SIPA: School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University

Lisa Anderson
Dean, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Real (4:52)

Sachs on Defining the Challenges of Sustainable Development
During the Earth Institute's new Cross-Cutting Initiatives program seminar series, Jeffrey Sachs, Quetelet Professor and director of the Earth Institute, discusses the feasibility and challenges of sustainable development in the 21st century. During the recent lecture in Davis Auditorium, Sachs explains that the new century is widely projected as a potential "bottleneck period" -- due to such issues as population increases, biophysical restraints and the question of nonrenewable and renewable resources.

Architecture and Engineering for the Environment: Utilizing Green Materials
Utilizing "green," or ecologically sound, materials was the focus of a recent breakfast forum hosted by Columbia University's Science and Technology Ventures. The gathering focused on issues ranging from the strength and aesthetics of green building materials to economic incentives for "building green." More than 125 people, representing city government, academia, architecture and manufacturing, attended the May 6 event. Jeffrey Sachs, director of The Earth Institute, who delivered the opening remarks, called green materials "a proper industrial ecology and energy system that makes sense for the 21st century in view of the climate risks that are pressing upon us."

Irwin Lefkowitz,Moderator
Columbia University Architect
Randolph R. Croxton Intro. Real (1:49)
Terri Lee-Burger Intro. Real (0:54)
Rob Watson Intro. Real (1:21)
Christian Meyer Intro. Real (0:50)

Randolph R. Croxton
FAIA, Founder, Croxton Collaborative Architects, P.C.
Real (18:20)

Iran Hostage Crisis 'Indirectly Precipitated' Other Major World Events, Says Bill Berkeley
The November 1979 seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran "was an event of great magnitude and profound consequences for both Iran and the United States," says Bill Berkeley, adjunct professor of International and Public Affairs, in his lecture: "The Iran Hostage Crisis -- Roots of Reform?" In his recent presentation, he notes that the Iran hostage crisis "indirectly precipitated the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Iran-Iraq War, alienation from the United States for a generation and running, and consolidated the radical Islamist regime led by the Ayatollah Khomeini." Berkeley, a former reporter and editorial writer for The New York Times, also describes his conversations with former hostage-takers who have reemerged as leaders in the Iran's large reformist movement.

U.S. Must Share 'Global Burdens' With a Unified Europe, Says Former French Minister
If the United States wants Europe to share global burdens, it must share them with a strong, unified and independent Europe, says Elisabeth Guigou, former French Minister of Justice and former French Minister of European Affairs. Guigou, now a member of Parliament and a leading figure in the Parti Socialiste, explained the construction and contents of the European Union's proposed constitution. The European Union is not going to create a "super-state" that abolishes its constituent states, she said, but protect the richness of Europe's diversity by "unifying without uniformizing." Guigou's remarks were at a recent event sponsored by The Alliance Program and the Institute for the Study of Europe.