Spring 2012 Vol. X, No. 3 X, No. Spring 2012 Vol.

what wants MainGateAmerican University of Quarterly Magazine

Departments: Letters 2 President’s view Taking AUB’s message on a global tour Inside the Gate Views from Campus Clown doctors bring more than laughs to CCCL’s young patients; air pollution study: “we need at least 160 two- 8 year-old trees to offset the carbon footprint of one passenger car” in Beirut; international design star Reza Abedini takes a local approach to teaching graphic design; two centers open at AUBMC: the Special Kids Clinic and the Mamdouha El Sayed Bobst Breast Unit; the students behind the “Lebanon would be better if…” project Reviews American Sheikhs: Two Families, Four Generations, and the Story of America’s Influence in the Middle East by Brian VanDeMark; In the Shadow of : The Centrality of Language to Arabic Culture, edited by Bilal Orfali; Public Health in the Arab World, coedited by Samer Jabbour, Rita Giacaman, Marwan Khawaja, and Iman Nuwayhid Beyond Bliss Street Legends and Legacies AUB Calling Harvey Porter (1844-1923) 49 Alumni Profile Fragments of Life Helga Seeden (BA ’63, MA ’67). A dreamy interest in past civilizations and 50 an intense desire to wash potsherds brought Professor of Archaeology Helga Seeden (BA ’63, MA ’67) to Lebanon in 1960. She went on to codirect the post-war excavation of downtown Beirut, become editor of Archaeological Studies, and discover the true meaning of millions of potsherds. Reflections Culture Club English Professor Mary Clark Hallab savors the AUB experience of the 1960s and 1970s 52 Alumni Happenings WAAAUB Third Annual Convention; events in Baltimore, Montreal, Paris, Mount Lebanon, Jordan, and beyond 55 Class Notes Hala Labaki (BA ’97), Carole Makhoul Hani (BS ’96), and Daniel Neuwirth (BA ’97) create a foodie 58 revolution on shahiya.com; a missed date led to lifetime love for Alaa Halawi (BS ’02) and Farah Nowaihed Sanjad (BS ’04); Gabriel Rebeiz (BEN ’82) appointed to the Wireless Communications Industry Endowed Chair at the University of California San Diego’s Jacobs School of Engineering In Memoriam 66

MainGate is published quarterly in Production American University of Beirut Cover Beirut by the American University Office of Communications Artwork by the Office of of Beirut for distribution to alumni, Office of Communications Communications former faculty, friends, and Randa Zaiter PO Box 11–0236 supporters worldwide. Riad El Solh 1107 2020 Photography Beirut, Lebanon AUB Jafet Library Archives Tel: 961-1-353228 Editor Fax: 961-1-363234 Ada H. Porter Ahmad El Itani Hasan Nisr Director of Communications New York Office Nishan Simonian 3 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza 8th Floor Responsible Director New York, NY 10017–2303 Nabil Dajani Contributing Writers Maureen Ali Tel: 212-583-7600 Andrew Bossone Fax: 212-583-7651 Art Direction and Design Jean-Marie Cook Office of Communications Susanne Lane Najib Attieh Sierra Millman Zeina Tawil Barbara Rosica [email protected] Printing Tomoko Furukawa Safa Jafari Safa www.aub.edu.lb Lane Press What LebanonWants

HEALTH CARE OPTIONS ENVIRONMENTAL R E S RR EE P to live. ahealthier,country happier, saferplace view ofhow isworkingtomaketheAUB Lebanon asks, answers.AUB broad A very What LebanonWants 26 TT O TT N EE S BB I B I L I T Y D environments onchildrenin Tripoli. impact ofpotentiallydangerousworking Dean ImanNuwayhidexaminesthe if theworkerisjusttenyearsold?FHS health riskintheworkplace. Butwhat We knowthattoxicchemicalsposea Early Warning Signals 46 O O F I M SS P UU R O I O T V I E RR D TT U Q NN U , A EE L FF I T AA Y S

MainGate Spring2012 O

F

E E F F I I L L H H T T U U O Y R R U U O O R R O F E R U T U F R R E E T H H G G I I R R B B A A President's view

President Dorman: On the Road to AUB's Future

University presidents no longer have the luxury of working within campus walls. They are now called on to be visionaries who carry their message to the outside world. San Francisco, Washington, DC, Costa Rica, and Paris were just a few of President Dorman’s road stops in March. We asked him about some of the “takeaways” from these visits.

Why do you make an annual trip to Washington, DC? I go every year around March, which is a good time for us to go and “wave the flag” because this is when House com- mittees work on the federal budget. Bill Hoffman, our Washington representa- month as part of a delegation with are essential to the fostering of open tive, lines up visits with congressmen the presidents of AUC and LAU, was and transparent societies. on both sides of the aisle. I focus on educating people about the existence those who have jurisdiction over areas of American institutions overseas and In San Francisco you met with such as appropriations and foreign rela- particularly in the Arab world. Many a group of alumni and friends tions. I also meet with representatives congressmen, especially those recently from the Silicon Valley area. As of USAID and the State Department, elected, have no idea about us. Lebanon’s largest private employer, among others, to reiterate our support does AUB have a particular for programs that provide essential fund- What message did you bring to responsibility to introduce new or ing for scholarships and other projects. those in the US capital? innovative technologies? These visits also afford an The message is that we can be a source The idea was to have an informal opportunity to connect with the many of information for policymakers, adding roundtable with these people to brain- friends of AUB in Washington. This another perspective to their thinking storm about what AUB might do in the year [Lebanon’s ambassador to the about how the US government could areas of technology and innovation. United States] Ambassador Antoine and should react to what is going on Leading the lively discussion was our Chedid gave a dinner in my honor at his here. We’re not outside observers by own VP for Information Technology residence that was absolutely delightful. any means and we have a long history Rita Khayat-Toubia, who came to AUB in this region. Now we’re standing up from the southern Bay area. Is the Arab Spring changing how in front of them saying, “We’re here, It is true that we are Lebanon’s Washington perceives AUB’s role we have been here for a long time, and largest private employer, and I do in the Middle East? we are indelibly part of the local scene.” believe that we have a responsibility Perceptions are definitely changing; the I would like Washington legislators to pursue innovative technologies. In Arab world remains a hot-button issue to better understand how American many ways, AUB is looked at as a in Washington. One of the goals, initially educational institutions abroad project, beacon of “fill in the blank”: technology, on my visit alone and then later in the both explicitly and implicitly, values that education, medicine. . .you name it. So,

2 MainGate Spring 2012 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate President's view

we not only have a responsibility, but learned a great deal about how plants paintings coming out of this region we actually have a built-in tendency to survive, grow, and recycle as well as during the late 19th and early 20th pursue these things and we are looking how fragile the rain forest is. We also centuries were actually based, both in into multiple possibilities. encountered some remarkable wildlife, theme and in content, on Orientalist including howler monkeys and coatis. perceptions of the Middle East, such Where could we have the greatest as renderings of odalisques and harem impact? Could AUB be the future Are there any lessons AUB can women. But Saleeby’s take is com- site of a technology park for learn from EARTH? Did you pletely different: it’s impressionistic and Lebanon and the region? discuss future partnerships? very much in the mold of western The idea of a technology park did EARTH is very much devoted to eco- traditions. He experimented with major come up during the roundtable. There friendly agriculture, reusable materials, trends in western art and brought that was definitely interest there and also in recycling, making a minimal impact perspective back to Lebanon. This is Lebanon, among a number of business on the environment, and having a why Saleeby’s work and that of his leaders, to have AUB take the lead zero-carbon footprint; but more than students are so important in terms of in that regard. This idea is not new that, inculcating essential values of contributing to the development of the and it is promising, but it’s a complex cooperation and respect among their art scene we presently see happening undertaking: it needs major funding, students. They also have a working around us. it needs space—likely off-campus—in banana plantation at the university, and which people could get together and those values are broadcast to all of the AUB has plans to create an art generate collaborative projects, and employees at EARTH. So, it is very museum to house his art and that it requires willing donors to put up much an engaged community; they are of other great artists. Do you see money for interesting ideas. But there all committed to the same outcomes this as an important development is no doubt that Lebanon would be and the same fundamental values. The for recognition of AUB as a center a prime venue, and that is something nice thing is that José himself has said for fine arts? that would benefit AUB and the country. that a lot of the values he projects at One of the reasons Dr. Samir Saleeby EARTH University he picked up at AUB gave us these paintings is that You recently traveled to Costa when he was an agriculture student. Lebanon actually lacks a national gal- Rica to meet with alumnus We certainly discussed possible lery, especially for art from the mod- and trustee José Zaglul who is collaborations and increasing the part- ern era. Dr. Saleeby was really quite president of EARTH University. nerships and exchanges already ongo- forward-thinking in terms of trying to What was it like? ing between EARTH and our Faculty of find an institution that would make the It was my first time in Costa Rica Agricultural and Food Sciences. commitment to preserve and maintain and we had a terrific visit to EARTH the collection and at the same time be University, which is in the middle of a At the Institut du Monde Arabe able to use it as the basis for research very lush area not far from the Atlantic in Paris you participated in a and academic study. The fact that he Ocean. Besides a full agenda of meet- “first”­—the introduction of Khalil chose AUB is a reflection of our stature ings, we had the chance to tour their Saleeby’s art to the , as a durable institution in Lebanon amazing campus, which has its own with the showing of four paintings and a place that can act as a respon- rain forest and a major archaeological from the collection recently sible custodian for Lebanon’s artistic site. Our tour included a fascinating donated to AUB by Dr. Samir heritage. In terms of our academic early morning walk, when the rain Saleeby. What impressions did mission, this is very much in line with forest is at its liveliest. We were told not you take from the showing? our aspirations and, in particular, our to touch flowers because sometimes Khalil Saleeby is one of the progenitors immediate priorities for reestablishing snakes jump out of them (!), so we of modern Lebanese art. The curators AUB as a center for the arts and stuck carefully to the path. But we of the exhibit noted that many of the humanities.

www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Spring 2012 3 from/to the editor

In Brian VanDeMark’s new book, American Skeikhs (see review on page 20), he quotes an observer as saying that the founding families—the Blisses and the Dodges—were “Peace Corps types before the Peace Corps.” Why? Because they decided that their focus would be on “enlightening” rather than “proselytizing.” Mulling over this decision to “enlighten,” I returned to AUB’s mission statement, the first line where we state our intent to “provide excellence in education, to participate in the advancement of knowledge through research, and to serve the peoples of the Middle East and beyond.” To enlighten and to serve. As we compiled the stories for this “What Lebanon Wants” issue, I was repeatedly struck by the myriad subject areas our faculty members are examining—in health, the environment, education, nutrition, just to start—to advance knowledge and to improve lives. Again, to enlighten and to serve. We hope you enjoy the wealth of topics in this issue. Perhaps you will also tell us: how has an AUB education enabled you to improve the lives of others? Return Address

American University of Beirut 3 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza 8th Floor Ada H. Porter New York, NY 10017-2303 Editor, MainGate [email protected] write us [email protected] write us [email protected] Receiving multiple copies of MainGate? Save paper and let us know—we’ll send one copy to your home or business. Contact the editor: [email protected]

AUB athletics program, 1962. D you see yourself in this 50th reunion class? Email maingate(at)aub.edu.lb.

Last Glance mother, Muazzez MainGate Winter 2012, Rawda. It is Vol. X, No. 2 called “Cadmus” These past years MainGate has after the son of given me a much treasured and the king of Tyre, continued connection to AUB and who in mythol- Beirut. Thank you for a splendid pub- ogy was sent to

This lovely sculpture attributed to the Lebanese artist Mouazzez Rawda (1906-86), a painter and sculptor, is nestled in the Nicely Garden. lication! I must admit though that Do you remember the installation? Email maingate(at)aub.edu.lb. seek his sister lately I have started reading MainGate is the archer on the right. Next to me Europa, abducted by Zeus, in the by first reviewing the back pages, in and not completely in view is Mouna shape of a bull. Cadmus introduced particular “In Memoriam,” to look for Nammour, who later married Marwan writing to Greece (i.e., the Phoenician, reports of friends and colleagues who Iskandar. The woman in the background or North Semitic alphabet). Muazzez may have passed on. But I am always might be Maysoun Akrawi. Nadim Homsi Rawda studied art at the Académie happy to find a photo of a friend very is the main archer to the left. I married Libanaise des Beaux-Arts in the fifties, much alive, like Adel Afifi and Abdul David Noursi (MA ’60) in the summer of and later in the sixties she studied Hamid Hallab in the current issue. 1962. We both continued our studies sculpture at the AUB Art Department I was a member of the AUB at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. I with Professor Arthur Frick. administration from early 1971 to mid graduated with a bachelor's degree in Shermine Rawda Bulos (BA ’48) 1976 and prior to that connected to philosophy in 1963. My husband David Beirut, Lebanon AUB through my association with the got his doctorate from the Department Near East College Association in New of Economics in 1964. I later received a York. Despite some difficult times dur- master's in fine art from The American Hidden treasures ing the civil war in 1975-76, my family University in Washington, DC. We reside AUB’s Jafet Archives is and I thoroughly enjoyed our years in the San Francisco Bay area now and collecting items related to in Lebanon. I look forward to receiv- are always happy to receive AUB news. AUB history. Do you have anything in ing many more issues of MainGate. Thanks for your good work! your closet or in a box in the garage Herbert K. Ruetzel Suha Noursi that you would be willing to donate—old Las Cruces, New Mexico. Hillsborough, CA photographs, commemorative plates, personal diaries, etc.? If so, please email us at [email protected]. We'd love to Concerning the names of the archers on Last Glance, Winter 2012 hear from you. the back cover: Suha Katibah (1959-62) This photo is of a sculpture by my

4 MainGate Spring 2012 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate At AUB, 2,910 students [email protected] received financial aid in 2010–11. Can you help one more?

I live with my family in the Ain El Helweh Palestinian refugee camp. My teachers and my older brother encouraged me to apply to AUB because I got the top grade in my school. A few days before the beginning of my first semester Supporting when I still did not know if I would be able to attend, my brother and I met with Mr. Aboughazale, who told me that he would pay for me to earn a BS in biology—and Students even to enroll in medical school if I was accepted. I am now a of Today and Tomorrow first-year medical student. The Oussama Aboughazale Scholarship gave me a chance to reach my dream: to help my family and my society. Someday, I too will Can you help support establish a scholarship fund to help other capable students to reach an AUB student? their dreams of attending AUB. -—Ghina Alaaeddine See what’s possible! Hear more: www.aub.edu/development/ scholarship_initiative

To speak to someone about supporting financial aid, contact us at giving(at)aub.edu.lb. Viewfinder Window of Hope In 2009, AUB alumni Ali and Roula Mouhanna (both BEN ’83) founded and privately funded a unique initiative in the Middle East to cater to hospitalized children’s psychological needs: Ibtissama. First launched at the Children’s Cancer Center of Lebanon, St. Jude, and the Rafiq Hariri Hospital, the program trains "clown doctors," who are instructed in the words of head trainer Roderigo Morgetti, to “get inside a child’s [hospital] room and open a window”… a window of hope. The clowns sit with the child and improvise depending on the state, mood, and medical case of the patient. Some young ones just want to listen to soothing music that comes from a little box they hold, some are curious about the gadgets they have in their pockets; they might not all want to laugh but, fortunately, they all wait eagerly from one week to the next to see their peculiar friends. (Cont. on page 9)

6 MainGate Spring 2012 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Spring 2012 7 Seen and Heard

What do students most enjoy about springtime on campus?

1. Dances, skits, plays, acrobatics, and bands at AUB Outdoors

2. Getting soaked playing soap football on the Green Field

3. Taking walks just to enjoy the campus–in winter I only walk on campus to go to class

4. Events outside West Hall

5. The Rally Paper–quizzes, challenges, games, treasure hunts, and performances

6. Escaping indoor lounges and finding my favorite AUB bench

7. Running on the track

8. Hanging my laundry outside in the sun (ah, dorm life!)

9. Lying on the grass on the Green Oval, listening to music, reading books

10. Evening gatherings on the Hostler rooftop terrace

University News

A Learning Opportunity Ali Ghandour, has been appointed come to grips with social media. So Buoyed by a generous $25,000 and has held initial meetings to con- watch out Facebook generation, the grant from the Chicago-based Dr. sider future plans and fundraising. golden oldies are about to invade your Scholl Foundation, the University for The semester offered another tempt- cyber space and Tweet you back. Seniors (UfS) is moving from strength ing selection including study groups Learn more about current course to strength. A full-time program coor- on writing, philosophy of religions, offerings and get ready for the next dinator, Maya Abi Chahine, joined computers, photography, music, and University for Seniors session by click- AUB on April 16. A prestigious board politics. A new course developed by ing on “Outreach” at www.aub.edu.lb. of advisers, chaired by leading busi- the On-Line Collaborative, an AUB —M.A. ness personality and Trustee Emeritus student club, will help UfS members

8 MainGate Spring 2012 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate Lebanon Would Be Better Continued from page 6 if I… AUB’s HSON provided the team with rigorous “You see things; and you say, 'Why?' training in strict hygiene and health precautions But I dream things that never were; and protocols, all necessary given the weak and I say, 'Why not?'” -George Bernard immune systems of many of the patients. Due to the strain of the job, all clown doctors have Shaw, playwright. a monthly meeting with AUBMC psychiatrist Dr. Artist Candy Chan started with a Marwan Gharzeddine. simple idea: spray paint the words "Before I die I want to______" several times on a wall and leave a box of chalk next to it. The wall has become “The feedback is emotionally a powerful place in the city of New overwhelming. Clown doctors Orleans, still devastated from the have helped during their visits effects of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. to convince children to take Residents and visitors have written medicine they were refusing to statements such as “tell my mother take. Some shy children walk out I love her, be completely myself, and of their rooms for the first time help numerous children” and ordi- with the clown doctor. Parents nary dreams such as “see the leaves change many times, cook a soufflé, speak about hearing their children and see what I’m like as an old man.” laugh for the first time in weeks. Karim Badra, (BA '13), saw this Hospital staff and nurses describe wall last year as the Egyptian revolu- the time of the clown doctors’ tion was unfolding. visits as the calmest and quietest "There was this Google doc going period of the week. The floor around Egypt to make a better, new environment changes magically.” Egypt," he says. "I was already a fan —Roula and Ali Mouhanna of crowd sourcing and street art, so I thought why not put the two together and do something in Lebanon?" “It’s amazing what bubbles can do to a Badra called his friend Sherif child—the look of a soothed child, that is our Maktabi (AUB former student) and on biggest reward,” said program officer Sara a Sunday morning in March 2011 they Kabbani (BA ’08). took stencils and spray paint to a wall Ibtissama plans to offer its services around the corner from AUB’s Main to other AUBMC and also to non-AUBMC Gate. They wrote, "Lebanon would be communities. To sustain itself and expand, it better if I…" and left a container filled relies on private and institutional donations, with colored chalk. charity funds and events, and its Red Nose "We're very alienated in this city and Day held at various children’s schools. we pass by all these things that are www.ibtissama.org not our own," Badra says. "Many of us www.facebook.com/IbtissamaLebanon lack a sense of personal responsibility —S.J.S. and there’s a feeling that the problem is outside ourselves. So, we do nothing.” The two agreed that they wanted

www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Spring 2012 9 to include the “I” at the end of the com has a toolkit with step-by-step Al-Tayeb in downtown Beirut. Ziad Abi sentence on the wall to emphasize instructions on how to make a similar Chaker's Cedar Environment com- personal responsibility. Nonetheless, wall but, unlike the “Before I Die pany donated eight sheets of “Eco many people fill in the blank ignoring Toolkit” that costs $85, the “Lebanon board,” a lightweight, strong material the “I” with statements like “Lebanon Better” toolkit is free, except for the made of used plastic trash bags. The would be better if the government can- printing materials. wooden frames that hold the boards cels sectarianism” or “Lebanon would “The ideas are published on the were hand made by Lebanese car- be better if gossip was abolished.” website so that everyone can have penters in Khandak Al-Ghamik, a part Badra and Maktabi don’t mind that access to them, for free,” Maktabi of downtown Beirut undeveloped by people write whatever they want. In says. “And I'm hoping that some Solidere, where carpenters still work their minds it’s a community-driven ideas will spark an entrepreneur or a from the same shops as they did project that has a life of its own. government official or somebody to before the civil war. It’s also a community-driven project take action.” “Even the paint was locally pro- that has moved on-line and to another Maktabi set up a similar project on duced,” Maktabi says. “It's from a country. The website lebanonbetter. moveable boards for farmers in Souk small company in Dekwene. It was

