2009-2010 Programs

Fran and Brooke Reidelberger bring us a collage of whimsy, highlighted by food, festivals, magnificent mountain scenery, castles and storybook towns. Archival footage is included to tell the story of the post World War II rebirth of Munich advancing into modern day Munich, including the world-renowned Oktoberfest.

Continue our trip from coast to coast, viewing the most spectacular scenery and fascinating historic places in America. We visit Indian ruins in the southwest, see the fall colors of New England, the wide-open tundra of Alaska and experience the end of the Lewis and Clark Trail at Fort Clatsop National Monument.

Imagine the eternal Sahara with it windswept mountains of orange-gold sand, labyrinths that are the medinas of Fez and Marrakech, colorful markets with their fruits, tapestries and mint tea. Merchants selling rugs, artisans specializing in tile mosaics or brass metalwork. You loved Rick’s Soul of India and Dalai Lama.

Experience some of the most intimate scenes in the lives of otters – as well as coyotes, wolves, bears, moose, fox, mountain sheep and elk – in the wilds of Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone’s otters are our guides through the seasons of the year, from the playful springtime antics of the young to the often harsh struggle for survival in winter.

Yes, John is back to take you on a trip through our 49th state. Experience Alaska’s natural majesty of the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge, Watson Lake Sign Post Forest and many other sites. John will share his favorite places and show you the best routes to save you time and money on your next Alaska adventure!

Travel with Steve and a youth group from Salt Lake City to an orphanage in the Himalayas of Northern India…hoping to make a difference. From there it’s on to New Delhi, Jaipur, Agra and the religious city of Rishikesh on the Ganges, as well as the famed Taj Mahal.

Go beyond the sacred sites of this ancient city. View rarely seen footage of the interior of the Dome of the Rock’s shrine. Explore Wilson’s Arch at the Western Wall whose entrance leads to an incredible labyrinth of tunnels, arches, and passageways that have remained untouched for centuries, and much more!

From (Irish) Sea to Shining (Mediterranean) Sea, Monty will take us on an historic, spiritual journey from Solway Firth on the Irish Sea in Scotland, through England, and on through France to the romantic Provence on the Mediterranean Sea. Everywhere, stories and legends of the glorious past are written in stone: churches, castles, monuments and ruins.

Vassar Brothers Institute concluded it’s 2010 “Science In Your Life” series on March 24th with a standing room only audience in attendance. The not-for-profit organization presents this public education forum each year with “The purpose to bring together scientists and the lay public in the exploration of topics of general interest and concern.”

Programs presented in the 2010 series included “Secrets of the Great Pyramid” by guest speakers Dr. Bob Brier of Long Island University, “Protecting our WWII Maritime Heritage” by David William Alberg of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and “Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease: Separating fact From Myth” by Dr. Margaret C. Sewell of The Mount Sinai Medical Center. All three programs were held at Our Lady of Lourdes High School Auditorium on Boardman Road in Poughkeepsie.

2010 Science In Your Life series was made possible by a generous donation by Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union. HVFCU Vice President, Marketing Stephen M. Nikitas, presented a check to Vassar Brothers Institute President Maung Htoo at the first Science In Your Life program on January 27th.

HVFCU is a community chartered credit union offering personal financial services to nearly 200,000 members. The credit union has more than $2 billion in assets. HVFCU currently serves its members through 17 branch locations in Dutchess, Ulster, and Orange Counties, four Dutchess County IBM branches, a nationwide network of 55,000 surcharge-free ATMs, Internet banking, online bill payment, and 24-hour account access by telephone. Vassar Brothers Institute is a non-profit organization established in 1882 devoted to further the study of science, literature and art. Membership information may be obtained from the website: www.VassarBrothersInstitute.org or by calling (845) 462-7308.

Dr. Bob Brier has worked in Egypt for more than 30 years, and is one of the world’s foremost authorities on mummies. He is Senior Research Fellow at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University. Dr. Brier’s previous projects include the reconstruction of an Egyptian nobleman’s tomb for the Hillwood Art Museum at C.W. Post, and the research of ancient Egyptian mummification techniques. He is the author of numerous books, including “The Murder of Tutankhamen” (1998), and he has collaborated on several television specials and series, including “Mummy Detective,” “The Great Egyptians,” “Unwrapped, the Mysterious World of Mummies”. Dr. Brier is currently studying mummies to determine whether Alzheimer’s Disease existed among the ancient Egyptians.

