Cedars USA
Newsletter
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Contents Of This Issue:
" You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you
don't try."
- Beverly Sills
American Lebanese Profile- Dr. George Helou
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Dr George Helou, Executive Director of the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center and a member of the faculty in the Physics, Math and Astronomy Division at Caltech, Pasadena, CA. He is also a Director of NASA Herschel Science Center and Deputy Director of the Spitzer Science Center. Dr. Helou was recently a guest at the House of Lebanon gathering. In addition, Dr. Helou is also involved in other projects to help Lebanon improve its research and technology. |
Article below from http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/Main/files/GHelou-onepage1.pdf
Dr. George Helou is the Executive Director of the Infrared Processing and
Analysis Center, and a member of the faculty in the Physics, Math and Astronomy
Division, at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, CA.
He is also Director of the NASA Herschel Science Center, and Deputy Director of
the Spitzer Science Center. He divides his time between research in astrophysics
and administration of science operations of NASA astronomy missions.
George was born and educated in Lebanon, graduating in 1975 from the American
University of Beirut with a B.S. in Physics with High Distinction and a Teaching
Diploma in Science Education. He obtained a M.Sc. in 1977 and a Ph.D. in
Astrophysics and Radio Science in 1980 from Cornell University. He held
appointments at the Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory and at Cornell University
before joining Caltech in 1983. He has published over two hundred articles in
professional journals and proceedings, lectured at over forty international
conferences, and held visiting positions at several European Universities
including Paris, Leiden and Florence.
He has been closely associated scientifically with the Infrared Astronomical
Satellite (IRAS, 1983, USA/UK/Netherlands), the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO,
1995-98, European Space Agency), and currently of the Spitzer Space Telescope,
an infrared astronomy mission launched by NASA in August 2003. His awards
include the NASA Public Service Medal (2004), the NASA Exceptional Achievement
Medal (2001), the NASA Exceptional Service Medal (1992), the Dudley Award
(1982), the Arcetri International Fellowship (1980) and the Philip K. Hitti
Prize for Academic Excellence (1975). He is a member of the American
Astronomical Society and of the International Astronomical Union.
George's research centers on understanding galaxies, in particular how they turn
gas and dust into
stars, and how the first generation of stars and galaxies came about and evolved
into today's Universe. He has used for his research some of the largest and most
advanced telescopes in the world, including the Arecibo 300 meter radio
telescope in Puerto Rico, the Very Large Array radio telescope in Socorro, New
Mexico, the Hale 200 inch telescope on Palomar Mountain, the Keck 10 meter
telescopes on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, in addition to the space observatories
mentioned above.
Below article from this link More information at: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/features/p_georgehelou.shtml
Like many astronomers, I was captivated by the stars at a tender age. Over the mountains of Lebanon the skies were dark, the stars intense, and the Milky Way mesmerizing. The fascination slowly turned into a career path as Math and Physics became increasingly fun topics, books promised infinite vistas of discovery, and college at the American University of Beirut brought me into modern physics and closer to graduate school. Twenty-eight years almost to the day before the launch of SIRTF, I arrived in the U.S. to study for a Ph.D. in astronomy at Cornell University. Cornell was an exciting place, with a lot going on, from radio astronomy to the Viking landings. I enjoyed being around all this, and tried to get involved in as many things as possible. But even though I worked with Carl Sagan one summer, I did not see space science as a serious career option.
I got started in infrared space astronomy in 1983, twenty years again almost to the day, before the launch of SIRTF. Recruited by Tom Soifer and encouraged by Jim Houck, I joined the IRAS (InfraRed Astronomical Satellite) mission team, who were making history with the first major mission to map the infrared sky from space. The team was so flooded with data that they took me in even though I had virtually no experience in infrared astronomy. The infrared sky as it was being revealed by IRAS fascinated me, and has continued to amaze me with each new revelation.
The IRAS mission lasted ten months, but it generated enough data to keep astronomers busy through the eighties. The nineties were the decade of ISO (the Infrared Space Observatory), a European mission with NASA participation. I served on the ISO Science Team and learned a lot about space observatories, worked on loads of ISO data, and learned even more about galaxies. Galaxies have always been at the center of my research interests, challenging me to understand their complex properties, and figure out what makes them tick, how they come about and how they evolve. A rich and intricate portrait of galaxies emerged from IRAS and ISO data, a portrait one could not imagine by looking at the visible images. SIRTF will add more detail to this portrait, answer many questions and pose others, and inspire the next round of infrared missions.
