Film Producer Visits, Shows Film on Sustainability in China
Film producer and LEED-accredited professional Max Perelman visited campus last month and presented his documentary film The Green Dragon, which tells the story of sustainable development in China.
While he was in town Mr. Perelman also took the opportunity to have meetings with students, faculty, green businesses, and community leaders.
The Green Dragon tells the story about the potential for expanding sustainable construction and development in China and the amazing extent to which China has plunged into green development in the past 10 years. The film portrays the sheer scale of China’s construction industry while showing how this industry works. It also provides an in-depth discussion of the barriers and opportunities for China to “go green.”
“Before making this film I had no idea what an amazing journey I was embarking on,” Mr. Perelman said. “I had been told that over half the world’s construction takes place in this one country, but only when you see it do you believe it.”
The response to the movie was overwhelmingly positive, said Dora Pollak of the Sustainable Living department. “It was inspiring to see that there’s hope for China — and for the world.”
Mr. Perelman, who has a background in business and familiarity with China, gave a talk to the students in a sustainable technologies course about business opportunities in green technology in China and met with members of the business faculty. He also met with Fairfield’s Go Green Commission, and one outcome was to begin exploring setting up a sister city in China.
Mr. Perelman, who speaks and reads Japanese and Mandarin Chinese, met with faculty member Zhu Yunxiang and Chinese students and discussed with them the idea of offering sustainable living at the University’s partner institution in Beijing. Also on his agenda was a meeting with Fairfield’s green builders and suppliers.
“Having Max here was great because he was able to spark a lot of conversations about global sustainability issues,” Ms. Pollak said. “He was quick to get inspired by and involved in the things going on here in Fairfield, and his passion for sustainable development inspired those around him.”
Ms. Pollak said that he’s interested in returning, possibly to teach a course in green building or international environment policy.
Mr. Perelman is a LEED-accredited professional and is a project manager with BuildingWise, LLC, a high-performance building consulting firm headquartered in Moss Landing, CA. He’s also the president of American Environmental & Agricultural, Inc., an import/export and trade consulting firm specializing in environmental technologies and focused on trade between Asia and North America. And he is an advisor to the Joint US-China Cooperation on Clean Energy.
He is also the nephew of Jerry Jarvis, a founding Trustee of MUM.
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Student Script Is Finalist in Script Competition
Student Micah Salaberrios was one of four finalists in the 2010 Iowa Short Script Contest. The winning scripts will be produced during a production workshop on February 6.
The organizers received 16 submissions, from which a panel of judges selected four finalists. Two directors then chose the scripts they will be directing during the production workshop.
The short script by Mr. Salaberrios is a playful take on reincarnation and transcendence — and fit well the theme of the competition of “toward the light.”
“I love film, and I feel like it is the most diverse art medium since it includes, visual, audio, and writing,” Mr. Salaberrios said. A communications and media major, he has written several scripts before, but this is the first he’s entered in a contest.
The competition is part of the 6th Annual 1st Fridays Art Walk Film Expo, February 5–7. Student films will be on display as part of this event, as will productions by DLF.tv.
Anyone interested in filmmaking is invited to register and watch the production of the winning scripts with experienced directors and a volunteer crew and actors. The shooting will take place at Hawthorne Direct (300 N. 16th St. in Fairfield) on February 6, 9:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m. The workshop fee is $35 and includes lunch and a DVD of the production. For student discounts contact director@fairfieldartwalk.org.
To register, see www.fairfieldfilmfest.org/registration-forms.html.
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Students to Become Teachers of the Transcendental Meditation Technique
More students are planning to become teachers of the Transcendental Meditation® technique thanks to some recent developments.
Becoming a teacher has long been an option in the curriculum, said Fred Travis, chair of the Department of Maharishi Vedic Science, but the teacher training course, which is offered by a separate institution, has been available sporadically.
The course is now being offered on a regular basis, making it easier for students to plan to take it as part of their degree program.
Another impetus has been the increasing demand for teachers of the Transcendental Meditation technique due to the many programs around the world in which students in schools learn to meditate. “This new wave of interest in the Transcendental Meditation technique now offers graduates a very specific career path,” Dr. Travis said.
