Harper College notes

Wellness Week: Harper's 23rd Annual Wellness Week offers three days of free programming and workshops aimed at awakening participants' strengths to improve their health and quality of life.

Featured programs will include sessions on parenting, alternative medicine, finding the perfect work-life balance and Zumba -- a fitness program combining motivating music with unique dance moves.

All programming is open to the public. Wellness Week is supported by the American Cancer Society and Wellness Place. For a brochure, including a full list of program dates and times, visit harpercollege.edu or call (847) 925-6268.

Highlights of Wellness Week include:

• Ralph Nader's address, "Careless Health Care," 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Performing Arts Center. Consumer activist Nader will tackle one of his key issues -- health care -- in a public address keynoting Wellness Week.

As part of his speech, Nader will discuss alternatives to America's current health care system. Tickets are $15 with discounts for students and senior citizens. Call (847) 925-6100.

• Screening of Michael Moore's film "Sicko" at 2 p.m. Tuesday and 7 p.m. Wednesday, Building A, Room A242. The Academy Award-nominated 2007 documentary explores universal health care and the overall American health care system.

Admission is free, but seating is limited. Call (847) 925-6100 for ticket information.

• Health Fair 2008, free health screenings and exhibits, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Building A, Main Floor. The fair will feature educational materials and handouts on health issues, as well as more than two dozen exhibits.

There will also be opportunities for blood pressure screenings and body fat analyses. Blood profile, thyroid function and PSA testing is available for a fee. Call (847) 925-6268 for appointments.

Wellness Week hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday; and 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

Green How-To: The Green Design Evening will help interior design experts, students and the public get a grip on the widespread environmental movement, and sort out what it means, from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at McCauley Design, 211 Park Ave., Barrington. The free event will feature information on environmentally responsible products and resources, with a focus on architecture and design.

Designers, architects and Harper faculty dedicated to preserving the environment will be on hand. Formal presentations will be made at 6 and 7 p.m. All are welcome.

R.S.V.P. to solson@harpercollege.edu.

Job fair: More than 50 employers will converge at Harper College Wednesday for a job fair aimed at giving students and area residents a leg up in today's tough economy.

The free fair, hosted by the Harper College Career Center, will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the lower level of the Wellness and Sports Center, Building M.

Employers representing careers from accounting and marketing to health care, criminal justice, education and more will be available to talk with prospective employees.

A full list of participating employers, as well as hints for making the job fair a successful experience, are online at harpercollege.com. For more information, call (847) 925-6720. The fair is sponsored by Harper's Career Center, the Daily Herald and Reflejos.

Groovy Strings: The second annual "String Groove Improvising Contest," held at 10 a.m. Saturday, will let musicians ages 18 and younger show off their jazz, rock and blues moves on bowed string instruments.

The contest is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Building J Theater. The entry fee is $25; complete rules and prize information are online at stringroove.com.

Spring skies: Get an up-close look at the night skies from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday at the Karl G. Henize Observatory on Harper's main campus. The viewing is free and open to all.

According to Observatory Coordinator Percy Mui, if conditions are clear, the evening could provide impressive views of Saturn, Mars and the astrological signs of Leo, Gemini and Cancer. It's also possible to locate other galaxies, though those sometimes can be harder to find because of the bright lights of the Chicago area.

Visitors to Harper's observatory can stargaze through Harper's main telescope in the dome or others set out by observatory staff and astronomy club volunteers.

Viewings also are scheduled for alternating weekends now through November: Saturdays in the spring and fall; Fridays in the summer. All are free. May 10 is Astronomy Day, featuring special exhibits, demonstrations and lectures from 5:30 to 10 p.m. in Building Z and the observatory.

In all cases, call the observatory at (847) 925-6990 to check visibility first. For more information, including a more complete list of viewing dates and times, visit the Harper Astronomy Club's Web site, www.geocities.com/harperastronomyclub.

Inside Iraq: In 2003, Mike Shiley bought a protective vest, crafted a fake press pass at Kinko's, cashed in his frequent flier miles and bought a white-knuckle, high-speed ride into Iraq. The end result of his two-month adventure is a documentary offering a unique look at the controversial war and the war-torn nation through the lens of an average American.

