Hubevents http://hubevents.blogspot.com is the web version.
If you wish to subscribe or unsubscribe to Energy (and Other) Events email gmoke@world.std.com
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Independent Ukraine: Energy, Corruption and Politics - A Mini-symposium
WHEN Mon., Sep. 26, 2011, 4 – 6 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, CGIS South Building, Room S-050
1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Conferences, Environmental Sciences, Humanities, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Ukrainian Research Institute
SPEAKER(S)
Margarita Balmaceda, Seton Hall University
Gene Fishel, U.S. Department of State
Tammy Lynch, Boston University
COST Free of charge, open to the general public
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The 2011-12 August Zaleski Lecture: "European Dimension of the Global Financial Crisis"
WHEN Mon., Sep. 26, 2011, 4:15 – 6 p.m.
WHERE Lower Level Conference Room, Busch Hall (27 Kirkland Street at Cabot Way)
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Business, Lecture, Social Sciences, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR August Zaleski Lectures Series
SPEAKER(S) Marek Belka, governor of the Central Bank of Poland
COST Free
CONTACT INFO Grzegorz Ekiert; Sarah Delude: sadelude@fas.harvard.edu
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The Arab Spring, the 2011 UN Meetings and the Way Ahead: British Perspectives
WHEN Mon., Sep. 26, 2011, 4:15 – 5:15 p.m.
WHERE Littauer 130, Harvard Kennedy School, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Co-Sponsored by The Future of Diplomacy Project and the Middle East Initiative, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
SPEAKER(S) Alistair Burt, UK Foreign Office minister for North America and the Middle East (parliamentary under secretary of state)
Introduction by Professor Tarek Masoud, Assistant Professor of Public Policy
CONTACT INFO middle_east_initiative@hks.harvard.edu, 617.495.5963
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Mideast Newsreel: UN Recognition of the State of Palestine
WHEN Mon., Sep. 26, 2011, 5 – 6:30 p.m.
WHERE Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Room 102, 38 Kirkland Street, Cambridge, MA
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Center for Middle Eastern Studies
SPEAKER(S) Herbert C. Kelman, Richard Clarke Cabot Professor of Social Ethics Emeritus, Department of Psychology, Harvard University
CONTACT INFO Liz Flanagan: elizabethflanagan@fas.harvard.edu
NOTE
The CMES Mideast Newsreel series is a public discussion program in which senior faculty present an analysis of current events as a key to the understanding of contemporary history in a Middle Eastern country or region.
LINK http://cmes.hmdc.harvard.edu/node/2739
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A Discussion with The Boston Globe
WHEN Mon., Sep. 26, 2011, 5:30 – 8 p.m.
WHERE Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, Walter Lippmann House, One Francis Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Business, Lecture, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard
SPEAKER(S) Martin Baron, editor of The Boston Globe; Chris Mayer, the Globe’s publisher; Michael Manning, product director; and Lisa DeSisto, the newspaper’s chief advertising officer; Joshua Benton, director of the Nieman Journalism Lab (moderator)
COST Free; please RSVP
TICKET WEB LINK niemanlabglobe.eventbrite.com
TICKET INFO niemanlabglobe.eventbrite.com
CONTACT INFO Joshua Benton: joshua_benton@harvard.edu
NOTE Concerned about the future of newspapers? Wondering if a paywall model work for a major metro newspaper? Join executives from The Boston Globe for a discussion about the much-anticipated and newly launched BostonGlobe.com. Please RSVP if you plan to attend.
LINK http://www.niemanlab.org/2011/09/a-nieman-lab-event-come-talk-with-boston-globe-leaders-about-their-new-strategy-sept-26/
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Monday, September 26, 2011
7:00 PM
Science and Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to the Science of Soft Matter
Exploring thickeners to manipulate mouthfeel
Speaker: Carles Tejedor (Via Veneto), Fina Puigdevall and Pere Planagumà (les Coles)
Harvard Science Center C, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA
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Monday, September 26, 2011
Tess Thackara: How Using Films And Images Can Shift Public Opinion and Change History
Speaker: Tess Thackara
Time: 7:00p–9:00p
Location: MIT, E15-070, Bartos Theater
Zones of Emergency: Artistic Interventions -- Creative Responses to Conflict & Crisis
Tess Thackara, Director, Survival International (USA)
Popularizing the Fight for Indigenous Rights: How Using Films and Images Can Shift Public Opinion and Change History
This lecture explores the work and methodology of human rights group Survival International, with a particular focus on the group's efforts to generate a groundswell of support for tribal people all over the world. Using Survival films and campaigns as case studies, the lecture will focus on the need to popularize the narrative surrounding indigenous land rights. Tess Thackara directs the USA office of Survival International, whose major campaign successes include the Indian government banning aluminum giant Vedanta Resources from mining the sacred lands of the Dongria Kondh tribe in 2010, and the High Court of Botswana's affirming the Bushmen's right to access water on their ancestral lands in 2011.
The Zones of Emergency: Artistic Interventions -- Creative Responses to Conflict & Crisis Fall 2011 lecture series investigates initiatives and modes of intervention in contested spaces, zones of conflict, or areas affected by environ?mental disasters. We will explore whether artistic interventions can transform, disrupt or subvert current environmental, urban, political and social conditions in critical ways. How can these interventions propose ideas, while at the same time respecting the local history and culture?
Web site: act.mit.edu
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free and open to the public.
