Check Archive

June 2008

• The Peninsula and The National Newspaper of June 1 reported on the Silatech initiative, part of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, announcement that it will orchestrate pilot job-creation projects in Qatar, Bahrain, Syria, Yemen and two other countries, yet to be announced. Pilot projects will include consultants, academics and researchers from the American University of Beirut among other institutions.
• Dar al-Hayat (Britain) of June 2 published an interview with the President of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Society Development Sheikh Abdullah Bin Ali Al Thani about the educational needs of the region. Sheikh Bin Ali said that AUB is the Arab World's Harvard University.
• Al-Watan al-Iktisadi (Qatar) of June 2 carried the announcement by the Kuwaiti Financial Center launching its new project of selling new luxurious apartments in Clemenceau area in Beirut, which has a view on AUB.
• Qatar Peninsula, AME Info, and Gulf Times of June 2 reported on the launch of a Youth Knowledge Consortium that took place at the Doha Summit on Young People and Employment in the Arab world. The Consortium is aimed at promoting youth employment and entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The founding partners of the Consortium include the Issam Fares Institute at the American University of Beirut.
• The Middle East Online of June 2 published an article by Rami G. Khouri, the Director of the Issam Fares Institute at the American University of Beirut, about the challenges facing the Lebanese opposition and the March 14 Coalition following the Doha Accord that ended the countryâ??s political crisis. He said, â??The central issue is the Hizbullah-state relationship, which is directly or indirectly linked to other tough issues such as Syrian-Lebanese ties, and the role of external powers such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United States.â?
• Middle East Times (Britain) of June 3 published an article by Rami Khouri, director of the Issam Fares Institute of Public Policy and International Affairs at AUB, entitled " The Challenge Between Hezbollah and Lebanon."
• Al-Wasat (Bahrain) of June 3 published an article about  the situation of the International Students at AUB and their way of interacting and adapting at the university.
• Palestinian Media Center of June 3 reported on the American University of Beirutâ??s announcement that MP Hanan Ashrawi is one of five of its honorary doctoral recipients. A peace activist for the independence of Palestine, she earned her bachelors and masters degrees at AUB and a doctorate from the University of Virginia.
• Qatar News Agency of June 3 reported on the American University of Beirutâ??s announcement of the five recipients of its honorary doctoral degrees for 2008.
• Ar-Rai ( Kuwait) of June 4 reported that Shiite Religious Leader Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah was discharged from AUB after surgery.
• Dunya al-Watan (Palestine) and Adab wa Fann (Others) of June 4 reported on the launching of an exhibition for renowned Iraqi Architect Zaha Hadi in London. Papers included a brief biography of Zaha Hadid, saying that she was born in October 31, 1950 in Baghdad and that she graduated from AUB in 1971 with a BS in Mathematics.
• The Middle East Online of June 4 published an article by Rami G. Khouri, the Director of the Issam Fares Institute at the American University of Beirut, about Egypt extending its emergency law rule. He said, â??The most dangerous consequence of states and governments turning to security-based governance and control â?¦ is that this makes violence first routine, and then the norm.â?
• Al-Jazeera.com (Qatar) of June 7 published an article by Rami Khouri, director of the Issam Fares Institute of Public Policy at AUB, in which he criticized the modes adopted by the Arab governments in fighting violence in the region.
• Gulf Daily News of June 7 reported on the graduation of ceremony of the University College of Bahrain (UCB). Present at the ceremony were UCB president Dr. Shaikh Khalid bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, American University of Beirut business dean Dr. George Al Najjar, and a number of government officials.
• The Gulf Daily News (Bahrain) of  June 8 reported on the commencement ceremony held in Crown Plaza Hotel, graduating 150 students from Bahrain University. The paper said that the Dean of AUB's Olayan School of Business George Najjar was among the participants.
• Al-Qabas (Kuwait) of June 9 published an interview with Lebanese Former PM Salim Hoss. The paper included a brief biography of Dr. Hoss, saying that he was born in Beirut on 1929 and that he graduated from AUB with a BA in Business Administration. The interview was conducted by Hanan Obeid.
