Last bit and this is personal preference so you can ignore it, but I like to have the "business end" of the content as close to the left side of the page as possible. Unless it's a small navigational menu over on the left, I prefer seeing the relevant page items (in this case meaning the list of forums) on the left and then the widgets and extras on the right. That ensures that things are optimal for all browsers and resolutions. It's a bit of an obsolete ideal, but it's still a good web design practice.
Edit - Sample layout of what I'm talking about, 30 secs in mspaint cause I'm busy working etc.
http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/5223/qcdnlayoutsuggestionae1.gif