10 MainGate Spring 2012 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate great to meet the entrepreneur who “The solution for this country is runs the business.” not to ‘shake the carpet’ as we say Although Maktabi has left AUB in Arabic,” Badra says. "The only tan- and Lebanon and is now studying gible thing I can rely on is myself trying product design at University of the my best to be a good citizen, doing Arts , he has taken the ideas my best to make these incremental with him. He made another wall in changes, and hope other people will the neighborhood of Barking and see that and try to do the same.” “The use of natural with support from local —A.B. businesses at the Barking Market. gas may be the He has also started projectbetter. 4D Dance cornerstone for our com to empower people on-line. He A 2011-12 Mellon Foundation award energy strategy for used a mobile application for a design was granted to FAFS full-time lecturer the country. AUB research project called “Better Brick and landscape architect Julie Weltzien, Lane” that allows people to upload who shared the award with dancer and would be the best ideas and pictures to an on-line map. independent researcher Anne Gough, place to promote “The goal was to come up with as and established the 4D Dance Design_ and fight for the new many ideas as possible to make Brick Design Dance project. In an intriguing Lebanon.” Lane better,” Maktabi says. “A designer concoction of movement and space, � used the map, zoomed into Brick Lane, the project encourages a sensorial Lebanon's Minister of Energy saw some photos, and came up with a approach toward design allowing stu- and Water Gebran Bassil, way to solve one of the problems. For dents and volunteers to develop, cho- speaking at workshop on me, that is just amazing.” reograph, perform in, and interact with “The Role of Natural Gas in Back in Beirut, Badra is impressed a chosen space. Highlighting aban- Lebanon’s Future Energy the wall is now the focus of a com- doned rural and urban locations, the Mix”, organized by the Munib and Angela Masri Institute of munity of people. The shopkeeper processes participants undergo, and Energy and Natural Resources. next door, Alex, cleans the wall. The the physical multi-sensory perception chewing gum seller, Georgette, is paid of surroundings, 4D brings together More On-line 5,000 lira a week by Badra to be the people from different backgrounds “protector of the wall." Georgette also who use their bodies as a primary got a new chair from Maktabi, but she means of communication, either alone took it home. or interacting with others. The project, Although Badra and Maktabi have which offers weekly sessions at the parted ways in the Lebanon Better Charles W. Hostler Student Center and project, they agree that Lebanon West Hall, holds public performances would be better if every person took in abandoned and transitional urban part in improving the country. sites in the Hamra/Sanayah area in

Common Abbreviations found in CCECS: Center for Civic Engagement and Community IFI: Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and MainGate (MG): Service International Affairs FAFS: Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences KSA: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ACS: American Community School FAS: Faculty of Arts and Sciences LDEM: Landscape Design and Ecosystem AUB: American University of Beirut FEA: Faculty of Engineering and Architecture Management AUBMC: American University of Beirut Medical Center FHS: Faculty of Health Sciences OSB: Suliman S. Olayan School of Business CAMES: Center for Arab and Middle Eastern Studies FM: Faculty of Medicine PSPA: Department of Political Studies and Public CAMS: Center for Advanced Mathematical Sciences HSON: School of Nursing Administration CASAR: Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Ibsar: Nature Conservation Center for Sustainable REP: Regional External Programs Alsaud Center for American Studies and Futures SPC: Syrian Protestant College Research IC: International College WAAAUB: Worldwide Alumni Association of AUB

www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Spring 2012 11 4D Dance Design_Design Dance project

Beirut. The first of three workshops scene in Lebanon: “Abandoned Alive” in a film that will be projected during in the rural Qanat Bakish region was displayed improvisations and live musi- the group’s final performance in sum- completed in February. cal performances along with spontane- mer 2012. First-year landscape and “We believe that the current dichot- ous and meditative dance motions. design student Nadi Nassar described omy of body and mind is also repeated Twenty-five participants spent an the experience as eye-opening. “I had in the dichotomy of the city and the intensive day becoming aware of their never danced before and here I devel- rural," say Julie Weltzien, landscape personal interactions with their sur- oped this very interesting experience architect and dancer from FAFS, and roundings and experimenting with self, that merges landscape and design as Anne Gough, a dancer and researcher public spheres, and the other. A film- movement. We don’t know what our based in Beirut. The 4D team inte- making crew (director Wafa'a Celine bodies are capable of doing until we grates the marginal open spaces of Halawi and cinematographer Nabil [move] them [with] such open creativity.” Hamra into the active cityscape in Assaf) volunteered to shoot the differ- —S.J.S. collaboration with the emerging dance ent performances and combine them

12 MainGate Spring 2012 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate heavy duty vehicles using a California under way with the Ministry of the From the Faculties highway tunnel. Unfortunately Environment and the mayor of Beirut Lebanon’s roads and streets have to explore what steps can be taken FAS taken on the character of tunnels to deal with the noxious fog all Beirut with their tall buildings trapping the residents can see coating the city. Killer Cars emissions and leaving no means of The only good news in this alarming If you are a morning jogger in Beirut, dispersal. story is that on the AUB campus itself, switch to the evening. If you travel There is no overstating the serious- emission levels remain relatively low. Lebanon’s highways on a regular ness of this study that employed —M.A. basis, make sure you avoid rush hour. a Nissan van equipped with pollu- If you live anywhere near a highway, tion measuring equipment to ply the FEA start looking for a change of location, Jounieh-Beirut Highway five days a week over a 12-month period. “We because it is now official: Beirut’s The Art in Writing car emissions are among the most measured real time variations at three Reza Abedini’s first introduction to dangerous in the world. different sites: on the road, by the AUB was in 2004 during a chance Analysis from a recent AUB air pollu- side of the road, and at AUB,” says encounter with Associate Professor of tion study carried out in partnership with chemistry professor Najat Saliba. Architecture and Design Zeina Maasri. Nissan motors, Rymco car dealers, and “The particles disperse faster at They met at a conference in Qatar and Bank Audi reveals that at certain times speed so in traffic at zero speed you talked at length about shared ideas of the day along the Beirut-Jounieh are exposed to the maximum number on design and the teaching of design. Highway—especially early morning of particles from your own engine “I had heard a lot about AUB from when cold air traps the pollution at and those of others. When the par- many Iranian alumni in Tehran and I ground level—the levels of dangerous ticles are dispersed it may be good PM2.5 (particulate matter) are more news for drivers but it is bad news for than 200 percent higher than recom- those living alongside busy roads and mended World Health Organization streets where the dispersed particles guidelines. A model study known as the settle, giving rise to even higher levels Harvard Six Cities Study (1993/2006) than in the cars.” has already proved that increases in With over 1.6 million vehicles on PM2.5 are directly associated with the road, 76.5 percent of them over increases in death. According to the 10 years old and pumping out high Nissan study data, nanoparticle levels emissions, Lebanon’s drivers are in Beirut outstrip New York five-fold putting their own and others’ health and are almost double those of , at serious risk. “We have to get which is known to be one of the most people out of the cars,” says Saliba. polluted cities in the world. “It works out at one car for every The major cause of PM2.5 in Beirut three people and it is unsustainable. is car emission. For drivers trapped Experts estimate we need at least in traffic jams along the particularly 160 two-year-old trees to offset the notorious stretch of road from Charles carbon footprint of one passenger was intrigued to know more about it,” Helou to Jal ed Dib, the study found car. In Lebanon that means over 200 Abedini says. The meeting triggered that emission levels that could pen- million trees. Where do we find the a professional relationship that would etrate their cars are 10 times higher space for all these trees?” eventually result in his appointment than those measured on the California The Nissan study requires fur- as an AUB visiting professor teaching I-10 highway and higher than those of ther analysis and already talks are graphic design.

www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Spring 2012 13 international competitions until one day he had an epiphany. “In the middle of this process I said to myself, okay, fine, you can do it, but what’s the point of being one more western designer? Then by chance I went to Isfahan and ended up staying there for 18 months. I became absorbed by Iranian culture and I fell in love with it. I began to incorporate its values and beauty into my work: the patterns, the calligraphy, and later the architecture and decorative designs.” The transformation still won him accolades, but despite his success he felt uneasy about how his work was judged in the west. “I remember giving a lecture at a conference and people would not believe that I lived in Iran. I found it very disturbing that Abedini designs for the Beiteddine Art Festival, 2011 they could think we were not capable of producing such work,” he says. Abedini’s first encounter with four, so now he is a veteran with two “Later I became friends with some Beirut was love at first sight. “I had left AUB years under his belt. of the top designers, but I told them, Tehran for the Netherlands and when “I love Beirut and I love the AUB please do not judge our work because I came to visit here, the impact of campus; it is one of the most beautiful you do not understand anything about Beirut was very strong. I am trying to in the Middle East. I really like the it. Gradually the western design scene analyze why but I think because I was potential of the department. Because has become more familiar with Arabic not living in Tehran anymore, this city I sense many similarities with the typography which is really good. Now became all the more important to me. culture and the writing system, I feel they appreciate me and others like Many things about it reminded me of there are lots of ways in which I Tarek Atrissi (BA ’00) (see MainGate my childhood: the bilingual signage can help the students. My colleagues fall 2010) and Huda Abi Fares and in the streets, a woman completely and I have talked about finding more some Iranian designers who are work- veiled walking with others who are appropriate ways to teach by trying ing in the Netherlands. not; part of the city being completely to localize the program somehow “Most of my colleagues at AUB religious and the other part not, so it to make it more in keeping with the have confronted these same issues, really reminded me of Tehran 30-35 situation in Lebanon and the Arabic which is one of the reasons I was years ago.” writing system. This is really important keen to come to AUB. I used to teach The attraction of an offer to teach a for all of us in graphic design.” at the Royal Academy at the Hague, semester at AUB was tempered only Abedini came to Beirut with a tow- and it was all perfect, but then I found by the fact that Abedini had never ering reputation as a graphic designer. myself thinking, someone else can do been away from his young family Top of his field internationally, he had this; they don’t need me here, while in for any length of time. But, with his worked hard at taking the best from Lebanon I really think I can help the stu- family’s blessing, he accepted the the west and training himself to excel. dents because of our common culture. semester, which became two, then He succeeded, mopping up prizes in “I believe that AUB should help to

14 MainGate Spring 2012 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate Student work from the third-year publication course given by Reza Abedini, Zeina Maasri, and Omar Elmisma, Department of Architecture and Design improve the level of Arabic typogra- my job—we explore fonts and how “And once you agree on something phy, locally and traditionally. I don’t to use them and how to get the you are free just to get on with it; understand rules and regulations for most potential out of them. It is a you do not have to worry about all teaching students in the same way as new concept for them to be doing these meetings and schedules that in the United States. We are from a their work in Arabic, but I think the rule your life in Europe.” Abedini’s different culture and background, so students are ready to absorb these designs have already made their mark I think it is good to add local knowl- ideas. Those who are truly interested in Lebanon with cultural organizations edge to the program. Now we include are really enthusiastic. Last semester, like the Beiteddine Festival and the Middle Eastern graphic design and for example, I had one student who Beirut Dance Company. history, which is important. We have did his final project on the civil war. He Given how much he feels at home an elective in Arabic typography and in did really good research and created a at AUB and in the city, should the the main studios we are concentrating series of 10 small books in Arabic and opportunity arise, could this design more on working either bilingually or the result was very good.” superstar be persuaded to stay? He one time in Arabic and another time On the professional level outside beams at the thought of it; his warm in . of teaching Abedini finds Beirut’s cul- smile says it all. “Some students are more open tural and creative atmosphere very —M.A. to Arabic typography than others,” conducive to his work, while the pace Abedini continues. “Some of them of life is better synchronized to his have never learned to read or write personality than that of Europe. “It is Arabic, but we try to help them—that’s easy to get things done here,” he says.

www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Spring 2012 15 I’ll leave the flyer Trash Talk on the ground for You see this note—you others to read the think, it’s a LL10,000 message. note and naturally, This was a great wake-up I’ll just place this you pick it up. The call. Littering is a crime LL10,000 note quickly although the Lebanese question is, would in my pocket—before law is not yet imposing you be as eager to someone sees me! pick it up if it were fines for it. trash? Mohammad Olaymi, On Facebook I voice Nadine Razzouk, and Lama my frustration. Shehadeh are three AUB I’ve been waiting graphic design students who for someone to do decided to use their Design Why should something about At last! Someone in the Community course I pick up this. to raise awareness about someone else’s taking the initiative littering. trash? to clean up. People welcomed the idea. They love their home- land and were excited that the three designers and later they themselves were taking the initia- put the note quickly in their pockets “You COULD pick tive to clean up Lebanon in some without reading what was written on trash up” means way. Reactions were positive 100 the back. you can do it both physically and percent of the time although some “It’s amazing how people are theoretically by spreading awareness questioned why they should pick up interacting with the campaign,” said of the ongoing littering—[through our other people’s trash. Some people Shehadeh. “We’ve been contacted campaign]. People learned that money placed the notes back on the ground by people from Syria, Tunisia, Jordan, does not belong on the street… nei- for others to see the message on and Palestine wishing to replicate the ther does trash!” the back, and—admittedly—a few initiative.” —S.J.S.

You pick up what looks like LL10,000, only to read on the back, “Just as you picked this up, you could pick up trash from the street.” • 1,000 fliers were distributed in the Hamra area the first day. • 1,000 “likes” were recorded within 24 hours of the creation of a Facebook page. • Within the first two weeks, more than 4,000 people liked the page and more than 2,500 were interacting with it on Facebook.

16 MainGate Spring 2012 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate OSB measure the relative efficiency of and his colleagues first talked about nurses at a Lebanese university hos- collaborating on an edited volume Beyond Cost/Benefit pital. As the authors noted, “the nurse on public health in the Arab world. Analysis director affirmed that the new model The goal was to harness some of the would have a significant impact on vast experience and expertise of FHS performance” and “plans to apply the faculty members and their colleagues What can COBRA do? DEA models to improve the current at AUB and in the region to produce a performance evaluation process.” In volume for researchers, practitioners, • use citizen opinion to identify best- practice e-government services another paper, Osman analyzed the and students that was useful, engag- • utilize employee feedback to performance of Lebanese banks over ing, and provocative. By 2012, they increase satisfaction, motivation, an eight-year period and proposed had succeeded. and production that the COBRA model performance Published this year by Cambridge • set up an early warning system to index be used as a warning tool to University Press, Public Health in the help central banks anticipate the predict performance and failure in the Arab World offers a multidisciplinary impact of mergers, and identify banking system. perspective on a range of issues misconduct before it happens COBRA’s evaluation process from gender disparities in health to • help end users make strategic shows great promise as a tool to public health in war and conflict. decisions on initiative prioritization improve e-government performance. Coedited by Jabbour with Professor and resource allocation Osman has received around $1.5 Rita Giacaman, research and program million in funding from the Qatar coordinator at Birzeit University’s Foundation and the European Union Institute of Community and Public COBRA—a Cost, Opportunity, Benefit, to study e-government transformation Health; Marwan Khawaja, PhD, chief and Risk Analysis model developed and measure user satisfaction with of the United Nations Economic by OSB Professor Ibrahim Osman and e-government services. Now in prog- and Social Commission for Western his colleagues—works in complicated ress: a book on strategic management Asia’s Social Statistics Section; and public and private contexts where and measurement using DEA, to be FHS Dean Iman Nuwayhid, the book several comparative decision-making published in 2012. includes contributions from academ- units (DMUs) such as people, servic- —S.J.S. ics, public health practitioners, and es, systems, organizations, scenarios, medical doctors. While most of the and projects can transform multiple FHS book’s 80 contributors have spent resources (inputs) into multiple val- their careers in public health, in keep- ues (outputs). What determines how Public Health in the Arab ing with the book’s multi-disciplinary efficiently inputs are transformed World perspective, there are also chapters into effective outputs? The COBRA “The public health perspective is more by social scientists, psychologists, model, with its imbedded optimization than ever needed in the world today researchers working in development engine, “Data Envelopment Analysis in order to provide a holistic view of studies, and demographers. (DEA),” does and it generates a score health as the quality of life is influenced Despite the fact that the Arab world that ranks each DMU. not only by disease and death but also faces many of the same public health How does it work? by the environmental, social, political, challenges that exist elsewhere such The COBRA model identifies effi- and global context surrounding us.” as malnutrition and communicable cient DMUs to establish an internal Those words were spoken by then diseases, there are differences. “If this benchmark that can be used for mon- FHS Dean Huda Zurayk during the book were focused on Sub-Saharan itoring and setting targets to improve faculty’s 50th anniversary celebrations Africa, there would no doubt be an strategies. In one research paper, on December 9, 2004. Dr. Samer entire section devoted to AIDS,” says Osman used the COBRA model to Jabbour says that it was then that he Jabbour. Sadly, but not surprisingly,

www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Spring 2012 17 with how we live. To be suc- neurologists, nurses, and physical, cessful, you must also address occupational speech, and psycho- issues related to food supply motor and feeding specialists work and marketing, public spaces together in the same clinic; parents and incentives for more physi- no longer have to travel from office cal activity within the realm to office, or specialist to specialist, of urban planning, community and the kids get to enjoy a beautiful mobilization for self-care, and playground in the clinic’s courtyard. re-orienting health services The clinic is now working on starting towards prevention. virtual disease/discipline-based pro- Given FHS’s deep roots in grams with child psychiatrists, ENT, the region and its position in and plastic surgery (such as cleft-lip/ the vanguard of regional pub- palate). ASKC Director Rose-Mary lic health efforts, it’s not sur- Boustany stated that the clinic’s goal prising to find so many FHS “is to allow a larger number of spe- faculty members among the cial kids to attain their full potential contributors to this important by providing them with access to volume. For more than 55 outstanding multidisciplinary interven- this volume years, FHS has forged part- tions during a crucial time window on the Arab world includes a section nerships with others in the region that of ages six months to four years… on war and violent conflict. Jabbour share its commitment to improving our long-term goal is to spawn new points out that the number of deaths public health in Lebanon and the Arab research on causes and treatments and casualties and the magnitude of world. of disabilities and complement ongo- human suffering in places such as ing basic research projects involving Iraq, Libya, Palestine, and Somalia FM/AUBMC autism and neurogenetic disorders.” due to the ongoing conflicts in those The Mamdouha El Sayed Bobst areas far outweigh the improvements Comprehensive Care Breast Unit also provides multidisci- in some health and wealth indicators. Multidisciplinary, multi-professional, plinary care according to international “Conflict remains a key determinant and comprehensive are all key words clinical guidelines and protocols. It of health in the entire region,” says that describe two new centers at is the first breast unit in the Middle Jabbour. AUBMC: the Special Kids Clinic and East dedicated to the comprehen- Another public health issue that the Mamdouha El Sayed Bobst Breast sive assessment of breast complaints is particularly relevant in the Arab Unit. and offers triple assessment: clinical world today is diabetes and associ- Finally, all aspects of a child’s neu- examination, imaging, and diagnostic ated chronic diseases. According to rological health can be assessed and procedures. Women walking up to the International Diabetes Federation, diagnosed using the latest holistic the reception desk at the unit for a Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, methods in a single location. The regular check-up benefit from a team Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab AUBMC Special Kids Clinic (ASKC), of experts that is handling their tests Emirates are among the top 10 coun- which encompasses the Pediatric and results behind the scenes: breast tries in the world in prevalence of dia- Neurology Clinic, works with pediatri- radiologists, breast surgeons, breast betes. The evidence is so overwhelm- cians, health professionals, and the medical oncologists, breast radiation ing that technical solutions alone public to find the best way to treat therapists, breast diagnostic radiog- cannot solve public health problems the physical, emotional, and educa- raphers, nurses, and a data manager. such as the dramatic increase in tional needs of children in Lebanon They are now able to enjoy a pro- diabetes that is so strongly associated and the region. A team of pediatric fessional and private setting where