SIRTF was in the works for at least two decades, but it was only in 1996 that I joined the team working to make it a reality. I helped mostly by designing the science operations, figuring out how to translate the scientific questions into observing activities, how to inform the observers and help them use SIRTF in the best way, how to take the raw data from the instruments and turn them into scientifically meaningful data for astronomers, and how to organize the science center and its interactions with other parts of the SIRTF project and with researchers worldwide. Since 1999 I have served as the Executive Director of IPAC (Infrared Processing and Analysis Center) in addition to my duties as Deputy Director of the SIRTF Science Center and a member of the faculty at Caltech.
Today I feel fortunate to participate in this heady mixture of technology,
imagination, excellence and team work, all fueled by a most basic human drive,
curiosity about our world. Above the atmosphere the sky is cold, the galaxies
infrared-bright, and the soft glow of the distant universe mesmerizing.
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The Ottoman Empire ruled the Middle East for 500 years until
World War I. During that time Lebanese youth left their homes and the land
they loved in belief that God was in his heaven and America was on Earth to
protect the innocent. "Goodbye My Lebanon" was a tearful farewell of an eleven year old boy who was forced to leave his mother and family and the land that he loved. He came to America alone, in the care of new-found friends who opened their hearts and home to him. This is the saga of his life as he learned to cope with rural America. In this book Mr. Aboussie captures the story of his father. Mr. Aboussie studied law and went into business. He is listed in Who's Who in America and Who's who in finance and industry. He currently lives in Texas and just celebrated his 89th birthday. Please visit his website www.goodbyemylebanon.com read more about the book. There is information on how you can order the book and contact the author. |
Featured Book: Negotiate Like a Phoenician
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This book was released 2007. The author is Dr. Habib Chamoun-Nicolas in colaboration with Dr. Randy Doyle Hazlett. Below is the prolgue by MR. John Poff, Library of Congress. The book can be ordered at the following link http://www.keynegotiations.com/books.html |
PROLOGUE
The Phoenicians were Canaanites, the very same Canaanites encountered in Hebrew
and Christian scriptures, who reached the height of their cultural influence in
about 1000 BCE. The Phoenicians were traders who dominated the sea routes of the
Mediterranean, bringing a variety of goods to
many markets. Perhaps their greatest achievement was spreading the phonetic
alphabet across the ancient world. This greatly simplified the process of
business recordkeeping, which Chamoun argues was an important aspect of their
success as traders and businessmen.
Those of us living in modern, advanced economies often are in some confusion as
to what exactly
we want, perhaps because of the sheer abundance of options offered in the
marketplace. In contrast, when we look back 3000 years to the Phoenicians, we
have the sense that they knew what they
wanted and how to get it. They were persistent in achieving their goals.
The Phoenicians focused not so much on price, but more on intangible benefits,
which are more valuable than generally believed. They strove to create actual
friendships with their business partners, the friendship between Solomon and
Hiram being one good example. Chamoun documents
this relationship, using many historical sources. The lesson for the present day
businessman is that one
should try to think of creative ways to solve the clients needs needs which
perhaps are external to the present negotiation. Chamoun coins the term
TradeablesTM to capture the essence of this practiced Phoenician concept. The
way to discover your customers unstated needs is to simply
ask, then listen. This process itself requires investment, which may be
counterintuitive for all of us used to instant results. Chamouns multi-cultural
background makes him a good ambassador for a more holistic approach to
negotiating a deal so that both parties leave the table feeling that a fair
deal was reached. If contemporary business relationships are akin to ordering
ready-made Fillet-O-Fish sandwiches from the McDonalds drive-thru together, the
Chamoun way is to go out fishing with your business partner and share the catch
over a friendly campfire, perhaps with ample libation and
plenty of conversation.
If both parties are not happy, then the negotiation can scarcely be called a
success. If only one party is happy, then more likely the deal for one party was
a rip off for the other. This was certainly not the Phoenician way. The idea is
not merely to sell a product or service, but to create partnerships. The
Phoenicians wanted return business, and therefore pursued long-term
relationships. They made sure that their deals benefited their trading partners,
as well as themselves. In this way, both parties were anxious to keep the deal,
and the relationship, intact.
Negotiating is, or should be, a problem-solving process to provide mutual gains
for all. In fact, the Phoenicians frequently would give more than they received
in the short term, for the sake of gaining in the long term. Using TradeablesTM,
the ancient Phoenicians sought to build trust and bring business relationships
to a higher level. Read this book, and discover a better way of doing business!