Sponsor(s): MIT Program in Art, Culture and Technology, School of Architecture and Planning
For more information, contact:
Laura Anca Chichisan Pallone
617-253-5229
act@mit.edu
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Monday September 26, 2011
7pm (note special start time for this month)
Middlesex Lounge, 315 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Square)
$5
Featuring Nerd-appropriate tunes by Claude Money
Talk 1. “What is Evil? Understanding Human Cruelty in a Secular World” by Kate Elliott
Talk 2. “What Albums and Lattes Have in Common: Consumer Psychology and the Music Business” by Jodi Beggs
Talk 3. “The Evolution of Endurance Running” by Dave Rosen
For more information about the speakers and the talks:
http://boston.nerdnite.com/2011/09/21/nerdnite-september-26-economics-endurance-and-evil/
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Nuclear 101: How Nuclear Weapons Work
WHEN Tue., Sep. 27, 2011, 10 – 11:30 a.m.
WHERE Belfer Center Library, Littauer 369, Harvard Kennedy School, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Science, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Project on Managing the Atom
SPEAKER(S) Matthew Bunn, associate professor of public policy, co-principal investigator, Project on Managing the Atom
CONTACT INFO susan_lynch@harvard.edu
LINK http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/events/5575/nuclear_101.html
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Tuesday, September 27, 2011
The Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Disaster: Don't Blame the Quake
Speaker: Professor Eduardo Kausel, MIT
Time: 12:00p–1:00p
Location: MIT, Building 1-131, 77 Mass Avenue, Cambridge
CEE Mechanics Seminar
The catastrophic Tohoku earthquake of Friday March 11, 2011, was the largest to hit Japan in modern times, causing strong and long-lasting shaking. Tragically, the massive temblor also elicited a very large tsunami that devastated some coastal towns, led to casualties in the tens of thousands, and initiated a very serious chain of failures at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. Making use of some powerful historical evidence as well as some stunning photos, a case is made in this talk that the Fukushima disaster was largely avoidable, having resulted mainly from a failure to consider in its design the size and frequency of large tsunami off Japan?s Pacific coast. The calamity which befell Fukushima will certainly cast a dark, long shadow of suspicion and mistrust upon the nuclear industry from which it will emerge only with difficulty.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Civil and Environmental Engineering
For more information, contact:
Markus Buehler
617-252-2750
mbuehler@MIT.ED
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Tuesday, September 27
12 p.m.
"Age of Greed: The Triumph of Finance and the Decline of America."
Speaker Series with Jeff Madrick, editor of Challenge magazine; Senior Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute.
Harvard, Taubman 275, 5 Eliot Street, Cambridge
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/presspol/news_events/calendar.html
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From Tehran to Tahrir: Social Media and Dynamics of Collective Action under Authoritarian RegimesZeynep Tufekci, University of North Carolina
Tuesday, September 27, 12:30 pm
Berkman Center, 23 Everett Street, Cambridge second floor
RSVP required for those attending in person via http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/node/7022
This event will be webcast live at 12:30 pm ET and archived on our site (http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/interactive/webcast) shortly after.
From Zeynep:
What role did the new media ecology play in the ouster of long-standing dictators in Egypt and Tunisia as well as the continuing unrest across the region? In this talk, I present data from a large protester survey (n=1050) undertaken in Tahrir during February of 2011 and conceptually examine how the new media ecology, composed of satellite TVs, social media and cell phones, upsets the erstwhile stable dynamics of repression under “durable authoritarianism.” (Data collected by the Tahrir Data Project, run by the Engine Room research collective.) In short, authoritarian regimes often survive by creating a collective action problem for their citizenry through isolation, censorship and repression of dissent (“whack-a-protest”); social media introduces novel dynamics to this old game by changing the shape of connectivity networks, by facilitating information and action cascades, by undermining censorship and by facilitating the formation of new publics.
About Zeynep
Zeynep Tufekci is an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill at the School of Information and Library Science with an affiliate appointment in the Department of Sociology. She is also a Fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. Her research revolves around the interaction between technology and social, cultural and political dynamics. She is particularly interested in collective action and social movements, complex systems, surveillance, privacy, and sociality.
Editorial Comment: Seen her speak before and she is one smart person who knows what she is talking about.
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Microsoft Research @ 20 Years
Date: Tuesday, September 27 2011
Time: 3:00PM to 6:30PM
Refreshments: 6:30PM
Location: Microsoft Conference Center, One Memorial Drive, F
Contact: Be Blackburn, 857-453-6307, irenem@microsoft.com
PLEASE REGISTER in ADVANCE.
Unlike our other seminars and talks, we strongly encourage you to R.S.V.P. at www.MSR20.com as your R.S.V.P. code.
Join us at the Microsoft Research New England Lab for a unique experience as we mark 20 years @ Microsoft Research.
Our symposium will feature a dozen short non-technical talks and a panel highlighting research areas in which we are actively engaged including CS theory, machine learning, cryptography, security, cloud computing, computational biology, healthcare, empirical economics, social media and privacy.
The symposium will be followed by a brief reception, during which some interesting demos will be available.
