Seminars, Lunch and Golf!

Hi all!

If you couldn't already tell by my picture, football at Iowa has already begun! That was the first HOME football game against Eastern Illinois, in which we dominated and I described the experience in my last blog. We also played Iowa State, one of the big rivalries here in Iowa, this past weekend and currently have a 2-0 record for the season.

The past week has been jammed pack with seminars, networking lunches, golf and of course lots of course work ;)

MPH Seminar:

So almost every Tuesday during the semester, the MPH program coordinates "MPH Seminar" where a wide variety of topics are presented. Everything from professors, current and past students to public health professionals. This past Tuesday, Dr. Osterberg from the Occupational and Environmental Health (OEH) department presented "Green Bike Tour in Romania Touting Renewable Energy”. The past 10 or so years Dr. Osterberg has been going on bike tours all around the world to promote the innovations that are renewable energy, which include his bike that is solar powered, kind of like an electric bike that uses the sun instead of gas to power you along. His message was clear, that it is cost effective and relatively easy for organizations and governments to invest in renewable energy. I was shocked to learn that the state of Iowa gets 20% of its energy from Wind! In addition, there has actually been a decrease in energy expenses for Iowans versus other states that use other sources of energy to power their towns and cities.

All and all it was a very informative topic and very relevant to me, since I am the president of ECO Hawk, which is an environmental group I cofounded last year with other CPH students. We have already put on two waste sorts, field trips to city recycling and landfill sites and have had many gains towards sustainable practices that will be changed and implemented in the new College of Public Health building scheduled to open Fall 2011. We have a lot of events planned for this upcoming fall and are excited to have our first meeting of the academic year this Wednesday!

Lunch and Golf:

On Thursday I was able to have lunch with Iowa Alumni from Alegent Health in Omaha, NE. This was an event put on by my department in Health Management and Policy and was a great way to connect with recent graduates and reconnect with Alumni that had come to Iowa last year for the annual "Iowa Student Association of Healthcare Leaders (ISAHL) Golf Outing". I am the VP for Professional Development for the student organization and our major fundraiser and event of the year is our annual Golf Outing which was held at Brown Deer Golf Club in Coralville, IA (just next to Iowa City). The Friday event was very successful and a lot of fun. I am not an avid golfer but I was able to make it on the "green" a couple times and almost hit a couple people in the process with my flying balls, haha. The event draws in Alumni from all over and was a great way to network and get to know professionals in the field of Health Administration. It is one of my favorite events and I am already looking forward to being able to participate again as a student next year (which will be my final year in the program).

Life:

I was unable to make it to Iowa vs. Iowa State game since I traveled back to my hometown for my cousins wedding, but couldn't wait to get back to Iowa City, where I am now catching up from the long weekend of events and golfing and will update later this week which entails seminars on Emergency Preparedness, All student meetings/outings and a potluck with friends at the end of the week!

Post questions/comments on the blog or send me an email: ryan-landi@uiowa.edu if you all want to know more about my life and Iowa!

Good Morning! Good Morning!

Ryan