Ethical Humanist Society of the Triangle

Highlights of the AEU Assembly in Tampa
2019-08-11 09:30 - 11:30 (America/New_York) | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
The American Ethical Union (AEU) is the national organization of which EHST is a member. Each year the AEU holds a convention, called an “Assembly,” in which delegates from the other Ethical Humanist societies meet for three days of lectures, workshops, entertainment, and a business meeting. EHST President Dorothy Dale, and members Jan Broughton and Chris Kaman attended this year. They will give a presentation covering the highlights of the Assembly.

Teaching American Indian History
2019-08-04 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Do our public schools teach historically accurate depictions of American Indians? Ryan Dial-Stanley, a member of the Lumbee tribe, will discuss what education should depict. Leslie Locklear was originally scheduled to speak, but had to step aside. She recommended her colleague Mr. Dial-Stanley who is also quite knowledgeable about this issue, and works with her to inform the public of the problem. You can find out more about the problem via this recent article in the News and Observer: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article228639074.html.

I Am a (Non) Believer
2019-07-28 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Many theists ask non-theists, “Well, just what do you believe?” Atheists believe there is no god, but what about non-theists? Amanda Poppei, Senior Leader of the Washington Ethical Society, will address just what folks who call themselves non-theists believe in. Ethical Humanism, aka Ethical Culture, is non-theistic. Ms. Poppei will help us understand more about what non-theists actually believe.

Think Like A Boss
2019-07-21 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Most organizations focus on professional development from the perspective of grooming better employees. Dr. Dauv Evans will assert that we need more employees who think like a boss. He has trained employees how to incorporate an entrepreneurial perspective to their jobs. Thinking like a boss can create a more productive and ethical work environment.

Dr. Dauv Evans has devoted over ten years of his time and talents to teaching, training, and coaching professional excellence. He is an advocate of promoting employees’ mindset to that of a BOSS to produce a more productive and well-rounded team. He is the author of the book “Don’t Forget to Breathe.” His guide to redefining success has been well received by professionals in various industries.

https://www.noomii.com/users/dauv-evans

Questioning the Authority of One's Assumptions
2019-07-14 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Randy Best, Leader of the Northern Virginia Society for Ethical Culture, will discuss assumptions and their ethical effects. Here is a snippet of his talk:
“What assumptions do I make as I move through the world? How do my assumptions influence my interactions with others? Are my fundamental assumptions about myself too narrow and self-limiting? To what extent is my experience of the world generalizable to others? These thoughts intrigue me. I will unpack these ideas and reflect on how they contribute to my ethical consideration of others and help bridge the gap of understanding.”

Post July 4th Reflections and Refreshments
2019-07-07 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
July 4th is the day the U.S. celebrates the signing of the Declaration of Independence, also known as Independence Day. EHST will focus on what this day means to us in 2019. The microphone will be passed around, and each attendee will have an opportunity to reflect about what the day means to them. We will also use video and music to help us explore the dimensions of the Fourth. We will then share food via a potluck format. Potluck means “pot luck” so no coordination will be done, but please label what food you bring, and any ingredients that might affect others’ choices to partake such as “contains gluten,” or “vegan,” or “contains peanuts,” etc. Visitors need not prepare any food, members are encouraged to do so. Chris Kaman, longtime EHST member, will guide us through the celebration.

Polarization in Politics, and the Search for Meaningful Dialog
2019-06-23 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
In the midst of what seems like extreme polarization in politics, a national organization is working to bridge divides. Better Angels is working to bring dialog to a fractured nation. Better Angels groups are working here in the Triangle! Here is an excerpt from the website of Better Angels:
“In December, 2016, ten Trump supporters and eleven Clinton supporters gathered in South Lebanon, Ohio, in what became the first Better Angels Red/Blue Workshop. The goal? To see if we could respectfully disagree and find any common ground.
“The results were remarkable. We liked each other. We wanted to know more about each other. We wanted to keep on meeting. We wanted to help start workshops in communities all across America! Those reds and blues invited their friends to another workshop and helped to found the first Better Angels Alliance.”
Our guest speakers will be Laura Gilliom and George Thompson, who are members of a group at the Community Church of Chapel Hill, Unitarian Universalist, called “Sanctuary for Dialogue.” The group was formed in 2015 with the purpose of leading conversations on difficult topics within the church and in the community. After the 2016 election, Laura and George discovered Better Angels, and found it to be a very good fit with their mission. Several members of their group got trained as moderators, and began holding workshops. As a group, they have held approximately 16 workshops in total, most in the Triangle area, but some in the Triad and in South Carolina.
Professionally, Laura is a clinical psychologist with a private practice doing couples and individual therapy, and George is a retired school counselor and an active musician.

