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February 21, 2007 |
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The inaugural address for a new annual lecture series by world leaders will be presented by the former prime minister of Israel, Ehud Barak. Elected in 1999, Barak ordered the withdrawal of the Israeli Defense Forces from South Lebanon, ending 18 years of Israel’s presence there. At Camp David in 2000, he met with President Clinton and Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat in an attempt to bring lasting peace to the region. Although the negotiations failed, observers note that the Middle East was closer to peace at that point than ever before. Prior to his election as prime minister, Barak completed a 36-year career in the Israeli Defense Forces as the most decorated soldier in Israeli history. He was a key architect of the June 1976 Entebbe Rescue Operation of airline passengers hijacked to Uganda by terrorists. He also served as minister of the interior, minister of foreign affairs, and defense minister. For more information, call 581-7989 or visit www.hum.utah.edu/humcntr.
The U will host an international conference of experts on terrorism, human rights, human dignity, and international cooperation on March 1-2. The campus community is invited to attend all presentations, including those listed on the “Agenda of invitation only events” at www.humanrights.utah.edu/forum. “The thing we found surprising is that no one has done this before,” says Wayne McCormack, a professor of law and one of the conference organizers. “As we started planning, we thought we might learn from someone else’s experience, but we seem to be the first to approach the issue of terrorism from this type of multi-disciplinary values-oriented perspective.” Here are some examples of the programs in store for those who attend. The Clash
Within: The Hindu Right and Democratic Values, with Martha
Nussbaum Violence
and Identity, with Amartya Sen Panel Discussion:
Enforcement & Human Dignity – Does Violence Work and
at What Cost? For more information on the conference, call 581-6751, visit www.humanrights.utah.edu/forum or read the press release.
Wanting to get to the heart of the debate over global warming, writer Elizabeth Kolbert traveled from Alaska to Greenland to visit with top scientists. Her three-part series on climate change, which appeared in The New Yorker in 2005, brought the environment into the consciousness of the American people and asked what, if anything, can be done. How can we save our planet? She explains the science and the studies, draws parallels to lost ancient civilizations, unpacks the politics, and presents the personal tales of those who are being affected most—the people who live near the poles and, in an eerie foreshadowing, are watching their worlds disappear. Elizabeth Kolbert has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1999. A collection of her work, The Prophet of Love and Other Tales of Power and Deceit, was published in 2004. Her book on global warming, Field Notes from a Catastrophe, was published in March 2006. The Lyceum II Lecture is sponsored by the College of Humanities. For more information, call 581-6214 or visit www.hum.utah.edu.
A pioneer in the medium of video art, Bill Viola is recognized as one of today’s leading artists. He uses video to explore the phenomena of sense perception as an avenue to self-knowledge. His works focus on universal human experiences—birth, death, the unfolding of consciousness—and have roots in both Eastern and Western art as well as the spiritual traditions of Zen Buddhism, Islamic Sufism, and Christian mysticism. “I think that any time you are making something that touches the inner self of the human being, anything that emerges out of ourselves from a genuine, unguarded place is ultimately a sacred act, no matter whether you follow a religion or not,” he says. “All of the things that surround us came out of the inspiration of transforming the material world into our inner vision...” In conjunction with Bill Viola’s visit to campus there will be several additional panels and events between Mar. 7 and Apr. 4. Link here for a complete schedule. For more information, call 581-7989.
Photo by Roger Tuttle Send your answer (be specific!) to FYI@ucomm.utah.edu by noon on Thursday, Feb. 22 for a chance to win a weekend mountain bike rental for two courtesy of Outdoor Recreation Services. The winner will be randomly selected from the pool of those submitting the correct answer. The winner will be listed in the next FYI News due out Mar. 7. Thanks to Outdoor Recreation Services for providing the prize! This contest is open to U of U faculty and staff only.
IPIA
to Co-host International Experts on Terrorism An upcoming conference on terrorism, values, and violence on March 1 and 2 will be hosted, in part, by the Institute of Public and International Affairs, or IPIA. Founded in 2005, IPIA is a multi-disciplinary group of U of U professors representing anthropology, psychology, law, philosophy, history, and sociology who are working together to develop successful approaches to deal with the unpredictable and ever-changing political, economic, and cultural events that move across national borders throughout the world. IPIA’s interests lie at the place where international phenomena, public policy, politics, and governance overlap. J. Steven Ott, dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Science and director of the institute, says that human rights, migrating populations, AIDS, human trafficking, and the movement of capital that fuels the economies of countries—as well as non-state terrorists—represent some of the critical issues under investigation by IPIA faculty. “These issues do not stop at national boundaries or the edge of continents,” he says, “and so they cannot be understood by focusing on any single geographic area.” You can download the interview with Steven Ott at www.utah.edu/podcast.
