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Astronomical Society President Discusses Solar System Origins in Lawrence Science Hall Colloquium

Catherine Pilachowski, president of the American Astronomical Society (ASA), discusses the latest research on the origins of our solar system and the Milky Way in a Lawrence University Science Hall Colloquium.

Pilachowski, the Daniel Kirkwood Professor of Astronomy at Indiana University, presents “Giant Telescopes, Heavy Metal and Ancient Superstars” Thursday, May 13 at 8 p.m. in Youngchild Hall, Room 121. The event is free and open to the public.

With the aid of giant telescopes and high-resolution spectroscopy, Pilachowski studies changes in the chemical composition of stars and star clusters. Those changes provide scientists with a glimpse to the evolution of the first stars that formed from primordial hydrogen and helium at the birth of the universe some 10 billion years ago. Pilachowski will discuss the chemical elements present in the Milky Way galaxy today and the clues they provide on the origins of our own solar system, which was created from the debris of both ancient and modern supernovas.

A member of the scientific staff of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Tucson, Ariz., for more than 20 years, Pilachowski joined the faculty of Indiana University in 2001 as the first recipient of the Kirkwood chair in astronomy. A specialist in the chemical composition of stars, she also conducts research on light pollution, astronomical instrumentation and large telescope design. She earned her Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Hawaii.

Pilachowski’s appearance is supported by the ASA’s Harlow Shapley Visiting Lectureships in Astronomy, which provides scholars and professional astronomers to colleges and universities for public lectures and classroom instruction.

Lawrence University Political Scientist Awarded Fulbright Grant to Study Pension Reforms in China

Lawrence University political scientist Mark Frazier has been awarded a $59,500 grant by the Fulbright Scholar Program to conduct research on pension reform initiatives in China.

Beginning in October, Frazier will spend six months in China investigating different strategies that local government officials are implementing to deal with the financial and political obstacles created by recently enacted pension reforms.

First established in 1951 under Mao Tse-Tung and covering a mere 20,000 retirees who met all the necessary requirements at the time, China’s pension program underwent its first major overhaul in 40 years in the early 1990s. The long-standing practice of retired state workers receiving pensions from their place of employment was reformed into a program where the costs of retirement benefits was shifted from the government to individual employers and workers.

“Chinese officials are finding themselves caught between competing forces,” said Frazier, assistant professor of government and the Luce Assistant Professor of East Asian Political Economy at Lawrence. “They are attempting to establish the country’s first viable social safety net, while at the same time, they face pressure from international organizations like the World Bank to reduce the government’s provision of pension benefits by encouraging people to save for their own retirements.”

Local governments are now facing the financial realities of collecting less in payroll taxes than is necessary to cover the payments to current pension recipients, much less future retirees. In less than 15 years, the number of Chinese retirees eligible for pension benefits has quadrupled, growing from 10 million in 1990 to 40 million today. The problem is further compounded by the fact there are no pension laws in China, only a series of regulations which create considerable latitude among provincial and municipal authorities in how pensions are administered.

Working with the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, Frazier will focus his research on four provincial capitals, including Beijing. Through interviews with officials from the social insurance and pension departments of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, enterprise managers and individual pensioners, as well as published government documents, Frazier will study the different strategies administrators are using to manage pension regulations and whether pension recipients are in fact receiving their legally entitled benefits.

“When any government makes changes to what it once promised as benefits to retirees, it is a very risky political move. This is why social security reform here is considered the proverbial ‘third rail of American politics,'” said Frazier. “In China, it’s true that the leadership doesn’t have to worry about a voter backlash, but the stakes in pension reform are arguably higher. How the government handles the financial tasks of supporting a rapidly growing elderly population will heavily influence what the Chinese economy looks like in the future, and even what Chinese people demand of their government.

“This is an exceptional and exciting opportunity to conduct research at a crucial stage in China’s economic reforms,” Frazier added. “I owe a great deal of thanks to many colleagues at Lawrence who supported my grant application and who have made it possible for me carry out the research. I’m looking forward to sharing the results with my classes and encouraging students to pursue their own research abroad.”

Frazier, who speaks and reads Mandarin Chinese, joined the Lawrence government department in 2001 in a new faculty position created under a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. He is the author of the 2002 book, “The Making of the Chinese Industrial Workplace: State, Revolution and Labor Management,” which traces the origins of the “iron rice bowl” of comprehensive cradle-to-grave benefits and lifetime employment in Chinese factories.

A visitor to China a dozen times in the past 10 years, Frazier serves as a senior advisor for the Seattle-based National Bureau of Asian Research. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and his Ph.D. in political science from the University of California-Berkeley.