Confederate Monuments and Memorials in the Piedmont Region 1868-1914
2019-06-16 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Christopher Laws will be discussing the pre-war views that North Carolinians (especially in the Piedmont) held about secession and the Confederacy in early 1861; the rhetoric that was used in the monument dedication ceremonies; who gave the speeches and why that is important; and (time permitting) a brief glimpse into Non-Confederate Civil War commemoration and why it is also problematic.
Christopher Laws wrote his Master’s thesis dissertation on “The Rich Man’s Memory that the Poor Man Buys: Analysis of Confederate Monuments and Memorials in the Piedmont Region of North Carolina, 1868-1914.” Mr. Laws is now working on his PhD in Public History at North Carolina State University.
The following is the abstract from his thesis:
“The purpose of this study is to determine the themes presented in the dedication ceremonies of Confederate monuments in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, between 1868 and 1914. Analysis of the inscriptions on the monuments, the speeches that the main orators gave, and musical selections of the ceremonies were considered when determining the themes presented.
“Additionally, the political climate of the Piedmont region in 1860 and 1861 was examined to determine the level of Unionism that existed in the region before North Carolina’s secession from the Union in May 1861. A quantitative analysis was then done to determine the wealth of the men in the North Carolina General Assembly in 1860, along with the wealth of the orator’s families in 1860. A comparison was then done to show the disparity of wealth between those two groups and the average county wealth of the Piedmont counties in 1860.”

Dr. Damon Tweedy, a Moderated Interview
2019-06-09 09:30 - 11:30
We are very fortunate to be able to have as our guest speaker, Dr. Damon Tweedy, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University School of Medicine, and author of Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor’s Reflections on Race and Medicine (a New York Times bestseller and one of Time Magazine‘s Top Ten nonfiction books of the year in 2017). The program will be in the form of a moderated interview conducted by EHST friend, Solomon Gibson, III.
Dr. Tweedy was interviewed earlier this year on NPR after the events in Virginia involving Governor Northam and the Blackface Scandal. Listen to the interview here.
Dr. Tweedy will be bringing about 20 copies of his book, which can be purchased for $15. He will accept personal checks and cash only.
This is an event you won’t want to miss. Please come, and invite your friends to attend.

Vernetta Alston - Durham City Council member and LGBTQ activist
2019-06-02 09:30 - 11:30
Our speaker today will be Vernetta Alston, a Durham City Council member and LGBTQ activist.
An article in the News and Observer on February 7, 2019, describes events at Immaculata Catholic School in Durham.
Vernetta Alston, a Durham City Council member and an alumna of Immaculata Catholic School in Durham, was invited to speak at the school for Black History Month. However, classes were canceled after officials heard “a number of groups” planned to protest the school’s invitation to her. Ms. Alston is one of six openly LGBTQ candidates elected to office in North Carolina in 2017. Durham County District Court Judge Shamieka Rhinehart and City Councilwoman Jillian Johnson were also scheduled to speak at the school to celebrate Black History Month, a city official said. “We were all scheduled to speak at different times this month,” Johnson wrote in a text. “They told me that they’ve canceled the whole Black History Month program.”
Please plan to attend and support this program. Also, GENTLE REMINDER: This will be the first Sunday of the month. Please bring canned goods and other non-perishable dry goods for the IFC Food Pantry. Please remember to bring your donations in PAPER grocery bags.

