Category: Speeches and Presentations

These are speeches and presentations put on by people in the Charlottesville area. Some of them may be mere excerpts, some of them may be complete.

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Jack Marshall of ASAP: Towards an “optimal sustainable population”

We all have opinions on the growth going on in Charlottesville and surrounding counties. But Jack Marshall is well-positioned to make his declaration that Albemarle County needs to set an “optimal sustainable population.” Marshall is a cultural anthropologist who spent many years studying the effects of population growth. Now he’s the president of Advocates for a Sustainable Albemarle Population. He spoke at the annual meeting of the Ivy Creek Foundation on June 25, 2006, in the Foundation’s new education building.

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CPN is an aggregator of podcasts from in and around Charlottesville. We post about a dozen or so pieces a week, from everything from public lectures to call-in shows like WINA’s Charlottesville–Right Now. To make sure you don’t miss anything, subscribe to the show for free in iTunes. This will automatically download everything posted here into your iTunes folder. Listen on your computer, or take CPN with you on the road.


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VABook 2006: The Rise of Conscious Capitalism

Patricia Aburdene was the featured speaker at the annual Virginia Festival of the Book Business Breakfast on Wednesday, March 22, 2006., Aburdene is author of Megatrends 2010: The Rise of Conscious Capitalism. She discussed her new book, which explains why firms like Timberland, Wainwright Bank, 3M, Chiquita Brands, Motorola, Intel and others are taking a stand for corporate social responsibility. Aburdene explains what many have felt but couldn’t prove: Corporate responsibility actually is good business. Old-fashioned values, honest accounting, and stewardship for each other and the environment translate into healthy profits: “doing the right thing” pays off for everyone.



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Charlottesville School Board Elections Study Task Force May 18 Public Hearing

Now that Charlottesville voters have decided the city’s school board should be elected, there’s one more thing that has to be sorted out. How should the elected members be selected? Should each person represent a particular area of the city, or should all members serve in an at-large capacity? Or, should there be a mixture of the two extremes? The City Council appointed a task force to study the issue, which is studying six possible options. A hearing was held last night in City Council Chambers to take comments from the public.

John Yellig of the Daily Progress has an article today, as does cvillenews.com.

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Cindy Sheehan and Ann Wright speak in Charlottesville

Anti-war activists Cindy Sheehan and Ann Wright were the guests of the Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice for an event on May 17, 2006. Sheehan is active in the group Gold Star Families for Peace, and Wright is a former state department official who resigned on the day the war with Iraq began. The event was held at Charlotteville High School and was introduced by Sean McCord.



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Repost: Will intercity rail come to Charlottesville?

Meredith Richards giving her presentation to potential members of Charlottesville Citizens for Better Rail Alternatives(Michael Testerman)

The group Charlottesville Citizens for Better Rail Alternatives was created last year to create public demand for an extension of the Virginia Railway Express to Charlottesville. The group is spearheaded by Meredith Richards, a former Charlottesville councilwoman and candidate for Congress. Richards is now the public voice of the group, which hopes to convince the Virginia Railway Express to extend its service all the way to Charlottesville.

Last September Richard gave a public presentation to the group, as well as an interview with Mike Thrift, a Charlottesville man who commutes to D.C. at least once every week.

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Students ask: where does Charlottesville get its food?

A unique class in the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture has spent much of this last semester analyzing where Charlottesville residents get their food. Students in PLAC 569, Community Food Systems, presented their results this week in City Council chambers in front of a group of local farmers, grocers and food activists. The basic consensus: most of our food comes here from a long way away. We present an edited portion of their presentation in this podcast.

What do you think? Please leave your comments below and let us know where your food comes from. A follow-up meeting will be held in June to take further action on the findings of the class. Next spring’s section of PLAC 569 will continue the research.

Update from July 6: Waldo Jaquith says the preliminary report of the class “is very much worth your time.” And here is a link to the paper.

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James Madison’s Montpelier Unveiled


Courtesy of the Montpelier Foundation

Two years ago, James Madison’s Montpelier was partially demolished in the first step of major renovations to restore the house to the way it was back in Madison’s day. The Montpelier Foundation hopes the reconstruction will allow visitors to the Orange County estate to learn more about James Madison, who is often called the father of the U.S. Constitution.
On a sunny day in late April, the new/old exterior of the mansion was formally unveiled in ceremonies presided over by Senator John Warner and Representative Eric Cantor. Both men paid tribute to Madison’s role in the creation of the United States of America. In this report, you’ll hear excerpts from both men’s speeches. You’ll also hear from Mark Wenger, the project’s architectural historian. Ambient music in the piece comes from the Shenandoah University chorus, who were on hand to sing the national anthem.


