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Inside Iowa State
August 25, 2000

Lecture series takes on ET, bugs and world issues

by Linda Charles
Is the truth really out there, as Fox Mulder claims on X-Files? Have people been abducted by aliens? Is all the talk about aliens fact or fiction?

In September, the ISU Lectures Series will delve into the questions surrounding intelligent life in space during "Extraterrestrial Life: Scientific and Human Implications -- A Series."

Jill Tarter will start things off at 8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 18, when she discusses "SETI: Science Fact, Not Fiction, Nor Religion," in the Memorial Union Sun Room. Tarter is project director at the SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) Institute. She was a project scientist for NASA's high-resolution microwave survey at the Ames Space Sciences Office before NASA cut funding for SETI.

Next up is "How to Avoid Getting Captured by Aliens: A Skeptic's Look at the Obsession with Extraterrestrial Life," presented by Joel Achenbach at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 27, in the Sun Room. Achenbach is the science reporter for the Washington Post and author of Captured by Aliens: The Search for Life and Truth in a Very Large Universe.

Steven Dick, an astronomer and historian of science at the U.S. Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C., will discuss "Extraterrestrial Life: Why Should We Care?" at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28, in the Sun Room. Dick is president of Commission 41 (History of Astronomy) at the International Astronomical Union and author of Plurality of Worlds and The Biological Universe.

Winding up the series will be Chris Corbally, whose lecture will be "Talking about God and Extra-terrestrials." He will speak at noon Friday, Sept. 29, in the Sun Room. Corbally is vice director of the Vatican Observatory Research Group, Tucson, Ariz., and an adjunct associate professor at the University of Arizona. He also is president of the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science.

The extraterrestrial life series is co-sponsored by the ISU Lectures Committee and several academic departments with a grant from the Center for Theology and Natural Sciences Science and Religion Course Award.

If you prefer something a little more tangible, the ISU Entomology Club will present its annual Insect Horror Film Festival in September. There'll be the usual buggy treats, insect petting zoo, butterfly tent, and this year's film, Microcosmos, a documentary of insect life in meadows and ponds. Also showing will be an episode of Night Gallery, in which Laurence Harvey attempts to eliminate his competition by using earwigs. Accompanying the showing will be an earwig display.

October will bring Carole Simpson, ABC News anchor of World News Tonight on Sunday. She will discuss "Women and Family Issues in Campaign 2000." An Emmy-Award-winning senior correspondent who frequently reports on family and social issues, Simpson is the Mary Louise Smith Chair holder in the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics.

There will be a performance of My Sister's Sister, a true story about what happens to a family when one of its members is schizophrenic. The one-woman show will be performed by Obie Award winner Julie Portman, with music by Paul Reisler. The 90-minute performance will be followed by a panel discussion.

Women's Week also kicks off in October with Shay Banks- Young and Julia Jefferson, who will discuss "Race and Family in America: A Conversation in Black and White." As a result of recent genetic testing, both women are considered to be descendants of President Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, his slave. The audience will be asked to join in the dialogue about race relations.

Also in October, Jackson Katz, the first man at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, to earn a minor in women's studies, will speak on "More Than a Few Good Men: A Lecture on American Manhood and Violence Against Women." Katz is the founder and director of MVP Strategies, an organization that provides training and materials on preventing violence against women.

A "Lecture Series on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development" begins in October with Sheila Jasanoff, who will discuss "Biotechnology." A professor of science and public policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, Jasanoff is an expert on science policy and the role of science in contemporary policy making.

Naomi Klein and Amanda Tucker will continue the series with a double presentation on "Labor in Developing Countries and Multinational Corporations: What's Fair." Klein is a journalist and author of No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies. Tucker is from Nike's department of labor practices.

November brings the Institute on World Affairs. This year's topic will be "Trade, Debt and Civil Disorder." Speakers will examine the social, political and economic impact of emerging world economics, with a special focus on the impact of debt on democratic efforts around the globe.

The Lecture Series starts tonight (Aug. 25) with Dr. Drew Pinsky, co-host to MTV's Loveline. Pinsky is medical director for the department of chemical dependency services at Las Encinas Hospital, Pasadena, and an expert on addictions. His talk begins at 8 p.m. in Stephens Auditorium.

All events are free. For times and dates of ISU Lectures Series events, watch the Inside calendar.

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Revis ed 8/24/00