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From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Thu Sep 16 2010 - 08:53:14 EDT
NOTE: Meles is scheduled to appear at Columbia University's World
Leaders Forum on September 22, 2010, from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM . If you
are able to attend, take advantage of the opportunity to ask tough
questions. One can register here
http://www.worldleaders.columbia.edu/events/prime-minister-ethiopia-meles-zenawi#
****Who can attend World Leaders Forum programs?
World Leaders Forum programs are open to Columbia University, Barnard
College, and Teachers College students, faculty and staff.
Registration is required to attend each event. Only registrants on the
event's attendance list with proper identification will be admitted.
****How do I register for a World Leaders Forum program?
Please go to the event listing, on the events page and click on the
register button. Upon registering for a program, you will receive an
email confirmation with further information.
Only registrants on the final attendance list with proper photo
identification will be admitted.
#########################################################
http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2010/09/16/ethiopian-leader-s-bio-wlf-site-raises-eyebrows
Thursday 16 September 2010 04:53am EST.
World Leaders site raises eyebrows
by Alix Pianin
The World Leaders Forum is no stranger to controversy—its famous
invitation of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2007 set off a
firestorm of media and protest—but it was the series’ website that
proved inflammatory on Wednesday.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who is scheduled to speak at
Low Library on Sept. 22, has allegedly intimidated voters at polls,
detained political opponents, and been labeled by the New York Times
as an example of “autocratic repression.” So why did Columbia’s World
Leaders Forum website refer to such a divisive figure as having
demonstrated “seasoned leadership”?
His short biography has since been removed from the website and
replaced with a note that he will be speaking on “the current global
economy and its impact.”
Launched in 2003 by University President Lee Bollinger, the WLF brings
in heads of states and global leaders in an attempt to “advance
lively, uninhibited dialogue.”
In the original online biography, Zenawi was quoted as saying that
“Ethiopia has made and continues to make progresses in many areas,
including in education, transportation, health, and energy” while
working with the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front and the Ethiopian
People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front.
But some parties called foul.
“It’s unbelievable that such a description about one of the world’s
most vicious, corrupt, incompetent tyrants is posted on a prestigious
American university’s website,” wrote the Ethiopian Review, a news and
opinion site.
The University has since removed the biography as part of a
“long-standing editorial policy” to limit the biography pages to
“basic factual information” about the speakers, according to a press
release.
On Wednesday, Columbia released a full statement that said the
background information posted by its own staff was obtained from the
Ethiopian government’s Mission and not identified as such.
“It is not the policy of the World Leaders Forum to take editorial
positions of the type inadvertently suggested by this unattributed
text,” the statement read. “Prime Minister Zenawi’s invitation to
speak at Columbia does not constitute endorsement of his views or his
nation’s policies.”
University officials would not comment further.
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