Higher Education and Development for Archaeology and Environmental Health Research
SUNY at Stony Brook

Monthly Report: May, 2004

Objective 1: Management and Administration

A.5 Activity: Reporting and Evaluation

Objective 2: Archaeology Project

2.2 Activity: Equipment and Facilities Rehabilitation

  • On 15 May 04, Neareast Resources began refitting the library stacks, library reading room, four classrooms, seven faculty and staff offices, providing satellite internet access, and outfitting the computer lab in the department of Archaeology at Baghdad University.
  • On 25 May 04, Neareast Resources began refitting the library reading room, six classrooms, twelve faculty and staff offices, providing satellite internet access, and outfitting the computer lab in the departments of Archaeology and Assyriology at Mosul University.

2.3 Activity: Instruction in Iraq; Task A: Summer Workshops

Preparations for Summer Workshops in Amman.

  • PI Stone completed her trip to Amman and concluded agreements and arrangements for hotel rooms, classrooms, IT, and local transportation at the American Center for Oriental Research. Planning for the 10-week summer workshops in Amman is now complete.
  • Eight US and European faculty will lead the workshops. 56 faculty and graduate students from Baghdad, Mosul and Qadasiyah Universities will attend.
  • Dr. Fawwaz al-Kraysheh, the Director-General of Antiquities of Jordan has offered all cooperation with the workshops and will lead off our lecture series.
  • The online journal/bibliography search services JSTOR, Anthropology Plus, and RLG are all providing us with trial memberships in Jordan for the period of the workshops, so that we can train participants in their use.
  • The Glen Dash Foundation is lending a magnetic gradiometer and buying a Total Station, while ESRI and Leica Geosystems are loaning software, so that we may conduct orientation training in electronic survey, remote sensing, and GIS applications in archaeology during the workshops.
  • Workshops will include trips to Jordanian sites to learn site management, visits to museums to learn museology and a lecture series with both Jordanian and Iraqi presenters.

2.4 Activity: Intensive M.A. Program in Archaeology

  • Selectees continued intensive English preparation for their visa application interviews (Mosul) and travel to Stony Brook.
  • Four candidates (from the U. of Baghdad) completed visa interviews in Amman and returned to Baghdad to await results.
  • The four Mosul candidates traveled to Baghdad and obtained travel documents for Amman.

4.3 Activity: Teaching and research labs, Archaeology; Task A: Field Equipment, Baghdad and Mosul

  • The Glen Dash Foundation and BL Makepeace are purchasing a Total Station for Baghdad University.

4.5.1 Activity: Library, Archaeology; Task B: Purchase and Ship Books

  • During May we concluded the purchase of nearly 2,000 post-1990 scholarly titles on Near Eastern archaeology from distributors David Brown and Eisenbrauns. One set of 1,000 will go to the department of archaeology library at Baghdad, and the second set will go to the Assurbanipal (archaeology and Assyriology) library within the Central library at Mosul.
  • Venders shipped all books to OCLC for cataloguing and spine marking. OCLC has completed cataloguing of the nearly 1,000 titles purchased from Eisenbrauns.
  • During May we also negotiated the purchase of over 1,000 titles of classic, rare, out-of-print, and out-of-copyright books from retiring Professor of Assyriology A. Kirk Grayson in Toronto, Canada (see encl. 2).
  • As the Grayson library includes many works destined for our digitization program, and will be divided between Mosul and Baghdad universities based on their current holdings and the works’ appropriateness and match with campus research interests, we will initially bring it to Stony Brook University for sorting and packing by final destination.
  • To that end, we also obtained packing, shipping, and customs clearance bids from three vendors in Toronto.

Objective 3: Environmental Health Program

3.4.3 Activity: Orientation and Training of Centers Leadership and Staff US. Tasks A and B: Center Director and Center Coordinators

(L) Dr. Hailoo (C) Dr. Gail Habicht, SBU VP for Research. (R) Dr. Edelman, VP Health Sciences center and Dean, School of Medicine.

