Fudging, Unforgivably, on Fulbrights

Posted on May 31, 2008
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However it happened, here’s the kind of story the U.S. and Israel should never have permitted to occur – not if we are building relationships with the Palestinians and, by extension, the rest of the Arab world:

From The New York Times:
“GAZA — The American State Department has withdrawn all Fulbright grants to Palestinian students in Gaza hoping to pursue advanced degrees at American institutions this fall because Israel has not granted them permission to leave…”

Says one of the students, who was expecting to study in the U.S. for an M.B.A.: “If we are talking about peace and mutual understanding, it means investing in people who will later contribute to Palestinian society. I am against Hamas. Their acts and policies are wrong. Israel talks about a Palestinian state. But who will build that state if we can get no training?”

Who indeed?

However this occurred, it means that, unless something is done, seven Palestinians living in Gaza who had received Fulbright awards to study at American universities have had those awards withdrawn, at least for a year.

Israeli officials seem confused over whether study abroad for young people with a capacity to make a difference in the future is a “humanitarian necessity, ” and, therefore, reason for a student to be allowed through Israel’s Gaza blockade. And The Times advises that “the failure to persuade the Israelis (to allow the students out) may have stemmed from longstanding tensions between the consulate in Jerusalem, which handles Palestinian affairs, and the embassy in Tel Aviv, which manages relations with the Israeli government.”

Whatever, administrations in both the U.S. and Israel who claim to be focused on a future featuring peaceful human relationships need to set this Fulbright-evasion story right, without delay.

Hershey, Pa., Research Center Fulfilling the Value of Web 2.0

Posted on May 15, 2008
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The new Hershey Center for Applied Research (HCAR) in Hershey, Pa., this week launched a brilliantly conceived Web 2.0 tool for global collaboration among its participants. Simon Revell, who developed a similar site at Pfizer Inc. over the past two years, was on hand from England to discuss how it emerged. He’s a hero now; it wasn’t always clear that he would be.

Initially, at least, social media make corporate officials extremely nervous, Revell noted. “It turns things on their head in a big corporation.” Unlike at the Hershey center, the Pfizer network developed without permission. It grew, actually, on the instincts of Revell and like-minded colleagues. “You kind of have to force yourself to do it, to get people to try it themselves and see the benefit,” he said.

The Pfizer network, which now spans the globe, has 200 registered members and many more “lurkers,” and has had a half million “hits,” grew out of a Discussion Group about the World Wide Web (DIGWWW) that Revell started early in 2006. Initial interest – “from the bottom up” – led, finally, to a full-out Web 2.0 social network within the corporate firewall. There’s a Pfizer-wide wiki, “Pfizerpedia,” blogging for internal communication and collaboration, and RSS feeds within the company. Anyone at Pfizer can post a message, anyone can comment on posts, posting does not require anyone’s approval and anonymous comments are possible.

The really good news, Revell said, is that people are using the network responsibly and that it has been of enormous benefit in getting information and insights quickly around Pfizer and its offices in Europe, the U.S. and Asia. “We lowered the barriers to conversation as much as possible,” Revell said, “and there’s been healthy debate and comment.” The site, he added, “has been hughly influential culturally.”

Colleagues can quickly share the kind of information and insights that, over time, made Pfizer “the world’s largest research-based pharmaceutical company”.

The jump-started Hershey network – dubbed HCAR Knowledge Mesh – aims to be equally influential among its associated medical, financial and marketing participants. It’s a bold concept to sponsor officially, but that’s where Web 2.0 is headed. People can be creative, encouraged and supported without ever meeting each other (although they may at times do that as well, and feel as though they’ve been united with old friends).

The power in people communicating well together occurs at keyboards and computer screens, much like the relationships that build at coffee bars and restaurants. Actually, HCAR will also be opening a coffee house in August – but only for Hershey people and visitors. There’s a much wider world out there, and it will included via the Web. The new research center has come up with a wonderful, computer-assisted concept for connecting people for mutual, encouragement, inspiration and benefit. Right on!

China Now Has Its Own Marathon to Survive

Posted on May 13, 2008
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China clearly has a marathon of its own to run in this Olympic year. In addition to the protests in Tibet, the Chinese government is now confronted with a horrendous earthquake death toll. Its response, off to an apparently strong start, will test its response to universal values of family identity, love and honor.

“We can only have one child. How can we live without them?” said a distraught Chinese parent (whose brother’s daughter was killed) in a Wall Street Journal story on the earthquake tragedy. “We put all our hopes on our kids.”

China’s decades-old “one child per family rule,” as well as archaic building codes now being replaced, are part of the backdrop to the earthquake, in which thousands died. Along with the flooding disaster in Myanmar, in which many more thousands died, ensconced regimes in Asia are suddenly a focus of attention for the quality of their response to humanitarian disasters. That focus can be good if the rest of the world enlists in prompting a truly humane response. Something good in relational terms could possibly result from this horrendous devastation – policies and deeds that could indicate awareness, in repressive societies and worldwide, of our common humanity.

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