TABLE OF CONTENTS

• NEWS
  • EISTA 2005
• PROGRAMS AND SCHOLARSHIP
  • Culture Café Continues
  • February-March: International Focus
  • Now-March:  2005 "Great Decisions" Series
  • March 14 and 16:  Peter Kubleka
  • March 17:  A Russian Writer in the American Academy
  • March 17:  Submissions due for Making Our Media text
  • March 29:  Deadline to Register for Islam Briefing
  • April 4:  Applications due for Dar al Islam Teachers Institutes
  • April 7:  World Health Day
  • April 22 and 23:  Global Administrative Law Conference
  • April 26:  Kennan Forum
  • April 29-30:  "Command Lines" Conference at UWM
  • June 1:  Deadline for GSA Conference Submission
  • June 16-17:  Incommunicado Work Conference (ICT4D)
  • July 26-28, 2005:  IAMCR Conference:  “Media Panics"
  • The Fund for American Studies:  Student Internship Program in DC
  • August:  Call for Submissions -- Gender and the State Reform in Latin American and the Caribbean
• GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS, INTERNSHIPS & AWARDS
  • March 18:  Deadline to Apply for Kennan Forum Travel Mini-grant
• FEATURED WEB SITES
  • Year of Languages
  • Russia Profile
  • Bureau of International Information Programs
  • Teen Experiences of War
  • Center for Applied Linguistics

Third International Conference on Education and Information Systems
A message from Professor Freddy Malpica, Former President of the Inter-American Organization of Higher Education and General Chair of EISTA 2005:

On behalf of the Inter-American Organization of Higher Education IOHE http://www.oui-iohe.qc.ca, which includes about 400 universities, and EISTA's Organizing Committee, I would like to invite you to participate in the 3rd International Conference on Education and Information Systems:  Technologies and Applications EISTA 2005, which will be held in Orlando, Florida, USA, on July 14 - 17, 2005.

The main objective of EISTA '05 is to provide a forum for the presentation of both: solutions and problems of the applications of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) in Education and Training.

Therefore, we invite you to submit your original and unpublished works, research results, case studies, information systems developed for specific purposes, and innovative ideas and designs in the fields of Education/Training and Information/Communication Technologies (ICT) that might be improved by different approaches and design in ICT.

We are making emphasis on the area of Education and Training Systems and Technologies which is related to your specific area.

I would also like you to consider the possibility of organizing an invited session related to the topic of your research interest in this field. If you are interested in doing so, please, fill the respective form provided in the conference web page: http://www.confinf.org/eista05 .

You can get the conference's Call for papers in:  (http://www.confinf.org/eista05/website/callforpapers.asp).

The best 10% of the papers will be published in the Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics (http://www.iiisci.org/Journal/SCI/Home.asp), the hard copy version of which will be ready in about one month, and it will be sent to the largest university libraries.

Would you consider the possibility of helping us in the reviewing process?  If so, please, fill the form provided for reviewers in our web page:

• http://www.confinf.org/eista05/reviewers/Reviewers.asp

• http://www.confinf.org/eista05 .

Culture Café is held in Garland Hall Room 104 from 2:00-3:30pm.

• March 31: Greece
• April 14:  Sweden
• April 28:  Nepal

The 2005 schedule follows here:
 

Wisconsin Great Decisions 2005 Co-sponsors: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Midwest Airlines, The Foreign Policy Association, Wisconsin Public Radio, UWM Center for International Education, USBank, and Brady Corporation.

Great Decisions 2005 Cooperating Organizations:   UWM Student Union,Mead Public Library Racine Unified School District, J.I. Case High School, Waukesha County Technical College, Milwaukee Area Technical College, Milwaukee Public Television, UW College-Sheboygan, Fond du Lac Public Library, Marian College, UW College-Fond du Lac, Bemis International Center, and St. Norbert College.

For information, contact the Institute of World Affairs at 414-229-3220 or iwa@uwm.edu.

To register online:  http://www.iwa.uwm.edu

One of the most influential of experimental filmmakers, Kubleka is justly celebrated for his wizardly metric films that rigorously and precisely engineer the most fundamental aspects of cinema - the unit of the individual frame, the rhythmic flutter of projected light - into exhilarating optical rhapsodies. Critic P. Adams Sitney has written, "Kubelka's cinema is like a piece of crystal, or some other object of nature: it does not look like it was produced by man..."