JOHN POFF
U.S. Copyright Office
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The Lebanese Social Club at UCLA
The Lebanese Social Club (LSC) was established in the Spring of 2003. It was founded by Lebanese students from UCLA who had either grown up in Lebanon or here in the states for the purpose of increasing awareness of Lebanese culture, providing a way for students of Lebanese descent to better integrate into the university system, and also as a way for those interested in Lebanon to come together and have fun.
Over the past four years, the club has really developed from an idea that had no guarantee of succeeding to a model for other Lebanese clubs at universities all over southern California. As the president for the first two years, I can really attest to the hard work and commitment that was put into planning every event. We have had Lebanese BBQs on campus, hosted speakers, and held socials. Our biggest event is always our annual Lebanese Culture Night. This year we will hold our 3rd annual night on Friday, March 2nd at UCLA. This is event allows our love for Lebanese culture and our desire to share it with the UCLA and Los Angeles community to be expressed. The members work diligently all quarter long learning and practicing a dabke performance. Our authentic costumes are rented with the funds generated from on campus BBQs. We also create visual educational presentations to be displayed during the event. Recently we have incorporated traditional folkloric instrumental performances. We invite the entire Bruin student body as well as Lebanese clubs of other universities. The response we get from our audience is amazingly positive and justifies all our efforts. The students need a way to express, share and learn about our Lebanese heritage and the beautiful aspects of our culture. This need is what motivated the club to be established, and it is the reason for our success.
The demographic of our club is quite varied. We have students
ranging from those who have just recently arrived from Lebanon
to those who have
some Lebanese ancestry and don't speak the language to non-Lebanese who are
simply interested in the culture. Likewise, members of the club vary in
background and major, but we all want to connect to the culture. One of our
next
goals is to try something new: a presentation by a panel of Lebanese students in
graduate or professional school and graduating seniors to the underclass members
as a way to give them insight into possible career paths or even what major to
choose. In my undergraduate experience, I have found that it is not uncommon to
find Lebanese students at a university. It is, however, uncommon to find them
joined together productively and united for a common cause. This is why I am so
proud of our club, what it has become and what is has done for UCLA.
Now that I
have graduated, I am currently the club Senior Advisor while attending UCLA
School of Dentistry. I can say that the biggest challenge for the LSC was that
everything we were doing, or attempting to do was being done for the first
time. For anyone in a Lebanese student organization who may be reading this, do
not let that stop you from trying because if you have the passion and your
members (no matter how many or how few) all have the same goal in mind, you will
succeed.
For any further information or advice please contact the current
president, Amanda who is an
expert at working hard to accomplish a
dream at
Lebbruin@ucla.edu.
The website
http://www.studentgroups.ucla.edu/lebanese/ is still under construction.
-Deema Saad
American-Lebanese Engineering
Society Event and News
The American Lebanese Engineering Society (ALES) held its annual dinner on
Saturday the 10th of February 2007 at Byblos Restaurant in Norwood
Massachusetts. The event was well attended by a group of Lebanese-American
professionals and students. In addition to the great food and service, the rich
program, and the wonderful company, the attendees enjoyed Middle-Eastern music
and danced Dabkeh on the popular Lebanese song "Raje3 Raje3 Yit3ammar Raje3
Libnan"... Below is the most recent newsletter:
Dear ALES colleagues and friends,
Please find the ALES Newsletter below. You can also access it at:
http://www.alesonline.org/publications/ales-newsletter-022507.html
Best Regards, Hani Al-Dayaa
ALES NEWSLETTER- February 25, 2007
- ALES Annual Dinner Event Report
- ALES Rebuild-Lebanon Initiative Abstract
- The Arabic Hour Hafli - March 17, 2007
- INLET Entrepreneurship Forum - March 07, 2007
American Lebanese National Mission
Public Information Officer Aref Mneimni
pio@alnm.net
ALNM attends TYRF Leadership Conference in San Antonio , Texas
The American Lebanese National Mission (ALNM) attended the Texas Young
Republican Federation (TYRF) 2007 Leadership Conference held in San Antonio ,
Texas . ALNM was invited to speak on the “War on Terror: the need for Democracy
in the Middle East .”
ALNM sends a special thanks to the Texas Young Republican Federation for their
invitation and the opportunity to discuss the ongoing Middle East crisis with
their leadership. ALNM applauds the Federation’s desire to gain a much clearer
understanding of all the players in the region and their impact on the
international community.