The Spiritual Significance of the 2030 SDG Agenda and Ethical Culture
2019-05-26 09:30 - 11:30
Our speaker will be Martha Gallahue, from the American Ethical Union.
Martha Gallahue will speak of her work in interfaith cooperation with the URI (United Religions Initiative). In the face of comprehensive interdependence there is an urgent need in the world, using science) to grasp the coherence of the universe and why humans may be of significance for the next step in evolutionary consciousness. Noting the fragility of species, highlighted by the number of endangered creatures recently identified, it is evident why the Sustainable Development Goals are necessary.
Premise: The Evolutionary Biology of Altruism
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201212/the-evolutionary-biology-altruism?
Martha Gallahue is an AEU certified clergy leader who has served the National Ethical Service at the United Nations and the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County, where she continues to coordinate their Families for Ethical Education initiative. Martha was a Dominican Sister for 11 years, and left during graduate school training in theology. She is a certified psychoanalyst in private practice and holds a Master’s degree in Comparative Religion from Columbia University/Union Theological Seminary. She represents Ethical Culture in the United World Religions at the UN, with a focus on peace building and the culture of peace.

Exploring Ethical Decision Making
2019-05-19 09:30 - 11:30
May 19th is our annual Founders Day celebration. This year our program will be: Exploring Ethical Decision Making.
Every day we come across problems, large and small, that require some thought and comparisons to reach the ‘right’ decision. Often we have limited information but still need to take action. Today’s program will be a combination description and workshop in ethical decision making. by Jan Broughton, EHST member.
Using Arthur Dobrin’s book, Ethics for Everyone: How to Increase your Moral Intelligence, we will be presented with a dilemma and asked to choose the right response based on the facts as known. When given more information, does the decision become clearer? What questions do we need to ask? What assumptions can we make? What are some strategies for assessing the harms and benefits of a course of action? Through this exercise we can increase our ability to approach ethical analysis in a more effective way.

Election Fraud
2019-05-12 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
On Sunday, May 12th, EHST friend and frequent visitor Andrew Silver will be our speaker. He will be discussing election fraud, focusing on electronic voting and voter suppression. His main points are:

New voter ID laws disfranchise up to 10% of citizens in some states
Paper ballots are not counted when optical scan machines miss marks made by voters, or break down and are replaced
Arbitrary purging of voters led to removal of over one million voters from registration rolls without cause in 2016

Andrew Silver is an epidemiologist who has lived 16 years in Thailand. His interest in election fraud followed the 2000 stolen presidential election, after which he co-founded the NC Coalition for Verified Voting. The NCCVV campaigned to introduce and support a bill sponsored by Elli Kinnaird and Verla Insko, the Public Confidence in Elections Act, to end use of unsecured, secretly programed, paperless voting machines. It became North Carolina law in 2005.

Ensuring Fair Treatment of Youths Across All Institutions
2019-05-05 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Peggy Nicholson, Youth Justice Project Director, Southern Coalition for Social Justice will speak about the work of the Youth Justice Project. That project works to ensure equity, fairness, and justice for youth in high-quality education, juvenile, and criminal systems. The goal of the project is to ensure that all people and institutions will treat youth with love, empathy, fairness, respect, and dignity, and fulfill their other basic human needs. You can find out more about the project here: https://www.southerncoalition.org/youth-justice-project/.

Two Cultures: Sixty Years Later
2019-04-28 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
“The Two Cultures” is the first part of an influential 1959 Rede Lecture by British scientist and novelist C. P. Snow. Its thesis was that “the intellectual life of the whole of western society” was split into two cultures – the sciences and the humanities – which was a major hindrance to solving the world’s problems. “The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution” (1959) was a published version of the lectures in book form. In 1963 Snow added a second part to his original work, “The Two Cultures: A Second Look.”
The lecture and subsequent publishing of the book raised a storm of outrage. There were howls of protest from mostly non-scientific critics, and there were scientists who were also critical of Snow’s thesis.
Sixty years have passed since Snow’s lecture at the University of Cambridge. It is time to re-visit the original thesis and evaluate whether the phenomenon of two cultures is still a concept influencing society, or a belief that is no longer relevant. Since 1959 science, and hence technology, has made immense gains in fundamental knowledge of the physical, chemical, and biological universe. That knowledge has spurred tremendous technical development that has changed human life to an extent that would have been unimaginable in 1959. Do science and humanities now speak the same language, or is it still mostly ships passing in the night?
EHST Member Atish Sen will present his thoughts on this topic.