• The Middle East Online of June 9 published an article by Rami G. Khouri, the Director of the Issam Fares Institute at the American University of Beirut, highlighting the importance of the upcoming American presidential elections. He said that over the past two decades, the United States has become a key player in the Middle East, trying to shape it according to its values and interests, and therefore making the upcoming presidential election crucial in determining the fate of the region.
• AME info of June 10 reported on a campaign launched by the Lebanese Association for Nutrition and Food Sciences (LANFS) with the support of global nutritional reference Nestlé NIDO entitled, â??10 Signs of Good Nutrition.â? â??The campaign aims at raising awareness of tangible developmental results of maintaining balanced diets for children, especially during their crucial growing years,â? said Nahla Hwalla, LANFS president and Dean of Agricultural and Food Sciences Faculty at the American University of Beirut.
• Palestinian Media Center of June 10 presented the biography of Yusif Farsakh, a Palestinian who lived during the â??Nakbaâ? or the destruction of Palestinian society in 1948 and their expulsion from their homeland. Born in Birzeit in the Palestinian territories in 1926, Farsakhâ??s life changed during 1948 when the Israelis took over the bank he was working in. After earning his education in the United States, he taught mathematics at the American University of Beirut, the University of Connecticut and the American University in Washington, DC, he now lives with his family in Northern Virginia.
• AME Info of June 10 reported on Citibank N.A. of Lebanon renewing its support for the American University of Beirut through a $50,000 donation from Citi Foundation to the universityâ??s Suliman S. Olayan School of Business. Citi has been a long time supporter of the AUB's scholarship program, and this grant follows prior contributions totaling $250,000 extended since 2000.
• The Middle East Online of June 11 published an article by Rami G. Khouri, the Director of the Issam Fares Institute at the American University of Beirut, criticizing a speech by State Department former senior official Elizabeth Cheney to the leading pro-Israeli lobby group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). He criticized her for defending American foreign policies that, in her belief have benefited the Middle East, but the reality, he said proves otherwise. Khouri said, â??The United States has put its allies in more vulnerable situations, strengthened the forces of Islamist militancy, stoked the furnace of terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and even given democracy a bad name.â?
• Uruknet of June 14 held an interview with Karim Makdisi, a  professor in the Department of Political Studies and Public Administration at the American University of Beirut, commenting about the social, economic, and political situation in Lebanon after the Lebanese parties signed an agreement in Doha ending the countryâ??s year and a half long political crisis. He stressed the need to build â??a national civil society that is able to influence public policy, remain independent, and be critical towards the government.â?
• ArabianBusiness.com of June 14 reported that Melhim Bou Alwan, a fourth-year medical student at the American University of Beirut was selected to front the International Federation of Medical Students' Associations. He said, â??I will use every chance I have to shed light on public health matters that are of importance to the Lebanese population to push for more concrete and productive change.â?
• Mehrnews.com of June 15 reported on William Chittick, an American Islamologist who was being honored by the Iranian Society of Cultural Works and Luminaries in Iran on June 14. He said, â??Sufism has fascinated me the most â?¦ I began to study history at the American University of Beirut and I encountered the issue of Sufism.â? He later headed to Iran where he studied Persian literature and Sufist writers.
• Palestine Media Center of June 15 published a biography of Widad Kawar, the owner of the largest collection of Palestinian costumes, jewelry, and common household items. A graduate of the American University of Beirut, her interest in Palestinian costumes was sparked by attending various cultural events that developed her Palestinian identity while living in the West Bank in the 1940s.
• The Middle East Online of June 16 published an article by Rami G. Khouri, the Director of the Issam Fares Institute at the American University of Beirut, criticizing the United States for its failure to reach a proper policy against global terrorism seven years after the attacks of September 11, 2001. He said, â??One of the terrible ironies of the past seven years has been that governments purporting to fight terror actually may be promoting it. The American-led global war on terror, heavily pro-Israeli Middle Eastern policies, and invasion of Iraq â?¦ all play a role in the radicalization of a new cohort of terrorists.â?
