Cool events buzzing our direction

To navigate IndyBuzz, start with the first posting (this one). It will have links to events arranged chronologically. Or you can scroll down through the events, keeping in mind that they will probably be out of the order in which they will occur. If you want to be added to an e-mail list informing you about new events in the Central Indiana area, send me an e-mail at john@sipr.org. As always, tell me about any events that should be publicized, and let me know what you think about the site in general. Distribute this as widely as you can ... the more people we get coming to events, the better will be the quality of our civic life.

May 9: "Women's Issues and Reform in Morocco and the Middle East" -- A talk by Rhama Bourqia

May 11: US Intelligence Reform -- talk by James Kunkel of the FBI

May 12: “Trademark Infringement in China - An Indiana Company's Case History” -- a talk by Peter Baranay, president of ABRO Industries

May 16: James Morris, International Citizen of the Year

May 18: Sudan's Crisis in Darfur -- A talk by Sarah Archer

May 18: Sagamore Symposium: Energy Security in Asia and Its Implications for US Policy

May 18: “Geostrategy and Petropolitics: Does US Energy Policy Make Any Sense?” -- a talk by Robert Ebel of the Center for Strategic and International Studies

May 25: Global Water Issues -- talk by John Clark

May 12: “Trademark Infringement in China - An Indiana Company's Case History”

A talk by Peter Baranay, President, ABRO Industries, Inc.

When: Thursday, May 12 -- Registration at 11:30 a.m., Lunch & Program to begin at 12:00 p.m.

Where: Omni Severin Hotel Downtown, McClellan Room, 40 West Jackson Indianapolis

Nothing like a good story to illustrate the hazards of doing business in China, and Peter Baranay (president of ABRO Industries in South Bend) has a doozie. For years ABRO has been waging a fight with China’s Hunan Magic Power Industrial Co., which not only copied ABRO’s products, but also pretended to be ABRO. Hunan Magic went so far as to use a picture of an ABRO salesman’s wife on the packaging of one of its knock-off products. Statistics about the cost of pirated goods are hard to come by, but the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office said counterfeit products in China have reached “epidemic levels and cause severe economic harm to U.S. businesses in virtually every sector.”

ABRO's story has been covered locally and by the Wall Street Journal.

PRICES:
Member: $30.00
Non-member: $35.00
Student: $20.00

Please RSVP by sending payment to the World Trade Club of Indiana, P.O. Box 441704, Indianapolis, Indiana. You may also call and leave a detailed message for the World Trade Club at Tel: (317) 261-0918; fax the form to (317) 872-8501; or register online at adminwtc@worldtradeclubofindiana.org by Monday, May 9th. Please make check payable to the World Trade Club of Indiana. No cancellation accepted after May 10th; no-shows will be billed.

May 16: James Morris, International Citizen of the Year

The International Center of Indianapolis's 2005 International Citizen of the Year Award Dinner, honoring Jim Morris, head of the World Food Programme

When: Monday May 16 5:30-7:00 PM reception and silent auction; 7:00 dinner and program

Where: Indianapolis Marriott Downtown

Since 1985, the International Center of Indianapolis has honored a foreign-born or Indiana resident who has made an outstanding contribution to Indiana and the world in the fields of business, culture, education, government, medicine, media, research, sports or community service. On the 32nd anniversary of its founding, the Center presents the International Citizen of the Year Award to recognize and honor James T. Morris, Executive Director, World Food Programme.

James T, Morris became the tenth Executive Director of the United Nation’s World Food Programme in 2002. As head of WFP, Mr. Morris oversees the world’s largest food aid organization. WFP reaches out to over 100 million people in 82 countries providing food to hungry people who cannot help themselves. In 2003 Mr. Morris led the WFP in carrying out the largest humanitarian operation in history, feeding 27 million Iraqis.

