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“Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Troubles in Japan: Facts and Future Implications” will be the topic of a special panel discussion hosted by the Monterey Institute of International Studies this Friday. The panel will take place from 12:15 to 1:50 p.m. on Friday, March 18 in the Irvine Auditorium inside the McCone Building at 499 Pierce Street in downtown Monterey.

Speakers will include:

• Dr. Tsuneo Akaha, professor of international policy studies at MIIS and director of its Center for East Asian Studies
• Dr. Patricia Lewis, deputy director of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) at MIIS and a nuclear physicist
• Dr. Sandra Dow, professor of international finance in the international policy studies program at MIIS and a specialist in Japan’s economy
• Mr. Masahide Kokubun, deputy director of the Research Promotion Bureau at the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and a current student at MIIS

Each speaker will offer 15 minutes of initial comments, with the remainder of the time devoted to questions from the audience and discussion. The presentation by Mr. Kokubun will be in Japanese and will be interpreted into English.

This event is free and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to support the fundraising drive established by members of the MIIS campus community to support relief efforts in Japan by bringing a cash or check donation for Give2Asia (Please note that only those donating by check will receive a contribution letter from Give2Asia for their records). The Japan Society of Northern California has established the JSNC Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund to benefit , which will channel contributions directly to organizations in Japan supporting the relief and recovery efforts.

The event will be streamed live on the internet as well.  To view the event online, go to  and with audio from the Japanese/English interpreter booth on the .

Drs. Akaha, Lewis and Dow are among the Monterey Institute experts available for media comment who are listed on the MIIS faculty experts page and the .

MIIS students, alumni and faculty are also helping out in other ways such as volunteering their time and interpretation and translation skills to those in need.  Many of the volunteer interpreters signed up on the official online resource list from the are from our MIIS community.

Thirty percent of Monterey Institute students are international students, and half the faculty are originally from countries other than the United States. The Institute currently has 21 students from Japan enrolled in various graduate degree programs, and almost 500 Institute alumni are currently located in Japan.