Fernando M. Valenzuela, who steps down this year as head of the Delegation of the European Commission to the United Nations, says that to be effective, the U.N. must change. “If we want multilateralism to work efficiently, we need to engage in a new form of global governance,” said Ambassador Valenzuela, a 30-year career diplomat who was Spain’s ambassador to Canada before joining the E.C. as political director and taking the helm in 2005. In his lecture “The E.U., the U.N. and the U.S.: Some Parting Reflections,” sponsored by the Graduate Center’s European Union Studies Center, he insisted, “States working together can achieve objectives that go far beyond what even the most powerful country can achieve on its own. We need to make sure that the new emerging powers have their place at the table.”
Listen Now

As any single parent will attest, raising a child while juggling a career and/or school can be a challenge. It’s one that Jerib Carson, who graduated from Medgar Evers College with honors in June, knows firsthand. “It’s hard to split your time between raising a child and also putting the amount of time in school that’s necessary to stay competitive,” said Carson, who spent 15 years in computer networking before the after-effects of 9/11, and its toll on his client base, made him change direction. Shortly after the birth of his daughter, Sarah, Carson decided to go back to college to pursue a dual B.A. in special education and general childhood education. This fall he’ll be studying for a master’s in education, on full scholarship, at Tufts University.
Listen Now

Author A.M. Homes’s trademark mix of dark stories and and wry humor has earned her critical praise and numerous prestigious awards, including fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. She published her novel, “Jack,” a coming-of-age story about a gay teenager, when she was just 19 and her latest book, “The Mistress’s Daughter,” is Homes’s memoir about growing up in an adoptive home. But writing was not always her true vocation. “I didn’t mean to become a writer,” she told the audience at the Best-Selling Author Series at Kingsborough Community College. “I wanted to be in the Rolling Stones.” Homes discusses and reads selections from her work.
Listen Now

Composting, the process of turning organic material into a useful additive such as garden soil, reduces the huge amount of garbage that is sent to landfills, according to Carey Pulverman, project manager of the Lower East Side Ecology Center. “All of our garbage is shipped out of state to places as far away as Virginia and Ohio,” said Pulverman, adding that this method has taken a toll. “There are environmental costs associated with the trucking of that material to different location.” In her lecture “Composting in the City? Yes We Can,” Pulverman says that it is possible to create your own compost pile in the city, and lists the steps needed to compost indoors. The lecture is part of the Governor’s Island Lectures on Sustainability sponsored by the CUNY Institute for Sustainable Cities.
Listen Now

In his lecture “How To Curb Catastrophic Waste in Your Home, Condo, Co-op, or Multi-family Building,” Andy Padian, vice president for energy initiatives for the Community Preservation Corporation (CPC), says that a lot of the public’s waste of energy is preventable. “Our buildings are absolute pigs,” said Padian, referring to their excessive use of power. Speaking at the Governor’s Island Lectures on Sustainability this summer, Padian said it’s up to everyone to re-examine their lifestyle. “We’ve got six chandelier incandescent lights in this room, when it could be lit by daylight,” he said. “This is the way we think as Americans.”
Listen Now

Executive Committee meeting of the Board of Trustees, Tuesday, August 18, 2009.

Download