2:30 pm Arrival | 3:00 pm Symposium | 6:30 pm Reception | 7:30
pm Adjourn
3:00pm Video and Welcome - Jennifer Chayes
3:10pm Communication, Computing and Technology - Madhu Sudan
3:20pm Cryptography Resilient to Physical Attacks - Yael Kalai
3:30pm (Un)usable Security - Butler Lampson
3:40pm Algorithmic Pricing of Online Services - Ilan Lobel, NYU
3:50pm Systems Biology: Where Computer Science, Engineering and Biology Meet - Ernest Fraenkel, MIT
4:00pm BREAK
4:20pm Machine Learning and Crowdsourcing - Adam Kalai
4:30pm Data-driven Decision Making in Healthcare Systems - Mohsen Bayati, Stanford
4:40pm Health Care Decisions in the Information Age - Ben Handel, Berkeley
4:50pm The Effects of News Aggregators and Social Media on Online News Consumption - Susan Athey, Harvard; Markus Mobius
5:10pm BREAK
5:30pm Talking heads: Cell phones, gender and privacy in Indian villages - Kate Crawford, University of New South Wales
5:40pm Privacy in the Age of Augmented Reality - Alessandro Acquisti, CMU
5:50pm PANEL: Privacy: Issues and Perspectives
Moderator: Ethan Zuckerman, Berkman Center, Harvard
Panelists: Chris Conley, Berkman Center, Harvard; Alessandro Acquisiti, CMU; Kate Crawford, University of New South Wales
6:25pm Closing Comments - Christian Borgs
6:30pm Reception and Demos
http://research.microsoft.com/
Irene Money
Business Manager, Microsoft Research New England
tel:857-453-6307
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Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Global Leadership Lecture Series
Scott Davis, CEO, UPS
“The Future of Logistics and Trade”
Time: 3:45pm-5pm
Location: E51-Wong Auditorium
UPS Chairman and CEO Scott Davis will speak with MIT Professor Yossi Sheffi in a candid and wide ranging conversation about logistics, global commerce, and other timely issues. As a member of the President’s Export Council, Mr. Davis is one of the nation’s leading advocates for free and open global trade. He will talk about the rise of emerging economies and the weak U.S. economic recovery. He’ll discuss the need for U.S. leadership in global trade and improved competitiveness, with more investment in transportation infrastructure. UPS is a sustainability leader with a rolling laboratory of alternative fuel vehicles, and Davis will discuss the company’s efforts to reduce consumption of fossil fuels and carbon footprint. He will speak with Dr. Sheffi from the perspective as a leader of one of the world’s largest logistics providers serving more than 220 countries.
Scott Davis earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from Portland State University and completed the Advanced Management Program at the Wharton School of Business. He joined UPS in 1986 when the company acquired an Oregon technology company, II Morrow, where he had served as the chief financial officer and then chief executive officer. From 1991 to 1998, Scott held positions of increasing responsibility as treasury manager, financial reports and plans manager and accounting manager. From late 1998 to early 2000, he served as chief executive officer of Overseas Partners, Ltd., a Bermuda reinsurance company. Scott rejoined UPS as its vice president of finance in 2000. He joined the UPS Management Committee and assumed the role of Chief Financial Officer in 2001. In 2006, Scott was also appointed Vice Chairman. Scott became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer on January 1, 2008. He serves as a director of Honeywell International Inc. and was chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta in 2009. He is presently a member of the President’s Export Council. Scott is also a trustee of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the world’s largest philanthropic foundation dedicated to helping disadvantaged children.
We hope to see you next Tuesday!
Tara Faulkner
ph: 617-253-4592
cell: 978-828-8913
http://ctl.mit.edu
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Tuesday, September 27, 2011
4:00-6:00PM
The Brain on Stress: How the Social Environment “Gets Under the Skin”
Bruce S. McEwen, Ph.D.
Alfred E. Mirsky Professor, Head of the Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology
The Rockefeller University
Fong Auditorium, Boylston Hall, Harvard Yard, Cambridge, Mass.
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Tuesday, September 27, 2011
"Towards New Histories of Production: Where Have We Been, and Where Might We Go?
Speaker: David Edgerton, Centre for the History of Science,Technology and Medicine, Imperial College London
Time: 4:30p–6:00p
Location: MIT, Building E51-275
Sahin Seminar
The cultural turn and the emphasis on consumption has marginalised questions of production from many branches of history. We need both to renew the pioneering work of the 1970s and early 1980s on the topic, and to look to the renewed emphasis of production in several branches of history.
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): History Office
For more information, contact:
Margo Collett
253-4965
mcollett@mit.edu
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South Asia Initiative Harish C. Mahindra Lecture: "Empowering 3 Billion"
WHEN Tue., Sep. 27, 2011, 5 – 7:30 p.m.
WHERE Loeb House, 17 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Education, Humanities, Lecture, Social Sciences, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR South Asia Initiative
SPEAKER(S) APJ Abdul Kalam, 11th president of India
COST Free
TICKET INFO Seating is limited
CONTACT INFO sainit@fas.harvard.edu
LINK http://southasiainitiative.harvard.edu
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12th Annual John T. Dunlop Lecture: Three Myths About Affordable Housing
WHEN Tue., Sep. 27, 2011, 6 – 7 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Graduate School of Design, 48 Quincy Street, Cmabridge
Gund Hall, Piper Auditorium
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Business, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Joint Center for Housing Studies, supported by the National Housing Endowment
SPEAKER(S) Jonathan Reckford, chief executive officer, Habitat for Humanity International
CONTACT INFO 617.495.7908
LINK http://www.jchs.harvard.edu
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Intercollegiate Energy Social
September 27, 2011 - 7:00pm
John Harvard's (Harvard Sq.) 33 Dunster Street Cambridge, MA
Are you a student and passionate about energy? Come to an intercollegiate energy social this Tuesday (9/27/11) for some energy community building, debate, and discussion! All are welcome, and energy clubs from schools around Boston are invited to this intercollegiate mixer. This will be a unique opportunity to meet graduate and undergraduate students who are passionate about energy. Hope to see you there!
Details: Meet in the bar area - over and under 21 welcome.
