News Sources: European-Russian Summit

Facing international pressure over human rights problems and restrictions of free speech in Russia, Russian president, Vladimir Putin has challenged Europeans to set up a new joint human rights institute to improve dialogue. Putin made the proposal at his last scheduled summit meeting with the European Union leaders as Russian president, as part of an attempt to lower the temperature in a range of disputes with Europe. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online at the collegenews.org

Andrew A. Michta – Professor of International Studies, Rhodes College - Professor Michta's books include America's New Allies: Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic in NATO and The Government and Politics of Postcommunist Europe. He has been a Senior Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington, D.C. as well as a Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University.

Nick Hayes - Professor of History, Saint John's University - Hayes holds a doctorate in Russian and European history. He has published widely in the academic press and appeared in popular press, including “ABC Nightline” and “CBS Sunday Morning.” He won an Emmy in 1991 for his work on Russia.

Roy Ginsberg - Director of International Affairs Program, Skidmore College - An expert on international relations and specifically, the European Community, Ginsberg believes the EC represents the model for post-Cold War Western Europe, and possibly Central and Eastern Europe. He is founder and former chair of the European Community Studies Association.

Living Like a Caveman

Cavemen made a splash in Geico commercials and now have their own TV series. But John Barthelme, associate professor of anthropoloy at St. Lawrence University, offers students a chance to live like a caveman - butchering deer and making stone-age tools.

What to Do about Wildfires?

As the latest round of wildfires continue to burn in California, leaving residents and authorities are wrestling with the same problem being faced in places like Australia, India and British Columbia. "They're living in ecosystems that burn up all the time, because that's what they do," says Char Miller, visiting professor at Pomona College. Miller says the dilemma is just another byproduct of population growth and the sprawling presence of human beings.

FEMA and the California Wildfire

Federal Emergency Management Agency officials know the agency's performance in the California wildfires will be watched closely for comparisons to its failures in Hurricane Katrina. FEMA Director David Paulison promised on Tuesday "a different type of response" and declared "this is a new FEMA." Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online at the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, including the following (click on names for contact info):

Vincent Gawronski - Assistant Professor of Political Science, Birmingham-Southern College - Gawronski studies the political impact of natural disasters. As a consultant for the U.S. Agency for International Development, he has been involved in the evaluation of training programs for civil defense personnel and in the assessment of post-impact disaster response and nongovernmental organization capabilities.

Richard Ellis - Associate Professor of Politics, Willamette University - A widely published author on politics, Ellis's books include Presidential Lightning Rods: The Politics of Blame Avoidance and Dilemmas of Presidential Leadership: From Washington Through Lincoln.

Char Miller - Professor of History, Trinity University - Miller's research interests in environmental history include forests, fires, water, and wildlife in the American West, and the U.S. Forest Service. She is currently editing an environmental atlas of Canada and the U.S.

Towards a New Liberal Arts

"The challenges of citizenship are not akin to those of choosing a major, nor are they compatible with a view of life in which the highest activity is pursuing research in one’s area of specialization," says Bennington College president Elizabeth Coleman. She is calling for a "new liberal arts" that plays down such specialization, because "citizenship is not a world where one doesn’t do windows."

The Color of Light

In the middle of a dreary winter afternoon in Princeton, N.J., Marilyn Chandler McEntyre found herself moved by a print of Vermeer’s "The Lacemaker." The Westmont College professor wrote a poem for the painting, and subsequently traveled the world to seek out works by Dutch artists and author three books in which she responds to them.

News Sources: Muslim Charity Mistrial

A U.S. judge has dealt a stunning blow to the government's legal battle in the "war on terror," declaring a mistrial in the case of a Muslim charity accused of aiding Palestinian militants. U.S. district judge Joe Fish declared the mistrial after jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict in the trial of the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development after 19 days of deliberations. Reporters looking for experts to intervivew on this topic can find them online at the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, including the following (click on names for contact information):

Fawaz Gerges - Professor of Middle East Studies, Sarah Lawrence College - A MacArthur Fellow, Gerges studies Arab politics, militant Islamic movements, the Arab-Israeli peace process and America's relations with the Arab world. Gerges is the author of America and Political Islam: Clash of Cultures or Clash of Interests? and The Far Enemy: Why Jihad Went Global. He has contributed to major foreign affairs publications and newspapers.

Bradford Dillman - Assistant Professor, International Political Economy - University of Puget Sound - Dillman teaches courses in Middle East politics and illicit global economies. He spent a number of years teaching in Turkey and Egypt. In addition, his research has taken him to Algeria and Morocco. Current research includes Middle East political economies and democratization. He's written and edited numerous publications.

Omid Safi -Asst. prof of philosophy and religion, Colgate University - Safi is co-founder of the Progressive Muslims.

Fishing for Answers? Centre's Barton Has 'Em

"When you're talking fish, you're talking Michael Barton." So says Esquire magazine, and that's why Esquire's editors tapped the Centre College biology professor's expertise to answer the eternal question: "Do fish pee?"

Embedded Memories of War

Soldiers home from the Iraq war are memorializing their slain buddies with tattoos, sometimes covering an entire torso. The images serve to honor and remember the dead, but also mark the bearers’ trauma and loss. Occidental College Assistant Professor of Art Mary Beth Heffernan took her camera to the tattoo parlors near the largest Marine base in the United States to document this trend. The result is a riveting photographic exhibition entitled "The Soldier's Skin: An Endless Edition."