Nov 23: Social Enterprise talk at CMU

The Global Rise of Social Enterprise by Jerr Boschee, executive director of the Institute for Social Entrepreneurs (www.socialent.org) and Visiting Professor of the Practice in Social Enterprise at the Heinz School.
Jerr Boschee has been an advisor to social entrepreneurs in the United States and elsewhere for more than 30 years. He has been a keynoter or conducted master classes in 42 states and 15 countries, and has long been recognized as one of the founders of the social enterprise movement worldwide. He has also been a senior marketing executive for a Fortune 100 company, managing editor for a chain of regional newspapers, a Peace Corps Volunteer in India, and a guest lecturer at numerous academic institutions, including Cambridge, Carnegie Mellon, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Northwestern, Oxford, Stanford and others.

4:30 p.m. in Gregg Hall (Porter Hall 100) at CMU. Co-sponsored by the Heinz College Institute for Social Innovation

Nov 19: Race, Class, & Gender in the Justice System

Race, Class, and Gender in the U.S. Justice System: a discussion led by Rev. Bryan Massingale, eminent Black American scholar and ethicist of Marquette University and Nicholas Cafardi, Dean Emeritus of Duquesne Law School. Come and join in the discourse on a critical social problem of our times.

3-6 p.m. in the Power Center Ballroom at Duquesne University. We offer reduction in parking fees. Please RSVP to Christina Astorga, astorgac@duq.edu with cc to Glory Smith, smithg@duq.edu

Nov 17: Air Toxics conference at Pitt

The 2009 Conference on Air Toxics Control in Allegheny County will cover the science and history of air toxics control in Allegheny County, the specifics of the proposed Allegheny County Air Toxics Control Bill, and air toxics control elsewhere (federal, state, and local). This event, sponsored by the Graduate School of Public Health and the Allegheny County Health Department, has been approved for the Dean's Public Health Grand Rounds. Kudos to Clean Water Action for continuing to bring attention to Allegheny County's air toxics problem. Check out WTAE's 3 part series -- http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/index.html . And for more information on air quality in general, you can always visit GASP.

8-12:30 at the University Club (123 University Drive in Oakland); free and open to the public. RSVP to Angela at aph11@pitt.edu .

Nov 16: Milking the Rhino

Milking the Rhino is a documentary film examining the deepening conflict between humans and animals in an ever-shrinking world. It is the first major documentary to explore wildlife conservation from the perspective of people who live with wild animals. Shot in some of the world’s most magnificent locales, Rhinooffers complex, intimate portraits of rural Africans at the forefront of community-based conservation: a revolution that is turning poachers into preservationists and local people into the stewards of their land.

Carnegie Mellon University is hosting an afternoon panel as well as a screening of the film followed by a Q&A session.

Panel at 4:30 p.m. in Porter Hall 100; the film begins at 7 p.m. in McConomy Auditorium in CMU's University Center.

Nov 12: Managing Risk in the Global Society

Managing Risk in the Global Society, a talk by Stewart E. Sutin of the University of Pittsburgh.

4:30 p.m. in Porter Hall 100 at CMU; more information here.

Nov 11: Egypt in the 21st Century webcast

Great Decisions webcast: Egypt in the 21st Century, a panel discussion from the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh.

6-8 p.m. in Porter Hall 100 at CMU.

Nov 9: New Water Monopolies and the World's Poor

Is Water the "New Oil"? New Water Monopolies and the World's Poor. Karen Piper, University of Missouri-Columbia.

Part of the Humanities Center lectures on Global Connections, Global Responsibilities.

4:30 p.m. in Porter Hall 100 on the Carnegie Mellon campus.

Nov 9: Holocaust concert

Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic Concert Part of City Wide Holocaust Project. Maestro Ronald Zollman leads the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic in a performance of works by prominent European-Jewish composers whose music was banned during the Nazi regime at 8 p.m., Monday, Nov. 9 in the Carnegie Music Hall of Oakland.

The performance is part of the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre's Light/The Holocaust & Humanity Project, a month-long collaborative effort with a variety of Pittsburgh organizations that creates educational programming to inspire dialogue about the Holocaust. Noel Zahler, head of the School of Music, believes that the concert emphasizes the role of musical compositions as historical legacies. "Bringing the music together for this concert is just one more way to reaffirm the important role music plays in the lives of individuals, regions and the global community," Zahler said. "Many people who had been victims of genocide still performed and composed music, and those who witnessed the atrocities from afar also reacted musically. Bringing these works to life for a new generation is our obligation."

Tickets for this concert are $5 for general admission, $4 for senior citizens, and free to all college students with valid ID. For more information, read the press release.

Nov 8: Orienteering meet

The Western PA orienteering club will have its last meet in this calendar year at a county park just east of Blairsville, PA. Orienteering is a form of land navigation using map and compass. You find flags in the woods. It is all-weather, all-ages, all-skill levels. You can start anytime between 10 AM and 1 PM. Event closes at 2:30 PM. Cost is $5/map. Group/family doing the event together with one purchased map still pay only $5 for entire group.