18 MainGate Spring 2012 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate health challenges. The threat of new Today, a third, system-based reform infections and environmental and aims at improving the performance behavioral risks to health security is of health systems by adapting core exacerbated by rapid demographic professional competencies to spe- and epidemiological transitions. cific contexts, while drawing on global Professional health education has not knowledge. kept pace with the growing challeng- HSON is a leading advocate of es. Curricula are outdated; profes- this shift in approach and cohosted sionals are not sufficiently trained to a workshop, Interprofessional meet the needs of local populations; Education (IPE), on March 12-15 with men and women graduate with a the Faculty of Health Sciences and the technical focus but are missing valu- Faculty of Medicine. Faculty members able broader contextual understand- gathered to evaluate the goals of IPE ing; and mediocre leadership skills for AUB, develop a collaborative mis- cripple efforts to sion, and discuss improve health-sys- how FM, FHS, tem performance. and HSON can More On-line The time has come share responsibil- for the different Read “Health ity for delivering professions to act professionals for innovative health in collaboration, care education clinical assessment, mammography, a new century: not in isolation, that responds to breast ultrasound, and interventional transforming and certainly not today’s needs. procedures such as biopsies and wire education to in competition with The workshop (a procedure used to mark abnormal each other. strengthen health was facilitated by tissue before surgery) can take place. These are among systems in an Elizabeth Tanner, The unit emphasizes that it provides the conclusions of interdependent an IPE expert results within 24 hours and is dedi- the Lancet global world” in The from the School of cated to patient follow-up, whether commission, con- Lancet. AUB Nursing at Johns through referrals for hospital treatment sisting of 20 profes- Hopkins University. (including surgery, adjuvant therapy, FHS Professor sional and academic What will come and additional cancer treatment given Huda Zurayk is leaders from various of it? New courses after the primary treatment) or post- a contributing countries including and modules for treatment follow-up and continuing author. FHS Professor Huda FM, FHS, and care. The breast unit also works on Zurayk. Commission HSON are already health promotion and breast care members share under discussion, awareness through promoting educa- a global outlook, a multiprofessional particularly in the areas of health care tion, research, and clinical protocols. perspective, and a systems approach ethics, leadership and team work, —S.J.S. to developing a common strat- elder care, health promotion, and egy for postsecondary education in effective communication. HSON medicine, nursing, and public health. —S.J.S. Educational reform in the past has Bridging the Education Gap focused on teaching science-based In today’s world, our health systems curricula and then introducing prob- are struggling to keep up with global lem-based instructional innovations.

www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Spring 2012 19 FAFS 14 Food Based Dietary Guidelines: Waistline Guidelines • Enjoy and maintain a healthy body weight. Whether you are a pregnant woman, • Be physically active every day. have high cholesterol, or simply enjoy • Eat a variety of nutritious foods every day for a balanced diet. Lebanese meals daily and appreci- • Eat cereals, especially whole grains, as the basis of daily meals. ate a healthy lifestyle, you are sure • Enjoy more fruits and vegetables daily. to find something relevant in a new • Consume legume-based dishes regularly and enjoy some unsalted nuts and seeds. FAFS manual, Food-Based Dietary • Consume low-fat milk and dairy products every day. Guidelines (FBDG) that has been pro- • Consume at least two servings of fish, including fatty fish, every week. duced to promote a national nutrition • Consume lean red meat and poultry. strategy to improve adult health in • Limit intake of sugar, especially added sugar from sweetened foods and beverages. Lebanon. The FBDG was one of the • Limit intake of solid fats and replace with vegetable oils. deliverables of the Associate Research • Limit intake of table salt and high-salt foods. Unit (ARU) at AUB, which was directed • Drink plenty of safe water every day. by FAFS Dean Nahla Hwalla. • Eat safe food. The ARU on under-nutrition and obesity was supported by the Lebanese National Council for Scientific on the World Health Organization 2009 risk of obesity and noncommuni- Research (CNRS) and was carried out guide for developing FBDGs. cable diseases. This information will in collaboration with FAFS and FHS at Fourteen FBDGs were devel- also be utilized to develop cultur- AUB, the Nutrition and Food Sciences oped and presented to encourage ally adaptable educational materi- Departments at St. Joseph University, improved dietary practices among als and inform the development of and the University of the Holy Spirit in the adult population, to prevent messages targeting the Lebanese Kaslik. The manual’s guidelines are sup- under-nutrition and micronutrient adult population. Although the FBDG ported by scientific evidence and based deficiencies, as well as reduce the manual is intended for adoption by

Reviews

American Sheikhs: Two Families, Four Generations, and the Story of America’s Influence in the Middle East (Prometheus Books, 2012) by Brian VanDeMark Brian VanDeMark begins the story of the Bliss and Dodge families that “created AUB in Lebanon" in December 1855. Daniel and Abby Bliss are on a coach traveling through the snowy streets of Boston on their way to catch a small boat to Smyrna that will carry not just them but also a cargo of rum destined for British troops fighting in the Crimea. In this recently published volume, VanDeMark, who teaches history at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, traces the history of AUB from its earliest days to the present “to open up new perspectives on the history of American involvement in the Middle East and draw lessons that point the way to improving relations between Americans and the Muslim world.” Available through the publisher, Prometheus Books, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com.

20 MainGate Spring 2012 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate Solid fats, oils, sugar, and salt (limit consumption)

Low-fat milk and dairy (3 servings/day)

Lean meats, eggs, legumes, Fruits (2 servings/ and unsalted nuts and day) and vegetables seeds (5-6.5 servings/day) (2-3 servings/day)

Cereals (at least 6 servings/day with at least 1/2 being whole grain)

Safe water (8-12 cups/day)

Physical Activity (at least 30 minutes 5 days a week)

the Lebanese government, it will also meets both the west and east. It all took Borders–America and the Middle East/ be useful for the public as well as place at CASAR’s fourth international North Africa,” the academic conven- professionals in the field who will find conference, held in January and consid- tion attracted renowned scholars as it a helpful tool to educate and raise ered among the most diverse American well as promising graduate students awareness for a healthier lifestyle. studies conferences in the world. from varied disciplines and cultural At a critical moment in history and backgrounds: literary scholars, histo- —S.J.S. in a critical place in geography, AUB rians, political scientists, geographers, offered fertile ground for an analysis and scholars of international relations. FAS that questioned the complex cul- Papers were shuffling, ideas were tural, political, and economic relations bouncing in all directions, and net- Shifting Borders between the United States and the working thrived. Osama Abd El-Fattah It is not your typical east meets west Middle East—past and present. Madany, chair of the Department of scenario; here, the west in the east Under the title, “Shifting English Language and Literature at

www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Spring 2012 21 Menoufiya University in Egypt, said he has been “struggling to initiate an You know you’re an AUB American studies graduate diploma student… at [his] university and [that] this con- ference provided several contacts …when your heart skips a from various American universities beat every time you see its and wonderful resources for [his] campus from an airplane. endeavors.” Ghazi Tadmouri “In no other conference do Americanists from the United States get to meet and learn from Americanists in the Middle East,” …when you get to know explained CASAR director Alex yourself better..build Lubin. “This conference was a suc- your future..live life and cess. [Such gatherings are] the most live it more abundantly… important way we can bridge the gap AUB= A Unique Bliss!! :D in understanding between regions NouraSoubra and suggest new possibilities for the future.” Conference proceedings will be used to inform new research and teaching curricula at AUB. …when u still …when you look 1st for have one year —S.J.S. the #AUB group/connection to graduate and every time you participate yet u still miss in a new social network it like crazy. Rabih Sukkar Anbleer

In the Shadow of Arabic: The Centrality of Language to Arabic Culture (Brill, 2011) edited by Bilal Orfali

A book of essays, In the Shadow of Arabic: The Centrality of Language to Arabic Culture, honoring the work of AUB Professor Ramzi Baalbaki (BA ’73, MA ’75), edited by AUB Assistant Professor Bilal Orfali (BS ’00, BA ’01, MA ’03), was presented to Professor Baalbaki on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday in recognition of his many achievements in his field. Baalbaki, who has been the Margaret Weyerhaeuser Jewett Professor of Arabic at AUB since 2004, was awarded the King Faisal International Prize for Arabic Language and Literature in 2010 for his contribution to increasing international understanding of Arabic grammar. In the Shadow of Arabic includes contributions from a number of distinguished scholars including former AUB Provost Peter Heath, Orfali himself, and AUB Associate Professor David Wilmsen. Among the topics addressed in this important and useful volume are the history of Arabic grammar, Arabic lexicography, Arabic linguistics, comparative Semitics, Arabic epigraphy, and textual editing of classical texts—all areas in which Baalbaki is a recognized authority.

22 MainGate Spring 2012 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate …when Jafet feels New On-line like home, and your home doesn't Brian_alhwayek www.youtube.com/AUBatLebanon

At a time of profound political, environmental, …when you insist and social on having all transformations in the those chats on the MENA region, CASAR’s …when you get chemistry stairs annual international late to your classes even though you. conference focused because you were can’t.breathe. @ on the theme “shifting borders” to conceive sitting at West Hall AUB_Lebanon of scholarship that “shifts” the borders of with your friends Alia Dani scholarly and disciplinary ways of thinking. Maya Ismail Participants also considered the ways that borders of all kinds are malleable, socially constructed, and historically contingent.

…when you never want …when AUBSIS, Plenary Session- to graduate #TrueStory moodle and imail Contesting the SilvanaFares are bookmarks in Foreign/Domestic your web browser Divide-Arab Aya Hasan Revolutions and American Studies

…when you miss Academic and every single day Cultural Boycott of you spent there. Israel: Colonialism, Mohamad Sobh Orientalism, and Eurocentrism

…when you’re conditioned to crave caffeine whenever More On-line you hear these two words: Abou Naji. @AUB_Lebanon FadyMansour

www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Spring 2012 23 R&D

Nametag: Khaleel Mershad, PhD, Electrical and Computer Engineering, projected 2012

Life before PhD: I grew up in Niha Al-Chouf, Mount Lebanon and enjoy reading, writing, and photography. I studied at Irfan School, Simkanieh, Al-Chouf and received my BEN in computer engineering from Beirut Arab University. I earned my master’s degree at AUB and enrolled in the PhD program the first semester it was offered—in fall 2007.

What matters most: In today’s information age we all need real time access to multiple sources of information while we’re on the go. Currently, the only way to get this access is via costly mobile cellular networks. My primary research objective is to reduce the cost and delay in acquiring data while in transit.

Research: Imagine that a guy named Sam wants to download directions while driving his car. The system I am develop- ing would allow him to get these directions quickly and accurately. This is how it would work: Sam would connect to his car’s on-board computing unit (OBU) using his PDA, smart phone, laptop, etc. and send a message requesting directions. This message would be sent first via the OBU to nearby vehicles via a Vehicular Ad-Hoc Network (VANET) and then to an RSU (roadside unit), which is the name of the powerful computing units that can now be found along many major “hotspots” such as intersections which are equipped with communication devices. The RSU would then forward the message from Sam to the moving vehicles that are farther away or to the Internet and so on until the message requesting directions reaches its “destination,” which could be a web server or a private agency. The directions that Sam wants would then travel back to him through the same series of networks.

I am writing code to implement various functionalities that I then test using network simulation software that simulates the roadside infrastructure, vehicles, and movement of vehicles.

10 am Tuesday, 10 am Saturday: At 10 am Tuesday, I am either writing code or calculating and processing results. On Saturday morn- ing, I am often enjoying a morning picnic with my wife and parents.

Most admires: The person I most admire is my dad. He is extraordinary. He lost both legs in 1984 during the Lebanese civil war. Nevertheless, he worked very hard to raise and teach me and my sister.

Why this topic interests me: I have always been interested in computer networks. When I started my master’s degree, I looked for a professor who worked in a related field and found Professor Hassan Artail who has enormous experience in the field of mobile computing. Even after six years I still take great pleasure whenever I design and implement a new system and am able to see it working. It’s fun watching the nodes in the network move and exchange information as I programmed them to do.

24 Student News

Every day is the best day for me I then started my first art course, AUB makes you become friends because every time I come here, Introduction to Art History, and I fell with people you never imagined would I know happiness is waiting for in love. one day be your closest friends. You me…in this corner, with these I always want to take 100 more are exposed to people from outside people, inside my AUB. pictures after I’m done taking photos of Lebanon and people from different I came to AUB to do environmental that day—each day and each spot backgrounds. We became “best health. By chance I passed by a on AUB campus is a wonderful photo friends by chance.” sculpture class and my life changed. opportunity. Lara Saab, junior studio arts major

www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Spring 2012 25 WHAT

LEBANON A BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR OUR YOUTH IMPROVED QUALITY OF LIFE WAN…TS BETTER HEALTH CARE OPTIONS

SAFE, NUTRITIOUS FOOD

A very broad view of how ENVIRONMENTAL AUB is responding to the RESPONSIBILITY country’s needs.

26 MainGate Spring 2012 WHAT

LEBANON A BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR OUR YOUTH IMPROVED QUALITY OF LIFE WAN…TS BETTER HEALTH CARE OPTIONS

SAFE, NUTRITIOUS FOOD

ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY WE NEED ACCESS TO PUBLIC, GREEN SPACE AND WE MUST PROTECT THESE TREASURES. WE NEED TO SHARE EXPERTISE AND USE ENERGY WISELY. WE NEED TO STOP POISONING THE SEA.

What Lebanon wants… a radically new way of thinking about the environment and development A new mindset entails a new kind of environmentalism, pollution, traffic jams, stress, social exclusion, and one that actually connects people and the environment so on, then it ends up being negative development in a relationship that goes beyond short-term profit and in many ways. Real trees are being knocked down green washing. and they’re putting up what I call “poodle” trees, It also means saving and creating public space, manicured real estate value-enhancing types of things. green space, spaces of inclusion where people can meet That’s not what nature does; it’s not what a tree is and mix and play and relax and breathe, without the supposed to look like. walls and the barbed wire and the legions of private security guards at every corner. It means allowing citizens their constitutional rights to access all of the coast and not only what’s left after the marinas and army clubs and private beaches and real estate companies have taken their share. The construction business is totally rapacious and unchecked. If you were to represent construction, it would That tractor’s not just digging be the picture of that tractor that just comes in and eats up the land, just comes in and digs into the soil, and destroys and hauling, it’s devouring the land as endless buildings go up. That tractor’s not just nature—trees, forests, and our digging and hauling, it’s devouring nature—trees, forests, and our resources in the name of some strange kind of resources in the name of some development that isn’t really development. strange kind of development that But What Does “Economic Activity” Really Mean? isn’t really development. Because buildings are going up and somebody’s selling real estate and someone else is buying a house, an economist may say: Look, there’s economic activity. For the rest of us though, this is a very old-fashioned way of thinking, because if putting up a building means extracting costs from everyone in the form of

28 MainGate Spring 2012

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Just One Tree There used to be two beautiful, very old trees, near where I live on Jeanne d’Arc Street. Now there is one. Developers knocked down the other tree because they’re putting up a building there. And the tree stood at the corner of the plot, so it could easily have been preserved. I was told by the developer, “I am a real estate guy, not an environmentalist.” True, but who is protecting the environment? They take down an old, majestic tree that has all the character, all the story of Ras Beirut in it. That kind of sums up the way in which the environment is viewed—simply as a place that should be paying, a bracket for a billboard on which the municipality and other public institutions allow private What actors to profess their love of nature while destroying it. Lebanon Only we can’t just lay it at the feet of the wants… collaboration across disciplines developers and the politicians. Major institutions that Within the Munib and Angela Masri Institute of Energy form part of Beirut, for instance, need to be more and Natural Resources, there are many faculty members reflective about the role they play and the values they who are doing research in energy. We were working promote. We’ve reached a point in Lebanon where the in silos, isolated from one another. Specialists in one environmental situation is well behind that old cliché, discipline generally address the same issue in one way unsustainable. Before we know it, AUB itself will no while colleagues from other disciplines approach it in longer be what it was. another way. But when we started collaborating, we The good news is that there are so many good realized that our expertise is complementary and that people, young people who want a better world, one together we can take the research and the results to with more social inclusion, less crass consumerism, another level. More than that, we can make what we do and a more equitable distribution of resources. But they more relevant to the community we live in. are disconnected. The whole region is bubbling with Right now, income from our endowment covers possibility and potential—can this be translated into research, some of the institute’s activities, a lecture action? series, and support for fellowships and visiting faculty. [Karim Makdisi, associate professor of political studies] The steering committee decides on the activities and how to dispense funds transparently and, in doing so, —S.M. to support the University’s mission. We can’t just wait and see. AUB faculty members and students must be prepared not only to meet the needs of opening markets in Lebanon, whether they be oil exploration or hybrid technologies, but also to do so while keeping issues of responsibility and sustainability in mind. …an approach to energy that balances quality of life and environmental sustainability Three insights, above all: 1. Energy and development go together. If you want a healthy economy, you need energy to support it.

www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Spring 2012 29

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A method for water production tested in mechanical engineering energy lab using thermoelectric cooling modules.

2. You cannot separate energy and water issues, because you need water to produce energy and, to What Lebanon wants… produce water, you also need energy. wastewater treatment plants 3. The impact of the energy sector on the environment that work is tremendous and must be addressed, directly and “The problem in Lebanon is the lack of consistently. operational wastewater treatment plants And one key question: How can we educate the (wwtps). Beirut sewage is discharged into the public to make choices that improve day-to-day quality sea as is ’s, Tyre’s, Jounieh’s, and Zahle’s of life without compromising our collective future (into the Litani). Tripoli, Nabatiyeh, Batroun, resources? Baalbeck, and Byblos have wwtps. However, A closer look at some of the research… they are not operational mainly because there ENERGY are no trained personnel to operate them and also In Lebanon, buildings make up 75 to 80 percent of because there are no charges for sewage collection electrical energy consumption; in other words, they are and treatment, so none are levied or collected and a huge drain on the economy. The electrical energy now the water establishments running these plants cannot devoted to comfort and lighting could instead produce generate the funds to operate and maintain them (and a profit for industry, so we’re looking into how to use pay the people running them their wages). So these renewable energy sources to meet building needs. plants sit there nice and pretty doing nothing.”

WATER [Nadim Farajalla, associate professor, Department of Landscape We want to increase the supply of water without Design and Ecosystem Management, FAFS] damaging the environment, so we’re investigating desalination, the possibility of converting moisture from the atmosphere into a water source and proposing laws to govern air conditioning use, not to mention a variety of innovative hybrid techniques for cooling.