Experimental Tuesdays at the UWM Union Theatre presented by the UWM Film Department and the UWM Union Theatre.  Screening made possible with the support of the Austrian Consulate.  The tour has been coordinated through the efforts of Fred Camper.

• Monday, March 14, 7 pm
  • Metric Films, plus Dichtung und Wahrheit
  • Adebar (35mm, B&W, sound, 1-1/2 min., 1956/57)
  • Schwechater (16mm, b&w, sound, 1 min. 1957/1958
  • Arnulf Rainer (35mm, 16mm, b&w, sound, 6-1/2 min.., 1958/60)
  • Dichtung und Wahrheit (Poetry and Truth) (35mm, color, silent, 13 min.. 2003)
• Wednesday, March 16, 7 pm
  • Metaphoric Films
  • Mosaik Im Vertrauen (Mosaic in Confidence) (35mm,  color and b&w, sound, 16-1/2 min.., 1954/55)
  • Unsere Afrikareise (Our Trip to Africa) (16mm, color, sound, 12-1/2 min.,1961-66)
  • Pause! (16mm, color, sound, 11-3/4 min., 1977)

Professor Iurii Druzhnikov:  “A Russian Writer in the American Academy”
Since his expulsion from the Union of Soviet Writers in 1977, Iurii Druzhnikov has played the roles of dissident, exiled writer, Russian émigré, and American academic.  University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee welcomes Professor Druzhnikov for an evening of reflection, literature, and humor.

March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, 7:00 PM
UWM’s Greene Hall
3347 N. Downer Avenue

http://www.druzhnikov.com

This event is sponsored by the UWM Slavic Languages Program (Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics) and Obzor, a Russian-language newspaper serving Chicago and Milwaukee.   For more information, please contact:  peschio@uwm.edu

The book will consider several dimensions of the emerging transnational movement for a more just and democratic communications environment, including the development of alternative information and communication systems; new relationships between the alternative media sector, social movements and corporations or governments; and renewed efforts to democratize the public sphere.

"Studies published in the series consider advancements in democratic theory, and are grounded in empirical investigations of recent communicative innovations. Although the primary objective of Euricom Monographs is to contribute to intellectual understanding of transformations in the democratic process, some titles are designed to contribute to improved political practice, policy and action."

Hampton Press is an internationally oriented publisher specializing in the field of communications.  Hampton Press publishes in English, but we will also aggressively pursue the possibility of a Spanish language publication.
 

The book is divided into several sections for which we seek relevant chapters: Theoretical perspectives.  We are looking for submissions dealing with conceptualizations of citizen's media, prescriptions for a more democratic public sphere, and articulations between social movements theory and communications theory.  Submissions might also consider the relationship of information and communication technologies to civil society, community, and public commons. Policy issues.  We will explore political, legal or policy interventions regarding the democratization of media.  What tensions are manifest between civil society, corporate media and states at the policy level?  How do policy advocates, activists or allied social movements interact with the state and multilateral organizations, such as the World Trade Organization or the World Summit on the Information Society? Empirical studies.  We seek historical or contemporary case studies of citizen's media, though it is essential that such articles also have a scholarly or theoretical foundation.  Submissions might focus on Indymedia, community radio, citizen's media, or alternative community media development, practices, aims and goals, strategies, effects, participants or audiences.  We are also interested in the larger structural political and economic factors that affect these media. Methodological issues.  We seek studies that propose, design, develop or analyze methodological processes to evaluate citizen's media and other democratic uses of media, to study media and social movements, or to investigate grassroots initiatives around media policy. Future directions.  New ways that citizen's media are interacting with and affected by the political and technological landscape, including issues related to communication rights and the information society, intellectual property regimes and other global issues, peace and justice media, and the role of new media forms and functions.  We seek studies that report and analyze new directions for the movement for democratic communication.

Interested authors should submit a 500-700 word abstract or summary of their article, a list of relevant references you'll be drawing on for the article, a 100-150 word short biography and a list of any articles you have published on related topics.  If available, please send the complete article as well.

Abstracts should indicate the author's specific theoretical or scholarly approach; the method of analysis; the substantive topics, cases or issues examined; and the conclusions drawn.   Submissions may be made in English or Spanish.   Submissions can be made via email or in hard copy or on disk (3.5" floppy or CD ROM).  Disks should be labeled with the author's name, the title of the article, and the type of software used.  A cover page on your article should include your name, any affiliations or titles, your full contact information, and your article title.

