World Affairs Council of Orange CountyBringing the World to Orange County and Orange County to the World since 1967

Orange County Globe August 2012

Message from the Chairman: Dear Members and Friends:

As I conclude my term as

Chairman of the World Af-

fairs Council of Orange

County, I want to thank

everyone who helped to

make this year a huge suc-

cess. Both organizationally

and operationally, we had

a strong year that permitted a diversity of programs ranging

from the EU Crisis, Global Human Rights and Genocide, the

Politics of Iran, the War in Afghanistan to Global Nuclear

Disarmament and the Arab Spring. We started the year with a

program on the "State of US Foreign Policy" by the National

Chairman of the World Affairs Councils of America, Amb.

Paula Dobriansky. In addition, the Deputy Speaker of the

Israeli Knesset Danny Danon offered an interesting perspective

on Arab/Israeli relations. In all we provided programs that

addressed current global issues that were both relevant and

interesting to our members. Certainly our Grand Holiday Gala

Event at the Disneyland Hotel in December with a "Salute to

the US Military" headlined by General and former Asst. Secre-

tary of State Mark Kimmitt and Sir Eldon Griffiths was an

event to be remembered.

We partnered with a number of other organizations to

broaden the Council's reach in the community including UCI,

Japan America Society, Chapman University, the BABC, the

Pacific Club and the Orange County Business Council. The

National Board meeting for the World Affairs Councils of

America here in OC was a big success. Both the strength of our

Council and the attractiveness of OC were showcased to the

National Board. I'm certain that those in attendance will re-

member the dynamic foreign policy discussion held at the

Hotel Laguna with the beautiful backdrop of the sun setting

over the Pacific Ocean.

Since our last newsletter we have had four programs includ-

ing Dr. James Zogby on "Arab Voices," the BABC Tea Party,

a speaker from Rand on Iran and journalist and author Philip

Taubman discussing on nuclear disarmament. We have sched-

uled three exciting events in September including Dr. Diana

Negroponte on the Drug Wars, our Annual Trustees luncheon

at the Balboa Bay Club and the Annual General Meeting with

former US Ambassador to Malaysia, the Hon. James Keith.

Our membership was strengthened thanks to the efforts of

the Membership Committee lead by Leslie McNamara and

Nora Valenzuela. I also want to thank board members Liz Maxson, Hal Smith, Timor Rafiq, Seda Yaghoubian and of

course Karen who have been very active in planning and

organizing our successful events. I want to recognize Errol Mathieu and Bruce Hallenbeck for keeping the Council's

finances in great shape. Scholastic Chair Tommy Papa did

another outstanding job for the students with the Academic

WorldQuest program. Our communications and visibility in

Southern California community was greatly enhanced due to

the great work of Liz Maxson, Parmis Khatibi and Annie Chu. Board Member, entrepreneur David Sheraton and Rod Maxson did a great job in helping to develop corporate

membership with our Council. Chair Elect Mike Moodian engaged in productive Board Development and lead the

charge to successfully revise the Council’s By-Laws. The

future looks bright for the Council.

The goals I set for this year included an expanded corporate

and general membership, quality programs and events, a

holiday / Christmas event Gala, higher visibility and exposure

for our Council, development of future leadership for the

Council and necessary revisions to our By-Laws. I am happy

to say we addressed and reached each of these goals.

Now the most important part of what I have to say. All of

the above was achieved through the teamwork of our staff and

volunteers lead by our Executive Director Karen Levesque,

the Council's leadership, and its Members. I want to thank the

members of our Council and the Executive Board for your

support this year. I want to acknowledge my mentors and

inspiration, Sir Eldon, who got me involved on the Board

years ago and Ambassador John Malott, our past president.

They demonstrated to me the leadership skills necessary to

make our Council a relevant and dynamic force for our com-

munity. I must recognize my wife Mona and my children

Paris and Blaise for their

support and patience

with me for keeping so

busy this year. Finally,

while I will be soon

again a Past Chairman

of the Council, my sup-

port and involvement

with the Council will continue. It has been fun.

