The Commonwealth Club Launches New Current Affairs Review Program “Week to Week” Fridays 12 Noon
featuring News Gurus Debra Saunders, Larry Gerston and John Zipperer

SAN FRANCISCO (Feb.13, 2012) – On Friday, February 24, 2012, The Commonwealth Club will host the first in an ongoing series of current events news programs called “Week to Week.” The inaugural panel will feature Dr. Larry Gerston, Ph.D., emeritus professor at San Jose State University and a political analyst at NBC 11; Debra Saunders, columnist at the San Francisco Chronicle and occasional commentator on CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” and moderator John Zipperer, vice president of media & editorial for The Commonwealth Club of California. The three will engage the audience in a lively, informative, and fun review of the week’s news events, exploring issues from their unique and at times opposing perspectives; the program will also feature another guest to go in-depth on a topic in the news, plus a news quiz and a quick look at the week ahead.

Says the program’s creator and moderator Zipperer, “We are going to offer a fresh experience from The Commonwealth Club, a recurring program offering timely insight and commentary on the news of the world, the nation, and the Bay Area.” He says that topics will include politics, the economy, cultural news, and other hot topics of the week.

“Week to Week” is launching with a semi-monthly (twice a month) frequency, but it will soon increase to weekly frequency.

Dr. Larry Gerston is a political science professor emeritus at San Jose State University, where he examines the public policy making process at the national and state levels. His book Recall! California’s Political Earthquake (with Terry Christensen), was selected as “outstanding academic book of 2004” by the American Library Association. His other books include American Federalism: A Concise Introduction and Retreat from Reality: Ten Problems Threatening to Implode American Society (and How We Can Fix It). His eleventh book,Not So Golden After All: The Rise and Fall of California, will be published by Taylor & Francis in April 2012. Dr. Gerston is the political analyst at NBC11 (the Bay Area NBC station) and is a frequent commentator in print and broadcast programs.

Debra Saunders is a popular columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and the author of SFGate’s “Token Conservative” blog. Her pieces, which have been syndicated by Creators Syndicate, appear three times a week and are carried by newspapers throughout the country and on townhall.com. Between 1987 and 1992, Saunders was a columnist and editorial writer for the Los Angeles Daily News. Her articles have been printed in The Wall Street Journal, National Review and Readers Digest, and her book The World According to Gore was released in 2000.

John Zipperer manages The Commonwealth Club’s media and editorial departments, including editing its members magazine The Commonwealth. He is a frequent contributor toNorthside San Francisco and The Marina Times.

Attendees are invited to suggest topics for the panel to discuss at the W2W page: http://www.commonwealthclub.org/w2w

The “Week to Week” programs will take place at the SF Club Office Blue Room, located at 595 Market St, 2nd floor in downtown San Francisco. They will be free to Commonwealth Club members, $10 for nonmembers; premium tickets (including lunch) will be available for $12 for members and $22 for nonmembers. Get details

DATE: THU, FEBRUARY 9, 2012
TIME: 12:00 PM PACIFIC TIME

In the early days of the new year, the famed Doomsday Clock moved one minute closer to midnight, indicating a worsening threat to mankind of nuclear armageddon and other disasters. The clock, maintained by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, is a widely watched sign of the world's vulnerability to man-made catastrophe, and this latest change moved the clock's hands from six to five minutes before midnight.

Just two years ago, the Bulletin had moved the hands from five to six minutes, signaling hope that the world was making serious efforts to tackle its problems. The 2012 move was made because "that trend has not continued or has been reversed," according to the Bulletin.

Kennette Benedict, the executive director and publisher of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, will join Commonwealth Club President and CEO Dr. Gloria C. Duffy for a members-only teleconference on February 9 to discuss the Bulletin's January 10 Doomsday Clock announcement, and how the public and media responded to the news that it now stands at 5 minutes to midnight. Benedict will also describe how her organization's board members and experts assessed current risks related to nuclear weapons, climate change, nuclear energy, and biosecurity at the 3rd Annual Doomsday Clock Symposium, which preceded the announcement.

From 1992-2005, Benedict directed the international peace and security program at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. She also established and directed the foundation's initiative in the former Soviet Union from 1992-2002. Before joining the foundation in 1987, she taught at Rutgers University and at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Dr. Duffy was U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense and special coordinator for cooperative threat reduction from 1993-1995. In this role, she negotiated agreements with former Soviet countries to dismantle their weapons of mass destruction, and she coordinated U.S. assistance to these countries to meet those goals.

Join these two security experts for this timely program. Members were sent information via email on how to access this members-only program.

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This week at The Commonwealth Club of California:

TUESDAY: Edward J. Larson (100th Anniversary of Robert Falcon Scott Reaching the South Pole)

WEDNESDAY: Bishop Robert McElroy (Catholicism, Conscience, and American Politics); Majka Burhardt (Coffee Story Ethiopia -- A Food Crop. A Nation. Its New Future); Dylan Ratigan.

THURSDAY: San Francisco Architecture Walking Tour; Dave Barry & Alan Zweibel (this event is sold out).

FRIDAY: Christina Romer & Michael Boskin (Bank of America/Walter E. Hoadley Annual Economic Forecast).

GET MORE INFO FOR EVENT DETAILS AND TICKETS

Dr. Gloria C. Duffy, president and CEO of The Commonwealth Club of California, is scheduled to be on KCBS News Radio 740 AM at 4:30 p.m. today offering her take on Iran’s nuclear situation. From 1993-1995, Duffy was U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and Special Coordinator for Cooperative Threat Reduction. In this role, she negotiated agreements with the former Soviet countries to dismantle their weapons of mass destruction, and she coordinated U.S. assistance to these countries to meet those goals. She was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service in 1995.