

David Hoth speaking at the Charlottesville Senior Center.

The November 4, 2010 talk, “George Washington & His Presidency,” was delivered by David Hoth, Editor of the Papers of George Washington (both the Revolutionary Series and the Presidential Series), and a former Editor of the papers of Presidents James K. Polk and Andrew Jackson. Using his extensive knowledge of both Jackson and Washington, Hoth commences with some interesting “compare and contrast” anecdotes. Both Presidents had gained fame as military commanders–and Jackson saw himself as a “Washington-like” hero–but George Washington exhibited much more control and restraint, and his political abilities have been greatly underestimated. Washington cared a bit about money, but he was not motivated by power. What was the driving engine behind his Presidency?

This is the fifth in a six part series for 2010.

Click here to listen to all six lectures in this series:

December 23, 2010 12:01 amMay 1, 2022 10:49 am

Virginia History 101: The Yorktown Campaign

Ed Lengel

The lecture for October 28, 2010, “The Yorktown Campaign,” was presented by Ed Lengel, UVA Professor of History, Editor-in-Chief of the Papers of George Washington, and author of a number of books and articles on Washington’s military expertise. Following a fascinating description of Washington’s obsession with attacking Gen. Sir Henry Clinton’s large British garrison at New York City–based on the premise that one great battle would end the war–Lengel then focuses on how the cooperation of the French army and navy, and the intervention of lady luck, put an end to the English Empire’s hold on the American colonies. At the end, at Yorktown, close to 9,000 British veterans surrendered to a Franco-American force almost twice that size!

This is the forth in a six part series for 2010.

Click here to listen to all six lectures in this series:

December 16, 2010 12:01 amMay 1, 2022 10:49 am

Virginia History 101: Foodways of the Enslaved

Leni Sorensen

The lecture for October 21, 2010 was entitled “Foodways of the Enslaved.” It was presented by Leni Sorensen, Monticello’s African-American Research Historian, who besides her duties on Jefferson’s “little mountain,” also teaches rural life skills such as canning, butchering, and cookery. Following an introduction of the enslaved individuals laboring in Mr. Jefferson’s kitchens–at Monticello, in Paris, and at the White House–Sorensen delivered a fascinating talk on the surprisingly complicated, and fashionable, meals they prepared. Previously forgotten by history, these cooks and chefs were talented, amazingly literate, and oftentimes multi-lingual.

This is the third in a six part series for 2010.

Click here to listen to all six lectures in this series:

December 9, 2010 12:01 amMay 1, 2022 10:49 am

Virginia History 101: Tobacco, the First Cash Crop

Susan Kern

On October 12, 2010, Susan Kern presented “Tobacco, The First Cash Crop.” Ms. Kern is a visiting assistant professor in William & Mary’s Lyon G. Tyler Department of History. Throughout Virginia’s early history, the powers that be attempted to diversify the state’s economy, but tobacco, the evil weed, reigned supreme. Tobacco profits insured that Virginia would flourish. Tobacco profits bought trade goods from England, paid local tithes and taxes, and purchased more land and more slaves for its further cultivation.

This is the second in a six part series for 2010.

Click here to listen to all six lectures in this series: