New group seeking to inform community about Middle East

On Tuesday, 100 students, professors, and community members joined to watch "The Hidden Wars of Desert Storm," a film sponsored by the newly formed Alliance for Peace and Justice in the Middle East (APJME). The movie questions United States policies and military practices before and during the Gulf War. Ambassador David Dunford, who was in Saudi Arabia during the war and is now a professor in the political science department, led a discussion following the movie. [Read article]

It was no surprise to see scientific fields dominating the preliminary list of 13 academic themes administrators would like to enhance as the UA undertakes its massive restructuring.

But it's downright shocking that the arts and humanities were mentioned only once ÷ and only in the context of "community outreach" ÷ and social sciences not mentioned at all.

The list, a preliminary document outlining Provost George Davis' and other administrators' priorities under the newly-proposed "Focused Excellence" plan, emphasizes hard science, fields that relate to the UA's place in the American Southwest, and areas like optics and biotechnology in which the UA is recognized as a national leader. [Read article]

The war on terrorism will not end until it is terminated on U.S. soil. I am not talking about eco-terrorists or ultra-rightest Christian militias. Rather, the taxpayer-funded "School of the Americas" needs to be shut down immediately.

The School of the Americas, nicknamed School of Coups, School of Dictators and School of the Assassins, is located at Fort Benning, Georgia. Founded in 1946 as the U.S. Army Caribbean Training Center in Panama, the military training academy was molded to provide professional warfare training for Latin American and Caribbean militaries in order to make them effective in intervening in Latin American conflicts. [Read article]