Humanist Happy Hour at the Modern Life Deli in Pittsboro
2019-04-24 14:00 - 16:00
EHST will celebrate our Humanist Happy Hour at the Modern Life Deli in Pittsboro.
Come join us for dinner and whatever you wish to drink. Our goal is to celebrate friendships, and make new friends too!

Earth Day Celebration
2019-04-21 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Earth Day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970. The celebration has grown from 50 million participants, to more than a billion people celebrating worldwide. EHST will celebrate Earth Day with reflections by EHST members, music, and foods to enjoy. Come celebrate with us!

My Art and Social Issues
2019-04-14 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Prof. Pedro Lasch will speak to us about his art, and how social issues inform his work. Prof. Lasch is a visual artist, and a Duke professor. He is also director of the FHI Social Practice Lab at Duke. Solo exhibitions and presentations include Open Routines (QMA), Black Mirror (Nasher), Abstract Nationalism (Phillips Collection) and Art of the MOOC (Creative Time). Group exhibitions include MoMA PS1, MASS MoCA (USA), RCA, Hayward Gallery, Baltic (UK), Centro Nacional de las Artes, MUAC, National Palace Gallery (Mexico), Prospect 4 Triennial New Orleans (2017), Gwangju Biennial (2006), Havana Biennial (2015), Documenta 13 (ANDANDAND, 2012), and 56th Venice Biennale (CTS, 2015). He is the author of four books, and his work has appeared in numerous catalogues, as well as journals such as October Magazine, Saber Ver, Art Forum, ARTnews, Cultural Studies, The New York Times, and La Jornada. His online pedagogical artwork ART of the MOOC has had over 29,000 enrolled participants in 134 countries since it was launched in 2015.

Humanist Happy Hour at The Root Cellar (Chapel Hill)
2019-04-10 14:00 - 16:00
EHST will celebrate our Humanist Happy Hour at The Root Cellar in Chapel Hill (750 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd). Come join us for dinner and whatever you wish to drink. There should be plenty of parking available. The restaurant stops serving at 8 pm, and closes shortly thereafter; however, note that Flyleaf Books is located right next to the Root Cellar, and they are open until 9 pm, so your evening need not end at 8 pm!

Rise Against Hunger
2019-04-07 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Rise Against Hunger (RAH) is a Raleigh-based non-profit dedicated to “ending hunger in our lifetime by providing food and life-changing aid to the world’s most vulnerable, and creating a global commitment to mobilize the necessary resources.” It was founded in 1998 by Ray Buchanan, a United Methodist minister, and now has locations in Italy, India, Malaysia, South Africa, and the Philippines. It has earned a four star rating from Charity Navigator. Our speaker, Zach Karges, will talk about the work of the organization. He is assistant manager of the Raleigh Community Engagement under RAH.

A Palestinian Patient Advocate with Rabbis for Human Rights
2019-03-31 09:30 - 11:30
Zakaria Sadeh is a Muslim Palestinian from the West Bank. He was born in 1978, ten years into the occupation, and grew up in a Muslim village near Nablus, within close proximity to several Jewish settlements. From an early age, Zakaria felt comfortable talking to his Jewish neighbors. He learned their language, and because of his fluency in both Hebrew and Arabic, he eventually found his calling in helping Palestinians who required medical care in Israeli hospitals and clinics. These people were often intimidated by the Israeli bureaucracy and their own inability to understand the language. Thus began his work, since the time of his early adulthood, in serving as a patient advocate, accompanying them, jumping through the hoops and the hurdles of red tape, and interpreting for them. As security became more intense in the intervening years, Zakaria’s expertise was also required to get these patients through the myriad of checkpoints, which were designed to make it as difficult as possible for Palestinians to get to Israel to receive badly needed medical care. Mr. Sadeh has worked in this capacity, both as a volunteer and as a paid consultant, with Physicians for Human Rights, Machsom Watch, and other organizations, but primarily as a Field Director for Rabbis for Human Rights.
Because of his gift for helping people, he became very well known and highly sought after throughout the West Bank. Tragically, however, there were also very serious threats against him and his family, and Mr. Sadeh made the decision to move with his family to the United States, where they now reside. He continues to work via Skype as a consultant for Rabbis for Human Rights.

