News Archives - 1999

A news conference featuring 1997 Nobel laureate Jody Williams has been scheduled for 10:15 a.m. on Feb. 19 at Augsburg College as part of the 1999 Peace Prize Forum (Feb. 19-20). The forum's opening ceremony is at 1 p.m. on Feb. 19.

The news conference will be held in the Green Room, located on the east end of Foss Center. The Green Room can be easily accessed from the media parking lots on 23rd and Riverside avenues south. Media credentials for the forum can be picked up at the news conference, and they will also be available in the media room in Si Melby Hall, just across 23rd Avenue from the Foss Center.

Also available for questions from the media at the news conference will be Steve Goose, representing the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, and Jan Egeland, special adviser to the Norwegian Red Cross and International Peace Research Institute of Oslo. Egeland, state secretary in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1992 to 1997, has reportedly been taking part recently in negotiations in Bogota, Columbia.

OTHER INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES

-- During the forum, speakers will be available for interviews. Please contact Dan Benson at any time prior to or during the forum with your interview requests.

Friday, Feb. 19, Suggested interview:

Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Knut Vollebæk, who will give a greeting and speak about the situation in the Balkans at the forum's opening ceremony. Vollebæk's travel itinerary reportedly includes meetings with United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Feb. 18 and Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura on Feb. 19. Vollebæk departs Friday evening, Feb. 20, so call Dan Benson with other requests.

Other speakers:

Dr. Larry Rasmussen, Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics, Union Theological Seminary. Rasmussen will give address from 1 p.m.-2:45 p.m. on Feb. 19 at forum's first plenary session.

Gunnar Stålsett, Bishop of Oslo, member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Stålsett served as general secretary of Lutheran World Federation in Geneva from 1985-94. Prior to that he was general secretary of the Church of Norway on Foreign Relations.

Dr. Rebecca Larson, the secretary for research and development education in the Department for World Service of the Lutheran World Federation. Larson's doctorate focused on how to educate churches for political involvement in issues relating to international development. From 10:15 a.m. - 11 a.m. on Feb. 20, Larson will conduct a worship service on campus.

Dr. John Hamre, deputy secretary for the U.S. Department of Defense. Hamre, a graduate of Augustana College (S.D.), will give plenary address from 3 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 20. Prior to his current position, Hamre served as the comptroller and principal assistant to the secretary of defense for the preparation, presentation, and execution of the defense budget and management improvement programs.

The theme of the 11th annual Peace Prize Forum is "Striving for Peace: The Morality and Machinery of Modern Conflict." The forum is open to the general public with a registration cost of $30, which includes lunch on Feb. 20 and admittance to all forum sessions over two days. To register, the public should call (612) 330-1171 or 330-1637.

Held in cooperation with the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, this annual forum was created to offer Nobel Peace Prize laureates, diplomats, scholars and the general public an opportunity to address the underlying causes of conflict and war in modern society and the dynamics of peacemaking.

The Peace Prize Forum, created in 1989, is a cooperative effort between the five Midwestern colleges that are affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and of Norwegian heritage: Augustana College (Sioux Falls, S.D.); Concordia College (Moorhead, Minn.); Luther College (Decorah, Iowa); St. Olaf College (Northfield, Minn.); and Augsburg.