For over 35 years, James. T. Morris has combined a distinguished career of business, philanthropic and humanitarian leadership with a personal life of public service. Mr. Morris served as chief of staff for visionary Indianapolis Mayor Richard Lugar. His impact on the development of Indianapolis grew through his tenure at the Lilly Endowment from 1973 – 1989. Mr. Morris became chairman and chief executive officer of IWC Resources Corporation and Indianapolis Water Company. Under his leadership, IWC grew to a $200 million holding company with 2,500 employees. Jim Morris’ career and voluntary activities reflect a commitment to improving the lives of others with a special interest in young people at risk and giving back to his city, his country and the international community. Leadership roles include treasurer of the US Olympic Committee, member of the Board of Governor of the American Red Cross and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Indiana University. Indianapolis and the world benefit from his dedicated leadership.

Warning: This is a pricy evening -- but it's for a good organization honoring a good person. Here's what it will cost:


2005 Sponsorship Information
Title Sponsor - $10,000
Includes: Recognition as Vice Chair for the ICY Award Dinner in all publications and invitations Logo and name on banner Company profile in dinner program Logo and link on ICI website Priority seating Two tables for eight

Center Ambassador - $5,000
Includes: Logo and name on banner Company profile in dinner program Acknowledgement in ICI publications and website link Priority seating One table for eight

Center Consul - $2,500
Includes: Name on banner Recognition in dinner program Acknowledgement in ICI publications and website Priority seating One table for eight

Dinner Sponsor - $1,500
Includes: Recognition in dinner program Acknowledgment in ICI publications and website One table for eight

Center Citizen - $250
Includes: Recognition in dinner program Priority seating

Dinner Guest - $125

Student - $50

More reservations go http://www.icenterindy.org/content.asp?PageID=117

April 23: Performance of Indian Classical Music by the great Amjad Ali Khan

Performance by one of Indian classical music's greatest artists and his sons ... plus a fine Indian dinner

When: Saturday April 23 -- Concert at 5:30 PM, dinner at 8:00 PM

Where: University of Indianapolis -- concert in Christel de Haan Fine Arts Center, dinner in Schweitzer Center

If you have eaten at a nice Indian restaurant, you may have heard a sarod playing in the background. If you gave it some thought, you probably thought "that's a sitar" ... but a sarod is smaller, sits on the player's lap. And if you heard a recording of a sarod, it was probably played by Amjad Ali Khan, one of the greats of Indian classical music. He represents the sixth generation of Bangash Khans, descendent of a family that came to the Moghul court in the mid-seventeenth century from Afghanistan to create the sarod and perfect its playing. It's serious and beautiful music that must be heard: take a listen.

Amjad Ali Khan coming to Indianapolis is a big event, an opportunity that should not be missed. Think of a visit by Chopin or Liszt (if they weren't, you know, dead). He has played with many of the world's major symphonies, has been the subject of many documentaries and books, has received the highest awards from the governments of India and other countries and from UNESCO and UNICEF. And on April 23 he will perform with his sons Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash, the seventh generation of this remarkable family.

This event is sponsored by the India Association of Indianapolis and Tata Consultancy.

Dinner and the concert are $40. Full time students can attend just the concert for $20. For tickets or information contact Archana Thaker at (317) 698-9039 or athaker@firstindiana.com.

April 19: “Minority Rights and Environmental Justice in Africa: The Agony of the Ogonis in Nigeria”

A presentation by Nigerian author and human rights activist Ken Wiwa

When: Tuesday, April 19, 7:30pm

Where: The Johnson Room of Butler University’s Robertson Hall.


It is free and open to the public, and sponsored by Change & Tradition, SGA, and R.E.A.C.H.

April 19: "Can Policy Intervention Beat the Resource Curse? Evidence from the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline Project"

