(PWR) Monday: "Dialogue for Democracy" and Death Penalty Debate

From: mtoups@andrew.cmu.edu
Date: Sun Apr 28 2002 - 12:11:58 EDT


Two great events monday:

1. Dialogue for Democracy, featuring Patch Adams (the real guy),
   Michael Parenti, Helen Caldicott, David Korten, Francis Moore Lappé,
   and Susan Parenti.

   7pm, David Lawrence Hall Auditorium, University of Pittsburgh,
   3942 Forbes Avenue (this is adjacent to Hillman Library, very close to CMU)

2. Death Penalty Debate, sponsored by Amnesty, PSA, and College Republicans
   Monday, April 29th. 5pm
   University Center, 2nd Floor, Peter/McKenna Room

extended details below.
stay tuned for info on a special local currents with
John Soluri, and the film "Behind the Labels", both tuesday.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

April 10, 2002

Contact: Jacob Smith 412-726-3138 info@dialoguefordemocracy.org www.dialoguefordemocracy.org

"Dialogue for Democracy" - Political Dialogue Between Public Audience and Intellectual/Activist Panel

PITTSBURGH, PA - A live audience will engage in open dialogue with Dr. Patch Adams, Dr. Helen Caldicott, Dr. David Korten, Francis Moore Lappé, Dr. Michael Parenti and Dr. Susan Parenti, who will present on the current state of democracy and the role of the US government and businesses in the world. The event will take place on Monday, April 29 from 7 -10:30 p.m. in the David Lawrence Hall Auditorium at the University of Pittsburgh, 3942 Forbes Avenue. Organized by Zi, a Pittsburgh based activist organization, the event will further public dialogue between mainstream political positions and the views of many intellectuals and activists, as represented by the panelists. Zi was founded in the wake of September 11 to encourage critical analysis of current issues and promote social and political change.

"Dialogue for Democracy" builds on Dr. Patch Adams' October 26 lecture at Mt. Lebanon High School near Pittsburgh, where his critical views of American foreign policy stimulated public discussions within the community. Zi is encouraging civic political discussions by giving the public an opportunity to engage in a dialogue with a distinguished panel.

Dr. Hunter (Patch) Adams is a physician, social activist, professional clown, author and director of the Gesundheit! Institute. The institute is a non-profit health care community that works toward increasing empathy and humanity in society. Adams is the subject of the film Patch Adams starring Robin Williams, as well as the documentary The Real Patch Adams, which details his life and unconventional medical philosophy.

Dr. Helen Caldicott is a physician, activist and writer. An advocate of citizen action on nuclear and environmental concerns, she is the founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility and Women's Action for Nuclear Disarmament. She has also been the subject of several films, including Eight Minutes to Midnight (1982 Academy Award nominee) and If You Love This Planet, winner of the 1983 Academy Award for Best Documentary. Her most recent book, The New Nuclear Danger - George W. Bush's Military Industrial-Complex, makes the case that the Bush Administration's ties to business have dangerous implications for world peace.

Dr. David Korten has taught at the Harvard University Graduate School of Business and has directed projects through the Harvard Institute for International Development and US Agency for International Development (USAID). Disillusioned by the inability of USAID and other large official aid donors to apply effective approaches to third world development, Korten broke with the official aid system. In 1990 he joined with colleagues from around the world to found the People-Centered Development Forum and the Positive Futures Network, publishers of the magazine YES! A Journal of Positive Futures. His most recent books are When Corporations Rule the World and The Post-Corporate World.

Francis Moore Lappé is an activist and author of 12 books, including the bestseller, Diet for a Small Planet. Her most recent book, Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet, was written while she was a visiting scholar at MIT. Lappé is co-founder of two national organizations: The Institute for Food and Development Policy (better known as Food First and described by the New York Times as one of the nation's "most respected food think tanks") and The Center for Living Democracy. Lappé's books are used in a broad array of courses in hundreds of colleges and universities in more than 50 countries and have been translated into over a dozen languages.

Dr. Michael Parenti is an author, lecturer and leading political analyst. Parenti received his Ph.D. in political science from Yale University in 1962 and has taught at a number of colleges and universities in the U.S. and abroad. He has written numerous books and articles on topics from the global economy to mass media, including The Terrorism Trap: September 11 and Beyond, History as Mystery, and the 7th edition of Democracy for the Few. Parenti's articles have appeared in CovertAction Quarterly, Monthly Review, Prevailing Winds, The Humanist, New Political Science, The Nation, Z Magazine, and Dollars and Sense. His writings have been translated into 11 languages and are widely used in college courses.

Dr. Susan Parenti is a composer, playwright and poet who has written and lectured extensively on composition and feminism. She has taught courses on creativity in activism and is a founding instructor at the School for Designing a Society in Urbana, Illinois.

"Dialogue for Democracy" is free and open to the public

Additional information and expanded panelist bios http://www.dialoguefordemocracy.org

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

"Be it resolved, that in the state of Pennsylvania a moratorium should be placed upon use of the death penalty for two years (as per PA Senate Bill 25). During this time, a commision shall study the death penalty to provide recommendations for amendments that will assure: (1) defendants who are sentenced to death are in fact guilty of first degree murder; (2) defendants in death penalty cases are provided adequate and experienced counsel and adequate resources for the defense of their cases at the trial, appellate and post- conviction stages; (3) race does not play an impermissible role in determining which defendants are sentenced to death; and (4) death penalty cases are handled similarly by all district attorneys throughout this Commonwealth."

Amnesty International CMU & the Progressive Student Alliance will be representing the Pro-Moratorium side against the CMU College Rebublicans, who will be arguing against Moratorium.

The debate will last approximately 30 minutes. A 30 minute open question/answer period shall follow after.

Sponsored by Amnesty International, the Progressive Student Alliance, and the College Republicans.

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