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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Celebration
4:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - President Steven Leath will provide opening remarks and welcome musical performances by Shy of a Dozen in celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. King. Speakers include Nana Osei-Kofi, assistant professor and coordinator of Social Justice Studies in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies; Government of the Student Body President Dakota Hoben and Black Student Alliance President Paris Tindrell. The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Advancing One Community Awards will be presented. Birthday cake graciously donated by Campus Dining Services.

Let Freedom Ring - Carillon Concert
11:50 AM – Central Campus - A carillon concert in honor of Dr. King, with Dr. Tin-Shi Tam, carilloneur. Part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Series.

Countdown to the Caucuses with Ron Paul
7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Congressman Ron Paul is a physician, congressman, and presidential candidate from the state of Texas. A Republican, he has represented Texas's 14th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1997 and previously served as the representative from Texas's 22nd district in 1976 and from 1979 to 1985. He serves on the Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Financial Services Committee where also serves as the chairman of the Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology. He continues to advocate a dramatic reduction in the size of the federal government and a return to constitutional principles. Dr. Paul is the author of several books, including The Revolution: A Manifesto, End the Fed, Liberty Defined, Challenge to Liberty; The Case for Gold; and A Republic, If You Can Keep It. Part of the Presidential Caucus Series which provides the university community with opportunities to question presidential candidates before the precinct caucuses.

Policy Responses to the Great Recession: The Interaction of Leadership and Economic Ideas - Christina Romer
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - As Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers from January 2009 until September 2010, Christina Romer was one of the four economic principals who met with President Obama daily to design and guide the Administration's response to the Great Recession. She played a key role in the rescue and reform of the financial system, health care reform, and budget policy. Romer is the Class of 1957-Garff B. Wilson Professor of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, and co-director of the Program in Monetary Economics at the National Bureau of Economic Research. She will discuss the impact of the recession and subsequent economic policies on various demographic groups, including women and young people. The Fall 2011 Mary Louise Smith Chair in Women and Politics and part of the Women's Leadership Series.

Self-assembling Polymers for Gene Delivery and Biomineralization - Surya K. Mallapragada
7:00 PM – Cardinal Room, Memorial Union - Surya K. Mallapragada is chair of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Stanley Chair in Interdisciplinary Engineering. Her research focuses on the development of new polymeric materials for medical applications, including neural tissue engineering, controlled drug and gene delivery, and as templates for biomineralization. The work has implications from cancer therapy, to nerve regeneration, to single-dose vaccines. Mallapragada is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering. She is the recipient of an NSF Early CAREER Award and was named one of the World's Top 100 Young Innovators, 2002, by MIT's Technology Review Magazine. She earned her PhD in chemical engineering from Purdue University. Part of the Sigma Xi Lecture Series and the Women in STEM Series.

Keep Friendship Alive: Partying Smart and Keeping Friends Safe - Erica Upshaw
7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Erica Upshaw shares her unique approach to risk management for the party-centric social scene on college campuses. Upshaw does not preach alcohol abstinence but challenges students to openly question behavior they know to be reckless and potentially fatal. She provides information to help students make good decisions when using alcohol socially. Erica Upshaw's brother, a leader in his fraternity and model student, died of a lethal does of the drug GHB and alcohol. For Erica, who frequently partied alongside her brother at college, it was a wake-up call to the reckless attitudes she and her friends had about drugs and alcohol. Iowa State personnel will also be available to offer risk management resources and services specific to this campus.

Iowa and Onward: The Caucuses and the 2012 Election - Charlie Cook
12:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Charlie Cook is considered one of the nation's leading authorities on American politics and U.S. elections. He is the editor and publisher of the Cook Political Report and a political analyst for NBC News and National Journal, where he writes a twice-weekly column. He has been an election night analyst for CNN and CBS News and is a frequent guest on NBC's Meet the Press. In 2010 he was a co-recipient of the American Political Science Association's Carey McWilliams award to honor "a major journalistic contribution to our understanding of politics." Inaugural Harkin Institute of Public Policy Lecture.

Energizing America: Facts for Addressing Energy Policy - John Felmy
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - John Felmy is chief economist of the American Petroleum Institute, where he is responsible for economic, statistical and policy analysis. He has more than twenty-five years of experience in energy, economic and environmental analysis. He spent eleven years forecasting the oil and energy industry for DRI under McGraw-Hill and served as director at Princeton Energy Research before joining API. Felmy earned bachelor's and master's degrees in economics from Pennsylvania State University and a doctorate in economics from the University of Maryland. The American Petroleum Institute is the primary trade association for the oil and natural gas industry in the United States. He will be providing an economic analysis that includes oil shale and natural gas. Part of the Live Green! Sustainability Series.

Linking the Local and Global - Rekha Basu
6:00 PM – Alliant Energy-Lee Liu Auditorium, Howe Hall - Rekha Basu has been a columnist for the Des Moines Register since 1991, focusing on human rights, racial and gender issues and commenting on cultural trends. Born in India to United Nations parents, Basu grew up internationally. She has worked as a reporter, editorial writer and columnist at newspapers in Iowa, New York State and Florida. Basu's column appears three times a week on the Register's opinion pages and is syndicated by Gannett News Service. Her many awards include the 2008 Women of Influence Award, the Iowa Interfaith Alliance Award, and the Iowa Farmers Union Media Award. She has a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University and a master's degree in political economy from Goddard Cambridge Graduate School. Technology, Globalization, and Culture Series

Who Owns Your Genes? - Chris Hansen
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Chris Hansen, senior staff counsel for the national American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), was lead counsel in the ACLU's challenge of patents on two human genes associated with breast and ovarian cancer. The 2009 lawsuit charged that the patents are illegal and restrict both scientific research and patients' access to medical care. It also argued patents on human genes violate the First Amendment and patent law as "products of nature." Hansen has worked as an attorney with the national ACLU since 1984, acting as lead counsel in a wide variety of landmark cases, including the historic and successful challenge to federal Internet content regulations. He received his law degree from the University of Chicago Law School and holds an undergraduate degree from Carleton College. Part of the National Affairs Series.