Serge Tomassian, Chairman WACOC

Chairman Serge Tomassian and BG Mark Kimmitt

Educational Outreach Update

Congratulations to our Golden Orange Award Recipients

Fred Ameri, Bruce Hallenbeck and Dr. Harry Sahota were presented with the 2012 Council’s Prestigious

Golden Orange Award during the Philip Taubman event on July 12, 2012. Dr. Jo Ellen Chatham, past

Chairman and Award Recipient, presented the honorees with the 2012 Golden Orange Award for their

outstanding contributions to both the OC community and the World Affairs Council of Orange County and

their continued dedicated leadership on the Council's Board of Trustees. All three honorees have contributed

to the education of Orange County on world affairs.

Welcome New Members

Moideh Erfani

Armani Ferrante

Joyce Malone

Drew McNeil

Julia Mouser and Howard

Houser

Pamela Norick

Gaurav Pathania

Lydia Tutuniian and Alishan

Halebian

Raymond (Skip) and Karen

Ziccardi

Academic WorldQuest is a program of

the World Affairs Councils of America

and is a nationwide competition held in

over 40 cities across America. Teams of

four high school students are challenged

on their knowledge of world affairs,

geography, history, and current events.

We are now planning for our 2013 Academic WorldQuest and need

your help identifying High School Teams that would have a passion

for international affairs and who would like to represent Orange

County in the National competition next Spring.

We would welcome your involvement in this effort by either volun-

teering your time, or by your financial underwriting of this educa-

tional endeavor. Sponsorship Levels are below. To sponsor a team

or student for Academic Worldquest in 2013, please contact us at

949-253-5751 or email orangecounty@worldaffairscouncil.org.

Sponsorship Opportunities include:

$2,500 Orange County Winning Team SponsorSupports the winning team’s trip to Washington, D.C

$500 Corporate Sponsor for EducationSupports Awards and Prizes for Students

$250 High School Team SponsorSupports one Team’s cost for the event

$75 Future Leaders SponsorSupports a Student’s cost for the event

Member Happenings

Kevin Lee, also an active member of the Adventur-ers Club of Los Angeles, rode horseback for 5 days and 80 miles to reach Machu Pichhu, Peru, truly one of the amazing wonders of the world.

Shafiq Hasan is taking the Queen Mary 2 again, on the 7 Day Trans-Atlantic Cruise, from New York to Southampton, on August 28. Cunard offered an Ocean view Cabin for $700. Could not pass it up. “I did it last year & it was an amazing experience”. There is so much to do on this Luxury Liner.

This summer, Unna Lassiter attended a confer-ence on Iran, in Istanbul, Turkey. She also spent 3 weeks in Sri Lanka to get acquainted with this beautiful country and better understand its political situation and economic potential. She hopes to take students there next year. She also hopes to attend the WAC Annual Conference in Washington DC this November. With many sincere thanks from Unna Lassiter and her group of students.

Dr. Steven Choi is running for Mayor of Irvine His kickoff took place at Irvine Lakeview Senior Center on July 31, 2012 with about 100 guests. The photo: Left to right - Lynn Schott, Steven Choi, and Christina Shea.

Herb and Rosalind Chasman celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on June 30th with a party for 60 friends and family, followed by a week long trip to Bermuda accompanied by their two sons, two daughters-in-law and five grandchildren. A great time was had by all!

TOP HITACHI EXECUTIVES VISITING OC. Dr. Bogdan ‘Bogie’ Maglich, WACOC’s Ambassa-dor Circle member, and Chairman of California Sci-ence & Engineering Corp. dba CALSEC, (www.calseco.com) Irvine, gave a reception in Newport Beach on August 16 for Mr. Shutoku Watanabe, President/ CEO and 5 executives of Hitachi Consumer Electronics Ltd., Tokyo. The occasion was a plan for joint HITACI-CALSEC manufacture in OC of a newly developed invention of Dr. Maglich, the car bomb detector named ‘Digital Dog Nose’, projected to be 30 times (3000%) faster and more accurate in the war against terrorism than any other current device in the field.

In June, former WACOC Chairman James J. Coyle, Ph.D. took eleven students from Chapman University to Georgia and Azerbaijan. Student ex-penses were paid by the Honorary Consul of Geor-gia, local Orange County businessman Frank Greinke, and by the Los Angeles Consulate Gener-al of Azerbaijan. While visiting Batumi, Georgia, Dr. Coyle and the students attended a reunion of Rumsfeld Fellows (mid level future leaders from Central Asian countries) and met with former Secre-tary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld himself.