Lawrence University Dean Named Recipient of National Award

Martha Hemwall, dean of student academic services at Lawrence University, has been named the 2004 recipient of the Service to Commission Award presented by the Small Colleges and Universities Commission as part of the National Academic Advising Association’s (NACADA) National Awards Program.

Hemwall is a former chair of the Small Colleges and Universities Commission and more recently co-edited the NACADA monograph “Advising and Learning: Academic Advising from the Perspective of Small Colleges and Universities.” She will receive the award in October at the NACADA national conference in Cincinnati.

The Service to Commission Award recognizes individuals who have provided outstanding service, leadership and commitment to a particular commission within NACADA in support of its efforts to enhance the development of students. NACADA Commissions provide members an opportunity to join others with similar academic or specific student population interests in advising. Since 1983, NACADA has annually honored individuals and institutions for making significant contributions to the improvement of academic advising.

A 1974 graduate of Lawrence who earned a Ph.D. in anthropology at Brown University, Hemwall returned to Lawrence in 1985 as associate dean of students for academic advising. In 1995, she was promoted to dean of student academic services, overseeing all aspects of student support services. In addition, she is the past president of Wisconsin Women in Higher Education Leadership (WWHEL) and holds adjunct associate professor status in the Lawrence anthropology department, where she has taught since 1988.

Lawrence University Calls Attention to Hate Crimes with “Field of Flags” Display

In an effort to raise awareness to the ongoing discrimination and hatred directed toward specific individuals and social groups, the Lawrence University Office of Multicultural Affairs presents “Field of Flags: Stop the Hate” Tuesday, April 27.

From 8 a.m. – 8 p.m., nearly 2,000 miniature flags, symbolizing the 11 individuals who were killed in 2002 as a result of hate crimes and the more than 9,200 others in the United States that year who were victims of reported hate crimes, will be displayed on the campus green on the southeast corner of College and Lawe streets.

The “Field of Flag” project aims to focus attention on the five different populations which are subjected to hate crimes according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Based on the factors of race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation and disability, each of those populations will be represented by a specific colored flag in the display. Each flag will represent five victims of a hate crime committed against that particular group in the United States in 2002.

“The ‘Field of Flags: Stop the Hate’ project is a visual reminder of the hate and bias crimes that still exists in our country,” said Elizabeth Matelski, Lawrence Diversity Center programs coordinator. “According to federal statistics, every year more than half a million college students are targets of bias-driven slurs or physical assaults. By not speaking out against such hate crimes, we become part of the problem. The Office of Multicultural Affairs has designed this project to be part of the solution.”

Lawrence University’s Inaugural African Studies Series Opens with Film, Lecture

A screening of the award-winning African film “Pieces of Identity” Thursday April 29 at 4:30 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center auditorium opens the first Lawrence University African Studies Lecture Series.

Winner of the 1999 Étalon de Yennenga, the most prestigious award in African cinema, “Pieces of Identity” confronts issues of identity facing people of African descent in an ever-widening diaspora through the story of an old village king entering the Westernized world and his beautiful, but wayward, daughter.

Following the film, Professor Jude Akudinobi in the Department of Black Studies at the University of California-Santa Barbara, presents the address, “Identity, Cultural Production and African Cinema.” Both the film and the lecture are free and open to the public.

Akudinobi, who teaches cinema in the UC-Santa Barbara black studies department, will discuss the roles modernity and tradition play within the African social fabrics of music, art, religion, myth and ritual, among others, and how African film makers engage the issue of ‘identity’ in their craft.

Akudinobi, who earned a Ph.D. in cinema-television critical studies from the University of Southern California, is the founding film editor of the scholarly journal “African Identities.” In addition, he has written essays for “The Black Scholar,” “Social Identities” and “Nka: The Journal of Contemporary African Art,” among others, and co-wrote a screenplay adaptation of playwright/poet Aime Cesaire’s “The Black Tempest,” a radical adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.”

Lawrence’s African Studies Lecture Series is sponsored by the Susan and Richard Goldsmith African Studies Fund. Established in 2000 by Susan and Richard Goldsmith, who served as Peace Corps volunteers in Africa after graduating from Lawrence in 1965 and 1964, respectively, the fund promotes the study of issues of global significance with respect to the cultures and societies of Africa.

Lawrence University Earth Day Festival Features State Legislator, Literature Drop

Live music, information booths, a rock climbing wall, a literature drop and an address by State Representative Spencer Black (D-Madison) highlight Lawrence University’s sixth annual Earth Day Festival Saturday, May 1 on the Lawrence Main Hall Green. All Earth Day Festival activities are free and open to the public. In the event of inclement weather, the event will be moved inside the Lawrence Memorial Union.

