Lectures
"DNA clocks" next topic in series of science lectures
"DNA
Clocks and the Evolution of Life" is the topic of a free public lecture by Blair
Hedges, associate professor of biology and a member of the Astrobiology Research
Center at Penn State, on Feb. 19, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., in 101 Thomas
Building on the University Park campus. It is the fifth of six consecutive Saturday
morning events in the Penn State Lectures on the Frontiers of Science.
Hedges will discuss how biologists are using the genes of organisms living today to estimate when their earliest ancestors first appeared on Earth. Hedges also will discuss how an accurate knowledge of the evolution of life on Earth can help answer questions of interest to astrobiologists about such issues as the timing required for emergence of various kinds of life forms on other planets.
Hedges, who uses genetic material, including DNA and protein sequences, to infer relationships and times of origin for many groups of organisms, has been a key player in scientific debates. In addition to being an associate professor of biology at Penn State, Hedges is a research associate at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington and a member of Penn State's Astrobiology Research Center.
Pulitzer Prize-winner to give keynote address at conference
Pulitzer
Prize winner Ada Louise Huxtable will be the keynote speaker for the "Beyond
Preservation: Managing Change" conference to be held Friday, March 24, through
Sunday, March 26, at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel on the University
Park campus.
Penn State will be host for this weekend-long conference focusing on the widening definition and scope of activities that encompass heritage and the built environment.
Huxtable is a renowned Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic. She was The New York Times' architecture critic for 18 years, and now writes for The Wall Street Journal. Her influential books include Kicked a Building Lately?; Goodbye History, Hello Hamburger: An Anthology of Architectural Delights and Disasters; and her most recent book, The Unreal America: Architecture and Illusion.
Geared toward community officials, planners, engineers, architects, landscape architects, historians and students in these disciplines, the conference aims to provide a multidisciplinary setting for practitioners to share ideas about new skills and new preservation directions.
For more information about registration, call Melissa Beidler at (814) 863-5100.
For more information about the program, call Cecilia Rusnak at (814) 863-4584, e-mail cjr9@psu.edu or visit the Web at http://www.outreach.psu.edu/C&I/BeyondPreservation/.
Journalist to give Malcolm
X talk
Journalist
and activist A. Peter Bailey will give the 10th Malcolm X Lecture at 7:30
p.m. Monday, Feb. 21, in 112 Kern Building on the University Park campus.
Bailey was a founding member of the Organization of Afro-American Unity, which was established by Malcolm X after his split with the Nation of Islam. He was one of the last people to speak with Malcolm before his assassination on Feb. 21, 1965 and was a pallbearer at his funeral. Bailey's books include Revelations: The Autobiography of Alvin Ailey, Seventh Child: A Family Memoir of Malcolm X and Harlem Today: A Cultural and Visitors Guide.
Bailey is a former associate editor of Ebony and is currently editor of Vital Issues: The Journal of African American Speeches. He also is an adjunct professor at the University of the District of Columbia.
Leadership conference is Feb. 29
The seventh annual statewide Service Leadership Conference will be held Feb. 29 at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel at University Park.
The event is being hosted by AT&T Center for Service Leadership at Penn State. The theme of the one-day conference is "Leap into the Future: Developing Leaders with Character" and will focus on community service and leadership development by engaging participants in interactive workshops through topics such as integrity, civic-minded leadership, community connections and motivation.
Colorado Lt. Gov. Joe Rogers, the only African American to serve as a governor or lieutenant governor in the United States and the highest-ranking African American elected official in the country, will be the keynote speaker. Rogers is a leader in improving the lives of children and families, and is a strong advocate for improving our education system.
The University Park Allocation Committee is providing funding for 100 University Park students to attend the conference -- students will be required to pay a $5 registration fee. Call (814) 863-4624 for more information.
Authority on environmental hazards to speak
Susan L. Cutter, a noted authority on environmental hazards and risks, will give the lecture "Environmental Risk and Hazard Communication: Creating the South Carolina Atlas of Environmental Risks and Hazards" at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 22, in 112 Walker Building at University Park.
Cutter is founder of South Caro-lina's Hazard's Research Lab and co-founding editor of the journal Environmental Hazards -- Human and Policy Dimensions. She is currently working on a book, American Hazardscapes: The Regionalization of Hazards and Disasters, for Joseph Henry Press (part of the National Academy Press).
She is head of the Department of Geography, University of South Caro-lina and is vice president of the Association of American Geographers.