Roya Cole is Senior Vice President and a Wealth Advisor at Morgan Stanley. Her duties include helping individuals achieve their retirement goals and other interests is helping the community. This May she was the # 3 individual fundraiser at the Orange County AIDS Walk 2012 and the Captain of her team which was #2 corporate team fundraiser. She has been involved with the walk since 2005. The event this year generated over $500,000 in donations. She is also a board member of Laguna Beach Community Clinic and this June became the President of the Board. The Clinic is a non-profit primary Health Care facility that provides family medical and dental care in Orange County to those who do not have adequate access to other health care services regardless of their ability to pay.

Judge Jim Gray continues to be traveling a great deal on his campaign as the Libertarian Party nominee for Vice President, along with New Mexi-co Governor Gary Johnson as the Presidential candidate. He says that if they are allowed to participate in the debates they would actually have a chance to win the election. **************************

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What You Missed . . .

The Honorable

Jun Niimi

Consul General of JapanMay 9, 2012

Dr. James Zogby

May 17, 2012

Students from Santa Margarita Catholic

High School

Michael Withrow and

Dr. James Zogby

Dr. Reza Karkia and Judge James Gray

President of the Japan America

Society, Doug Erber and guests

Prof. Richard Campbell & France

Campbell, Paul & Susan Hinman

Hal Smith and Julie ClendenenMember Happenings - Con’t

On August 11 Hasan Nouri is going to Paris to participate in the Erosion and Scour Conference. Then on September 9 he is going to start riding his bike from San Francisco to Los Angeles to raise funds for the Arthritis Foundation. More information can be obtained from this http://cccsocal.kintera.org/nouri. “Thank you to Errol Mathieu, Treasurer of the World Affairs Council of Orange County, for making the highest contribution. for my fundraising.”

split into two: 1) City Governments & 2) County Government. Bill strongly recommends this volun-teer activity to give back to the community, as well as being a great educational growth opportunity. The Grand Jury selection process requires applying in the Fall/Winter, followed by a Spring multi-step selection process. The Grand Jury's full time role from July to June, on behalf of OC citizens, is to investigate and report on any part of County, City or Special District government that it chooses, with full subpoena power. The civil investigative function takes up 75% of the Grand Jury's time, with 20% on DA's criminal indictments and 5% on citizen's com-plaints.

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The Honorable Jun Niimi and

Jerry Harrington

Bill Underwood just completed one year as the 2011-2012 Orange County Grand Jury's Chairman of the Administrative Agencies Committee. This investigative committee has subsequently been

National Leadership Dinner

June 7, 2012

Leaders from the World Affairs Council of

America and the World Affairs

Council of Orange County

What You Missed . . .

Alireza Nader

Cultural Dinner

June 21, 2012

Philip Taubman

July 12, 2012

Michael Withrow, Joan Condiotti,

Speaker, Philip Taubman and

Cigdem and Dr. James Coyle

Serge Tomassian, Dr. Harry Sahota,

Mr. Taubman, Bruce Hallenbeck, Fred Ameri,

Jo Ellen Chatham and Firouzeh Ameri

Garden Tea Party at the

Montage Resort

June 10, 2012

Garden Tea Party

Hat Contest

Cay Varholick and son Erik

Varholick

Norm Tanber & Natasha Nek Hai Stanley Behrens, Annie and

Dr. Clement Chu

Chairman Elect, Dr. Mike Moodian

and Speaker Alireza Nader

Marcia Pina, winner of the Hat Contest Jeff Lodder and Kelly LucasChairman of the WACOC, Serge

Tomassian and wife Mona and President

of the BABC-OC John Miller and

wife Sherry

Upcoming Programs

2102 Business Center Drive

Irvine, Ca. 92612

Thursday, September 6, 2012 Il FornaioDr. Diana Negroponte, "Spillover from the Central American Civil Wars: How might we Contain the Drug Related Violence?"

Sunday, September 16, 2012 at the Balboa Bay ClubTrustees Luncheon, Trustees Member Only Event

Wednesday, September 26, 2012The Honorable James Keith, Former U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Stateto China

Monday, October 29, 2012Dr. Nader Hashemi - "Understanding Muslim Societies" A program of the World Affairs Councils of America with support provided by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York

Tel: 949.253.5751 • Fax: 949.253.5752 Email: orangecounty@worldaffairscouncil.org • Website: www.worldaffairscouncil.org