WITH THIS ISSUE: Greek American Bringing the news Scientists to generations of A SPECIAL EDITION The National Herald Greek Americans A WEEKLY GREEK AMERICAN PUBLICATION c v www.thenationalherald.com VOL. 10, ISSUE 485 January 27, 2007 $1.00 GREECE: 1.75 EURO Life is Quite Fine for the 17N Trials Inventor of a Heart Pump Take Place Designed to Last 20 Years Quietly amid By Theodore Kalmoukos from now. Special to The National Herald At the entrance in his office build- Excitement ing Hatsopoulos has placed three BOSTON, Mass. – Dr. George Hat- flagpoles, with the American, Greek sopoulos, founder of the Thermo- and the Swiss flags. “We have com- Christodoulos Xiros Electron company and its sub- panies in Switzerland,” he said. sidiaries, is one of the nine promi- What started in the basement of Berates Judges during nent Greek Americans who were his home in Athens during the diffi- chosen by Carolos Papoulias, Presi- cult years of the Nazi occupation, Lively Appeals Hearing dent of the Hellenic Republic, to be when he was still in high school, honored with the prestigious Com- eventually developed into world’s By Yannis Sofianos mander of the Order of Honor leading innovator for converting Special to The National Herald award. heat directly to electricity without Dr. Hatsopoulos is already con- using any moving parts. ATHENS – Until recently, no one sidered a “contemporary Einstein” “During the occupation, the Ger- would have given the defunct radi- because his inventions have made mans had sealed off all radio waves cal leftwing organization 17 No- major impacts on the world. to tune into nothing but their own vember a second thought, much One of those inventions is his station. Breaking the seal was pun- less have paid attention to the fact company’s artificial heart-pump. It is ishable by death for the culprit’s en- that the appeal for the accused actually modeled after the cardiac tire family. Determined to start on members of the terrorist group is pump, which provides the function my way towards the creation of a still being heard by Greece’s five- of both heart and lungs while a pa- company like General Electric, and member appellate court. tient awaits a transplant. neglecting to tell my parents about But the recent terrorist incident The artificial heart is a prosthetic the first step I was about to take, I involving the rocket-propelled device which is implanted into the built a short wave radio capable of grenade fired at the U.S. Embassy body to replace the original biologi- picking up the BBC in London out of in Athens which, according to the cal heart. It is distinct from a cardiac components I found in a junk yard,” AP/THANASSIS STAVRAKIS Greek press reports, “was reminis- pump, which is an external device. he said. Enjoying the warm winter weather, or global warming at work? cent of the techniques of 17 No- The first artificial hearts could last A few months later, the then 15- vember,” together with the state- for up to two years, but the new year-old George Hatsopoulos built a A man reads a magazine on a beach in the southern Athens suburb of Paleo Faliro this past Monday, Janu- ment of the alleged point man of models, with Dr. Hatsopoulos’ heart second radio for one his neighbors. ary 22. Mid-winter temperatures in Greece have been at unseasonably high levels, reaching 20 degrees the notorious terrorist gang, pump, have a 20-year duration. “This radio-building endeavor Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit) in Athens for days. Elsewhere in Europe, hurricane-force winds from a Demetris Koufodinas during his de- Seated in his office in Waltham, a shaped the rest of my life. While ex- North Atlantic-spawned winter storm, “Orkan Kyrill,” killed 48 people in seven countries. fense arguments at the appellate relaxed, peaceful, friendly and perimenting with discarded vacuum court, put the 17 November trial down-to-earth Dr. Hatsopoulos took tubes, I noticed that some current back in the headlines – and the some time to explain his invention, between cathode and anode contin- minds of many. which has so dramatically changed ued to flow for a few seconds after “The revolutionary organization the fields of cardiology and cardio- the battery was disconnected. I con- 17 November no longer exists, but surgery. cluded that the phenomenon was U.S. Wants to Help Greece Meet VWP the struggle continues,” Koufodi- “If someone’s heart has become due to the kinetic energy of the elec- nas said. ill, instead of having a transplant, he trons emitted from the hot cathode. By Dimitri Soultogiannis ment. didacy,” he said. The accused top gun the dis- or she simply implants an artificial In effect, boiling off electrons gener- Special