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Action Committees & Study Groups: Representing a wide range of academic areas, humanitarian topics, special interest study groups and issues relating to globalization, the BWW Society Action Committees provide instant access between Society members with shared professions, interests, concerns and goals. A listing of our current Committees is provided herein along with the names and contact data of the Committee Chairs, each of whom you are encouraged to contact via email. (If you wish to found a new Committee/Study Group, simply send your Committee suggestion to: committee@bwwsociety.org.) Full descriptions and goals of the various Action Committees/Study Groups are provided below:
Committee Listings:
Concept Committee
The purpose of the Concept Committee is to offer new directions, topics, events, projects and other worthwhile activities to the BWW Society. As we are a forward-looking, results-oriented organization, the presentation of new ideas is strongly encouraged, and every concept presented will receive very serious review and consideration. The Concept Committee is your opportunity to assure that your voice is heard within our membership. Committee Chairman: John Pellam, director@bwwsociety.org
Justice-Based Society Committee The Justice-Based Society Committee is founded and chaired by Dr. Arrigo Colombo, and is based upon the precepts brought forth following a debate entitled "The construction of a society based on justice. What we can and must hope for", one of the many debates he had held after publishing his book L'utopia. Rifondazione di un'idea e di una storia (Bari, Dedalo, 1977). He subsequently realized that it was no longer simply a book, but a message, i.e. the just society, its construction, the meaning of the history of human being, the dawning of hope for humankind, a message that would have to be passed on to the people, everywhere and in every way. This book was the result of approximately twenty years' studies carried out in a "research community", a group whose members have been working together for a long time in an environment where it is possible to exchange and pass on ideas and criticism and where creativity is encouraged: the Lecce (Italy) University Interdepartmental Group and Center for Research into Utopia. Membership in the Committee for the Development of a Justice-Based Society is offered to those who share the new understanding of human history elaborated by the Lecce Research Center and wish to work on its problems; to those who share this commitment and want to experience it intensely, to pass it on to others as best they can, to help build a society of justice and spread hope. It is based upon the issues of the Lecce Research Center and upon the activity of the "Movement for a just society and for hope", which is formed of local groups who meet to discuss and work for justice, for a Justice-Based Society.
Proposals for the research-activity of the Committee:
First attempt at project proposals: Dr. Colombo's philosophy is reviewed in detail in his paper The Development of a Justice-Based Society (The Journal of the BWW Society and the Institute for Positive Global Solutions, March-April 2002 issue). Committee Chairman: Dr. Arrigo Colombo, committee@bwwsociety.org
Electronic & Information
Engineering This Committee is focused on up-to-the-minute innovations in Computers (including the topics of Signal Processing, Image Processing, Multi-Media, Speech Computing, Vision Computing, Virtual Reality, et al), Communications (with topics inclusive of Wireless Communications, Satellite Communications, Optical Communications, Signal Processing for Communications, Analog Digital and Hybrid Electronic Circuitry for Communications, etc.), and Control Systems (including Linear and Non-Linear Systems, Adaptive and Learning Systems, Process Control and Instrumentation, Industrial Automation, Advanced Intelligent Tr a ffic Control Systems, et cetera). Committee Chairman: Dr. Keiji Taniguchi: committee@bwwsociety.org
The function of this Action Committee is the integration of the interest and experience, and even resources of members to assess and explore available information for an action to improve the environment in the selected region(s). The resources from the members can be experience, technology and other relevant factors. The activities conceived in order to achieve the goals of the Committee (i.e. improving the environment of selected region(s)) include (1) visiting the site for assessment and exploring more information, (2) holding work-shops/conferences to exchange and discuss available information, or preparation of action plan(s), and (3) training program(s) for the people from the selected region. Through these activities, we could achieve our goal. The Environmental Committee may have sub-committees that focus on various crucial areas in environmental issues (technological, social and economical). The subcommittees will be operated by people with specializations in humanity, social science, medicine and science. However, an executive commit-tee with the representative(s) from each subcommittee will meet regularly to coordinate the work of the Environmental Committee since solving environmental problem requires the collaborative efforts of all disciplines. A representative of the Environmental Committee will constantly liaison with the administrative body of the BWW Society. Committee Chairman: Professor P.K. Wong: : committee@bwwsociety.org
