Conference on nation building to be held Tuesday at SAIS

SAIS will host a conference called Nation-Building: Beyond Afghanistan and Iraq from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 13. Said Jawad, Afghanistan's ambassador to the United States, will be the keynote speaker.

The event is hosted by the Bernard L. Schwartz Forum on Constructive Capitalism at SAIS.

The United States has engaged in approximately one new nation-building exercise every 18 months since the end of the Cold War, and yet the institutional memory for how to organize such efforts remains weak. This conference will seek to draw lessons from historic nation-building experiences as well as the United States' current involvements in Afghanistan and Iraq, and to make recommendations for future institutional change. In addition, panelists will look at the prospects for Iraq's emerging as a democracy following the planned July 1 transfer of sovereignty from the Coalition Provisional Authority to an Iraqi government.

Following introductory remarks by Jessica Einhorn, dean of the school, and Francis Fukuyama, the Bernard L. Schwartz Professor of International Political Economy, four sessions will address "Historical Lessons, Learned and Unlearned," "Afghanistan: Lessons and Prospects," "Iraq: Lessons from the Reconstruction" and "Iraq's Future and the Transition to Self-sustaining Institutions." Ambassador Jawad will give the luncheon address at noon.

The event will be held in the Nitze Building's Kenney Auditorium. Non-SAIS affiliates should reserve a place by e-mailing cpaddock@jhu.edu or calling 202-663-5650.

 

Conference today examines radiation terror preparedness

Experts in terrorism preparedness are gathered today, April 12, to discuss terrorism preparedness and response protocol at an event sponsored by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health Preparedness and MidAtlantic Public Health Training Center. "Dirty Bombs II: Current Concepts in Radiation Terror Preparedness and Response" is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Sheraton Baltimore North in Towson, Md.

Presenters will speak about the differences between radiation terror incidents and other forms of terrorist attacks. HazMat and bomb squad experts will discuss the challenges faced by incident command systems when responding to dirty bombs, and others will talk about communicating with the general public during a threat and radiation terror as a psychological injury tool. Local radiation terror preparedness, including hospital and emergency department plans, also will be discussed, as will federal law enforcement preparedness and response procedures.

Speakers are Robert S. Lawrence, principal investigator at the Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health Preparedness; Jonathan Links, professor of environmental health sciences in the School of Public Health; Lynn Goldman, director of the MidAtlantic Public Health Training Center; Kenneth Hyde, Baltimore City Fire Department hazmat coordinator; Charles Schneider, Baltimore Police Department bomb squad commander; and Richard Alcorta, Maryland State EMS medical director.

 

Author of 'Comic Book Nation' to give Wednesday Noon talk

In Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America, author Bradford W. Wright delves into the role that comic books have played in 20th-century America. From Batman's Depression-era battles against corrupt politicians to Iron Man's Cold War adventures in Vietnam, Wright's Johns Hopkins University Press book looks at how writers and illustrators have used comic books to address serious issues that range from nuclear war to drug abuse.

On Wednesday, April 14, Wright will discuss that history and also will explore the role comic books play in shaping adolescents into consumers. His talk takes place at noon in Shriver Hall Auditorium on the Homewood campus. Copies of the book will be available for sale and signing.

The event is co-sponsored by the Press and is part of the Wednesday Noon Series presented by the university's Office of Special Events. For more information, call Special Events at 443-287-9900.

 

Obesity epidemic to be addressed at Public Health symposium

Today's Downsizing America: The Obesity Epidemic is the fifth in a series of six symposia being held at the School of Public Health to examine behavior and its impact on public health. Four obesity experts will discuss ways to change the behavior habits of Americans to combat the country's expanding waistline.

The symposium will be held from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the Becton Dickinson Lecture Hall.

Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a study stating that poor diet and inactivity could soon overtake tobacco smoking as the leading cause of preventable death in America. In addition, the Child Wellbeing Index announced that obesity is the single most widespread health problem facing children today.

Speakers include Kelly Brownell, director of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders; Adam Drewnowski, director of the Nutritional Sciences Program at the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine; Robert Jeffrey, professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health; and Shiriki Kumanyika, associate dean of health promotion and disease at the University of Pennyslvania School of Medicine's Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Benjamin Caballero, director of the JHU School of Public Health's Center for Human Nutrition, will moderate.

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