• AME Info of June 16 reported that Mahmoud El-Ali has been appointed as 3Com's General Manager in the Middle East, based in Dubai, UAE. He will be responsible for managing 3Com teams and driving sales across the Middle East region. He said, â??We have a rich history of providing innovative solutions for organizations in the Middle East, including Aspire and the American University in Beirut, and we will continue to contribute to the success of local customers.â?
• The National Newspaper of June 19 reported on a study that found that youth unemployment in the Arab world is costing the region billions of dollars. The Middle East Youth Initiative (MEYI) found the region was losing more than US$25 billion a year on youth unemployment. Jad Chaaban, the author of the study and an assistant professor at the American University of Beirut, said, â??Countries in the Middle East face their largest youth cohort in modern history. These young men and women are encountering increased marginalization.â?
• The Jerusalem Post of June 19 reported on Lebanonâ??s cold reception of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmertâ??s call to Lebanon to hold talks with Israel. It said that many Lebanese are skeptical of Olmertâ??s intentions. â??In general, Olmert's call is not taken seriously because he has his hands full with other political and personal issues,â? said Timur Goksel, a former spokesman for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and current professor at the American University of Beirut.
• Gulf News of June 19 reported on Dina al-Ali, a Palestinian-Canadian expatriateâ??s experience with her family during the Lebanese civil war. Ali and her family lived a comfortable life before the war forced them to flee the country to the United Arab Emirates. After the war, Ali decided to return to Lebanon where she earned a degree in Public Administration at the American University of Beirut. After continuing her education in the United States, she settled in Abu Dhabi where she works at Abu Dhabi University.
• Arab News of June 22 reported on Jawhara al-Angari, a social researcher active in a number of charity organizations in Saudi Arabia, and a key founder of the Ikatifaa Society tackling poverty in the Kingdom. She started her career in social work after earning her degree in Anthropology from the American University of Beirut in 1977.
• AME info of June 23 reported on the renovation of the Hassan and Leila Idriss Pediatric Library at the American University of Beirut Medical Center. Dr. Mohammad Mikati, Chairperson of the Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine thanked the Idriss family for their â??very thoughtful and valuable donationâ? to renovate the library.
• The National Newspaper of June 25 reported that Lebanon still remains one of the leading Arab states in publishing. It said that Beirut hosts a number of bookstores dedicated to publishing local authors, such as Ras Beirut Bookstore facing the American University of Beirut.
• Al-Ahram weekly of June 26 reported on the eruption of battles in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli between opposition and government supporters. It noted that the tension persisted despite the Lebanese political parties signing an agreement in Doha in May to end the tension. Karim Makdisi, a political science professor at the American University of Beirut said, â??Doha was a temporary truce that averted war and everyone is grateful for that, but it doesn't change anything, it simply postpones the next battle, whether political or military.â?
• The Saudi Press Agency (KSA) of June 26 and Al-Qabas (Kuwait) of June 27 reported at length on the team of fourth-year engineering students who have successfully built the first solar-powered vehicle in the Arab World. Papers said that the team was lead by Mechanical Engineering Assistant Professor Daniel Asmar and included AUB students Elie Maalouf, Amin Kanafani, Ahmad Hamoud and Rawad el-Jurdi. The papers said that the car took almost nine months to be completed.
• Al-Watan (Qatar) of June 28 published an article by George Jeha, reviewing the new book of Rabih Jaber " Confessions". The book summarized the story of a family which suffered during the Lebanese war and which had a son in AUB.
• Gulf Daily News of June 28 published an interview with Lebanese photographer, Camille Zakharia. He said that his passion for photography first emerged while he was studying engineering at the American University of Beirut in 1980. He went on to study at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 1995 and settled in Bahrain with his family in 1999.
• AME Info of June 29 reported on the American University of Beirut Medical Centerâ??s Vice President for Medical Affairs and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center, Dr. Nadim Cortas, paying a visit to the Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Center in Dubai Healthcare City.
• Ar-Rai (Jordan) of June 29 reported on the distribution of The 2007 Abdulhameed Shouman Awards for Young Arab Researchers. The paper said that among the winners was Dr. Salim Shaheen from the Department of Economics in AUB.