Please send submissions by March 17, 2005 to:

Dorothy Kidd, Clemencia Rodriguez and Laura Stein

Department of Media Studies
University of San Francisco
2130 Fulton Street
San Francisco, California, 94117-1080
USA

Or E-mail them to Kiddd@usfca.edu

The Stories Behind the Headlines, Part I:
Saturday, April 9, 2005         8:30AM - 4:30PM (8-8:30 registration)
University of Wisconsin-Madison, 206 Ingraham Hall--free parking in lot 26 along Observatory Drive

The series of briefings will include interactive discussions on:

• Myths and Misconceptions about Islam
• Islamist Politics and the Islamic Revival in the Middle East
• Islam in former Soviet Central Asia
• Islam in France and Holland

Teaching About the Arab World and Islam with Audrey Shabbas:
Saturday, April 16, 2005        8:30AM - 4:30PM (8-8:30 registration)
Center for International Education, UWM-Union (2300 E. Kenwood Blvd)

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. For more information, please call 414-229-4252

Registration form can be found at http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/CIE/documents/AShabbas-16-05.pub.pdf

The Stories Behind the Headlines, Part II:
Saturday, April 23, 2005        8:30AM - 4:30PM (8-8:30 registration)
University of Wisconsin-Madison, 206 Ingraham Hall--free parking in lot 26 along Observatory Drive

The series of briefings will continue with interactive discussions on:

• The Role of Islam in Political Dissent: The Arabian Peninsula and Beyond
• Islamic Separatist Movements in Far Western China
• The Rise of Jihad in South Asia and Southeast Asia, and a panel on
• Facets of Islamic Practices in Africa

Registration deadline: Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Registration Fee: $25 per workshop includes materials, breaks and lunch. You can register for one, two, or all three workshops in the series. Registration fee is non-refundable. Please go to: http://www.wisc.edu/wioc for a registration form.

Scholarships: Scholarships may be available for travel reimbursement and lodging -- requests must be made by Friday, March 4, 2005.

Graduate Credit: Approval for 1-graduate credit is pending. Participants interested in credit option must attend both workshops at UW-Madison (April 9 & April 23)

For more information about this series, please e-mail Rachel Weiss: rweiss@wisc.edu or call: (608) 262-9224.

There are no application forms.  Each applicant must provide:

• A brief description (200 words) of your responsibilities including the coming academic year together with a description of your institution
• A resume (limited to 2 pages please)
• Two letters of reference, one of which must be from the head of your institution or your supervisor
• A one-page statement of personal and professional reasons to attend

Karima Diane Alavi, Director
Dar al Islam Teachers Institute
P.O. Box 180
Abiquiu, NM 87510
(505) 685-4584
kdalavi@cybermesa.com

For more information about the Teachers’ Institute and other Dar al Islam programs please visit our web site at http://www.daralislam.org.

Cunningham Hall G40
(1921 E. Hartford Avenue, Milwaukee)

• Soldier Child
  • 10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
  • Documentary (55 minutes).  Based in Northern Uganda, this documentary focuses on rehabilitation efforts for the children who have been fortunate enough to escape forced service in the rebel army led by Joseph Kony.  Following the screening of the film, Professor Aaron Buseh, from the UWM College of Nursing, will lead a discussion.
• Book Fair
  • 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
  • Hosted by the UWM Bookstore, books will be available for perusal and purchase which focus on Global Health.
• Señorita Extraviada
  • 1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
  • Documentary (70 minutes).  Based in Juarez, Mexico, this documentary explores the abuses endured by the women who work in the maquiladoras on the U.S./Mexican border.  Following the screening of the film, Professor Rachel Ida Buff, from the UWM Department of History, will lead a discussion.

For more information, contact Anne Banda of the Center for Cultural Diversity and Global Health in the UWM College of Nursing at banda@uwm.edu or 414-229-3995.

Sponsored by the Center for Cultural Diversity and Global Health, College of Nursing, Center for International Studies, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Institute of World Affairs, Center for Women’s Studies.

