and Kappa Alpha Order fraternities at Bowling Green State University.]]

Fraternities and sororities (from the Latin words and , meaning "brother" and "sister" respectively) are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in North America, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations. Similar, but less common, organizations also exist for secondary school students. In modern usage, the term "Greek letter organization" is often synonymous with the terms "fraternity" and "sorority".

Typically, Greek letter organizations are single-sex, initiatory organizations with membership considered active during the undergraduate years only, although a notable exception to this rule are historically black, Latino, Asian, and multicultural organizations, in which active membership continues, and into which members are often initiated long after the completion of their undergraduate degrees. Greek letter organizations may sometimes be considered mutual aid societies, providing academic and social activities. Some groups also maintain a chapter house, providing residential and dining facilities for members.

Terminology

In modern usage, the term has become synonymous with the North American fraternity and sorority. The term fraternity, often colloquially shortened to "frat" (though use of such term may be derogatory in some contexts), typically refers to an all-male group, while the term "sorority", created by Gamma Phi Beta, typically refers to an all-female group. Some women's groups define themselves as fraternities for women or women's fraternities, such as Alpha Phi and Alpha Gamma Delta. Additionally, some groups that define themselves as "fraternities" may be mixed-sex, such as Alpha Phi Omega, Phi Sigma Pi, Alpha Delta Phi Society, Kappa Kappa Psi or Mu Phi Epsilon; the same is true of groups that define themselves as "sororities", such as Tau Beta Sigma. Due to the ambiguous nature of the terms "fraternity" and "sorority" with respect to gender, and due to the inaccuracy and potential sexist nature of the use "fraternity" to describe aforementioned organizations, it has become commonplace to use the synonym "Greek letter organization", since the vast majority of fraternities and sororities identify themselves using Greek letters. A recent example of this is the usage of the terms "(historically) Black Greek letter organizations" (BGLOs) and "Latino Greek letter organizations" (LGOs) within the literature. However, since most of those organizations that do not identify themselves using Greek letters are structured similarly to and share other several common characteristics with those that do identify themselves using Greek letters, all of these organizations are still considered to be "Greek letter organizations". All this said, the public at large and most members of fraternities and sororities still use the traditional terms ("fraternity" and "sorority"), to refer to all-male and all-female groups, respectively. Coeducational service fraternities and academic honors organizations (despite sharing a common history, as well as a common naming scheme, with modern fraternities and sororities) tend to be referred to more specifically. "Greek letter organization" tends to be used in "formal" contexts, but rarely in popular discourse.

The term social fraternity is used to differentiate four-year, undergraduate, and frequently residential groups from other organizations, many of which also have Greek-letter names, such as honor societies, academic societies, or service fraternities and sororities.

Greek letters

The names of North American fraternities and sororities generally consist of two or three Greek letters, often the initials of a Greek motto, which may be secret. For this reason, fraternities and sororities are referred to by the encompassing term "Greek letter organization" and described by the adjective "Greek", as seen in phrases such as "Greek community", "Greek system", "Greek life", or members as "Greeks". An individual fraternity or sorority is often called a "Greek house" or simply "house", terms which may be regarded as misleading since the usage of a phrase with "house" in it may be taken to refer to a chapter's physical property whereas many fraternities and sororities do not have a chapter house; alternatively, "chapter" and "organization" are used in these contexts, with the latter referring to the group as a collective entity, and the former referring to a specific division of such entity, though not all fraternities and sororities have multiple chapters.

The use of Greek letters started with Phi Beta Kappa (then a social fraternity and today an honor society) at the College of William & Mary – see History: Beginnings, below. Several groups, however, do not use Greek letters. Examples include Acacia, FarmHouse, and Triangle, as well as final clubs, eating clubs, secret societies at some Ivy League colleges, such as Skull and Bones at Yale and the military affiliated fraternity the National Society of Pershing Rifles.

Types of Greek letter organizations

Most Greek letter organizations are social organizations, presenting themselves as societies to help their members better themselves in a social setting.

A variety of Greek letter organizations are distinguished from social groups by their function. They can be specifically organized for service to the community, for professional advancement, or for scholastic achievement.

Certain organizations were established for specific religious or ethnic groups. Some social organizations are expressly Christian, such as Alpha Chi Rho (founded as Christian, presently non-exclusive). Jewish fraternities, such as Alpha Epsilon Pi, Zeta Beta Tau (historically Jewish, presently non-sectarian), and Sigma Alpha Mu (historically Jewish as well, but has been non-sectarian since the 1950s) were established, in part, in response to restrictive clauses that existed in many social fraternities' laws barring Jewish membership, which were removed in the mid-20th century. A controversy remains between the idea of creating supportive communities for distinct groups on the one hand and the intent to create non-discriminatory communities on the other.

There are also organizations with a cultural or multicultural emphasis. For example, Alpha Phi Alpha and Kappa Alpha Psi, both African American Fraternities, were established at Cornell University in 1906 and Indiana University - Bloomington in 1911, respectively, the first Chinese fraternity, established at Cornell in 1916, and Sigma Iota, the first Hispanic fraternity, established at Louisiana State University in 1904. The Phi Sigma Alpha fraternity in Puerto Rico can also trace its roots back to Sigma Iota. There are now 20 Latino fraternities in the National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations. A distinct set of black fraternities and sororities also exists, although black students are not barred from non-black organizations and there are black members of non-black organizations. Non African-American students are also not barred from predominately African American fraternities and sororities.

Organizations designed for particular class years do exist, but are usually categorized separately from other types of Greek letter organizations. While these were once common in older institutions in the Northeast, the only surviving underclass society is Theta Nu Epsilon, which is specifically for sophomores. Many senior class societies also survive, and they are often simply referred to as Secret Societies.

Philanthropy

race philanthropy ]] Philanthropy is usually made a part of any Greek letter organization’s program and supported by all active members. Typically, a chapter will either engage in fundraising activities or the members will volunteer for programs. These either benefit the academic community or the public at large. Long-term relationships can also exist between a particular fraternity or sorority and one of the large national disease-specific charitable organizations. Some organizations own and operate their own philanthropy. For example, Kappa Delta supports the most philanthropies of any National Panhellenic Sorority: Girl Scouts of the USA, Prevent Child Abuse America, the Children's Hospital of Richmond, Virginia, and American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Research Awards, as well as the Kappa Delta Foundation which supports various other philanthropic causes. Pi Kappa Phi owns Push America which works with individual chapters to serve people with disabilities. Phi Sigma Alpha has the Sigma Foundation. Other organizations support established causes, Delta Delta Delta has partnered with St. Jude Children's Hospital pledging 10 in 10; 10 million dollars in 10 years where they are currently at $9.1 million, six years ahead of schedule. Alpha Delta Pi supports the Ronald McDonald House Charities as its national philanthropy, Alpha Omicron Pi supports Arthritis Research, Gamma Phi Beta supports Campfire USA, Alpha Sigma Phi supports the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Chi Omega supports the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Delta Chi Lambda supports FreeRice.com and Zeta Tau Alpha supports breast cancer education and awareness and has many partners, such as the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the NFL, Yoplait and Self Magazine. Sigma Sigma Sigma supports the Robbie Page Memorial, which benefits play therapy for children.Theta Phi Alpha supports the House that Theta Phi Alpha built, which helps homeless shelters, as well as camp friendship, which helps underprivileged children. Phi Sigma Sigma supports the National Kidney Foundation, which focuses on the cure for kidney disease. Phi Mu supports the Children's Miracle Network, an international non-profit organization that raises funds for children's hospitals, medical research and community awareness of children's health issues. Tau Omega Mu, a worldwide service oriented non-profit organization that gives anonymous Charity events to raise money for their local communities, and causes for the country and their universities such as donations, and improvements in the university. The single largest Greek philanthropic event ever was the 2010 Derby Days at Rutgers University. Operated by Sigma Chi in partnership with Alpha Chi Omega, Gamma Phi Beta, Zeta Tau Alpha, Sigma Delta Tau, Delta Gamma, Sigma Kappa, and Phi Sigma Sigma; over $95000 was raised in a single week for Children's Miracle Network. The Largest Greek philanthropic event in the world in the Pennsylvania State University's Dance Marathon, also know as THON. Last year, the Greek run event raised more than 7.8 million dollars for pediatric cancer Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon .

