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22 manhattan.edu Award-Winning Journalist and Author Revisits 1962 Integration at Ole Miss Paul Hendrickson, veteran journalist, educator and author, discussed his award-winning book Sons of Mississippi: A Story of Race and Its Legacy at the College in November. Published in 2002, Sons of Mississippi won the 2003 National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2003 Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize for excellent nonfiction. The book was read by many students in their required freshman writing course. Sons of Mississippi explores the lingering aspects of the racism surrounding the 1962 integration of the University of Mississippi by civil rights activist James Meredith. Meredith is best known as the first African-American student of the university, after he risked his life by successfully applying the laws of integration at the institution. In his book, Hendrickson explores perhaps the most famous photo of that time, which appeared in the ’60s on the cover of Life magazine. In the infamous photograph, seven white Mississippi lawyers gathered to stop Meredith from integrating the school. One of the men in the photo is swinging a billy club. More than 30 years later, Hendrickson set out to discover who these men were, what happened to them after the photograph was taken and how attitudes about race shaped the way they lived their lives. Discussing the Downfall of the Soviet Union Award-winning author and historian Dr. Stephen F. Cohen discussed the fall of the Soviet Union in an insightful lecture delivered this past October as part of the College’s annual lecture series on European history. The Costello Lecture Series is named in honor of Brother Casmir Gabriel Costello, longtime professor of history who also chaired the history department and served as dean of the College. In his address, Cohen, professor of Russian studies and history at New York University, examined why the Soviet Union came to an end. To end the Soviet Union was inevitable, but there is no consensus at all on why it happened, said Cohen, who also questioned whether it is fair to document the state’s end as a “collapse.” In fact, it was not all that dramatic, he said. During the lecture, Cohen coursed through some of the widely used explanations behind the Soviet Union’s downfall. Some scholars say all empires have to come to an end at some point. But “the Soviet Union was never empire-like,” he said. Cohen also mentioned that some feel it was due to a troubled economy but could never find a single, scholarly economist who would support this reasoning. He underscored this point by stating that an economic crisis does not automatically mean a country’s entire political system will crumble. “For instance, the U.S. Depression did not put an end to the United States’ political system,” he said. “It simply doesn’t happen.” Hendrickson, a prizewinning feature writer for the Washington Post for more than 20 years, now teaches nonfiction writing at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of Seminary: A Search, Looking for the Light: The Hidden Life and Art of Marion Post Wolcott (a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award) and The Living and the Dead: Robert McNamara and Five Lives of a Lost War (a finalist for the National Book Award). Cohen concluded by attributing the Soviet Union’s demise, though an important and complex piece of history, to a simple explanation. Boris Yeltsin at the time had a different motivating factor: to gain complete power. He simply wanted to remove himself from Mikhail Gorbachev’s rule. In order to do this, said Cohen, Yeltsin had to leave the party and rid himself of Gorbachev’s power forever. The historic end was rather peaceful, he said. A professor emeritus at Princeton University, Cohen has published numerous books and articles on Soviet history, including the award-winning Bukharin and the Soviet Revolution: A Political Biography, 1888-1938. In addition to his successful academic career, he has worked as a journalist and television commentator on Soviet issues and post-Soviet affairs. He is the recipient of two John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowships, the Rockefeller Foundation Humanitarian Fellowship and the Newspaper Guild Page One Award for Column Writing. The Costello Lecture Series is underwritten by one of his many grateful students, Roger Goebel, professor of law and director of the Center on European Union Law at Fordham University.
Understanding the WTO David Runnalls, president of the International Institute for Sustainable Development, gave an interesting and uncomplicated explanation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its role in a lecture delivered on campus in October. Runnalls, who also gave highlights of what to expect from the December ministerial meeting in Hong Kong, spent time discussing the WTO’s origin, power, missteps and milestones, a group he describes as “a mysterious organization.” In his lecture, sponsored by the College’s international studies program, Runnalls explained that the WTO is one of the most powerful international organizations. Although it struggled in its infancy to fine-tune its internal structure, the group has been successful in fueling growth in trade since World War II and continues to monitor and improve the way international trade is being conducted. The WTO promotes peace and makes sure that trade is handled well among the diverse participants with which it deals. “The WTO system encourages good government,” said Runnalls. He spent time discussing one of the two most pivotal moments in the WTO’s history, which were the Uruguay Round and the 1999 ministerial meeting in Seattle. The Uruguay Round was held in Geneva and served as the place where the WTO became a permanent organization and adopted its United Nations-style structure. It also, he said, set in place the rules and regulations for trading more than just goods but also services, such as intellectual property rights, broadcasting, banking and telecommunications. The WTO calls the meeting a groundbreaking negotiation and probably the largest negotiation of any kind in history. The other most notable moment for the WTO was the infamous 1999 ministerial meeting in Seattle. Riots took place and people were trashing retail chains, such as Starbucks and Gap. It was a disaster, said Runnalls, but it did send a strong signal to the WTO to redefine the ways in which it traditionally handles international trade, especially in its dealings with developing countries. Developing countries, at the time, did not have much participation in world trade. At the time of his lecture, the next ministerial meeting was set for December to be held in Hong Kong and was a highly anticipated one. Runnalls shared what he thought would be key matters discussed at those talks. In Hong Kong, the focus would surround both the growing trade powers of China and India. The shift in power will change the way trade will be handled in the future, he said. There also, he noted, would be further discussion on linking trade policy to social policy or labor issues and more on developing countries. In fact, one major piece of news announced at the December meeting was the addition of Tonga to its membership, another positive sign that the WTO is working to add smaller economies to its group. As president of the International Institute for Sustainable Development, Runnalls helps advance and improve policy recommendations on international trade and investments, economic policy, climate change and natural resources. He also serves as co-chair of the China Council Task Force on WTO and Environment. He was a member of the federal External Advisory Committee on Smart Regulation (EACSR) and the Advisory Committee on Partnerships to the Minister for International Cooperation. Runnalls, an occasional writer and broadcaster, has served as environment columnist for the CBS radio program As it Happens and was a member of Discovery Channel’s regular environment panel. manhattan.edu on campus 23
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Page 5 and 6: Tech Savvy School of Ed The school
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Page 17 and 18: Retrospective Art Exhibit Celebrate
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Page 29 and 30: New York Life Insurance Luncheon Ho
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Page 35 and 36: Bobby Gonzalez Earns MAAC Coach of
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Page 39 and 40: The Ciba Decade The 2004-2005 acade
Page 41 and 42: Reunion 2006: the Anniversary Class
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