[Nesreen Ghaddar, associate provost, steering committee chair, Munib and Angela Masri Institute of Energy and Natural Resources]

—S.M.

Fresh water production using liquid desiccant dehumidification system installed on the roof of Bechtel.

30 MainGate Spring 2012 significant outward migration. One of the main messages from the Socioeconomic Survey of Palestinian Refugees is the need to fight discrimination against Palestinians and implement long-term residence policies that would return their basic human rights to them. At the same time, we must recognize that Palestinian communities are playing a role in the economy, especially when it comes to the rural areas in the north and south where many of them live. We’ve tried to seclude them in some places and deprive them of their rights, to dismiss them as a burden and a threat. It probably worked in making some of them leave IMPROVED QUALITY the country. But ultimately, we’ve solved neither their OF LIFE problem nor ours, so we need to try a different approach. What’s to be Done? What Lebanon wants… to reduce social In general, it’s vital to reduce exclusion and inequality, exclusion and inequality both on spatial and income levels. It’s not really What Poverty in Lebanon Means about eradicating poverty; it’s about decreasing Being poor in Lebanon means being excluded from differences between people. First, we need large-scale major facilities and services in society. If you have to housing reform, both decent housing and subsidies live in a slum and you can’t get a good education, then for young people who have just married and want to you’re excluded from access to social networks that exist live independently. Second, we need to decentralize in better neighborhoods and to the labor market. economic activity away from Beirut and the major As a rule of thumb, people are born here and grow up suburbs, to draw people outside these very dense and in secluded environments, away from other communities polluted areas. That means providing tax breaks for that may be more developed. This phenomenon is companies that invest in the north and the south, as compounded by the sectarian effect, so you’re not only well as good electricity and transport infrastructure. barred from society because your income is less, but you’re And third, we need a national employment policy that also excluded because you’re from religion ‘X.’ You’re encourages job creation and reduces people’s dependency essentially prohibited from living with neighbors who on family connections and sectarian allegiances. practice a different religion unless you share a high enough [Jad Chaaban, assistant professor of economics, Department of income to be able to afford gated houses. Agricultural Sciences and coauthor of the 2010 Socio-Economic Survey of Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon] Is There a Way Out? Well, Lebanese can make themselves eligible for better —S.M. jobs by getting a decent education or migrating. Or they can lobby their political leaders and “zaeim” for an appointment, but there’s a lot of competition in these networks. For long-term residents, non-citizens, that is, the challenges are multiplied. Palestinians, migrant workers, domestic workers, and children born to non-Lebanese fathers—none of them have proper papers and they can’t benefit from the sectarian system. There’s no way they can move up the ladder; all they can do is migrate. Out of 450,000 registered Palestinian refugees, only 260,000 are in Lebanon now. That means there has been What Lebanon wants… community support Mount Lebanon With three integrated units, each with its own team 21 Nature Conservation initiatives with Ibsar leader, CCECS is well placed to respond to Lebanon’s such as the “Seeds of Hope—Power of Planting” needs. The Community Outreach Programs unit, community tree planting campaign, “Spring 14 the Community Development Projects unit, and the Cleaning,” and “Trail Rehabilitation” in villages and Community-Based Learning unit provide CCECS towns in Mount Lebanon and across Lebanon. with a wide umbrella of projects across the country in collaboration with a growing number of university partners and external community organizations. —M.A. 16

[Mounir Mabsout, director, CCECS]

Beirut 1 Computer Refurbishing initiated by Computer and Networking Services (now the Office of Information Technology) at AUB with beneficiaries across the country; plans to accept computers from outside AUB soon. 2 Electronic Waste Collection campus environmental initiative with Beeatona NGO. 3 Braille Menu initiative in cafés and restaurants in Ras Beirut with the Youth 21 Association of the Blind and other NGOs that focus on “inclusive” initiatives. 1 3 5 6 4 Supporting Education in Public Schools by student-teacher volunteers in 4 2 8 9 12 13 cooperation with MMKN NGO. 7 10 11 21

5 Night Schooling—English Language Literacy Program for AUB 21 15 employees with student members of the Civic Welfare League and Human Resources Department. 21 15 6 Computer Literacy Workshops for underserved communities 21 15 conducted at AUB and in Lebanese villages with support from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. 7 Reading Campaign in the Palestinian camps with faculty and student volunteers from AUB. 8 Drama Therapy with the Lebanese Down Syndrome Association and Drama Club at AUB. 9 Urban Upgrade in Souq Sabra’s streets and facilities on the outskirts 17 of Sabra and Shatila camps, with other AUB teams and in partnership with the Hariri Foundation for Sustainable Human Development. 10 Urban Upgrade in Karm El Zeitoun district in east Beirut restoring 19 the historic stairs and surrounding informal meeting spaces with the Landscape Design and Ecosystem Management Department, also in partnership with the Hariri Foundation. 20 11 Informal Recycling Project working with young urban refuse collectors of Bourj Barajneh Camp to turn an informal recycling project into a profitable concern, with final-year LDEM students. 12 Rainwater Harvesting and Urban Greening in the Ras Beirut area in partnership with the Neighborhood Initiative at AUB and ANERA 18 (American Near East Refugee Aid) NGO, with LDEM and the Civil and Environmental Engineering Departments and a pilot project at St. Mary’s Orthodox School, Makhoul Street. 13 Transforming Jeanne d’Arc Street into a pedestrian/disabled upgraded thoroughfare, to become a model people-friendly street in Beirut, in partnership with the AUB Neighborhood Initiative.

32 North Lebanon 14 Reintegration of City and What Lebanon wants… a headache-free Water Front Spaces in El-Mina, Tripoli an investigative design commute project by multidisciplinary Anyone who has been in Beirut recently won’t be teams at AUB to develop empty surprised to learn that the most popular way to travel to

14 swathes of reclaimed land into campus is by private car: Forty-five percent of students recreational and water parks thus and 56 percent of employees either drive private cars or restoring the link between city are dropped off by someone else driving a private car; and sea. significantly fewer students (30 percent) and employees (25 percent) walk to campus each day. How do we know? 16 As part of the Neighborhood Initiative Congestion Studies, Professors Maya Abou Zeid and Isam Kaysi from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering conducted a survey in 2010 to explore the Beqa’a travel patterns of AUB students and employees. The 15 Summer Volunteering Camp with survey, analyzed by graduate student Mai Khattab under the Civil Engineering Society (CES) and the supervision of Professors Abou Zeid and Kaysi, in collaboration with Ibsar and AUB units/ revealed some interesting findings that the research team departments: students, staff, and faculty is using to study a number of interventions to improve volunteering on community projects in 21 the mobility and safety of student and employee travel to 1 3 5 6 several villages. 4 2 8 9 12 13 and around AUB. 7 10 11 21 16 Town Restoration/Rehabilitation Projects in Aarsal village seeking to 21 15 design and establish a new town square to reunite and reintegrate town life severed 21 15 as a result of a botched master plan 21 15 development and random quarrying; part of a broader multidisciplinary project with IDRC (International Development Research Center) Canada and Ibsar to replant the landscape and revive a town economy over-reliant on quarrying activities.

17

19 South Lebanon 17 Rainwater Harvesting and Urban/Alternative Agriculture in Ain El-Helweh to provide urban gardens and fresh produce for the people of the Palestinian camp, with ANERA NGO, LDEM, and local community groups. 20 18 Reclaiming Traditional Water Conservation Practices in Marwaheen Village—community initiative to restore a traditional rainwater-filled 3,600 square meter village reservoir; a community-based academic project by LDEM and CEE students, with support from the British Embassy, UNDP and the CocaCola Foundation. 18 19 Reclaiming Traditional Water Conservation Practices in Roumine Village (in conjunction with a team from Purdue University Global Engineering Program) research project by LDEM and CEE students raising awareness of best practice models to increase water catchment, improve productive land management, and enhance agriculture yields. 20 Informal Housing Planning and Assessment in Sour study with UN-Habitat continued as a final-year civil engineering project to find solutions for and make recommendations to alleviate some of the many problems caused by unsafe, unsound, and unsustainable informal building practices in the city. www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Spring 2012 33 Other survey results • Students and employees who commute on foot or by Students and employees who bike are most satisfied with their daily commutes; commute on foot or by bike are those who commute by private car or motorcycle are the least satisfied. most satisfied with their daily • Students pay more than employees for parking: commutes. LL78,000 a month versus LL56,500. • A significant percentage of AUB students and employees (54 percent and 48 percent) who currently The results of this 2010 survey and a follow-up don’t drive say they are “likely” or “very likely” to survey to be conducted later this year will be used start driving if a new parking facility convenient to to evaluate the demand for a shared taxi service AUB were to become available. for the AUB community and other options the How to improve the situation? Students and employees research team is currently evaluating. say their travel to, from, and around AUB would [Isam Kaysi, professor of civil and be improved by staff-only parking lots, a public environmental engineering, FEA] transportation system that works, and a shuttle bus service that is restricted to members of the AUB community. In the survey, students and employees also proposed ways to improve the pedestrian experience in and around campus: strictly enforced pedestrian crossing areas on major streets, wider sidewalks that motorcycles are prohibited from using, cleaner, greener, and better lit streets; and Bliss Street as a “pedestrian only” zone.

9 25 50 6 6 UB employees travel to AUB? 2 w do A 2 Ho Driving private car Walking : ) Service/Taxi Bus Dropped off by a person Motorcycle/Bicycle : ) Other (mix of bux, service, and walk)

30 15 33 12 Students travel to AUB 7 do AUB ? How 1 2 A BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR Roseanne: When I first came back to Lebanon in OUR YOUTH ’95, I had a lot of returnees [in my classes] who were very eager to change society and bring new ideas. The What Lebanon wants… for its youth to next phase was after Hariri’s death in 2005, when they chart a new course toward the good life started to mobilize politically. But now, this new phase, How can ordinary Lebanese citizens, burdened with the youth are completely disillusioned with what’s pervasive fears of an ugly and unfinished war, persisting happening here and they’ve really created their own regional rivalries, mounting economic deprivation, and bubbles where they indulge in having a good time— diminishing socio-psychological prospects for well-being food, wine, and fun. And they’re in “waithood,” waiting and the good life, find meaning, let alone inspiration, in until they can leave the country and go elsewhere. a society adrift, a society which has lost its moorings and Samir: In saying that Lebanon is adrift, it’s direction and spun out of control? not all bad. As long as we have not yet reached our What precisely does it mean to be adrift? Society, like destination, there is still a hope that the Lebanese can a floating, engine-less ship, can slip its anchorage, denying find a more optimistic venue, for instance, through its members the abiding values and primordial loyalties the voluntary associations that the youth have been which once served as sources of meaning, stability, creating, through the arts. and integration. Without solid ties, guidance and basic Roseanne: But the people involved in the arts are security, there is no moral restraint. a very limited group, and many are people of means. I Lebanese today are trapped in a disparaging threefold don’t see the average student being able to do this unless predicament: alienation from the past, anxiety and unease they come from a background of wealth. about the present, and uncertainty about the future. Samir: Lebanese youth are part of the arts and Ordinary citizens feel estranged from and abandoned by design export industry of the Arab world. an inept political culture that remains indifferent to their Roseanne: They’re exporting themselves. There’s everyday needs. a huge brain drain. They look forward to graduating The political system has been for some time in order to leave, not to staying and trying to make a now obsessively focused on peace accords, conflict difference. resolution, electoral and constitutional reforms, Samir: That is why my book is angry, but it always 9 25 50 6 political succession, the formation of so-called leaves a sliver of hope. 6 oyees travel t “national unity” governments and, as of late, political AUB empl o AUB? [Samir Khalaf, professor of sociology and director of the Center 2 ow do confessionalism. Hence, the seemingly elusive, vital for Behavioral Research (BA ’55, MA ’57); Roseanne Saad Khalaf, 2 H problems associated with the good life and how to associate professor of English and creative Driving private car safeguard ties of civility, trust, decency, and the writing (BA ’72)] enrichment of the aesthetic and cultural legacies, : ) —S.M. Walking are either trivialized or overlooked. Service/Taxi [From Lebanon Adrift: From Battleground to Bus Playground (Saqi Books, 2012) by Samir and Roseanne Khalaf] Dropped off by a person From their perspective… Motorcycle/Bicycle : ) Partners in life and work, Samir and Roseanne Other (mix of bux, service, and walk) Khalaf have coauthored a recently published book, Arab Youth: Social Mobilization in Times of Risk (Saqi Books, 2012). Their ongoing dialogue on the future of Lebanon mirrors a larger debate taking place across the country. What does it mean to say that 30 15 Lebanon is adrift? The conversation continues… 33 12 Students travel to AUB 7 do AUB ? How 1 2 What Lebanon wants…better public schools “I have 30 years of experience in teacher training. I thought this workshop was going to be a joke and I came resisting it. But, honestly, I learned so much.” That rave endorsement is for the D-RASATI Development Center, Inc. (EDC), AMIDEAST, Cooperative (Developing Rehabilitation Assistance to Schools and Housing Foundation, International Orthodox Christian Teachers Improvement) project, which is being funded by Charities, and the Hariri Foundation for Sustainable the United States Agency for International Development Human Development) to provide technical expertise for (USAID). The largest basic education program in Lebanon, trainers and supervisors at MEHE and the Center for its goals are to improve student achievement in Lebanese Education Research and Development (CERD). Armed public schools by enhancing teacher performance, with the tools they need, these professionals will support increasing community and parental involvement, and in-service teacher training and professional development improving schools’ learning environment. efforts for several thousand teachers, school directors, and Under the leadership of the Ministry of Education supervisors working in 1,281 public schools throughout and Higher Education (MEHE), AUB’s Office of Regional Lebanon. External Programs and Faculty of Arts and Sciences are [George Farag, acting vice president, Office of Regional working with other D-RASATI project partners (Education External Programs]

Distribution of Public Schools in Lebanon

What Lebanon wants… jobs… jobs… jobs With a 6.4 percent overall unemployment rate (Lebanese Central Administration of Statistics, 2009), a 22.2 percent unemployment rate for BA level graduates, and a scarcity of government initiatives to address unemployment, it’s clear that we must find a new solution. We need to address social inclusion issues; we need strategic job creation and sustainable new jobs. Founded in 2011, the Darwazah Center guides Twenty-seven partners and 4,500 participants engaged Consumers entrepreneurs’ decision-making and innovative in 45 activities ranging from intimate presentations, practices in the business arena to help them achieve interactive workshops, training, large conferences, organizational renewal and wealth creation through competitions, and numerous networking events, leaving creative enterprise. Sponsoring research, field studies, ample room for informal meetings and collaboration with benchmarking, seminars, and workshops as well as mentors and investors. Activities were undertaken in the conferences, the center is dedicated to the study of south, north, Beqa’a, and around Beirut. innovation and entrepreneurship in the region with a Codirector of the Darwazah Center and director view to documenting and enhancing innovative practices of corporate relations at OSB, Professor Tony Feghali in the business community. said, “We are an integral part of the momentum driving Lebanon was one of 123 countries that participated entrepreneurship in the Lebanese ecosystem. Helping in Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) Lebanon 2011 partners communicate with each other, compare notes, Government hosted by AUB in November. Here, entrepreneurs explored complement activities, and duplicate best practices made their potential as self-starters and innovators and, with GEW Lebanon 2011 a success.” partners’ support, were encouraged to start businesses. —S.J.S.

Food Sector 36 MainGate Spring 2012 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate SAFE, NUTRITIOUS FOOD What Lebanon wants… One Word: Packaging food safety Food packaging is one of my main research areas. In Mohamad Abiad, assistant professor my experience there are issues with packaging all over of nutrition and food sciences, is the the world, from the largest suppliers to individual coinvestigator with Ali Chalak, assistant vendors in poor neighborhoods where you’ll see the guy professor in FAFS, on the study: “How wrapping the mana’eesh or the bread in a newspaper, so Effective is Information Provision in Shaping Food the ink may go into the food. We need more education Safety Related Purchasing Decisions? Evidence from a and awareness. Many recalls are due to poor packaging. Choice Experiment in Lebanon” (now under review). The Government’s Role Customers Want Safe Food The government inspects restaurants when they open, but According to the survey, consumers are willing to pay they rarely return to inspect again. Also, they don’t have more for food if it’s safer for them. Many people don’t have the personnel they need for regular inspection. The bigger information about available safety certifications. When supermarkets—they have the capabilities and the finances they were provided with information regarding food safety to provide safer food, but that doesn’t mean they actually certifications and what they require, their preferences and do. The government needs to set consistent standards and overall willingness to pay increased substantially. enforce them, but they also need to encourage the creation of third-party certifiers who will work with small mom What is Food Poisoning? and pop stores as well as large chains. People get sick here, but they don’t report it. They don’t Most people don’t have any idea that even go to the hospital. They get a fever, but they don’t the Ministry of the Economy has a hotline know why, or they just get food poisoning, but they for food issues—1739. You can also submit don’t recognize it as food poisoning. We listed symptoms complaints on-line: www.economy.gov/lb/ and asked our survey respondents to identify those index.php/home/2. related to food poisoning and they were right about only, maybe, 50 percent of them. On top of that, even if [Mohamed Abiad, assistant professor, nutrition and food sciences] people know that they were poisoned at —S.M. a certain restaurant, a week later you’ll Do not demand or expect better see them eating at the same place. Their food safety and quality standards. apparent reasoning: The food tastes good, Do not know their rights as consumers. don’t you think? Do not know how or where to complain. Consumers Are not sufficiently knowledgeable about issues related to food safety and food The challenges: borne illness. Lack confidence in governmental authorities.