Black, one of the state legislature’s strongest environmental advocates, presents “Protecting the Earth in a Time of Challenges” at 1 p.m. Black will review recent environmental accomplishments, examine some of the biggest challenges that remain and discuss ways individual citizens can affect decisions that are made regarding the environment.Black, one of the state legislature’s strongest environmental advocates, presents “Protecting the Earth in a Time of Challenges” at 1 p.m. Black will review recent environmental accomplishments, examine some of the biggest challenges that remain and discuss ways individual citizens can affect decisions that are made regarding the environment.

First elected to the state assembly in 1984, Black’s work on behalf of conservation and environmental issues has been recognized with the Clean Water Action Council Environmental Advocate of the Year Award, the Midwest Renewable Energy Association Environmental Excellence Award, the Audubon Society Environmentalist of the Year Award and The Nature Conservancy President’s Public Service Award, among others.

Lawrence’s Earth Day Festival activities begin at 9 a.m. with a trash pickup along the north banks of the Fox River adjacent to the Lawrence campus. All volunteers interested in participating can meet at the front of the Lawrence Memorial Union.

Between 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. on the Main Hall Green, the festival will feature information booths addressing various environmental issues, including environmentally friendly hybrid automobiles, energy efficiency, wildlife rehabilitation and rock identification conducted by members of the Lawrence geology department. Lawrence’s Lower Six Brass Band will provide musical entertainment from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

Beginning at 2 p.m., members of Greenfire, Lawrence’s student environmental awareness organization, and other area residents, will participate in a door-to-door “literature drop” to an estimated 2,700 households in the Fox Cities. Greenfire is part of a 57-member, state-wide coalition of organizations and businesses that is distributing information aimed at educating Wisconsin residents about recent attacks on environmental protections and urging them to contact their elected officials. In addition to Appleton, the literature drop is targeting Milwaukee, Madison, La Crosse and Green Bay with a goal of reaching 40,000 households across the state.

“Earth Day has always been a time when Americans come together to demonstrate their concern for the environment and acknowledge that we must care for our Earth if we are to care for ourselves,” said Steve Rogness, president of Greenfire. “This Earth Day, we hope to empower
Wisconsinites to participate in the political process by proclaiming their love for the outdoors and demanding better environmental protections from our state and federal government.”

Education Scholar Examines Impact of Desegregation in Schools on 50th Anniversary of Landmark Brown Decision

In May, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the doctrine of “separate but equal” unconstitutional, outlawing segregation in public schools with its ruling in the landmark case, Brown vs. Board of Education.

Fifty years to the month after that historic decision, author and education scholar Jack Dougherty discusses the impact of the Brown case in the Lawrence University address, “Looking beyond ‘Brown’: What we will — and won’t — hear on its 50th Anniversary.” The lecture, Thursday, May 13 at 4:30 p.m. in Science Hall, Room 202, is free and open to the public.

Dougherty, assistant professor and director of the educational studies program at Trinity College in Connecticut, will examine the commonly accepted historical understandings of the Brown case, offer a new interpretation of Brown that will challenge assumptions about school desegregation and provide insights for educational reform in the 21st century.

A specialist on the connections between educational history, policy and practice, Dougherty is the author of the 2004 book “More Than One Struggle: The Evolution of Black School Reform in Milwaukee.” In tracing the history of reform movements in Milwaukee from the 1930s to the 1990s, Dougherty challenges traditional views that suggest African Americans offered a unified voice concerning the Brown decision. He argues instead that black activists engaged in multiple, overlapping and often conflicting strategies to advance African Americans by gaining greater control over schools.

A former high school social studies teacher, Dougherty teaches courses on educational policy and education reform at Trinity. He earned his Ph.D. in educational policy studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dougherty’s appearance is co-sponsored by the Lawrence English and history departments.

Former EPA Official Discusses Post-9/11 Health Hazards in Lawrence University Earth Day Celebration Address

Former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency hazardous waste ombudsman Robert Martin will discuss the health disaster affecting New York City following the 9/11 attack and provide an insider account of federal environmental regulation “as it really works” in an address at Lawrence University as part of the college’s Earth Day celebration.

Martin presents “The Bush Administration and the Environment,” Wednesday, April 21 at 7:30 p.m. in Youngchild Hall, Room 121. The event is free and open to the public.

Martin will discuss the Bush administration’s handling of the situation in New York following the World Trade Center collapse which produced a toxic cloud that covered lower Manhattan for days after the tragedy and left substantial quantities of toxic materials in buildings.