Invited clubs:
Babson Energy and Environment Club
Boston University Energy Club
Dartmouth Energy Collaborative
Dartmouth Energy Journal Club
Fletcher Energy Consortium
Harvard Business School Energy and Environment Club Harvard Energy Journal Club Harvard Global Energy Initiative Harvard Kennedy School Energy and Environment Professional Interest Council MIT Energy Club Tufts Energy Forum UNH Energy Club
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Tuesday, September 27, 2011
MIT Generator - Sustainability in Action
Time: 7:00p–9:00p
Location: MIT, Stata-R&D Commons
Want to learn about how students, faculty, and staff can collaborate around energy, environment, and sustainability? Have an idea for something new? Come to the Generator!
The MIT Generator hosts a forum for groups currently working on energy, the environment, and sustainability to share their work and for anyone to pitch new ideas and projects. Find funding for your green idea. Hear about existing efforts from many of the major campus and city groups. Meet new collaborators. Share your ideas for changing our campus and city!
Join a project. Lead a team. Help the world.
DINNER WILL BE PROVIDED. (Compostable tableware will also be provided, but the greenest thing to do is bring your own reusable tableware.)
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Sustainability@MIT
For more information, contact:
Sam Crawford
sustainability-president@mit.edu
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"Creating More Sustainable Suburbs: Lessons from Around the World"
A Conversation with Paul Lukez
Tuesday, September 27, 7:30pm
Arlington High Learning Commons, 869 Massachusetts Avenue
Organized by Sustainable Arlington in collaboration with Arlington Community Education
Across the globe, suburbia and its by-products have evolved into a complex array of urban conditions that consume an ever-increasing portion of our landscape and resources. What can be done to make the modern metropolis more sustainable? Based on his research in the US, China and Europe, architect Paul Lukez will discuss new models for building more sustainable environments and consider how they apply to Arlington and other local communities.
Paul Lukez is the author of Suburban Transformations and the forthcoming Transforming the Mid-Polis.
This event is the first in Arlington Community Ed’s Tuesday Night Conversation series moderated by Fortune magazine editor-at-large David Whitford.
Admission is $5. Advance registration is recommended. For registration information use this link
and use CODE: TC001, or call 781 316-3568.
For additional Arlington Community Education class offerings, visit http://arlingtoncommunityed.org/index.php.
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Cambridge Community Center Winter Market
Cambridge's first Winter Market is coming to the Cambridge Community Center. The market is expected to run every Saturday from January 7th to April 28th 2012. The market will take place inside the gym of the community center. We are currently looking for volunteers to help with setup and breakdown of the market.
We are also holding advisory committee meetings where we will be discussing the details of the market.
The first meeting will take place on September 27th 2011.
If you would like to attend please request an invitation by emailing Jose Mendez the Director of Marketing and Outreach at josem@cambridgecommunitycenter.org.
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Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Science Impact Collaborative Luncheon
Speaker: Lawrence Susskind, Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning, DUSP; Director, Science Impact Collaborative
Time: 12:00p–2:00p
Location: MIT, Building 9-554
Science Impact Collaborative Luncheon
Water is Not a Scarce Resources (if Transboundary Negotiations Are Structured Properly)
The conventional wisdom about water negotiations is that they inevitably take a zero-sum form. The Water Diplomacy Framework (www.waterdiplomacy. org) seeks to challenge that notion, along with other assumptions about the best ways of managing water supplies and resolving water conflicts.
Web site: http://web.mit.edu/dusp/epp/music/
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): DUSP, EPP
For more information, contact:
Nina Tamburello
617.253.1509
ninat@mit.edu
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Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Energy 101 : The Science behind Global Warming
Speaker: Daniel Chavas
Time: 12:30p–1:30p
Location: MIT, Building 3-133
Energy 101 Series
Presenting the basics of various energy-related topics.
Energy 101 lecture on the science behind global warming. FREE FOOD.
Web site: http://www.mitenergyclub.org/events-and-programs/energy-101
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Club
For more information, contact:
MIT Energy Club
aziz_a@mit.edu
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September 28, 2011 - 2:30pm - 3:30pm
Contact Name: Michael Rutter
mrutter@seas.harvard.edu
Harvard, Maxwell Dworkin 115, 33 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Science, Technology, and India's Policy: Energy, Nuclear Power, Space and IT
Featuring Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, former President of India and current Chancellor of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology
Join Dr. Kalam in a discussion about how the Diaspora can be better engaged in the process of enhancing research and higher education in India. Sponsored by the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Harvard South Asia Initiative.
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Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Layer-by-Layer Assemblies: From Fundamental Thermal Analysis to Electrochemical Energy Storage Applications
Speaker: Prof. Jodie L. Lutkenhaus (Texas A&M University)
Time: 3:30p–4:45p
Location: MIT, Building 4-237
Program in Polymer Science and Technology (PPST) Polymer Seminars
PPST sponsors a series of seminars covering a broad range of topics of general interest to the polymer community,featuring speakers from both on and off campus.
MIT Program in Polymer Science and Technology Polymer Seminar
Web site: http://web.mit.edu/ppst/schedule.html
Open to: the general public
Cost: FREE
Sponsor(s): MIT Program in Polymer Science and Technology (PPST)
For more information, contact:
Gregory Sands
(617) 253-0949
ppst-www@mit.edu
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September 29, 2011
3:30pm
MIT, Building E19-623
Using Biology to Build Nanomaterials for Energy & The Environment
Angela Belcher, W.M. Keck Professor of Energy, Materials Science and Engineering and Biological Engineering, MIT
http://web.mit.edu/knight-science/seminars/current.html
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Anonymizing Personal Data: Three Case Studies and a Funeral
Vitaly Shmatikov , Associate Professor of Computer Science, the University of Texas at Austin
When: Sep 29, 2011
4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Where: Harvard, Maxwell Dworkin G125, 33 Oxford Street, Cambridge
"We do not collect personally identifiable information"... "This dataset has been de-identified prior to release"... From advertisers tracking Web clicks to biomedical researchers sharing clinical records, anonymization is the main privacy protection mechanism used for sensitive data today.