  • The Center Directors and Center Coordinators from the medical colleges hosting the three centers visited Stony Brook University from May 6 to June 4, 2004 to discuss the program’s plans and implementation. The visit provided them an opportunity to meet with the SBU leadership, students and researchers, exchange information and obtain feedback on issues related to public health in Iraq. The itinerary included an intensive and diverse program of educational activities, observing clinical and environmental health surveillance programs, touring SBU’s scientific research projects, and field trips to neighboring public environmental health agencies.
  • Meetings were held with the visiting Iraqi faculty to discuss specifics regarding the establishment of the EHERC at each of the Universities. Issues included laboratory and space renovation, equipment purchases, library development, staffing, training of personnel, and conference planning. Assignments were made from within the Iraqi team were made as outlined below:

 

  1. Basrah EHERC to provide spaces within the same specification in two weeks when the coordinator returns from New York.
  2. The group agreed on details for renovations, and equipment to be supplied to each of the Centers.
  3. Each coordinator was assigned responsibility of day-to-day follow-up of three main activities highlighted by program plan as follows:

·         Laboratory equipment specification, rehabilitation, follow up, and writing job description for lab technician, environmental hygienist and lab supervisor.

·         Training course of physicians, coordinating, communicating between different medical colleges, Ministries of Environment and Health, and reporting to SBU Director Hailoo.

·         Library and book selection and finalizing the selection jointly with coordinators.

·         The three coordinators will share the procedures and criteria for books selection.

·         Environmental conference, follow-up, day-to-day arrangement, organizing and reporting to Director/SBU on all steps taken.

  1. Each coordinator met with member(s) of Advisory Committee and US staff to brainstorm their assignments.

Highlights from the activities of the Deans/Coordinators Training Workshop at Stony Brook University

  • Building environmental health & sciences libraries
  • Grant management and budgeting
  • Public health teaching and training,
  • Public health policies and planning
  • Assessment, surveillance & screening
  • Environmental epidemiology
  • Role of health professionals & technology in environmental health
  • Continuing medical education
  • Environmental contaminants & research
  • University hospital and its plans and opportunities for collaboration with the medical institutions in Iraq
  • Environmental toxicology
  • Environmental science laboratory tour
  • Presentation and panel discussion: public health and the environment
  • Field investigations and environmental sampling
  • Pediatric & environmental health
  • Food and water sanitation
  • Oral & dental health related to the environment
  • Roles of professional and public organizations in environmental health
  • Visit occupational & environmental medicine clinic
  • Role of nursing in public and environmental health
  • Discussion-role of center’s coordinator in environmental
  • MD consult/computer training program
  • Internet search/computer training program,
  • Book selections for the centers libraries
  • Computer training/power point training class
  • Introduction to Excel
  • Clinics: observation – how to handle environmental medicine cases
  • Risk assessment committee/case management
  • Family Medicine conference
  • Clinic/observation –Environmental medicine cases

3.3.2 Activity: Advisory Committee meeting

 

  • During their visit the Iraqi Center Directors and Coordinators met with the Environmental Health Advisory Committee on May 7, 2004.
  • Committee chairman Dean Y. Shamash welcomed the visitors and highlighted the importance of such talks for exchange of views and knowledge between SBU and Iraqi Universities. Tthe importance of the program to upgrade teaching process in field of Environment Health and to create national staff oriented to the goals and objectives of this program was highlighted. The Iraqi group stressed the importance of meetings with the Stony Brook staff and exchanging knowledge and views on how the program will be fruitful for Iraqis.
  • They agreed on the importance of the Environmental Program in rebuilding and upgrading Iraqi Universities.

3.3.1 Activity: Building the Centers Infrastructure. Task B.3: Identify, appoint, hire technical and research staff

  • Through the visit the coordinator for the Mosul Center was assigned to write the job description for the position laboratory technician to be recruited in Iraq to handle lab duties. The Iraqi group discussed with Professor Martin Schoonen and Richard Reeder from Stony Brook University the criteria and the background of lab technician and the teaching program. The report will be submitted in June report.

4.5 Activity: Library

  • Spencer Marsh, Director of HSC Library met with the Deans and Coordinators through an orientation lecture and meetings to facilitate the books selection. The Iraqi Chief of Party was assigned to follow-up and finalize the book selection. The group with the Chief of Party selected books through their stay at Stony Brook University . The process of purchasing and shipment of the books will start in a few weeks.