The Ruth Pauley Lecture Series celebrates its 22nd season with five exciting lectures dealing with the conflict in Iraq, mental health, sports, travel, and the life of one of the world's greatest statesmen.

September 16th, 2009
Peter Bergen “Beyond The Kite Runner: Exploring Afghanistan Today”
CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen and author of The Osama bin Laden I Know and Holy War Inc:  Inside the Secret World of bin Laden will discuss modern Afghanistan.  The Soviet occupation, the civil war in the 1980s, the rise and fall of the Taliban, and Afghanistan’s future will be explored. This will be The Pilot’s Sam Ragan Memorial Lecture. 

October 28th, 2009
Roland Stephen, Ph.D. “Globalization and North Carolina”
Dr. Stephen is Assistant Director for the NCSU Institute for Emerging Issues.  His talk will seek to identify policy responses available to economic leaders, developers, state officials, and the public given a rapidly changing and competitive global economy. 

November 17th, 2009
The Pinecrest High School Speech and Debate Team “Taxes”
Pinecrest is home to one of the most successful and fastest growing National
Forensic League teams in the nation. Coached by Libby Carter and assisted by debate coach Robert Sheard the team has seen great success in both local high school and national tournaments.  The night’s topic will focus on the pros and cons of various national and state tax plans.

February 23th, 2010
Jim Getty “An Evening with Abraham Lincoln”
Travel to the Civil War Era with a first person presentation by award-winning Lincoln re-enactor Jim Getty.  Getty has portrayed our 16th president on A&E’s “The Assassination of President Lincoln” and TBS’s “The Ironclads”.

March 25th, 2010
Robert S. Berry, MD “The Trials &Triumphs of an Insurance-Free Doctor”
Dr. Berry is a leader of a growing movement of physicians who no longer participate in healthcare’s third party payment system.  This preserves the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship and eliminates the cost of filing thousands of small medical claims each year, thus enabling Dr. Berry and others to provide affordable care for the uninsured.  He has presented his insurance-free model on ABC, CNN, and Fox News.