The Red and Black

Israel's highest ranking diplomat to the Southeastern United States will visit the University tonight.

Hamagshimim, the University's pro-Israel Student Organization, will host Consul General Shmuel Ben-Shmuel at 7:30 p.m. in Room 138 of the Tate Student Center.

"We wanted to give people an update on the current situation in Israel," said Michal Slawny, a member of Hamagshimim and a junior from Blacksburg, Va.

Ben-Shmuel has ascertained a great deal of knowledge and experience regarding the situation in Israel, according to a news release.

Ben-Shmuel was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 1951. Following his graduation, Shmuel was drafted into the Israeli Defense Forces, where he served as a paratrooper.

He holds a political science degree from Tel Aviv University, where he studied both law and political science.

Shmuel joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1981. In 1984, he was appointed Consul in Houston, Texas, and in 1989 returned to Jerusalem to become head of the Information Division for North America at the foreign ministry.

In 1992, Consul General Shmuel Ben-Shmuel was appointed Counselor of Political Affairs at the Embassy of Israel Pretoria, South Africa. He served as a liaison for the black community, often in contact with Nelson Mandela and other important officials.

The speech is open to all students and Ben-Shmuel will field questions from the audience after a brief introduction.

-- Compiled by Kimberly Bowers

Kazakhstan honors former U.S. senator

Former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn received the Kazakhstan government's highest honor Monday during the University's Richard B. Russell Symposium.

The Order of the Dostyk was awarded to senators Nunn and Richard Lugar by President Nursultan Nazarbayev in recognition of their efforts through the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program to help Kazakhstan destroy nuclear weapons inherited from the Soviet Union.

Kazakhstan Ambassador to the United States Kanat B. Saudabayev presented the senator with the award.

Nunn, currently co-chair and CEO of the nonprofit Nuclear Threat Initiative, was a participant in the biennial Russell Symposium, which focused on weapons of mass destruction and the threat to the American homeland; Sen. Saxby Chambliss served as the keynote speaker.

-- University news release

Student awarded for second year in a row

A University doctoral student recently became one of six students to become a Bamford-Lahey Scholar.

This is the second consecutive year that Lisa Hammett, a doctoral student in communication sciences and disorders in the College of Education, has received the award.

A scholarship of up to $10,000 a year is given with the award to doctoral students who intend to specialize in childrens' language disorders.

The Los Angeles-based Bamford Lahey Children's Foundation provides funding for the scholarship.

The foundation supports programs enhancing the linguistic, cognitive, social and emotional development of children.

The foundation aims to increase the number of doctoral level professionals who want to teach future speech-language pathologists, and who will contribute to the understanding of developmental language disorders.

Hammett, who is in her final year at the University, has pursued research on the nature of parent-child book-sharing, and the use of abstract language within this interaction.

Hammett earned her undergraduate and master's degrees in speech-language pathology from James Madison University in Virginia.

She spent nine years in clinical practice in public and international schools.

Hammett became a teacher trainer in early literacy initiatives in her district and state.

-- University news release

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