• Ash-Sharq al-Awsat (KSA) and Dar al-Hayat (Britain) of June 30 reported on the AUB ceremony which award honorary doctorates to Palestinian peace activist Hanan Ashrawi, Lebanese-Palestinian artist Mona Hatoum, Bangladeshi human rights activist Irene Khan, Turkish writer and Nobel Prize laureate Orhan Pamuk, and Lebanese environmentalist and scientist Georges Tohme, along with a surprise doctorate to President John Waterbury.
  "Over these last six years the arrival in Lebanon and on AUB's campus of outstanding citizens of the world, like those we honor today, has kept hope alive and affirmed the faith so many hold in Lebanon's and this university's future," said Waterbury, in his welcome remarks.
  Palestinian peace activist Hanan Ashrawi, who was introduced by Waterbury as a "scholar, writer, teacher, activist, elected representative, spokesperson, peace-maker...all these things and more" urged people not to allow themselves to succumb to complacency and to challenge not only the confines of prison cells and checkpoints, but also the blockade of ignorance and abuse.
  Waterbury then introduced London-based Lebanese-Palestinian artist Mona Hatoum as a provocative artist that "shocks and disturbs."
  Hatoum thanked AUB and her family, while noting the irony of having been rejected by AUB when she applied for undergraduate studies.
  While introducing Irene Khan, who was born in East Pakistan [now Bangladesh], and was secretary-general of Amnesty International, Waterbury quoted a 2006 speech she made in the West Bank, on International Human Rights Day. "History shows that it is not through fear but through hope and optimism that progress is achieved."
  Khan thanked AUB saying that in a region torn by violence and injustice, AUB has persisted in its mission to spread liberal thought and learning.
  About Turkish Nobel-laureate Orhan Pamuk, Waterbury said he is "Istanbul's current interpreter and prose painter." He said "One could no more take Orhan Pamuk out of Istanbul than Woody Allen out of New York, Naguib Mahfouz out of Cairo, or Fairouz out of Beirut." Pamuk, delivered a brief thank-you speech, in which he explained his motivation for writing: to address problems of the heart and those of the home.
  Finally, Waterbury introduced Lebanese environmentalist and scientific researcher, Georges Tohme, who is the president of the Board of Directors of the Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research and is the former president of the Lebanese University. He called him
  " a towering figure among Lebanon's naturalists and in many ways its first environmentalist".
  Tohme thanked AUB and acknowledged the high standards of its professors.
  Dr. Thomas Morris, chairman of the AUB Board of Trustees, then went up to the podium, congratulated recipients and expressed the Board of Trustees appreciation for the President's hard work. He then awarded him an Honorary Doctorate too.
  President Waterbury responded: "There is no institution in the world from which I would like to receive an honorary degree, as I would from AUB.�
• Dar al-Hayat (Britain) of June 30 reported on the 2008 Commencement exercises at AUB which marked the end of President John Waterbury's 10-year term as president.
  In his keynote speech, Waterbury reminisced about his childhood and his 10 years as president of AUB, thanking all those who made them "wonderful." He also gave students the same advice his father had given him as a child: To try to leave a place better than you find it.
  Graduating business student Tarek Kawas gave the valedictorian speech, in which he urged his classmates to embrace their differences yet recognize what's common among them. The main commencement ceremony was held on the newly-renovated Green Field.
  Six students were awarded the Penrose Award of excellence, which recognizes, among students, a combination of scholarship, character, leadership and contribution to the University. The students were:
  Khairat Shafeek Habbal  (FAS)
  Melissa Maroun Moubarak (OSB)
  Claudia Georges Matta (FAFS)
  Hani Elias Joseph Tomeh (FEA)
  Farah Ali Atqi (FHS)
  Dina Mawaheb Mahmasani (SN)
  Melhem Hafez Bou Alwan (FM)
• Palestine Media Center of June 30 reported on Palestinian MP Hanan Ashrawiâ??s reception of an honorary degree from the American University of Beirut. In her speech, she called for an end for extremism, urging Palestinians to "mend the self-inflicted wounds of our internal strife."