A percussion lecture and recital and a slide-illustrated lecture on ecotourism will be among presentations offered through UNLV's University Forum lecture series in September.

John R. Beck, an adjunct faculty member in UNLV's department of music will present "Percussion Discussion," a lecture and recital involving percussion instruments on Sept. 22.

Next to the human voice, percussion instruments are the oldest and most universally used devices for making music, according to Beck. This lecture and recital will explore the history and use, both traditional and nontraditional, of percussion instruments throughout the world.

A baroque timpani duet, fife and drum tunes from colonial America, ragtime and novelty xylophone music, as well as music written with the influence of Indian tabla drumming, contemporary Japanese marimba styles, and American jazz, will be presented.

On Sept. 25, Paul Eagles of the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, will present a slide-illustrated lecture on "Ecotourism and Conservation Policy."

Eagles, a professor of recreation and leisure studies, will use slides taken during his extensive travels in Kenya and Australia to discuss the new and innovative conservation tool known as "ecotourism."

Forests that might otherwise be logged for their timber, mountains that might otherwise be strip-mined for their minerals, and coral reefs that might otherwise be plundered for their tropical fish have one thing in common: governments and private groups around the world are preserving and promoting these "nature tourism" sites that bring in travelers who will pay money to see them. Obviously, Eagles points out, tourists can use these sites only if they have not already been destroyed.

Both presentations will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Natural History. All University Forum lectures are open to the public free of charge.

The University Forum lecture series is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and underwritten by the UNLV Foundation. For additional information on the series, call 895-3401.