The East-West Center Association Blog

A battle is being waged in wheat fields across the world to stave off an impending calamity that can ravage global food security

By Sarosh Bana, Executive Editor of Business India magazine and EWCA Mumbai Chapter President

(Note: This article originally appeared in Business India magazine on April 1, 2013.)

South Asian countries, where wheat is a staple cereal for many, is vulnerably poised in the path of an exceptionally virulent fungus that can wipe out entire farmlands.

Farmers and agriculturist scientists in the region are hunkering down to fortify themselves against this peril that can undermine the food security of millions.

Wheat stem rust fungus.

More than 20 wheat scientists from five South Asian countries – India, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bhutan – participated last fortnight in a comprehensive training programme in Kathmandu on wheat rust monitoring and disease management.

Designed to raise a new generation of agro-scientists equipped to identify the more virulent stem, leaf and yellow rusts that can devastate entire farmlands and to create wheat strains that can withstand this scourge, the 2013 SAARC Wheat Rust Surveillance Workshop and Training Programme was the fourth such annual event to be held in South Asia. It was organised by the Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat (DRRW) Project, managed by the US’s Cornell University. Continue Reading »

Thank you for taking the time to participate in the EWC Alumni questionnaire. We received an overwhelmingly positive response from over 460 alumni within the two weeks allotted for feedback. We truly value your responses and comments and will incorporate them appropriately as we move forward with the Center’s strategic planning process.

To view the summary of questionnaire responses, click here.

Recently in Singapore, the East-West Center realized a four-year goal to gather ASEAN-wide young environmental leaders to create collaborative project proposals in what was deemed ““an incredible, innovative, and enriching workshop” by Eric Watnik, the Public Affairs Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Singapore.

Fifty-seven alumni from the Study of the US Institutes (SUSI) at East-West Center and University of Montana Mansfield Center (UMT) spent three intensive days crafting proposals for the chance to win $25,000 from the U.S. State Department’s Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund.

East-West Center SUSI alumni from the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Burma, and Singapore came together with UMT’s alumni from Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos in the first such collaboration by two SUSI grantee institutions.  The event aimed to foster collaboration among ASEAN youth who will be the first generation to lead in the AEC region.

At the final workshop event, hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce, presentations of the top three top projects, as voted on by participants, were given to a panel of judges from the U.S. Embassy, Nature Society Singapore and Republic Polytechnic.  Projects included mangrove restoration in Cambodia, a pan-ASEAN eco-debate tournament, and Indonesian “ecopreneurship” camps for youth.  Click here to view the project proposals.

“It’s gratifying to see that our project-based teaching methods are reaping benefits,” said Lance C. Boyd, SUSI curriculum designer for the East-West Center. “The participants have the ideas and drive to create change in their communities, and when we’re able to provide the platform and tools, we get exceptional results, as we saw in Singapore.”

As important as the project development and enhanced understanding of regional environmental issues was the participants’ exposure to other ASEAN youth.  As one participant said, “I now understand more about people from different ASEAN countries. We learned and shared with each other, and the network we have built is really beneficial for the entire region as well as for the USA.”

CHAPTER DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

QUARTERLY REPORTS, EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING ON APRIL 18, 2013

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED BY:  Estrella Besinga Sybinsky

ALOHA TO ALL OF OUR US AND INTERNATIONAL CHAPTERS!

For all of the chapters that responded, we extend our deep appreciation for your chapter responses.  We continue to have faith that other chapters will soon follow with their reports for the next Quarterly Executive Board Meeting.

The following chapters and chapter leaders responded:  1)  ASDP Chapter (Jessica  Sheetz-Nguyen)  2)  Bali Chapter (Anak Agung Gde Muninjaya)  3)  Brisbane & Virtual Australia (Iraphne Childs, Leader & Karen Reid Nunan, Secretary))  4)  Hanoi Chapter (Hoang Hoe)  5)  Hawaii Chapter (Carl Hefner)  6) Lahore Chapter (Arfa Zehra) 7)  Laos Chapter (Chantavong Saignasith)  8)  Mumbai Chapter (Sarosh Bana)  9) Nepal (Nirendra Maske)  10)  Okinawa Chapter (Keiko Yamazato) 11) Philippines Chapter (Ramon Clarete and Pauline Bautista) 12)  Singapore Chapter (Seng Seok Hoon)  13)  Southern CA Chapter (Claire Langham Richmond)  14) Tokyo Chapter (Yasukata Yano (current) & Shigeo Tonoike (past))  15) Washington D.C. Chapter (Jacob Dowd). Continue Reading »

As an East-West Center alumna/alumnus you are among over 60,000 people who have shared an experience as a student or professional conference/exchange participant engaging with your counterparts from the Asia-Pacific region, the United States and beyond.