Competition and cooperation

Early fraternal societies were very competitive for members, for academic honors, and for any other benefit or gain. Some of this competition was seen as divisive on college campuses. Today there is still competition, but that competition is intended to be within limits, and for nobler purposes, such as charitable fundraising. Often, organizations compete in various sporting events. There is also a greater emphasis on interfraternity cooperation. The single greatest effort along these lines was the creation of the National Interfraternity Council, now the North American Interfraternity Conference, a century ago, which was intended to minimize conflicts, destructive competition, and encourage student members to recognize members of other fraternities and sororities as people who share common interests. The National Pan-Hellenic Council has similar goals to unite members of all predominant BGLOs; (historically) Black Greek letter organizations.

Structure and organization

Most Greek letter organizations were originally organized on one campus. An organization that has only one established chapter would be called a "local". A local can authorize chapters of the same name at other campuses. After the first authorized chapter, a local would be considered a "national", even if only two chapters are established. Given the development over the past 180 years, North America now has several large national organizations with hundreds of chapters. Two or more nationals can also merge, and some of the larger nationals were created by merger. Several national fraternities are international, usually implying chapters in Canada.

A local organization can petition one of the existing national organizations and be absorbed into their organization dropping all ties to the former local organization. Recently this has become the preferred method for expansion within national organizations because the members have already formed a bond and presence on campus but are changing their name, ritual, and structure.

The central business offices of the organizations are also commonly referred to as "Nationals". Nationals may place certain requirements on individual chapters to standardize rituals and policies regarding membership, housing, finances, or behavior. These policies are generally codified in a constitution and bylaws. Greek letter organizations may once have been governed by the original chapter, but virtually all have adopted some version of governance with executive officers who report to a board of trustees, and 'legislative' body consisting of periodic conventions of delegates from all the chapters.

Rituals and symbols

Most Greek letter organizations maintain traditions, sometimes accompanied by secret rituals, which are generally symbolic in nature. They include an initiation ceremony, and may also include passwords, songs, and handshakes. For example, writer Julian Hawthorne, the son of Nathaniel Hawthorne, wrote (in his posthumously published Memoirs) of an ironic coincidence surrounding his fraternal initiation:

I was initiated into a college secret society—a couple of hours of grotesque and good-humored rodomontade and horseplay, in which I cooperated as in a kind of pleasant nightmare, confident, even when branded with a red-hot iron or doused head-over heels in boiling oil, that it would come out all right. The neophyte is effectively blindfolded during the proceedings, and at last, still sightless, I was led down flights of steps into a silent crypt, and helped into a coffin, where I was to stay until the Resurrection...Thus it was that just as my father passed from this earth, I was lying in a coffin during my initiation into Delta Kappa Epsilon.

Meetings of active members are generally kept private and not to be discussed without the formal approval of the chapter as a whole.

For organizations with Greek letters composing their name, these letters are the initials of a motto (such as Delta Upsilon), a set of virtues (such as Alpha Kappa Lambda), or the history of its organization (such as Phi Tau).

Greek letter organizations often have a number of distinctive emblems, such as colors, flags, flowers, in addition to a badge (or pin), crest, and/or seal. An open motto (indicating that the organization has a "secret motto" as well) is used to express the unique ideals of a fraternity or sorority.

Pins or badges

pledge pin]] Pins have become increasingly popular to collect, even by individuals that never were members. Groups such as the Fraternity Pin Collector Society have collected thousands of pins worth tens of thousands of dollars in individual collections while organizations such as Kappa Kappa Gamma's "Keepers of the Key" work to reunite lost or stolen badges with their original owners.

According to , the primary fraternal jewelers of the late 19th century and early 20th century were D. L. Auld Co. of Columbus, L. G. Balfour Co. of Attleboro, Mass., Burr, Patterson and Co. of Detroit, Upmeyer Company of Milwaukee, A. H. Fetting Co. of Baltimore, Hoover and Smith Co. of Philadelphia, O. C. Lanphear of Galesburg, Ill., Miller Jewelry Co. of Cincinnati, J. F. Newman of New York, Edward Roehm of Detroit, and Wright, Kay and Co. of Detroit. Currently the most widely used jewelers are Herff Jones, Jostens, and Balfour. Jewelers' initials and stampings are typically found on the back of pins along with the member name and/or chapter information. The history of fraternal jewelers is important when determining age of non-dated jewelry pieces.

Since fraternity and sorority pins are used as the primary symbols for societies, licensing and marketing concerns have developed. As a result, many of the larger organizations have had to put a legal team on retainer as consultants.

Crests

Fraternities and Sororities have created crests in order to represent the familial aspect of brotherhood and sisterhood. The greatest representation of fraternal crests is found in yearbooks and chapter publications from 1890 to 1925. Engravings were made of crests and tipped into the yearbooks, often later removed and framed. Sizes range from a square inch to a full page layout. Many of these engravings were signed, creating a period art form.

Fraternal crest engravings were typically made by cutting lines in metal or wood for the purpose of printing reproduction. The earliest known engravings printed on paper in this fashion date back to the 16th century. Much of the engravings done in the 19th century were metal engravings where the image was carved into a piece of steel or iron. In the early 20th century, it became more common to use photo-engraving, or photogravure to print the crests.

Objects

Apparels such as shirts, pants, bags, canteens, jewelry and key chains are often worn by members with their Greek letters on them. These shirts and other articles may later be used for a pass-down ceremony between seniors and fellow members. Seniors may choose to pass down some or all of the clothing they own that is associated with the sorority. Some of the shirts are ten or more years old and in some chapters, girls will compete for them. In those chapters, generally members feel it is an honor to have older artifacts. At some institutions, it is considered inappropriate and may be prohibited to wear apparel with the society's name when the member is consuming alcohol. It is considered disrespectful to have their letters on when drinking, regardless of their age. Also, it is generally taboo for non-members to wear any apparel with a group's letters.

Membership pins are not worn at all times. Some organizations limit pin-wearing to times of professional or business dress, also known as "Pin Attire". The pins are kept forever, they are not expected to return them or hand them down.

Chapter houses

Unique among most campus organizations, members of social Greek letter organizations often live together in a large house or distinct part of the university dormitories. This can help emphasize the "bonds of brotherhood or sisterhood" and provide a place of meeting for the members of the organization as well as alumni. For reasons of cost, liability, and stability, housing is usually owned or overseen by an alumni corporation or the organization's national headquarters. As a result, some houses have visitor restrictions, and some national organizations restrict or prohibit alcohol on the premises. At some colleges where chapters do not have residential houses for the general membership, they may still have chapter houses where meals are served for their membership and guests.

Joining

The process of joining a Greek letter organization varies from organization to organization. Organizations governed by the National Panhellenic Conference or the North-American Interfraternity Conference commonly begin their process with a "formal recruitment" period, often called "rush week", which usually consists of events and activities designed for members and potential members to learn about each other and the organization. At the end of the formal recruitment period, organizations give "bids", or invitations to membership. Most organizations have a period of "pledgeship" before extending full membership. Some organizations have changed the name of pledgeship due to negative connotations to the process (such as calling pledges "Zobes" or "new members"), or have given up the process in favor of other joining requirements. Upon completion of the pledgeship and all its requirements, the active members will invite the pledges to be initiated and become full members. Initiation often includes secret ceremonies and rituals. Organizations governed by the National Pan-Hellenic Council, the National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations, or the National Multicultural Greek Council have very different recruitment processes.

Requirements may be imposed on those wishing to pledge either by the school or the organization itself, often including a minimum grade point average, wearing a pledge pin, learning about the history and structure of the organization, and performing public service. When a school places an age or tenure requirement on joining, this is called "deferred recruitment", as joining is deferred for a semester or year. The pledgeship period also serves as a probationary period in which both the organization and the pledge decide if they are compatible and will have a fulfilling experience.

Controversy and criticism

Possible effects on academic achievement

A study of more than 2000 students at 18 colleges and universities in 15 states examined the relationship between Greek affiliation and scores on the Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency (CAAP) examination. Statistical controls were employed and separate analyses were conducted for men and women. Results indicated that membership in a fraternity was associated with significantly lower scores on the reading comprehension, mathematics, and critical thinking modules of the CAAP exam, while sorority membership was associated with significantly lower scores on the reading comprehension module. George D. Kuh, Ernest T. Pascarella, and Henry Wechsler used research from the National Study of Student Learning (NSSL) and concluded that “fraternities are indifferent to academic values and seem to short-change the education of many members.”

Hazing issues

Hazing is the harassment of new members as a rite of passage, by giving them meaningless, difficult, dangerous or humiliating tasks to perform, exposing them to ridicule, or playing practical jokes on them. It is a crime in 44 states, and most educational institutions have their own definitions of, and prohibitions against, hazing, many required by state statutes.

