By Amanda Hunt
Arizona Daily Wildcat
For those who couldn't make it to Cairo last month, there is still an opportunity to participate in a discussion about the expanding world population.
The Center for International Students and Scholars is sponsoring a "culture cafe" forum on the UA Mall Thursday from noon to 1 p.m.
Students will discuss issues similar to those presented at the United Nations conference in Cairo last month, said Yaniv Yitzchaki, a political science and Russian junior and an honors intern at CISS. United Nations representatives spent several days discussing population and population control issues.
Yitzchaki is helping to coordinate this first cafe of the school year for the center.
The forum will consist of a brief speech by agricultural and resource economics professor Roger Fox, the cafe moderator. The speech will be followed by an overview presentation of related issues by four faculty and student panelists, including an international student from the center, and a half hour of audience participation, Yitzchaki said.
"I'd encourage all students interested in current events to come because this topic relates to a lot of areas . it has applications to everything," he said.
Yitzchaki said the forum will cover population-related issues including women's rights, food production and regional planning.
Fox said he will focus on world population projections rather than the politics related to issues discussed in Cairo. The projections will spur discussion onto related issues.
"By 2025, the world population will increase by 2.3 billion people," Fox said. "Two-thirds (will be) in poor countries and 3 percent will be in rich countries like the U.S."
Fox also said there will be "rapid urbanization" occuring mostly in Third World cities and that Mexico City will be the largest.
Yitzchaki said the forums are "a way to raise awareness of international issues and give the international students a chance to contribute (their cultural insights) in a global academic community
"The apparatus is already there for students to become active (in world events)," he said.
This is the fourth year CISS has provided the culture cafes. The center will sponsor another forum on Nov. 15 and two more in the spring.