Filmmaker David Lynch to Host Weekend on Consciousness and Creativity November 13–16
The annual Visitors Weekend with David Lynch is scheduled for November 13–16. The weekend will explore the frontiers of consciousness, creativity, and the brain.
In addition to filmmaker and University Trustee David Lynch, the weekend will also feature physics professor Dr. John Hagelin and brain researcher Dr. Fred Travis.
Organizers are again expecting hundreds of prospective students to attend. The scheduled events will include a concert by Donovan in the Sondheim Theater, as well as a concert by Laura Dawn.
Mr. Lynch is well-known for the TV series “Twin Peaks” and films such as “The Elephant Man,” “Mulholland Drive,” and “The Straight Story.”
For more information, see http://www.mum.edu/visitors/david-lynch/
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Board of Trustees Appoints New Chairman and Vice-Chairman
The Board of Trustees recently appointed Dr. Jeffrey Abramson chairman and Dr. Vincent Argiro vice-chairman.
University President Dr. Bevan Morris had served as chairman for 31 years. “I felt Dr. Abramson was so engaged in accelerating the University’s progress that I thought he would make an excellent chair, and I proposed it to the Board — and likewise with Dr. Argiro as vice-chair — and the Board was unanimous in their approval,” Dr. Morris said.
“I am very honored to be able to work with such a dynamic Board of Trustees,” Dr. Abramson said.
He has been a Trustee since 2000. He is a partner in The Tower Companies, a major real estate development company in the Washington D.C. area, known for being a pioneer in green building technologies and the commercial application of the principals of Maharishi Vedic(SM) architecture.
Former faculty Dr. Vincent Argiro developed 3-D imaging software to facilitate research on brain development. He founded Vital Images, Inc. in 1988, where he served as chief technology officer and member of the board of directors before retiring in 2006. The Argiro Student Center on campus was named after him and his wife Dr. Maggie Argiro for their generous donation.
The Board of Trustees also added five new members: Mayor Ed Malloy, Jim Danaher, Larry Chroman, Paul Gelderloos, and Eric Schwartz.
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Presentation and Workshop on Mini-Farming
Author and long-term eco-activist John Jeavons is coming October 21–24 to offer a free public presentation and a three-day workshop on his worldwide work and the Grow Biointensive organic sustainable gardening and mini-farming method.
The two events coincide with the International Day of Climate Change on October 24, which is being held all around the globe with workshops and events on sustainable living and CO2 reduction. (See www.350.org.)
The Grow Biointensive method of sustainable mini-farming, which has been taught at MUM since 2007, is currently implemented in 141 countries, with large training centers in Kenya and Latin America.
Mr. Jeavons, who has received many international awards for his work in hunger and poverty removal, has been teaching the Grow Biointensive method for over 37 years. His book How to Grow More Vegetables is in its seventh edition.
He has recently returned from a tour in South Africa offering a comprehensive and detailed workshop. Since the Grow Biointensive method has been introduced in Africa, it is estimated that 2.5 million farmers in Kenya alone have been inspired to adopt biointensive techniques because they require less energy and fewer resources, enabling even the poorest individuals to rehabilitate their soil and grow an abundance of food.
The workshop at MUM will present the Grow Biointensive method and the work being done with it in the world. A free public presentation by Mr. Jeavons will be held in Dalby Hall October 21 at 8:00 p.m., followed by a three-day Grow Biointensive workshop October 22–24. Preregistration is required. For more information and to register, see www.johnjeavons.info.
In addition, Steve Moore, who has been touring with Mr. Jeavons, will teach a workshop on October 21 on passive solar greenhouse design and year-round food production. Preregistration is required. See www.johnjeavons.info.
Students, staff, and faculty interested in attending the October workshops and receiving a discount, please contact Alex Kachan at akachan@mum.edu.
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Communications and Media Department Expands
By Lee Leffler
The Department of Communications and Media is adding faculty, a new lab, new equipment, and additional classes — a move that became necessary because of the long waiting lists for digital media classes in this popular new major. It launched two years ago with 12 students, and last year more than tripled to 37 students.
The major recently added two new faculty, Gabriel Romero and Susan McGuire Romero, experts in graphic design with a special interest in sustainable design. The department also hopes to add faculty in video.
Program codirectors Gurdy Leete and Stuart Tanner have scheduled additional sections in narrative, video production, and video editing, and have added new courses on photography and new media (in collaboration with the Department of Art and Design), and on the graphic novel. More are planned.
