November 5, 2009

The Journey of Solar Decathlon 2009: A View from the Trenches

In 2002, the U.S. Department of Energy created the Solar Decathlon, a challenge to college teams from around the globe to design, build, and operate an aesthetic and livable, fully solar-powered house. This international competition helps accelerate academic research in renewable energy technologies and educates the public about the benefits of energy efficiency and green building technologies. In October, for the first time, the University of Minnesota was one of 20 teams on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., competing in the Solar Decathlon. The U's "Icon House" was the tangible result of two years intense, inspiring, and collaborative effort of 150 students in disciplines ranging from architecture and design to engineering and construction. Meet architect Peter Hilger, adviser to the students working on the U's solar house, as he recounts their life-changing journey to Solar Decathlon 2009.

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October 1, 2009

Touching the Third Rail: The Politics of American Health Care

Since Theodore Roosevelt first called for national health insurance nearly a century ago, U.S. presidents have tried and failed to provide universal health benefits to all Americans. Today, the U.S. has the most highly privatized and expensive system in the world, with one in six dollars spent on health care and an estimated 46 million Americans left uninsured.

Restructuring America's health care system is now President Obama's top legislative priority. But during the August recess, irate opponents of his health care proposals confronted Democrats on the town hall circuit with inflammatory accusations, including outright distortions. The intensity of the debate galvanized the attention of the national media and caught the Obama administration off-guard.

What can we learn from the history of major health care policy debates? How did Lyndon Johnson win passage of Medicare and Medicaid, when Harry Truman and Bill Clinton failed to advance their versions of health care reform? How does the process work on Capitol Hill and when, if ever, can we expect to see this issue come to a vote?

Larry Jacobs holds the Walter and Joan Mondale Chair for Political Studies and directs the Center of the Study of Politics and Governance at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. An expert in American politics and policy, he is the author of ten scholarly books including The Health of Nations: Public Opinion and the Making of U.S. and British Health Policy and Healthy, Wealthy, and Fair, as well as articles on health reform in The New England Journal of Medicine and elsewhere. He is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards including the Robert Wood Johnson Investigator Award in Health Policy Research. Professor Jacobs received a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University and joined the faculty of the University of Minnesota in 1988.

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May 13, 2009

Knowing Our Place in Time

May is graduation time at the University – a celebration of the accumulation of knowledge and the commencement of a new chapter of life. Yet as we graduate from one life experience to the next, our need to continue learning only grows. What advice might a commencement speaker give those of us contemplating a new phase of our wild and precious lives? Upon retirement, what insights might a faculty member “bequeath” about the principles and practices that have guided their tenure in higher education? Evolving from the concept of the best selling book, The Last Lecture, the last Headliners of the 2008-09 season examines the most important lessons of all, the core themes and personal meanings that guide us in knowing our place in time.

On May 7th, you are cordially invited to join Steve Simmons, Morse-Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus, as he embarks on the most personal research project of his long and distinguished career.

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April 3, 2009

Solar Decathlon: Building a Greener Future

Radiant heat from the sun has been harnessed by human ingenuity since the earliest times and sunlight has influenced building design throughout architectural history. Still only a fraction of available solar energy is being used in today’s buildings, creating a burden on the environment. In 2002, the U.S. Department of Energy held its first Solar Decathlon, a challenge to college teams from around the globe to design, build, and operate an aesthetic and livable, fully solar-powered house. This biennial event helps accelerate academic research in renewable energy technologies and serves as a reminder to all of us to act responsibly when making energy decisions at home. This year the University of Minnesota was selected as one of twenty teams invited to compete in the 2009 Solar Decathlon in Washington, D.C., the first and only Minnesota team ever to participate in this unique international competition.

On April 2nd, meet Ann Johnson, the project manager of the U of M’s 150-student Solar Decathlon team, as she unveils their house’s iconic design and discusses innovative energy features that just may help build a greener future.