While hazing is commonly associated with Greek letter organizations, it is also present in college university communities among athletic teams, marching bands, and military groups . Nevertheless, it is often cited as one of the most harmful aspects of Greek letter organizations and poses a major threat to their existence . As a result, many educational institutions have developed anti-hazing programs, which encourage alternatives to hazing through the planning of purposeful activities, inform students of how to take action and avoid being a bystander, and provide clear consequences for those students and/or organizations who violate hazing policies . Additionally, hazing has become a central focus of programs designed to help Greek letter organizations become more value congruent through institutionalized standards and expectations . Attempts at preventing hazing have also targeted Greek letter organizations at the national level. note the important role of culture change within the North American fraternity and sorority movement and even encourage the closure of chapters that consistently partake in illegal and risky activities and pose threats to their local and university communities.

Due to the nature of hazing and the secretive nature of Greek letter organizations, hazing is largely underreported. Most, if not all, hazing activities take place either during pledge (or "interest") activities or rituals, which are always secretive.

Hazing has been cited as a problem not just within historically white men's organizations, but also within women's organizations and within historically non-white organizations. For instance, while the National Pan-Hellenic Council explicitly prohibits hazing, hazing still occurs and has resulted in numerous deaths and injuries, such as the 1989 death of Joel A. Harris, who died during an Alpha Phi Alpha hazing incident; the 1996 death of Michael Davis, who died during a Kappa Alpha Psi hazing ritual; the 2002 death of Joseph T. Green, who died during an Omega Psi Phi initiation ritual; and the 2002 deaths of Kenitha Saafir and Kristin High, who died during an Alpha Kappa Alpha hazing ritual. In 2010 Sigma Gamma Rho at San Jose was accused of hazing Courtney Howard, beating her with wooden paddles, slapped her with wooden spoons, shoved her against the wall, and threatened that “snitches get stitches.” Similarly, despite explicit prohibition of hazing by the National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations, hazing still occurs in these organizations, leading several chapters to be suspended.

Exclusionary nature

Some colleges and universities have banned Greek letter organizations with the justification that they are by their very structure set up to be elitist and exclusionary. The most famous, and oldest ban was at Princeton , although Princeton has now had fraternities since the 1980s. Fraternities have been banned in recent times from Williams College, Middlebury College, and Amherst College, although they have returned this century to Amherst. Stanford University banned sororities in 1944, but not fraternities. They were restored in 1977 under Title XI.

The University of Victoria administration enforces strict non-recognition of fraternities citing their exclusionary nature. The Students' Society at UVic also had a similar policy until it was rescinded at a Semi-Annual General Meeting in February 2010 by a vote of 83 to 26 in favour of removing the policy. Controversy over fraternities continued however, leading the UVic administration to force another vote to occur at the students' society general meeting on the issue in order for UVic to approve the formation of a campus sorority. On October 14, 2010, UVic students are set to vote again at a general meeting on the issue, with separate motions both allowing and not allowing the existence of fraternities at UVic. Over 500 students showed up to vote at the 6 hour meeting, with over 60% of students voting to not allow them on campus. However, after the vote the organizers of the fraternity and sorority at UVic have indicated that they will continue to try existing despite not having official approval of the University administration. For the sororities, not having recognition from the University administration means that they cannot form a sorority inside of the National Pallhellenic Conference (NPC). Consequently, the women are now organizing their effort through Kappa Beta Gamma and by doing so are now permanently barred from joining a sorority inside the NPC. The matter remains highly controversial at UVic.

Alcohol and other drug abuse

According to the U.S. Department of Education, fraternity and sorority members drink more often and in far greater quantities than their non-fraternity and non-sorority peers, and are therefore more likely to suffer the effects of alcohol abuse, such as poor academic performance, missing classes, fights, vandalism, injuries, and sexual assault, than the general college population. Citing a 2004 study and Monitoring the Future data, the U.S. Department of Education also states that Greek members abuse prescription stimulants more than other students do and that membership in a Greek-letter organization increases the likelihood of marijuana use. Alcohol abuse and drug use in fraternities and sororities is related to both socialization and self-selection.

North American Greek letter organizations in other regions

North American Greek letter organizations (NAGLO) are present almost exclusively in the United States and the English speaking universities of Canada, with a minority of organizations having chapters elsewhere, such as the Caribbean, Africa, and some in France there have also been temporary accommodations. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign currently has the largest Greek system in the world with 69 fraternities and 36 sororities. Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, a prominent historically African-American Sorority, currently has chapters in the Virgin Islands, Germany, and Bermuda. There was a brief chapter of Chi Phi at Edinburgh, Scotland during the American Civil War to accommodate Southern students studying abroad, and another for American servicemen who were still college students during World War II, but there has been no real export of the system to Europe. Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated, a historically black sorority founded in Washington, DC, USA, was the very first Greek-lettered organization ever to establish a chapter in Africa (1948). Today, Zeta Phi Beta has chapters in the USA, Africa, Europe, and the Caribbean. Likewise, Zeta Psi and Sigma Alpha Mu have chapters in Canada. Zeta Psi also has one in England. Tau Kappa Epsilon has chapters in Canada and a chapter in Germany. Sigma Thêta Pi is present in Canada and France. In the National Panhellenic Conference, notable Canadian expansion efforts include Alpha Gamma Delta and Alpha Phi which have seven and six Canadian chapters respectively. In 2009, Alpha Epsilon Pi established its Aleph chapter at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel. Delta Lambda Sorority was founded in 2009, Sweden, and is currently the country's only active Greek letter organization.

In Puerto Rico there are a number of social fraternities and sororities, a few having chapters in the mainland United States such as Phi Sigma Alpha. Puerto Rico does have many chapters of professional, honorary, and service fraternities and sororities from the United States such as Sigma Lambda Beta International.

History and development

Beginnings

The Phi Beta Kappa Society, founded on 5 December 1776, at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, is generally recognized to be the first Greek-letter student society in North America. It was founded by John Heath, who had failed at admission to the two existing Latin-letter fraternities at the College, the F.H.C. Society (nicknamed as backronym the "Flat Hat Club") and the P.D.A. Society (nicknamed "Please Don't Ask"). The main developments associated with Phi Beta Kappa are the use of Greek-letter initials as a society name and the establishment of branches or "chapters" at different campuses, following the pattern set by Masonic lodges.

The Greek letters () come from the motto (, "Philosophy is the helmsman of life"), now officially translated as "Philosophy is the guide of life". Greek was chosen as the language for the motto due generally to classical education at the time, and specifically because Heath "was the best Greek scholar in college." One official historian of the society, William T. Hastings, and some others believe that the society was originally known by the Latin name Societas Philosophiae (Philosophical Society), and that the name Phi Beta Kappa only came to be taken as the society name over time. This use of Greek letters was briefly preceded by the use of Latin letters, notably the F.H.C. Society drawing its name from its secret motto, presumed to be "Fraternitas, Humanitas, et Cognitio" or "Fraternitas Humanitas Cognitioque" (two renderings of "brotherhood, humaneness, and knowledge").

However, Phi Beta Kappa was very different from a typical college fraternity of today in that the membership was generally restricted to upperclassmen, if not seniors; and men who had been initiated as students continued to be active in the society after becoming members of the faculty of the host university. The annual Phi Beta Kappa exercises at Yale were public literary exercises, with as many or more faculty members of the society than undergraduate.

As Phi Beta Kappa developed it came to be an influential association of faculty and select students on several college campuses, with membership becoming more of an honor and less of social selection. The increasing influence of the society came to be seen by many as undemocratic and contrary to the free flow of intellectual ideas in American academia, and, as a curious side effect of the anti-masonic controversy of the early Republic, the secrets of Phi Beta Kappa in the appendix to a book published in 1831. After that time, Phi Beta Kappa ceased to be a social fraternity in any real sense and is now only an honorary society, although prominent and respected.

College literary societies, or Latin societies, were common in the early 18th century, both smaller private ones and large societies that operated campus wide. These organizations used both Roman and Greek themes, held meetings, elected officers, operated libraries, and provided models for many of the early college fraternities.

