Mark Cloutier, SF Foundation
Masen Davis, Transgender Law Center

Rents across San Francisco are ballooning at a frightening pace, giving New York City a run for its money as the nation's most expensive rental market. How is this situation affecting different populations and organizations within the city? Don't miss this panel exploring the impact on the LGBT community as nonprofit organizations are forced to leave the city due to unaffordable rent increases. Panelists will explore possible creative solutions to retain vital services in the city.

MLF: LGBT
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program
Cost: $20-non-members, $8 months, $7 students (with valid ID)
Program Organizer: Julian Chang
Also know: In association with the SF Foundation, the San Francisco Human Rights Commission and the Transgender Law Center

Russian Hill Walking Tour

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 walk down residential streets where some of the most historically significant houses in the Bay Area are located.

Location: Meet in front of Swensen's Ice Cream Store located at 1999 Hyde Street at Union. Your best option is to take bus transportation (details below) or come by taxi. There is absolutely no parking on Russian Hill. (No parking lots or street parking). Muni: 45-Union Stockton will drop you off at the corner of Union and Hyde - right in front of Swensen’s. Use www.nextmuni.com to determine bus stops and schedule. The tour ends about six blocks from the Swensen's Ice Cream Shop, at the corner of Vallejo and Jones. It is an easy walk down to North Beach from there.
Time: 1:45 p.m. check-in, 2–4 p.m. tour
Cost: $45 non-members, $35 members
Program Organizer: Kristina Nemeth
Also know: Steep hills and staircases, recommended for good walkers. Parking difficult. Limited to 20. Must pre-register. Tour operates rain or shine. Photo by missmillie/flickr.

Larry Gerston, Professor, San Jose State University; Political Analyst, NBC 11; Author, Not So Golden After All: The Rise and Fall of California; on Twitter: @lgerston

Carla Marinucci, Senior Political Writer San Francisco Chronicle; on Twitter: @cmarinucci 

Debra J. Saunders, Columnist, San Francisco Chronicle; "Token Conservative" Blogger, SFGate.com; on Twitter: @debrajsaunders

John Zipperer, Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club — Host

Who said political discussion couldn't be fun? Join our panelists for informative and engaging commentary on political and other major news, audience discussion of the week’s events, and our news quiz!

Stay after the program to meet other smart and engaged individuals, and discuss the news over snacks at the member social. The Club attracts the Bay Area's brightest and most connected to its stage and audience. Meet them.

Location:SF Club Office, 595 Market St., San Francisco
Time:11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1-2 p.m. social with wine and snacks
Cost: $15 non-members, $5 members, $7 students (with valid ID)

David A. Hall, Ph.D., Author; Professor; Ordained Buddhist Priest

The Japanese samurai were a class of warriors who dominated Japan’s military, political and social culture for almost a thousand years. Ferocious warriors, they have become known as much for their “spirituality” as for their lethal swordsmanship. Hall, author of the Encyclopedia of Japanese Martial Arts, will discuss the training methods used by the samurai, which taught both martial skills and spiritual/psychological armoring. These methods, evolved over hundreds of years, have been preserved in a number of classical martial arts schools in Japan today. Join us for a fascinating look at martial arts and the spirit of the samurai.

MLF: Asia Pacific Affairs
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program
Cost: $20 non-members, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID)
Program Organizers: Lillian Nakagawa and Sylvie Grillet-Rivera

Bernie Krause, Ph.D., Musician; Naturalist; Director, Wild Sanctuary

Listen through the ears of Dr. Krause to an unforgettable soundscape presentation of the voice of the natural world. Krause has traveled the world to record, archive, research and express these increasingly rare sound environments of nature. His personal narrative is also recently described in The Great Animal Orchestra: Finding the Origins of Music in the World's Wild Places.

MLF: The Arts
Location: SF Club Office
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

Katie Hafner, Journlist; Contributor, The New York Times; Author, Mother Daughter Me

Noted journalist and author Hafner asks: What is our obligation to our parents as they age, particularly if they were far from perfect parents when we were children? Hafner explores her journey of understanding and reconciliation as she tells how her mother, Helen, made it clear she wanted to live with her daughter and granddaughter, Zoë. Thinking that she and her mother were "as close to the mother-daughter ideal as could be," Hafner agreed. It was only when they all came together under one roof that she realized she had totally misjudged the situation. Gain valuable insight on coming to terms with the flawed people who happen to be our family members.

MLF: Grownups
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 4:45 p.m. networking reception, 5:15 p.m. program
Cost: $20 non-members, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID)
Program Organizer: John Milford
Also know: In association with San Francisco Village

Chinatown Walking Tour

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. Visit a Taoist temple, an herbal store, the site of the first public school in the state, and the famous Fortune Cookie Factory. There is a short break for a tea sample during the tour.

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
Also know: 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.

Michael Ellis, Footloose Forays

Come discover one of the Bay Area's most spectacular and pristine natural wonders. After departing Sausalito we will cruise under the Golden Gate Bridge and past Pt. Bonita, looking for marine mammals that inhabit the area. If time permits we may also venture out over the continental shelf to look for unusual species that are found on this edge. Then we'll move to the main Farallon Island. Only members of the Pt. Reyes Bird Observatory and the Coast Guard are allowed on the island. We will stay in the protected Fisherman's Cove for a while to soak up the immense amount of life that abounds here. Afterwards, we will cruise over and look at the south side of the island, where most of the manmade structures are located.