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March 6, 2009

The Awful, Lawful Joyride: Minnesota's Budget Rollercoaster

What's in store as we face the state's worst budget deficit in modern history? This year, 46 other states are facing fiscal crises. But swings in budget forecasts are nothing new to Minnesota. In fact, it has one of the most volatile revenue systems in the country. In recent years, economic slowdowns caused budget deficits…only to be followed by revenue increases resulting in significant surpluses. Bouncing erratically between these financial positions requires elected officials to devote more time to solving crises than to improving and delivering public services. In January, the Minnesota Budget Trends Study Commission submitted its plan to better predict and manage the state’s budget to the legislature.

Join Dr. Jay Kiedrowski, co-chair of the Minnesota Budget Trends Study Commission and former state finance commissioner, as he reveals recommendations to meet future demographic challenges and reform the state’s financial volatility.

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February 5, 2009

Living on a Shrinking Planet: Challenges and Opportunities for a Sustainable Future

Complex global environmental problems have taken center stage in the 21st century. The needs of six billion people are rapidly depleting natural resources and weakening our planet’s ecosystems. Locally, the politically charged task of reducing carbon emissions was to have been a central issue in Minnesota’s 2009 legislative session. But the looming budget deficit has refocused the discussion. As economic pressures mount, how will environmental issues compete with other priorities? How can we keep sustainability efforts at the forefront even as we work to combat the effects of the economic crisis? To continue to inhabit our shrinking planet, it’s going to take a fresh approach.

Join Dr. Jon Foley, the new director of the University’s Institute on the Environment, and explore new ideas and opportunities for a sustainable future.

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January 8, 2009

A Culture in Peril: Hmong Grave Desecration in Thailand

Since 1976, the Twin Cities has been home to the largest urban Hmong population in the nation. It is a population for whom the fear of cultural extinction is so strong it is almost tangible. So it is increasingly significant that last month, a U.N. human rights expert visited the U to hear testimony regarding the mass exhumation of graves near a Buddhist temple in Thailand where thousands of Hmong refugees lived for more than 20 years. This testimony was the culmination of three years of effort to recognize the violations, reclaim the bodies, and compensate the victims.

Mai Na Lee, Assistant Professor of History and Asian American Studies at the University of Minnesota, gave a lecture that placed the situation at Wat Thamkrabok, Thailand, within the context of Hmong cultural history.

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December 4, 2008

Where Do We Go From Here?: Transition in the White House

A new executive branch is taking shape in Washington — and with the combination of two wars abroad and an economic crisis at home, this could be one of the most important transition periods in modern history. After nearly two years of campaigning for the White House, President-elect Obama has only weeks to create an administration team that will help him handle these daunting challenges. Who will he select for this group, and how will they set the administration’s top priorities?

J. Brian Atwood, Dean of the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, who led the transition team at the State Department for the Clinton-Gore administration, provided a firsthand perspective to the transition process and shared his thoughts on how the incoming administration should invest its political and financial capital.

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November 6, 2008

Election 2008: History in the Making

The campaign to elect the 44th president of the United States has been long, intense, and full of firsts, including a former First Lady winning more delegates than any other female candidate in history, the nomination of the first African-American candidate, and the first-ever battle between two sitting senators. How can we synthesize the results of this historic race and move forward to address the serious crises facing the nation? As the dust settles after the general election, join political science Professor Kathryn Pearson on November 6, as she analyzes one of the most significant presidential campaigns in American history.

Dr. Kathryn Pearson is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Minnesota where she specializes in congressional elections, political parties, women and politics, and public opinion.

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October 2, 2008

Petropolitics and the Middle East

In the wake of its week long war with Georgia, questions still remain about how the international community should react to Russia's blatant show of force. The events surrounding the conflict have marked a new and serious turn in east-west relations and escalated old tensions between the U.S. and Russia. Is the clash between Russia and Georgia a conflict over "democracy" and "sovereignty" as portrayed by Washington? Or is the U.S. mixing into the volatile politics of the Caucasus to preserve access to Caspian oil and to establish strategic staging areas for a possible attack on Iran?
Dr William Beeman, U of M anthropology chair and president of the Middle East Section of the American Anthropological Association, explored the geopolitical implications of this invasion.