The Great Pyramind of Giza is one of the unsolved mysteries of all time. Egyptologists simply do not know how ancient builders raised thousands of 2-ton blocks to the top of the 480-foot pyramid. This lecture presents a radical new theory and the recently discovered evidence for it. For years, French architect Jean-Pierre Houdin worked in isolation in a one-room flat in Paris with nothing but his computer and the most detailed blueprints of the Great Pyramid ever drawn. In 2003 he contacted Egyptologist Bob Brier and the two began working together to find evidence for his theory–that hidden inside the pyramid is a mile-long ramp that is still there, waiting to be discovered. In the course of their explorations in Egypt, they uncovered a room 275 feet up the pyramid never mentioned in the Egyptological literature. Recently, Houdin, working with Dassault Systemes in Paris, was also able to demonstrate that the Great Pyramid cracked as it was being built, and pinpoint precisely when and why. This illustrated lecture presents the new internal ramp theory and the evidence for it, including the first photographs of the room high up on the pyramid’s NE corner. This research was the subject of a recent National Geographic Channel documentary.

During the summer of 2008 and 2009, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) led a series of archaeological research expeditions to study shipwrecks, including three German submarines, sunk in 1942 off the coast of North Carolina during the Battle of the Atlantic. These surveys also resulted in the discovery of a lost US Naval Patrol Boat – the YP389. The expeditions were part of a larger multi-year project to research and document a number of historically significant shipwrecks tragically lost during World War II, including U.S. and British naval vessels and merchant marine vessels. This lecture will describe the findings and their significance in protecting our World War II Maritime Heritage.

David Alberg joined the National Marine Sanctuary Program in the fall of 2005. As Sanctuary Superintendent for the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, Mr. Alberg serves as the onsite manager for the sanctuary and as the primary point of contact between NOAA and The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia which is conserving the thousands of artifacts recovered from the wreck of the USS Monitor. He has an extensive background in cultural resource management, museum work and exhibit development and has been involved in a number of high-profile museum projects. In 1992, Mr. Alberg began his museum career as the first curator for the Virginia Air and Space Center in Hampton, Virginia and went on to serve as the Director of Exhibits and Collections for the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL. Prior to working for NOAA, he served as the Deputy Director for Nauticus, The National Maritime Center in Norfolk, Virginia.

Patricia Keith and Sean Cassidy explore Burma (now called Myanmar) in their quiet, gentle way, seeking to find out what lies behind the façade commonly presented to visiting tourists. See the ancient ruins of Bagan, visit an orphanage rebuilding after a typhoon, and meet many more of the friendly, welcoming people of Burma.

Beyond the autocratic regime in control of Iran, are the warm, hospitable people of this land so rich in history, traditions and culture. Buddy is one of the very few westerners who have been allowed to film the story of this land and its people, from ancient sites of the Persian Empire to the lives of modern day Iranians.

Drive down the Great Ocean Road from the wine regions of Victoria to the vineyard-rich area around Adelaide in Australia. Sample New Zealand’s outstanding wines along with its spectacular scenery. In both countries you will spend pleasant evenings in B&Bs and inns experiencing their varied cuisines and wines.

Come along and enjoy the magic that is “Inside Ireland”! We’ll see medieval castles, ancient monasteries, country farms and cottages; we’ll experience prehistoric stone sites, Neolithic tombs, and dramatic seaside cliffs; and we’ll visit quaint old villages, intriguing ports, and some of Ireland’s more recognizable cities and towns – Blarney, Killarney, and Dublin, to name a few.

Yes, John is back to take you on a trip through our 49th state. Experience Alaska’s natural majesty of the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge, Watson Lake Sign Post Forest and many other sites. John will share his favorite places and show you the best routes to save you time and money on your next Alaska adventure!

Research over the past several years has brought new revelations about causes, potential new treatments, and prevention of this disease that affects up to 5.3 million Americans. There has been substantial research on refining diagnosis and treatment, as well as understanding what lifestyle factors may be a risk for developing Alzheimer’s. Some of the information available to the lay public may seem confusing, contradictory, or even outlandish. Dr. Sewell will help distinguish between fact and myth in this research.

Dr. Sewell’s talk will illustrate, with participation from the audience, how Alzheimer’s is diagnosed with neuropsychological testing. She will discuss how to distinguish among problems associated with Alzheimer’s disease, Mild Cognitive Impairment and normal aging. Dr. Sewell will review current treatments and new ones ‘coming down the pike’ currently in clinical trials. Prevention studies will be reviewed in order to shed light on everyday changes that we can make in order to decrease the chances of developing dementia.

Margaret C. Sewell, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She is the Director of Education for the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and also is Director of Mount Sinai’s Memory Enhancement Program. Dr. Sewell, a neuropsychologist, conducts research on neuropsychological testing and dementia diagnosis, and lectures widely in the lay and professional community. She maintains a private practice in Nyack, New York.