A professor of hydrology and geoscience from the University of Wyoming and a philosophy professor from California State University, Hayward, will be among the speakers participating in UNLV's University Forum lecture series in October.

"Mao's Costly Mistake: From Subtropical Rain Forest to Virtual Desert" will be the topic when Peter Huntoon of the University of Wyoming speaks on Oct. 23.

What do Las Vegas and the sub-tropical rain forest of south China have in common? According to Huntoon, both are trying to irrigate their way out of the desert, but for different reasons.

Huntoon will compare and contrast these two situations as he takes the audience on a photographic tour of the indescribably beautiful region of south China that was turned into a virtual desert by Mao's ill-advised modernization program. He will describe the factors behind the ecological disaster that left a population of more than 100 million living on the edge of perpetual famine.

On Oct. 28, Elizabeth Wolgast of California State University, Hayward, will speak on the topic, "Individual vs. Society?: A Reappraisal."

How can we use our own best moral judgment in the workplace when its ways of working constrict how we act, Wolgast asks. Each institution, public or private, sets conditions which we may need to revise in order to act responsibly, she says.

In her presentation, she will look at how we can remake our institutions to allow moral responsibility to exist. Too often, the moral choice evaporates to a point where no one is responsible for anything. Socrates made the point for his time, and it can shed light on problems in ours, Wolgast says.

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 free and open to the public.

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.