Afghani Education Minister Calls For More Education for Women

Afghani Education Minister Mohammed Hanif Atmar said that the country has made democratic reforms but must still improve educational opportunities for females during a speech yesterday at the Mortara Center for International Studies.

Atmar said that the push for educational equality has been aided by national incentives to increase the number of female teachers, as well as programs organized in association with the U.S. Agency for International Development.

“For women, the most basic rights – to leave her home, to go to school, to teach, to vote for the leader of her country – that empowerment is not only symbolic, it is real,” he said.

Atmar said that future steps to spread education throughout the country include improving the quality of teaching and curricula and fixing sanitation problems. He said that security concerns and a lack of resources continue to plague education.

Improvements to education are only part of the effort to rebuild Afghanistan, Atmar said. He said that the recently written constitution, expanded voting rights and creation of a parliament are several of the improvements that have been made in recent years.

“From a tyranny, from a rogue state that always failed . we have together formed a democratic state,” he said.

– Meghan Keneally

Correction: In the News in Brief “Afghani Education Minister Calls for More Education for Women,” (THE HOYA, Sept. 26, 2006, A6) special to THE HOYA writer Meghan Keneally was incorrectly identified as Meghan Kennealy.

Medical Center Receives Grant to Study New Tobacco Products

The National Cancer Institute awarded a $17 million grant last week to a nationwide research consortium, led by Georgetown’s edical Center, to investigate whether alternative tobacco products are healthier than cigarettes.

The group, which also includes researchers from Harvard Medical School and the University of Minnesota, received the five-year grant to study the effects of newer tobacco products such as cigarettes with lower nicotine content, cigarettes that heat tobacco rather than burning it and nicotine mints.

The researchers will split into teams and study whether these products subject users to fewer carcinogens and other harmful substances found in cigarettes.

“Consumers should know if these products truly reduce exposure to carcinogens, and experience tells us this information will not be either forthcoming from the companies that manufacture them, or that we need independent verification of claims,” said Peter Shields, director of cancer genetics and epidemiology at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and the group’s lead scientist, in a Sept. 20 press release.

– Ross Eichenholz

Correction: The News In Brief “Medical Center Receives Grant to Study New Tobacco Products,” (THE HOYA, Sept. 26, 2006, A6) did not clarify that the Medical Center recieved a research and development contract, rather than a grant.

Students Break Ramadan Fast With Annual Festive Meal and Prayer

Students gathered in McShain Lounge at sunset yesterday to break Ramadan fast during the first iftar of the Muslim holy month.

The feasts take place nightly Monday through Thursday during the 30 days of Ramadan. The ninth and most celebrated month of the Islamic calendar continues through Oct. 23.

Fasting takes place during daylight hours throughout the month and is broken immediately as the sun sets. Last night the feast began at 7:01 p.m. with a Muslim prayer and a meal of dates. Prayer then moved into a smaller room where participants removed their shoes and rugs were set up so that those who wanted could pray. The several dozen attendees then lined up for kebab and other food.

Shireen Hunter, a professor in the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, who spoke at the event, said that fasting is a vital tradition for Muslims.

The “purpose of fasting is not to lose weight or to quit smoking . but to bring us closer to God,” she said.

The event, which was coordinated by Fatima Asvat (SFS ’08) and Nadia Khan (COL ’08), was sponsored by the Muslim Students Association and the Alwaleed center.

– Sarah Collins