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Past Events

Thursday, 3 Nov 2011

EcoMind: Changing the Way We Think, to Create the World We Want - Frances Moore Lapp
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Frances Moore Lapp is the author of seventeen books including the three-million copy Diet for a Small Planet. Her new book, EcoMind, argues that the way we look at today's environmental challenges robs us of power and prevents us from positive action. From global hunger to the environmental crisis, we have the resources we need to make a difference, but what Lapp calls our "thought traps" hold us back. She is the cofounder of three organizations, including Food First: The Institute for Food and Development Policy and, more recently, the Small Planet Institute, a collaborative network for research and popular education seeking to bring democracy to life. Lapp and her daughter have also cofounded the Small Planet Fund, which channels resources to democratic social movements worldwide. Part of the World Affairs Series and Live Green! Sustainability Series.

The End Becomes the Beginning - Astronaut Clayton Anderson
5:00 PM – Alliant Energy-Lee Liu Auditorium, Howe Hall - Astronaut and Iowa State alum Clayton Anderson will share his experiences with NASA's Space Shuttle Program. A veteran of two space flights, Anderson has logged 167 days in space and completed 5 months aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in 2007. He performed three spacewalks during his time onboard the ISS and recently completed three additional spacewalks as an STS-131 crew member aboard Discovery in 2010. He has logged more than 38 hours of extravehicular activity. Anderson joined the Johnson Space Center in 1983 and held a number of positions before being selected as a mission specialist in 1998. He holds a master of science degree in Aerospace Engineering from Iowa State University (1983).

Town Hall Meeting on Economic Policy - Presidential Candidate Michele Bachmann
12:00 PM – South Ballroom, Memorial Union - Michele Bachmann is the first Republican woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota. She is an advocate for tax reform, an opponent of wasteful government spending, and a strong proponent of adherence to the Constitution, as intended by the Founding Fathers. Prior to serving in the U.S. Congress, she was elected to the Minnesota State Senate in 2000 where she championed the Taxpayers Bill of Rights. Before that, she spent five years as a federal tax litigation attorney. Her experience service on the House Financial Services Committee has shaped her views on the housing crisis and credit crunch, leading her to oppose the bailout of Wall Street and the Dodd-Frank legislation. A graduate of Winona State University, she received her J.D. at the O. W. Coburn School of Law at Oral Roberts University and an L.L.M. in tax law at the College of William and Mary. Part of the Presidential Caucus Series which provides the university community with opportunities to question presidential candidates before the precinct caucuses.

Tuesday, 1 Nov 2011

Good Debt, Bad Debt: How to Live Credit Smart - Maxine Sweet
8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Maxine Sweet is vice president of Experian North America's Public Education organization and leads Experian's consumer education, community involvement and corporate responsibility teams. She represents Experian in such national education programs as the JumpStart Coalition for Financial Literacy and LifeSmarts, both of which have the goal of reaching students with critical knowledge and empowering them to live credit smart. As editor of Ask Experian, a financial education advice column, she helps consumers understand credit reporting and how to use credit wisely. She is also a member of the board of directors of Call For Action, a national consumer help organization, as well as InCharge, one of the nation's leading credit counseling organizations. Greater Iowa Credit Union Business Lecture Series.

Genetically Engineered Foods: The Naked Truth - Gregory Jaffe
6:00 PM – South Ballroom, Memorial Union - Gregory Jaffe is the Director of the Biotechnology Project at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), an advocacy and educational organization that focuses on nutrition and health, food safety, and sound science. CSPI was instrumental in pushing through the federal law to set standards for nutrition and health claims on food labels and create the "Nutrition Facts" label. Jaffe joined CSPI in 2001 after working for several government agencies, including as a trial attorney for the Department of Justice's Environmental and Natural Resources Division and then as senior counsel with the Environmental Protection Agency's Air Enforcement Division. He was recently reappointed to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture's Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture, on which he also served in 2003-08. Part of the National Affairs Series and the Live Green! Sustainability Series.