I will demonstrate that the distinction between "personally identifiable" and "non-personally identifiable" information is fallacious by showing how to infer private information from fully anonymized data in three settings: (1) records of individual transactions and preferences, illustrated by theNetflix Prize dataset, (2) social networks, and (3) recommender systems, where temporal changes in aggregate statistics allow accurate inference of hidden individual transactions.
I will also describe new approaches to privacy-preserving computation based on a combination of mandatory access control and differential privacy.
Speaker Biography: Vitaly Shmatikov is an associate professor of computer science at the University of Texas at Austin. He works on security and privacy.
Host: Stephen Chong
Contact: Gioia Sweetland
gioia@seas.harvard.edu 617-495-2919
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Global Economic Turbulence and the Competitiveness of Small Countries: A Perspective from Montenegro
WHEN Thu., Sep. 29, 2011, 4:15 – 5:45 p.m.
WHERE WAPPP Cason Conference Room (T-102), Taubman Building, Harvard Kennedy School
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Kokkalis Program on Southeastern and East-Central Europe, Harvard Kennedy School
SPEAKER(S) Milorad Katnic, minister of finance, Republic of Montenegro
LINK http://www.hks.harvard.edu/kokkalis/
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Impact of Current Developments in the Middle East on the Economic Outlook
WHEN Thu., Sep. 29, 2011, 5 – 6:30 p.m.
WHERE Bell Hall, 5th Floor Belfer Building, Harvard Kennedy School, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Middle East Initiative, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
SPEAKER(S) Raed H. Charafeddine, first vice-governor of the Banque du Liban, Lebanon’s Central Bank
CONTACT INFO middle_east_initiative@hks.harvard.edu, 617.495.5963
LINK http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/events/5552/impact_of_current_developments_in_the_middle_east_on_the_economic_outlook.html
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The 3rd annual Massachusetts Green Career Conference will be held September 30th, 2011.
Holiday Inn, Marlborough, MA
Join us to learn what's new! Register @ http://greencareer.eventbrite.com.
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September 30
8:30 am
TROMP Tutorial with Green Streets Walk/Ride Day,
Kennedy/Longfellow School, 158 Spring Street, Cambridge
http://www.trompcambridge.com
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HONK!
SIXTH ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF ACTIVIST STREET BANDS
September 30 – October 3
events based in Davis Square, Somerville, Harvard Square, Cambridge, & Boston Harbor
ALMOST ALL EVENTS FREE AND OPEN TO EVERYONE [THE FRIDAY NIGHT KICKOFF & SUNDAY NIGHT BOAT CRUISE ARE VERY AFFORDABLE!]
HONK!: the worthy craze sweeping the nation – from Boston to Providence to Brooklyn to Austin to Seattle -- and every Fall back to Boston, with HONK! bands migrating from far and near, descending upon the HONK! epicenter, where festival participants (including the audience) can gaggle, gander, and generate the gregarious racket that signifies the HONK! experience.
The HONK! phenomenon was born 6 years ago in Davis Square spurred on by a need of a certain species of street band to congregate and celebrate their social activist side. HONK! lets the good times roll while being ever mindful that some bad times need fixing. HONK! believes that street-wise music can be the agent of change for the better. HONK! is the universal tongue for hey-wake-up-and-pay-attention!
This year there will be honk-like opportunities galore with outdoor band concerts in Davis, spilling over into Harvard Square and surrounding neighborhoods, and for the first time ever, splashing out into the Boston Harbor. Rain or shine from September 30 through October 3, HONK! will release its clarion call throughout the Boston-area – a call to wage peace, harmony, and just plain fun.
The confirmed HONK! band count is currently almost 30, with one to two new ones being added weekly. But when the final count is in, there’ll still be plenty of chances for folks to jump in at the last minute and join the merry fray. For example, individual musicians not connected to any particular HONK! band are invited to participate on Sunday, October 2nd, in the impromptu “community band” which will be part of the gigantic HONK! Parade to Reclaim the Streets for Horns, Bikes and Feet.
Take note that in previous years HONK! has been held on Columbus Day weekend, but due to the 2011 dates conflicting with Yom Kippur, the festival has been scheduled a week earlier. Festival updates can be found at www.honkfest.org, http://twitter.com/honkfest, and www.facebook.com/honkfestival, or by calling 617-383-HONK (4665).
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Friday, September 30
10:30am
"Relating Perception to Action in the Musical Brain."
Dr. Psyche Loui, Department of Neuorology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
BU: Room 203, 44 Cummington Street, Boston
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Friday, September 30, 2011
Energy Discussions: The Climate Science We Need
Speaker: Dan Chavas, Marty Singh, Tim Cronin
Time: 12:00p–1:00p
Location: TBA
What areas of policy-relevant climate research are strongest? Where are areas for potential advances in climate research in the medium-term? What are areas where the science is strong, but the policy ideas have not yet incorporated? And what are the kind of questions that climate science just can't answer in the near future? We need to understand these kinds of questions to craft effective climate and energy policy.
Join members of the MIT Energy Club and the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Science for a round-table on these questions and their implications.
You can prepare for this discussion by attending the MIT Energy Club Climate Science 101 lecture on Wednesday, 28 Sept.
A light lunch will be served.
