Campus and community briefs
‘Rally for Peace and Justice’ scheduled
A “Rally for Peace and Justice” will be held Thursday from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Taggart Student Center Patio. The rally will be a forum to air concerns about the Bush administration on issues such as education, the economy, the war, affirmative action, the PATRIOT Act, the environment and homosexuality.
The rally is sponsored by the USU College Democrats, Amnesty International, Pride! Alliance, the Socialist Student Union, the Black Student Union and the Ecological Coalition of Students, and will include music, satire, speakers and poetry. Literature on Democratic candidates will also be available.
LDS author to speak on evolution at TSC
Trent Stephens, the author of “Evolution and Mormonism” will speak in the Sunburst Lounge Thursday from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
Stephens co-authored the book which attempts to explain current scientific views of evolution and Mormon doctrine on the origin of man. Stephens will be available to sign his book a half hour before and after his speech.
Prof to speak on the rise of the machine
USU professor of computer science, Hugo de Garis, will speak on “Species Dominance: Coping with the Rise of the Massively Intelligent Machine” on Thursday at noon in the Education Building, Room 282.
De Garis will attempt to persuade students that 21st century computer technology will allow humanity to build machines with capacities trillions of times above the human level. Humanity will then be forced to choose between building these godlike machines (called “artilects” for artificial intellects) or not.
The speaker will present his favorite scenario which gloomily paints a picture of a probable war between the “Cosmists” who will be in favor of building artilects, and the “Terrans” who will be against.
With 21st century weaponry, and extrapolating up the graph of numbers of people killed in major wars from the Napoleonic wars to the end of the 21st century, de Garis predicts that a future “Artilect War” will result in billions of people dying – “gigadeath.”
Ballroom concert to be held this weekend
The USU Ballroom Dance Co. is holding the annual spring concert Friday and Saturday at the historic Ellen Eccles Theatre.
The show begins at 7 p.m. and will include Latin, ballroom, swing and cabaret numbers that are a culmination of the Ballroom company’s efforts this year. Tickets are now on sale at the Ellen Eccles Box Office at 752-0026, and the USU Ticket Office in the Spectrum (797-0305). Tickets are $5.50 for students and children, $7.50 for all others.
Red Cross calls for 3,000 CPR trainees
Students and community members are invited to be a part of history as USU President’s Ambassadors and the Cache County American Red Cross attempt to break the record held in the “Guinness Book of World Records” for the most CPR certifications in one day.
A total of 3,000 participants from Cache County are needed to break the record. Certification will be available Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Spectrum. Re-certifiers as well as first-time certifiers are welcome. Prices for registration are $5 for those age 11 to 16 (90 percent off regular cost), $15 for other students and $20 for everyone else.
Door prizes will be given. For more information, call 752-1125 or visit http://cachecounty.redcross.org.
Career panel features finance VP Godfrey
Ron Godfrey, Utah State University’s new vice president for finance and business, will speak at the annual department of English Spring Career Panel. This free, public event is Wednesday, March 31, at 12:30 p.m. in the Taggart Student Center’s Colony Room, and refreshments will be provided.