Chi Phi was established at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey on 24 December 1824 on the principles of Truth, Honor, and Personal Integrity. However, shortly after the founding Chi Phi became dormant for a number of years, at which time the Kappa Alpha Society was established at Union College in Schenectady, New York on 26 November 1825. Kappa Alpha possessed most of the distinctive elements of a modern fraternity, and was clearly the model that inspired the development of other societies. (Kappa Alpha Society is distinct from Kappa Alpha Order.) Kappa Alpha's founders adopted many of Phi Beta Kappa's practices, but made their organization an exclusively student organization, and adopted a much more elaborate initiation. Its example encouraged the formation of two competitors on campus; the Sigma Phi Society formed in March 1827, followed by Delta Phi in November. These three have been called the Union Triad.

The fraternity system becomes "national"

Sigma Phi became the first "national" fraternity when it opened a second chapter at Hamilton College in 1831. That encouraged the formation of Alpha Delta Phi in 1832 and then Psi Upsilon in 1833 at Hamilton. Delta Upsilon, the first non-secret, non-hazing fraternity was founded at Williams College in Massachusetts in 1834. Beta Theta Pi was founded at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in August, 1839 in response to the chartering of the new chapter of Alpha Delta Phi. Alpha Sigma Phi was founded in December 1845 at Yale followed by Phi Delta Theta (1848) and Sigma Chi (1855) at Miami University. Along with Beta Theta Pi, these three fraternities have been called the Miami Triad. Also, around that time the Jefferson Duo was formed at Jefferson college in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, consisting of Phi Gamma Delta (1848) and Phi Kappa Psi (1852). Although this is a duo, it is recorded along with the other triads formed at the time. Union College continued its role as the "Mother of Fraternities" with the founding of Psi Upsilon (1833), Chi Psi (1841) and Theta Delta Chi (1847). With this second "triad", Union College can lay claim to the foundation of nearly half of the thirteen oldest fraternities in the country.

The Mystical 7 was founded at Wesleyan University in 1837, and established the first chapters in the South, at Emory in 1841, and elsewhere. Sigma Alpha Epsilon was founded at the University of Alabama in 1856, and it is the only fraternity founded in the Antebellum South that still operates.

Growth was then mainly stunted by the Civil War. Theta Xi, founded at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York on 29 April 1864, is the only fraternity to be established during the War. However, following the War, the system as a whole underwent strong growth in the late 19th century and early 20th century, both in the number of organizations founded and chapters of existing organizations established. This was aided, in part, by the reopening of schools and the return of veterans as students. Alpha Tau Omega was the first Fraternity founded after the Civil War, and it also became the first Fraternity to be founded as a national organization, not local or regional.

Alpha Phi Alpha, Phi Iota Alpha, Rho Psi, Phi Sigma Nu, and Zeta Beta Tau were founded as the first fraternities for African-American, Latino-American, Asian-American, Native American, and Jewish students, respectively.

Sororities

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows, also known as the three link fraternity, was the first organization to form a woman's auxiliary when it formed the Daughters of Rebekah in 1851 but the term sorority was not yet coined during that time. However, many of the first societies for women were not modeled as fraternities, but were woman's versions of the common Latin literary societies. The Adelphean Society (now Alpha Delta Pi) was established in 1851 at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. The Philomathean Society (later named Phi Mu) was founded at Wesleyan College a year later in 1852. The Adelphean Society and the Philomathean Society did not take on their modern Greek names (Alpha Delta Pi and Phi Mu, respectively) until 1904 when they expanded beyond the Wesleyan campus. They are now often referred to as the Macon Magnolias. Many aspects of Alpha Delta Pi and Phi Mu (such as the stars and hands on their badges and the mascot of the lion) are similar due to the fact that while at Wesleyan a founder of Alpha Delta Pi, Eugenia Tucker Fitzgerald, and Phi Mu's Mary Ann DuPont (Lines) were roommates.

On 28 April 1867, I.C. Sorosis (later known by its original Greek motto Pi Beta Phi) was founded at Monmouth College, in Monmouth, Illinois. It is the first sorority founded on the model of the men's fraternity. A year later it established a second chapter at Iowa Wesleyan College. Three years later on 13 October 1870, Kappa Kappa Gamma was founded. These two fraternities were later known as the Monmouth Duo.

In the mid-19th century women were beginning to be admitted to previously all-male universities, and there were many women who felt that it was in their best interest to band together. The first collegiate women formed woman's fraternities in an effort to counteract the widespread opposition to their presence . Others disagree with this agonistic historical view.

Kappa Alpha Theta was the first Greek letter women's fraternity founded on 27 January 1870 at DePauw University. The earliest organizations were founded as "women's fraternities" or "fraternities for women;" the term sorority was coined by professor Frank Smalley in 1874, in reference to the Greek organization, Gamma Phi Beta being established at Syracuse University. Kappa Kappa Gamma (1870) and Pi Beta Phi (1867), known as "The Monmouth Duo", were both founded at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois. Alpha Phi was established at Syracuse University first, in 1872. Along with Alpha Gamma Delta, these three sororities make up the Syracuse Triad. The first organization to adopt the word sorority was Sigma Kappa, established on 9 November 1874 at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. In 1897 Kappa Delta was founded in Farmville, Virginia at Longwood University. A year later, (Zeta Tau Alpha) and Sigma Sigma Sigma were founded, also at Longwood. Delta Delta Delta was founded at Boston University in 1888. Like Pi Beta Phi, Tri Delta was modeled after the men's fraternity.

Alpha Kappa Alpha, Lambda Theta Alpha, Alpha Pi Omega were founded as the first sororities by and for African-American, Latina-American, and Native American members respectively. In 1913, at Hunter College, New York, Phi Sigma Sigma became the first non-denominational sorority, allowing any woman, regardless of race, religion, or economic background into membership.

A number of sororities have been founded at the graduate school level. In 1917, at New York University School of Law five female law students founded Delta Phi Epsilon Sorority. Currently active collegiate membership is only open to undergraduates.

High school fraternities and sororities

High school fraternities and sororities, or secondary fraternities and sororities, are social fraternities for high school-aged children. There are a few active high school fraternities and sororities, including Alpha Omega Theta in New York, ΕΣAΔΕ in Barcelona, The Lounge in Saginaw, Michigan, Phi Eta Sigma and Zeta Mu Gamma in Puerto Rico, and DeMolay, Sigma Nu Xi and Sigma Alpha Rho (SAR) in the mainland United States. Sigma Delta Chi is an active sorority that was established in Alabama and continues today in several different chapters throughout Alabama, Tennessee and Florida. Although these are analogous societies, they are considered wholly different and unrelated societies. The Sub Deb Club, also known as "Sigma Delta Chi" was chartered in Athens, Alabama, in 1965, as a service and social sorority for young ladies who are students at Athens High School; Sub Deb Clubs or local chapters can be found in neighboring towns such as Decatur, Hunstville, Florence, Sheffield, Russellville, and Pulaski, TN. Theta Phi Delta was the second high school sorority founded in Durham, North Carolina in 1996 and to be incorporated in 2004.

In popular culture

The 1978 comedy movie National Lampoon's Animal House portrayed members of a fictitious fraternity at a fictitious college.

The 1984 comedy movie Revenge of the Nerds portrayed 'rejected' fraternity members taking revenge on popular fraternities by setting up their own fraternity and the change in power from the jocks and cheerleaders to the nerds. Starred Robert Carradine and Anthony Edwards.

The 1994 comedy movie PCU also portrays members of a student group at a fictitious college where fraternities have been prohibited.

The 2007–2011 ABC Family television series Greek depicts students of the fictional Cyprus-Rhodes University (CRU) who participate in the school's Greek system.

The 2001 film Legally Blonde features the sorority 'Delta Nu'. Several of the characters, including Elle Woods and Brooke Wyndham, are members.

The 2006 film Stomp the Yard depicts African American Greek life centered around the tradition of stepping, made popular by Black Greek Letter Organizations.

The 2007 film Sydney White features the sorority 'Kappa Phi Nu'. Amanda Bynes was one of their members.

The 2008 season of features the sorority 'Phi Gamma Phi'. Liberty was trying to apply to the sorority

The 2009 slasher film Sorority Row features the sorority 'Theta Pi' in which Audrina Patridge was one of their members.

The 2010 television series Glory Daze depicts students of the fictional Hayes University who participate in the school's Greek system.

Other countries

Other countries have similar institutions; in German-speaking countries these are significantly older, and fall under the umbrella term of Studentenverbindung, includes the Burschenschaften, Landsmannschaften, Corps, Turnerschaften, Sängerschaften, Catholic Corporations, Wingolf and Ferialverbindungen.

In the United Kingdom, student dining clubs exist, which are similar to American eating clubs.

