Panel to address future of Central America in the 21st century with Salvadorian Foreign Affairs Minister
A series of panel discussions at the forum entitled "Beyond War: Central America in the 21st Century," will address the future of Central America, global power, domestic politics, prosperity and democracy today.
The forum is free and open to the public. It will take place in the Butler Boardroom, on the sixth floor of the Butler Pavilion from 2 to 6 p.m.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs in El Salvador, Maria Eugenia Brizuela de Avila, will deliver the keynote address about Central America in a post-Cold War era.
Among the panel discussions, subjects include the impact of international forces on Central American politics over the past 25 years as well as politics and economics in those countries.
Panelists include Robert Pastor, AU vice president for International Affairs; Alejandro Mart¡nez-Cuenca, former governor of the Central Bank and minister of the Republic of Nicaragua; and Victor Valle, academic dean, University for Peace in Costa Rica and former Frente Sandinista de Liberaci¢n Nacional -FDR representative in Washington.
The School of International Service and the Inter-American Bank's State, Governance and Civil Society Division will sponsor the event.
- STOKELY BAKSH
Ladner, Eldridge to speak about Holocaust remembrance
AU President Benjamin Ladner and University Chaplain Joe Eldridge will be speaking at tonight's Memorial and Name Reading Ceremony in front of the Kay Spiritual Life Center from 7 to 10 p.m., as part of Holocaust Remembrance Week that runs from Monday to Thursday.
"It's so difficult to comprehend that 12 million people died, so by reading out names, it becomes more personable and easier to grasp," student coordinator Jason Benkendorf said.
The event will include student leaders, faculty and alumni who will be reading out more than 2,000 names of Holocaust victims, he said.
According to Benkendorf, since yesterday was Holocaust Remembrance Day, the week's events will give students the opportunity to reflect on the tragedy.
The events are sponsored by AU Hillel and the Student Confederation as well as an encouragement grant from the Student Initiatives Committee of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.
Some events are co-sponsored by other groups that include Queers & Allies and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transexual and Ally Resources Center. In the GLBTA event, a presentation by Dr. Ted Phillips of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum will discuss sexual identity in Nazi Germany.
Other events include a local survivor who will speak about his experience during the Holocaust and in the years after, a conversation with Rabbi Andrew Baker of the American Jewish Committee and the film screening of "Life is Beautiful."
"Universal lessons can be taken when we look at the Holocaust as an example of what can come if we let bigotry and prejudice to go unchallenged," Benkendorf said.
- S.B.