to The National Herald Mr. Hunt spoke specifically The 9/11 terrorist attacks mantled group was not alluding to heart. The first artificial heart pump ated electric power. Thus, for a few about Greece, the only country in played no small role in preventing the recent attack on the U.S. Em- we made was good for two years. Af- seconds, my vacuum tube was what WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a panel the Eurozone which is currently ex- Greece from entering the Program bassy in that statement, and he re- ter that, it had to be opened and re- eventually has come to be known as organized by the American Hel- cluded from the VWP, after he pre- sooner, he said. fused to comment on the incident, paired, but the one we’re testing now the Thermo-Ionic Energy Converter, lenic Educational Progressive Asso- sented the history of the Program, “In 1999, Greece did not meet explaining through his defense at- will be good for 20 years,” he said. and thus some 14 years later, the fi- ciation late last week, a Bush Ad- which was initiated in 1986 and the requirements for its inclusion to torney “that the action speaks for With visible the confidence and nal form of this invention became ministration official said the United has undergone many reforms since the Program. And September 11th, itself.” assurance in his face and voice the the basis upon which Thermo-Elec- States Government will help then. as you know, changed the way we With the appeal nearing its close 80-year-old Greek-American scien- tron was created,” he said. Greece meet U.S. Visa Waiver Pro- “Greece currently has a visa re- think in this country. It definitely on January 16, the press anxiously tist told the National Herald about While studding at the Polytechnic gram requirements. fusal rate of 3 percent, and has made us more hesitant about ex- awaited the defense arguments by his new company’s progress. University of Athens, he received a “We will be working closely with fought terrorism by arresting and panding the Program,” he said. Christodoulos Xiros, an alleged se- “We have made a lot of progress,” full scholarship to study at MIT in Greece so they can meet the re- bringing to justice members of the Since 2001, however, more nior member of the extremist he said. He has symbolically named 1948, where he pursued a wide spec- quirements,” said Baxter Hunt, terrorism organization, 17 Novem- countries have been added to the group, who was tried “in absentia” his company Pharos. It is still private, Deputy Director of Southern Euro- ber, developments that are definite- on January 12. In fact, a technician but it will go public almost one year Continued on page 4 pean Affairs at the State Depart- ly positive for Greece’s (VWP) can- Continued on page 3 had been called to the pressroom to repair some computers which were not working properly due to lack of use, with the once infamous trial receiving little or no coverage from the media in recent months. Al- British Auction Snowe Joins Republicans Critical of the War in Iraq though news coverage was expect- ed to increase, interest in the trial House Moves By Anne Flaherty was limited. Associated Press Xiros declined to appear at the proceedings. According to the Ahead With PORTLAND, Me. (AP) – Maine’s two bailiff who had summoned him to Republican senators have lined up court from his holding cell, the ac- against President Bush's plan for a Sale of King troop surge in Iraq. Continued on page 7 The tough stance taken by Sena- tors Olympia J. Snowe and Susan George Items Collins has helped set the stage for a major clash between the White LONDON (AP) – Hundreds of heir- House and Congress over the Presi- Persistent looms once owned by the former dent's Iraq strategy and an increas- Greek royal family sold for 7 mil- ingly unpopular war. lion pounds ($14 million) at an Senator Snowe, considered a Anarchists: auction here, this past Wednesday, moderate, has signed onto a U.S. January 24, despite appeals from Senate resolution opposing the Pres- the Greek Government in Athens to ident's troop buildup plan in Iraq. Mean Streets halt the sale. Snowe said she would support a The most expensive item on the non-binding resolution which would By John F.L. Ross first day of a two-day auction was a put the Senate on record as saying Associated Press pair of massive silver Victorian pil- the U.S. commitment in Iraq can be grim flasks, which sold for 579,200 sustained only with support from ATHENS – Greek law enforcement pounds ($1.1 million), the London- the American public and Congress. leaders, alarmed by renewed out- based auction house said in a state- Debate on the resolution started breaks of anarchist violence, met ment.