Listen Up: Sept. 13—19

Posted in CULTURE to Listen Up! by Joel Gillespie on Tuesday, September 13, 2011 at 9:59 am

WHAT: "From West to East: A Travelogue and Tourism Development in Russia," Bruce Wicks

WHEN: Tuesday, September 13 @ 12 noon

WHERE: 101 International Studies Building, 910 S. Fifth Street, Champaign

You'll have to hurry to make it to this one, but it sounds like a good opportunity to learn about what a trip to Russia might be like.

WHAT: "Europe or America or China: Which Has the Better Development Model for the 21st Century?" Steven Hill, Writer and Columnist, author of Europe's Promise: Why the European Way Is the Best Hope for an Insecure Age

WHEN: Tuesday, September 13 @ 5 p.m.

WHERE: Lucy Ellis Lounge: Room 1080, Foreign Languages Building, 707 S. Mathews, Urbana

I think any drama about which has the better model is sorta killed by the title of Hill's book, but hey, you weren't going to go to this talk for the drama now, were you?

WHAT: "Life Cycle Analysis and the Building Envelope: Challenges and Opportunities," Dr. Jim Hoff - President and CEO of TEGNOS Research, Inc.

WHEN: Thursday, September 15 @ 12 noon

WHERE: Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, One E. Hazelwood Dr., Champaign

Roofing, man, roofing. You can't build a building without it. From the event description: "This seminar will provide an overview of the impact of Life Cycle Analysis within a major building envelope market segment: nonresidential roofing. Responsible for the supply and installation of over 3 billion square feet of new roofs in the United States each year, the nonresidential roofing industry provides a unique platform for reducing environmental impact. In addition to the traditional role of keeping water out of buildings, modern roofing systems can increase building energy efficiency, serve as a platform for new sources of clean energy, reduce solid waste, renew our air and water, and extend the building life cycle. And because of this unique potential for environmental contribution, nonresidential roofing offers an unmatched opportunity to review the issues, challenges and opportunities of LCA."

WHAT: "A Dream of Serpents: A Physics Professor, Operation Gold Seal, and the End of Saint Regis," Professor George Gollin, University of Illinois, Department of Physics

WHEN: Wednesday, September 14 @ 3:30 p.m.

WHERE: 141 Loomis Lab, 1110 West Green Street, Urbana

A bizarre whodunit of the internet age. From the event description: "In 2002, the computers at the University of Illinois became the targets of an insistent barrage of Windows Messenger Service spam from an organization that sold diplomas from prestigious non-accredited universities whose bachelors, masters, MBA, and doctorate (PhD) diplomas would be delivered within days. A few days before Thanksgiving I called the number in one of the ads, hoping to yell at whoever answered the phone. The phone call led to further investigation and then to a brawl with St. Regis University that lasted five years. The threads of the story run through a dozen states, Washington D.C., Paris, India, Ghana, and Liberia. There are heroes in the Secret Service, the Department of Justice, and the Society of Jesus; an ingenious federal prosecutor, and villains in a house full of guns." 

You live near a major university and a community college. There are smart people that come here every week to talk to the general public about interesting topics. Perhaps you were not aware of this fact, or were overwhelmed by the sheer number of opportunities for possible enlightenment. If that's the case, Smile Politely understands and is here to help. Here are several events going on in town this week. Check out one or more of them if you have time. Get your learn on, as they say, and join the cognoscenti. It's free, you know. Plus, sometimes there's free food, too!

If you have a community event, speaker, or film event that you'd like to see featured on Listen Up!, send the event information to joelgillespie [at] smilepolitely [dot] com by Friday the week prior to the event. Listen Up! runs on Tuesdays when classes are in session.