No incentives to improve or implement food safety management since consumers do not demand or expect it. Fragmented responsibilities for food safety shared by Ministries of Lack of awareness of importance of Economy and Trade, Agriculture, food safety. Government Public Health, and Industry. No effective inspection or government No food safety surveillance system enforcement. or information on food borne Inadequate policies and financing. illnesses. No knowledge of level of consumer awareness of food safety issues. No guidance on practices of food safety. Food Sector [Zeina Kassaify, associateprofessor, nutritionandfoodsciences] Association for Food Safety? driving force intherecently establishedLebanese What canAUBdoasanacademicinstitutionanda 38 • • • • Safety (LAFS) NGOs: LebaneseAssociationforFood • • • • Academia: AUB MainGate Spring 2012 Spring MainGate Provide additional services andcollaboratewithProvide additionalservices Be alinkbetweentheconsumer, thefoodsector, and Establish toolstoreportanddocumentspecific Develop customizedconsumer-awareness educational Graduate well-educated, trained, Develop andmaintaina Gather scientificdata. Research, recommend, awareness offoodsafetyissues. assist withpolicymaking, andleadeffortstoincrease food safetysystemsintheindustry, and motivatedexpertstoimplement food borneillness, etc. information onfoodsafety, database withessential intervene. safety and relevant regulatory matters. safety andrelevantregulatory national authoritiesandotherstakeholdersonfood adequately resolved. governmental authoritiestoensurecomplaintsare related tothefoodsector. incidents offoodsafetyandrelayconcernsneeds materials. www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | significant threat andnotshortage offoodperse. is likelyduetoalackofqualityfoodthatposing Quality NotQuantity betternutrition What Lebanonwants… and theword theyuseisbighazi(instandard Arabic, nutritious. Atleast,that’s whatpeoplehave said tous status, there isamisconceptionthatthesefoodsare And, anecdotally, amongthosewithlowereducational of moneytobuychipsandchocolateonadailybasis. sometimes stillseechildren beinggivensmallamounts issues thatmakeitdifficult toaccesssufficient food,you Even inpoorhouseholdswhere there are real economic Grounds for FurtherResearch… day.”A: “Thekidsdoevery beverages?” or chocolate?Howoftendotheydrinksweetened Q: “Howoftendopeopleinyourhouseholdeatchips if theadultsare tobebelieved. to beincreasing isthejunkfood—mostly inchildren vegetables iftheycanafford to.Whatseems etc.) quiteoften.Theystilleatfruitand eat pulses(chickpeas,lentils,beans you eatpulses?”Well, manyofthemstill often doyoueatcereals?” “How oftendo women abouttheirfamilies’diets,“How more junkfood.Inourstudies, whenweasked habits, meaningamore westernized diet,thatis,alot shift, more acoexistenceoftraditional andnewdietary and thatdoesn’t necessarilymeanacomprehensive We are definitelygoingthrough anutritiontransition Traditional andWestern referred toasthedoubleburden ofmalnutrition.This The main challenge in Lebanon is the very rapid rapid The mainchallengeinLebanonisthevery micronutrient deficiencyinwhatiscommonly increase inobesitythatweare seeinginboth possibly duetoenergy deficiencyand children andadultpopulations.What and obesity coexist with undernutrition, and obesitycoexistwithundernutrition, our studiessofarhaveshown—they’re In theseverely foodinsecure, overweight limited—we haven’t large donevery even infoodinsecure subpopulations. occurring across socioeconomicgroups, studies asyet,isthattheseincreases are

region 2007 Net CerealImports(millionmetric tons)by North America 105.4 Former Soviet Union 21

Oceania 9.1 on cereal imports to highreliance Vulnerability due Latin America and the Caribbean 8 -11.6 Europe -26.9 Saharan Africa

-46.9 Asia

-58.2 Arab Countries [Hala Ghattas, assistantprofessorofcommunitynutrition] go downandasignificantcauseofobesitywithit. pulses, thendemandforrefined cereal imports mayalso diverse, healthfuldiet,richinfruits,vegetables,and make peoplemore aware oftherewards ofeatingamore diets thatare increasingly reliant onrefined cereals. Ifwe because theincrease indemandispartly associated with argue thatwealsoneedtoworkonchanging demand, import wheat—more wheat as demand increases. I would can spendless,reap more, andthenusetheprofits to fruits andvegetablesismore economically efficient. We food priceshocks.Onlyothersargue thatfocusingon of ourowncereal crop toreduce ourvulnerabilityto There’s anargument thatweshouldbeproducing more word is “nutritious.” don’t say “healthy”—the Arabic standard Arabic, use is the word they shown children whosegrowth isstuntedeventhough Two Problems, OneSolution? yughadhi). Theydon’t say“healthy”—theArabic they are alsooverweight. minerals. That’s whystudiesfrom theregion have word is“nutritious.”Theperception isthat import manyofourfoodstaples. Food Security in 2008,thenweare vulnerable becausewe Lebanon isconsidered tobeat riskoffood fat, theamountofsugar, fiber, vitamins,and a suddenfoodcrisis,likewhathappened children needenergy anditdoesn’t matter fuel priceshaveoftenbeencoupled.Ifthere’s insecurity. Countriesintheregion thatare oil exporters tendtodobetterasworldfoodand quality offood,theamountandtype so muchwhatformthatenergy comesin. Only nowweknowthatnotallforms of energy are equal;itdependsonthe ). They yughadhi). They bighazi (in —S.M. w.u.d.bmigt | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

region 2007 Net CerealImports(millionmetric tons)by North America 105.4 Former Soviet Union 21

Oceania 9.1 on cereal imports to highreliance Vulnerability due

MainGate Spring 2012 Spring MainGate Latin America and the Caribbean 8 -11.6 Europe -26.9 Saharan Africa

-46.9 Asia

39 -58.2 Arab Countries What Lebanon wants… greater public awareness of issues related to biomedical ethics and professionalism “Before we launched the Salim El-Hoss Bioethics and Professionalism Program (SHBPP) in 2010, bioethics was not a priority in Lebanon. There is much greater awareness now of the ethical issues raised by medicine and biomedical research—issues like end of life care and stem cell research. We can see this in the increasing number of participants in our conferences and the growing media attention. People are interested not only in finding out about the SHBPP. They are coming to us also because we are recognized nationally and regionally Better Healthcare Options as the experts on this topic. I can confidently say that when people look back What Lebanon wants… R E S P E C T 10 years from now, they will agree that the rise of “We are championing the rights, dignity, and welfare of bioethics in Lebanon and the region began at AUB with individuals who participate in research projects.” the establishment of the SHBPP. This makes us all very Dr. Ali Abu-Alfa, who is the head of the Division of proud.” Nephrology and Hypertension at AUBMC and directs the [Thalia Arawi, PhD, founding director, Salim El-Hoss Bioethics and Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) at AUB, Professionalism Program. clinical bioethicist, vice chair, Medical explains. Under HRPP, AUB’s Institutional Review Board Center Ethics Committee] (IRB), which was established in 1996, is in charge of reviewing and approving all research projects involving human subjects—not just biomedical research, but social and behavioral science research too—to ensure that they are designed and carried out in such a way as to protect the rights, dignity, welfare, and privacy of participating subjects. What does this mean? • Anyone who is considering taking part in a research R study (such as a clinical trial for an experimental drug ------E or answering a survey related to an issue) must be ------S given the information they need to understand what ------P they are being asked to do and to make a voluntary ------E decision to participate. ------C • Researchers who are designing a particular study must ------T weigh the anticipated benefits of the research both to ------the individuals and to society against any potential psychological, physical, legal, social, or economic harm individuals might suffer. • The benefits and burdens of the research study must be fairly distributed among the population of interest. “It comes down to respect for individuals who are participating in research studies,” says Abu-Alfa.

[Dr. Ali Abu-Alfa, head of the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, AUBMC]

40 MainGate Spring 2012 What Lebanon wants… pain relief and palliative care system. This applies equally to Patients in Lebanon in need of serious pain relief are medical practitioners and to the public at large. “We presently out of luck unless they are cancer patients, are really working on this from a patient empowerment and even then the chances of receiving morphine to ease perspective. If you do not know, you do not know what their discomfort are limited. While some cancer patients to ask for,” Abu-Saad says. “At present the family tends are prescribed opioids this is only possible after multiple to take over when a patient is sick and the physician signatures have been secured from oncologists, pain usually defers to the wishes of the family. The tendency specialists, and the Ministry of Health. The rest must soldier is not to inform the patient. With palliative care it is on as best they can, but hopefully not for much longer. vital that we discuss pain and symptoms with the patient In recent years important steps have been taken in and work closely with him/her to instigate an effective the quest to improve patient palliative care and to raise regime of medication and pain care management. That awareness and improve education in this important area clearly does not happen in most cases at present.” of medicine. This is in no small part due to the expertise Drawing on the data from a recent study of 200 and campaigning spirit of palliative care expert Huda adult and over 100 child cancer patients, analysis Huijer Abu-Saad, director of the Rafic Hariri School of is under way to see how best to apply international Nursing (HSON). With years of experience as a specialist palliative care regimes at the local level. “I do not in child palliative care in Europe and the United States, believe we need to talk in terms of providing structures Abu-Saad has long campaigned to put palliative care (hospices, etc.) like in the west,” Abu-Saad explains, on the Lebanese national agenda. Last year brought a “and even over there the attitude is changing more to major breakthrough when, during a highly successful day care relief. What we need is trained teams working MEMA (Middle East Medical Assembly) conference on with the patients, families, and in the community. cancer pain and palliative care, the Minister of Health Already this is starting to happen. We have two hospice announced the establishment of a National Task Force teams working in the community in Ras Beirut that for Pain Relief and Palliative Care with the director include two HSON master’s students. Palliative care general of health as its president and Abu-Saad as vice is now part of the curriculum at HSON and we are president. It was the payoff for many years of hard work hoping that the medical school will introduce palliative and research that included physician and patient surveys medicine into their curriculum too. and lobbying at all levels. “We are advocating for trained palliative care teams Four task force committees, staffed by a within the hospitals—various models are under discussion multidisciplinary team of dedicated professionals, are and we are hoping the government will adopt one soon. R ------now hard at work gathering data on research issues, This will be followed by proposals to extend palliative care E ------education, public policy and practice, and on the to the elderly, as well as for the chronically ill with incurable S ------availability and use of medicines, with the aim of diseases. We need to provide this level of care for all P ------providing a comprehensive overview of current and conditions and ages throughout the whole community.” E ------future needs. In another significant breakthrough, C [Huda Huijer Abu-Saad, director, HSON] ------thanks to task force efforts, the Ministry of Health is T ------currently reviewing the whole question of opiods, what —M.A. is available and to whom, dispensation and control, and how the system can be improved and administered. But it is not simply a question of access to drugs as Abu-Saad is quick to point out. Community awareness of the benefits of palliative care is a vital component in establishing an effective national pain management What Lebanon wants… better access to health care With AUBMC trained doctors working in top hospitals all over the world, the time has come to share the Medical Center’s expertise with the rest of Lebanon and throughout the region. Dr. Fadi Bitar discusses AUBMC’s planned network of hospital affiliations starting with the Kiserwan Medical Center There are certain periods in history when all the elements seem to fall into place and the momentum for change presents itself. AUBMC is passing through just such a period, says Dr. Fadi Bitar, associate dean, external 2 affairs. He believes the potential is enormous. Along with his enthusiasm for the new hospital experience and participate in primary and secondary buildings, the establishment of multiple centers of levels of care. Though we have associations with other excellence, and the arrival of some 72 highly qualified hospitals this new affiliation will allow for greater access colleagues from overseas to help beef up teaching, between patients and medical practitioners. research, and clinical services, Bitar is delighted to discuss Currently under construction with its first wing AUBMC’s first full affiliation with a new Lebanese medical opening in June, KMC will eventually provide up to 160 facility, the Kiserwan Medical Center (KMC) in Jounieh. beds serving several departments including medical, Charged by Dr. Mohamed Sayegh, vice president for surgical, pediatrics, obstetrics, ophthalmology, ENT, medical affairs and Raja N. Khuri dean of the Faculty of and others. All will function under the umbrella and Medicine and the AUB Medical Center with overseeing supervision of AUBMC doctors and physicians. this seminal union, Bitar explains that this first affiliation Other affiliations under consideration include will open the door for others to follow, creating a wealth locations in Tripoli, the Shouf, and in the south. “We of opportunity for doctors and patients alike to benefit have two main requirements,” Bitar explains, “that these from the expansion of AUBMC into the wider community. affiliations satisfy AUBMC’s academic mission and present “Dean Sayegh is determined to open up a network no significant financial burdens to AUBMC.” To this end, to share knowledge and expertise and to develop any revenues that may be generated from such affiliations 1 partnerships with institutions/universities and will be channeled into a special fund towards educational medical schools throughout the country improvement and supporting needy patients. and even the region,” Bitar explains. As the network develops so will the need to “Kiserwan is just the first but our goal is provide transport links to serve them. It is time for to collaborate with partners who share some out of the box thinking, says Bitar. We will our values, our mission, and vision in be providing a shuttle service to Kiserwan. Some order to promote the benefits of AUBMC people are even suggesting a fast boat between to a much larger population other than that AUB Beach and Jounieh. of Ras Beirut.” Clearly AUBMC’s moment for change KMC will serve over one million people has arrived. The possibilities are endless—and who currently have limited access to AUMBC. At intriguing. the same time, it will create opportunities for students, [Dr. Fadi Bitar, associate dean for external medical affairs, interns, and residents to treat a variety of patients and AUBMC] clinical cases. AUBMC has become much more of a tertiary center, Bitar says, and it is important that students —M.A.

42 MainGate Spring 2012 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate What Lebanon wants… excellent diagnostic imagery What is the collective noun for an astonishing new set of state-of-the-art medical imaging machines? How do we group AUBMC’s latest hi-tech acquisitions into a single word? We have a bevy of beauties and a gaggle of geese, a flock of sheep, and a herd of horses. What would capture the notion of so much top-flight equipment in one place? A cornucopia of CT scanners? A myriad of MRIs? A plethora of PET scans? All joking aside, AUBMC’s Diagnostic Radiology Department has just moved into the stratosphere 2 thanks to the procurement of top of the range machines designed to place it at the forefront of diagnostic imaging in the region. As the department’s basement home undergoes a facelift to create an environment worthy of these glamorous new additions, Interim Chairman Dr. Mukbil Hourani talks enthusiastically about their various attributes including the exposure • The new CT scanner, 1 the of the patient to less first of its kind in the Middle radiation. East, performs 256 half millimeter CT slices with every rotation of the x-ray tube, which to the layman means that it can explore the “geography” of the heart right down to the smallest blood vessels to see what is going on there. In fact it does the same for any region of the body including the brain where it performs brain 1 perfusion studies to trace how blood flows into the brain and permeates the blood vessels—very important in stroke patients. This Rolls Royce of CT scanners was installed recently in a room specially renovated for the purpose, complete with ambient lighting to soothe the anxious patient. • The new nuclear medicine machine 2 —a hybrid gamma camera and CT scanner—is also used for cardiac imaging and other nuclear medicine studies. It draws on nuclear material to look at the perfusion of the heart muscle. In combination with the camera the scanner works to analyze and accurately localize abnormalities in the patient’s condition.

MainGate Spring 2012 43 This multi-million dollar investment reflects the importance given by Dean of Medicine Mohamed Sayegh to radiology and nuclear medicine as a key contributor to the reputation and success of AUBMC. Hourani is clearly delighted with the department’s extensive upgrade which, he says, puts it on a par with other international centers: “Any service here can compare with top centers throughout the world and fulfills the mission of the department to provide world class diagnostic imaging services to our patients and 3 physicians.”

[Mukbil Hourani, interim chairman, Diagnostic Radiology Department] —M.A.

• The three tesla MRI 3 represents the latest digital technology in terms of signal processing that allows physicians to scan almost any part of the body. It is especially adept at neuro-imaging as well as diffusion, i.e., looking at how water molecules move within the body. It also can perform functional images, e.g., taking MR pictures while the patient is talking to pinpoint the speech center. • A new state-of-the-art fluoroscopy room 4 that can be used for simple procedures or complicated angiograms. 4 In 2013 the Diagnostic Radiology Department will be further augmented with the completion of the brand new Sawwaf PET/CT building. A whole new imaging center will be housed on the ground floor with a new PET/CT scanner alongside its own cyclotron to produce the specific radioactive material needed to operate the PET/CT during diagnosis for patients with cancer and neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s and dementia.

44 MainGate Spring 2012 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate REUNION2012

57 1900 62 67 72 77 82 87 92 97 0 20002 07 2012 Reunion is your opportunity to get back to campus and catch up with your classmates, a chance to relive those special days that made your June 29 time at AUB so important to you. Need more reasons to be a part of this exciting weekend? Check out –July 1 some of the events we have planned.

Friday evening On Saturday, one of our Honoring most popular events Ceremony Homecoming for 50th, 25th and Brunch 5th anniversary of Time for a chat with graduation your friends and AUB faculty members over Featuring President Dorman and a delicious Lebanese keynote addresses from celebrated brunch with plenty of alumni of the 1962, 1987 and 2007 activities to keep your classes. Keynote speakers for the evening little ones entertained! are HE Sami Gammoh (BBA ‘62), HE Raya Haffar (BBA ‘87) and Rima Karaki (TD ‘07) Saturday evening Saturday evening Ring Ceremony Dinner under Class of ’82 the stars of an ity of Bei ers ru iv t n Commencement AUB sky! U

n a The Class of 1982 finally gets to c With live music and i

r

e walk in their caps and gowns to m dancing provided A receive their diplomas. And all by World Music of alumni will be given the chance Lebanon. to renew their commitment to Program Highlights Program AUB at the Ring Ceremony.

For all details, check out the Reunion 2012 website at: www.aub.edu.lb/alumni/reunion And don’t forget to follow us on the Reunion 2012 Facebook page. Questions/further information? Email: [email protected] Phone: Beirut :+961-1-738009; New York: 212-583-7662 Early Warning Signals

When FHS Dean Iman Nuwayhid and his research assistant Anna-Bernadet Chadarevian embarked on their National Institutes of Health funded study, “Neurotoxic Effects of Solvents on Working Children in Bab al-Tebbaneh” (Tripoli), many people said it could not be done. Thanks to carefully nurtured relationships with the community, they proved the doubters wrong. “We were told that it was risky, dangerous. The political situation was too unstable, [and] the community would never accept us,” says Nuwayhid. “And indeed it was a very tough project. We faced challenges on a daily basis, Anna much more than me because just as the project started, I was appointed dean, so Anna had to take on most of the responsibility in the field herself.

46 MainGate Spring 2012 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate “The research question was straightforward,” Access Key Nuwayhid continues. “The literature has shown us Um Khaled has been a community activist and social worker that adults who are exposed to solvents (chemicals like for almost 50 years. She initially worked part-time, driven benzene to dissolve grease) at work develop neurological by passion and concern, but the suffering of the women problems. Some problems are clinical especially when they in Akkar following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 galvanized her. Assessing their situation, she realized that if are exposed to high doses, but the majority develops sub- she was to make a difference to women’s lives, she needed clinical neurotoxic effects. This has never been studied in to train them and help them develop skills. She began with working children in Lebanon.” So the idea was to assess literacy courses and later introduced income-generating the exposure of children to solvents at work and assess activities such as sewing. She soon developed a reputation the neurobehavioral effects of that exposure.” for running successful projects and job offers followed. The first challenge was access. Bab al-Tebbaneh, Over the years she has worked for the Council of Churches a low-income area of Tripoli, is often subjected to alongside MP Nayla Mouawad, and the Rene Mouawad Foundation on women’s issues in north Lebanon, and for the violence and political upheaval. In addition, “The Society of St. Georgios. people were skeptical and suspicious. They did not Intermittently Um Khaled ran a local branch of the accept to be treated like objects. They [had] already Progressive Women’s Union, the mainstay in her career, been treated this way and they [felt] their poverty which she revived three years ago in Bab al-Tebbaneh. She and living conditions [were] used by people like us to recently opened a center to provide after school lessons benefit us but not them,” Nuwayhid explains. “Then that are open to all local children, with one condition—she there was the problem of identifying the children and insists that parents pay to register the children. Um Khaled securing their cooperation. We needed to convince their has learned from experience that unless one pays (albeit a symbolic fee) people do not take things seriously. She parents, their employers, and of course the children started the school with just five students and now has 55, themselves. We needed to train our field workers all improving and doing well. Sadly, following recent violence who come from the community about the sensitivities in the vicinity, Um Khaled has been forced to look for a new of the project and we needed to make sure that the location for the school. research protocols were rigorously maintained. Another Um Khaled welcomed AUB’s research into the challenge was the logistics of the project in terms of “neurotoxic effects of solvents on working children” because structuring payments and so forth that we were able to she thinks it is important to understand that the children’s work affects them both physically and psychologically. do in partnership with the Rene Mouawad Foundation including subcontracting administrative and financial matters through them with oversight from us.” Gaining access to the children was a lengthy process that would have been impossible without the “The literature has help of the local team of field workers led by veteran social activist Nazha Salloum, also known as Um Khaled shown us that adults (see box). Without her insight and expertise little would have been achieved. With decades of experience to draw who are exposed to on, Um Khaled provided invaluable guidance on how to solvents... at work approach the families and employers, what to explain to the children, and how to provide for their comfort and develop neurological welfare during the testing sessions. The children were males between the ages of 10 and problems. This has never 17 working in mechanic and other shops, with a year been studied in working of experience in standardized socio-economic working conditions. They were chosen from two groups and children in Lebanon.” matched as closely as possible between those exposed to the chemicals (mechanic shops) and those who were not