Although the cold war has ended, a number of countries continue to possess nuclear weapons. Several of these nations find themselves in increasingly conflicting situations, and the danger of nuclear war has not yet disappeared. The global community now enjoys increased wealth as well as rapidly growing improvements in technology. Despite the world’s increased wealth, increased productivity and increased production capacity, the number of people dying from starvation continues at previous levels, our environment has been damaged almost to the point of intolerance. Along with the development of information technology, has come a dependence upon this new technology. This dependence has reached a point that those who are without this technology are at a severe disadvantage. Thus, a new type of poverty (“Digital Poverty”) have developed as a sub-set of the “Digital Divide”. In a somewhat related sense, age discrimination continues to emerge in more countries where the status of the aged is transgressing from that of Respected Elder to a discrimination which threatens basic human entitlements. This is seen most significantly in matters of employment. In order to resolve such serious issues, a traditional approach does not seem competent. Therefore, this Committee seeks a more results-oriented approach, such as tournament-based event approach including organization and holding of the Intellectual Olympics. Goals, Methods and Operational Structure: I. The Global Peace Committee, together with the Knowledge Management Society of Japan, is currently looking into the global problems cited above using the following analysis principles: Principle #1: That the current political, economic and social institutions do not have the effective means to prevent major modern crises; Principle #2: That the global citizenry needs to look to human wisdom without boundaries (i.e. regard-less of nationality, religion, race or institution); Principle #3: That intellectual routes are needed both to avoid crisis to mankind and to promote and maintain peace, harmony and prosperity; Principle #4: That these themes are related to common, important and impending global problems; Principle #5: That task forces should be organized for competition in identifying the most important current and pending global problems. II. The universal concept of Human Intelligence Development should be utilized as the basis to achieve global peace and harmony; this concept has been developed based upon the following principles: Principle #1: A mutual and free exchange of information; Principle #2: A continuous search for better ways of creating and managing human intelligence and wisdom; Principle #3: The redirection of human energy from an inclination toward confrontation to a spirit of cooperation for mutual benefit; Principle #4: The conversion of cultures of war to cultures of peace and harmony; III. The quest for solutions to the following categories of global issues: 1. Environmental Problems 2. The Digital Information Divide 3. Aging, and the Declining Birthrate 4. The North-South Problem (Wealth Divide) IV. The evaluation of the Global Peace Committee’s actions is based on the following criteria: Criterion #1: The development of a process of standardization is fundamental to the modern way of life; Criterion #2: A judgment of the future is required as a result of these standardization procedures; Criterion #3: The prediction and the standardization of prediction have to be simultaneous actions; Criterion #4: The impact of technology on the systems of evaluation is continuously analyzed; Criterion #5: The comparative analysis in terms of the number of judges, the combination of judges with different titles and roles, hierarchy (in terms of status), and international governing bodies is undertaken; Criterion #6: The review of the judicial institutions is based on the fact that there is a law as far as societies exist, regardless of being explicit or implicit. V. The teams of specialists and the solution proposals will work based on the following criteria: Criterion #1: That solutions are the result of a competition mechanism; Criterion #2: The competition is organized as “Intellectual Olympics”. VI. The implementation of the solutions to the various global peace issues is pursued via the existing channels of the following organizations : 1. The United Nations (UN) 2. The United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO) 3. The Organization for Economic Co-Operation & Development OECD 4. The International Chamber of Commerce. Committee Chairman: Professor Akira Ishikawa: committee@bwwsociety.org
Interdisciplinary Control Systems/Complex
Systems The discipline of Complex Systems has emerged in reaction to the impossibility for various scientists, physicists, automatic controls engineers, medical researchers, social scientists, financial analysts and others to directly employ differential equations in order to determine acceptable solutions. Historically, differential equations have been employed to solve problems of Newtonian Physics (and were first used for determining trajectory paths), but current equations often involve factors such as “robustness”, “autoadaptivity” and other factors. As a case in point, the classical Chemistry equation “PV=NRT” is an early version of a complex system, in this case being an invariant property. Another example can be that of the human body, wherein each cell in our bodies is governed by nonlinear-coupled partial differential equations. From a mathematical standpoint, nonlinear-coupled differential equations are infinite-dimensional equations, meaning that each cell within our bodies contains a finite amount of energy. But simple observed behavior shows that in actuality our bodies require neither an infinite amount of information nor an infinite amount of energy; in illustration, even as one reads this text one is not required to direct thoughts to the billions of cells interacting within one’s body, nor is an infinite amount of energy required. Each human body requires only a finite number of calories each day, in direct opposition to the mathematical approach. Actual human behavior is itself a complex system, and like every other complex system, it minimizes both its energy requirements and its information requirements through invariant properties. These invariant properties can be structural, topological, physical, mathematical, differential and functional, and are self-consistent and thereby open to study and prediction of future behavior. Differential invariants generally lead to the equations of motion through a Hamiltonian or a Lagrangian formulation. Complex systems can also be defined by their invariant properties. As an example relating to Social Science, the system consisting of the fans of the Chicago White Sox baseball team is controlled by the results