There are two geocaches in the park: "Dog Days" and "Pine Ridge Park."

Three courses to try: a 2.2 km white, a rather long 3.6 km yellow, and a 90-minute time-limit score course (find as many as possible within the time limit).

Directions to Pine Lodge:
About two miles east of Blairsville, US Route 22 and US Route 119 separate. From Route 22 going either east or west, take the exit for US 119 North. At the stop sign at the bottom of the ramp, turn left (not north on 119). Go for only 100-150 meters and turn left onto Old Route 22 (in front of the golf course). After about 0.1 miles, the road splits, bear right on Strangleford Rd. After about 0.4 miles at a shart curve in a dip, Chestnut Ridge meets Strangleford Rd. Bear left and onto Chestnut Ridge Rd for another 1.2 miles to the entrance to Pine Lodge on the left. If you are coming south on US Route 119, go under Route 22; about 100-150 meters past Route 22, turn left onto Old Route 22 and proceed as described.

For more information, visit: www.wpoc.org

Oct 6: Sustainability & Comp Sci seminar on ride sharing

"Why People Don't Want to Share Rides and What We Might Do To Change That" a panel with Jim Morris, Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley; Lorrie Cranor, Institute for Software Research & Dept. of Engineering & Public Policy; and Kusat Ozenc, School of Design.

On average, it takes people 30-40 minutes each way to travel to work in the US, and the vast majority of them travel in a single-occupant car. The goal of this project is to understand both the positive and negative aspects of commuting, and to design a ridesharing service concept that will leverage technology to overcome obstacles that such services have traditionally encountered. We conducted semi-structured interviews with thirty commuters in the Carnegie Mellon University community, including solo drivers, carpoolers and bus riders. We observed that convenience, cost, commute time, and personal preferences motivate commuting choices. Once commuters establish a routine, they tend to continue commuting using their chosen method. We followed up with an online survey on commuting choice and collected responses from 240 participants. We found our previously observed motivations remained significant in the larger population. However, we observed that people who most valued convenience and flexibility tended to be least motivated by cost. We did not find a significant correlation between commuting preference and standard personality types. People characterize their best commute times when they are experiencing "me-time," "traffic-free time," or "routine and ritual time." Based on our interview and survey results and literature review, we developed 13 ride sharing service concepts and tested them in a series of focus groups. We refined the most popular concepts and developed a paper prototype that we are currently testing in a laboratory study. In this presentation we will discuss the motivation for this project and detail our findings to date.

This is part of a seminar series on computer science and sustainability. The goals are to create a forum for discussion of ways in which computer science can and will contribute to sustainability, energy, and the environment, and to foster greater consciousness, conversation, and collaboration in this area. We hope to cast a wide net: topics will include both computer science research relevant to sustainability challenges, as well as research areas in sustainability, energy and the environment which may provide fertile ground for novel work involving computational thinking. Talks may also present mature research in sustainability -- both to increase our general sustainability "literacy" and to generate discussion about how computer science could help advance the work. In all of these areas, we look forward to collaborating with other groups on campus.

While viewed from a computer science perspective, this seminar is deliberately--and necessarily-- interdisciplinary, and we invite both speakers and participants from all areas. We also hope to foster some "meta discussions:" exploring opportunities for collaboration, funding, outreach, and so forth. Please do let us know if you would like to speak in the near future.

3:00 pm in the Rashid Auditorium, Gates & Hillman 4401. To be added to the sustainability mailing list, please send mail to: copetas@cs.cmu.edu .

Nov 13: Cyprus Reunification talk

Cyprus: The European Union's Lighthouse in the Eastern Mediterranean -- Why Reunification Matters, a lecture by His Excellency Andreas Kakouris, Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus to the United States and High Commissioner of Cyprus to Canada.

12:30-2 p.m. at the Schenley Room in the Pittsburgh Athletic Association (4215 Fifth Avenue).

Nov 1: Thomas Merton Award Dinner: Dennis Kucinich

Dennis Kucinich will receive the 2009 Thomas Merton Award -- please join us for the 37th annual Thomas Merton Award Dinner. Congressman Kucinich is well known for introducing the National Health Care Act, which looks to provide universal single-payer health care for all. On issues of war and peace, he advocates that the U.S. abolish nuclear and space-based weapons, lead multilateral disarmament, and increase dialogue with Iran to avoid militaristic confrontation. Kucinich also supports aggressive emissions reductions and urges U.S. ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, an agreement signed by 160+ countries to reduce greenhouse gases.

6 pm social hour, 7 pm dinner at the Churchill Valley CountryClub (800 Beulah Road, Pittsburgh).

Tickets are $45 -low income $25 –table for 10 $400. Reservations necessary -- online at www.thomasmertoncnetr.org or call 412-361-3022.