Web site: http://www.mitenergyclub.org/events-and-programs/discussion-series
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Club
For more information, contact:
Rebecca Dell
rwdell(at)mit(dot)edu
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Friday, September 30, 2011
10th Annual International Development Fair
Time: 1:00p–3:00p
Location: MIT, Building 32, Student Street, Stata Center
Interested in International Development? Want to get involved? Have an idea but not sure how to get support for it? Come to the 10th annual International Development Fair to meet the many departments, labs, centers and student groups supporting on and around MIT's campus.
Web site: http://web.mit.edu/idi/get_involved.htm
Sponsor(s): International Development Initiative, Technology and Culture Forum
For more information, contact:
Laura Sampath
617-253-7052
lsampath@mit.edu
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Friday, September 30, 2011
"Contested Fields: Agriculture and Environmental Conflicts through the Lens of 'Place'"
Speaker: Chris Henke, Associate Professor of Sociology, Colgate University
Time: 4:00p–6:00p
Location: MIT, Building E51-095
This event is part of the Workshop for the History of the Environment, Agriculture, Technology and Science (WHEATS) Conference
In a world of increasingly global connections, agriculture is both part of these widespread networks but also still rooted to the specific "places"where crops are produced. This literal grounding of agriculture makes it a potential site for conflict over the environmental impacts of farming, serving as a place for diverse interests to contest the practices and technologies used in specific locations. The example of agricultural biotechnology makes a useful case to explore the place-based conflicts over agriculture in the early twenty-first century.
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): History Office, STS, SHASS Dean's Office, Anthropology
For more information, contact:
Rebecca Woods, Margo Collett
802-881-7653
rjwoods@mit.edu, mcollett@mit.edu
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HEET is organizing a workshop on reducing energy bills in larger buildings on Oct. 1st. It's being run by Marc Rosenbaum, an award-winning building systems analyst, and sponsored by Mass. Interfaith Power and Light. People-in-the-know murmur Rosenbaum's name with awe. Paul Eldrenkamp of Byggmeister fame will moderate.
The workshop will take place in the First Church in Cambridge, a large historical building being used in a wide variety of ways such as a homeless shelter, childcare center and office space.
During the workshop we will be guided through the church to examine its problems, then in small groups design a longterm plan going forward to reduce the church's energy use. Rosenbaum will comment on each of the plans to help us learn.
We're assembling a star-studded cast of guides to teach folks about how the building systems work and what can help.
We will also have a NSTAR representative explain available rebates, and the president of New Generation Energy talk about a great new financing mechanism for raising money through a community for energy efficiency.
We want to leave people with the practical knowledge about buildings and financing to reduce their building's energy use.
The workshop itself is on Sat. Oct 1st from 9 am to 5 pm. Lunch will be provided and the cost is only $75. Normally Rosenbaum's classes cost 3 times that.
Here's more info https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OVgK56hrB7m2roHQ2KW9cUysRnbMzJNi5e1HCf_rueI/edit?hl=en_US, and the sign up formhttps://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?hl=en_US&formkey=dDljTHE3V0VGcnFEWWZlU3pTTGtVUXc6MQ#gid=0
Please post the info wherever you can or mention it to all who might be interested. I think it will be a very helpful workshop.
We only have room for 100 attendees, so people might want to sign up soon.
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ENDING THE ENDLESS WARS AND OCCUPATIONS
Saturday, October 1, 2011 9am to 5pm Suffolk University, Boston
Register Online Now!
Keynote speaker
NOAM CHOMSKY
2011 from Egypt to Libya: Triumph and Turmoil in the Arab world
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The Conference
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Fall 2011 marks ten years since 9/11, the War on Terror, the Afghanistan War, and the founding of UJP. The US/NATO bombing of Libya is the latest in the
series of wars. Domestically, greed is rampant and serious problems are getting worse. Few peace and justice activists can remember a more troubling time.
How did we get here and how can we change things?
What can we learn from the historic events in Egypt, where the people triumphed against huge odds, and the workers of Wisconsin?
How can the peace movement continue its work to end the wars and cut the military budget while also building cooperation with the economic and racial
justice movements?
We want a peaceful foreign policy based on democracy to focus on the pressing economic and human problems that must be solved.
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Featuring Presentations by:
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Kathy Kelly, Voices for Creative Nonviolence
Report from Afghanistan and Iraq
Ann Wright, former U.S. Army Colonel
Report on the Gaza Flotilla and Palestine
Michael McPhearson, National Coordinator, United for Peace and Justice
Connecting to the War at Home
Will Hopkins
Iraq Veterans Against the War and New Hampshire Peace Action
The crisis and youth today
Max Elbaum, War Times/Tiempo de Guerras
Fighting for Peace Against an Empire in Decline
Patricia Montes, Centro Presente
How the wars affect immigrant rights at home
Registration Fee: $15, includes morning coffee and pastry. Free for Suffolk University students and faculty with ID. ?No one turned away.
Register online at http://justicewithpeace.org/ten-years-after-registration
Lunch: $10 - pizza, salad and drink, served in Donahua Building cafeteria.
Directions: Take the T to Park Street or Government Center.
Suffolk University, Donahue Building, 41 Temple St.
Do not confuse Temple Street with Temple Place.
Registration opens at 9am at the Donahue Building, 41 Temple St.
Sessions will be held in Donahue and in the C. Walsh Theatre next door.
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Green Homes Open House
October 1, 10am - 4pm
Get ready to be inspired as you view clean, renewable energy at work first-hand on Saturday, October 1! The Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) invites you to visit sustainable, green homes and buildings throughout New England, including right here in Boston. Last year more than 10,000 people participated in close to 500 tours. See how your neighbors are reducing their carbon footprint and cutting their energy bills through the power of the sun, wind, smart building design, and energy efficient appliances and technologies.