In Portugal, there are also fraternities, especially in Coimbra, the most prestigious college city in the country. These houses, called "Repúblicas", are independent, protected by law, and run by students. They first appeared in 1309 when King D. Dinis first ordered to build student housing for the recently founded University of Coimbra, in 1290. The name, translating to "Republic", represents the house spirit: every member of the house participates in the household tasks and decisions are made unanimously. There are 27 Republics in Coimbra, 3 in Lisbon and 1 in Oporto. Republicas are also found at the Federal University of Ouro Preto in Ouro Preto, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. And at the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA) in Lavras' City, also in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

In Sweden and Finland, there are similar student institutions in called Nations. At the oldest Nordic universities, the Nations have existed since the late 1500s and early 1600s. Nations have also existed in Central Europe in the Middle Ages. The universities in Uppsala, Lund, Turku and Helsinki have the oldest Nations. Since the beginning, the Nations have been social gatherings for students that came from the same parts of the country, and they are also named after parts of Sweden and Finland. Nations have also been founded at younger universities like the ones in Umeå and Linköping. It has been mandatory for students attending the universities of Uppsala and Lund to be members of nations until the autumn of 2010. After the mandatory membership was abolished by the parliament the Nations of Sweden are now contemplating founding a League of Nations to help further connections between Nations and universities.

See also

History of the North American fraternity and sorority system

References

Name	George Soros
Caption	George Soros at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2010
Birth date	August 12, 1930
Birth place	Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary
Alma mater	London School of Economics
Occupation	Entrepreneur, currency trader, investor, philosopher, philanthropist, political activist
Networth	$14.2 billion (Forbes)
Spouse	Twice divorced (Annaliese Witschak and Susan Weber Soros)
Children	Robert, Andrea, Jonathan, Alexander, Gregory
Religion	None (Atheist)
Website	www.georgesoros.com

George Soros (; or , ; born August 12, 1930, as Schwartz György) is a Hungarian-American financier, businessman and notable philanthropist focused on supporting liberal ideals and causes. He became known as "the Man Who Broke the Bank of England" after he made a reported $1 billion during the 1992 Black Wednesday UK currency crises.

Soros is Chairman of the Soros Fund Management and the Open Society Institute and a former member of the Board of Directors of the Council on Foreign Relations. He played a significant role in the peaceful transition from communism to capitalism in Hungary (1984–89) and provided Europe's largest-ever higher education endowment to Central European University in Budapest. Later, the Open Society Institute's programs in Georgia were considered by Russian and Western observers to have been crucial in the success of the Rose Revolution. In the United States, he is known for donating large sums of money in an effort to defeat President George W. Bush's bid for re-election in 2004. In 2010, he donated $1 million in support of Proposition 19, which would have legalized marijuana in the state of California. He was an initial donor to the Center for American Progress, and he continues to support the organization through the Open Society Foundations. The Open Society Institute has active programs in more than 60 countries around the world with total expenditures currently averaging approximately $600 million a year.

In 2003, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker wrote in the foreword of Soros' book The Alchemy of Finance:

George Soros has made his mark as an enormously successful speculator, wise enough to largely withdraw when still way ahead of the game. The bulk of his enormous winnings is now devoted to encouraging transitional and emerging nations to become 'open societies,' open not only in the sense of freedom of commerce but—more important—tolerant of new ideas and different modes of thinking and behavior.

Family

Soros was born in Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary, the son of the Esperantist writer Tivadar Soros. Tivadar (also known as Teodoro) was a Hungarian Jew, who was a prisoner of war during and after World War I and eventually escaped from Russia to rejoin his family in Budapest.

The family changed its name from Schwartz to Soros in 1936, in response to growing anti-semitism with the rise of fascism. Tivadar liked the new name because it is a palindrome and has a meaning. Although the specific meaning is left unstated in Kaufman's biography, in Hungarian, soros means next in line, or designated successor; and, in Esperanto, it means "will soar". Tivadar taught George to speak Esperanto from birth. George Soros later said that he grew up in a Jewish home and that his parents were cautious with their religious roots.

Married and divorced twice, Soros has three children with Annaliese Witschak (Robert, Andrea, Jonathan) and two with Susan Weber Soros (Alexander and Gregory). His elder brother, Paul Soros, also a private investor and philanthropist, is an engineer, who headed Soros Associates and established the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for Young Americans. George Soros' nephew Peter Soros, a son of Paul Soros, married the former Flora Fraser — a daughter of Lady Antonia Fraser and the late Sir Hugh Fraser and a stepdaughter of the late 2005 Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter.

His son Alexander Soros is also gaining prominence for his donations to social and political causes. Alexander led the list of student political donors in the 2010 election cycle.

Early life

Soros was thirteen years old in March 1944 when Nazi Germany occupied Hungary. Soros worked for the Jewish Council, Soros later described this time to writer Michael Lewis:

The Jewish Council asked the little kids to hand out the deportation notices. I was told to go to the Jewish Council. And there I was given these small slips of paper...It said report to the rabbi seminary at 9 a.m....And I was given this list of names. I took this piece of paper to my father. He instantly recognized it. This was a list of Hungarian Jewish lawyers. He said, "You deliver the slips of paper and tell the people that if they report they will be deported."

In 1944, at age 14, Soros lived with and posed as the godson of an employee of the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture. On one occasion, the official was ordered to inventory the remaining contents of the estate of a wealthy Jewish family that had fled the country. Rather than leave the young George alone in the city, the official brought him along. The following year, Soros survived the Battle of Budapest, in which Soviet and German forces fought house-to-house through the city.

Soros immigrated to England in 1947 and, as an impoverished student, lived with his uncle, an Orthodox Jew. His uncle paid his living expenses while he attended the London School of Economics, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Philosophy in 1952. While a student of the philosopher Karl Popper, Soros worked as a railway porter and as a waiter. A University tutor requested aid for Soros, and he received £40 from a Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) charity.

Soros realized, however, that he would not make any money from the concept of reflexivity until he went into investing on his own. He began to investigate how to deal in investments. From 1963 to 1973, he worked at Arnhold and S. Bleichroder, where he attained the position of Vice-President. Soros finally concluded that he was a better investor than he was a philosopher or an executive. In 1967, he persuaded the company to set up First Eagle, an offshore investment fund for him to run; and, in 1969, it founded the Double Eagle hedge fund for him. Recent investments include the 2010 purchase of a 20% stake in BNK Petroleum.

In 2007, the Quantum Fund returned almost 32%, netting Soros $2.9 billion.

Currency speculation

On September 16, 1992, Black Wednesday, Soros's fund sold short more than US$10 billion worth of pounds, In 1997, the UK Treasury estimated the cost of Black Wednesday at £3.4 billion.

On Monday, October 26, 1992, The Times quoted Soros as saying: "Our total position by Black Wednesday had to be worth almost $10 billion. We planned to sell more than that. In fact, when Norman Lamont said just before the devaluation that he would borrow nearly $15 billion to defend sterling, we were amused because that was about how much we wanted to sell."

Stanley Druckenmiller, who traded under Soros, originally saw the weakness in the pound. "Soros' contribution was pushing him to take a gigantic position."

In 1997, during the Asian financial crisis, the Prime Minister of Malaysia Mahathir bin Mohamad accused Soros of using the wealth under his control to punish the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for welcoming Myanmar as a member. Following on a history of antisemitic remarks, Mahathir made specific reference to Soros's Jewish background ("It is a Jew who triggered the currency plunge" ) and implied Soros was orchestrating the crash as part of a larger Jewish conspiracy. Nine years later, in 2006, Mahathir apologized and withdrew the accusations. In 1998's The Crisis of Global Capitalism: Open Society Endangered Soros explained his role in the crisis as follows:

The financial crisis that originated in Thailand in 1997 was particularly unnerving because of its scope and severity.... By the beginning of 1997, it was clear to Soros Fund Management that the discrepancy between the trade account and the capital account was becoming untenable. We sold short the Thai baht and the Malaysian ringgit early in 1997 with maturities ranging from six months to a year. (That is, we entered into contracts to deliver at future dates Thai Baht and Malaysian ringgit that we did not currently hold.) Subsequently Prime Minister Mahathir of Malaysia accused me of causing the crisis, a wholly unfounded accusation. We were not sellers of the currency during or several months before the crisis; on the contrary, we were buyers when the currencies began to decline – we were purchasing ringgits to realize the profits on our earlier speculation. (Much too soon, as it turned out. We left most of the potential gain on the table because we were afraid that Mahathir would impose capital controls. He did so, but much later.)