The goal of the conference is to tackle, with an innovative and interdisciplinary approach, the problems of accountability and participation in transnational governance.  The conference is specifically designed to bridge different policy communities, so that experts on the contributions and weaknesses of the World Bank Inspection Panel come together with people working on improving accountability of the UNHCR and NGOs administering refugee camps;  people working on accountability of the IMF come together with people working on accountability of the Security Council and of the WTO; people involved in shaping corporate behavior on chanaka.wickremasinghe@fco.gov.uklabor rights come together with people regulating financial services businesses; and, corporate counsel concerned about how private bodies set international product standards come together with NGOs concerned about how environmental standards are set and implemented.  This conference will kindle a debate about fundamental links between current developments in different areas that are seldom either seen or deeply scrutinized.

We greatly hope that you will join us for this conference.

For more information or to register for the conference, please visit the IILJ Conference website:  http://iilj.org/events/GALConference.htm or for specific inquires, contact the Conference Manager, GuyLaine Charles at charlesg@juris.law.nyu.edu.  Tel. +1(212) 992-8194   Fax. +1 (212) 995-4341

At the 2005 George F. Kennan Forum, a panel of internationally known experts will offer differing perspectives on the UN's future:

• Gareth Evans has been since January 2000 President and Chief Executive of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG), an independent multinational non-governmental organization with 90 full-time staff on five continents which works, through field-based analysis and high-level policy advocacy, to prevent and resolve deadly conflict.
• Gillian Sorensen is Senior Adviser and national advocate at the United Nations Foundation. She has had a long career working with and for the UN. Since l993, she served as Special Adviser for Public Policy for Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, then as Assistant Secretary General, head of the Office of External Relations for Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Ben Merens, Host at Wisconsin Public Radio, will be moderating this exciting debate at the Pabst Theater.  The program will be broadcast live on Wisconsin Public Radio.

Program in partnership with Ideas 90.7 Wisconsin Public Radio.  Support from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Midwest Airlines, Wisconsin United Nations Association, Wisconsin Governor’s Commission on the United Nations, and the Annette J. Roberts Fund for World Peace, World Law and Peace Education.

For travel mini-grant information, please see below.

For more information, please call 414-229-3220 or visit http://www.iwa.uwm.edu.

For more information, please visit the conference website http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/CIE/CommandLines/ or contact Amy Kuether at kuether@uwm.edu

Conference Organizers: Sandra Braman and Thomas Malaby.  Conference presenters will include:

• Richard Bartle
• Genevieve Bell
• Ian Bogost
• Sandra Braman
• Edward Castronova
• Leopoldina Fortunati
• Alexander Galloway
• John Horrigan
• Rob Kitchin
• Hans Klein
• Marwan Kraidy
• Greg Lastowka
• David Levy
• Thomas Malaby
• Helen Nissenbaum
• Christiane Paul
• Jennifer Preece
• Jonathan Sterne
• T.L. Taylor
• Edward Valauskas
• Deborah Wheeler
• Michele White
• Guobin Yang

The abstract deadline is June 1, 2005.

For complete details, please see the GSA web site:  http://www.net4dem.org/mayglobal/Events/Conference%202005/conference2005.htm

Incommunicado http://www.incommunicado.info is a two-day workshop that intends to approach the growing 'ICT for development' (ICT4D) sector and its conceptual and organizational idioms from a committed yet- critical 'insider' perspective.

The Incommunicado gathering wants to explore discourses, concepts and strategies. It offers neither an esoteric, self-referential 'critique fest' nor a mere exhibition of best-of-ICT4Dprojects. Instead, it aims to create a space to allow those active mainly in the field of ICT4D to come together with people from other areas of media activism and criticism.  To facilitate such encounter and exchange, the Incom event will not follow the standard academic conference format but organize an open workshop to encourage cooperative work and informal networking.

The call outlines five (overlapping) topic areas, and an editorial collective will ensure that current information on all topics as well as moderators and focused presentations are available. A pre-conference publication will bundle perspectives considered most relevant by participants and made available online. The conference location itself supports open exchange and networking and can accommodate self-organizing groups anywhere between 15 and 200 people.

Pre-conference cooperation via the conference wiki or the incommunicado mailing-list is encouraged.  With this conference the Waag-Sarai exchange platform also intends to intensify Euro-Asian dialogues.