Boston sites include:
12 St John, JP (10 am-2 pm)
16 Stearns St. Cambridge (11 am-4 pm)
133 Bourne, JP (12 pm-5 pm)
61 Hampstead #2, JP
18 Beethoven, Roxbury (10 am-2 pm)
100 Terrace, Roxbury (10 am-2 pm)
To learn more about these and other Green Buildings Open House sites near you, visit http://www.nesea.org/greenbuildings.
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Saturday, October 01, 2011
2011 Ig Informal Lectures at MIT
Speaker: The 2011 Ig Nobel Prize Winners
Time: 1:00p–3:00p
Location: MIT, Building 26-100
A half-afternoon of improbably funny, informative, brief (5 minutes each, plus a few questions & answers with the audience), high-spirited public lectures, in which the new Ig Nobel Prize winners will attempt to explain what they did, and why they did it.
Web site: http://web.mit.edu/bookstore/www/events/index.html#ig
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): The MIT Press Bookstore
For more information, contact:
The MIT Press Bookstore
253-5249
books@mit.edu
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Upcoming
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Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Climate Change 2011: When Policymakers Fail
Bartos Theater
MIT campus, 20 Ames Street Building E15, Atrium level, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
Some of America’s top scientists discuss their frustration with the lack of progress on the pressing problem of climate change, and talk about their ideas for what scientists and citizens can do while policymakers fail to act.
What does the latest research show on both the climate and the attitude of Americans?
This event is free to attend, but registration is required. Please e-mail knight-info@mit.edu for details and registration information.
http://web.mit.edu/knight-science
http://web.mit.edu/knight-science/img/seminars/climateweb.pdf
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Collaboration Paradox with John Abele, Founder of Boston Scientific
We often claim to work collaboratively—but do our collaborative initiatives realize their potential and drive innovation?
OCTOBER 5, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
WHITEHEAD INSTITUTE, MCGOVERN AUDITORIUM, 9 CAMBRIDGE CENTER
Boston Scientific Founder John Abele—drawing from his 30+ years experience at the intersection of science and industry—will discuss what it takes to facilitate successful collaborations and why the most productive collaborations often arise unexpectedly. Citing Whitehead Institute’s Founder Jack Whitehead as an example, Abele will discuss the key ingredients for accelerating the development of new technologies and ideas through collaborative behavior, including leadership, community building and harnessing the “wisdom of crowds.”
http://tedxboston.org/adventure/collaboration-paradox-with-john-abele-founder-of-boston-scientific
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The Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future public hearing
October 12, 2011
Harvard Medical School Conference Center, 77 Louis Pasteur, Longwood, Boston, MA
BRC Draft Report to the Secretary of Energy http://www.brc.gov
The Blue Ribbon Commission On America’s Nuclear Future is a Presidentially-mandated group composed of 16 people to make recommendations for national radioactive waste policy. The record of the work the Commission has done over the last year--available on-line in video form, transcript, written testimony, and public comments all posted at http://www.brc.gov
These additional meetings in September and October are to collect public comments on the Commission's draft recommendations. The full draft report is available here: http://www.brc.gov/index.php?q=announcement/brc-releases-their-draft-full-commission-report
The Commission website states: All public are welcome to attend. Pre-registration is strongly encouraged but not required. Information about registration will be available in the near future. The meetings will not be video webcast. Transcripts of the meetings will be available on the website, along with all written comments anyone chooses to offer. Comments can either be made directly to the website at www.brc.gov or by email to:CommissionDFO@nuclear.energy.govand via US postal mail:
Mr. Timothy A. Frazier
Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future
U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20585
Comment deadline is October 31, 2011. NIRS will share a more complete set of comments for sign-on in October.
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Zero Net Energy Housing Workshop
Thursday, October 13
5:00 pm to 8:00 pm
MassDevelopment
33 Andrews Parkway
Devens, MA
A review of building techniques for high energy-efficient homes that produce as much energy as they consume. Enjoy a tour of Zero Net Energy homes already under construction in Devens and engage in a question and answer period with Carter Scott, one of the state's pre-eminent sustainable developers.
There is no cost to attend but space is limited. To register, contact scorbeil@massdevelopment.com
Editorial Comment: Carter Scott does great work and is well worth hearing.
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Hands-on work to weatherize a great organization!
Save the date: Oct 15th
BostonCAN is partnering with HEET again to organize a "barnraising." We won't be raising any barns at this neighborhood weatherization work day, but we will be helping a Jamaica Plain community anchor, Spontaneous Celebrations, to lighten its ecological footprint and save much needed funds for its wonderful programming, such as the Lantern Festival and Wake Up the Earth.
Barnraisings are great opportunities to get hands-on experience making old windows more weather-tight, air sealing in a basement, and weather-stripping doors. Both skilled and untrained volunteers are needed.
