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Past Events

Thursday, 7 Apr 2011

From Small-town Iowa to New York Fashion Week - Matthew Christopher
5:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Bridal couture designer and Iowa State alum Matthew Christopher is Guest Designer for the Iowa State Fashion Show 2011. Christopher worked for such bridal fashion houses as Demetrios, One of a Kind Bride, Galina and Casablanca before creating his own label, Matthew Christopher Inc., at the age of twenty-six. His gowns are currently available in more than seventy boutiques and are regularly featured in publications like Martha Stewart Weddings and Modern Bride. After studying at the Art Institute of Chicago and Iowa State, he moved to New York City to begin his professional career. He has been nominated for the Distinctive Excellence in the Bridal Industry award as well as prestigious Designer of the Year award. Christopher currently lives in New York City, with a studio in the heart of the fashion district.

Snyder v. Phelps: Defending Speech You Hate - A Panel Discussion
4:45 PM – Cardinal Room, Memorial Union - Media law experts will discuss last month's Supreme Court ruling that the First Amendment protects the right to stage protests at funerals and burials. The Court ruled in favor of Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church, whose members frequently picket military funerals, claiming the death of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan is God's way of punishing the United States for its tolerance of homosexuality and abortion. Panelists include Gene Policinski, executive director of the First Amendment Center; Jeff Hunt, a First Amendment attorney in Salt Lake City, Utah; Adam Kissell, Vice President of Programs for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education; and Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center. Richard Doak, former editorial page editor at the Des Moines Register, will moderate. Part of the First Amendment Day Celebration.

Attacked for Words: A Terror Campaign against Sri Lankan Journalists - Poddala Jayantha
3:40 PM – Cardinal Room, Memorial Union - Poddala Jayantha is a Sri Lankan journalist and activist who in June 2009, following numerous threats on his life, was abducted by unidentified assailants and brutally beaten. Jayantha dedicated his career to exposing injustice in Sri Lanka's health, education and transport sectors. One of his reports uncovered what some have called Sri Lanka's biggest ever tax scam, involving the alleged misappropriation of $37 million. He has since received several awards for his courageous reports on corruption in a climate where critical investigative journalism has been stymied by government oppression and partisan violence. Jayantha now lives in exile in the United States, where he continues in his role as president of the Sri Lankan Working Journalists' Association. Part of the First Amendment Day Celebration.

Your Entire Campus Should Be a Free Speech Zone - Adam Kissel
2:30 PM – Cardinal Room, Memorial Union - Adam Kissel is the Vice President of Programs for FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. FIRE works to defend and sustain individual rights at America's colleges and universities, including the freedom of speech, religious liberty, and the sanctity of conscience. Before joining FIRE, Kissel was director of the Lehrman American Studies Center and the Jack Miller Center for the Teaching of America's Founding Principles. With Sharon Browne he wrote a Faculty Rights Handbook in 2007. In 2009, he won a First Prize in education reporting from the National Education Writers Association. Kissel is a graduate of Harvard University and earned a master's degree from the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago. Part of the First Amendment Day Celebration.

Symposium on Rare Earth Materials Keynote Address - Mark Smith
1:45 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Rare earth dependent technologies, including mobile devices and hybrid cars, are nearly 100 percent reliant on Chinese-sourced materials. In recent years China has managed to supply the world's demand for rare earths. However, China's internal consumption of its own rare earths are forcing it to restrict what it exports to the world, leading to extraordinarily tight supply markets and outright shortages. Global requirements for rare earths continue to grow, fueled by the development of green energy technologies. Molycorp President and CEO Mark Smith will discuss the global outlook for rare earth markets; the groundbreaking technologies being built into Molycorp's manufacturing supply chain; the economics supporting Molycorp's business plan; and how Molycorp will help the U.S. successfully compete in global rare earth markets. Local Chapter of Materials Research Society Annual Symposium. Morning speakers will focus on the technical applications of rare earth materials and include technology directors from Arnold Magnetic Technologies at 10:00 a.m. and ETREMA Products at 11:00 a.m. Afternoon speakers will discuss the history and economics of rare earth materials and include a principle research scientist at the General Motors R&D at 1:00 p.m. in addition to the 1:45 keynote. Registration for the symposium is free and required to attend the luncheon: www.stuorg.iastate.edu/mrs/symp.htm