The nominal U.S. dollar Gross domestic product (GDP) of the ASEAN fell by US$9.2 billion in 1997 and US$218.2 billion (31.7%) in 1998.

Public predictions

Soros' book, The New Paradigm for Financial Markets (May 2008), described a "superbubble" that had built up over the past 25 years and was ready to collapse. This was the third in a series of books he has written that have predicted disaster. As he states:

He ascribes his own success to being able to recognize when his predictions are wrong.

In February 2009, George Soros said the world financial system had effectively disintegrated, adding that there was no prospect of a near-term resolution to the crisis. "We witnessed the collapse of the financial system[...]It was placed on life support, and it's still on life support. There's no sign that we are anywhere near a bottom."

Insider trading conviction

In 1988, he was asked to join a takeover attempt of the French bank Société Générale. He declined to participate in the bid but later bought a number of shares in the company. French authorities began an investigation in 1989, and in 2002 a French court ruled that it was insider trading, a felony conviction as defined under French securities laws, and fined him $2.3 million, which was the amount that he made using the insider information.

Punitive damages were not sought because of the delay in bringing the case to trial. Soros denied any wrongdoing and said news of the takeover was public knowledge.

His insider trading conviction was upheld by the highest court in France on June 14, 2006. In December, 2006 he appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, claiming that the 14-year delay in bringing the case to trial precluded a fair hearing.

Sports

In 2005, Soros was a minority partner in a group that tried to buy the Washington Nationals, a Major League baseball team. Some Republican lawmakers suggested that they might move to revoke baseball's antitrust exemption if Soros bought the team. In 2008, Soros' name was associated with AS Roma, an Italian football team but the club was not sold. Soros was also a financial backer of Washington Soccer L.P., the group that owned the operating rights to Major League Soccer club D.C. United when the league was founded in 1995, but the group lost these rights in 2000.

Philanthropy

.]] Soros has been active as a philanthropist since the 1970s, when he began providing funds to help black students attend the University of Cape Town in apartheid South Africa, and began funding dissident movements behind the iron curtain.

Soros' philanthropic funding includes efforts to promote non-violent democratization in the post-Soviet states. These efforts, mostly in Central and Eastern Europe, occur primarily through the Open Society Institute (OSI) and national Soros Foundations, which sometimes go under other names (such as the Stefan Batory Foundation in Poland). As of 2003, PBS estimated that he had given away a total of $4 billion.

Other notable projects have included aid to scientists and universities throughout Central and Eastern Europe, help to civilians during the siege of Sarajevo, and Transparency International. Soros also pledged an endowment of €420 million to the Central European University (CEU). The Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus and his microfinance bank Grameen Bank received support from the OSI.

According to National Review the Open Society Institute gave $20,000 in September 2002 to the Defense Committee of Lynne Stewart, the lawyer who has defended alleged terrorists in court and was sentenced to 2⅓ years in prison for "providing material support for a terrorist conspiracy" via a press conference for a client. An OSI spokeswoman said "it appeared to us at that time that there was a right-to-counsel issue worthy of our support."

In September 2006 Soros pledged $50 million to the Millennium Promise, led by economist Jeffrey Sachs to provide educational, agricultural, and medical aid to help villages in Africa enduring poverty. The New York Times termed this endeavor a "departure" for Soros whose philanthropic focus had been on fostering democracy and good government, but Soros noted that most poverty resulted from bad governance.

He received honorary doctoral degrees from the New School for Social Research (New York), the University of Oxford in 1980, the Corvinus University of Budapest, and Yale University in 1991. Soros also received the Yale International Center for Finance Award from the Yale School of Management in 2000 as well as the Laurea Honoris Causa, the highest honor of the University of Bologna in 1995.

Political donations and activism

United States

In an interview with The Washington Post on November 11, 2003, Soros said that removing President George W. Bush from office was the "central focus of my life" and "a matter of life and death." He said he would sacrifice his entire fortune to defeat President Bush, "if someone guaranteed it." Soros gave $3 million to the Center for American Progress, $2.5 million to MoveOn.org, and $20 million to America Coming Together. These groups worked to support Democrats in the 2004 election. On September 28, 2004 he dedicated more money to the campaign and kicked off his own multi-state tour with a speech: Why We Must Not Re-elect President Bush delivered at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. The online transcript to this speech received many hits after Dick Cheney accidentally referred to FactCheck.org as "factcheck.com" in the Vice Presidential debate, causing the owner of that domain to redirect all traffic to Soros's site. Asked in 2006 about his statement in The Age of Fallibility that "the main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States", Soros responded that "it happens to coincide with the prevailing opinion in the world. And I think that's rather shocking for Americans to hear. The United States sets the agenda for the world. And the rest of the world has to respond to that agenda. By declaring a 'war on terror' after September the 11th, we set the wrong agenda for the world. [...] when you wage war, you inevitably create innocent victims."

Soros was not a large donor to US political causes until the 2004 presidential election, but according to the Center for Responsive Politics, during the 2003-2004 election cycle, Soros donated $23,581,000 to various 527 groups dedicated to defeating President Bush. A 527 group is a type of American tax-exempt organization named after a section of the United States tax code, 26 U.S.C. § 527. Despite Soros' efforts, Bush was reelected to a second term as president.

After Bush's re-election, Soros and other donors backed a new political fundraising group called Democracy Alliance, which supports progressive causes and the formation of a stronger progressive infrastructure in America. Soros has made soft money donations to 527 organizations that he says do not raise the same corruption issues as donations directly to the candidates or political parties.

In August 2009, Soros donated $35 million to the state of New York to be ear-marked for under-privileged children and given to parents who had benefit cards at the rate of $200 per child aged 3 through 17, with no limit as to the number of children that qualified. An additional $140 million was put into the fund by the state of New York from money they had received from the 2009 federal recovery act.

On October 26, 2010, George Soros donated $1 million to the Drug Policy Alliance to fund Proposition 19, the biggest donation in the campaign, that would have legalized marijuana in the state of California if it had passed in the November 2, 2010 elections.

Eastern Europe

According to Neil Clark in the New Statesman, Soros's role was crucial in the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. From 1979, as an advocate of 'open societies', Soros financially supported dissidents including Poland's Solidarity movement, Charter 77 in Czechoslovakia and Andrei Sakharov in the Soviet Union Alexander Lomaia, Secretary of the Georgian Security Council and former Minister of Education and Science, is a former Executive Director of the Open Society Georgia Foundation (Soros Foundation), overseeing a staff of 50 and a budget of $2,500,000.

Former Georgian Foreign Minister Salomé Zourabichvili wrote that institutions like the Soros Foundation were the cradle of democratisation and that all the NGOs which gravitated around the Soros Foundation undeniably carried the revolution. She opines that after the revolution the Soros Foundation and the NGOs were integrated into power.

Some Soros-backed pro-democracy initiatives have been banned in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Ercis Kurtulus, head of the Social Transparency Movement Association (TSHD) in Turkey, said in an interview that "Soros carried out his will in Ukraine and Georgia by using these NGOs...Last year Russia passed a special law prohibiting NGOs from taking money from foreigners. I think this should be banned in Turkey as well." In 1997, Soros had to close his foundation in Belarus after it was fined $3 million by the government for "tax and currency violations". According to The New York Times, the Belarussian president Alexander Lukashenko has been widely criticized in the West and in Russia for his efforts to control the Belarus Soros Foundation and other independent NGOs and to suppress civil and human rights. Soros called the fines part of a campaign to "destroy independent society".

In June 2009, Soros donated $100m to Central Europe and Eastern Europe to counter the impact of the economic crisis on the poor, voluntary groups and non-government organisations.

Africa

The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa is a Soros-affiliated organization. Its director for Zimbabwe is Godfrey Kanyenze, who also directs the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), which was the main force behind the founding of the Movement for Democratic Change, the principal indigenous organization promoting Regime change in Zimbabwe.

Drug policy reform

Soros has funded worldwide efforts to promote drug policy reform. In 2008, Soros donated $400,000 to help fund a successful ballot measure in the state of Massachusetts known as the Massachusetts Sensible Marijuana Policy Initiative which decriminalized possession of less than 1 oz (28g) of marijuana in the state. Soros has also funded similar measures in California, Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Nevada and Maine. Among the drug decriminalization groups that have received funding from Soros are the Lindesmith Center and Drug Policy Foundation.

Soros donated $1.4 million to publicity efforts to support California's Proposition 5 in 2008, a failed ballot measure that would have expanded drug rehabilitation programs as alternatives to prison for persons convicted of non-violent drug-related offenses.