www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Spring 2012 47 exposed. Both groups underwent the same tests. She regrets that some parents were not willing to let A total of 180 working children (roughly their children participate because they were not convinced evenly split between the two groups) completed the about the project. She says there is a lack of awareness among the general population and she hopes there will testing sessions that included interviews (general be more such badly needed health related projects in Bab questionnaire), a general physical examination, and a al-Tebbaneh and in Lebanon generally to help the poor. lead level blood test followed by a series of neurological In Um Khaled’s experience, the moment you present tests including Grooved Pegboard, Color Vision and such a project some community members think they will Contrast Sensitivity tests, as well as the BARS test, make money out of it, that they must benefit financially. a computer based neurological health battery that She says it is important to show that not everything is measures reflexes, concentration, dexterity, and so on, materialistic, that there is a moral aspect also, and that devised by the research collaborators at the Oregon such projects are for the benefit of the community not for individual pockets. Health and Science University. Um Khaled’s vast experience was vital to the A van was hired to facilitate visits to the Mouawad successful completion of research. She played a key role Center for Working Children where the children spent up in initiating and guiding discussions at the municipal and to five hours completing the tests, enjoying snacks and NGO levels to introduce the project locally and secure its drinks, and some time off work. If a child was found to acceptance. She steered the researchers and the social require medical follow up he was referred to a local clinic workers through a maze of complications and provided for treatment that was paid for by the research project. In valuable advice on how to approach parents, employers, and the children. To this end there was a screening phase general, according to Chadarevian, “the children found to find and identify children; employees were approached the experience relaxing and even fun. They were very for permission to release the children from work. Once happy to have the time off work and were pleased that they agreed, the children were invited to participate. If the somebody was taking an interest in their health and children were willing, the parents were approached. At Um welfare. At the end we had a party for them and offered Khaled’s insistence, AUB personnel remained firmly in the each one a track suit as a gift. They were really pleased.” background until initial consents from the children and With data analysis ongoing, Dean Nuwayhid is their families had been secured. This was to make sure hesitant to speculate about the research findings, but no one expected positive incentives and/or felt pressure to participate. he is already considering the next stage. “The exciting —M.A. scientific question is to see what happens over the years, so we look at this research as a baseline and hopefully will follow the children over some years even as they become adults. These effects are cumulative and we need to see if they follow a stable path or diverge.” Meanwhile the FHS team has learned some very valuable lessons including confronting their own preconceptions and misgivings about tackling such a project. “We had heard such negative things about the children, that they were violent and abusive. Indeed one member of the team was very reluctant to be involved,” Nuwayhid says. “What we discovered was they respected us and each other. While this is anecdotal it shows perhaps that treating people with respect and allowing them their dignity pays off, and is reciprocated. Thanks to Anna, the Rene Mouawad Foundation, the men and women of the project, and Um Khaled, who made sure the center was a sanctuary where the children could Community members, volunteers, and members of the Progressive disconnect from outside, they felt the difference.” Women’s Union visiting Um Khaled’s Center (standing third from left)

48 MainGate Spring 2012 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate Beyond Bliss Street legends and legacies AUB Calling Harvey Porter

A meeting with Professor David S. Appointed a professor of history, and archaeology of the region, and was Dodge in New York led Harvey Porter Porter also taught Latin and metaphys- called on to serve as acting college (1844–1923) to postpone his plans to ics, assumed the post of college librar- president on three different occasions. enroll at Union Theological Seminary Harvey Porter was not a wealthy and travel to Syria in 1870 to join the man, but he was exceedingly generous faculty of the Syrian Protestant College and also a discrete philanthropist as his instead. Although he never attended a colleague and good friend Professor theological seminary, he completed Edward Nickoley noted at his memo- the necessary coursework on his rial service. “Many alumni and former own and was ordained a minister students could not have completed in 1880. their education without the finan- Harvey Porter was born in cial help that he gave them. This I Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts have learned, not from Dr. Porter in 1844. After serving in the himself, but from those men Union Army during the American who were aided by him.”1 The Civil War, he entered Williston museum also benefited from Seminary and then Amherst Porter’s generosity, receiving not College where he was a distin- only his personal and valuable guished student earning prizes collection of coins, but a $10,000 in physics, extemporary speak- endowment as well. ing, German, and mathematics. Porter and his wife Julia He graduated first in his class in Bisbee, who were married in 1870. It was at this point in his life 1872, lived in Beirut for more than that he was recruited by Professor 50 years. He was honored for his David Stuart Dodge. He was the first more than 50 years of service to the faculty member hired in the United college in 1920 when he was chosen States to teach at SPC; the other six to receive the first honorary degree original faculty members were already from the newly renamed American in Syria when the college was founded. ian in 1880, and is credited with play- University of Beirut. His death in 1922 Not surprisingly, Porter knew no Arabic ing a major role in establishing SPC’s was an especially poignant moment, when he was hired. What is surprising, archaeological museum. He also had for he was the last surviving mem- however, is that the language of instruc- a hand in planning and overseeing the ber of the College’s founding tion at SPC at that time was Arabic. He construction of some of the buildings seven-member faculty. learned Arabic well enough and quickly on campus, most notably Post Hall. enough to be able to assist Professor Porter worked closely with George Post 1 The Founding Fathers of the American University of Beirut: Biographies, compiled by John Wortabet with his English-Arabic on his herbarium, authored articles on a Ghada Yusuf Khoury, American University of dictionary within a year. wide range of topics including the coins Beirut, 1992 , pages 130-31.

www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Spring 2012 49 Beyond Bliss Street alumni profile

with the University that has endured over 50 years. Studying by day and giving German lessons at night to pay her way, Seeden embarked on her archae- ological odyssey. Early excavations took her to Syria, but it was always the post-dig drudgery that appealed to her. While her exuberant colleague, the late Selma al Radi, was delv- ing into the ancient tell, Seeden was preoccupied with sorting through their archaeological debris and shepherd- ing their finds through the publication process. “My special interest is post- excavation, when you try and make sense of the things that are invading your life, when your kitchen table and your bathroom become filled with the stuff,” Seeden says. “And it is my duty to get it published; if it is not published, it is as if it had never been excavated.” was living in then… to escape, at AUB’s impressive periodical Berytus Fragments least in my imagination, to other times Archaeological Studies, which Seeden and other places. Everyone thought edits, is testimony to her diligence. of I was totally mad, as a girl, to even Sitting in her fourth floor College think of it. The only one who encour- Hall office, Seeden laughs with delight aged me was my history and Latin that there remain masses of archaeo- teacher whose parents wouldn’t let logical data for her to worry about until Life her become an archaeologist…” “the end of my days.” This gigantic How many teenagers know exactly what Consumed by the desire to “wash stash is the legacy of the extraordi- they want to do with their lives? How potsherds,” Seeden pitched up in nary excavation Seeden found her- many decide that they want to become Lebanon in 1960 as a bright young self codirecting during the post-war an archaeologist? “Not many” is the woman, wearing miniskirts and ready excavation of downtown Beirut. She short answer, but that is exactly what to start work. Incredibly, one of her chuckles at the memory of the call she Professor of History and Archaeology first outings in Beirut was to attend received back in 1994 to assemble a Helga Seeden (BA ’63, MA ’67) vowed the inauguration of the famous Martyrs team and report for duty. to do after reading God’s Graves and Statue. She even had her photograph “I am not an urban archaeolo- Scholars and other archaeological taken with the Italian sculptor maestro gist,” she explains. “I knew nothing tomes against the drab backdrop of Renato Marino Mazzacurati. Thereafter about urban archaeology, yet suddenly post-World War II Germany. the glamour diminished and hard work I found myself responsible for a whole Seeden is famously quoted as kicked in. Seeden was advised that the team of urban archaeologists from the saying, “I think my interest in past only route to her dream career was to UK and all my students were down- civilizations was inspired by a desire enroll at AUB, which is exactly what she town for months on end; their classes to get out of the gloomy present I did, initiating a professional relationship had moved to the excavation site.

50 MainGate Spring 2012 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate Beyond Bliss Street alumni profile

Actually, I never had time to use my aspects of the site, one on the glass, though Seeden has taught some out- trowel. I was so busy running around and one on the coins. The next one on standing students, their job opportuni- getting the money sorted and organ- the stratigraphy of the site is under peer ties in archaeology are limited and many izing everything to keep us going.” review and a major one on the pottery take up other professions. Teaching The excavation was supposed to last and trade will follow. “We have a rule archaeology is what Seeden refers to as one month, but it went on for three of thumb,” Seeden says. “One month a “service to the humanities. It is a drop years (1994-96). “I don’t know how of excavation takes nine months to on a hot stone, as the expression goes, we managed to do it,” Seeden states. publish. So imagine what three years but it is the service I render.” “But somehow we kept going. One of will take? Certainly enough to keep my colleagues came for two years and me going to the end of my days. I have was still here 10 years later!” retired from excavations, thank heav- Seeden chose an Islamic site ens, but we have to deal with all the just east of the former Souk Tawile, information we have unearthed. When dated 1516 and built by the Mameluke I wanted to become an archaeologist Islamic legislator Ibn Iraq Al Demashki. I certainly never imagined what millions It yielded extraordinary riches along of potsherds could mean. with millions of potsherds (including “In fact these artifacts are simply Abbasid pottery from 500 years prior the means to understand how lives were to the Mamelukes), tens of thousands once lived. In my many excavations of glass fragments, and five thousand in Syria I have also learned as much coins. Seeden and her colleagues also from the villagers with whom we lived Seeden with Italian sculptor Mazzacurati, who designed the Martyrs Statue, in 1960 discovered a Byzantine souk with 14 during and after our excavations as I Looking back over her decades at numbered shops that turned out to be did in the classroom. That is why, in my AUB Seeden says she has a lot to be a shopping street leading to the hippo- village projects, there was always a large thankful for. Not only did the University drome of Beirut in the Wadi Abu Jamil part of ethnographic observation. My provide her with the life she dreamed area and 600 square meters of Roman students and I learned a great deal from of, it also gave her a new lease on life mosaics from town houses destroyed in that that helped us understand tradi- in 2002 when she could have died from 551 by the earthquake. tional ways of life and crafts from archi- a brain aneurysm but for the prompt While Seeden and her team toiled tecture to food and food production. I action of friends and AUBMC doctors to thoroughly excavate the site and also gave importance to environmental who alerted Dr. Issam Awad, one of the document it before it was transformed archaeology that deals with plant and world’s top brain aneurysm specialists, into underground parking, she was animal remains and people’s diets and who for the first time performed this life shocked by accusations of neglect health, so I always made sure samples saving operation at AUB. and destruction by local Beirutis who were collected and properly analyzed by “Despite my uninformed opinion somehow blamed her for not preserving specialists in that field.” when I came to Beirut in 1960 and the the site intact. “They misunderstood Of course the flip side of all this is mountains of shards in my life, I did the nature of our work,” she says while teaching. Seeden still remembers how learn very early on that archaeology still shuddering at the memory of those nervous she first was when entering the deals essentially with people, past and vicious confrontations. classroom all those years ago at AUB. present,” Seeden says. “In all facets of The sheer volume of the excavated “I came out completely overwhelmed archaeology I did what I wanted to do, materials has provided enough material by those 12 students. These days there and I am still doing it, and I hope to be for innumerable articles and papers as are 30 at a time, but I got used to it. doing it until perhaps I pop off in well as half a dozen books. So far When you are well prepared it is always the middle of it.” Seeden has overseen the publication easier and you can sense it from the way of three: one collaborative work on all the students respond.” Unfortunately, —M.A.

www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Spring 2012 51 Beyond Bliss Street reflections Culture Club1968–1984

Mary Clark Hallab is a veteran of many of the difficult civil war years. She was a young student at Louisiana State University when she married a Lebanese student from Tripoli, Abdul Hamid Hallab (see AUB Reflections, summer 2008). She completed her MA in English literature in 1965. Together with their first child the couple moved to Lebanon and AUB in 1968, where she joined the English Department and he the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences. Shortly after she earned her PhD dissertation on the psychoanalytic criticism of Henry James from Louisiana State University in 1970, her second son was born. When she left Lebanon in 1984, she took a teaching position in the United States. After 25 years teaching at Central Missouri State University (later the University of Central Missouri) she retired in 2005 as full professor and recently moved with her second husband, a poet, to Houston, Texas. Her book, Vampire Hallab and one small son, Nadim. Abdul other assorted nationalities that made God: The Allure of the Undead in had a teaching job in food technology up the faculty. Also, of course, the Western Culture, was published by and nutrition in the Faculty of Agricultural campus is very conveniently located, New York University Press in 2009. and Food Sciences. Since I was ABD a perfect place to work and play. I was Information on the book and some in English literature and (better still) a also always impressed with the high of the painting she has been doing native speaker, the English Department quality of the faculty members, which in her retirement can be seen on her seemed glad to give me some fresh- is to say—their education and brains. web page, maryhallab.com. man classes to teach for a start. We moved into faculty housing right away. Where did you teach most of your MainGate: When did you first I had seen AUB on previous trips to classes? arrive at AUB and what were your Lebanon to visit my husband’s fam- That’s a funny question. I taught class- first impressions? ily. Well, of course, the AUB campus is es wherever I was given a classroom Mary Hallab: I first arrived at AUB in beautiful and the people were very nice, around the circle on upper campus— 1968 with my husband Abdul Hamid both Arabs and Americans and also the Fisk, Bliss, and Nicely Halls.

52 MainGate Spring 2012 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate Beyond Bliss Street reflections

What were some of the changes I hope they remember some of the people were being kidnapped. I hated you noticed while at AUB? subject matter—from composition going. My son Salem and I left on I guess I could spend several days to graduate seminars in English and the last helicopter to go. (The other answering that, but I won’t. I was at American literature to Cultural Studies boy was in college in the States). AUB for 16 years, until 1984, so invari- (now Civilization Sequence) courses. I I went back a few years ago for a ably there were some changes. The hope they remember something of the few days. When? I can’t remem- trees got taller. Some presidents came ancient writers, the Greeks, Oedipus, ber—1998? But it was a pleasant and went. A conflict started in Lebanon and Lucretius, as well as great works time and it looked as though all was that went on and on. We always said it from the later courses. I hope they going to be well—again. The campus could not get worse, but it did. Faculty finally understood the value of these had a few new buildings and I still came and went, some of them, and, of works for their own lives and educa- found a few old friends and acquaint- course, students. Students seemed tion. Some confessed later that only ances. One thing that had not more and more worried about careers after they had graduated did they really changed, oddly: the popular music I and jobs than when we first arrived realize that this was the most valuable heard being sold on the streets and when so many seemed pretty wealthy. group of courses they had taken— overheard at a student party was still There were more and more girls in even more profitable in the long run the same as when I had left in the the classes. At first, they would tell than their professional courses. 1980s—still “The Eye of the Tiger.” me that they were just there so they could get a better husband, but in later Are you still in touch with any of What do you remember about AUB years, their numbers increased, and your former students? during the civil war (1975-1900)? they, too, talked about careers and I am sad to say that I have not kept As I said, I left Lebanon in 1984. I was getting paying jobs. Perhaps the hard in touch with former students. When there for a good deal of the war—from circumstances in Lebanon made many I got back to the States, I found the first skirmishes (we might call of the students take their work more a job in a small town in Missouri them) to the Israeli attack on the seriously. Life became more serious where I somehow found myself out airport to the visits of the US Marines for us all as we listened to bullets and of touch with almost everyone except to the helicopters out—and through a rockets and did not know where they my kids—and, of course, found myself lot of strange times. If I started listing were going to land and as Lebanon with a whole new world of students, memories, I would never stop. What became more bleak and public ser- quite different from those at AUB. I about the Lebanese celebrating New vices almost stopped. Nevertheless, always enjoyed the talkativeness of the Year’s Eve by shooting thousands of I left reluctantly and would not have students in Beirut, even when they did glowing bullets into the sky? Will that done so if I had not had two kids (by not necessarily know what they were do? I remember it all. then) to worry about. talking about. Missouri students are silent. I was terrified of them. What impact has AUB had on your What do you think your students life? might most remember about your Do you have anything you Sixteen years at a place is bound to classes? would like to say to any of those make an impression of some sort. I It is hard for teachers to say what students? think I am a different person for having their students might remember about Congratulations on all the successes been at AUB. I cannot even begin them. I have sometimes thought that you have achieved! I am always to start a description or enumera- that the best way to be remembered impressed when I hear of them. tion. Maybe I will write a memoir would be to drop dead in class, but some day. I did not want to do that. I think Have you been back to AUB since —J.M.C. my students might remember that I you left? More On-line was cheerful and laughed a lot, and I left in 1984 because too many

www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Spring 2012 53 Beyond Bliss Street time flies

Folk Dance Festival, 1957 The interest in folk dance at AUB can be traced to 1942 when Betty Saleeby brought American-style folk dance to Beirut. Informal folk dance activities were held at West Hall to “provide wholesome recreation” for the AUB community. In time the repertoire expanded to include dances from around the world. In 1951, Melda Wallace and Esther Kurani cochaired the first festival on campus. The tradition continues today, with hundreds of students participating from schools across Lebanon.

More On-line

54 MainGate Spring 2012 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate NORTH AMERICA Baltimore | 01 The Baltimore Chapter hosted its first ever salsa party at the Havana Club on February 4. Left to right: Salma Kodsi (BS ’85), Dr. Alan Shikani (BS ’76, MD ’81), Ramzi Namek (BEN ’90), Elie Ghandour (BBA ’60, MBA ’63), Maen Farha (MS ’82), Eman Sbaity (former student) 01

Indiana | 02 The Indiana Chapter gathered for a Christmas party on December 24, 2011. Left to right, back row: Dr. Tarek El-Masry (BS ’93, MD ’97), Dr. Nadine Haddad (BS ’91, MD ’96), Dr. Charles Kahi (BS ’92, MD ’96). Seated: Dr. Samar Rahhal (BS ’97, MD ’01), Standing: Dr. Khalil Diab (BS ’98, MD ’02), Dr. Tarek Taha (BS '99), Dr. Edmond Bendaly (BS '97, MD '01), Dr. Zeina Nabhan (BS '97, MD '01), Dr. Amale Lteif (BS '93, MD '97), Dr Hicham El-Masry (BS '99, MD '03), Dr. Lida Mina (BS '99, MD '03), Jackie Razzouk, Dr. Bassem Razzouk (BS '83, MD '87) 02

Montreal | 03 On February 4, the Montreal Alumni Chapter took advantage of an exceptionally warm day to visit the Snow Village, a unique ice and snow replica of the city of Montreal on Saint Helen’s Island in the St. Lawrence River. The group is pictured here in front of a snow replica of Bonaventure Market, a famous market in Montreal.

EUROPE Paris | Paris Chapter President Dima Daouk (BA

’83) organized a small gathering to meet new chap- 03 ter members on February 20 at the Le First restau- rant, Westin Vendome. Among those in attendance was UK Chapter President Talal Farah, PhD (BA ’62, MA ’70).