of the team in competition. This example leads to a complex control system which must be designed in order to take into account all of the invariant properties of this system and to create an appropriate attractor to allow this system to naturally gravitate toward this selector. In other examples, the stock market is strongly influenced not only by empirical financial data, but also by the conflicting emotions (fear versus greed) of tens of thousands of investors. Contractual negotiations involve not only quantifiable amounts of money and exact inventory counts, but are also ruled by competing egos and other non-empirical forces. A herd of sheep — with each animal wandering in its own somewhat random way — both singularly and as group to some extent controls the behavior (or “trajectory”) of the shepherd. In essence, Complex Systems involves formulating equations which can be employed to predict the outcome of events which are dependent upon a multitude of physical, emotional and circumstantial forces — thus the growing importance of Complex Systems in fields ranging from the hard sciences to the social sciences, finance, medicine and a host of other disciplines. Committee Chairman: Professor Marc Rouff: committee@bwwsociety.org
This Committee is dedicated to creating and maintaining a neutral base and forum for international diplomacy, within the realms of government, finance and industry. The Committee provides and facilitates negotiations for official and highly confidential matters. Committee Chairman: John Pellam: director@bwwsociety.org
Internet Law Regulation &
Policy The Internet challenges organizations doing businesses online as well as governments trying to regulate it. In the recent past there have been a plethora of projects, efforts and laws published in an attempt to resolve many of these issues. However, the legal issues continue to be manifold and represent a continuing threat to consumers and businesses. This committee was formed with the objective of developing an international forum for the discussion of developments and to serve as an arena for the reporting on the latest global Internet legal developments. The committee is Chaired by a recognized expert in the evolving field of Internet Law, and provides a hands-on opportunity to participate in effective discussion relating to the impact of the new legal developments as they occur. Committee Chairman: Professor Harry SK Tan: committee@bwwsociety.org
Problems ranging from hacking, spamming, computer viruses and worms, to more serious factors such as industrial, governmental and scientific espionage through back-door programs and other invasive technologies have brought the relatively new field of Internet Security to prominence. Numerous steps can be taken to increase and enhance computer and internet security, from the installation of high-value fire-walls and virus protection programs to custom-designed security precautions for specialized applications. As both computer hacking and internet-based espionage increase in sophistication, so too must the pre-cautions required in order to prevent them. This Committee is Chaired by a world-renowned authority on the technical security aspects of the Internet, and is designed to gather and share information on the latest computer and Internet threats, and to provide immediate information on technology’s newest developments in the prevention of Internet-related security problems. Committee Chairman: Dr. Seamus Phan: committee@bwwsociety.org
The Journal of the BWW Society serves as the primary means of communications between all members of the Society. The newsletter provides a full listing of the Society’s Action Committees, along with con-tact information for each Committee. The Journal of the BWW Society also welcomes articles, book reviews, letters and other worthwhile exchanges of information between members. The Journal Committee welcome and encourages your contributions, which should be forwarded to the Journal Coordinator. Contact: journal@bwwsociety.org
The recent great advances in molecular biological techniques have made it possible to investigate many unknown factors in Medical Biology. The Medical Biology Committee is focused on the cooperation of investigators using these technologies and to give them the opportunity to discuss their results. The discussions may also be very helpful to the human genome project that is being studied by various different research centers laboratories throughout the world. Committee Chairman: Professor Fulya Teksen: committee@bwwsociety.org
The Membership Committee functions to both propose new members of the BWW Society as well as to encourage nominations of worthy individuals who will become active participants within the Society. Committee Chair: BWW Society Staff: committee@bwwsociety.org
Committee Chairman: Professor Hector Cortes: committee@bwwsociety.org
Natural & Alternative
Medicine Committee Chairman: Dr. Juei-Tang Cheng: committee@bwwsociety.org
The goal of the Prenatal Diagnosis Committee is to enhance the communication between the scientists who work within this vital field. In recent years it has become possible to learn about the chromosomal constitution of the fetus within the uterus by performing amniocentesis, chorionic villus biopsies and cordocentesis. Moreover, through the use of other vasive or non-invasive methods it is also possible to determine most of the other Mendelian and or non-Mendelian genetic diseases. It will be of great value to learn more about the fetus in the prenatal period in order to determine these genetic diseases prior to birth. Committee Chairman: Professor Fulya Teksen: committee@bwwsociety.org
The Promotion & Support of
Education in Developing SE
Asian Nations In conjunction with this Committee, on page 44 of this issue Father Rogelio Alarcon, President of Angelicum College in the Philippines, shares with us his concepts which were successfully utilized in the establishment of the Re-Entry Education Agenda for the Poor Program (REAP). This program has successfully brought education to hundreds of individuals who were forced to drop out of grade school or high school due to conditions of poverty.