In October 2010, Soros donated $1 million to support California's Proposition 19.

According to remarks in an interview in October, 2009, it is Soros's opinion that marijuana is less addictive but not appropriate for use by children and students. He himself has not used marijuana for years.

Death and dying

The Project on Death in America, active from 2001–2003, was one of the Open Society Institute's projects, which sought to "understand and transform the culture and experience of dying and bereavement." In 1994, Soros delivered a speech in which he reported that he had offered to help his mother, a member of the Hemlock Society, commit suicide. In the same speech, he also endorsed the Oregon Death with Dignity Act, the campaign for which he helped fund.

Philosophy

Education and beliefs

His philosophical outlook is influenced by Karl Popper, under whom he studied at the London School of Economics (LSE). His Open Society Institute is named after Popper's two volume work, The Open Society and Its Enemies, and Soros's ongoing philosophical commitment to the principle of fallibilism (that anything he believes may in fact be wrong, and is therefore to be questioned and improved) stems from Popper's philosophy.

Reflexivity, financial markets, and economic theory

Soros' writings focus heavily on the concept of reflexivity, where the biases of individuals enter into market transactions, potentially changing the perception of fundamentals of the economy. Soros argues that such transitions in the perceptions of fundamentals of the economy are typically marked by disequilibrium rather than equilibrium, and that the conventional economic theory of the market (the 'efficient market hypothesis') does not apply in these situations. Soros has popularized the concepts of dynamic disequilibrium, static disequilibrium, and near-equilibrium conditions. Soros replied, saying that Mahathir was using him "as a scapegoat for his own mistakes", that Mahathir's promises to ban currency trading (which Malaysian finance officials hastily retracted) were "a recipe for disaster" and that Mahathir "is a menace to his own country".

In an interview regarding the late-2000s recession, Soros referred to it as the most serious crisis since the 1930s. According to Soros, market fundamentalism with its assumption that markets will correct themselves with no need for government intervention in financial affairs has been "some kind of an ideological excess". In Soros' view, the markets' moods — a "mood" of the markets being a prevailing bias or optimism/pessimism with which the markets look at reality — "actually can reinforce themselves so that there are these initially self-reinforcing but eventually unsustainable and self-defeating boom/bust sequences or bubbles".

In reaction to the late-2000s recession he founded the Institute for New Economic Thinking in October 2009. This is a think-tank composed of international economic, business and financial experts, mandated to investigate radical new approaches to organising the international economic and financial system.

Views on antisemitism

At a Jewish forum in New York City, November 5, 2003, Soros partially attributed a recent resurgence of antisemitism to the policies of Israel and the United States, and to successful Jews such as himself:

There is a resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe. The policies of the Bush administration and the Sharon administration contribute to that. It's not specifically anti-Semitism, but it does manifest itself in anti-Semitism as well. I'm critical of those policies... If we change that direction, then anti-Semitism also will diminish. I can't see how one could confront it directly... I'm also very concerned about my own role because the new anti-Semitism holds that the Jews rule the world... As an unintended consequence of my actions... I also contribute to that image.

In a subsequent article for The New York Review of Books, Soros emphasized that

I do not subscribe to the myths propagated by enemies of Israel and I am not blaming Jews for anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism predates the birth of Israel. Neither Israel's policies nor the critics of those policies should be held responsible for anti-Semitism. At the same time, I do believe that attitudes toward Israel are influenced by Israel's policies, and attitudes toward the Jewish community are influenced by the pro-Israel lobby's success in suppressing divergent views.

Views on China

Soros has expressed concern about the growth of Chinese economic and political power. "China has risen very rapidly by looking out for its own interests ... They have now got to accept responsibility for world order and the interests of other people as well." Regarding the political gridlock in America, he said, "Today China has not only a more vigorous economy, but actually a better functioning government than the United States".

Wealth

In 2010, Forbes lists Soros as the 35th richest person in the world, and the 24th richest person in America, with a net worth estimated at .

Relation to Hungarian politics

In the 1980s Viktor Orbán -Chairman of Fidesz (1994–2000, 2000-) and Prime Minister (1998–2002, 2010-) - and László Kövér - Chairman of Fidesz (2000)m Secret Service Minister (1998–2002) and Speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary (2010-) - were Soros scholarship recipients. Furthermore the Orban cabinet's Deputy Prime Minister István Stumpf - now member of the Constitutional Court - was a member of the Soros Foundation's Board of Trustees between 1994 and 2002.

Books

Authored or co-authored

The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crisis of 2008 and What it Means (PublicAffairs, 2008). ISBN 1586486837

The Age of Fallibility: Consequences of the War on Terror (PublicAffairs, 2006) ISBN 1586483595

The Bubble of American Supremacy: Correcting the Misuse of American Power (PublicAffairs, 2003) ISBN 1586482173 (paperback; PublicAffairs, 2004; ISBN 1-58648-292-0)

George Soros on Globalization (PublicAffairs, 2002) ISBN 1-58648-125-8 (paperback; PublicAffairs, 2005; ISBN 1-52648-278-5)

Open Society: Reforming Global Capitalism (PublicAffairs, 2001) ISBN 1-58648-039-7

With Mark Amadeus Notturno, Science and the Open Society: The Future of Karl Popper's Philosophy (Central European University Press, 2000) ISBN 963-9116-69-6 (paperback: Central European University Press, 2000; ISBN 943-9116-70-X)

The Crisis of Global Capitalism: Open Society Endangered (PublicAffairs, 1998) ISBN 1-891220-27-4

Soros on Soros: Staying Ahead of the Curve (John Wiley, 1995) ISBN 0-471-12014-6 (paperback; Wiley, 1995; ISBN 0-371-11977-6)

Underwriting Democracy: Encouraging Free Enterprise and Democratic Reform Among the Soviets and in Eastern Europe (Free Press, 1991) ISBN 0-02-930285-4 (paperback; PublicAffairs, 2004; ISBN 1-58948-227-0)

Opening the Soviet System (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1990) ISBN 0-297-82155-9 (paperback: Perseus Books, 1996; ISBN 0-8133-1205-1)

The Alchemy of Finance (Simon & Schuster, 1988) ISBN 0-671-66338-4 (paperback: Wiley, 2003; ISBN 0-471-44549-5)

Biographies

Soros: The Life and Times of a Messianic Billionaire by Michael T. Kaufman (Alfred A. Knopf, 2002) ISBN 0-375-40585-2

Soros: The World's Most Influential Investor by Robert Slater (McGraw-Hill Professional, 2009) ISBN 978-0-07-160844-2

Journalism

Authored

A selection of opinion commentaries written by Soros for Project Syndicate since 1996.

George Soros, "Why I support legal marijuana", The Wall Street Journal, October 26, 2010.

George Soros, "The Crisis and the Euro", The New York Review of Books, August 19, 2010.

George Soros, "On Israel, America and AIPAC", The New York Review of Books, April 12, 2007.

George Soros, "The Bubble of American Supremacy", The Atlantic, December 2003.

George Soros, The Bubble of American Supremacy, audio recording of The Atlantic article via Assistive Media, read by Grover Gardner, 18 minutes.

George Soros, "Soros on Brazil", Financial Times, August 13, 2002.

George Soros, "Bitter Thoughts with Faith in Russia", Moskovskiye Novosti (Moscow News), translated from the Russian by Olga Kryazheva, February 27, 2000.

George Soros, "The Capitalist Threat", The Atlantic Monthly, February 1997.

George Soros, "Paulson Cannot be Allowed a Blank Cheque", Financial Times, September 24, 2008

About

Stephen Adams "Furious George" on Citizen — Family Issues in Policy and Culture

John Authers, Book Review, "A successful prophet of the markets," Financial Times, May 19, 2008.

Laura Blumenfeld, Billionaire Soros Takes On Bush, MSNBC, November 11, 2003

Connie Bruck, Abstract of New Yorker profile of Soros "The World According to Soros", The New Yorker, January 23, 1995

Neil Clark Analysis of Soros' role in Eastern Europe from "New Statesman"

Malcolm Gladwell, "Blowing Up," The New Yorker, April 22 & 29, 2002, at gladwell.com.

John Horvath The Soros Effect on Central and Eastern Europe

Matt Welch, Open Season on 'Open Society': Why an anti-communist Holocaust survivor is being demonized as a Socialist, Self-hating Jew Reason magazine, December 8, 2003

Martin Peretz, "Tyran-a-Soros: The Madness of King George," The New Republic, February 12, 2007.

