Dr. Drew's Infrequent Blog

09 December 2006

Congratulations to the Class of 2006!

Congratulations Graduates!

Yesterday was the HUI DUI Graduation Dinner. The students themselves organize this lovely event. It was both quite elegant and informal -- which was ideally -- especially as there were so many friends and family members present.

You can see all of the photos I uploaded to my Flickr site -- or as a slideshow. I have another 40 more that are OK if you want something I didn't upload.

I regret that I won't be able to attend commencement later this month. Naomi kindly agreed to coordinate this year's graduation portrait. (Thank you!)

I really enjoyed celebrating the graduation of these students. It is nice to know that they will make really fine librarians. I'm sure they will make us very proud. There were some very intelligent, caring, creative future professionals in this group. It was fun to see themselves enjoying the evening.

Well, I probably should finish grading so that these students can really graduate.

Happy Holidays and Congratulations again to the UHM MLISc Class of 2006!

PS Thank you also to HUI DUI for the kind present. Trust me, I will put the thermos to good use.

PSS Thanks Margot and Jennifer for the offer and ride to Manoa. It was not a good day on the Bus.

07 December 2006

Deborah Lee on Aboriginal Librarianship in Canada

Bamboo in the Art Department


I am busy correcting papers once again, but wanted to pass on some upcoming events. I won't be able to make many, but they look very interesting

Tuesday, 12 Dec. 2006
You are invited to meet Ms. Deborah Lee of the Library and Archives Canada, who will speak about Aboriginal Librarianship in Canada"

TIME: 9:30-10:30 am
Place: Hamilton Library Room 113

Reconstructing Memories Exhibit/ Zero Burning

Zero Project Hawaii


Wednesday, 13 December 2006 from 1:30–to 4:00 p.m.
Reconstructing Memories Closing Ceremony: Zero Walking & Burning

"Please join the University of Hawai‘i Art Gallery in the procession and burning of a life-sized Zero Airplane for the closing of the Reconstructing Memories exhibition.

Schedule:

1:30 p.m. Volunteers carrying the Zero leave the University of Hawai‘i Art Gallery; proceed eastward on McCarthy Mall to Kennedy Theatre; circle the Peace Monument; return to the mall; proceed west toward Varney Circle and place the replica on the site of a former WWII bomb shelter on the lawn fronting Hawai‘i Hall.

2:00 – 2:15 p.m. Zero will be set ablaze

3:00 p.m. Following the burning, light refreshments will be served at the UH Art Gallery.

Ann Wright, Watada, and the Iraq Report (19 Dec 06)

Watada Bike Accessory

If you've been following the news, you won't be surprised by the findings of the The Iraq Study Group. You can download the entire report. This might be my vacation reading.

Their report certainly is a welcome change from Bush's "Stay the Course" or his "Mission Accomplished," but seems a far cry from an acceptance that our military should pull out ASAP since we are the ones causing the most disruption there.

I am a pacifist, but this war made no sense from any point of view from the start. I think the majority of Americans expressed the same thoughts in their last congressional vote.

It will be interesting to see how Bush, the Media, and the new Congress respond to the Report. There are some very important aspects there, such as how the Pentagon has been underreporting the number of deaths, and the amazing price tag of the war. The importance of resuming the Israel-Palestinian peace talks is also important. I've been amazed by Bush's stance on this, which has been a barrier to peace in the Middleast.

Although there are some bright spots in the report, such as the above, I am amazed that it suggests sending in even more soldiers to do training. I haven't read the report yet, but this seems patently absurd since that has supposedly been Bush's main objective to date, but every report says that the Iraqi military is far from reliable. There are also many reports human rights abuses by US-trained Iraqi soldiers. A panel on this morning's Democracy Now pointed out that the Committee only spent around 8 days in Iraq. No wonder why it does not deal with how the war and occupation has made life in Iraq so miserable.

I don't have time to write more, but needed to express that. More importantly, I wanted to remind you that the campaign is continuing against the brave servicepeople who said that this war was wrong such as Lt. Ehren Watada. It is important not to forget about them.

I won't be able to make it, but Ann Wright will be speaking on Tuesday, 19 December 19 at the Church of the Crossroads at 7pm. I received an e-mail reminding me that "Ann was a witness in Lt. Watada's hearing in August. She was arrested at the UN when Bush came to speak in October. And she's been speaking out against the illegal war in Iraq every minute in between (when she's not in court for her actions or the actions of her fellow resisters)."

I've also heard that Lt. Ehren Watada also received permission to come to Hawaii during this same time period even though he is forbidden from engaging in major speaking activities or media events during his visit.