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April 4, 2008

Foreclosure spike prompts action

The rise in mortgage foreclosures has sparked a sharp downturn in the state’s economy and forced thousands of Minnesota families from their homes. The situation grows worse daily, with a record-setting 33,000 Minnesota foreclosures predicted for 2008.

Worried by this trend, Minnesota politicians are borrowing a page from depression-era lawmaking and considering several bills that would stem the tide and protect homeowners, renters, and neighborhoods from its devastating consequences.
Amidst all the action is a growing debate—what are the ripple effects of this complicated problem?  And how much should the government do to protect its citizens from financial distress?

On April 3, join U of M law professor and former assistant attorney general Prentiss Cox, who played a central role in crafting the state’s anti-predatory lending law and foreclosure deferment bill, as he discusses the complex issues surrounding the foreclosure crisis in Minnesota.

Prentiss Cox is a Clinical Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota.  A frequent speaker on consumer protection issues, Cox was an Assistant Attorney General and manager of the Consumer Enforcement Division in the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office prior to joining the U of M faculty.  He holds a J.D. from the U of M Law School and has prosecuted numerous nationally-recognized cases involving predatory lending, subprime mortgage lending, credit card practices, and telemarketing fraud.  Professor Cox, who has been selected as a Minnesota “Super Lawyer,” helped research and draft the state’s anti-predatory lending law and the Minnesota Subprime Foreclosure Deferment Act.

PowerPoint Presentation

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March 6, 2008

The China Connection

With a population of more than 1.3 billion people, the oldest continuous civilization with records dating back 3,500 years, a geography covering 3.7 million square miles, and the world’s fastest growing economy, China is a geopolitical giant. And while its transition from an isolationist nation to international powerhouse has occurred in just a matter of decades, there’s no slowdown in sight.
Given the nation’s booming economy and rapidly expanding energy consumption, what global consequences can we expect from China’s tumultuous transformation?
Dr. Yongwei Zhang, Director of the University of Minnesota's China Center, discusses the transformation of mainland China from an isolationist nation to a global leader poised to become the largest economic power in the world.

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February 7, 2008

On the Road in Search of Latino America

"What a long, strange trip it's been."
Last year, Louis Mendoza, Chair of the U's Chicano Studies Department, spent six months circumnavigating the U.S. on a bicycle—covering 8,500 miles and observing firsthand the "Latinoization" of the country. As the national debate over immigration raged in the mainstream media and on the campaign trail, Mendoza interviewed hundreds of people about their views of the emergence of Latinos as the nation's largest ethnic minority and the effect this demographic shift is having on national identity and culture.
On February 7, Louis Mendoza retraces his journey and introduces you to the people he encountered on the road during his search for Latino America.

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January 10, 2008

Global Warming...Regional Impact: Minnesota's Role in an Environmental Crisis

"The Great Lakes' health is essential to our well-being.
It's no secret that awareness of global warming has skyrocketed in recent years. But what does it mean for us here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes if climate change is unequivocal and accelerating? At a recent conference on Lake Superior, researchers agreed that global warming could wreak havoc on the Great Lakes. What is the probable impact of global warming on Minnesota's fresh water ecology? And how are these changes likely to affect our health and well-being?
On January 10, Deborah Swackhamer, director of the U of M's Institute on the Environment and professor in the School of Public Health, offered an important—and eye-opening—discussion of the regional impact of global warming.

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December 6, 2007

Game Theory in an Economic Maelstrom

"The way he taught us to think has changed the world."
On October 15, U of M Regents Professor Emeritus Leonid Hurwicz won the Nobel Prize in economics for pioneering work in a branch of game theory known as mechanism design. While highly abstract and mathematical, mechanism design theory has concrete applications in the real world, affecting transactions ranging from auctions to elections.
On December 6, Varadarajan V. Chari, economic adviser for the Federal Reserve Bank, U of M economics professor, and colleague of Dr. Hurwicz, discussed the significance of Hurwicz's groundbreaking theory and the current volatile state of the economy.

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