1. Free spring music performances begin this weekend

Six Marquette musical groups will offer free concerts in the next month.

All shows, which are open to the public, are performed in the Varsity Theatre, except for the Liturgical Choir April 16 and Marquette University Chorus performance April 30, which will be in the Church of the Gesu.

Gospel Choir, Saturday, April 9, at 3 p.m., will celebrate the theme of “Gratefulness” at their spring concert, which will be followed by a reception.

Marquette Symphonic Band, Sunday, April 10, at 2 p.m., will feature old and new music by American composers.

Marquette Jazz Ensemble, Thursday, April 14, at 4 p.m., will include jazz masterworks from Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Chick Corea and more.

Liturgical Choir Saturday, April 16, at 7:30 p.m., will present “When in Our Music God is Glorified” and feature styles including Gregorian chant, hymnody, Taize music, classical choral works, contemporary song, African songs and gospel music. Donations will benefit the American Red Cross for Japan earthquake and tsunami relief.

Marquette Wind Ensemble, Sunday, April 17, at 2 p.m., will feature music from contemporary and classical U.S. composers under an “American Originals” theme.

Marquette University Chorus, Saturday, April 30, at 7 p.m., will include selections by composers J.M. Martin and Franz Abt.

Marquette Symphony Orchestra, Sunday, May 1, at 2 p.m., will feature an extra academic focus this year. The concert will include performances of Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture, and Polovtsian Dances by Alexander Borodin, a Russian composer and chemist. Shubert’s Symphony No. 8 Unfinished will also be featured.

2. Tickets to hear Michelle Malkin still available

Tickets to hear political commentator Michelle Malkin present “Incivility in the Age of Obama” Monday, April 11, at 7 p.m. in the AMU Ballrooms are still available. Two tickets per MUID are available in the AMU Brooks Lounge. A book-signing will follow at 8:30 p.m.

Michelle Malkin is a mother, wife, blogger, syndicated columnist, author and Fox News Channel contributor. Her blog, michellemalkin.com, attracts more than 1 million readers per month.

Malkin started her newspaper journalism career at the Los Angeles Daily News in 1992, moved to the Seattle Times in 1995, and has been writing nationally syndicated newspaper columns for Creators Syndicate since 1999. She has also written several books, including her most recent, Culture of Corruption: Obama and His Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks, and Cronies.

This event is sponsored by the College Republicans of Marquette University and Young America’s Foundation with support by the MUSG Student Activity Fee. Contact College Republicans of Marquette University at 920-474-MUCR for more information.

3. Business Plan Competition banquet to feature OpenTable founder

The winners of the ninth annual Marquette Business Plan Competition will be announced at a banquet Wednesday, April 13, in the AMU. The event, which will start at 5 p.m. with a poster session and reception, will feature a keynote presentation by Chuck Templeton, founder of the online restaurant reservation system OpenTable.com.

A dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m. The keynote address will begin at 7 p.m., followed by the awards ceremony. The event is free to Marquette students. Cost is $25 for members of the public. Register online.

In a record year, the competition attracted 52 entrants for 2011. Of those, 20 were social ventures. Due to increased interest, the competition last year added a separate category for businesses with a focus on addressing a societal need.

4. Hunger Clean-Up registration deadline extended to April 8

The registration deadline for Hunger Clean-Up, Marquette’s largest service event, has been extended to tomorrow, April 8, for additional individuals. No new teams may be created but participants may sign up to join an existing team or register as an individual.

The event itself will take place Saturday, April 16, at 8 a.m., beginning in Westowne Square. Participants will be taken to service sites and will return to campus around 1 p.m.

The last team leader meeting is today, April 7, from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Cudahy 143.

HCU is hosting a Qdoba Night Fundraiser, at 16th and Wells, on Tuesday, April 12, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. A portion of all sales from this night will benefit Hunger Clean-Up.

T-shirts will be sold in OSD 329 up until the event and in the AMU first floor lobby April 11-15. Cost is $10 and all forms of payment will be accepted, including MarquetteCash in AMU 329. T-shirts will also be sold next to the information desk April 16. Participants wearing their Hunger Clean-Up T-shirt after service on the day of the event will receive a free Brewers ticket for the April 25 game.

HCU is also collecting non-perishable food donations for Hunger Task Force on the day of Hunger Clean-Up. Those who do not have a T-shirt but donate two nonperishable food items will receive a free Brewers ticket.

