The Program Committee is always working to line up a dynamic program schedule.

Click here to register now!

2009 / 2010 Programs
	March 16 2010
	COLORADO’S CONSTITUTIONAL CONUNDRUM or: Where’s the Autopilot Taking Us? We welcome state Sen. Rollie Heath, D-Boulder, to our March 16 event. Heath will offer his take on the fiscal entanglement in Colorado’s constitution. Some say TABOR (1992, state revenue limitations and mandatory refunds), Amendment 23 (2000, mandatory spending increases on K 12 education) and the Gallagher Amendment (1982, ratio of residential property tax collections vs. commercial) combine to leave the state with little fiscal flexibility. To resolve these issues, Colorado formed the Long-Term Fiscal Stability Commission during 2009, with Heath as chair. The Commission approved Senate Concurrent Resolution 10-001, which asks voters to authorize a Fiscal Policy Constitutional Commission to study the constitutional issues, hold statewide public meetings, and put a comprehensive constitutional solution on the ballot in 2012. It’s impossible to say if the legislature will approve the resolution. If it does not, it might take a citizen initiative to deal with…citizen initiatives. Our March 16 event will present and discuss the individual provisions, how we amend our constitution, and our comprehensive situation. Sen. Heath expects to field questions and comments, as this topic generates lively debate. ABOUT SEN. ROLLIE HEATH Rollie Heath holds a bachelor’s in Business Administration and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Wisconsin. He served in the U.S. Army for 23 years, and has extensive private sector experience including 17 years in senior management with Johns Manville Corporation. He founded the Rocky Mountain World Trade Center in 1988. He stood for Governor of Colorado in 2002, and was elected to the Senate in 2008. He was named a Public Education Business Coalition’s Champion of Education in 2008, and Legislator of the Year in 2009 by the Economic Development Council of Colorado. He currently chairs the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs committee, and serves on the Senate Education and Appropriations committee.
	March 23 2010
	Gitmo: Individual Rights in the Age of Terrorism Since 2005, Scott Barker has led a team of Holland & Hart lawyers in representing five Algerian Guantanamo Bay detainees in their habeas corpus proceedings in federal court in Washington, D.C., on a pro bono basis. Scott will talk about his experience, which has included trips to the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Tirana Albania and multiple Court appearances in the Nation's Capital. He will discuss with us such topical questions as should the Guantanamo prison be closed; where and how should the remaining detainees be tried; and what should be done with those detainees who can't be tried. Scott plans to leave time for questions and comments from the floor. Scott Barker is a partner at Holland & Hart where he has practiced as a trial lawyer for 29 years. Scott is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a past Chair of Holland & Hart's Management Committee and the current Chair of the Firm's 200 lawyer litigation group.
	April 6 2010
	American Journalism at a Crossroads: The Future Is Now Max Wycisk, president of Colorado Public Radio, will share his views about the future of journalism, together with his insights about the role public radio plays in the changing journalistic landscape. American journalism is at a crossroads. We live in an era where we are seeing daily newspapers, long the bastion of local independent reporting and accountability, failing in Colorado and around the country. At the same time, broadcast newsrooms are shrinking as well. Fewer traditional journalists are reporting less news. Independent reporting that is so critical as a source of information, analysis, understanding, and particularly local community knowledge has been seriously diminished. On the bright side of this picture is public radio, whose audience has grown 47 percent since 2000 and whose Morning Edition program has a larger audience than that of any network morning show. Some 26 million people listen to National Public Radio (NPR) each week, which is a larger audience that the top 70 U.S. newspapers combined. Brand loyalty of public radio listeners is second to none, except perhaps the New York Times. Statewide, Colorado Public Radio's audience (CPR) has also grown and is comparable to that of the state’s largest daily newspaper. Through generous contributions from listeners, CPR has been able to double its local news staff and provide greatly expanded in-depth local reporting. Both NPR and CPR have greatly broadened their web presence with timely news stories and updates. Max Wycisk has been with Colorado Public Radio's flagship station KCFR since 1974, first as an announcer, then Program Director, and since 1978, President. From 1984 - 1990, Max served on the board of National Public Radio, and he is a past chair of the board of the Station Resource Group. In 1996, Public Radio International gave Max the William H. Kling Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Max grew up in Minnesota and has lived in Colorado with his wife Margaret since 1966. He earned a Ph.D. in literature and philosophy from CU Boulder in 1972. Max began working in public radio in the early 1970s, and has served as President of Colorado Public Radio (a statewide network of classical music and news stations--KVOD and KCFR in Denver) since 1978. Max has served on several public radio boards, including the board of National Public Radio (1984-1990).In 1996, Public Radio International gave Max the William H. Kling Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Max and his wife have one child: a daughter who is currently a graduate student at the University of California Santa Cruz. Max has had a life-long interest in the arts, particularly in music and the visual arts.