A LOOK AT THE WEEK AHEAD April 25 - MAY 2, 2003
CONVERTING IRAQ TO THE RELIGION OF DEMOCRACY -- Anti-U.S. demonstrations by Shiite pilgrims in the Iraqi city of Karbala have raised fears by some in the Bush administration that an Iranian-style theocracy may fill the power void left by the toppling of Saddam. But according to Temple professor of Islamic studies Mahmoud Ayoub, the U.S. should be more concerned with making sure any government put into place is seen as legitimate by the Iraqi people than of a certain model. "Iraqi society is very diverse," says Ayoub. "However, the one common element is a strong sense of nationalism, both Arab and Iraqi. Any political leader who is seen as being hand-picked by the United States will be a failure." Ayoub says that while he wouldn't expect a hard-line fundamentalist government to take shape in Iraq, he also does not see the people embracing American democracy. "We should not make a religion out of democracy, nor should we expect people to just convert," says Ayoub.
Reach Dr. Ayoub through the Office of News & Media Relations (NMR), 215-204-7476.
SARS MAY CAUSE CHINA TO RETHINK THE WAY IT DOES BUSINESS -- Is the mysterious illness--known as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)--spreading from China becoming a worldwide epidemic that is also affecting the global economy? According to Masaaki "Mike" Kotabe, professor of international business and marketing for Temple's Fox School of Business & Management, SARS could lead China to revisit the way it handles international business relations. "This epidemic could undermine the recovery of the weak world economy this year," says Kotabe. "If SARS should continue to spread in China, Hong Kong and Singapore--and beyond--it would cause significant damage not only to their economies but also to multi-national companies, particularly those from the United States and Japan, which have increased their manufacturing and procurement from Southeast Asia for marketing around the world." SARS could also cause the world economy, already in a recession, to worsen. "If multi-national companies need to move their production to more expensive manufacturing locations, there will be some price increases resulting in some inflation," Kotabe adds.
Reach Dr. Kotabe through NMR.
IS IT TOO LATE TO CHANGE MY MAJOR? -- With graduation season--and the reality of a tumultuous job market--imminent, this year's crop of college graduates could be rethinking their career paths. Graduates face "one of the most difficult markets in 25 years," according to Chet Rispoli, Temple's director of Career Development Services. Some can breathe easier, however. Rispoli says that seniors in education, health care and public policy--the Big Three of steady employment--should fare better with their sheepskins than their peers. "Half of the government workforce is hitting retirement age in the next five to eight years, and homeland security should open up a lot of opportunities." The bad news? "Just about everything else is very bleak," Rispoli says. "A lot of people are going to graduate school to establish credentials and ride out the difficult economy." Recruiting across all fields is down almost 40 percent, he notes, in balance with figures from last year. Long-term projections have grown so grim, Rispoli says, that many analysts have suspended any forecasting. "Nobody wants to take a risk. It's to the point that [analysts] aren't even guessing anymore, which is very unusual." For many grads, it seems, working for the Feds might not be such a bad idea after all.
Reach Dr. Rispoli through NMR.
LOSS OF IRAQI ANTIQUITIES PROVIDES THE WORLD WITH ANOTHER LESSON IN ART HISTORY -- The loss of priceless antiquities and art works from the museums in Iraq was more than likely at the hands of international art marketers than looters, says Temple archaeologist Anthony Ranere. "There may well be international art marketers who anticipate the chaos that occurs when there's a takeover in government," speculates Ranere. "They would certainly take advantage of a situation like that. It certainly looks like an inside job since the vaults were accessed with keys and all of the museum's records were also destroyed. With no record of just what exactly was there, it's a good way of keeping things from being traced back to their original source." Ranere says there are other examples in history of antiquities being taken during the fall of the government, pointing to the looting of the National Museum of Panama after the fall of Noriega and the Soviets taking art works during the collapse of the Third Reich, the same works which the Nazis had previously confiscated from the Jews. Ranere feels confident that some of the valuables taken in Iraq are so well known they will probably be recovered in the future because they can't be sold or publicly displayed. "The other possibility is that they will disappear into private collections, never to be seen again," he concludes.
Dr. Ranere can be reached through NMR.
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