By Erin Miller

Editor in chief

Calvin students whose appetites for current events were whetted during the January Series will soon have an opportunity to attend similar lectures.

The World Affairs Council of Western Michigan, a non-partisan organization founded following World War II to combat a growing sense of isolationism in the area, will bring their Great Decisions Foreign Policy Lecture Series to Calvin beginning Monday, February 4, and continuing each Monday until March 24.

History professor Dan Miller, a member of the board of directors of the council, said the lectures presented a good opportunity for students interested in current events. Speakers include a Washington Correspondent for NPR, an environmentalist who spent 738 days in a redwood tree protesting logging of ancient forests, the Pakistani Ambassador to the U.S. and a reporter for The Jordan Times.

In picking the speakers, Miller said, the committee tried to get experts from a range of topics, from the environment to the Middle East conflict. However, he added, the council was not promoting one particular way of looking at any of the problems discussed.

``There's certainly no agenda promoted over another,'' he said. ``The committee tried to bring as broad as possible [lineup] on issues we care about as can be arranged.''

The lectures were brought to Calvin after the council began looking for a new venue last fall. The previous venue, the Gerald Ford Museum, was no longer large enough to accommodate the increasing number of attendants. The lectures will be held in either the Gezon Auditorium or the chapel, depending on the size of the crowd expected. Signs will be posted prior to the lectures with the location.

``You just hate to turn people away,'' Miller said. The council is also expecting slightly higher attendance this year because of an increase in interest in world events in general since Sept. 11. ``I suspect the general public interest is probably higher now than it was.''

Barbara Bradley will open the series, speaking Feb. 4. Bradley, NPR's Washington Correspondent, covers the Justice beat in Washington. Before working for NPR, she wrote for The Christian Science Monitor for 11 years. She will be discussing ``The New Terrorist: Old Motives, New Tactics.''

Retired General John Reppert, the Executive Director of research for the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, will speak on Feb. 11. He is an expert on Russia and the former Soviet Union and will be discussing ``Update: Russion, including Current State of US-Russion Cooperation on Arms Control.''

Julia Butterfly Hill, the environmentalist who lived for 738 days in the canopy of an ancient redwood tree, will speak on Feb. 18. Through her protest, Hill was able to protect the tree she lived in as well as three acres surrounding that tree from logging. Hill will address the topic of ``Energy and the Global Environment.''

Michael Shifter, a professor of Latin American Studies at Georgetown University, will speak on Feb. 25. He is known for articles written on U.S. policy towards Latin America that have appeared in The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and many other publications. He will address the topic of ``Terrorism, Drugs and Security Crisis in Columbia: How Can the US Help?''

Dr. John Lacy, the Director of the MSU AIDS Education and Training Center, will speak on March 4. Lacey has spent considerable time in Africa and has worked to prevent the spread of AIDS on that continent. His topic is ``AIDS in Africa.''

Bill Drennen, the acting director and program officer of the United States Institute of Peace, will speak on March 11. He specializes in the areas of North and South Korean politics, security and U.S. relations. His topic is ``Between the ROK and a Hard Case: The United States and the Two Koreas in the New Century.''

Dr. Maleeha Lodhi, the Pakistani Ambassador to the United States, will speak on March 18. Lodhi is a former university professor and journalist.

Rami Khouri, the former editor in chief of The Jordan Times, will speak on March 25. He is a Palestinian-Jordanian U.S. citizen and lives in Boston. He will speak on ``A Peace-Making Perspective from the Arab World.''

The World Affairs Council also sponsors other events throughout the year. They recently finished a Saturday morning lecture series focused on Geography, and each year hold an anniversary dinner at which a prominent figure in politics or world events speaks. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak spoke at the dinner in October 2001.

All lectures begin at 7 p.m. and are expected to last about 45 minutes for the speech itself, followed by 45 minutes for questions from the audience.