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Community Chalkboard Unveiled on Downtown Mall

About three hundred people gathered this morning under a bright April sun on the east end of the Charlottesville downtown mall to be among the first to watch someone write on the new community chalkboard. The 42-foot-long slate wall is a monument to the First Amendment built by the Thomas Jefferson Center for Free Expression. Area celebrities were in attendance, and short remarks were made by George Garrett, John Grisham and Boyd Tinsley. We present the entire event in this downloadable recording,
along with reactions from people who were there.

00:00 – 00:34 – Introduction
00:34 – 03:41 – Robert O’Neill, Director of the Thomas Jefferson Center
03:41 – 06:24 – Bruce Sanford, Chairman of the Center’s Board of Trustees
06:24 – 08:16 – Charlottesville Mayor David Brown
08:16 – 13:00 – Former Virginia Poet Laureate George Garrett
13:01 – 18:12 – Bestselling author John Grisham
18:12 – 27:05 – Dahlia Lithwick, legal writer for Slate and host of WHTJ’s For the Record
27:05 – 30:10 – Violinist Boyd Tinsley of the Dave Matthews Band
30:10 – 33:31 – Brandon Dudley, Charlottesville High School Senior
33:31 – 35:20 – Closing remarks from Bruce Sanford
35:20 – 37:00 – Closing Remarks from Robert O’Neill and the unveiling
37:00 – 42:47 – Montage of reactions and first words written

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You can see better pictures of the event on Doc Multimedia’s blog. 2300 Days has a really nice picture of the wall shortly after it was open to the public. Charlottesville Tomorrow has many pictures of the people listed above.



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Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling Speaks to Chamber of Commerce


Lt. Governor Bill Bolling(photo credit: Larry Banner)

Every year, the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce holds the Commonwealth Breakfast, where officials in state government give their thoughts on the politics of the day. This year, the keynote speaker is Lieutenant Governor William Bolling, who speaks for twenty-three minutes on the Virginia way in government. Bolling’s remarks are followed by comments from Senators Emmet Hanger (R-24) and Creigh Deeds (D-25) and Delegates Rob Bell (R-58), Steve Landes (R-25) and David Toscano (D-57).

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VABook: The Influence of Sandra Day O’Connor

Legal news commentator and reporter Joan Biskupic, discusses her new biography, Sandra Day O’Connor: How the First Woman on the Supreme Court Became Its Most Influential Justice. This event is part of the 2006 Virginia Festival of the Book, and is sponsored by the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression.



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Smelly Town: Woolen Mills residents speak out at recent Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority meeting

Last week, Charlottesville blogger and photographer Bill Emory wrote about a recent meeting of the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority. On March 13, Bob Wichser, the authority’s director of Water and Wastewater Operations, listened to hear Woolen Mills residents’ concerns over smells from a composting facility in the area. Some have linked health conditions with the smells including nausea, headaches, sore throats, and asthma. Vice-Mayor Kevin Lynch and neighbors from the Belmont/Carlton neighborhood also attended. Bill sent us the audio, and CPN Volunteer Dan Daniels put it together for this podcast.




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Town Hall Meeting on the War in Iraq

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On March 13, the Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice co-sponsored a Town Forum on the War in Iraq to mark the third anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. CPN now presents a slightly edited version of the three hour event as a public service. Thanks to CPN Volunteer Sean McCord for gathering the sound.

(00:00 – 00:30) – CPN Intro

(00:30 – 01:40) – Sue Chase, Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice

(01:40 – 08:00) – Bill Anderson, CCPJ Co-Chair

(08:00 – 20:00) – Al Weed, candidate for Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District

(20:00 – 21:00) – Sue Chase introduces David Swanson introduced as moderator

(21:00 – 35:30) – David Swanson of Progressive Democrats of America and Impeach.PAC

(35:30 – 52:00) – Ray McGovern, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity

(52:00 – 1:03:00) – Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski, Office of the Secretary of
Defense on Near East South Asia Policy

(1:03:00 – 1:12:00) – Tia Steele, Gold Star Families Speak Out

(1:12:00 – 1:29:00) – Eman Ahmad Khamas, Woman’s rights activist from Baghdad

(1:29:00 – 1:42:00) – Gael Murphy, Code Pink