ON CAMPUS AT UCI:

Much has changed in the 25 years since UCI social ecology professor John Whiteley interviewed the late psychologist B.F. Skinner for the first in a series about world peace.

Cold War fears have been eclipsed by anxiety over terrorism. Technology has been transformed — their original conversation was videotaped in the now-dated VHS format. And Whiteley himself is different; his already white hair is even whiter. Yet today, one thing remains the same: Whiteley is still on a quest for peace.

From 1983 to 1989, he taped about 200 half-hour interviews with a range of notable figures, including Norman Cousins, Condoleezza Rice, John Kenneth Galbraith, Donald Rumsfeld, Barry Goldwater, Shirley Chisholm, Julian Bond and Rollo May. The “Quest for Peace” segments were originally broadcast on cable and public-access stations. In July, UCI Libraries launched the “Quest for Peace” website, featuring transcripts, bios and interviews of every segment.

“These interviews contain enduring insights that transcend the Cold War,” Whiteley said. “Many of the issues raised address the unmet challenges of achieving peace in any age.”

Indeed, many conversations could have taken place today. For instance, much of what terrorism expert Brian Jenkins tells Whiteley in 1988, 13 years before 9/11, proves chillingly prophetic.

“[Terrorists] don’t necessarily have to go up into high-tech, more exotic weapons in order to carry out their attacks,” Jenkins said. “The one reason is they have virtually unlimited targets. Terrorists can attack anything, anywhere, any time. Governments can’t protect everything everywhere all the time, and that asymmetry gives the terrorists an advantage.”

Whiteley was able to get high-profile people in education, psychology, religion, economics and other domains of society to participate because, he said, they knew their views would be respected, not edited into sound bites.

“They have wisdom they never get to share,” he says. “I was not prepared for the extraordinary outpouring of thought from people who didn’t want to accept the way the world was going.”

More at www.uci.edu/peace

BRAIN IMAGING SYMPOSIUM FOCUSES ON ALZHEIMER’S

Dr. William Jagust, public health and neuroscience professor at UC Berkeley and faculty senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, will discuss “Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s” at the UCI Brain Imaging Center Sprague Symposium Friday, Nov. 30.

Jagust is a neurologist who specializes in brain imaging for early diagnosis. He was a faculty member at UC Davis from 1986-2003, director of the UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Center from 1991-2003 and chair of neurology at the UC Davis School of Medicine from 1998-2003. His research focuses on the use of PET scans and MRIs in understanding brain aging and dementia.

The event will be held in the Nelson Auditorium, Irvine Hall, and includes a physicians lecture, noon to 1 p.m.; center tours, 1 to 3 p.m.; public presentation, 3 to 4 p.m.; and a reception and tours, 4 to 5:30 p.m. For information, call (949) 824-1914 or e-mail erin.fitzgerald@uci.edu. More: www.bic.uci.edu.

LECTURE SERIES EXPLORES SPACE SCIENCE

NASA’s Space Studies Board will host a one-day series of free public lectures on “50 Years of Space Science: Exploring the Past, Inspiring the Future” 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1, at the UCI Arnold and Mabel Beckman Conference Center.

The lectures will focus on new discoveries in the search for life, global climate change, robots in space, and dark energy and how it could transform the laws of physics. Speakers include Roger Launius, National Air and Space Museum curator; Soroosh Sorooshian, UCI professor of earth system science and civil & environmental engineering; and Roger Bonnet, Committee on Space Research president and International Space Science Institute executive director.

To register, visit:www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/IGY_Irvine_event.html.

SUSAN MENNING is the assistant vice chancellor of university communications at UCI. Reach her at smenning@uci.edu.