The event is part of the activities of the Incommunicado network, a research list and weblog that focus on the reappropriation of ICT across the 'Global South'. The idea of being (held) incommunicado - to be in a liminal state vis-a-vis multiple regimes of information as well as human rights - serves as point of departure for analyses, critiques, and projects beyond the standard agenda of ICT-for-Development.

For more information:  http://www.incommunicado.info

For more information on this International Association of Media and Communication Research Conference, please see: http://iamcr2005.shu.edu.tw/basic_info.htm

Certain events, from time to time, shock the world: sometimes into action; sometimes into paralysis. Often, it seems, it is because of the way they are featured in the media. Generally, they are 'bad news' - disaster and conflict. Recall the Chicken Flu sacre in Asia, the SARS epidemic, various terrorist atrocities, the 911 attacks in the USA. Even Janet Jackson's exposure of herself. Twenty five years after observers of the 'active audience' challenged effects theory, the media and their messages seem to reassert their power. And some governments seek to strengthen their controls, whatever the cost to democracy.

Media panics have themselves became the focus of media attention, as well as of scholarly interest. The 2005 IAMCR conference will focus on the topic "Media Panics: Freedom, Control and Democracy in the Age of Globalisation."

At least two theoretical perspectives apply. One is that exaggerated media reports of disasters and violence are either things to be corrected and controlled or as reflective of the culture of our time. Any attempt to curb them is an infringement on our freedom. The other involves the age-old debates that pit social and psychological effects of media against their mass market orientations. How and why have media panics come to be the major concerns of our societies? How do people in different worlds and circumstances respond to this communication phenomenon?

The use of new technology in communication, the process of news production, the content of media coverage from opposing perspectives, and the influence of these events on different audiences and national are some examples. Furthermore, regulation/deregulation of the global media, empowerment of audience in the development of media literacy, as well as meanings of the global and local interactions in this "panic" context are all critical issues to be examined.

Four programs are offered in the summer and Capital Semester is held in the fall and spring.  Programs are offered in the following subject areas:

• Politics and Economics
• Journalism
• Business and Government Affairs
• Nonprofit and Community Service

• Internships – Competitive placements with top sites in DC
• Classes – Transferable credits from Georgetown University
• Housing – Furnished on-campus apartments in the heart of DC
• Scholarships – Over half of all students receive full or partial funding
• Networking – Numerous opportunities for professional growth
• Leadership Development - Leadership and career building activities
• Site Briefings— Hear from national leaders at Washington’s places of power, such as The White House, State Department, House of Representatives, and the Federal Reserve.

Professors and academic advisors have proven to be our most valuable resource in recruiting quality applicants.  We invite you to utilize our new online nomination form, where you can choose up to four students to receive priority acceptance and scholarship consideration (https://inq.applyyourself.com/?id=tfas&pid=1054).

If you have any questions, please contact us at admissions@tfas.org or (202) 986-0384.

This issue seeks to provide a forum for studies dealing with the relationships between the first and second generation of state reforms and the cultural, economic, and social situation of women. We welcome papers on gender differences in the civil service, cultural stereotypes of bureaucracy, and women as the clients of changing public services and structures.
Also, we strongly encourage discussions into new terrains such as the interactions between gender and the privatization of public utilities, as well as women's collective action and their incidence on those public policies geared towards state innovation and change.

Papers can be submitted in Spanish, English, or Portuguese. If accepted, the author will have to provide a Spanish version of the article. The review panel is composed of international scholars from institutions in Latin America, Europe, and the U.S.

The deadline for submission is August of 2005. The expected publication date is March of 2006.

All papers should be sent electronically to:

revistapoliticaygestion@unsam.edu.ar
Attn. Ana L. Rodríguez-Gustá, Guest Editor.

This major national symposium addresses significant issues and concerns vital to United States foreign policy. The audience is encouraged to participate in the question and answer segment of the program. This annual forum is internationally recognized and is the major community world affairs event. Students, teachers, and faculty advisors are awarded scholarships to attend this event.  If you are interested in a mini-grant to cover the cost of bussing for your students please read the following requirements and complete a version of the form below.

Award Eligibility:
Teachers are eligible to apply for the Institute of World Affairs (IWA)/Center for International Education (CIE) travel awards to attend the George F. Kennan Forum on International Issues to be held at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Tuesday, April 26, 2005, 4- 6 p.m.  Awards are to be used to transport students to the forum.  A maximum of $500 will be provided for each award and a maximum of eight awards will be given.