As part of the expansion, the department bought new Nikon D60 DSLR cameras, 24-inch iMacs, and two new Mac Pro computers, all with the Adobe CS4 Master Collection (which includes popular software programs such as Photoshop, Flash, InDesign, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, AfterEffects, Encore, and others) and Final Cut Studio. The department hopes to acquire more Sony V1 and Sony Z1 camcorders, lights, microphones, and scanners.
“We’ve added a second digital media classroom, so now we’ll have two classrooms for in digital photography, digital arts for sustainable living, Web design, video, and media projects,” Mr. Leete said.
Program alumni are enjoying exciting opportunities. After Hollywood film director and University Trustee David Lynch met the ambitious students in the Communications and Media Department, he launched DLF.TV, a website about students, creativity, and consciousness. The majority of the staff at DLF.TV are students or alumni of the digital media courses.
“Our students have been doing fantastic work,” Mr. Leete said. “In the last few months, students and recent graduates have won a remarkable array of awards for their student work, with four awards and seven nominations at the 2009 Iowa Motion Pictures Association Awards, a Gold Eddy at the 2009 Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival, and two nominations for Webby Awards, the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet.”
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School Tennis Coach Receives National Honor
Maharishi School tennis coach Lawrence Eyre was recently named National High School Coach of the Year by the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) — the oldest and largest organization of tennis teaching professionals.
This honor is given to just one coach from all high schools throughout the country regardless of size.
Mr. Eyre was among the founding faculty of the Maharishi Upper School in 1981. He started the tennis program in 1988 and built it into a perennial power.
The boys tennis team has reached the Class 1A state tennis final-four team competition 12 times. Altogether they have 16 state titles in singles, doubles, and team play. A highlight was winning consecutive triple crowns in 1999 and 2000, when Maharishi School took the singles, doubles, and team championships each year.
“I am honored to receive this award on behalf of Maharishi School,” Mr. Eyre said. He attributes the success of the players to the practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique. He said it creates a profound experience of restful alertness that serves as a foundation for dynamic activity, providing a competitive edge. In addition, the practice helps them to allow unforced errors “wash over” them and to move on to the next point without getting upset or distracted.
Mr. Eyre was also previously recognized by Sports Illustrated in their “Faces in the Crowd.” He was named the 2000 Iowa Tennis Association Coach of the Year and the 2007 Central Sectional Coach of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations. He was also the USPTA 2008 Missouri Valley Coach of the Year, putting him in line for the national award.
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MUM Files Report on Sustainability in Education
MUM has recently completed its first report on the University’s application of the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), a global initiative through which business schools voluntarily report their progress toward sustainability and corporate citizenship.
The PRME initiative calls for business schools to meet the needs and expectations of the business world and the demands of a new generation of students with regard to sustainability and good corporate citizenship. MUM is one of five U.S. universities to date to have submitted progress reports for this initiative.
MUM’s report, prepared by professor Dennis Heaton, reviews MUM’s achievements in incorporating sustainability in the University’s curriculum and research. It also mentions MUM’s involvement with the Fairfield Community Sustainability Plan and mentions the recent report for the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment Action Plan.
“Responsible Management is natural to the students and faculty in Consciousness-Based Education, where we identify ourselves with the universal basis of all human societies and all living beings — the Unified Field of Natural Law,” said Dr. Heaton, who recently finished teaching a course titled “Socially and Environmentally Responsible Management” to MBA and Ph.D. students.
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Maharishi College of Perfect Health Receives Founding Grant
The MUM Maharishi College of Perfect Health and affiliated Maharishi Health Center (MCPH-MHC) received a major grant from the Ravi and Naina Patel Foundation enabling MUM to proceed with startup activities.
The Maharishi Health Center, a holistic clinic in scientific integrative medicine, will provide patient care and a clinical training facility for students in MUM’s planned medical school. The premedical undergraduate program, which started last semester, already has 20 students in the major.
The MCPH-MHC advisory board and MUM’s founding faculty hosted a strategic planning meeting from August 31 to September 1. With the support provided by this grant and other recent donations, the board and faculty are commissioning two outside consultants in hospital and health center development planning to assist MUM in drawing up a business plan and feasibility study for the health center.
The Maharishi Health Center will be the first aspect of the new academic medical center designed to provide hospital care, education, and clinical research.
“Starting with the health center will allow us to showcase this unique approach of Maharishi Integrative Medicine,” said Dr. Robert Schneider, dean of the MCPH. “It will also provide inspiration for the second stage of the medical school as well as an educational setting for our current pre-med students.”
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