The teacher training course is integrated into a student’s degree program in a variety of ways. For undergraduate students in Maharishi Vedic Science, teacher training can be a part of the major. Students in other majors can use the course to count toward their elective credit.
Graduate students typically take their regular degree program and then take the teacher training course as an additional specialization.
Dr. Travis said that there are currently over 20 graduate students in Maharishi Vedic Science, and most are planning to become teachers of the Transcendental Meditation technique.
To that end, the graduate program in Maharishi Vedic Science has created a new version of their final project course that teaches students how to manage a center for teaching the Transcendental Meditation technique, covering business topics such as networking, following up on inquiries, and appearing on radio talk shows.
Dr. Travis said that in general, the curriculum in Maharishi Vedic Science helps contribute to the success of teachers of the Transcendental Meditation technique, such as enabling them to give advanced lectures and answer a wide range of questions.
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Students Organize Diversity Lecture Series
In part because of the broad mix of cultural backgrounds on campus, and because of a specific incident in that regard, the students have organized a five-session lecture series titled “The World Is My Family: Diversity Lecture Series.”
There will be one presentation per month, with the first event in January being a great success, said Baruti KMT, president of Global Student Council. About 40 students, faculty, and staff learned from sociologist Ron Perry about how to become more sensitive to community members and how to interact with one another — and how to do it in a better way. The goal was to have people become aware how their actions may be viewed by others.
“We wanted to have people come to realize that their thinking is not the same as the others are thinking,” Mr. KMT said. One participant later shared a eureka with Mr. KMT, telling him that she suddenly realized, “I’m not always right.”
Mr. KMT said that in a mix of cultures, it’s sometimes a challenge to learn the rules of the culture that one is in. He said it’s especially difficult when a student doesn’t know English well. Participants were encouraged to put themselves in the position of people coming from other countries.
The first event was a preparation for the subsequent lectures, which will include racism in February, gender equality in March, sexual orientation in April, and a wrap-up in May.
Mr. KMT said that ultimately the key to greater sensitivity is the Transcendental Meditation technique, which removes stress and helps people behave in a spontaneously right manner.
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Community Garden Planned for Faculty and Staff
In line with a national trend toward community gardens, University faculty and staff are currently organizing an initiative to grow their own food on campus land this growing season.
The idea behind a community garden is not only to have fresh local food, but also to use gardening as a way of improving their health by getting more exercise, said Tom Brooks, the University administrator who has helped to initiate the garden project and also the University’s wellness program.
He said that 20 individuals and families have expressed interest, and that they can choose to either have their own plot or be a part of a large common plot, which is in the true spirit of the national community gardening movement.
The movement came about because people in cities don’t have garden space of their own, so community gardens give them the opportunity to garden.
The University is providing land, water, and fencing, and MUM Organic Farms is providing consulting and space in the campus greenhouses for growers to get their seedlings started this spring.
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University Launches Estate Planning Website
For those interested in remembering the University when planning their estate, MUM’s Development Office recently launched a planned-giving website that has detailed information on estate planning, interesting articles on personal finance, and useful tax news updates.
The website was developed in conjunction with a professional estate-planning company. It offers interactive tools useful in evaluating options in light of one’s personal desires and financial situation, as well as an e-mail newsletter.
“All planned gifts, both large and small, are an investment in the University’s future by strengthening our endowment fund,” said Nick Rosania, who heads the MUM Development Office. “Legacy gifts not only help the University, but also offer individuals and their families financial and tax benefits.
Mr. Rosania said that even though there hasn’t been much publicity, the website is already getting a lot of traffic. It can be found at mum.giftlegacy.com.
MUM’s Office of Planned Giving also has estate planning consultants who are available to answer questions and help with planning.
Phone (641) 472-1180 or e-mail plannedgiving@mum.edu.
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Dr. Vesely Elected Treasurer of Library Association
The Iowa Library Association Government Documents Roundtable has elected MUM’s reference librarian, Suzanne Vesely, as its treasurer for 2010.
In addition to her responsibility of the Roundtable’s finances, Dr. Vesely is working with government documents librarians across the state to help plan and set up conference sessions and set long-range goals for the organization.
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