Harper College will screen the film "Inside Iraq: The Untold Stories" April 21, with showings at 2 p.m. in Room E106 of Building E, and 7:30 p.m. in the Building J Theatre.

To film his 2004 documentary, Shiley hired an interpreter and set out unarmed, traveling to Baghdad, the northern Kurdish region and a hospital for land mine victims.

Tickets to Harper's screening cost $7 with discounts for senior citizens. Harper students are admitted free. For tickets, call (847) 925-6100 or visit harpercollege.edu.

Deaf diaries: In April, author Madan Vasishta will visit to discuss his own experiences and triumphs as a deaf man in the U.S. and in his home country of India.

During his two-day visit, Vasishta, an associate professor at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. -- a college for deaf and hard-of-hearing students -- also will hold a reading discussion of his book, "Deaf in Delhi: A Memoir."

The presentations will be voice-interpreted for those who don't know sign language. Vasishta's first session, which will detail his life experiences, will be at 7 p.m. April 24 in Harper's Black Box theater in Building L. His follow-up book discussion will be at noon April 25, also in the Black Box theater.

The events are free. To register, call Harper's Continuing Education department at (847) 925-6300.

Harper's history of art: Harper has the largest collection of public art in the Northwest suburbs. In April, nine artists who helped create it will showcase new works in celebration of Harper's 40th anniversary.

The 40th Anniversary Art Invitational will run through April 24 in Room C200 of Building C. Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays.

Featured artists are Fletcher Benton, John Fraser, Roland Ginzel, Carol Mickett, David Sharpe, Geoffrey Todd Smith, Mary Snyder Behrens, Robert Stackhouse and Frank Trankina.

Admission is free. For more information or to register for tours, call (847) 925-6336 or visit harpercollege.edu/arts.

Assisting the assistants: Harper's Marianne Rowe-Dimas will offer advice on office communication techniques in a breakfast event for administrative assistants at 7:30 a.m. April 25, which is also national Administrative Assistants Day. The session will teach new communication techniques and help administrative assistants brush up on their current skills.

Registration begins at 7 a.m. in the Wojcek Conference Center on the Harper College campus in Palatine. The fee is $79. For more information or to register, call (847) 925-6065.

Comedy at Harper: Harper College's new Laugh Shack Comedy Series concludes at 8 p.m. May 2 with Vidur Kapur, held in Room A238 of the Student Center Lounge, Building A, 1200 W. Algonquin Road, Palatine.

Kapur's comedy is based on the social commentary of a one-man culture clash -- he's a gay, Indian immigrant raised in a conservative middle-class family.

Selected as top comic for NBC's "Stand Up for Diversity Initiative," Kapur was featured at the 2007 New York Comedy Festival and has appeared on NBC's Last Comic Standing and MTV World.

Individual show tickets for the Laugh Shack Comedy Series are $10 in advance, or $12 at the door for general admission and Harper faculty, staff and senior citizens. Tickets are $5 in advance, and $7 at the door for Harper students with valid ID.

For tickets and more information call (847) 925-6100, or visit harpercollege.edu.

Harper Speakers Bureau: Provided as a community service, the Harper College Speakers Bureau provides access to local experts in a variety of subjects.

Speakers are available to community organizations such as chambers of commerce, library groups, service organizations and other civic groups for free. Experts cover a diverse array of topics including art, astronomy, career training, cultural trends, ecology, entrepreneurship, estate planning, exercise, small business development, math and science.

For more information on booking a speaker, call (847) 925-6701 or visit harpercollege.edu.

Child Learning Center: The Harper Child Learning Center's preschool program offers a curriculum to form a broad base of knowledge children can use as they advance into the primary grades.

The learning center also strives to create a preschool environment that treats children as individuals and invites parents to visit so they may share in their children's activities.

More information about choosing a preschool is available in a podcast on the Child Learning Center site at harpercollege.edu. Parents also may sign up for a free visit by calling (847) 925-6262.