“We were extremely impressed with the hospitality and commitment of the Young
Republicans to reach out to the Lebanese American community in the State of
Texas ,” stated Hamid Kantara, ALNM Chairman. “TYRF and ALNM are already laying
the ground to work together on upcoming projects in the near future as part of
ALNM’s ongoing efforts to build ties of mutual friendship with American
organizations and promote a positive image of our culture and heritage within
the US community.”
The American Lebanese National Mission (ALNM) is a civil, charitable and
independent association. The objective of this organization is to establish ties
of loyalty and mutual friendship between its members and the United States , and
to contribute to the development and progress of Lebanon .
For more information, visit
www.alnm.net .
Go to the
events page for more events
The Chicago Lebanese Club is celebrating its 9th anniversary in April.
Flyer
"Lebanese Friends in Chicago" Founded 1998
www.chicagolebaneseclub.org
CLC@chicagolebaneseclub.org
The following links were added to the community service section
 | CHF International-
http://chfinternational.org CHF International's mission is to be a catalyst for long-lasting positive change in low- and moderate-income communities around the world, helping them to improve their social, economic and environmental conditions. They run the United Lebanon Relief Effort. |
| Lebanon Partnership Project-
http://www.lebanonpartnership.org/ The U.S. – Lebanon Partnership Fund was established by leading U.S. business leaders in September 2006 to provide critically needed resources to assist the reconstruction efforts in Lebanon, and to help build a better future for the Lebanese people. Below are some of the participants in this project: - Steve Ballmer: CEO, Microsoft corporation. - Cragi Barrett: Chairman, Microsoft corporation - John Chambers: Chairman and CEO, Cisco - Yousif Ghafari: Chariman, Ghafari Inc. - Dr. Ray Irani: Chairman, president and CEO, Occidental Petroleum Corporation. |
| Global Impact-
www.charity.org
Global Impact is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping the poorest people on earth. Global Impact represents more than 50 of the most respected U.S.-based international charities in workplace giving campaigns across the nation. Each year, Global Impact and its member charities touch more than 206 million lives in virtually every developing country through disaster relief, education, health training and economic programs that promote self-sufficiency. |
| Here is a great organization the features first class events and we hope
to feature them in future newsletter http://www.lebanesechamber.org/ . |
| Attached is my recent oil painting 'The Phoenix Shall Rise', 36" x 48",
oil on canvas, completed end of 2006, dedicated to all those who believe that Lebanon will rise from its ruins like a Phoenix. http://www.tonysky.net/tony/pntg11.htm |
| Two job search engines
(Click
here for more sites job search engines) http://jobs.unixl.com jobs in various industries varying from accounting to zoology http://www.globaljobsengineers.com/ Web site Global Jobs Engineers |
Articles
Please take time to read the articles below that were added to our
article section.
| A great article about a small business giving back to the community and to
Lebanon. This is a very inspiring article from LA Times Dec 2006 about www.uniqueimageinc.com |
| Dr. Irani in Paris to meet with Secretary of state Rice. 2-06 |
| United Lebanon Relief / CHF international Newsletter. This is a very impressive projects. |
Reminders & Resources- Please visit the following pages on our site:
| The book section
features several American Lebanese authors and books. There make great gifts and supports the authors. |
| The
media section has videos/CD's including the recently featured language CD. The CD was created by a family who wanted to teach their kids the language and will be a great resource or gift. |
| The resource/product section
features products from Amazon. You can support this site by buying from our link. |
| Here is another newsletter that you will enjoy that features a lot of
events in New Jersey
and surrounding areas
www.lcnj.com .
|
*CONFIDENCE:
Once upon a time, all people in a village decided to pray for rain, On the day
of prayer all people gathered
BUT only one boy came with an Umbrella......that's confidence.
*TRUST:
Trust should be like the feeling of a one year old baby when you throw
him in the air, he laughs.....because he knows you will catch him........
*HOPE:
Every night we go to bed, we have no assurance to get up alive the next
morning but still we have plans for the next day.
BE CONFIDENT; TRUST OTHERS; AND NEVER LOSE HOPE.
Laughter is good Medicine
An Italian grandmother is giving directions to her grown grandson Anthony who is
coming to visit with his wife Maria.
"You comma to de front door of the apartmenta. I am inna apartmenta 301 . There
issa bigga panel at the front door. With you elbow pusha button 301. I will
Buzza you in. Come inside, the elevator is on the right. Get in, and with you
elbow pusha 3. When you get out, I'mma on the left. With you elbow, hit my
doorbell."
"Grandma, that sounds easy, but, why am I hitting all these buttons with my
elbow?"
"What . . . . . . . .. You coming empty handed?"
We hope you enjoyed this issue. Please forward
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