Cedar News USA August 2004

Contents Of This Issue:

The Quote

" The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or by cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities, but by men who can dream of things that never were."  President John Kennedy

Website Update

Updated pages:

Please check out the following pages that were updated the past few weeks:

New pages:

Note:

American Lebanese Profiles

Below are new nominations we received to be added on our prominent American Lebanese list.

Dr. Amin A. Milki M.D.
Faculty professor in the department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at the Stanford University Medical Center in California . A renowned fertility doctor, researcher and innovator in the fields of AI, IVF and AXI.   Studied at A.U.B in Lebanon. For more info visit A.Milki M.D. and  other sites.

Dr. Bazzam Shakhashiri

"Scientist by training, teacher and public servant by trade, advocate by conviction, optimist by nature" — that is the way Bassam Z. Shakhashiri describes himself. As Professor of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. Shakhashiri finds outlets for all four attributes, to which he might add a fifth: entertainer by avocation.

Dr. Shakhashiri, as a matter of fact, is probably best known to the public at large for his annual program, "Once Upon a Christmas Cheery/In the Lab of Shakhashiri,"; seen on television throughout the country. The science-oriented "magic" show has played to packed houses in such varied places as the National Academy of Sciences, the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, and Boston's Museum of Science.  He is a guest on TV and radio talk shows across the country and has been featured in newspapers, magazines, national and local radio and television including the New York Times, the Washington Post, Newsweek, Time, NBC Nightly News, CNN, and the Larry King Show.

A native of Lebanon, Dr. Shakhashiri is the son of a physician who is retired from the U.S. National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. The Shakhashiris, father, mother, son and two daughters, came to the United States in 1957 when Bassam was 18 years old with one year of college (at the American University of Beirut) behind him. He completed undergraduate work at Boston University (Class of '60) with an A.B. degree in chemistry, served as a teaching fellow at Bowdoin College for one academic year and then earned master's and Ph.D. degrees in chemistry at the University of Maryland ('64 and '68 respectively).

Please read the complete article to become acquainted with his many awards and achievements.
 

Lina A. Jazi, M.S.

Ms. Jazi graduated from the American University of Beirut  in 1989, with a BS in Environmental Health. In 1994, she received her Masters degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of Texas’ Health Science Center.  Ms. Jazi is the President and Co-founder of Environmental Consulting Services, Inc. (www.ecsus.com), a nationwide environmental and geotechnical engineering firm based in Houston, with offices in Dallas and San Antonio. Through Ms. Jazi’s leadership, ECS received, for the fourth year running, Houston’s prestigious 100 Award, as one of Houston’s fastest growing companies. In 2003, Ms. Jazi received a lifetime award from United Who’s Who of Executive Professionals.

She is also actively involved with several professional and humanitarian organizations including: the US Women Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Women Business Owners, the National Association of Environmental Professionals, the Middle East Institute, the World Affairs Council, and the Foreign Policy Association. She has joined the Global Compact, an initiative of the UN Secretary General Kofi Anan, to promote proper corporate governance, human rights, fair hiring practices and corporate social responsibility.

Ms. Jazi’s contribution to the American University of Beirut Alumni Association of North America (AANA) goes back to 1990 when she was one of the founding members of the Houston Chapter.  In 2001, Ms. Jazi was first elected to AANA’s National Board, and was again re-elected in 2004, where she currently serves as the Vice-President.  In addition, Ms. Jazi was a member of the Organizing Committee of AANA’s 11th Biennial National Convention held last November in New York City and was instrumental in increasing fundraising from the Houston Chapter. Through Ms. Jazi’s leadership, the AUB Greater Houston Chapter will be hosting the 12^th Biennial Convention in 2005.

Featured Club:  American Lebanese Club of New York City

Posted under events on www.cedars1.com

A Child of Life- Cambridge, MA Sept 18th.

The Lebanese Club @ MIT and the American Lebanese Engineering Society are proud to present artist Michel ElAshkar in his internationally acclaimed monodrama, “A Child of Life”, a theatrical dramatic interpretation (in English) of 2 acts that chronicles many of the highlights of Lebanese-American poet and artist Kahlil Gibran’s life. This will be a one-night event on Saturday, September 18, in Kresge Theatre (map) at 8PM.

The play has been performed to standing ovations all around the US and in major world capitals. It has received very positive reviews and official “Kahlil Gibran Day” proclamations from the mayors of 5 US cities, all of which are featured on a website dedicated to this event: web.mit.edu/lebanon/AChildOfLife.

Tickets can be purchased securely online at $10, $15, & $25 for students and for $15, $25, & $30 for non-students. You are encouraged to purchase your tickets ahead in time due to limited availability and a 20% surcharge on tickets purchased at the venue on the night of the event.


What?   A Child of Life, a monodrama on Gibran in two acts
When?   Saturday, September 18, 2004 at 8 PM
Where?   Kresge Theatre (48 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139 | map)
Tickets?   $10-25 for students, $15-30 for non-students (buy now)
Contact?   http://us.f609.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=AChildOfLife@mit.edu | web.mit.edu/lebanon | (617) 452-5380

Flyer :  http://web.mit.edu/lebanon/www/events/upcoming/AChildOfLife/

NOTE:
Mr. Ashkar was featured on our site www.cedars1.com under American Lebanese profiles.  His website is www.michelashkar.com.

Letters From Our Readers

To whom it may concern:

I am very interested in learning more about our culture. I think it's fantastic that you are taking the initiative to reach out to our communities through this site and newsletter.  I feel this is very important that we don't forget our heritage and this happens because we don't have resources available. What you are doing is a great.

Thank you

Note:

If you did not read the article "Like the oxygen we breathe" from the past newsletter you can do so by clicking on the title of the article.  It is a great article about how one American family changed the life of a Lebanese orphan. 

Also please help us grow by asking your friends to join our email list and by sending us any suggestions, stories, information, and link resources.

Inspirational- Sand and Stone

A story tells of two friends who were walking through the desert.  During
some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the
other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without
saying anything, wrote in the sand:  TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a
bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire underwater and
started drowning, but the friend saved him.  After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone:  TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE.

The friend asked, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone; why?" 

The other friend replied, "When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where the winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it."

Learn to write your hurts in the sand and your blessings in stone.  Do not value the things you have in life. Value who you have in your life.
 

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