The LCG Feed on the right
I started a class blog for the course I'm taking at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs (U of Minnesota). The blog is titled LCG which stands for Leadership for the Common Good.

Today, via Google Reader, I added a widget that pulls in the LCG feed. The raw Javascript widget code is provided for pasting on any blog template and it does not require that you use Blogger.com for blog hosting. You can also control number of entries displayed and the color scheme. What's shared is controlled by the label/folder action in Google Reader so you can share several blogs making it easy to provide a blog roll.

The LCG blog is a class blog with multiple authors. I invited anyone who is taking the class and there are nine (of twenty-five students) listed as authors although not all have posted.

Labels: blogging, policy, UM

- posted by Peter Fleck @ Permalink 9:10 AM |

 
Wireless Cities Today
I'm in U of MN Walter Library at the Wireless Cities conference and Lev Gonick is going to do the first keynote. He's going to tell us about OneCommunity (used to be OneCleveland). He's CIO at Case Western in Cleveland.

Watch my Twitter feed for updates.

Watch here too.

I present at 3:15 with Garrick Van Buren, Jeremy Iggers, and Cris Lopez.

There is a conference blog.

Labels: broadband, events, tech, UM, wireless

- posted by Peter Fleck @ Permalink 9:10 AM |

 
Peter Speaking at U of M’s Wireless Cities Conference
Garrick beat me to the post but I'll carry on with my announcement that Garrick and I will be part of a panel at the University of Minnesota Wireless Cities Conference April 16 at Walter Library. Our panel, Media and Wireless Communities is at 3:15. We'll share the stage with Christina Lopez of the U's Digital Media Center; Jeremy Iggers, former Star Tribune restaurant critic and current Director of Twin Cities Media Alliance (parent organization of TC Daily Planet); and moderator Nora Paul, Director of the Institute for New Media Studies. The conference runs two days and the cost is $175 ($75 for U of M attendees).

I think this is going to be interesting.

Required readings... Michael Maranda on bringing folks out of isolation to tell their stories, Doc Searls on the Giant Zero, and Garrick on news by the block.

From Doc's post:

The Net is a giant zero. It puts everybody zero distance from everybody and everything else. And it supports publishing and broadcasting at costs that round to zero as well.

we don't just "deliver information" like it's a Fedex package. We inform each other. That is, we literally form what other people know.

Labels: blogging, broadband, digital_inclusion, newspapers, placeblog, UM

- posted by Peter Fleck @ Permalink 7:00 PM |

 
Mark McCahill leaving the U
Mark McCahill, developer of the Gopher protocol and client, is leaving the University of Minnesota. He has a better offer from Duke University and a chance to work on Second Life challenger, Croquet.

He's also unhappy about decreasing state funding of the U.

Julio at Your Tech Blog writes about it and includes a 1996 article about Gopher.

Pioneer Press has the current story.

Labels: UM

- posted by Peter Fleck @ Permalink 9:44 PM |

 
U of M Public Health FILM FEST
It's National Public Health Week and the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health is having a film festival. It runs Monday thru Friday this week (April 2 thru April 6) and showings are at 5:30 with one film plus a panel or speaker each evening. Screenings are at the Mayo Memorial Auditorium which is attached to the Mayo Building.

Lots more information here including a map.

Here's a summary of the films and speakers.

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Monday, April 2 -- Aging: Growing old and caring for the elderly

Living Old - 60 minutes (2006)

Medical advances have enabled an unprecedented number of Americans to live longer and healthier lives, but this new longevity has also had unintended consequences. This special looks at chronic illness in these individuals. With a health care system overburdened, many fear that we are on the threshold of a major crisis in care.

Panel Moderator: Lee Graczyk, Executive Director of the Minnesota Senior Federation.

Panel of Speakers: Panel of Speakers: Norby Blake, director of Inner-Tribal Elder Services, member of the White Earth tribe, and Native American Elder; Malcolm Mitchell, executive director of the Elderberry Institute/Living at Home/Block Nurse Program, Inc.; Jackie Stewart, executive board member of the Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging

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Tuesday, April 3 -- HIV/AIDS: HIV in South Africa and Political Smokescreens
State of Denial- 83 minutes (2003)

Excellent story about how politics influences public health. "State of Denial takes an unprecedented and unflinching look at how the citizens of South Africa are living with the AIDS epidemic, given the climate of confusion and neglect perpetuated by President Mbeki's administration."


Speaker: Speaker: Dr. James Neaton, Ph.D., professor of biostatistics at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. Dr. Neaton is also the director of INSIGHT (International Network for Strategic Initiatives in Global HIV Trials). INSIGHT represents a large collaboration of HIV/AIDS researchers in 37 countries. Their aim is to optimize the use of antiretroviral and other treatments to improve the health and prolong the lives of those infected with HIV. Hundreds of investigators and thousands of study participants have helped INSIGHT carry out the two largest HIV treatment trials done to date.

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Wednesday, April 4 -- Climate Change: Global Warming’s Deadly Progress
An Inconvenient Truth- 100 minutes (2006)

"This film offers a passionate and inspirational look at one man's fervent crusade to halt global warming's deadly progress in its tracks by exposing the myths and misconceptions that surround it. That man is former Vice President Al Gore, who, in the wake of defeat in the 2000 election, re-set the course of his life to focus on a last-ditch, all-out effort to help save the planet from irrevocable change."

Speaker: Dr. William Toscano, Ph.D., professor of environmental health
sciences, University of Minnesota School of Public Health.

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Thursday, April 5 -- Immigrant Health:
The Split Horn: Life of a Hmong Shaman in America- 56 minutes (2001)

"THE SPLIT HORN is the sweeping story of a Hmong shaman and his family living in Appleton, Wisconsin. Documenting the 17-year journey of Paja Thao and his family from the mountains of Laos to the heartland of America, this poignant film shows a shaman's struggles to maintain his ancient traditions as his children embrace American culture."

Speakers: Chu Wu, a Hmong Shaman

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Friday, April 6 -- Sex Education
Vintage Sex Hygiene Scare Film #1:

"It's Wonderful Being a Girl"

"Abstinence Comes to Albuquerque"
"Abstinence Comes to Albuquerque provides a glimpse into a nationwide debate over what young people should be taught about sexuality. Through personal stories, community profiles, and expert interviews, the program highlights the differences between a strict abstinence-only-until-marriage approach and more comprehensive sexuality education."

"Think MTV: Campus Guide to Safer Sex"

"Vintage Sex Hygiene Scare film #2: "VD"

"Know for Sure" - 20 minutes (1941)
A syphilis warning film

"The Talk" -- Snippets of Trivia will be shown between films. The Minneapolis-based Youth Performance Group approaches the topic of sex education.

Speaker: Jenny Oliphant, MPH. Ms. Oliphant is the Community
Outreach Coordinator for the National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Research
Center (PRC), Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Health, at the
University of Minnesota. There, she assists communities in developing
pregnancy prevention programming based on best practices in the fields of
youth development, community collaboration and adolescent health.

Labels: film, UM

- posted by Peter Fleck @ Permalink 8:05 AM |