5. Daily events featured during Green Week 2011

Next week’s Green Week 2011 will feature daily events, including an indoor market from noon to 3 p.m. Tuesday, April 12, with free samples from Stone Creek Coffee, Sodexo, Sister Maria Rosa Coffee, Red Barn and more in the AMU first floor lobby area. Participants of Wednesday’s Rummage Exchange, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the AMU first floor lobby area, can take an item for every item they give. At Thursday’s Dumpster Dive, from noon to 2 p.m. in Central Mall, members of Kappa Sigma fraternity will dig through campus trash and sort it into compostables, recyclables and trash, followed by a screening of the Waste Land documentary at 5:30 p.m. in Wehr Chemistry 100.

6. Discussion on human sexuality to take place

A discussion on “The Sexual Person: Toward a Renewed Catholic Sexuality” will take place Monday, April 11, from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Marquette Hall 200.

The discussion will be presented by Dr. Todd Salzman, professor and chair of theology at Creighton University, and Dr. Michael Lawler, professor emeritus of theology at Creighton University. Respondents will be Dr. Susan Ross, professor and chair of theology at Loyola University Chicago, and Rev. Bryan Massingale, associate professor of theology at Marquette.

For more information, contact Dr. Amelia Zurcher, associate professor of English and coordinator of the Women’s Studies Program.

This event is sponsored by the Women’s and Gender Studies Program, the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences, the departments of English, History, Philosophy and Psychology, and the Social and Cultural Sciences McGee Lecture Series.

7. Pepperdine University professor to deliver Schwartz Lecture

The fourth annual Joseph M. Schwartz Memorial Lecture will be given by Dr. Paul Contino, professor of great books at Pepperdine University, Wednesday, April 13, at 4 p.m. in the AMU Henke Lounge. Contino will present “Milosz and Merton at the Metropolis: The corn of wheat bears fruit in Second Space,” a reflection on the epistolary friendship between Nobel Laureate Polish poet Czeslaw Milsoz and Cistercian monk Thomas Merton and their shared fascination with Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky.

The biennial lecture is sponsored by Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature, and honors the late Dr. Joseph Schwartz, emeritus professor of English at Marquette and past editor of Renascence. A reception will follow the lecture and attendees will receive a copy of the spring issue of the journal. For more information, contact Dr. Ed Block, professor of English and editor of Renascence, at 8-7260.

8. Smoking policy prohibits smoking within 25 feet of university buildings

Smoking is prohibited in all university buildings and within 25 feet of all building entrances and balconies to comply with Wisconsin Act 12, “Smoke-Free Wisconsin,” as well as to support campus health and safety. The policy also prohibits smoking in parking structures and university-owned vehicles and prohibits designating any indoor location as a “smoking area.”

Voluntary compliance is emphasized. However, anyone observing someone who is smoking in a no-smoking area is encouraged to courteously inform the smoker that he/she is in violation of the university’s smoking policy. Repeated violations by employees may be subject to the university’s progressive disciplinary policy; by students to the university’s student code of conduct.

The Employee Wellness Program and Raynor Memorial Libraries have resources available.

For more information, contact Steve Duffy, associate vice president of administration, at 8-6897.

9. Students needed to represent Marquette at KIDSfest

The Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is looking for students to represent Marquette at KIDSfest & Baby Expo Saturday and Sunday, April 16 and 17, at the Wisconsin Exposition Center at State Fair Park, 8200 W. Greenfield Ave., West Allis.

The Saturday shifts are from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday shifts run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. E-mail student Lindsey Townsley by Tuesday, April 12, to express interest.

10. Director of Peace Studies Program at Creighton to speak

Dr. Roger Bergman, founding director of the Peace Studies Program at Creighton University, will present “Justice and Jesuit Higher Education” today, April 7, at 7 p.m. in Lalumiere 262. Bergman will discuss how to offer a Jesuit education while maintaining academic integrity, how to integrate a service learning experience into a project and how to put a Jesuit education into practice after graduation.

This event is hosted by the Center for Peacemaking.

11. Bayanihan student organization hosting free cultural show

The Bayanihan Student Organization is hosting its annual Cultural Show, “Binibing Pilipinas: An Unexpected Twist to the Miss Philippines Beauty Pageant,” tomorrow, April 8, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Weasler Auditorium. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

The event will showcase traditional Filipino culture through comedic acting, dancing and various musical talents. There will be guest appearances by the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Filipino organization, Filipinos in Alliance, and YouTube’s Manny Garcia.

The show is free to all students. Donations will be accepted.