MIDDLE EAST Mount Lebanon | 04 On December 2, 2011, the Mount Lebanon Chapter held its annual gala dinner at Le Royal Hotel. President Dorman spoke about AUB’s current and future regional influence in edu- cation, business, engineering, finance, and diplomacy. 04

www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Spring 2012 55 FEA Chapter | On January 13, more than 70 engineering alumni gathered to meet FEA Dean Makram Suidan, PhD (BEN ’71). Suidan and FEA Chapter President Samir Traboulsi, PhD (BEN ’73, MEN ’75, MBA ’80) welcomed FEA alumni to the first of many 2012 events. 05 Left to right: Roger Tarazi (BEN ’65), Sami Assir (BEN ’75), former FEA Dean Ibrahim Hajj (BEN ’64), FEA Dean Makram Suidan (BEN ’71), Grabis Dantziguian (BEN ’65) 06 Left to right: Dean

05 Makram Suidan (BEN ’71), Samir Traboulsi (BEN ’73, MEN ’75, MBA ’80), Nadim Abou Rizk (BEN ’81)

Jordan | 07 The AUB Alumni Club of Jordan held a “Blast from the Past Dancing Night” on February 3 at the 51 Club. More than 300 AUB alumni dressed in costumes from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s partied the night away.

WAAAUB Third Annual Convention 08 06 The WAAAUB Third Annual Convention was held on campus December 27-29, 2011. More than 150 alumni attended the leadership assembly to meet the new WAAAUB leadership and to rec- ognize former WAAAUB President HE Khalil Makkawi (BA ’54), who was awarded the President’s Volunteer Award for outstanding con- tributions to WAAAUB and AUB alumni worldwide. 09 WAAAUB leadership then met to set new direc- tions and strategies for the next two years. The convention ended with a dinner for WAAAUB members and their spouses at Le Particulier. Left 07

Recently Elected WAAAUB Riyadh Chapter Eddy Moufarrej (BBA ’99), President Ghiath Refai (BBA ’00), Vice President Johny M. Akik (BEN ’93), Treasurer Hiba Dandachli Hariri (BS ’04), Secretary Member at Large: Faisal Al Hariri (BBA ’01), Omar Ardati (BBA ’08), Fadi Hatoum (BBA ’99), Mouine Jaber (BEN ’91), Mazen Kachmar (BBA ’09), Amer Mahmassani (BEN ’82), Zeina Safa Mardini (BS ’96), and Sirine Salam Mikati (BBA ’03) 08

56 MainGate Spring 2012 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate 10

09 to right: HE Khalil Makkawi (BA ’54) and President Peter Dorman 10 Left to right: Recently elected WAAAUB board members: Sami Haddad (BA ’71, MA ’77), Rima El Kadi (BBA ’79), Hiba Bitar (BEN ’99, MEM ’05), George Riachi (BAR 11 ’00), Nabil Dajani (BA ’57, MA ’60), Genane Maalouf (BBA ’98), President Peter Dorman, Karam Doumet (BA ’74, MA ’76), and Fadlo Touma (BEN ’66, MEN ’69)

WAAAUB New Year’s Event | 11 12 13 The WAAAUB Programs Committee held its third annu- al New Year’s Eve event at the Mahmoud Malhas Common Room in West Hall. More than 200 AUB alumni from around the world joined the festivities for this year’s masked ball. A picture is worth a thousand words. 12

13

www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Spring 2012 57 Beyond Bliss Street class notes

1940s ing. He recently celebrated Bonn, Germany. He then Sarkis Broussalian (BA ’45, his 86th birthday with his moved to the University of MD ’49) immigrated to the wife Cathy and their children. Jordan in Amman to work Broussalian remembers his as an assistant professor. days at AUB with great fond- From 1991-94 Hashwa was ness and hopes to hear from a visiting professor at AUB; old friends and classmates. he has taught at LAU since [sarkisbruce(at)aol.com] October 1994. His research is in environmental microbiology Looking for old friends as well as microbial genom- George, and Sandra) all live and classmates! ics. He represented Jordan in in Ottawa. About ten years AUB Alumni Council commit- ago, Skall served as presi- 1960s tees for many years starting dent of AUB’s Ottawa Alumni United States in 1951. After Fuad Hashwa (BS ’65, MS in the early 1990s. Hashwa Association Chapter and also spending two years in the ’67) is a professor of microbi- and his wife Lodi Ghawi live in as a member of the Executive US Medical Corps in Berlin, ology and biotechnology and Kfar Hbab, Lebanon with their Council of the North American Germany, he settled in Los a former dean of the School 17-year-old daughter Layal. Alumni Association. [askaff(at) Angeles where he completed of Arts and Sciences (2003- [fhashwa(at)yahoo.com] uottawa.ca] his residency in neurosurgery 11) at the Lebanese American at White Memorial Hospital University (LAU). After receiv- Andre Skaff (BEN ’67) is a 1970s at Loma Linda University. ing his doctorate in micro- professor of civil engineering Ibrahim Daoud (BS ’72) Broussalian practiced for 30 biology from the University at the University of Ottawa earned his MD in 1977 from years in Whittier, California of Goettingen, Germany in in Ottawa, Canada. He, his Baghdad Medical School. before he retired at the age 1972, he did post-doctoral wife Renee Salloum, and He has worked as an emer- of 60 to enjoy his love of sail- studies at the University of their three children (Marianne, gency room physician at Dhahran Hospital for Saudi In the late 1960s Marilee Livermore Needham (BA ’67) was Aramco Company in Saudi taking the obligatory Cultural Studies courses while Hugh Arabia for the past 30 years. Harcourt was teaching in the department. Now, all these years His wife, Haifa Jaqaman, later, Harcourt and his wife Shirley Harcourt (MPH ’74) have earned a master’s in educa- settled in Portland, Oregon at the same retirement complex tion from Lehigh University where Needham’s mother lives. It is there that Professor in Pennsylvania in 2006. Harcourt reprised his Cultural Studies class, this time called She is an Arabic teacher at “Inquiring Minds.” Needham, a retired elementary school King Abdallah University of teacher, is back in class, but now her fellow students are Science and Technology. retired judges, physicians, theologians, history professors, lawyers, teachers, and others bringing a lifetime of They have four children: Fadi, experiences to the discussions of thinkers from the pre-Socratics to the twenty-first century. “Every class is a an MD from Royal College surprise,” says Harcourt, “They don‘t swallow anything on the authority of a professor.” of Surgeons in Dublin, who The Harcourts left Beirut in 1976 during the war and after a brief stay in Portland, relocated to Birzeit is currently earning his spe- University in Palestine where Hugh organized the Cultural Studies Department working under his former student and baby-sitter, Her Excellency Hanan Daud Mikhail (formerly Ashrawi) (BA ’68, MA ’70). In 1986 cialty degree in orthopedics the Harcourts moved to Cyprus where they devoted their time to refurbishing an old stone house and in Germany; Joyce, who has enjoying the sun before returning to Portland in 2005. a master’s degree in interna- Needham is currently involved in an effort to organize an alumni chapter for AUBites in Oregon and tional relations from Johns southwest Washington. All graduates, former students, former faculty, and any other interested persons Hopkins University and is now living in that area are encouraged to email auboregon(at)gmail.com. working at the World Bank in

58 MainGate Spring 2012 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate Beyond Bliss Street class notes

Washington, DC; Elias, who the world including the Gulf, has a BS in finance from Yemen, Africa, Azerbaijan, Georgetown University and is and currently Australia. working at GE in Dubai; and He has one daughter and Grace, a first-year student in three sons and resides with clinical psychology at George his family in Sharjah, UAE. Washington University in [Marwananas(at)hotmail.com] Washington, DC. Naji Fayad (BBA ’84, MBA Elias Aractingi (BBA ’79) is ’87) is the chief financial the author of Boosting You, a officer at Arabia Insurance book about how to become Company and the head of a more successful executive. the Audit Committee of its He recently did a book sign- Saudi Arabian sister com- ing at the Olayan School of pany Arabia Insurance Business and donated the Cooperative Company. In book sale proceeds to sup- 1996, he became a char- port a Boosting You scholar- tered accountant after earn- ship at AUB. Aractingi has ing his post-graduate degree more than 30 years of profes- in public accountancy from sional experience in six conti- McGill University in Montreal, nents. After earning an MBA Canada. After living in at Columbia, he worked in Montreal for ten years work- New York as vice president ing for Deloitte & Touche, of international private bank- Fayad decided to return to ing at Banca della Svizzera his home country in 2000. Rami Al Khal (BBA ’80) writes: Italiana, vice president and He and his wife Joumana “Seven years ago my friend Sami head of operations at Interaudi Makarem have four children Sayegh, who is president of Ciel & Bank, New York, and as prin- and live in Beirut. [nfayad(at) Vent Club in Beirut, was invited to cipal at Booz & Company hotmail.com] India and Iran for two international in Singapore, Indonesia, and kite festivals. I had no idea about Thailand. He then moved to Ohannes Geukjian (BA ’84, flying kites, but I volunteered to join the Lebanese banking giant MA ’89) has been appointed him and since then I have loved it and have been going every January, invited initially by the government BLOM Bank. Aractingi is of Gujarat with their wonderful hospitality, and later by the people of based in Beirut and has a Karnataka, in Belgaum and Mangalore. Once you step into amazing home in Miami, Florida. India you experience its chaos, the melting pot of all kinds of antagonisms and contradictions—pedestrians, beggars, and white 1980s collars, rich and poor entangled with cars, motorcycles, rickshaws, Marwan Mahmoud El bicycles, cows, and dogs… I was once struck by this guy 'driving' Anas (BEN ’82) is a pro- an elephant crossing the main road. But all this is magic, charming, ject manager at Consolidated and somehow gives you peace and serenity. I am at ease with Contracting Company (CCC), the Indians in Delhi and Mumbai, as well as in Ahmedabad (very Australia. Since 1983 he has conservative) and Goa (extremely liberal). I have learned to 'feel' worked for CCC at many a lecturer in the Department this country, 'live it,' and fill my soul with its positive energy… and memorable locations around of Political Studies and my taste buds with its delicious super spicy foods…”

www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Spring 2012 59 Beyond Bliss Street class notes

Public Administration. He research interests include earned an MBA from the pursued postgraduate stud- ethnic conflict, nationalism, Ecole Supérieure des Affaires. ies in the UK and received peace-building in war torn She is married to Rami Rajab, his PhD from the Peace societies, and Middle East vice president at Sorin Group. Studies Department at politics. They have three children, Bradford University in 2005. Azmy Ray, Noor Dean, and In 2006-07, he joined the Jinan Chebaclou Rajab Yasmine. Both Azmy and PSPA Department at AUB as Noor Dean are students at a part-time member of the AUB. Yasmine is still at home faculty. Geukjian has pub- with mom and dad. The fam- lished a number of articles in ily resides in Dubai. Asthma and Immunology, and academic journals, including [jinanrajab(at)hotmail.com] is currently president of the Middle Eastern Studies and New Jersey Allergy Asthma Nationalities Papers. His Nayla Mumneh (BS ’88, and Immunology Society. book, Ethnicity, Nationalism MD ’92) is in private medical Mumneh is involved in clini- and Conflict in the South practice in New Jersey spe- cal research in allergic and Caucasus: Nagorno- cializing in allergy and immu- immunologic disorders and Karabakh and the Legacy of nology. She is a fellow of the plays an active role in edu- Soviet Nationalities Policy, (BAR ’87) is a senior architect American Academy of Allergy cating the community about was published by Ashgate in who specializes in interior Asthma and Immunology and asthma. She founded the January 2012. Geukjian’s contracting. In 1999 she the American College of Allergy Allergy Treatment Center of

Summer Program for AUB Alumni Children (SPAAC) A chance for your children to begin collecting The American University of Beirut’s Continuing Education Center their own memories of AUB (CEC), in collaboration with the Office of Alumni Relations, and the Worldwide Alumni Association of the American University of Deadline for registration Beirut (WAAAUB), is pleased to announce the Summer Program June 3, 2012 for AUB Alumni Children (SPAAC) from July 4-29, 2012. Children of all AUB alumni from the entire world will have an opportunity to spend time on the AUB campus and experience your alma mater and Lebanon as never before.

The Summer Program is an educational and cultural program for high school and college students between 16 and 21 years of age. Courses will include Arabic language instruction, contemporary Lebanese studies, cultural activities and more. Several exciting excursions are planned to sites across Lebanon and additional leisure activities will round out the days, evenings and weekends. Registration is now open!

“I did get to truly experience and enjoy For more information BEIRUT CAMPUS NY OFFICE please visit: Arabia Osseiran Eva Klimas the Lebanese culture while I was at the Jon Makkinje E: [email protected] E: [email protected] American University of Beirut” 2010 SPAAC Participant rep.aub.edu.lb/spaac T: +961-1-738009 T: +1-212-583-7674

60 MainGate Spring 2012 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate Beyond Bliss Street class notes

New Jersey in 2000. (www. Paris. El-Bizri has lectured at New York and Berlin. Besides allergytreatmentcenter.net) the University of Cambridge his academic profile, he has Nader El-Bizri (BAR ’89) In (1999-2010), held a visiting 12 years of professional addition to his AUB degree, professorship at the University architectural experience in of Lincoln (2007-10), and London, Cambridge, New held a senior research asso- York, and Beirut. ciate post at the Institute of Ismaili Studies, London 1990s (2002-10). He maintains Nadine Bahlawan (BS ’92) active memberships in inter- After earning her AUB degree national societies and acts as in biology, Bahlawan earned a Elkhoury received his degree elected council member of BS and an MS in pharmacy in electrical engineering and the Société Internationale from Beirut Arab University. has completed advanced d'Histoire des Sciences et She works at a pharmaceutical coursework in business man- des Philosophies Arabes et company in Lebanon where agement at the Air Academy, El-Bizri holds a PhD in phi- Islamiques (CNRS, Paris). she is responsible for the the University of Texas, and losophy from the New School El-Bizri has published and registration of new pharma- the University of Edinburgh for Social Research in New lectured widely and contrib- ceutical products. Bahlawan Supply Chain Management at York (1999) and an MArch-II uted to various BBC radio is married to Dr. Majed the International Institute for from Harvard University and TV programs. He also El-Bahlawan, a gastroenter- Management Development (1994). His areas of expertise serves on the editorial boards ologist at Hammoud Hospital. in Switzerland. Elkhoury and are the history of philosophy of publications of Oxford They reside with their three his wife Jocelyne have two and science, phenomenolo- University Press, Cambridge children in Saida-Majdelyoun. sons, Mike and Thomas. gy, and architectural humani- University Press, and [nadinedemashkieh(at) They live in Houston, Texas. ties. He was formerly a princi- Springer. Moreover, he has hotmail.com] [elkhoury(at)slb.com] pal lecturer (reader) at the acted as a consultant to the University of Lincoln and a Science Museum in London, Joseph Elkhoury (BEN Hasan Sayed-Hasan (BEN research associate at the the Aga Khan Trust for Culture ’92) is vice president of ’92) is the founder of Master Centre National de la in Geneva, and the Solomon Schlumberger Information Media, a broadcast consul- Recherche Scientifique, Guggenheim Museum in Solutions in North America. tancy and services firm that

Hala Labaki (BA ’97), Carole Makhoul Hani (BS ’96), and Daniel Neuwirth (BA ’97) are the cofounders of shahiya.com, a company that is well on its way to creating an Arab “foodie” revolution. With the goal of preserving a rich Arab culinary heritage through on-line accessibility of recipes, the company emerged from the cravings of its creators. Cofounder Labaki commented, “We thought of the idea for this site while studying abroad. We craved Lebanese food, but couldn’t find a single dependable on-line source for Lebanese recipes, especially in Arabic.” A website with user-generated content, shahiya.com affords an opportunity for Arab home cooks from all over the world to create a free profile and add their own tried and true recipes. It also offers the extra bonus of nutritional facts for every recipe published on the site, as well as dietary advice. Today, less than two years after its inception, shahiya.com has over 25,000 members and 2,500 recipes. The company recently launched an iPhone application focusing on 101 quintessentially Lebanese recipes (in six languages). Thanks to Labaki, Hani, and Neuwirth, the delights of Middle Eastern cuisine are now at the world’s fingertips.

www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Spring 2012 61 Beyond Bliss Street class notes

Group where he assumed He received his PhD from ment of goods and people a number of managerial Purdue University. Abou Najm across West Africa (www. posts in the United States, has held appointments at borderlesswa.com). The alli- Canada, and Egypt. Tabbara Oregon State University, MIT, ance was featured in the 3rd holds an MBA from the and Purdue. His work is Africa Ports, Logistics and Thunderbird School of Global focused on sustainable Supply Chain Management Management in Arizona. development of water and Conference in Accra last geo-environmental systems March. Hamoui is a chartered Zeina El-Hajj (BS ’97) With to meet the challenges of member of the Chartered growing populations and cli- Institute of Logistics and serves the regional broadcast mate and land use changes. Transport (CILT) and a mem- media industry with offices ber of the executive com- in Abu Dhabi, the UAE, and 2000s mittee of its Tema branch Windsor, Ontario, Canada, Aline Bsaibes (BS ’00, MS in Ghana where he is mar- where he is managing direc- ’02) is an agricultural keting coordinator and site tor. Sayed-Hasan was for- researcher and project manager (www.cilt-gh.org). merly employed at the Media manager at ITK France He currently resides in Tema Zone Authority, Abu Dhabi as (www.itkweb.com). In 2007 and is executive director of head of media technology. transport and operations for his family’s business: Tarzan Dalal Aref Aziz (BS ’93, her BS in agriculture, El-Hajj Enterprise, Ltd. (www.tar- MD ’97), a fellow of the went on to earn a master’s in zan.com.gh) Royal College of Surgeons forest resources from the of Canada (FRCSC), Aziz is University of Idaho in 2003. Issam W. Damaj (MEN ’01) a general surgeon at Halton She is currently working as a Healthcare in Ontario, program assistant at the Canada. She finished her United Nations-ESCWA. general surgery training at [zeinabelle(at)hotmail.com] AUBMC in 2002. She then moved to Canada to pursue Majdi Abou Najm (BEN ’98, further training, research, and MEN ’00) has been appointed she earned a PhD in water surgical oncology fellowships. sciences at Institut Nationale Aziz and her husband Wadid Recherche Agronomique, Saab (BBA ’92, MBA ’96) France. Bsaibes and her have two children and live in husband Sébastien Preys Milton, Ontario, Canada. have two children and live in is an assistant professor of Montpellier, France. [aline. computer engineering and Toufic Ahmed Tabbara bsaibes(at)itkweb.com] the computer engineering (BBA ’95) was appointed program lead at the American CEO of Lafarge, Jordan. Ziad Hamoui (BS ’00, BBA University of Kuwait. After Tabbara began his career ’02) was recently elected earning his master’s degree as a financial analyst with president of the Borderless at AUB, Damaj moved to the the Republic National Bank assistant professor in AUB’s Alliance, a newly-formed green city of Salalah, Oman of New York in London. In Department of Civil and private sector initiative to work at Dhofar University 1998, he joined the Lafarge Environmental Engineering. promoting the free move- as an assistant professor of

62 MainGate Spring 2012 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate Beyond Bliss Street class notes electrical and computer Sebouh Barsoumian (BA Met at AUB engineering and department ’07) received a master’s Alaa Halawi (BS ’02) chair. Damaj earned his doc- degree in international rela- writes: It was a clear starry torate from the London tions from King's College, night in the spring of 2000. South Bank University, UK in London in January 2009. I was meeting a friend at 2004. He and his wife Rana Bustani Hall for a night out, Kebbi, and their children Sabreen Fostok (MS ’07) was but when her roommate Omar and Hala are enjoying appointed an instructor of biol- Farah Nowaihed Sanjad Kuwait with its marvelous ogy at AUB and the Lebanese (BS '04) informed me that sea coast on the Arabian International University in my friend had to study for an exam, I invited her out Gulf. [idamaj(at)auk.edu.kw] 2007 and 2010 respective- for coffee instead. We spent the night chatting and laughing about ly. Currently, she teaches at anything and everything and I was smitten. I was a computer science Jouna Balaa (BS ’02, MPH both institutions, as well as at junior at the time and she was a freshman about to embark on the ’06) and Mahmoud ElJack the Lebanese University. She same major. I started making up the weirdest excuses to meet up has published her research with her. After a year of infatuation, I gathered up the courage to ask in peer reviewed journals her out. She refused the first time and the next time and the time and contributed a chapter after that. Among the many things that AUB taught me, persevering to Ethnomedicinal Plants: and never giving up on what you want in life has had the most lasting Revitalization of Traditional impact. Even though things didn’t work out for us during that year, Knowledge of Herbs in 2011. Farah remained the love of my life. We met again during the summer of 2006, [in] a group of AUB alumni united to assist in helping war Rola Khairallah (BA ’07) refugees. It was the perfect opportunity to reconnect on a different recently accepted a position level. We fell in love with each other and have been happily married as assistant general manager for four years. Every time we visit Beirut, before we do anything else, at Green Engineering & we drop by the Main Gate and share our morning coffee on its stairs Management SAL (GEM) in where we reminisce about some of the best times of our lives, “The are proud to announce the AUB Experience.” [alaa.halawi(at)gmail.com] birth of a baby girl, Sama ElJack. She was born on May 17, 2011 in Riyadh, weighing 7 lbs., 12 oz.