A lecture by Dr. Scott Pegg, IUPUI Dept. of Political Science

When: Tuesday, April 19th 12:00 – 1:00 PM

Where: IUPUI Cavanaugh Hall 438

No doubt about it, if you are a country "blessed" with lots of reserves of minerals, oil and gas, you aren't "blessed" at all. You're saddled with a "resource curse." Compared to countries not cursed with "extractive resources," your people are more likely to be poor; your economy will be less stable; your government is more likely to be despotic and corrupt, and you are much likelier to experience a civil war. Yikes! Remember when Administration officials such as Paul Wolfowitz confidently asserted that Iraq would be able to finance its own reconstruction (at little cost to US taxpayers)? Perhaps we would be doing the Iraqis a favor by letting the insurgents destroy the country's petroleum industry. Well, probably not, but we ought to be helping the people of Iraq (and other countries) cope with their resource curses. The folks at the World Bank can look at numbers, they know how poor the record is for developing countries cursed by natural resources. In 2001 the World Bank commissioned an "extractive industry review" to figure out why this is so, and to make recommendations about how to improve the lives of the poor in these countries. Critics of globalization have viewed the study with skeptical optimism, the International Council of Mining and Metals with skeptical pessimism. I personally like the "extractive industry transparency initiative": the problem isn't global capitalism, it's local accountability and democracy.

Scott Pegg of IUPUI has been researching this problem for several years. Both he and the World Bank look carefully at Nigeria ... and I imagine reach different conclusion. In 2000, when researching the plight of the Ogoni people at the hands of the Nigerian government and Shell Oil, Prof. Pegg realized that a Western academic can make a very real difference in the lives of African communities, even apart from writing books and articles. He and his wife Tijen have committed themselves to assisting the rural southeastern Nigerian village of Bodo. Today Prof. Pegg’s project is recognized as a demonstration that globalization provides ordinary people opportunities to help address the problems of the poor around the world, independent of the American government. In organizing and delivering this aid, Prof. Pegg has a unique grassroots perspective on the issues of corruption, democratization, and global civil society. You can learn more about this work at www.bebor.org/.

You can read his Ken Wiwa, an important activist trying to alert the world to the ways that the oil industry has been brutalizing his people in Nigeria. For a bigger picture of global energy politics, you should check out the May 18 symposium on energy security and the talk that same day by Robert Ebel of the CSIS Energy Project.

April 25: "A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran"

A talk by Roya Hakakian, poet, documentarian, and author of the widely acclaimed memoir,
Journey from the Land of No; a Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran.

When: Monday, April 25 8:00 PM

Where: Taylor University, Upland IN Student Union Building

ROYA HAKAKIAN has collaborated on over a dozen hours of programming for some of the most prestigious journalism units on network television, inlcluding 60 Minutes Sunday and 60 Minutes II as well as on A& E's "Travels With Harry" hour, and ABC Documentary Specials with Peter Jennings, Discovery and The Learning Channel. Commissioned by UNICEF, Roya's most recent film, Armed and Innocent , on the subject of the involvement of underage children in wars around the world, has been selected among best short documentaries at several festivals, most recently as an official entry of the 2003 Telluride Mountain Film Festival.


Roya is the author of two highly acclaimed collections of poetry, the first of which, For the Sake of Water, received honorable mention in the Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World and was nominated as the poetry book of the year by Iran News in 1993. She writes for numerous publications, including the Washington Post, and the Weekly Forward, and is a contributor to NPR's Weekend Edition.


Most recently, Roya was the recipient of a MacDowell Fellowship and the 2003 Dewitt / Wallace Reader's Digest Fellowship in writing. She is a founding member of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, and a term member at the Council on Foreign Relations. Her memoir of growing up a Jewish teenager in post-revolutionary Iran, Journey from the Land of No (Crown) is Elle Magazine's Best Nonfiction Book of 2004.

Hakakian's appearance is sponsored by the Taylor student literary journal Parnassus, and the student group, Integration of Faith and Culture (IFC).

If you saw Azar Nafisi last year when she visited Butler, you may want to make the drive to Upland to hear Roya Hakakian. Hakakian's memoir Journey from the Land of No is quite different than Nafisi's Reading Lolita in Tehran ... but I think even more moving emotionally. For yet a third perspective on being female during Iran's Islamic Revolution, you should check out Marjane Satrapi's graphic novels (not comic books!) Persepolis and Persepolis 2 ... or read the review.

This event is free and open to the public.

May 9: "Women's Issues and Reform in Morocco and the Middle East" -- A talk by Rhama Bourqia

Rhama Bourqia, president of Hassan II University in Mohammedia, Morocco -- world-renowned anthropologist and first woman to preside over a university in Morocco

When: Monday May 9, 11:00 AM -1:30 PM

Where: Hilton Hotel, Indianapolis Ballroom 120 W. Market St.