12. Tickets for Sara Bareilles concert and Brewer game available

The Marquette University Student Government is hosting recording artist Sara Bareilles for the MUSG spring concert tomorrow, April 8, at 7:30 p.m. in the AMU ballrooms. Bareilles’ two albums, Little Voice and Kaleidoscope Heart, have sold more than 1 million copies worldwide. Tickets are on sale in the AMU Brooks Lounge for $15 with a MUID.

MUSG is also hosting an excursion to the Brewers vs. Cubs game Sunday, April 10. Students will meet at the AMU east entrance at 10:30 a.m. to board a bus to Miller Park. A tailgate party before the game will include burgers, wings, chips and soda catered by Sobelman’s. The game begins at 1:10 p.m. A limited number of tickets are available in the AMU Brooks Lounge for $20.

13. Asian personal and social identities to be discussed

The Office of Student Development Multicultural Affairs will hold “Asia: Beyond the Great Wall Part II” Monday, April 11, at 5:30 p.m. in AMU 111. This dialogue between students and community members will address the “hidden” cultures of the Asian continent. Participants will be encouraged to discuss issues surrounding the popular definition of “Asian” and describe how their personal and social identities intersect and enrich the Marquette community.

This event is part of Asian-Pacific Islander Celebration Month.

14. Haggerty Museum hosting Student Fine Arts Night

The Haggerty Museum of Art and the MU Art Club will present Student Fine Arts Night on Tuesday, April 12, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the museum.

Student Fine Arts Night will showcase performances by students Julian Cammarano, Charlie Giger, Sam Huschen, Sarah Lauer, Ben Wagner, Drew Zagami, Pure Dance and more. Attendees will also have the opportunity to see the current exhibitions, The Truth is Not in the Mirror and Hollywood Icons, Local Demons.

The event is free and open to the public. Free food and refreshments will be provided. For more information, contact Lynne Shumow, curator of education and community outreach at the museum, at 8-5915.

15. Community-based clinics is topic of health care presentation

The Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures is sponsoring “Rising to Health Care Challenges: A community-based clinic adapts and evolves with those it serves,” Tuesday, April 12, at 4 p.m. in Lalumiere 288. Steve Ohly, director of Aurora Walker’s Point Community Clinic, and Alison Gima, clinic administrative assistant, will give the presentation.

Marquette students who take Spanish 371 and Spanish 3715 serve as interpreters at the clinic.

For more information, contact Dr. Armando González-Pérez, professor of Spanish and director of Mexico Summer Program, at 8-7268.

16. Integrative Neuroscience Research Center hosting colloquium

The Integrative Neuroscience Research Center will host Dr. Brandon Aragona, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, Tuesday, April 12, at 3:30 p.m. in Schroeder Complex 256. Aragona will present “Dopamine and Opioid Regulation on Monogamous Pair Bonding.”

17. Free group fitness classes offered tomorrow

The Department of Recreational Sports is offering free group fitness classes tomorrow, April 8.

The classes are free to members:
• Cardio Step at 1 p.m. at the Rec Center
• Spin at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. at the Rec Center
• Total Body Burn and Flexibility at 3 p.m. at the Rec Plex
• Total Body Conditioning at 4 p.m. at the Rec Center

Call 8-6979 for more information.

18. Public Safety offering self-defense class

The Department of Public Safety will hold a free self-defense class at 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 12, in AMU 163.

The class incorporates national and local crime trends, a hands-on approach and effective techniques with simple strategies for escaping potentially dangerous situations for both males and females. Participants are encouraged to wear athletic attire. Register is required by calling DPS at 8-6800.

19. Non-violence pledge offered during Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Violence Opposition in Community Education (VOICE), a peer education group sponsored by the Counseling Center, is offering an online pledge to increase awareness of sexual assault and advocate for healthy and respectful relationships.

For more information, contact Dr. Chris Daood, assistant director of the Counseling Center, at 8-7172.

20. Bake sale to be held after weekend Masses

Students participating in World Youth Day in August will host a bake sale after the 4:30 p.m. Mass on Saturday, April 9, and after the 9 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 4 p.m., and 6 p.m. Church of the Gesu Masses on Sunday, April 10, on the corner of 12th and Wisconsin in front of Zilber Hall.

Proceeds will benefit the students’ travels in Spain. The trip is sponsored by Campus Ministry.

21. Information session about Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults Team to be held

Campus Ministry will hold an information session for students interested in joining the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults Team on Monday, April 11, from noon to 1 p.m. in AMU 236. RCIA team members serve collaboratively as small group facilitators, presenters and prayer leaders while working with others on their faith journeys. The process runs from the end of September through the beginning of May. Applications are due Monday, April 18.

For more information, contact Steve Blaha, assistant director of Campus Ministry, at 8-3686.