Ellis began going to the Farallon Islands as a researcher in 1977 and has been leading trips there ever since. 

A note on seasickness: Please get a good night sleep before the trip and do not drink any alcohol! Avoid fried and greasy foods. Eat whatever breakfast you normally would. Bring crackers and bubbly water. Think good thoughts. There are a number of fairly effective motion sickness remedies on the market. Some of these require a doctor's prescription; others may be purchased over the counter. If you try the transderm patch (ear patch) that contains scopolamine, please try it at home first. The side effects are unpleasant to some people. 1 g. -powdered ginger in capsules has been shown to be an effective remedy. The Chinese have known this for about 1000 years; NASA recently confirmed it.

Location: Meet at the Salty Lady, Sausalito Sport Fishing Pier, foot of Harbor Drive, Sausalito. From 101, take the Sausalito/Marin City exit off. As you exit bear right on Bridgeway toward downtown Sausalito. Go three lights and turn left on Harbor Drive. Follow until it dead ends at some large parking lots just opposite Caruso's. The pier is obvious. Park in the large lot to the left (north). If you are unfamiliar with this area please review a map prior to departure.
Time: 7:30 a.m. meet for important introductory lecture on boat safety and the natural and human history of the Farallons., 8 a.m. sharp boat departs. Likely return by 4 p.m., but it's possible we could be slightly late.
Cost: $155 non-members, $155 members 

Denise King, Artist and Exhibit Development Manager, the Exploratorium

Take a peek behind the scenes of San Francisco's hottest new exhibit space. After years by the Palace of Fine Arts, the Exploratorium recently revealed its exciting new digs along San Francisco's waterfront. King will lead us on a tour of the shops and lab where she does her development work for the Exploratorium's special exhibits. She will focus on how she builds life support systems into her exhibits, incorporating live plants and organisms, and well as the difference between exhibits and artwork. The tour is limited to 20 people.

MLF: The Arts
Location: The Exploratorium, Pier 15/17, San Francisco
Time: 10 a.m.-12 p.m. tour
Cost: $45 non-members, $35 members
Program Organizer: Lynn Curtis 

Camille Seaman, 2013 Senior TED Fellow

Photographer, Camille Seaman, has traveled between both the North and South Polar Regions for the last ten years documenting the fragile environment and its otherworldly beauty. Her work captures the essence of awe and beauty of indigenous cultures and environments in a sophisticated documentary/fine art tradition. People often wonder what one person can do to help save this planet we call home, Seaman will discuss this question from the perspective being part of both an indigenous culture and a modern world.

MLF: The Arts
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program
Cost: $20 non-members, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID)
Program Organizer: Lynn Curtis 

Mary Ruckelshaus, Ph.D., Managing Director, The Natural Capital Project
Heather Tallis, Ph.D., Lead Scientist, The Nature Conservancy
Rich Sharp, Ph.D., Lead Software Developer, The Natural Capital Project

The appeal of seeing nature as a vital asset – as natural capital – has spread like fire over the last decade. This concept appears in thinking about agriculture, water, energy, health, fisheries, forestry, protection from hazards, mining, cities and the infrastructure supporting these and other vast sectors – and it increasingly appears in the ways communities, corporations, governments and other institutions frame decisions. Despite this awareness and energy, however, our state and planet remain besieged by degradation and growing threats of catastrophic change.

Leaders of The Natural Capital Project and The Nature Conservancy will talk about how they are using the power of open-source software tools to transform how communities and institutional leaders around the world include the value of natural capital in decisions improving outcomes for biodiversity and human wellbeing.

MLF: Science & Technology/Humanities/International Relations
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program
Cost: $20 non-members, $8 members, students free (with valid ID)
Program Organizer: Chisako Ress
Also know: In association with Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment, The Nature Conservancy and the World Wildlife Fund

Anthony D. Barnosky, Professor, Department of Integrative Biology, UC Berkeley; Cox Visiting Professor, Department of Environmental Earth System Science, Stanford University

Monday Night Philosophy highlights Professor Barnosky's research into how global change influences extinction dynamics and biodiversity maintenance. The most recent generation has witnessed humanity changing the planet in both positive and negative ways. Barnosky explains that the key challenge for the 21st century is to ensure that the negative changes, now accelerating, do not limit our capacity to make our children's world at least as good as our own.

MLF: Humanities/Science & Technology
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program
Cost: $20 non-members, MEMBERS FREE, $7 students (with valid ID)
Program Organizer: George Hammond

James Workman, Journalist; Environmental Author; Former speechwriter for Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt

Eighty percent of global fisheries are at risk of collapse due to decades of over-fishing under the broken open-access, free-for-all, "race to the bottom" system. But Pacific Coast fishermen are leading a bold new rights-based approach to replenish both the sea and their bank accounts. This careful graduation to a "catch share" regulatory program, involving 74 species of fish, is resulting in higher revenues, reduction in wasteful discards, fresher product, and greater transparency. In an animated talk based on his forthcoming book, Workman will reveal the roots, essence, challenges and evolution of catch shares, tracing the seafood value chain from hook to cook and dock to plate.

Location: SF Club Office
Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing
Cost: $20 non-members, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID)
Program Organizer: Stephen Seewer