STUDENTS: GET THE FACTS AND TAKE ACTION AT USF PEACE WEEK

Should the US Allow Torture? Does the US Need More Effective Nuclear Weapons?

With the national elections coming up fast, political spin isn’t good enough – students want real information about peace and justice issues before they vote. Peace Week provides key information to inspire students to get involved and vote.

The second annual USF Peace Week will be held from September 29^th through October 4^th, 2008, on the Tampa campus of the University of South Florida. All events are free and open to the public.

Events include keynote lectures by two international experts:

• Nathaniel Raymond, from Physicians for HumanRights, will speak on “Physician Involvement in Torture” on Monday, September 29th at 7:00 pm in the Marshall Center, room 3707.

• Ira Helfand, MD, from Physicians for Social Responsibility, will speak on “The Real and Growing Threat from Nuclear Weapons” on Thursday, October 2nd at 7:00 pm, in the Marshall Center Ballroom.

Other events during the week will balance peace education with fun activities. Three examples are:

• “Bring Your Own Knowledge Day” on September 30^th from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm on MLK Plaza, next to the Marshall Center. This event encourages community members and students to share their knowledge. Learn anything from how to fix a bike from members of a bike co-op, register to vote, learn how to paint, increase your peace literacy, etc. Anyone interested in sharing their knowledge and skills should check out the facebook page BYOK! or contact James Hudson at jrhudson@gmail.com.

• “Wake Up Wednesday” on October 1^st from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm on campus (location to be announced). Held in conjunction with Student Government, this event will educate students about the candidates’ views and will register students to vote.

• Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) Workshop on October 4^th from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm in the Marshall Center, room 1306. AVP Tampa Bay will host this workshop, which is focused on non-violent conflict resolution and community-building activities. The workshop is a two day commitment and will be completed on October 11^th from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm. For more information on AVP see www.avpusa.org

USF Peace Week is organized and sponsored by Peace @ Large, a USF student organization. Co-sponsors are: Physicians for Social Responsibility, Physicians for Human Rights, the United Nations Association, The Jacob Wallenberg and Madeleine Sager Memorial Foundation (Sweden), and the student organizations, Coalition for Global Justice and STAND.

The new Marshall Center is located on the USF Tampa campus. Directions and parking information can be found at: http://msc.usf.edu/directions.htm. Also, please visit peaceatlarge.pbwiki.com

Keynote Speakers

Nathaniel A. Raymond is currently the Senior Communications Strategist at Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), an organization that shared the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize. He currently leads an investigative team at PHR exploring the role of health professionals in current US national security interrogation policy, and in this role he works closely with journalists, members of Congress, and Executive Branch agencies.

From November 2002 to April 2006, Raymond served in a variety of roles in the communications and humanitarian response departments at Oxfam America. From 2004 until his departure, he served as Communications Advisor for Humanitarian Response at Oxfam America. With Oxfam, Raymond was frequently deployed to Ethiopia, including to the Eritrean border, the border with Sudan, and the border regions with Kenya as part of Oxfam's response to mass killing, conflict and famine. He served as part of the Oxfam responses to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan by deployment to Amman, Jordan and Kabul, Afghanistan.

After the December 2004 tsunami, Raymond was tasked to the Oxfam International team in Sri Lanka, working there for two months in communications and policy. Raymond was later promoted to interim Communications Coordinator for Oxfam International's tsunami response, overseeing communications, policy and information work for all seven countries where Oxfam was responding—crafting the overall communications plan for a $250 million dollar humanitarian operation. He later supported inter‐agency efforts to coordinate NGO activity with the UN, World Bank and other organizations. In 2005, he was part of Oxfam's first team deployed after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, later briefing senior members of Congress in Washington.

Before joining Oxfam in 2002, Raymond was Senior Communications Associate at PHR, having joined PHR as a Communications Assistant in 1999. Raymond played pivotal roles in the attempt to bring the US onboard the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, promoting PHR's work in conflict and forensic investigations, and in exposing the Dasht‐e‐Leili mass grave in Northern Afghanistan, which resulted in a cover story on the grave in Newsweek in August 2002. He has lectured on humanitarian and human rights issues, particularly famine and conflict on the Horn of Africa, at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Harvard University, the American Red Cross, the BU School of Public Health, American University School of Foreign Service, and other graduate programs dealing with international issues. Raymond is frequently referred to on CNN and in the New York Times.

Ira Helfand, MD, is an expert who has widely published on the threat to human health posed by nuclear weapons, nuclear war and nuclear terrorism. He is a co-founder of the National Physicians for Social Responsibility and is currently an emergency physician and internist practicing in Springfield, Massachusetts. He is also a co-founder of Greater Boston PSR, as well as the founder of New York City PSR.

Dr. Helfand has served as a member of PSR’s National Board of Directors for 25 years. He was elected to serve as PSR’s President in 1996. Prior to his current post at Family Care Health Center in Springfield, Dr. Helfand worked for the Department of Emergency Medicine at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, Massachusetts for over 20 years, serving as Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine and President of the Medical Staff. Before starting his long career in Massachusetts, Dr. Helfand worked for the U.S. Public Health Service in Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico in the early 1980s. Dr. Helfand received his Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, from Harvard College and received his Medical Degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine.