News Archives - 1999

Outgoing Minnesota State epidemiologist Michael Osterholm will lead a Saturday seminar at this weekend's Peace Prize Forum at Augsburg College that is titled: "Bioterrorism: Media Hype or Real Nightmare." Osterholm's seminar, one of more than 30 offered at the forum, will be conducted from 11:15 a.m.to 12:15 p.m. and again from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday in classroom 18 of Augsburg's Old Main building.

Osterholm's seminar will review the potential use of biological agents by terrorists in the United States, with emphasis on implications for the civilian population. The current standard of our preparedness will be discussed.

More than 1,000 participants are expected at the 11th annual Peace Prize Forum, which is open to the general public at a registration cost of $30. The cost includes lunch on Saturday and admittance to all forum sessions over two days. Advance reservations can be made by calling (612) 330-1171 or (612) 330-1637. Registration will also be available the day of the event.

Several of the Saturday seminars will focus on educating children about peacemaking. Dawn Keenan from Normandale Hills Peace Site School will lead a seminar titled "Children as Peacemakers" (in Old Main 10) that will provide participants with tools to foster peacemaking skills in children. Another seminar (in Sateren Auditorium of the Music Hall) is titled "Helping Kids Become All They Can Be Through Peace and Communication."

Other Saturday seminars will discuss implementations of conflict-resolution programs within schools and provide information on the plight of unaccompanied refugee minors from around the world.

The weekend focus on peace will continue from 1 p.m.-3:30 p.m.on Sunday at the 1999 Peace Prize Festival, also held at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall. The Peace Prize Festival is an afternoon-long celebration of peace expressed in music, dance, art and theater by students from school, church and other youth groups with a majority of participants from Peace-Site schools.

The theme of the 11th annual Peace Prize Forum is "Striving for Peace: The Morality and Machinery of Modern Conflict."

Held in cooperation with the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, this annual forum was created in 1989 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 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.

REMINDER--NEWS CONFERENCE SCHEDULED FOR FRIDAY
A news conference featuring 1997 Nobel laureate Jody Williams has been scheduled for 10:15 a.m. on Friday at Augsburg College as part of the 1999 Peace Prize Forum (Friday-Saturday). The forum's opening ceremony is at 1 p.m. on Friday.

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.