Friday, 28 Oct 2011

How to Survive a Zombie Attack - Max Brooks
9:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Max Brooks, author of The Zombie Survival Guide, is on a Halloween Tour. Brooks, who is considered to be one of the world's foremost Zombie experts, has also won an Emmy as a writer for Saturday Night Live and is the son of legendary comedian Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft. His other New York Times bestsellers include the graphic novel The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks and World War Z, which Paramount Pictures is adapting for a movie starring Brad Pitt. Even the CDC has embraced this pop culture phenomenon, citing Brooks and the "Zombie Apocalypse" in its call for disaster and survival preparedness. Book Signing with Max Brooks 10:15 p.m. Colonel Pride Lounge, Memorial Union

Universal Design in Electronic Voting: One Machine, One Vote for Everyone - Juan E. Gilbert
1:00 PM – Alliant Energy-Lee Liu Auditorium, Howe Hall - Juan E. Gilbert is an IDEaS Professor and Chair of the Human-Centered Computing Division in the School of Computing at Clemson University, where he leads the Human-Centered Computing Lab. Gilbert and his research team were recently awarded a $4.5 million grant from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to conduct research on accessible voting technologies. Gilbert is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement Science, an ACM Distinguished Scientist, National Associate of the National Research Council of the National Academies, an ACM Distinguished Speaker and a Senior Member of the IEEE Computer Society. He was recently named one of the fifty most important African Americans in Technology. A reception will follow at 2 pm in the Atrium.

Thursday, 27 Oct 2011

Field Work: A Family Farm - Documentary and Discussion
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Meet filmmaker John Helde as he follows Judy and Charlie Swanson and their three grown children pursuing their dream of farming as one extended family. This is a preview screening of his documentary film "Field Work: A Family Farm," which is supported by Humanities Iowa. It follows the Swanson family through several seasons and looks at the social and economic challenges of family farming: rising land prices, changing technologies, and the barriers to entry for the younger generation. It's a new, twenty-first century portrait of the iconic family farm and America's changing agricultural landscape. Featuring music by the Iowa-based duo Truckstop Souvenir. A discussion with filmmaker John Helde and participants in the project, including Judy and Charlie Swanson and Julie and Scott Wilber of Wilber's Northside Market in Boone, will immediately follow the 96-min film.

Wednesday, 26 Oct 2011

Escape from Slavery - Francis Bok
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Francis Bok was only seven years old when he and ten other Sudanese children of the Dinka ethnic group were taken at gunpoint by Arab gunmen from the north. Forced into slavery, he spent ten years enduring beatings and living on scraps from his captor's meals. His third attempt to escape was successful, but after reaching Khartoum, he was forced by police to work as a stable boy and later imprisoned for speaking out against the government. Bok was eventually granted UN refugee status and came to the United States, where he joined the American Anti-Slavery Group. He was the first Sudanese escaped slave to testify before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and has met with President Bush, Condoleezza Rice, Madeleine Albright, and other important leaders. His book, Escape From Slavery, is considered an important record of the experience of contemporary slavery. Part of the Network against Human Trafficking Conference.

Human Trafficking and Forced Labor - Tiffany Williams
1:15 PM – Campanile Room, Memorial Union - A majority of human trafficking victims are forced into industrial and commercial labor. Learn how modern industries, economies and policies influence this crime and continue to go largely unpunished. Tiffany Williams is the national coordinator and policy co-chair for the Freedom Network, a coalition of organizations providing direct social and legal services to survivors of human trafficking. She joined the staff of the Break The Chain Campaign at the Institute for Policy Studies in 2008. As Break the Chain Campaign's advocacy director, she has focused on the connection between immigrant rights, worker rights, and human trafficking. Part of the Iowa Conference on Human Trafficking. The keynote address and afternoon breakout sessions are free and open to the public. Register for the entire Iowa Conference on Human Trafficking at: ICHT Registration. Registration Fee: $40. Half-price, $20, for the first 70 students who register - student ID required.