Scope of Award:
Awards will be given to cover or partially to defray travel expenses (i.e. bus rental) to the Kennan Forum.  In addition to travel expenses, recipients will receive a custom designed Foreign Affairs Issue Brief with analytical essays on the United Nations, support materials to lead discussion groups on the future of the United Nations, and a free membership to the Institute of World Affairs.

Application for Award:
Requests must be submitted to IWA/CIE on some version of the application form below.

Award-Related Communications:
The funding will be sent to the recipient after the travel has been completed.  By May 30, the award recipient must have submitted a copy of the receipt or invoice for the travel to the forum.  If this requirement is not satisfied, reimbursement for travel will not be awarded.

Award Application Submission Deadlines:
Requests must be submitted by March 18, 2005.

Kindly submit all materials to:

Institute of World Affairs/Center for International Education
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Attn: Susan Yelich Biniecki
P.O. Box 413
Milwaukee, WI 53201
Fax:  414-229-3626
biniecki@uwm.edu

Year of Languages
    http://www.actfl.org/i4a/pages/Index.cfm?pageid=3591
The importance of fluency in a second language is sometimes underappreciated, and the work of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) is designed to promote just that. As such, 2005 is being celebrated as "The Year of Languages", and the ACTFL is taking this opportunity "to focus America's attention on the academic, social and economic benefits of studying other languages and cultures from around the world." On the organization's website, visitors can learn about some of its latest initiatives, peruse a calendar of events, and look through a series of informational factsheets on various languages. Educators will appreciate the section dedicated to providing helpful ideas for activities and events and looking over a template for creating lessons that integrate culture successfully.

Russia Profile
    http://www.russiaprofile.org/index.wbp
The availability of high-quality news reporting on the Internet continues to improve, though at times finding reputable sources can still be difficult for certain parts of the world. Russia Profile is one such source, as it is produced by the Independent Media group, which is responsible for publishing The Moscow Times along with a number of other magazines across Russia. The goal of this website is to both broaden the scope of news coming out of Russia and "to provide a platform for an informed discussion of issues related to or concerning Russia". From the site's homepage, visitors can read about the latest from Russia Profile, view a calendar of events, and subscribe for free to the print edition of Russia Profile. Visitors can also participate in a number of online forum discussions.

U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs
    http://usinfo.state.gov/
The Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP) serves as the principal international strategic communications service for the foreign affairs community. The IIP was merged into the Department of State in 1999, and works on creating significant numbers of products and services (such as this website and electronic journals) in order to reach key international audiences. As such, the information of the site is available in a number of languages, including Spanish, French, Russian, Arabic, and Chinese. The homepage contains updated news from Washington, D.C., and thematic news areas that address relevant topics such as health, economics, Europe, and women. The site also has audio features, such as the weekly radio address from President George W. Bush. Special features of the site include recent publications sponsored by the IIP, such as "Working for Women, Worldwide". For visitors who wish to stay abreast of the news releases from the IIP there is an area on the homepage where they may sign up for daily or weekly updates.

Beyond the Fire: Teen Experiences of War
    http://www.itvs.org/beyondthefire/
The experience of war is traumatic for all persons who happen to be involved in such activities, whether they be soldiers, commanders, or civilians who are caught up in the ensuing maelstrom. This interactive site tells the story of teenagers involved in various conflicts around the globe, and is maintained by the good people at the Independent Lens Organization. Upon reaching the site's homepage, visitors will be enticed by the multimedia portraits of such teenagers, including Naima Margan in Somalia and Shaima Abdul in Afghanistan. After listening to their stories, visitors may elect to offer feedback on the program, or read transcripts of the participants' comments. The features that educators will appreciate include an interactive world map, conflict timelines, and facts about each country. The site is also rounded out by a fine selection of links to outside Web-based resources, such as the World Fact Book and the homepage of the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers.

Center for Applied Linguistics
    http://www.cal.org/
The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) is a private non-profit organization comprised of scholars and educators "who use the findings of linguistics and related sciences in identifying and addressing language-related problems." The organization's homepage will be of great interest to educators and policy-makers alike, as it contains a number of very useful resources, lesson plans, and other materials. Visitors can begin their journey by clicking on one of the topic areas on the left-hand side of the screen. The topic areas include bilingual education, language testing, school reform, and refugee concerns.