Humanist Happy Hour at The City Tap Bar in Pittsboro
2019-03-27 14:00 - 16:00
Come join fellow humanists for drinks, dinner, and good conversation at our regular, monthly Humanist Happy Hour at The City Tap Bar at 89 Hillsboro Street in Pittsboro. We meet here the fourth Wednesday evening each month. Parking is available on the street, and in nearby parking lots across from and down the street from The City Tap Bar.

Editing Life: Ethics & Governance of New Genetic Engineering
2019-03-24 09:30 - 11:30
Jennifer Kuzma, Ph.D., will speak to us on on “Editing Life: Ethics & Governance of New Genetic Engineering.”

This talk will explore emerging biotechnologies applied to agriculture and ecosystems, namely gene editing and gene drives, and whether developers are repeating the mistakes made with the 1st generation of GMOs while expressing a desire to “do better” with regard to public confidence and trust. Dr. Kuzma will examine key ethical issues associated with how decisions about gene edited crops are being made and how gene drives are likely to be regulated, followed by a group discussion about whether we are on the “right path” (responsible and sustainable) with 2nd generation GMOs. You can read an article by her which is related to her talk: https://issues.org/regulating-gene-edited-crops/
Jennifer Kuzma, Ph.D., is a Goodnight-NC GSK Foundation Distinguished Professor, School of Public and International Affairs, and Co-Director, Genetic Engineering & Society Center of North Carolina State University.
Jennifer Kuzma

Addiction Medicine – Dealing with Addiction in Real Time in a Community Mental Health Clinic
2019-03-17 09:30 - 11:30
(Rescheduled from an earlier date)
The Opioid Epidemic is being talked about widely in the media. Dr. Amelia Davis will speak to us about her work in treating opiate addiction.
We will specifically focus on opiate addiction, including heroin and various oral pain medications (whether prescribed or street) and various illicit substances. We will also talk about hidden addictions, how people are able to hide addiction from their families, and also about how their dealers are cutting street drugs with other high addictive substances, most specifically cocaine and fentanyl combinations. We will talk about how to deal with these multiple dynamics in a compassionate and humane manner, and how this affects patients, their families, and how it is seen in all sectors of society.
Dr. Amelia Davis, MD, graduated with a BS from University of Minnesota, and a Master’s degree in Science from University of Florida in Gainesville, in psychiatric academics. She earned her medical degree from the University of Minnesota, and did her residence at the University of Minnesota Hospitals, with a one year fellowship in psychotic disorders, and three peer certifications in various addiction medicine components. She is a certified buprenorphine prescriber and will be sitting for her addiction boards in October of 2019.

A Greener World - Empowering Sustainable Agricultural Solutions
2019-03-10 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Emily Moose, Director of Communications and Outreach for A Greener World, will speak to us about the work of the organization and her role in it. In addition to helping farmers get certifications for animal welfare, grassfed beef, non-GMO, and organic foods, they also help you, the consumer, become informed about what labels mean and how you can help fuel these critical practices with your smart purchases. Understanding food labeling is as important and as confusing as ever. Ms. Moose will provide us with the information we need to be good consumers.
Emily Moose developed a love of agriculture at an early age during summer visits to her cousin’s hog farm in eastern Virginia. She is a graduate of UNC-Asheville and the NC State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Agricultural Leadership Development Program and is based in rural North Carolina. Emily leads AGW’s outreach team throughout the U.S. and Canada, guiding communications and developing new programs and initiatives within the organization–including AGW’s labeling support, volunteer and membership programs.