• Women
unite! And men, too • The Nature
of Things Lecture Series: The Future of Life by E.O. Wilson SOLD OUT. Hear it live on KCPW 88.3 FM or 1010 AM radio. This new lecture series from the Utah Museum of Natural History will bring noted experts to Utah to explore the delicate and complex relationship between humans and the natural world. The museum has partnered with The Nature Conservancy to assemble a program that highlights the biggest challenges and opportunities in the current struggle to save plants and animals in Utah and around the world. Edward O. Wilson is the Pellegrino Research Professor in Entomology for the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. Known as the father of the modern environmental movement, Wilson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and has made enormous contributions to the field of conservation. He draws on ideas from his best-selling book, The Future of Life, to make a passionate plea for a new approach to the management and protection of our eco-system. He also uses arguments from science, economics, and ethics to demonstrate that proper stewardship of the earth’s bio-diversity is not an option—it is a necessity. It’s the choice we must make if life is going to continue to thrive on the only home we have. For more information, call 585-6308 or visit www.umnh.utah.edu. • Stegner
Center Symposium: The Colorado River Compact in the 21st Century:
Time for Change? SOLD OUT. Overflow rooms available. We
know that our urban desert culture is quickly outstripping The Wallace Stegner Center’s 12th annual symposium will explore issues of Colorado River management, focusing on the seven-state Colorado River Compact (CRC) and other aspects of the “Law of the River”—the complex set of treaties, cases, regulations, and documents that govern use and management of the Colorado River. Is the 1922 Compact resilient enough to meet the environmental needs and to withstand the hydrological, climatic, economic, and other real-world changes of the 21st century? Or are significant changes to the Compact or other laws necessary? Policy analysts, water users, scientists, economists, political leaders, and environmental advocates will consider these questions. Critical issues include how Colorado River water might be re-allocated among the Upper and Lower Basin states, Native American tribes, Mexico, and instream environmental uses and the ensuing effects on the ecological health of the river and surrounding communities. Symposium organizers hope to promote understanding of the cultural and historical forces that shaped the CRC and how the realities of the New West suggest a need to reconsider the 1922 Colorado River Compact. For more information, call 585-3440, send e-mail to stegner@law.utah.edu, or visit www.law.utah.edu/stegner/.
To commemorate the founding of the University of Utah in 1850, the Alumni Association each year honors four alumni and one non-alumnus/a who have distinguished themselves professionally through community service and by supporting the U of U in its mission. The 2007 recipients will be honored at the annual Founders Day dinner on March 6. For more information, call 581-6995 or visit their Web site. Akhlesh Lakhtakia MS’81 PhD’83, the Charles G. Binder Endowed Professor of Engineering Science & Mechanics at The Pennsylvania State University and a visiting professor of physics at Imperial College London, is known for his groundbreaking research on nanotechnology and the behavior of electromagnetic fields and waves in complex materials. Craig H. Neilsen MBA’64 JD’67, owner of Neilsen and Company Construction and chairman and CEO of Ameristar Casinos until his untimely death last November, established a foundation to fund spinal cord injury research and rehabilitation, including at the U, and contributed generously to nonprofit organizations nationwide. Josephine “Jody” K. Olsen BS’65, deputy director of the Peace Corps, served as country director for Togo; regional director, North Africa Near East, Asia, and Pacific; and as Peace Corps chief of staff. She also directed the organization responsible for managing the Fulbright Senior Scholar Program at the Council for International Exchange of Scholars. Leon Peterson BS’64 MBA’67, president and CEO of Peterson Development Company, is a leader in land development throughout the Intermountain West and a philanthropist for higher education and the U. He and his wife, Karen, provide 25 to 30 U scholarships annually and co-chair the School of Music advisory board. Carolyn Tanner Irish, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah since 1996, is one of only 12 female bishops in the worldwide Anglican Communion. Educated at Oxford University and the Virginia Theological Seminary, Tanner Irish chairs the board of the O.C. Tanner Company, and is a member of the U’s National Advisory Council and the National Advisory Board at the Tanner Humanities Center.
Competitive skiing at the U of U has been a fixture since the 1940s. Utah won its first national collegiate championship in 1947. In 1956, none other than U of U alum and serious booster Spence Eccles won second place in an intercollegiate race. Skiing became a coed sport in 1983. From then until 1990, Utah won five NCAA championships. Utah students, faculty and staff have been “hitting the slopes” since the late ’30s with the opening of Alta, Utah’s first ski resort. This history is documented in the Marriott Library’s Ski Archives, which are available online at www.skiarchives.org or in the Marriott Library’s Special Collections Department.
• Annual
Open Enrollment is coming soon • Moving
a new employee to the U? • News
from the Campus Store • Study
participants wanted • Get a
bird’s eye view • Pioneer
Theatre Company offers discount
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