Markets, Market Failures and the Election THIS Friday

October 31 @ 12 noon | University YMCA
Markets, Market Failures and the Election
Anne Villamil, Professor, Department of Economics, University of Illinois
The economy is one of the central issues in the upcoming election. This lecture will focus on two issues facing the US economy: the slow down in GDP growth and labor market, and volatility in prices (housing, financial markets, energy and exchange rates).

Senator Mike Frerichs to speak at Y this Friday.

THIS FRIDAY, September 26 @ 12 noon

Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Senator Mike Frerichs, Illinois Senate, 52nd District
Illinois State Senator, Mike Frerichs will discuss legislation intended to protect civil rights and civil liberty in the U.S. as well as how these issues will be affected by the upcoming elections. Senator Frerichs represents the 52nd Legislative District that include most of Champaign and Vermilion Counties.

"The American Health Care System in Crisis and the Prospects for Reform" at this week's Friday Forum.

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Fall 2008 Friday Forum lecture series“Sick of Sound Bites? Real Issues for the Next Administration”
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September 19 @ 12:00 noon
"The American Health Care System in Crisis and the Prospects for Reform"
Robert Rich, Director, Institute of Government and Public Affairs

The United States is the only industrialized society where health care is not a legal right and yet, we spend more than any other country on our health care system. Every time comprehensive health care reform has been proposed since 1932, it has been rejected. What should be the health care reform agenda? What are the prospects for real change?The talk is free and open to the public and is in the University YMCA’s Latzer Hall (located on the corner or Wright and Chalmers.) Lunch is available through the Y Thai Eateryfor $6.00 for non-students and $3 for students (school ID is required).

For more information about the other talks in this series, please visit us online at:http://www.universityymca.org/friday_forum.html

Fall 2008 | Friday Forum lecture series begins September 12. "Sick of Sound BItes? Real Issues for the Next Administration"

Fall 2008 Friday Forum Lecture Series Set to Begin on Friday, September 12.
“Sick of Sound Bites? Real Issues for the Next Administration”

The Fall 2008 Friday Forum lecture series will begin at noon, on Friday, September 12, with a lecture entitled “Crossing the Devil’s Highway: Immigration in the United States” by Luis Urrea, Author, 2005 Pulitzer Prize Finalist for “The Devil’s Highway.”

In May 2001, 26 Mexican men scrambled across the border and into an area of the Arizona desert known as the Devil’s Highway. Only 12 made it safely across. As immigration continues to become a larger and larger issue in our communities and in our nation, Urrea’s “The Devil’s Highway” has become the story for a movement.

The series runs every Friday from September 12 to December 5 at 12:00/noon in Latzer Hall at the University YMCA. A schedule of events for the semester can be found by visiting: http://www.universityymca.org/friday_forum.html

Friday Forum, which has been continuously running at the University YMCA since 1927, has a distinguished history of examining topics in-depth from a variety of perspectives. Lectures run from 12:15 -12:55 p.m. each Friday during the semester, with a questions and answer period from 1:00 - 1:30 p.m. Individuals from both the campus and the wider community are encouraged to attend and participate in the discussion with the speakers.

Lunch is available through the Y Thai Eatery. Individual meals may be reserved in advance through noon the Thursday before the lecture by calling 337-1500.

If you would like a copy of the series brochure, please e-mail Kasey Umland, University YMCA Program Director, at kasey@universityymca.org.

Executive Director Steve Shoemaker and Student Leader Kevin Brosnan bond over their common uncommon toughness:

props to PSA

Hey PSA, I was able to make it out to your fashion show this past weekend, and as promised, it was awesome. I mean it. The amount of planning and rehearsing that must have gone into pulling off an event of that size and that quality is remarkable. Y'all deserve a huge round of applause (which you actually did get on Saturday, so I guess that works out.) Anyway, thanks! You made my weekend.

Maybe we could get some pictures from the show up here?

WALMART: The General Motors of the Early 21st Century?

Joe Berry, Labor Education Specialist, will be speaking this Friday, February 8 at 12:00 (noon) at the University YMCA’s Friday Forum series on “Walmart: The General Motors of the Early 21st Century?”

The talk is free and open to the public and is in the University Y’s Latzer Hall. Lunch is available through the Y Thai Eatery for $6.00 for non-students and $3 for students (school ID is required). Lunch reservations are strongly encouraged. You can make a lunch reservation by calling Johanne at 337-1500 by 5 p.m. on Thursday, February 7.

For more information about the other talks in this series, please visit us online at: http://www.universityymca.org/friday_forum.html

Talk Description:
Joe Berry, UIUC extension labor educator, will discuss WalMart’s emergence as the largest private employer in the US and a major power in much of the world. Discussion will focus on the impacts upon workers and their organizations, both in the US and abroad, and how some are responding to this challenge.

Student Programs Office gets a makeover (or at least starts to make progress on a makeover of sorts)!

How do you like our new green wall? We like it a lot.


Okay, so we've got a strange collection of furniture, and our foosball table is covered in protest signs (among other strange decor issues), but (a) we like our non-matching couches and chairs (and we need a lot of them to house our meetings) and (b) who needs foosball when you can be part of a Y program that's out on campus protesting the use of sweatshop labor? Not USAS.

Oh, and Kasey forgot to mention that the Y also has Facebook.

Be our friend...

So you like blogs, eh? How about online social networking sites? And I'm gonna go ahead and assume you like the University YMCA. So why not be our friend on MySpace? You'll have first hand access to all sorts of information about the Y. For example, according to MySpace, the Y is a Capricorn. Who knew? Check us out at: http://www.myspace.com/universityymcaatuillinois

Spring 2008 Friday Forum Series, "Unravelling Spin and Uncovering Truths" begins this Friday, January 25th!

Spring 2008 Friday Forum Lecture Series Set to Begin on Friday, January 25th. “Unraveling Spin and Uncovering Truths”

Champaign, IL – The Spring 2008 Friday Forum lecture series will begin at noon, on Friday, January 25th, with a lecture entitled “School Accountability and Performance in the Era of No Child Left Behind” by Lizanne DeStefano, Director of the Bureau of Educational Research at the University of Illinois. After six years of implementation we can begin to see the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act on our nations’ schools. Is it working? Can it be strengthened? In this talk, University of Illinois professor and Director of the Bureau for Educational Research, Lizanne DeStefano, will examine the changes in policies, practices and outcomes associated with NCLB.

The series runs every Friday from January 25 to April 4 at 12:00/noon in Latzer Hall at the University YMCA.

Friday Forum, which has been continuously running at the University YMCA since 1927, has a distinguished history of examining topics in-depth from a variety of perspectives. Lectures run from 12:15 -12:55 p.m. each Friday during the semester, with a questions and answer period from 1:00 - 1:30 p.m. Individuals from both the campus and the wider community are encouraged to attend and participate in the discussion with the speakers.

Lunch is available through the Y Thai Eatery. Individual meals may be reserved in advance through noon the Thursday before the lecture by calling 337-1500.

If you would like an electronic copy of this brochure, please e-mail Kasey Umland, University YMCA Program Director, at kasey@universityymca.org.

Welcome!

Welcome to the University YMCA's blog, your "go to" place for all things Y! You can use this space to post, view, and comment on upcoming events at and sponsored by the University YMCA and its student programs. Keep an eye out as we work to update our current website and add additional features to help keep you connected to all the Y has to offer!