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Jonathan Potts
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For immediate release:
September 13, 2006

Carnegie Mellon University Lecture Series Kicks Off With Iraq War Veteran

PITTSBURGH—Carnegie Mellon University's annual University Lecture Series gets under way Sept. 18 with a talk by Robert Behrman, a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve who served in Iraq from June 2005 to April 2006. Behrman, a Ph.D. student in Carnegie Mellon's Department of Engineering and Public Policy, will speak at 4:30 p.m. in the Adamson Wing of Baker Hall. His talk, "Understanding Conditions in Iraq — A Firsthand Perspective," is free and open to the public, as are all University Lectures.

On Sept. 21, the University Lectures Series will host renowned political theorist Benjamin R. Barber, author of the 1996 book "Jihad vs. McWorld." Barber, the Gershon and Carol Kekst Professor of Civil Society and Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, will speak at 4:30 p.m. in McConomy Auditorium in the University Center. His talk is titled "The Decline of Capitalism and the Infantilist Ethos" and will focus on the rise of consumerism and its harmful impact on civil discourse. Barber's talk is co-sponsored by the Humanities Center and the Department of Philosophy.

Also that day, Philip Gütlich of the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, will give a talk titled "In Situ Spectroscopy on Mars — Following the Water in Current NASA Missions." Miniaturized Mössbauer spectrometers, less than one-hundredth the size of a standard spectrometer, on board the Mars exploration rovers Spirit and Opportunity have recorded high-quality spectra that have provided some of the most compelling evidence for the occurrence of water on Mars. The lecture includes an exciting animation of the Mars landing, based on real flight data. The journal Science chose the reports of the Mars exploration as a "breakthrough of the year in 2004." This talk will take place at 6 p.m. in the Mellon Auditorium in the Mellon Institute. A reception will be held prior to the talk at 5:15 p.m. It is co-sponsored by the Department of Chemistry.