Luncheon will cost $20/person, start at 11:30 AM sharp. To RSVP contact Caterina Cregor Blitzer at cblitzer@icenterindy.org or 317-955-5160 ext. 223.

Details to be added later. This should be a great event.

April 26: Opera Behind the Scenes -- a rehearsal of IO's "Lucia di Lammermoor"

An open rehearsal of Indianapolis Opera's upcoming "Lucia di Lammermoor"

When: Tuesday, April 26 at 6:30 p.m.

Where: Indiana State Fairgrounds

IndyBuzz reflects my policy wonkish inclinations, so it might seem surprising that I'm plugging opera. Not just opera. Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, which is OPERA:

The foggy moors and stark castles of
Scotland provide the backdrop for this
romantic tragedy. When Edgardo
and Lucia fall in love despite the blood feud
between their families, they try to
hide the affair from Lucia’s brother,
Enrico. However, Enrico learns of
the romance and forces Lucia into marrying the
wealthy Arturo. Ultimately, this deception
leads to heartbreak and death for the
ill-fated couple. Donizetti brings the
powerful emotions of the story to the
audience. From the heights of
Edgardo and Lucia’s hidden love, to the tragic
beauty of Lucia’s renowned scene
depicting her descent into madness, as the
curtain falls you can only hope the lovers
found in death what was taken from
them in life.


One of the most fun event Sagamore Institute has ever done was with Indianapolis Opera, a discussion of civil liberties integrated with a performance of selections from The Crucible (the Robert Ward opera based on the late Arthur Miller's play). And one of the highlights of preparing for the event was attending the IO's rehearsal. You sit fifteen feet away from the performers while they are singing and you realize: "Oh my goodness, these kids got pipes!"

Indianapolis Opera’s productions are rehearsed for three weeks before opening night in Clowes Memorial Hall. We have the opportunity to come to the rehearsal site and see how it all comes together. Beginning half an hour before the evening rehearsal, Josh Major, the stage director of L di L, will talk about his or her concepts for the production and the particular scene being worked on during that session. Afterwards, guests are invited to stay for part or all of the rehearsal.

L di L is in Italian. When it is performed in Clowes there will be English language supertitles, but the State Fairgrounds aren't set up for this. You'll want at least to know the plot of the opera for the rehearsal. The Scots will tell you a lot about this hometown girl made good. The Manitoba put togehter a nice student guide a couple of years ago when they performed the opera. I haven't found an English translation of the libretto, you can get it in Italian.

It is one of the best free evenings of entertainment I can think of. Admission is free, but reservations are required. Contact: Patty Harvey, Director of Education Indianapolis Opera at (317) 283-3531 or pattyh@indyopera.org

April 13: Civil Rights Lawyer Addresses PATRIOT Act

Lecture by Fran Quigley, Indiana Civil Liberties Union executive director

When: Wednesday, April 13, 4:30-5:30 p.m.

Where: IndianaUniversity School of Law-Indianapolis, Inlow Hall, 530 W. New York Street, Room 259


Mr. Quigley will discuss the hastily passed Patriot Act that became law following the 9/11 tragedy. The Patriot Act authorizes government to encroach into individuals' basic human rights, particularly right to privacy, free speech, and fair trial.

The law is set to expire in December of this year because legislators, concerned about government incursion into individual rights under the U.S. Constitution and international law, provided sunset clauses or automatic expiration dates for the law's egregious sections. Some quarters, however, are vying to make these provisions restricting human rights and civil liberties permanent. Members of the legal and local community are encouraged to learn more about the law and how it will affect their civil liberties.

A native of Indianapolis and a graduate of Hanover College and Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis, Mr. Quigley worked as a public defender and an associate clinical professor in the poverty law clinic at IU-Indianapolis Law School. In 1997, he took a leave of absence from teaching to serve as the first chief of staff for U.S. Congresswoman Julia Carson. Most recently before joining the ICLU, Fran was a reporter and news editor for NUVO Newsweekly and a contributor to The Indianapolis Recorder and other publications. He lives in Indianapolis with his wife Ellen and their three children.