A Dialog on Refugees and Migrants
2019-03-03 08:30 - 10:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
EHST members Atish Sen and Vlodek Gabara will hold a dialog about refugees and migrants, taking both a personal and a historical perspective. They will include global perspectives (beyond the U.S.), and they will offer some differing views on the subject. Questions will be addressed, such as: What are the differences between the two groups, and what are the discrepancies or contrasts in treatment by international and U.S. laws and agreements? What rights should be addressed between these two groups, if any?

NC Stop Torture Now Project
2019-02-24 08:30 - 10:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Did you know that an airport in Johnston County has been involved in 49 cases of “extraordinary rendition?” Planes launched from there picked up individuals from around the world who were captured as suspected “terrorists” and then taken to countries which condone torture, thus bypassing our own laws regarding torture. The North Carolina Commission of Inquiry on Torture has documented these “torture flights.” Dr. Christina Cowger, co-founder of NC Stop Torture Now, will be speaking to us about this report and what her organization is doing to prevent “torture flights” in the future. Also, Reverend Para Drake of the NC Council of Churches, and Project Coordinator of NC No Torture, will be available during the question and answer period, to provide more information on efforts to stop these flights from taking place.

Darwin Day Talk - Eugenics: The Past, the Present, and the Future
2019-02-17 08:30 - 10:30
(Rescheduled from an earlier date)
The term “eugenics” was a word coined by Francis Galton (Charles Darwin’s cousin) to describe the “science of improving human stock” by encouraging the reproduction of the “more suitable races,” so that they would prevail over the “less suitable races.” This so-called “science,” based on poor and incomplete knowledge of genetics, was subverted by individuals with their own political and social agendas, which ultimately led to the justification for the wholesale liquidation of groups. Despite the revulsion and repudiation of the practice of eugenics by world opinion following the revelation of Nazi excesses, some form of it is re-emerging in the wake of recent advances in knowledge and technological capabilities in genetic and reproductive sciences.
Elaine Winshell, who is a friend and frequent visitor at the EHST, will address these issues. She holds a PhD in Microbiology from Columbia University. She is a Professor of Biology at Ramapo College in New Jersey, and is a former Dean of the School of Theoretical and Applied Science. She will talk about not only what has happened, what is currently happening, and what could happen with the new genetic technologies; she will also ask whether society should permit these new technologies to proceed without restraint/regulation. Near the end of her talk, she will ask us whether there are “liberal eugenics” and discuss the unintended consequences of the new genome and genetic technology. Some examples: Sex selection + abortion, screening for genes that are associated with a particular disease (Tay-Sachs), Down syndrome, followed by abortion, screening for height, athleticism, intellectual ability, and other traits that require multiple genes, as well as correcting an error in the DNA code (CRISPR/cas) in a germ cell or a somatic cell.
Come join us for what promises to be an interesting and thought-provoking subject.

After the Storm: Effects of Florence and Michael on Livestock and Farms in North Carolina
2019-02-10 08:30 - 10:30
In September 2018, Hurricane Florence, closely followed by Hurricane Michael, had a devastating impact on livestock and the environment in North Carolina. Dr. Doug Meckes heads the Veterinary Division of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and will speak to us about the effects of these storms.
Dr. Meckes currently serves as the Commissioner of Agriculture’s lead subject matter expert on all animal health issues. He designs and administers programs that monitor and protect the state’s livestock, poultry, and equine industries as well as other species of interest. He works in coordination with the USDA, APHIS, and Veterinary Services’ district office in the administration of federal cooperative agreement programs and funding. Previous to this, under the administration of President Obama, Dr. Meckes led the Office of Health Affairs’ responsibilities to provide oversight and management of the Department’s implementation of Homeland Security Presidential Directive-9 Defense of United States Agriculture and Food.

State Abortion Restrictions - What You Need to Know
2019-02-03 08:30 - 10:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Many states have passed restrictions on the conditions under which a woman may have an abortion. The restrictions have closed many clinics which provided not only abortions, but also other reproductive and women’s health services. What are some of the most egregious of the restrictions? Whom do these restrictions affect? Stan Henshaw, formerly with the Guttmacher Institute, will bring us up to date on the state of abortion in the U.S.