As the East-West Center looks toward the future, we would like to capture the impact your East-West Center experience has had on your professional and personal life.

Could you please take a few minutes and respond to a short questionnaire? The link to the questionnaire is https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/EWC_Alumni_Feedback. Please submit your responses by May 3, 2013. We plan to use the combined answers to help us with our strategic planning and also to share with members of the US Congress and others who support our programs.

Thank you in advance for your time.

Dr. Verner Bickley, first Director of the Culture Learning Institute (1972-1981) remains a loyal supporter of the work of the East-West Center. In his new book, Steps To Paradise and Beyond (11 April 2013), he gives a history of the Culture-Learning Institute and the East-West Center from the time of its beginnings up to date. The book is graced by a Preface by Dr. Charles E. Morrison, President, East-West Center, who writes: “Dr. Bickley’s book should remind us that the present emerges out of the past, and that much of what we today take for granted about our world derives from the ingenuity, labor and persistence of those who came before.  Dr. Bickley describes many of the projects of his era at the East-West Center and includes a list of the publications he was associated with. These and the students he and others mentored are among the proudest products of his generation at the East-West Center, and remain a vital part of the region’s intellectual heritage and its internationalized human resource base of today.”

Steps to Paradise is available for early and ongoing orders from Amazon.com and from the website, proversepublishing.com.

CHAPTER DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

QUARTERLY REPORTS, EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING (1/17/13)

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED BY Estrella Besinga Sybinsky

HAPPY 2013!  Despite the hectic holiday schedule worldwide, seventeen chapters managed to respond to the call for chapter reports.  We continue to thank you for your response, though your respective chapter may not have much activity to report.

The following chapters responded: 1) Bali Chapter (Agung Muninjaya) 2) Brisbane Chapter (Iraphne Childs) 3) Chandigarh (India) Chapter (Rajesh Kumar Aggarwal) 4) Chennai Chapter (P. Subramaniyam) 5) Hawaii Chapter (Carl Hefner) 6) Kansai Chapter (Seiko Furuhashi) 7) Korea Chapter (Jeong Taik Lee)  8) Kuala Lumpur Chapter (Gan Siowck Lee) 9) Laos Chapter (Chanthavong) 10) Mumbai Chapter (Sarosh Bana) 11) Nepal Chapter (Nirendra Maske) 12) N.Y., CT, N.J. Chapter (Bill Armbruster) 13) Papua New Guinea Chapter (Solomon Kantha) 14) Singapore Chapter (Alice Seng Seok Hoon) 15) S. California Chapter (Claire Langham 16) Sri Lanka Chapter (GBA Fernando) and 17) Taiwan Chapter (Nora Chiang).
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Senator Daniel K. Inouye

United States Senator Daniel K. Inouye, World War II veteran, Medal of Honor recipient and Hawaii’s senior Senator, passed away from respiratory complications on December 17th at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He passed away peacefully with his wife and son beside him.
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By APLP Fellows Loan T. Le from Vietnam and Amir Ramin from Afghanistan

(EWC Alumna Tin Myaing Thein, Executive Director of the Pacific Gateway Center, speaks about the problem of human trafficking. Immigration attorney Grace Michiko Nowicki (R) addressed the related legal issues.)

HONOLULU – On November 14, six fellows from the East-West Center’s Asia-Pacific Leadership Program (APLP), collaborated with the Pacific and Asian Affairs Council (PAAC) and the Pacific Gateway Center (PGC) in hosting the event, “Human Trafficking in Asia and the Pacific: Current Challenges and Future Prospects.” It was held at the Pacific Gateway Center’s headquarters in the Lemongrass Café in downtown Honolulu.
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EWC international fellows take home lessons from the storm

Christina Monroe, EWC Education Project Specialist & Asia Pacific Leadership Program alumna

(APLP fellows in NYC during Hurricane Sandy witness resilience of the American people.)

It seemed the worst place to be on Oct 29^th, but for fellows trying to understand America, New York City was the perfect spot.
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