Philippines Sub-Committee Chairman: Father Rogelio Alarcon:
committee@bwwsociety.org
The notion “rehabilitation” has for a long time been used in jurisprudence. In medicine it became widely used in the second half of the 20th century. However, only a very few people know the fact that already in medieval Spain, in the epoch of the Holy Inquisition, the monks of one of the monasteries in the environs of Salamanca began, when giving care to the mentally ill, to use measures that can be classified today, to a considerable extent, as rehabilitation. Even the term “rehabilitation” was in use at that time. Earlier than that, since the 13th century, on the territory of today’s Belgium, there existed, and is likely still to exist now, a small village of Guilles which has been a permanent residence for the mentally ill, where, owing to their relatively liberal way of life, they serve themselves and realize in practice the elements of modern rehabilitation positions. Specialists know very well the work of such predecessors of the rehabilitation trend in psychiatry as Ph.Pinel, D.B.Tuke and D.Conolly. The concept of rehabilitation of ill and disabled persons in its mod-ern interpretation received its further development in the years of World War II in Anglo-Saxon countries, though, earlier than that, at the beginning of the 20th century, H.Simon in Germany and P.Sivadon in France had managed to demonstrate in their hospitals the effectiveness of the rehabilitation approach to the mentally ill. In Russia, among those who can be considered as the precursors of the rehabilitation trend in psychiatry were I.F. Ruehl, A.U. Fraese and N.N. Bazhenov. A considerable contribution to this field was also made by the Dutch psychiatrist and sociologist A.Querido who, at the First Congress of the World Association for Social Psychiatry in London in 1964 emphasized the fact that the borders between prevention, treatment and rehabilitation were very relative. Especially worth noting is the significance for rehabilitation of the work of the British psychiatrists and psychotherapists, creators of the concept of “therapeutic community”, T.Main and M.Jones, as well as of the founder and first President of the World Association for Social Psychiatry J.Bierer. In 1967, on the eve of “the Prague spring”, there was held a meeting of the ministers of public health care and social security of a number of East-European countries, called “socialist” at that time. The meeting adopted a resolution that gave a comprehensive definition of rehabilitation as a dynamic system of interdependent components (public, socio-economic, medical, psychological, pedagogical and other ones) aimed at the prevention of the development of pathologic processes causing a temporary or a stable loss of working capacity, at an effective and early return of ill and disabled persons to the society and socially useful work. In other words, rehabilitation, regarded as the ultimate goal, is a complete or partial restoration (preservation) of the personal and social status of an ill person or of one in a pre-morbid state. This definition which we entirely agree with has been assumed as a basis in the theoretical, methodological and practical developments of the concept of psychosocial rehabilitation at the V.M.Bekhterev Institute for over the last thirty years. These developments have been used in various ways, according to the specificity of diseases, at different clinical departments of the Institute. They have been used in the treatment of endogenic psychoses, including schizophrenia and depressive states; of epilepsy, alcoholism and other types of drug addiction; of neuroses and other borderline states; of vascular pathology of the brain; in geriatric and adolescent psychiatry. It is worth noting, and we have repeatedly mentioned it in our publications, that up to now there is no common understanding of the essence of the many- sided dynamic process of rehabilitation. A tendency to reductionism and simplification of the comprehensive notion “rehabilitation” prevails in the assessment of this process which is closely connected with the quality of life of a human being. Most often rehabilitation is understood as a restoration of a person’s rights and a rational arrangement of his/her job placement and everyday life. These aspects of rehabilitation are of great significance, of course; however, they do not determine entirely its essence and ultimate goal. One can (and should) give ill or disabled persons legal rights (for instance, an opportunity to consult a lawyer or to go to the law), help them to find a job (to do so, however, is often quite a problem under the condition of the economic crisis in many countries, including Russia), help them to arrange their every-day life (for instance, to improve their housing conditions, which is also a problem due to the above reason); however, having done so, one can, nevertheless, fail to achieve the ultimate goal - to restore their personal and social status, i.e. to improve their quality of life to such an extent that the improvement could be felt, above all, by ill and disabled people themselves. Besides, in some cases an insufficiently considered, without taking into consideration personality and environmental factors, job placement can lead to a dismal end – to the patient’s neglect of compliance and, as a consequence, to a disease relapse, including the so-called self-destructive behavior (suicide, alcoholism, drug addiction, etc.).
Committee Chairman: Professor Modest Kabanov: committee@bwwsociety.org
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