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Reducing the Risk of Aviation Catastrophe - R. Bruce Thompson
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - FALL 2005 PRESIDENTIAL UNIVERSITY LECTURE - R. Bruce Thompson is one of the nation's leading authorities on nondestructive evaluation - the practice of testing a material's ability to perform its intended function and prevent failure without destroying the sample. Thompson uses ultrasound and other technologies to determine stress, texture and other properties of materials. His centers have been involved in testing materials from numerous high-profile crashes and material failures. He holds 24 U.S. patents, leads Iowa State's Center for Nondestructive Evaluation and Ames Laboratory's Nondestructive Evaluation Program, and is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Nondestructive Evaluation. In 2003, Thompson was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, one of the highest professional distinctions accorded an engineer. A reception and poster display in the Oak Room will precede the lecture 7-8 p.m.

Is Humanity Sustainable? William Rees
7:00 PM – 207 Marston Hall - William Rees, School of Community and Regional Planning at the University of British Columbia, is known for developing Ecological Footprint Analysis and co-authoring the book "Our Ecological Footprint" with Dr. Mathis Wackernagel.

The Importance of Diversity in the Workplace - Adalberto Andino
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Adalberto Andino is Vice President for Strategy and Development at Jobs for the Future, a non-profit research, consulting, and advocacy organization working to help young people receive a quality education, and adults develop job skills. He developed and implemented a billion-dollar gift from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to establish the Gates Millennium Scholars initiative, administered by the United Negro College Fund. He received his Bachelor's from California State University and a Master's from University of Phoenix.

Energy Crops: Good or Bad? Tad W. Patzek and Bruce E. Dale
2:00 PM – Coover 2245 - Steep increases in oil prices have focused attention on the domestic production of energy through biomass crops grown on farms. These two researchers will provide different perspectives on the subject. Tad W. Patzek is professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California-Berkeley. He is the author of two recent papers examining the thermodynamics of corn ethanol production and the sustainability of corn ethanol and soy biodiesel production, and is an ethanol critic. Bruce E. Dale is professor of chemical engineering at Michigan State University. He is involved in research that seeks to increase the efficiency corn ethanol production.

Return to Lust: Monologues - Written and Performed by Nicole Hollander
8:00 PM – Maintenance Shop, Memorial Union - Return to Lust is about…well, sex. How it reappears when you least expect it and how once in its power you act as goofy at 65 as you did at 16. Nicole Hollander has authored or coauthored more then 20 books and collections of her cartoons. Her comic strip and books were the inspiration for two of her plays: Sylvia's Real Good Advice: The Musical and Female Problems also a musical. A booksigning will follow the performance

Dog Angel: A Reading - Jesse Lee Kercheval
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Jesse Lee Kercheval was born in France and raised in Florida. She is the author of the memoir, Space and a poetry book, Dog Angel, and a novel, The Museum of Happiness. Her poetry appears in recent issues of such magazines as Poetry London, Poetry Ireland Review, Poetry New Zealand, Hotel Amerika, Blue Moon, Southern Review, Missouri Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, and Volt among others. She teaches at the University of Wisconsin where she directs the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing.

WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Price - A New Film by Robert Greenwald
8:00 PM – South Ballroom, Memorial Union - This film takes you behind the glitz and into the real lives of workers and their families, business owners and their communities, in an extraordinary journey that will challenge the way you think, feel... and shop.

The Great Ice Walls of China and Cuba Rocks - Craig Luebben
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Craig Luebben is senior contributing editor for Climbing magazine, and author of many books on climbing including Advanced Rock Climbing and How to Ice Climb. He has been rock and ice climbing for over 25 years and will show clips of recent adventures in China and Cuba.

The Enron Story: Mismanagement, Crime and Politics - Kurt Eichenwald
8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Kurt Eichenwald is a senior writer and investigative reporter at The New York Times. In his current bestseller, Conspiracy of Fools: A True Story, he explores the greatest corporate scandal in history. He is a two-time winner of the George Polk Award and was a finalist for the 2000 Pulitzer Prize. He is also the author of The Informant: A True Story, about the Archer Daniels Midland price-fixing case.

Twenty Years of ISU Biotechnology: A Retrospective - Walter Fehr
8:00 PM – Gallery, Memorial Union - Walter Fehr is the Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in Agriculture and professor of Agronomy. He helped develop one percent linolenic soybean varieties that produce an oil that does not require hydrogenation. Eliminating hydrogenation means no trans fats in the oil. This is part of the Sigma Xi Lecture series.