I recently attended (last week of Oct. 2008) a convention in Tehran Iran titled "Confrontation in the Caucasus: Roots, Dimensions, Applications." Recent developments in the Caucasus, the geopolitical region between Europe, Asia and the Middle East, have had significant impact on the first decade of the 21st century. As one of the most culturally diverse areas of the globe, the Caucasus is a scene of confrontation for diverging interests. Of particular importance is the recent military conflict between Russia and Georgia. My presentation was titled "The Russian Federation and the Republic of Georgia: A Geographic Perspective on the Conflict." I'm the one with the laptop.

Benjamin

Ben is currently a student here at Ohio Northern University. He is majoring in Sport Management with a minor in Applied Statistics, and perhaps Spanish. He really likes his statistics courses... go figure! We (ONU) have a special agreement with the US Department of Treasury to send students to study in Cuba. Ben has been accepted in the program and is going to attend the University of Havana in the Spring. Is that cool or what? (we are NOT a communist family despite my/our background!).

Josh and Homecoming

Josh was elected to the Homecoming Court at Ada High School. He is shown here walking with his "date" Amanda Archer. She was chosen as Queen shortly after this picture was taken. Josh was in the running for Homecoming King, but it went to a sentimental favorite - Trent Bass - whose brother recently died in a car crash. Even though his date was Amanda Archer, he was able to take his girlfriend, Jacks, to the dance later in the evening.

Josh and his girlfriend

Josh and his girlfriend. Jacks is from a town called Liberty Benton about 20 miles north of Ada. Josh took her to the Homecoming dance even though his "date" was from Ada.

My son Josh

Josh has a girlfriend! He is really "head over heels" for her. Her name is Jacqueline but goes by the name of "Jacks." She is really a very nice girl and we think is perfect for him.

The End

It was really an unbelieveable site to me as I gave a speech at the closing ceremonies of Hanyang University's summer school 2008. Whereas at the beginning of the summer, I noticed that students in the audience were all sitting with their respective schools/friends, by the end of the summer session, the students were all mixed up - Korean, Chinese, Japanese, American students were sitting with one another regardless of their cultural backgrounds. It was very encouraging for me to see that!