Akl Fahed (BS '06, MD '10) recently moved to Boston, Massachusetts. He is a post- Finding a reliable contractor and a skilled craftsman in Lebanon doctoral research fellow in just got a whole lot easier! Zadi Hobeika (BBA ’08) has launched cardiogenetics at Harvard M3allem.com, an online directory for a wide range of services Medical School. His research Hazmieh, Lebanon. Khairallah from heavy duty construction to lightweight housecleaning and is focused on defining the was formerly employed as an maintenance. Electricians, plumbers, painters, roofers, computer genetic causes of congenital executive officer in AUB’s technicians, and handymen are just some of the craftsmen registered heart disease in Lebanese Office of the Vice President for at M3allem. Hobeika credits the small business management course families using innovative Facilities. She writes, "I of his professor, Tarek Kettaneh, with giving him the confidence and sequencing technologies. worked at AUB for 11 suc- the structure to create and build his own business. He hopes to take [aklfahed(at)genetics.med. cessful years… I will always the pain out of finding the right contractor by offering lots of customer harvard.edu] be proud to be an alumna." feedback and even some online fun and games. [www.m3allem.com]

www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Spring 2012 63 Beyond Bliss Street class notes

RECENTLY awards include the ACS Education Award by the at the Wisconsin Primate HONORED Chemical Education Award Mediterranean Association of Laboratory (Madison), he was Bassam Z. Shakhashiri in 1986, the National Science International Schools at its appointed Professor of Board Public Service Award conference in Barcelona last Psychiatry and Pharmacology, in 2007 for his extraordinary November. Abushakra is University of Tennessee contributions to increase widely recognized as a leader (Memphis, 1972-90). He sub- public understanding of sci- in the international educa- sequently served as Senior ence, the Helen M. Free tional community. In 2005, he Science Adviser to the Award for Public Outreach was inducted into the Hall of Director of the National in 2005, and the 2002 Fame in international educa- Institute of Mental Health American Association for tion by the Association for the (Bethesda, 1990-94), and the Advancement of Advancement of International Special Adviser to WHO’s Science Award for Public Education. Abushakra is also Director of Mental Health Understanding of Science the recipient of the (Geneva, 1995-6). Akiskal is and Technology. Shakhashiri’s Distinguished Service to currently Distinguished presidential theme for 2012 is International Education Professor of Psychiatry and “Advancing Chemistry and Award from the International Director of the International (former student, late 1950s) Communicating Chemistry,” Schools Association, a United Mood Center, University of was elected president of the which captures his commit- Nations NGO. California (San Diego), and American Chemical Society ment to support basic editor-in-chief of Journal of (ACS), the world’s largest research, education, and Hagop Akiskal (BS ’65, MD Affective Disorders. He holds scientific society. Shakhashiri innovation and to communi- ’69) was decorated by the honorary doctorates from the is a chemistry professor at cate the values and role of Universities of Lisbon, the University of Wisconsin- the chemical sciences to the Aristotle (Thessaloniki), and Madison. He received a BA general public. the Armenian Academy of from Boston University in Sciences. A foreign member 1960, an MS from the Walid Abushakra (BEN ’63), of Académie Nationale de University of Maryland in founder, chairman, and Médecine (Paris), he has 1965, and a PhD from the received the Gold Medal of University of Maryland in Society of Biological 1968. An ACS member since Psychiatry and the Jean 1962, Shakhashiri has won Delay Prize (the highest dis- many honors and is an elect- tinction of the World ed fellow of numerous pres- Psychiatric Association). With tigious scientific organiza- wife Knarig Kouyoumjian tions, including the New York President of the Lebanese (BA ’68), whose graduate Academy of Sciences, the Republic with the Gold Medal degree is from the Ecole du American Association for the of Medical Merit of First Louvre, he has studied the Advancement of Science, Degree last October on the temperament and creativity and the American Chemical occasion of an international of Parisian artists and blues Society. In addition, congress at Beirut’s musicians. Shakhashiri holds seven superintendent of Educational Hotel addressing bipolar honorary doctoral degrees Services Overseas Limited, spectrum disorders, of which Salim Abu-Fadil (BS ’66, from institutions of higher was awarded the Outstanding he is widely recognized as MD ’70) was recently hon- learning. His more than 35 Contributions to International the pioneer. Following training ored by a leading medical

64 MainGate Spring 2012 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate Beyond Bliss Street class notes

dency training program director (for over two dec- ades), associate clinical pro- fessor at the UCLA School of Medicine, and chief of the Department of Ob-Gyn. Abu-Fadil has chaired and served on numerous com- mittees dealing with care and management, published extensively, and presented

Left photo, left to right: Dr. Binesh Batra, Dr. Jeff Weisz, Dr. Salim Abu-Fadil, Dr. Diana Wang at the most prestigious con- Right photo: Dr. Abu-Fadil with his wife, Joyce ferences, national socie- group in Southern California to the community. Abu-Fadil reproductive endocrinol- ties, and institutions in his with the Kaiser Permanente did his ob-gyn residency ogy; shortly thereafter he field. His philanthropic and Downey Medical Center’s training at AUB where he joined Southern California humanitarian work on behalf Physician Exceptional served as president of the Permanente Medical Group. of needy children is exten- Contribution Award. This Medical Students’ Society He has been widely recog- sive. As president of AUB’s honor recognizes extraordi- and president of the Resident nized for his work as a prac- Southern California Alumni nary professional expertise, Staff Organization. He then titioner, clinician, professor, Chapter from 1988 to 1991, standards, and dedication as moved to the University of researcher, and administra- he worked diligently to well as exceptional civic and Southern California as a tor, holding a wide range establish AUB scholarships humanitarian contributions Ford Foundation Fellow in of positions, including resi- for deserving students.

Gabriel Rebeiz (BEN ’82) AUB Trustee Rebeiz, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California San Diego’s Jacobs School of Engineering, has been appointed to the prestigious Wireless Communications Industry Endowed Chair. Rebeiz is a world renowned pioneer in high-frequency wireless communications research, whose work can be found in everything from cell phones to radio telescopes. He is considered one of the fathers of RF MEMS technology and advanced SiGe/CMOS phased array integrated circuits. RF MEMS are minute electronic components which are used in many systems including tunable antennas for 3G and 4G cell phones. Rebeiz has also done ground-breaking work in the field of silicon-based phased array chips. The chips are very complex radio-frequency integrated circuits which perform analog and digital phased-array processing and are used in satellite communications and in radar systems. He has been described by his colleagues as having a knack for spotting research that can be commercialized. With the help of his graduate students, he can spend several years turning pure research into viable devices that are almost ready to be commercialized. Rebeiz has a passion for teaching and claims to have established his impressive research track record with the help of the 42 PhD students and 16 postdoctoral fellows he has graduated and mentored, both at the Jacobs School at UC San Diego and at the University of Michigan where he taught from 1988 to 2004. Rebeiz said he regularly keeps in touch with his former students, both in academia and in industry. “I see the world through my students’ eyes,” he said. “I learn from them as much as they learn from me.” He has received numerous awards reflecting his research and teaching achievements, including most recently the 2008 Jacobs School of Engineering Teaching Award, the 2010 IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Distinguished Educator Award, and the 2011 IEEE Antennas and Propagation John D. Kraus Antenna Award. He is an IEEE Fellow, an NSF Presidential Young Investigator, and an URSI Koga Gold Medal Recipient.

www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Spring 2012 65 ALUMNI Tewfik Mishlawi (BA ’59), of Montana with two bache- Esther Schmoe Hirabayashi born in Haifa, Palestine lor’s degrees before studying (BA ’54), who was born in in 1935, passed away on at the Arabic Language February 3 in Beirut at the Institute in Fez, Morocco. He age of 76. An independent was fluent in both Modern journalist known for his pro- Standard Arabic and the fessionalism and well-bal- Levantine dialect. Redwine anced reporting, Mishlawi attended AUB’s CAMES pro- created and published gram on a Rotary International what David Ignatius of the Scholarship and wrote his Washington Post described Company. In 1973 he found- master’s thesis on the impact as “his own scrupulously ed the Universal Trading of the July 2006 war on honest newsletter, called Group, the first of a num- Hezbollah’s political capital. the Middle East Reporter ber of successful companies A freelance producer (MER), an annotated that he established in the and journalist at Fox News, of Arabic newspapers and construction, oil, and gas Redwine was also project state-run radio and televi- industries throughout the director at Albany Associates, sion broadcasts that was United Arab Emirates. Zaabri managing editor at Executive the daily crib sheet for a was chairman of Lindenberg Magazine, analyst and copy Seattle, Washington in 1924, generation of reporters and Emirates LLC at the time of editor at the Middle East passed away in Edmonton, diplomats.” In addition to his death. His impressive Reporter, and desk editor at Alberta, Canada, on January MER, Mishlawi worked for legacy at AUB includes the ABC News. At the time of his 2. She attended the University a number of other publi- Samir Zaabri Science Lecture death, he was the communi- of Washington before moving cations including the Daily Hall and the Samir Zaabri cations officer and editor for to Beirut in 1951 when her Star (1997-2000), the New Endocrinology Lab, which his a regional cooperation project husband Gordon accepted York Times (1993-96), the son Ahmed Samir Zaabri on water issues for the UN an appointment as a sociolo- Wall Street Journal (1973- (BA ’00) is establishing in his Regional Economic and Social gy professor at AUB. 85), The Times of London name. Zaabri is also survived Development Commission Hirabayashi completed her (1980-83), Business Week by his wife Huda Unsi. in Western Asia and the undergraduate degree in (1977-79), and United Press German Federal Institute for sociology at AUB while work- International (1973-76). He John Newland Redwine Geo-Science and Natural ing as a technician at the also conducted journalism II (MA ’08), a skilled alpinist, Resources in Beirut. The US blood bank. She and her workshops and prepared ambassador, AUB faculty, husband later taught at the training videos, teacher members of the Lebanese American University in Cairo. guides, and exercise man- Climbing Association, and After moving to Edmonton in uals on the fundamentals many UN and journalism 1959, Hirabayashi completed of professional journalism. friends were among those her MA in sociology and later Mishlawi is survived by his who attended his memorial joined Alberta College. She is wife, Philippa, and three service at Assembly Hall on survived by her long-time children. December 23. companion, Frank Elkins; her Redwine fell in love with children and their spouses: Samir Zaabri (BBA ’70) Lebanon and his future wife, Sharon (Gerry) Yuen, Marion passed away on January 17. Irina Isham Prentice (MA ’08) (Doug) Oldenburg, and Jay Born in Jordan in 1945, Zaabri while studying at AUB. She (Barbara) Hirabayashi; nine spent his early career at the died tragically on December survives him, along with their grandchildren and nine great- Kuwaiti Ministry of the Interior 18 in a climbing accident on infant son Winston; his par- grandchildren; and her broth- before becoming admin- Mount Sannine. A native of ents, Dr. John and Barbara er Bill Schmoe and sister istration manager for M/S Sioux City, Iowa, Redwine Redwine; and his two broth- Ruthanna Higley. Contracting Consolidated graduated from the University ers, William and Adam.

66 MainGate Spring 2012 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate FRIENDS Bustani, was published by New York Times where he provide useful facts or Laura Bustani Quartet Books in London in was bureau chief in Baghdad analysis.” When President A forward looking woman 1994. She is survived by her and in Beirut. In 2008 he Dorman presented Shadid who had to pull herself only daughter, Myrna, and took a year off from report- with an honorary doctor- up from tragedy and step grandchildren, Jimmy Al ing to become the first fel- ate in 2011, he comment- into the business world to Khazen and Laura Lahoud. low and writer-in-residence ed, “As an Arabic-speaking lead a global empire, Laura at AUB’s Issam Fares Lebanese-American, Shadid Bustani, the widow of Emile Anthony Shadid A two- Institute for Public Policy has an immediate empa- Bustani (BA ’29, MA ’32) time Pulitzer Prize-winning and International Affairs thy with ordinary people passed away on February journalist and veteran Middle where he completed his third whose daily pain and whose 6. She maintained an asso- East reporter, Shadid died book, House of Stone: A wounds, both psychological ciation with AUB long after on February 16 of complica- Memoir of Home, Family and and physical, he has cov- her late husband built a tions from an apparent asth- a Lost Middle East, which ered with extraordinary sen- women’s dormitory in 1962, ma attack while on assign- was recently published by sitivity and courage—and Laura Bustani Hall, to mark ment for the New York Times Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. not without risk… Never an their 35th wedding anniver- in Syria. Born in Oklahoma When he learned of 'embedded' journalist while sary. Emile Bustani, who in 1968, Shadid studied Shadid’s tragic death, AUB reporting from front-line also earned a PhD in phys- journalism, political science, Board Chairman Philip S. positions, he has been able ics from MIT, funded AUB’s and Arabic at the University Khoury wrote, “For those of to embed his readers in the Emile Bustani Physics Hall. of Wisconsin-Madison. The us left behind, we owe it to lives of the individuals he One of the region’s most New York Times nominated the person and the profes- describes.” Shadid told AUB influential businessmen Shadid for the 2012 Pulitzer sion to recall what made him graduates during the 2011 and parliamentarians of his in international reporting for so special. The answer from commencement exercises, time, Bustani died when his his coverage of the Arab my perspective is short and “Our Arab world will never private plane crashed into uprisings and the changes easy: humility. I saw it in him be the same, nor should it… the Mediterranean in foggy sweeping the region. every time we met, whether In your lifetime, occupations weather in 1963. The late Shadid built his impres- chatting over a coffee or will end, struggles will lose Laura Bustani traveled the sive career in journalism meal, or in the field work- their cynicism, legitimacy world with her husband as at the Associated Press, ing, covering an event we will come through the voic- he was establishing and the Boston Globe; the both attended, or chatting es that you raise. There is expanding his company, Washington Post, and the with a person who would hope today, a hope that can Contracting and Trading (CAT), becoming a trusted adviser and confidante who helped him scrutinize his contracts and his dealings in the halls of power, an experience that would later inform her own actions as she had to face that world by herself. She served as chairperson of CAT, presi- dent of the Banque de l’Industrie et du Travail, and supervised the building of Al Bustan, a hotel her husband had envisioned during their honeymoon. A memoir, My Life With and Without Emile

www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Spring 2012 67 be inspired by an ability to to the United States after the Gordon Hirabayashi passed imagine something more.” war, he married Caroline away at the age of 93 on Survivors include his Monks in 1946 and earned January 2 in Edmonton, second wife, New York his doctorate in 1947, taking Alberta, Canada. His for- Times journalist Nada Bakri; a teaching position at Brown mer wife, Esther Schmoe their son, Malik; a daugh- University where he remained (BA ’54), died hours later ter, Laila, from his first mar- for his entire career. Their son (see obituary previous page). riage; his parents Rhonda William was born in 1951. In Hirabayashi became a well- and Buddy Shadid; a sister, 1966, Stewart spent a known civil rights figure Shannon, of Denver; and a semester teaching at Brown’s because of the landmark brother, Damon, of Seattle. sister school Tougaloo, a his- court case in which he chal- torically black college in lenged the US government’s Frank M. Stewart was Mississippi, and became a policy of treating anyone passionate crusader for racial of Japanese descent as a justice. In the 1970s, he took potential enemy during World up mathematical modeling War II. He earned his PhD in for biology, collaborating with sociology at the University of evolutionary biologist Bruce Washington, taught sociology Levin on bacterial mutation at AUB from 1951-54, and rates, antibiotic resistance, then taught at AUC before and the epidemiology of HIV/ settling into a long career at AIDS. In 1971-72 and 1978- the University of Alberta in 79, Stewart was an honorary Edmonton where he became research fellow at University the sociology department College, London. chair. He retired in 1983. Stewart’s love of Much of Hirabayashi’s profes- born in Beirut in 1917, and Lebanon was rekindled after sional work focused on the We Remember passed away in Rhode Island his retirement from Brown at integration of ethnic minori- Alumni and Students last November at the age of age 70, when he renewed ties. He is survived by his wife, 93. The son of longtime AUB connections with classmates Susan Carnahan, his children, Fuad M Abu-Izzudin BBA ’32, MBA ’48 secretary-treasurer George from ACS where his mother Sharon, Marion, and Jay from B. Stewart, Jr., Stewart grew had started teaching just his marriage to Esther, his Olga Vardevere Nursing DIPLM ’32 up on the AUB campus four years after the school brother James, his sister Dr. Fayek R. Abdi where his early interest in the was founded. While hit hard Esther, who is also known as MD ’46 natural world was encour- by his wife’s death in 1991, Tosh Furugori, nine grandchil- Albert G. Bitar aged by Dr. William Van Dyck, he remained active and intel- dren, and nine great- BBA ’47 the son of AUB founder Dr. lectually curious into old age, grandchildren. Sami Zananiri Cornelius Van Dyck, who was and at 87, returned to Beirut BA ’48 a close family friend and life- for the first time in 70 years Dr. Farid Photi Khuri long advocate of intellectual to attend the ACS cente- BA ’50, MD ’54 freedom at AUB. Stewart nary in 2005. Staying with Sanaa W. Usayran graduated from Princeton then VP for Finance John Former Student, 1960s with highest honors in math- Bernson and his wife Sheila Nabil Salim Firzli ematics in 1939 and started in his childhood home on BAR ’81 graduate studies at Harvard the AUB campus, he was Antoine Ernest Zahhar before joining an operations toasted as the oldest former BA ’80 analysis group affiliated with student at the reunion. Margaret Dimechkie the Eighth Air Force at a base AUB Friend outside of London. Returning More On-line

68 MainGate Spring 2012 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate Last Glance Photo © AUB Photography Department / Ahmad El Itani

These fascinating instruments, on display in the Marquand House Senate Room, simulate the orbits of the planets by moving relative to each other thanks to cleverly made gears. Do you remember using these in Astronomy 101, or know something—anything—about their origin? Tell us more. Email [email protected]. Return Address

American University of Beirut 3 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza 8th Floor New York, NY 10017-2303

Receiving multiple copies of MainGate? Save paper and let us know—we’ll send one copy to your home or business. Email: [email protected]

Al-Haj Abdel Hadi Takur, pictured in a c. 1955 photo in front of Assembly Hall, joined AUB as a gardener at age 14 and worked for more than 40 years under five presidents. Reported Al-Kulliyah, “He minds his own business, flowers, and is very happy with it.” Recognize this image or remember Al-Haj? Email [email protected].