Contact Information
Boston Climate Action Network
857-544-6846
bostonclimateaction[at]gmail.com
http://bostoncan.org
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TEDxCambridge Presents: Thrive
November 19, 2011, Harvard University
You have to apply to attend at http://www.tedxcambridge.com/thrive/
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Opportunity
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AC Swap – The Cambridge Energy Alliance’s window air conditioner swap program is in progress. Residents can obtain a voucher for $125 if they swap an inefficient window AC unit for an Energy Star rated model This is a limited time offer. Go to the CEA website for participation details:http://cambridgeenergyalliance.org/resources/a-c-swap
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Free Solar Panels for Houses of Worship
From a recent Mass Interfaith Power & Light (http://mipandl.org/) email
"We've recently been talking with DCS Energy (http://www.dcsenergy.com/) who has an unbeatable offer: if your site qualifies, they design and install the panels at no cost, don't charge you for any electricity, and donate the system to your house of worship after five years. Your only costs will be for a building permit, possibly a structural engineer to verify that your roof can support their weight, and any preparatory work such as roof work or tree removal. If solar panels are so expensive how can anyone give them away for free? First, there is a federal grant program that is only available until November that pays for 30% of the cost of the system. Then there is an accelerated depreciation option that gives certain kinds of investors another tax advantage. Finally, the state awards a special allowance called a "Solar Renewal Energy Credit" (SRECs) to owners of solar electricity systems which are sold at auctions to utilities who buy them to meet their requirements under the Massachusetts' renewable portfolio standard. DCS is betting that the price of these SRECs will remain high. Jim Nail, president of MA IP&L, has talked to DCS Energy and is currently having them prepare a proposal for his church, St. Dunstan's Episcopal in Dover. Jim says, "The references I've talked to have been quite positive about the program and the company has been very responsive. "If you think your site might qualify, contact Peter Carli, pete@dcsenergy.com, with the address of your house of worship and your contact information. He'll take a preliminary look at your site and advise you if it meets their criteria."
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Young World Inventors Success!
Young World Inventors (http://yinventors.wordpress.com/) finished their Kickstarter campaign (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1036325713/youngworldinventorscom) to fund insider web stories of African and American innovators in collaboration successfully.
New contributions, however, will be accepted.
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What you need to know: The Staples Youth Social Entrepreneur (YSE) Competition is a global competition created by Staples Foundation and Ashoka to recognize exceptional young people using innovation and technology to advance social change and improve their community and the world.
Who’s eligible?: Young people (age 12-24), living anywhere in the world, are eligible to apply.
Dates and details: Apply online between June 22 and September 19, 2011.
For more information: http://ashokayouthcompetition.org/
--
Laura Sampath
MIT International Development Initiative
77 Mass Ave, 10-110
Cambridge MA 02139
617.253.7052
Sign up for the 2011 Yunus Challenge Facebook page: yunus2011@groups.facebook.com
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Resource
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Massachusetts Attitudes About Climate Change – An opinion survey of Massachusetts residents conducted by MassINC and sponsored by the Barr Foundation found that 77% of respondents believe that global warming has “probably been happening” and 59% of all respondents see see it as being at least partially caused by human pollution. Only 42% of the state’s residents say global warming will have very serious consequences for Massachusetts if left unaddressed. The 18 to 29 age group is more likely to believe global warming is appearing and caused by humans compared to the 60+ age group. African-American (56%) and Latino residents (69%) are more likely than white residents (40%) to believe global warming will be a very serious problem if left unaddressed. The MassINC report, titled The 80 Percent Challenge: What Massachusetts must do to meet targets and make headway on climate change (http://www.massinc.org/Research/The-80-percent-challenge.aspx), contains many other findings.
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The presentations from the recent Affordable Comfort National Home Performance Conference are available online at
http://2011.acinational.org/downloadable_resources
Lots of good information from what some call the best energy conference in the USA on Deep Energy Retrofits to Community Energy Challenges with details on insulation, heat flow, energy metering, ducting, hot water, and many, many other topics. If you are a practical energy wonk, this should make your eyes light up.
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Free Monthly Energy Analysis
CarbonSalon is a free service that every month can automatically track your energy use and compare it to your past energy use (while controlling for how cold the weather is). You get a short friendly email that lets you know how you’re doing in your work to save energy.
https://www.carbonsalon.com/
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Boston Food System
"The Boston Food System [listserv] provides a forum to post announcements of events, employment opportunities, internships, programs, lectures, and other activities as well as related articles or other publications of a non-commercial nature covering the area's food system - food, nutrition, farming, education, etc. - that take place or focus on or around Greater Boston (broadly delineated)."
The Boston area is one of the most active nationwide in terms of food system activities - projects, services, and events connected to food, farming, nutrition - and often connected to education, public health, environment, arts, social services and other arenas. Hundreds of organizations and enterprises cover our area, but what is going on week-to-week is not always well publicized.
Hence, the new Boston Food System listserv, as the place to let everyone know about these activities. Specifically:
Use of the BFS list will begin soon, once we get a decent base of subscribers. Clarification of what is appropriate to announce and other posting guidelines will be provided as well.
It's easy to subscribe right now at https://elist.tufts.edu/wws/subscribe/bfs
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Artisan Asylum http://artisansasylum.com/
Sprout & Co: Community Driven Investigations http://thesprouts.org/studios
Greater Boston Solidarity Economy Mapping Project http://www.transformationcentral.org/solidarity/mapping/mapping.html
a project by Wellesley College students that invites participation, contact jmatthaei@wellesley.edu
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Bostonsmart.com's Guide to Boston http://www.bostonsmarts.com/BostonGuide/
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Links to events at 60 colleges and universities at Hubevents http://hubevents.blogspot.com
Thanks to
Fred Hapgood's Selected Lectures on Science and Engineering in the
Boston Area http://fhapgood.fastmail.fm/site02.html
Boston Area Computer User Groups http://www.bugc.org/
http://www.mitenergyclub.org/calendar/mit_events_template
http://sustainability.mit.edu/
http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/calendar/
http://green.harvard.edu/events
http://microsoftcambridge.com/Events/tabid/57/Default.aspx
http://pechakuchaboston.org/blog/
http://boston.nerdnite.com/
http://www.meetup.com/
http://www.eventbrite.com/
