Christie Aschwanden

2008-11-10T19:26:00.003-09:00

The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting presents

VIETNAM: WAR'S LASTING LEGACY
Friday, November 14, 12-2 p.m.

The George Washington University
Elliott School of International Affairs
6th Floor, Lindner Family Commons
E Street, between 18th and 19th Streets NW

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A panel discussion, multimedia presentation and light refreshments

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More than three decades after the Vietnam War ended, the Vietnamese people continue to live with the consequences of Agent Orange, a defoliant that has come to symbolize the unintended consequences of warfare. During the war, American forces sprayed nearly two million gallons of Agent Orange across Vietnam's forests in an attempt to steal cover from insurgent forces that lurked in the dense jungle. The U.S. eventually halted the spraying program, after learning that Agent Orange was tainted with high levels of dioxin. But by then, nearly 18 percent of Vietnam's forests and 20,000 villages had been sprayed with this toxic chemical.

For years, Agent Orange's toxic legacy in Vietnam has seemed like an impossible problem. Dioxin has a decades-long half-life and it continues to linger in Vietnam's soil, working its way up the food chain and exposing new generations of Vietnamese. Cleanup costs dwarfed the Vietnamese government's ability to pay, and the logistics of cleanup work looked daunting. But a new era of cooperation between the U.S. and Vietnam has finally led to a shift from finger-pointing to problem solving.

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Join journalist Christie Aschwanden and Phung Tuu Boi, one of her Vietnamese
interviewees, for a panel discussion on the unintended consequences of warfare
in Vietnam and what is being done today to overcome the lingering toxins of
Agent Orange sprayed by the U.S. during the war.

Screening of media published in The New York Times and the
International Herald Tribune, and broadcast on public television’s Foreign Exchange.

Moderated by Linda Yarr, Executive Director, Program for International Studies in Asia

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Christie Aschwanden is an award-winning freelance writer and journalist based in western Colorado. Her work has appeared in more than 50 publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Science, National Wildlife, Reader's Digest, Men's Journal, and O, the Oprah Magazine. In 2007 she received a grant from the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting to travel to Vietnam. Her report on Agent Orange’s legacy appeared on PBS and her New York Times article about an Agent Orange remediation project in Vietnam’s central highlands received the Arlene Award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA). She has also received an Outstanding Essay Award from the ASJA and an honorable mention for print journalism from the American Institute of Biological Sciences.

Mr. Phung Tuu Boi, is the Director of Assistance for Nature Conservation and Community Development Center (ANCODEC) in Hanoi, Vietnam. Mr. Boi is also on staff at the Forest Inventory and Planning Institute (FIPI). For the past three decades Dr. Boi has studied the effects on forests of the herbicides and defoliants used during 1961-71 in the Vietnam War. He has served as a scientific advisor to the Vietnmese government’s national Steering Committee on Agent Orange and the Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange. Currently Mr. Boi is working on a project to remediate Agent Orange contaminated areas in central Vietnam, including his “Green Fence” project to plant a protective border around the former US military base in the A Luoi Valley that is still contaminated with Dioxin.

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Contact: For more information, contact Pulitzer Center George Washington Student Liaison Paul Biba at paulbiba@gwmail.gwu.edu

Event Sponsored By: the Elliott School of International Affairs and The War Legacies Project

The reporting project “Vietnam: War’s Lasting Legacy,” is sponsored by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting,
a non-profit dedicated to increasing the quality and quantity of underreported international news in U.S. media.

www.pulitzercenter.org

Columbia University Event

2008-11-08T10:39:00.002-09:00

Center for Environmental Research and Conservation, Columbia University
Speaker Series 2008-2009

Join us in welcoming botanist Mr. Phung Tuu Boi to CERC.

Dr. Boi, a forester and Director of the Center for Assistance in Nature Conservation and Community in Hanoi, Vietnam has been working for the past several decades addressing the impacts of herbicides and defoliants used during the Vietnam War on the Vietnamese forests and its residents.

He will be joined by reporter Christie Aschwanden and videographer George Lerner who traveled to Vietnam to produce the project "Vietnam: War's Lasting Legacy," sponsored by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

Wednesday, November 12th, 2008

6:00-7:00PM, Schermerhorn Extension, Room 1015 (10th Floor)

Columbia University, Morningside Campus

Light refreshments will be served.

Please RSVP by visiting:

https://calendar.columbia.edu/sundial/webapi/get.php?vt=detail&br=default&id=27489

For more information see:

Vietnam

: War's Lasting Legacy

http://www.pulitzercenter.org/showproject.cfm?id=31

Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting:

www.pulitzercenter.org

Center for Environmental Research and Conservation

www.cerc.columbia.edu

Why Do We Seek Suffering?

2008-09-12T21:05:00.000-08:00

My latest contribution to Runner's World's "enduring questions" series asks: why do runners purposely seek pain and suffering?

WHY DO WE SUFFER?
Running can hurt. This is one runner's quest to understand the bittersweet symphony.

New York Times articles

2008-09-12T10:47:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pieces I've written for the New York Times this year.

When Iron Is a Precious Metal
Ironman competitions are in demand, despite rising entry fees.

Alternative Race Routes
Cheaper alternatives to Ironman triathlons

Recent Triathlon Deaths Have Experts Searching for Answers
This story made the front page of the Thursday Styles section.

Experts Question Placebo Pill for Children
This story sparked an NPR commentary and an editorial in the BMJ.

Recent Runner's World articles

2008-09-12T09:10:00.000-08:00

I'm a contributing editor for Runner's World magazine. Here are a few recent stories.

ARE YOU OVERTRAINING?
Overtraining can turn you into a beast. Backing off can prevent bodily harm.

FRESH THINKING
Four food philosophies for healthy eating.

BOTTLE DRAMA
Due to recent warnings, many runners are wondering if our plastic water bottles belong in the recycling bin.

A MINIMALIST'S GUIDE TO YOUR FIRST ULTRA
How to run it--and survive it--without losing your sanity.

50-MILER TRAINING PLAN
This five-month program gives you the strength, endurance, and recovery you'll need

OVERCOMING THE ULTRA-MARATHON MIND GAME
When your feet ache, your stomach screams, and your quads cry mama, only mind games can get you through. Here's how to prepare.

SPRING BACK FROM INJURY
Staying positive when injured makes the road to recovery less bumpy

THINK POSITIVE
These daily affirmations will help you recover faster

Why Do People Believe Tyler Hamilton?

2008-09-12T09:04:00.001-08:00

Even though it was published back in Novemeber 2007, I continue to get mail from readers of my Bicycling magazine article about Tyler Hamilton's fans. The piece examined the convicted doper's followers and explored the nature of belief, and it was nominated for a national magazine award.

Do You Believe?
When it comes to Tyler Hamilton, the most contentious--and, perhaps, most important--question isn't if he's guilty or innocent of doping, but why each of us has chosen a side.

Los Angeles Times: Autopsies

2008-09-12T08:23:00.000-08:00

Earlier this year, I wrote a feature about autopsies for the Los Angeles Times, and I received quite a bit of mail from readers who had faced the decision about whether to ask for an autopsy.

Autopsy, a new era.
When a death raises questions the procedure, once standard, often must be arranged today. Families do so for answers – and peace of mind.

Advice about whether, how to arrange an autopsy
A sidebar with useful advice for loved ones of the deceased.

2008-09-11T13:41:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my blog. Since I can't seem to keep my website current, I'm going to try posting new links to this blog with the theory that if it's easy, maybe I'll keep up on it.

Since it's been months and months since I've updated the website, I figured I'd begin by posting links to a few recent stories that I am still getting mail about.

Christie