Wednesday, 6 Apr 2011

How Agricultural Innovation and Collaboration will Shape the Future of the World - Jim Borel
8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Jim Borel is the executive vice president of DuPont, where he is responsible for DuPont's production agriculture businesses, DuPont Crop Protection and Pioneer Hi-Bred. Borel joined DuPont as a sales representative in 1978 after earning his degree in agricultural business from Iowa State. His career with the company has included numerous sales and management positions in Agricultural Products, DuPont Crop Protection, and human resources, including posts in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Japan. He was group vice president, responsible for agricultural businesses, before being named to his current position in October 2009. He is an Iowa State Alumni Association Sustaining Life Member, Order of the Knoll Campanile Society member, and chair of the National 4-H Council's board. The Carl and Marjory Hertz Lecture on Emerging Issues in Agriculture.

Hybrid Pioneer - Film and Discussion with Featured Artist Brent Houzenga and Filmmaker Kristian Day
7:00 PM – Gallery, Memorial Union - Brent Houzenga: Hybrid Pioneer is a documentary about Des Moines mixed media artist and musician Brent Houzenga. The film chronicles the enterprising spirit of do-it-yourself artistry and the struggle to carve and maintain a successful creative career. It is the first film in Modern American Cinema's Made in Iowa documentary series, which tells the stories of the people, places and ideas that have influenced Iowa's culture. Kristian Day is a filmmaker with Modern American Cinema, an independent production company based in Des Moines that specializes in full-feature narratives and educational documentaries. Day and Houzenga will take questions from the audience immediately following the screening.

Leaks, Leakers and the Law - Jeffrey Hunt
7:00 PM – South Ballroom, Memorial Union - Jeffrey Hunt is a First Amendment attorney in Salt Lake City, Utah, and an Iowa State alumnus. He regularly represents national and local media companies in state and federal courts and counsels clients on defamation, privacy and First Amendment rights. He serves as local counsel for two national television networks and in 1992 founded the Utah Freedom of Information Hotline, which provides free legal assistance to the public and journalists. Hunt earned his BA in Journalism and Mass Communication from Iowa State in 1983. During the four years following, he was a Copy Editor for the Des Moines Register, and a reporter for the Quad-City Times and Deseret News. Hunt is an adjunct professor at the University of Utah S. J. Quinney College of Law. Part of the First Amendment Day Celebration.

Advanced Biofuels and Clean Cars: How to Cut Our Nation's Oil Dependence in Half - Jeremy Martin
6:00 PM – Cardinal Room, Memorial Union - Jeremy Martin is a senior scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists Clean Vehicles Program. He evaluates the impact of biofuels and fuel policy. Martin has researched and published on a range of topics, including biofuels lifecycle accounting, greenhouse gas emissions in biofuels production, semiconductor manufacturing and polymer physics. Prior to his work with UCS, he worked in research, development and manufacturing of computer chips at Advanced Micro Devices. He earned a PhD in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology. Part of the Live Green! Sustainability Series.

Tuesday, 5 Apr 2011

A Dialogue on the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process - David Makovsky, John Murray and James McCormick
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - David Makovsky is the Ziegler Distinguished Fellow at the Washington Institute and director of its Project on the Middle East Peace Process. Before joining The Washington Institute, Makovsky was a journalist based in Israel for many years covering the peace process. He is the former executive editor of the Jerusalem Post, was diplomatic correspondent for Israel's leading daily, Haaretz, and served for eleven years as the U.S. News and World Report Jerusalem correspondent. His many publications include Making Peace with the PLO: The Rabin Government's Road to the Oslo Accord and Myths, Illusions, and Peace: Finding a New Direction for America in the Middle East. John Murray, who since 2002 served as external adviser to the Palestinian Negotiation Support Unit, a legal and policy unit supporting the Palestinian negotiating team. He was previously associate director of the Program on the Analysis and Resolution of Conflicts at The Maxwell School, Syracuse University. Murray taught international law and negotiation at the American University in Cairo, Egypt, during the 1990s, and from 1973-82 served three terms as an Iowa State Senator from the Ames district. James McCormick, Professor and Chair of the Iowa State Political Science Department, will moderate. Part of the World Affairs Series.