In his role as ombudsman, Martin joined other government scientists in urging officials at the EPA and the Department of Justice to alert the public to the hazard and provide direction on ways to reduce health impacts.

That urging, along with investigations Martin was conducting into possible conflict of interest charges involving EPA chief Christine Whitman, brought him into direct conflict with the Bush administration and eventually led to the abolishment of the ombudsman’s office by Whitman.

He was later reassigned to the Inspector General’s Office to answer phones on the EPA hotline. Martin, who had spent more than nine years with the EPA, claimed the move to eliminate the ombudsman’s position was an attempt to squelch the ability to independently investigate wrongdoing at the agency. His subsequent resignation on Earth Day in
2002 made national headlines.

Martin’s visit, part of a state-wide speaking tour on the ongoing rollback of major environmental laws under the Bush administration, is sponsored by Greenfire, the student environmental organization, and the Co-op House.

U.S. Foreign Service Veteran Offers Insights on Middle East in Lawrence University International Studies Lecture Series

Jonathan Greenwald, a former Lawrence University Scarff Distinguished Visiting Professor of Diplomacy and Foreign Policy, discusses current U.S. strategies for peace in the Middle East and the challenges of building democracies in the region in the fourth and final installment of Lawrence’s Mojmir Povolny Lectureship in International Studies.

Greenwald presents “Prospects for Peace in the Middle East” Tuesday, April 20 at 7 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center auditorium on the Lawrence campus. The event is free and open to the public.

A veteran foreign service officer and former director of the U.S. Department of State office of counter-terrorism, Greenwald’s address will focus on current developments in Iraq, the Israel-Palestine problem and the potential danger posed by Iran, where he recently spent two weeks. He will discuss some of the latest headlines from those areas while analyzing the strategic concepts the Bush administration is employing to foster peace and democracy.

Greenwald is currently the vice president of research and publications at the headquarters of the International Crisis Group, a non-governmental, conflict prevention organization based in Brussels. As such, he oversees some 90-100 full length reports and briefing papers the ICG publishes on conflict situations around the globe, based on extensive on-the-ground research and analysis by ICG experts. The reports make policy recommendations directed to governments and international organizations.

During a 30-year career with the U.S. State Department that began in 1969, Greenwald held embassy and consular posts throughout Europe, including Budapest, Madrid and East Berlin, where he supervised the incarceration of Nazi leader Rudolf Hess in Spandau Prison. He served as the political counselor at the U.S. Embassy when the Berlin Wall fell, providing crisis analysis to Washington and later assisting with German Unification negotiations.

From 1991-93, Greenwald directed the state department’s office of counter-terrorism. He devised diplomatic strategies for dealing with Libya, negotiated U.N. sanctions against Mu’ammar Qadhafi for the Pam-Am 103 bombing and led a State Department/CIA/Special Forces response team on a classified counter-terrorism mission abroad during the Gulf War. He spent the 1998-99 academic year teaching courses on the origins of war and the Cold War at Lawrence under the auspices of the Scarff Professorship.

Greenwald is the author of the book, “Berlin Witness: An American Diplomat’s Chronicle of East Germany’s Revolution” and serves as a member of the United States Council on Foreign Relations.

He earned a bachelor of arts degree summa cum laude in history from Princeton University, spent a year as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow in Classics at Princeton and earned a degree in international law from Harvard University Law School in 1968.

Named in honor of Lawrence’s long time professor of government, the Mojmir Povolny Lectureship in International Studies promotes interest and discussion on issues of moral significance and ethical dimensions.

Biblical Archaeologist Discusses Existence of King Solomon in Lawrence University Address

William Dever, a noted expert in biblical archaeology, will challenge recent European revisionists’ claims that King Solomon was no more a historical figure than King Arthur in an Archaeological Institute of America illustrated lecture at Lawrence University.

Dever, professor of Near Eastern Studies at the University of Arizona, presents, “The ‘Age of Solomon,’ History or Myth? The Archaeological Picture” Monday, April 19 at 7:30 p.m. in Lawrence’s Wriston Art Center auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. An informal reception with the speaker follows the address.

The revisionists argue against the existence of a 10th-century B.C. “United Monarchy,” saying writers several hundred years later fabricated the stories as a “foundation myth” to help create an identity for the Jewish people.

Dever, the author of more than 25 books, will present archaeological evidence supporting the presence of a true “state” in 10th-century B.C. Israel, including monumental royal architecture and non-biblical texts that mention “kings of Israel” and a “dynasty of David.”

Dever, who has conducted extensive fieldwork throughout Israel, is a past director of the Nelson Glurck School of Biblical Archaeology in Jerusalem. He earned his Ph.D. at Harvard University.