Check Archive

October 2007

• Hotelexecutive.com and Calibre Macro World of November 1 and The Rolling Good Times Online of October 31 reported on the appointed of Dr. Ray Irani and Linda Chen as members of Wynn Resorts Board of Directors. Dr. Irani is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Occidental Petroleum Corporation. He is a Director of the American Petroleum Institute, and Co-Chairman of the Board of the American University of Beirut. He received a B.S. degree in Chemistry from the American University of Beirut in 1953 and a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Southern California in 1957.
• Electronic Intifada of October 30 published an open letter to Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, by Tamara Keblaoui, about mass looting and vandalism she witnessed at the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp after the end of the fighting between militant group Fatah-Islam and the Lebanese army. She held the government responsible for the injustice being committed against the Palestinian refugees, demanding that more effort be put in ensuring their rights. Keblaoui is a Palestinian-Lebanese student at the American University of Beirut and a member of the Nahr al-Bared Relief Campaign which organizes for relief and civil action to aid those affected by the conflict.   
• Conroe Courier of October 31 and Pasadena Citizen of October 30 reported on a lecture by Dr. Sam Elzaim of HSE Orthopaedic Surgery Clinic. Held at the Cleveland Civic Center, the lecture Total Joint Replacement and Hip and Knee Pain. Born in North Lebanon, Elzaim studied at the Lebanese American University and later received his MS from the American University of Beirut. He moved to Galveston, to attend the UT Medical Branch for his PhD and MD. He attended orthopaedic residency training at Baylor College of Medicine. He is specialized in hand and wrist surgery, and shoulder and knee arthroscopic surgery.
• South Asian Womenâ??s Forum of October 27 reported on the political deadlock in Lebanon and the effects it is having on students at the American University of Beirut. The students have expressed their frustration with the ruling political camps, and the growing differences the political divide is creating on the campus. Chairman of political science department, Hilal Khashan said, â??The crisis is an obstacle between them and their bright future. When the political process is insensitive to the youth's aspiration their immediate reaction is to get the hell out of here." However, he is optimistic about an ending to the crisis. â??It is Lebanese cliff hanger politics, people brace for the worse, but the agreement comes in the end,â? he said, insisting politicians have learned from past mistakes, he said referring to the Lebanese Civil War.
• Buffalo News of October 26 reported on the Buffalo Medical Groupâ??s appointment of Dr. Walid S. Arnaout to its Department of Surgery. A board- certified general surgeon and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Arnaout earned his medical degree at the American University of Beirut and completed his residency and research fellowship training at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. He is a staff surgeon at Buffalo General and Millard Fillmore Suburban hospitals.
• Ottawa Citizen, TorontoSun.com, and CNews of October 25 reported on the investigation in the 1980 bombing at a Paris Synagogue. Investigators wanted to question Mr. Hassan Diab, a part-time sociology professor at the University of Ottawa. He earned his Phd from Syracuse University in the United States and an assistant professorship at the American University of Beirut, and authored, Beirut: Reviving Lebanonâ??s Past. Mr. Diab denied involvement in the crime.
• Forbes.com and Businesswire.com of October 23 and Yahoo! Finance, PR Newswire, and Calibre Macro World of October 22 reported on United Press Internationalâ??s (UPI) commemoration ceremony set for October 24, marking the 100 ^th anniversary of the media serviceâ??s establishment. The ceremony would include UPI hosting a global leadership summit on the future of media, in Washington DC, in the United States.  Nicholas Chiaia, UPI senior vice president, said that some institutions set to be involved in the summit include the University of Hong Kong, the American University of Beirut and Cairo, and George Mason University.
• Calibre Macro World of October 18 reported on the findings of a research conducted at the American University of Beirut Medical Center, entitled, â??Effect of chronic administration of sildenafil on sodium retention and on the hemodynamic complications associated with liver cirrhosis in the rat.â? Dr. Rana Ghali-Ghoul, head of the research team, said, â??The aim of the study was to examine the effects of chronic administration of sildenafil on renal sodium handling and hemodynamics in rats with liver cirrhosis.â?
• Kansas.com of October 17 presented a brief biography of Dr. Mayssa Zayat, Wichita's only pediatric gastroenterologist. A graduate of the American University of Beirut, she said her interest in medical work was sparked by her brotherâ??s medical school tales and experiences in the Lebanese Civil War. She completed her residency and fellowship work at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. She currently lives in Wichita, Kansas, with her husband and two children.
• Time.com and CBSNews.com of October 16 reported on the revived hashish industry in Lebanon as the country was more preoccupied with its ongoing political crisis to continue combating the illegal activity. Lebanese police estimate that some 16,000 acres of hashish and a small amount of opium poppies were planted this year in the northern Bekaa. Furthermore the problem is only aggravated by the fact that recreational drug use is on the rise in Lebanon. "The problem is that drugs are readily available and relatively cheap," said Brigitte Khoury, a clinical psychologist and professor at the American University of Beirut. A problem that will only worsen if the growing of hashish is not controlled and halted.
• Houston Community Newspapers of October 11 reported on Dr. Ghassan Haddad joining the Houston Fertility Institute. He obtained his medical degree from the American University of Beirut where he was nominated to become a member of the prestigious Alpha-Omega-Alpha Honor Medical Society. He then completed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. He later went on to complete his fellowship in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. He is a member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Society for Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, as well as the Alpha-Omega-Alpha Honor Medical Society. He is board certified by the American Board of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
• AME Info of October 4 reported on the appointment of Henry Azzam as the Deutsche Bank Groupâ??s Regional Chief Executive Officer for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Prior to his appointment, he was Chief Executive Officer of Amwal Invest, a company he founded in May 2005. He was Managing Director of Middle East Capital Group from 1998 and 2001, and Vice President and Chief Economist of Gulf International Bank in Bahrain from 1983 and 1990. Before that he worked with the Arab Fund in Kuwait and taught economics at the American University of Beirut. He holds a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Southern California in Los-Angeles and a BA and MA from the American University of Beirut.
• Electronic Intifada of October 2 and WordlPress.org reported on the unprecedented international attention by the West, and the United States in particular, over the ongoing political crisis in Lebanon over the presidential election. Many analysts believe that this attention is part of the ongoing conflict between the West, and Syria and Iran, which the former accuses of meddling in Lebanese affairs through the Lebanese militant group Hizbullah. In order to end the meddling, the United States aims at weakening the party by eliminating Hizbullah. â??In the larger scheme of things, the conflict with Syria and Iran is more important. Syria needs Hizbullah more than Hizbullah needs Syria, so they [the US] would like to take that away,â? said Karim Makdisi, of the American University of Beirut. 
• Diabetes care of October 1 reported on the findings of a research team at the American University of Beirut Medical Center that concluded that diabetes is characterized by taurine deficiency.