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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>I might be biased… but I think this is great….<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span class=manchettebig21><b><font size=4 color=black
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>ACS youth conference explores
social, environmental costs of war</span></font></b></span><br>
<span class=blue31><b><font size=1 color="#000066" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:7.5pt'>By Nour Samaha </span></font></b></span><br>
<span class=links1><font size=1 color="#666666" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:7.5pt'>Daily Star staff</span></font></span><br>
<span class=red1><b><font size=1 color="#9c0b0b" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:7.5pt'>Tuesday, April 24, 2007</span></font></b></span> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=articletext><span name=KonaBody><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a"
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt'>BEIRUT: The American Community
School (ACS) hosted on Monday the sixth annual YouthCan conference to promote
peace worldwide and raise awareness of the environmental and social damage
caused by the summer 2006 war with Israel. About 170 students from 10 schools
from across the country attended the conference, which this year was titled
"When Violence Causes Silence." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=articletext><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:8.5pt'>YouthCan, an international organization that uses
technology to connect participants and educate them on environmental issues,
holds conferences and other activities to unite young people and encourage
them to make a difference in their respective communities. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=articletext><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:8.5pt'>The annual conference was sponsored in collaboration
with the Lebanese Education Ministry by the US State Department, the Hariri
Foundation and iEARN, the largest online network for primary- and
secondary-school students in the world. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=articletext><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:8.5pt'>"The real issue here is about the youth and what
can be done to change the world," said Karim Abu Haydar, principle of
the ACS middle school and organizer of the YouthCan conference. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=articletext><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:8.5pt'>Haydar explained that the school had been wary about
organizing the event this year but pushed ahead due to enthusiasm displayed
by students toward environmental and social issues. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=articletext><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:8.5pt'>"The energy from the students was
infectious," he said. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=articletext><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:8.5pt'>Ryan Gliha, cultural attache for the US Embassy,
delivered a video message to the students, saying that YouthCan was "an
opportunity for <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Lebanon</st1:country-region></st1:place>'s
younger generation to take control of the future and take care of the
environment."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=articletext><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:8.5pt'>Student presenters included Ramsey Zayek from <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Adma</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">International</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">School</st1:PlaceType> and Zeina Hariri from <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Hajj</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Baha</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Hariri</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">School</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>,
both of whom are active participants within their schools on environmental
issues. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=articletext><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:8.5pt'>"I've been doing YouthCan since the beginning,
six years ago," Zayek told The Daily Star. "I really like it
because it is somewhere we as students can share and work hard together, and
then present our hard work to others, so it is not just for yourself. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=articletext><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:8.5pt'>"I really feel that YouthCan makes a difference
- its constantly growing larger every year, and if it has made a difference
to a few people, then it is good." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=articletext><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:8.5pt'>The conference opened with student videos documenting
environmental destruction during the war. Students from <st1:country-region
w:st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region> and <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">New York</st1:place></st1:State> participated in the event via
video conference. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=articletext><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:8.5pt'>Workshops included "How to start a recycling
project in your school," "Cancer Gene Therapy," "Hunger
and Poverty in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Lebanon</st1:place></st1:country-region>"
and the "Human Impact on Survival of Species." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=articletext><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:8.5pt'>"The advantage of YouthCan is that it brings
awareness among the youth - they are the ones who organize the whole
event," Abu Haydar told <strong><b><i><font face=Verdana><span
style='font-family:Verdana;font-style:italic'>The Daily Star</span></font></i></b></strong>.
"Although their fruits of labor may not show for a while, everything
they do is worthwhile. YouthCan is giving them the baseline to work on."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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