The event is free to the public. Please RSVP to Chalanta Shockley, of the IU Program on International Human Rights Law, chshockl@iupui.edu, and/or Perfecto Caparas, pcaparas@iupui.edu.

The Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis Program in International Human Rights Law, International Human Rights Law Society, Committee on Diversity Initiatives, ICLU, Equal Justice Works, and Amnesty International are organizing the event.

April 11: "The World Bank, Mining and Poverty Reduction"

A lecture by Dr. Scott Pegg, Dept. of Political Science

When: Monday April 11 1:00 PM

Where: IUPUI University College, lower level

No doubt about it, if you are a country "blessed" with lots of reserves of minerals, oil and gas, you aren't "blessed" at all. You're saddled with a "resource curse." Compared to countries not cursed with "extractive resources," your people are more likely to be poor; your economy will be less stable; your government is more likely to be despotic and corrupt, and you are much likelier to experience a civil war. Yikes! Remember when Administration officials such as Paul Wolfowitz confidently asserted that Iraq would be able to finance its own reconstruction (at little cost to US taxpayers)? Perhaps we would be doing the Iraqis a favor by letting the insurgents destroy the country's petroleum industry. Well, probably not, but we ought to be helping the people of Iraq (and other countries) cope with their resource curses.

The folks at the World Bank can look at numbers, they know how poor the record is for developing countries cursed by natural resources. In 2001 the World Bank commissioned an "extractive industry review" to figure out why this is so, and to make recommendations about how to improve the lives of the poor in these countries. Critics of globalization have viewed the study with skeptical optimism, the International Council of Mining and Metals with skeptical pessimism. I personally like the "extractive industry transparency initiative": the problem isn't global capitalism, it's local accountability and democracy.

Scott Pegg of IUPUI has been researching this problem for several years. Both he and the World Bank look carefully at Nigeria ... and I imagine reach different conclusion. Scott will critically evaluate the contribution that mining has made to poverty reduction, and assesses the prospects for better performance in the future. Employing the World Bank's own conceptualization of poverty as an analytical framework, the presentation demonstrates that mining has a dismal empirical track record to date in poverty reduction. While the theoretical reasons to believe that mining can contribute to poverty alleviation are perhaps sound, the reality of mineral-led development has not lived up to its rhetorical promise. Dr. Pegg will outline what preconditions must be met before mining can truly be a source of poverty alleviation.

If you like this event, you should check out the May 18 symposium on energy security and the talk by Robert Ebel of the CSIS Energy Project.

April 29: “Are We Still Fighting the Skull Wars?: Repatriation in the 21st Century”

Lecture by Archaeologist David Hurst Thomas, Curator, American Museum of Natural History

When: Friday, April 29, 2005, 7:00 pm

Where: IUPUI Informatics and Communication Technology Classroom (ICTC) Building, Room 152

Dr. Thomas will trace the five-hundred-year roots of the Kennewick Man controversy. As an update to his best-selling book, Skull Wars, Dr. Thomas chronicles the brutal massacres in which skulls of Indian warriors were sent east to build America’s greatest museum collections. Dr. Thomas details the interactions between archaeologists and native people, and urges the two groups to define the common ground necessary to work together in the future.

(To read more about Dr. Thomas’ work, please visit http://www.amnh.org/science/divisions/anthro/bio.php?scientist=thomas)

The lecture is free and open to the public.
Because of limited seating, those planning to attend are asked to RSVP by April 25th.
Please call or email Annette Hill, anjhill@iupui.edu/317-278-1839.

The ICTC Building is located at 535 West Michigan Street (southwest corner of West Street and Michigan), Indianapolis, IN, 46202-3103. Guest parking is available in the lot across Michigan Street.

For more information about the event, please contact Sara Head, shead@iupui.edu.

Welcome to IndyBuzz

IndyBuzz provides information about Central Indiana's most stimulating and thought provoking events -- discussions and conferences, art exhibitions, films, music performances. It tells you what's happening … explains why you should be part of what’s happening. More than an events calendar, though, IndyBuzz tries to make events more meaningful for participants by suggesting an article or two to read before the event, recommending books or websites that will be sources of further information after the event, and pointing out related events that are worth attending.

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