Saumell is Democracy Week Speaker
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Rafael Saumell-Munoz |
Few people in this country appreciate democracy as much as Rafael
Saumell-Munoz, who has seen its other side from the wrong side
of the bars in a Cuban prison.
Saumell, who
will be the American Democracy Project's featured speaker for
its April 2-5 Celebrating Democracy Week observance, is professor
of Spanish and coordinator of foreign languages at Sam Houston
State University.
From 1975 to
1981 Saumell was a radio and television producer and scriptwriter
in his native Cuba, eventually becoming the assistant to the
president of the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television. In
1980, he received an award as a scriptwriter for Best Musical
and Variety Show, "Todo el Mundo Canta," and was also a member
of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba.
He seemed to
be a promising Cuban literary star, except that Fidel Castro
or one of Fidel's censors found something he didn't like in his
writings.
After the publication
of a collection of his short stories, he was detained by Cuban
security forces on the charge of spreading "enemy propaganda." This
is a term used to control, harass and incarcerate pro-democracy
Cubans, and he was sentenced to five years in prison.
When he was
released he was prevented from working in radio and television
in Cuba. He emigrated to the United States in 1988, came to SHSU
to teach in 1992, and completed doctoral studies at Washington
University in St. Louis in 1994.
His Celebrating
Democracy Week presentation is scheduled for 3 p.m. Tuesday (April
3) and will be given in a tent set up near the fountain.
On Wednesday
(April 4) the acclaimed documentary Addicted to Oil will
be shown in the Lowman Student Center Theater beginning at 3:30
p.m. A panel discussion on the film will follow, featuring faculty
members Tom Chasteen (chemistry), Tamara Waggener (political
science), and Ed Blackburne (economics and international business).
The one-hour
film by Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign affairs columnist Thomas
L. Friedman explores his ideas for a "geo-green alternative," a
multilayered strategy for tackling a host of problems, from the
funding of terrorist supporters through our gasoline purchases,
to strengthening our economy through innovative technology.
Addicted
to Oil examines a wide variety of developments taking
place across the energy spectrum, from hybrid car enthusiasts
who are converting their autos into "plug-ins" and
getting 300 miles to a gallon of gas, to the current state
of the hydrogen fuel cell.
Other areas
explored include "flex-fuel" vehicles that can run
on an assortment of biofuels such as ethanol, which emits virtually
no greenhouse gases and can be made from almost any biomass -- like
sugar cane, corn and even certain types of grass. (For example,
in Brazil, 40 percent of all fuel used by drivers is ethanol.)
Solar
and especially wind power have made great advances in practical
technologies that are increasingly being used throughout the
world. A look at new "clean and green" coal plants
that are being designed to sequester all carbon dioxide emissions
is included.
"Global
warming is no longer a matter of debate, but a proven problem
of potentially catastrophic proportions," said Friedman,
and there is much we could do immediately, with technology at
hand, to break our addiction to oil.
"Developing
technologies promise a future free of a sole dependence on fossil
fuels, a truly post-oil era," said Friedman. "It can
be done, if we have the will and leadership to do it."
The final event
of the week will be an American Democracy Project recognition
ceremony at 3 p. m. Thursday (April 5). Student, faculty and
staff will be given group and individual recognition.
SHSU's American
Democracy Project is part of a larger nationwide effort by members
of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.
"The project
grew out of a concern about decreasing rates of participation
in the civic life of America in voting, in advocacy, in local
grassroots associations, and in other forms of civic engagement
that are necessary for the vitality of our democracy," said
Joyce McCauley, who chairs the SHSU effort.
The SHSU group
has focused on such areas as voter registration and promotion
of the service-learning concept in classes, and is considered
one of the most active nationally.
For more information
including a list of the committee members, see the SHSU American
Democracy Project Web page.
John Newbold,
professor of management, is coordinating the Celebrating Democracy
Week program.
—END—
SHSU Media Contact: Frank Krystyniak
March 29, 2007
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