EWCA Blog

Source: East-West Center News

EWC Senior Fellow Fereidun Fesharaki

On March 9, 2010, EWC Senior Fellow and prominent energy market analyst Fereidun Fesharaki has established a fund to help Iranian and other participants attend the East-West Center’s Asia Pacific Leadership Program.

Under an agreement recently signed with the Center, Dr. Fesharaki has pledged to donate his full monthly take home EWC salary, which will exceed the $25,000 necessary to establish a scholarship fund. The Fesharaki Scholarship Fund will be used to fund awards of at least $1,000 each year for one or more students, with a preference for (but not limited to) Iranian students from Iran or elsewhere outside the United States. Awards will be granted based on financial need, leadership experience, educational achievement, and funding availability.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to have been able to develop my professional career in part through my association with the East-West Center,” Fesharaki said. “I want to contribute back and set an example for others to do so.”

Continue Reading »

Photo: Maryland State Archives

On February 4, 2010, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake succeeded Sheila Dixon as mayor of Baltimore. It has been reported that Stephanie, at age 39, is the second youngest mayor in the city’s history; second only to Martin O’Malley, who was 36 at the time he entered office.

In November 2007, Stephanie participated in the East-West Center’s 17th New Generation Seminar, when she was Council President at the Baltimore City Council.

Continue Reading »

A message from Riana (Helen) Agnesia, current Board President of the East-West Center Participants Association (EWCPA):

Dear Alumni of EWC,

First of all I would like to thank you for your faithful support for EWC participants. They are all greatly appreciated, especially for us international students who are on our journey to encompass our future. Your efforts to give guidance through mentor-mentee program really make us feel more confident in anchoring our feet in a brighter future.

I am sending this message in regards to the upcoming EWCPA’s event “Jhankar” that will be held this coming Sunday, February 7th, 2010 at the UH Art Auditorium Building at 5:00-7:00 p.m.

As Huy, the EWCPA representative, might have mentioned that EWCPA is trying to publish a new International Cookbook. We are targeting to have this edition for East-West Center 50th anniversary. Right now we’re still in the process of collecting the recipes to add to the variety of the cuisines and countries represented in the cookbook. Therefore, it will be really great if we are privileged to have one or two recipes from the Alumni of EWC and put it in our International Cookbook.

In addition, in order to self-finance this project, we are going to present “Jhankar” a combined international cultural event between EWCPA, Milun and Lovers of South Asian Cultures of the University of Hawaii. Eighty percent (80%) of the income, both from tickets selling and donations, will be channeled to support the publication of our International cookbook.

We are hoping that the tickets will be sold-out so we can share the International treasures that are within EWCPA and get significant amount of fund to do our International Cookbook. Right now we are trying our best to sell the tickets for the event. Having that said, we are attaching the flyer to the “Jhankar” event for your information. We do hope to see you at the event sharing the afternoon, joy, fun and good will with all of you … oh mint tea too .

Regards,

Riana (Helen) Agnesia
EWCPA board 2009-2010

Here’s a flyer of the Jhankar event from the EWCPA:

Links:

• View the EWCPA Cookbook 2010 Blog
• Download a copy of the flyer for the Jhankar event
• Submit a recipe for the EWCPA Cookbook 2010 at ewcpacookbook@gmail.com
• Learn more about the East-West Center Participants Association

TVE Asia Pacific (TVEAP) announced the global release of its latest Asian regional television series, Saving the Planet, www.savingtheplanet.tv. The six-episode series features outstanding efforts in education for sustainable development (ESD) in South and Southeast Asia.

The stories -– drawn from Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal, the Philippines and Thailand — were all selected through competitive public nominations in 2007. Each 10 minute story is a self-contained documentary, filmed on location by a local film crew with the participation of local organizations whose work was being profiled.

Continue Reading »

EWCA Islamabad Chapter Leader, Dr. Arjumand Faisel with Chapter members Tayyeba Gul, Munawwar Sultana, Ashfa and Fateh

EWCA-Islamabad Chapter (EWCA-IC) members participated in “Connecting Classroom” activity sponsored by the British Council and organized at the Islamabad College for Girls (ICG) in Sector F-6/2, on 20 January 2010. Under this activity, students, both boys and girls, from 5 schools (4 public and 1 private) came together to sing, dance and present theatre, and learn collectively from each other through different activities and from invited speakers. The program was part of the 3 day inspirational fair, the main objective for which was to share various inspirational ideas and thoughts with a larger community of the students at the same time and space. The themes of the fair were TOLERANCE THROUGH EDUCATION, SELF RELIANCE, and UNDERSTANDING MINORITIES. For example,  another segment of the event was a talk by a Buddhist briefing about the philosophy and practices of the religion, followed by a presentation about Gandhara from the archeologist’s perspective.

Continue Reading »

This past semester Fall 2009, Hawaii Public Radio News Director Kayla Rosenfeld served as a mentor in the East-West Center’s alumni mentorship program. Recently, Ms. Rosenfeld accompanied her mentee, degree fellow in communications Ratirose Supaporn from Thailand, as she shared a weekly lunch with her Hale Manoa kitchen-mates. Visit the Hawaii Public Radio website to download or listen to this radio portrait of EWC student life, which aired on December 24, 2009.

Hawaii Public Radio News Director Kayla Rosenfeld (l) and her mentee, degree fellow in communications Ratirose Supaporn (r).

Links:

• Visit the EWCA Alumni Office website
• Learn more about the EWC alumni mentorship program
• Contact the EWC Alumni Office

You can download the Summer 2009 edition at the EWCA Publications website.

Two newsletters, The Observer and The EWC Associates Update will be mailed to EWC alumni and associates several times a year to keep them up to date with developments at the center and our large family of EWC alumni and associates around the world. The EWCA Associates Update newsletter is now published together with The East-West Center’s Observer Newsletter. The EWCA Updates Newsletter starts on page 9.

If you wish to receive publications and other information from the Center, please provide the Associates Office with your current mailing address by completing the Associates Update Form or by contacting the Associates Office.

Links:

• Contact the EWC Associates Office
• Visit the EWC Alumni section of the EWC website

This fall the EWCA Tokyo Chapter welcomed two distinguished leaders of other EWCA chapters, namely South Korea and Thailand.

On October 16th, Dr. Song Young-Sun, member of the National Assembly of Korea met with Mr. Mr. Takashi Tsuchiya, President of the EWCA Tokyo Chapter. Dr. Song Young-Sun is a former classmate of EWC President Dr. Charles Morrison.

Dr. Song Young-Sun (l) and Mr. Takashi Tsuchiya (r)

Continue Reading »

Congratulations to Carol Davis (ASDP 00, 08)!

Carol Davis (Photo Credit, Franklin & Marshall College)

In August 2009, Nicholas D. Kristof, a columnist for The Times since 2001 and two-time Pullitzer Prize winner, announced at his New York Times Blog “On The Ground” a contest for readers with an interest in global poverty. This contest was launched by Kristof on the same week that the The New York Times Magazine issued a special Sunday issue focused on women in the developing world, including an excerpt from “Half the Sky,” a book by Kristof and his wife, Sheryl WuDunn.

Continue Reading »