The Future Forum serves as a nexus for Austin's leaders. Our members are actively engaged in many organizations. We encourage you to find out more about these Doers and Builders Organizations on our Website.

Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1966 by Margaret McNamara to encourage children to read by giving them the opportunity to build their own home library with books they had chosen themselves from a selection of new, high-quality books. The RIF program has been in Austin since 1974, when approximately 600 children in the Montopolis neighborhood received RIF books. Growing demand for the program led to the formation of an advisory committee in 1980, and to the creation of Reading Is Fundamental of Austin as a nonprofit corporation in 1989. The original RIF program, the Elementary School Program, operates in elementary schools in the Austin Independent School District in which 70% or more students live below the federal poverty line. This school year, RIF of Austin has committed to serve 20,000 children with this program. To learn more about RIF, and about how you can help, check out their website at www.rifaustin.org/volunteer_opportunities.htm

Come find out more about our Four Future Forum Clusters: The Cultural Cluster, The Film Cluster, The Book Club, and the public Policy Cluster.

The Film Cluster is taking January off to recover from the holiday season. The Film Cluster will meet next on February 6th. The exact time and location (and film) will be announced closer to the date of the event. If you would like to be added to the Film Cluster email list, or have a suggestion for a film, please email Taline at taline@austin.rr.com.

The Book Club is in the process of picking its next book and will announce the book soon. If you would like to be added to the Book Club list, please email Rob at crosnoe@mail.la.utexas.edu.

We have some great events coming up this season. On January 26th, we are planning another Re-Gift party - 7PM at the LBJ Library and Museum,. Grab your favorite bobble head doll, Velvet Elvis, or elephant in a tutu, wrap it, and bring it on out to the party. We love this event because Future Forum members get to know each other better and swap dearly loved gifts - so dearly loved you have been willing to share them with your friends at the Future Forum.

In February, we will be doing an event on Hip Hop in honor of Black History Month. More on this event soon. Then, in March, we will be hosting two evening events on energy.

If you would like to help plan either of these events, please let us know. We'd love your help.

Senator Joe Biden of Delaware will be speaking to the Friends of the LBJ Library on February 22nd at 4PM in the LBJ Auditorium. Future Forum members are invited to attend. We know that the time (4PM) may make it hard for many of you to attend. But, if you would like to attend, please email Catherine at catheriner@lbjlib.utexas.edu.

In November, David Phillips spoke to us about the Future of Iraq - a follow-up on his discussion of two years ago. It was an interesting and thought provoking event. We taped the event, so if you missed it and are interested in viewing it, let us know. Future Forum members may check out a DVD of the program from our "Library."

In December, the Film and Book Clusters did a joint event to watch and discuss the book/film of Jarhead, by Anthony Swofford.

If you haven't yet renewed for the 2005-2006 season, the time is now (or actually a few months ago, but we are patiently waiting for you!) Benefits of Membership Include: Invitation and entrance to all Future Forum events; Notice of public programs and special members’ events at the LBJ Library; Admission to select Friends of the LBJ Library events; Free admission to all other Presidential Libraries; Official membership card; Discount at the museum shop; and, this newsletter (now that alone is worth the membership fee). You can give the gift of a Future Forum Membership.

If you have any ideas about how we can improve the Future Forum, events you'd like to see, or other thoughts, please let us know.

Other LBJ Family sites - LBJ Library: www.lbjlib.utexas.edu, LBJ Now: www.lbjnow.org, LBJ School: www.utexas.edu/lbj/

More about the Future Forum: The purpose of the Future Forum is to expand the involvement of young Texans with the LBJ Library and its programs by initiating dialogue about current issues and by providing educational and cultural information to its members. It is the ultimate goal of the Future Forum to foster greater civic involvement within our community. Future Forum Seeks to Inspire!

Come check out the current exhibit at the LBJ Library - The Vietnam Experience. Visitors to the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum can experience the Vietnam War through the eyes of U.S. Navy combat artists in a new exhibit opening on Veterans Day. The Vietnam Experience is strongly interpreted in this selection of 22 paintings, watercolors, and drawings by six combat artists. From “blue water” ships offshore to the swift boats patrolling the rivers, the U.S. Navy participated in a wide variety of roles and missions during the Vietnam War. Navy combat artists recorded many of these activities, often sharing the same dangers as the sailors and Marines they accompanied. These paintings and drawings give a visual sense of the Vietnam War, from the colors and landscape to the people and the adrenaline-charged combat actions. The paintings capture the surprise attacks of the guerilla conflict, the vigil River Patrol Boats maintained in keeping rivers open, and eyewitness accounts of the dangers of this war.

Also, don't forget, the LBJ Library and Museum is open from 9-5 every day of the year except Christmas day. And, admission is free (we are the only Presidential Library that is free). By the way, another bonus of the LBJ Library and Museum - the view! The great picture of Texas Tower and the Fountain looking out from the LBJ Library and Museum is courtesy of Charles Bogel, who always takes the great pictures at our events.

There are lots of great events happening around Austin. On February 28, Brian Greene will speak as part of KLRU's Engaging Speakers Series. Educated at Harvard and Oxford, Brian Greene is currently a Professor of Physics and Mathematics at Columbia and is one of the world's foremost string theorists. All lectures begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Paramount Theatre, 713 Congress Avenue. His best-selling book The Elegant Universe, a popularization of superstring and M-theories, was the basis for an Emmy Award-winning NOVA special on PBS. His second book, The Fabric of the Cosmos, is an insightful examination into the nature of the universe. With artful metaphors and humorous analogies, Greene explores space-time and cosmology, origins and unifications, along with reality and the imagination. For more information email spark@klru.org or call 512-475-9021.