Tonight, the Green Initiatives committee is hosting a talk titled "A U of I Student's Path to Sustainable Living" at 6:30 p.m. in the Illini Union. The free event will highlight ways to “live green” on a college campus and how to apply sustainability to professions (especially right out of school). There will be three speakers at the event, all offering their professional insight. Carol Augspurger, an ecology professor, will focus on decreasing your ecological footprint on campus. Tentatively, Don Wuebbles, a professor in atmospheric sciences, will be speaking on climate change, its affects in the Midwest and his work with Chicago Climate Action. The third speaker will be an engineer from Chicago whose focus will be on sustainable building practices.

Monday, December 1 @ 4 p.m.: Cyber-Physical Systems: From Sensing and Actuation to Information Spaces, Professor Steve LaValle of the Department of Computer Science at UIUC, 1404 Siebel Center

From the calendar description: "As the interplay between computation and physical systems becomes increasingly complex, the foundation upon which many related fields are built must be carefully reconsidered, calling for new abstractions and design philosophies." A good way to ease back into things after a long weekend.

You live near a major university. 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 transcendence. If that's the case, Smile Politely understands and is here to help. Here are three speakers that will be on campus this week, and two of them took the time to answer a few questions about their area of expertise. Check one or more of them out if you have time.

Monday, November 17 @ 8 p.m.: "The Aesthetics of Nostalgia: Modern Readers and Medieval Texts," by Dr. Renee Trilling, U of I Assistant Professor of English; Levis Faculty Center Music Room

Monday, November 10 @ 12 noon: Sustainability Seminar Series - "The University of Illinois Business Instructional Facility: What we know and what we don't yet know about the Campus' First Green Building", Jean Ascoli, local architect, Stephen J. Warner Conference Room, Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (Waste Management and Research Center Building), One E. Hazelwood Dr., Champaign

Smile Politely: Were you involved in the design of the building?

Chapman will be giving a presentation on solar power tomorrow night at the Champaign Public Library. The presentation is part of the Earth Smart series, and it will run from 7 to 9 p.m. in Robeson Pavilion A & B. Chapman decided to equip his new home with solar arrays last year, and after the jump, he'll share some of his thoughts on that experience and the future of solar power.

Monday, November 3 @ 4 p.m.: "In the Trails of the Historic Diaspora: Africa's New Global Migrations and Diasporas," Paul Tiyambe Zeleza, University of Illinois at Chicago History Professor, Third Floor, Levis Faculty Center, 919 W. Illinois Street, Urbana

Dr. Zeleza will be sharing some of his research on the dispersion of African peoples throughout the world. After the jump, a brief interview with Dr. Zeleza, as well as previews of three other speakers coming to campus this week.

My friend Michael Mapes will be angry that I transduced his breathtaking, jaw-dropping portrait of Heather into a web page sized JPEG. Here it is.

He gets mad when I watch episodes of Poirot on YouTube, because the aspect ratio, sound, etc. are not up to the standards conceived by the cinematographer (Michael's a cinematographer, too.) In the case of Michael's entomological pin series, the transduction to two dimensions imposes an egregiously worse deceleration of impact on the viewer.

It still looks cool, though. And because you simply can't get the same effect on the web, you might feel compelled to go see it in person, tomorrow from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., during the grand opening of the Furniture Lounge Consignment Gallery, on Main Street in Urbana.

If you have been meaning to make it out to Sleepy Creek Vineyards, but just haven’t had the chance, this weekend is a great opportunity to do so. Sleepy Creek is playing host to the first Salt Fork River Art Festival on Saturday from 10: a.m. – 6: p.m. and from 12: – 5: p.m. on Sunday.

Those who attend will have the opportunity to view and purchase the works of over thirty artists, as well as taste locally produced wines, and enjoy live music. Admission is free and food will be available for purchase by Papa George. A portion of the proceeds from the festival will be donated to Prairie Rivers Network to help protect our area’s rivers and streams.

This evening at the Illini Union Courtyard Cafe a panel of experts will present comparisons of historically significant events that occurred in 1968 with our nation's current racial, political and educational landscape. 1968 was a crucial turning point for the United States and the World, as marked by the end of the civil rights movement and the beginning of the Vietnam War. This year also included a Summer Olympics, complete with Black Power salutes (Beijing made sure to prevent these through use of gagging clauses) and massive clashes between protesters and police at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, mostly due to reactions to the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. University of Illinois speakers include James Anderson, Gutsgell Professor of Educational Policy Studies, Antonia Darder, Professor of Education Policy Studies and Latino/a Studies and author of various books such as After Race: Racism and Multiculturalism, and Belden Fields, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, author of Trotskyism and Maoism: Theory and Practice in France and the United States, and participant in the May 1968 riots in France. The panel will begin at 7:00 and will be moderated by Augusto Espiritu, Associate Professor of History.