Medical College Of Georgia

FOR THE RECORD is a bimonthly web-based electronic newsletter that focuses on recent academic exchange and alumni highlights and is published by the Office of Academic Exchange Programs of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). ECA conducts a variety of exchange programs with Europe and Eurasia. These academic exchange programs provide various opportunities for university study as well as research at doctoral levels. The programs are authorized through the Fulbright-Hays Act, the FREEDOM Support Act and the Support for Eastern European Democracy Act.    [Read More]

Baghdad report

Baghdad Visit 17–22 December, 20031. OverviewSubsequent to the first USAID-Iraq HEAD Program meeting,held in Amman, Jordan 15–16 December 2003, a team from the State University ofNew York at Stony Brook, including the E. Christian Filstrup, Director of Libraries, ElizabethStone (Director) and Jennifer Pournelle (Asst. Director) of the ArchaeologyProject; and Wajdy Hailoo (Director) and Shawky Marcus (Asst. Director) of theEnvironmental Health Project visited Baghdad to inspect facilities, assessneeds, and solicit bids toward execution of the Program. Critical components ofthis effort, aimed at restoring Iraq’s capacity to conduct higher education inthese fields, are (1) bringing libraries—including holdings, internetconnectivity, and information technology management—up to current graduatestandards; (2) bringing faculty up-to-date ... [Read More]

Europe and Eurasia

The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there were some improvements in a few areas, serious problems remained. The president, who is directly elected, has extensive powers that are not checked by the legislature or judiciary. Recent elections – including the controversial 2003 presidential election – have not met international standards. There were some limits on freedom of assembly, the media and religious freedom. However, in a positive step toward religious freedom, the Government registered the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Judges remained subject to pressure from the executive branch and corruption was a problem. Some members of the security forces committed a number of human rights abuses. Security forces beat pretrial detainees, and impunity remained a problem. There were instances of arbitrary arrests and detentions. In April, police used excessive force to disperse an opposition rally, detained opposition politicians and raided opposition party offices. The Govern ... [Read More]