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Ecology, Biotechnology, and Sustainable Agriculture - Paul Thompson and Fred Kirschenmann
6:00 PM – Campanile Room, Memorial Union - Paul Thompson is the Kellogg Chair in Agriculture, Food, and Community at Michigan State University. He joined the Philosophy Department at Michigan State in 2003, with partial appointments in the Agricultural Economics and Resource Development Departments. Previously he held faculty positions at Purdue and Texas A&M. He is the author of The Spirit of the Soil: Agriculture and Environmental Ethics and editor of The Ethics of Intensification: Agricultural Development and Cultural Change. Fred Kirschenmann is Distinguished Fellow at the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State and president of Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in Pocantico Hills, New York. He also oversees management of his family's 2,600-acre certified organic farm in south central North Dakota. His 2010 collection of essays is Cultivating an Ecological Conscience: Essays from a Farmer Philosopher. Part of the Live Green! Sustainability Series.

Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People - Amy Sedaris
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Actress Amy Sedaris once again nips at the heels of Martha Stewart with a new book to help fans through these dire economic times. It is appropriately named Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People. She previously shared her domestic skills in the satirical guide to entertaining I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence. Sedaris was the anti-heroine Jerri Blank in Comedy Central's cult hit Strangers with Candy, which she wrote with Stephen Colbert and Paul Dinello. She has appeared in the movies Elf, School of Rock, Maid in Manhattan, the film version of Bewitched and on television in Rescue Me, Monk, Just Shoot Me! Sex and the City, and My Name Is Earl. She also made a guest appearance on Sesame Street as a flustered Snow White who keeps losing her dwarves. Amy is half of the Obie-winning "Talent Family" playwright team with her brother, author and essayist David Sedaris. She lives in Manhattan with her imaginary boyfriend, Ricky, and her pet rabbit, Dusty. A book signing will follow. Part of the National Affairs Series.

Why Students Depend on Freedom of Expression - Frank LoMonte
8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Frank LoMonte is the executive director of the Student Press Law Center, an experienced commercial litigation attorney, and a former investigative journalist and political columnist. Before attending law school, he worked in state capitol news bureaus in Florida and Georgia, and in Washington, D.C., with the Morris newspaper chain. LoMonte then practiced law with an Atlanta-based firm and clerked for federal judges on the Northern District of Georgia and the Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law, where he was a senior editor of the Georgia Law Review. The First Amendment Day Celebration Keynote Address.

Protecting the Planet: An Earth Warrior's Story
7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Paul Watson founded the world's leading direct action ocean conservation organization - the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Since 2002, Watson and his crew have attempted to stop Japanese ships from hunting whales in Antarctica documented in Animal Planet's series Whale Wars, now in its fourth season. A co-founder of Greenpeace and the Greenpeace Foundation, Watson has also worked for Defenders of Wildlife, Fund for Animals, and the Royal Society for the Protection of Animals. He cofounded the Earthforce Environmental Society and Friends of the Wolf, and has served on the National Board of the Sierra Club USA. He is also the author of several books, including Sea Shepherd: My Fight for Whales and Seals, Earthforce!, An Earth Warrior's Guide to Strategy, Ocean Warrior: My Battle to End the Illegal Slaughter on the High Seas, Seal Wars: Twenty-Five Years on the Front Lines With the Harp Seals, and Cry Wolf. Part of the Live Green! Sustainability Series and Earth Day 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

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.