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That Horse Has Stripes! How Zoos and Veterinarians Are Helping to Save Wildlife - Joe Flanagan
7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Joe Flanagan is Chief Veterinarian at the Houston Zoo where he is responsible for the healthcare of 6000 animals ranging from invertebrates to great apes. Set in a 55-acre lush tropical landscape, the Zoo is dedicated to the conservation of endangered species. When he is not treating the animals at the zoo, his conservation activities include providing medical care to the National Marine Fisheries Sea Turtle barn in Galveston, advising the Galapagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Research Station, and extensive work with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Dr. Flanagan graduated from the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1982. After graduation, Dr. Flanagan trained at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo until he began work as a veterinarian at the Houston Zoo in December 1982. Part of the National Affairs Series on Innovation.

Medieval Superstition and Modern Skepticism - Michael Bailey
8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Michael Bailey, an associate professor of history at Iowa State, examines how magic and superstition have been defined in various historical eras and how these constructions have changed over time. He will discuss how Medieval superstitious beliefs like magic, astrology and divination often transcended religion and draw on rational and scientific thinking. Bailey is the author of Battling Demons: Witchcraft, Heresy, and Reform in the Late Middle Ages; Historical Dictionary of Witchcraft; and Magic and Superstition in Europe: A Concise History from Antiquity to the Present. College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Dean's Lecture Series

Student Speech and the First Amendment: Two Supreme Court Cases and Their Legacies - Mary Beth Tinker, Cathy Kuhlmeier Frey & Mike Hiestand
7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Almost fifty years after several Des Moines students were suspended for wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War, John and Mary Beth Tinker are returning to Iowa to discuss free-speech rights and the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in their case, Tinker vs. Des Moines. Mary Beth Tinker will be joined by Cathy Kuhlmeier Frey, one of three students who thirty years ago sued their Missouri school district after their principal cut stories about pregnancy and divorce from their high school newspaper. The Hazelwood vs. Kuhlmeier decision tempered Tinker by allowing administrators to consider the "valid educational purpose" of speech. Mike Hiestand, a former staff attorney for the Student Press Law Center, will moderate. First Amendment Days

Exonerated by the Evidence, Convicted by the System - Kerry Max Cook
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - At 21-years-old, Kerry Max Cook was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of an East Texas woman. He was tried and re-tried nearly four times over 22 years in what is considered, "...the worst documented example of police and prosecutorial misconduct in Texas history." Twenty years after his first conviction, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned his conviction, and prosecutors still refused to drop the charges against Kerry. After rejecting multiple plea deals, Kerry reluctantly accepted a plea-of-no-contest in exchange for immediate freedom. Kerry's plea did not include an admission of guilt or the standard "Stipulation of Evidence." Despite this, the judge accepted Kerry's no-contest plea, the first and only in a Capital Murder case in Texas, and he was released. Two months later, the results of a DNA test showed that semen found in the victim's underwear belonged to her 45-year-old, married ex-boyfriend, James Mayfield. Despite this exonerating DNA evidence, Kerry remains convicted of a murder he did not commit.

Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins - A One-Woman Play
8:00 PM – Ames City Auditorium, 515 Clark Avenue - Admission free! No tickets required. Red Hot Patriot, a one-woman play written by sisters Allison and Margaret Engel, celebrates the life and work of syndicated columnist Molly Ivins. Ivins, who died in 2007 at the age of 62, was noted for her satirical columns, especially about Texas politics. Ivins will be played by actress Barbara Chisholm, who starred in the show's run in Austin, Texas. After the performance, playwrights Allison and Margaret Engel will discuss writing the play and the First Amendment. The sisters have strong Iowa ties. Their father, Jack Engel, was on the journalism faculty at Iowa State, and both spent part of their careers at the Des Moines Register. 2014 First Amendment Day Celebration.

Corporate Constitutional Rights and the Erosion of Democracy - David Cobb
3:00 PM – Oak Room, Memorial Union - David Cobb is a former Green Party presidential candidate and the spokesperson for the grassroots organization Move to Amend. Move to Amend is leading a coalition of organizations and individuals working for a constitutional amendment to reverse the 2010 Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission Supreme Court decision. Cobb will discuss the history of corporate constitutional rights and how their evolution has changed the democracy on which our government was founded.

Addressing the Challenges of Today's Labor Market - Katharine G. Abraham
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Katharine G. Abraham was a member of the Council of Economic Advisers from 2011 to 2013. She has returned to the University of Maryland, where she is Professor of Economics and Survey Methodology and has been appointed as the first director of the Maryland Center for Economics and Policy. Abraham’s research has included work on employment and unemployment, labor market policy and the measurement of economic activity. She also served as Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics from 1993 to 2001. Abraham earned her BS in economics from Iowa State in 1976 and later a PhD in economics from Harvard University. National Affairs Series on Innovation and Women in STEM Series

The Invisible War: Documentary & Panel Discussion
6:00 PM – South Ballroom, Memorial Union - The Invisible War is an investigative documentary about the epidemic of rape within the U.S. military. It paints a startling picture of the extent of the problem: a female soldier in combat zones is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire, and 20% of all active-duty female soldiers are sexually assaulted. A nominee for the 2013 Academy Awards, the film features interviews with rape survivors, mental health professionals, members of Congress and high-ranking military officials. Part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. A panel discussion will immediately follow the 90-minute film. Participants include Cynthia Conte, Military Sexual Trauma (MST) Coordinator for the Department of Veterans Affairs; Katina Mach, director of the Des Moines Vet Center; Lt. Col. Mike Kuehn, Staff Judge Advocate, Iowa National Guard; Lt. Col. Mary Beveridge, Director of Health Services, Iowa Army National Guard; 1st Lt. Joel Sage, Sexual Assault Response Coordinator, Iowa Army National Guard; and Christian Wimmer, Staff Psychologist at the Student Counseling Center will facilitate.

Building Platforms for Creativity and Innovation - Pamela Jennings
12:00 PM – Lee Liu Alliant Energy Auditorium, Howe Hall - Pamela Jennings has been involved in many groundbreaking projects in information technology and education technology, and has played a critical role in national and international policy implementations for initiatives bridging the arts and technology. She has served as a Program Director at the National Science Foundation Computer & Information Science & Engineering, Intelligent Information Systems cluster. She led the CreativeIT program and co-managed the Human Centered Computing, Cyberlearning and Computer Research Infrastructure programs. Previously, she held a joint appointment at Carnegie Mellon University and the School of Art and the Human Computer Interaction Institute. Prior to CMU, Pamela was the Project Manager and Lead Designer for the IBM alphaWorks.com project.

Asian Americans, We're So American - A Night with Def Poetry's Beau Sia
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Beau Sia is an original cast member of the Tony Award-winning Def Poetry Jam on Broadway and has been featured on all five seasons of the HBO version of the show. The son of Chinese immigrants from the Philippines, Sia attended New York University's Dramatic Writing Program at The Tisch School of The Arts. He has been on two National Poetry Slam championship teams and wrote the lyrics for the Hip-Hop dance musical Krunk Fu Battle Battle. His new book is titled The Undisputed Greatest Writer of All Time. Part of the Asian Pacific Heritage Week Cultural Night The APAAC Cultural Night begins at 7 pm and features additional dancers and performers prior to Beau Sia's 8 pm performance.