A discussion on the ethics of political speechwriting and a presentation on how a culture influences the development of a child will be the topics covered during the final fall 1999 University Forum lectures.

Martin Medhurst, a speech communication professor at Texas A&M University, will examine the practice of using a speechwriter in contemporary politics. His Nov. 16 lecture, "Bill Clinton and the Ethics of Speechwriting," will take a look at several administrations, but will mainly focus on the Clinton years.

Medurst hopes to address such important issues as the political figure's responsibility for the content of a speech written by someone else, whether the audience can believe or trust a speaker who uses a speechwriter, and whether the president can provide leadership through speeches authored by another person.

On Dec. 2, Barry Hewlett, an anthropology professor at Washington State University, will discuss "Childhood and Culture: Lessons from Africa." In this slide- and film-illustrated lecture, he will discuss parent-child relations and the nature of child development among the Aka pygmies of Africa -- one of the world's last hunting and gathering peoples.

According to Hewlett, in the Aka culture, fathers provide more direct care to infants than fathers in any other culture of which anthropologists are aware, women other than the mother often breastfeed infants, and touching is constant. He will share the implications of these and other features of Aka childhood toward the development of trust, autonomy, and egalitarian relations.

Both lectures begin 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 is underwritten by the UNLV Foundation. For additional information on the series, call 895-3401.