 | Alumni Update - February 15, 2008
2/15/2008 | | David Tilman (right) and Joe Fargione of the Nature Conservancy, photograph by Tim Rummelhoff, courtesy U of M |
Biofuel Research
To the growing body of evidence indicated that ethanol can’t save the planet, add a new study by David Tilman. In it he and his team show that converting more land to crop production releases far more carbon into the atmosphere than can be recouped via biofuel production for at least 50 years.
See a feature story on the research here.
In addition, see a January 2007 Minnesota magazine story, “Five Reasons Corn Ethanol Won’t Save the Planet.” The story generated a lot of criticism at the time, but now seems like a decent, albeit one-sided, overview of the situation.
Upcoming Events
American Democracy in Dissent, February 26
Daniel Ellsberg, famed for leaking the Pentagon Papers and his  | | An image from "Russell Wright: Living with Good Design" |
ongoing criticism of U.S. military policy, will talk with professor Larry Jacobs, a frequent commentator on regional and national politics at the next Great Conversations event.
Alumni Association members get discounts to Great Conversations events. Click here for more.
Associated with the event is the U Theatre play, Peace Crimes, put on in collaboration with the Minnesota History Theater. It opens Feb 22 and is based on the case of the Minnesota 8, Vietnam-era draft resisters who were subsequently jailed for the involvement in destroying draft office records.
Ongoing Event
Recently opened at the Goldstein Gallery is “Russell Wright: Living with Good Design.” Wrights 1940s designs are credited with helping create the post-WWII  | | Whitney Graff of the #4 national women's hockey squad, photograph by Eric Miller, U of M Athletics |
relaxed style of living that has transformed life as we live it.
Sports
By far the hottest team of the winter is the Gopher women’s hockey squad. Currently riding a 21-game unbeaten streak, the Gophers host border rival Wisconsin, the team right behind them in both the conference and national rankings. The result of this weekend’s two-game series will go a long way toward determining not only conference playoff seeding, but NCAA Tournament seeding as well. Tickets are available here.
The U will host the Big Ten Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships March 1-2. The defending conference champions feature some of the nation’s best athletes. Alicia  | | Doris Taylor, photograph by Patrick O'Leary |
Rue and Andrea Smith have traded off breaking the school pole vault record in recent weeks, while cross-country all-American Jaime Cheever has set school records in the mile and 3,000-meter runs. Rounding out the squad is junior Heather Dorniden, a past national champion at 800 meters who has never finished worse than third in four national championship 800 races.
Alumni Association News and Events
Doris Taylor, Ph.D., and Earl Bakken, B.E.E. '48, will headline The Heart of Discovery: University of Minnesota Alumni Association 2008 Annual Celebration May 29. The event begins with dinner on Northrop Mall and continues inside Northrop Auditorium.
Advocacy
Two big Alumni Association advocacy events are ahead: Support the U Day and a call to action to fill the hearing on the U’s Biomedical Research Program request. Visit the Alumni Association’s Advocacy page for events, background, tips, links and more.
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