TIME's 25 Most Influential Americans, TIME Magazine April 21, 1997. Accessed May 21, 2007.

The TIME 100, The Power Givers, George Soros, TIME Magazine May 14, 2007 accessed May 21, 2007.

Scholarly perspectives

Speeches

Testimony of George Soros to a congressional sub-committee, Sept. 15, 1998

The Theory of Reflexivity Delivered April 26, 1994 to the MIT Department of Economics World Economy

"The Differences Between Natural and Social Science: Implications of Fallibility" at IISc Bangalore, January 5, 2007

Testimony before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Oversight Hearing on FTC Advanced Rulemaking and Oil Market Manipulation

Interviews

Fareed Zakaria discussing economic crisis with George Soros on GPS

The Leonard Lopate Show (WNYC) - Audio Archive: "George Soros on Freedom"

frontline: the crash: interviews: george soros

George Soros Interview On 60 Minutes

Wall $treet Week with FORTUNE . TV Program | PBS

Challenge: The international financial crisis - International ...

NOW with Bill Moyers. Transcript. David Brancaccio interviews ...

Booknotes with Brian Lamb. Transcript and streaming video.

Rocketboom: The Age of Fallibility (Video, 2006)

Google Video: Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google interviews George Soros (Video, 2006)

Fox News Interview with Neil Cavuto, October 11, 2006 Video and text, accessed May 25, 2007.

Interview with George Soros, September 5, 2000

Notes

External links

Open Society Institute and Soros Foundations Network

Institute for New Economic Thinking

Column archives at Project Syndicate

Column archives at The New York Review of Books

Soros Fund Management 13F filing and Portfolio Activities

List of articles and speeches by and about George Soros

George Soros' Political Campaign Contributions

Forbes.com: Forbes 400 Richest in America

George Soros in SEC Filings

The Money Man - New Yorker

In depth review of The New Paradigm*Why Does Soros Bite Hand That Feeds Him? in Investor's Business Daily

Category:1930 births Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics Category:American atheists Category:American billionaires Category:American Jews Category:American money managers Category:American philanthropists Category:George Soros Category:Hedge fund managers Category:Hungarian atheists Category:Hungarian immigrants to the United States Category:Hungarian Jews Category:Jewish atheists Category:Living people Category:Native Esperanto speakers Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States Category:People convicted of insider trading Category:People from Budapest Category:Stock traders Category:Framing theorists Category:Drug policy reform activists Category:American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent

Name	John Sykes
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	John James Sykes
Born	July 29, 1959 Reading, Berkshire England, United Kingdom
Genre	Hard rock, heavy metal
Occupation	Musician, songwriter
Instrument	Guitar, vocals
Associated acts	Streetfighter, John Sloman's Badlands, Tygers of Pan Tang, Thin Lizzy, Phil Lynott, Whitesnake, Blue Murder
Years active	1980–present
Url	Official website
Notable instruments	Gibson Les Paul

John James Sykes (born 29 July 1959), is an English rock guitarist, who has played with Streetfighter, Tygers of Pan Tang, John Sloman's Badlands, Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, and Blue Murder, in addition to having a notable solo career.

Career

Tygers of Pan Tang

Sykes joined Tygers of Pan Tang in 1980, and played guitar on the albums Spellbound (1981) and Crazy Nights (1982), as well as participating on two tracks for their 1983 release, The Cage.

In 1982, John Sykes was recruited by former Uriah Heep frontman John Sloman, for his new band Badlands, alongside his future Whitesnake bandmate Neil Murray. This was to be short-lived however, as Badlands broke up shortly after formation. No music has ever been officially released, although bootlegs of rehearsals do exist. Sykes also auditioned, unsuccessfully, for Ozzy Osbourne's band following the death of Randy Rhoads.

Thin Lizzy

At the age of 23, Phil Lynott asked Sykes to join Thin Lizzy, filling the spot left by previous guitarist Snowy White. He participated in the recording of the band's final studio album Thunder and Lightning, and contributed the track "Cold Sweat".

Sykes toured with the band until the autumn of 1983 to promote Thunder and Lightning, from which the live album Life was recorded. Following the tour, Thin Lizzy disbanded.

Whitesnake

David Coverdale hired Sykes to join Whitesnake following the release of Slide It In in 1984. He re-recorded some guitar tracks for the US release, and toured in support of the album, culminating with the 1985 Rock in Rio festival.

Sykes co-wrote the majority of the songs on Whitesnake's 1987 self-titled album with David Coverdale, and recorded the guitar as well as some backing vocal tracks. Near the end of the 1987 sessions, Coverdale fired the entire band, and brought in Adrian Vandenberg to record the solo on "Here I Go Again".

This was Whitesnake's most successful album, peaking at #2 on the Billboard 200 chart and selling over eight million copies in the United States alone. It contained the hit singles "Still of the Night", "Is This Love", "Give Me All Your Love", and "Here I Go Again" (the last was not a Sykes composition).

Blue Murder

After Coverdale fired the 1987-era band, Sykes went on to form Blue Murder with Vanilla Fudge drummer Carmine Appice and The Firm bassist Tony Franklin.

After recording a demo with Ray Gillen on vocals, A&R; executive John Kalodner encouraged Sykes to handle the vocal duties himself.

Their self-titled debut album was a moderate success, but the 1993 follow-up Nothin' but Trouble did not fare as well. After two studio albums and a live recording, Blue Murder was put to bed and Sykes began recording and touring under his own name.

Solo career

In the years following Blue Murder, Sykes recorded several solo albums: Out of My Tree (1995), Loveland (1997), 20th Century (1997) and Nuclear Cowboy (2000).

A song from 20th Century, "Cautionary Warning", was used in the anime series Black Heaven. The footage accompanying the song was rotoscoped from one of Sykes' concerts. Sykes' involvement in the series was the a feature of Pioneer USA's marketing.

In 2004, the live album Bad Boy Live! was released, covering a number of "greatest hits" from Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, Blue Murder, and his solo work.

Sykes has made rare guest appearances on the Hughes Turner Project debut album on the track "Heaven's Missing an Angel", and later on keyboardist Derek Sherinian's 2004 solo album "Mythology", playing alongside Zakk Wylde on the track "God of War".

Thin Lizzy reformed

In 1996, he reformed Thin Lizzy with Scott Gorham, Brian Downey, and Darren Wharton. Sykes, as well as taking on the role of lead guitarist, handled the lead vocals due to the death of Phil Lynott years earlier.

Touring occasionally with Thin Lizzy, a live recording One Night Only was released in 2000.

On 7 July 2009, Sykes announced that he had parted ways with Thin Lizzy, stating that "I feel it's time to get back to playing my own music".

Personal life

Sykes was married to Jennifer Brooks Sykes for more than 16 years. Together they had three sons, and one son from Jennifer's previous marriage to Rainbow bassist, Craig Gruber. Jennifer divorced John in 1999.

John Sykes signature Les Paul

In 2006 Gibson Guitars began producing an "Inspired By" Gibson Les Paul which was modeled after Sykes' 1970s-era Les Paul Custom. There were two versions available; an "aged" look (recreating the exact looks of John's Les Paul) and a "standard" or "VOS" model. This was a limited edition run, with 66 aged look models created, and just over 100 VOS models created.

Other Equipment

His amplifiers include several modified Marshall JCM800's he's used since the early 80's. He took a break from Marshall in the late 1980s when he started using Mesa/Boogie amplifiers. He used the Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ and Mark III Coliseum heads during his tenures with Whitesnake and Blue Murder. He once again started using his JCM800's when he began touring solo and for the Thin Lizzy "reunion" tours.

Although rarely, he can also be seen using Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus combos for his clean tones.

Discography

With Tygers Of Pan Tang

Spellbound (1981)

Live at Nottingham Rock City (1981)

Crazy Nights (1982)

The Cage (1983) (Tracks "Love Potion No. 9" and "Danger in Paradise")

With Badlands

Badlands demo tape (1982)

With Thin Lizzy

Thunder and Lightning (1983)

''Thin Lizzy - BBC Radio One Live In Concert (1983)

Life (1983)

One Night Only (2000)

With Phil Lynott

Live in Sweden 1983 (1983)

With Whitesnake

Slide It In (US Version) (1984)

Whitesnake (1987)

With Blue Murder

Demo (1988)

Blue Murder (1989)

Nothin' but Trouble (1993)

(1994)

Solo

Please Don't Leave Me (1982)

Out Of My Tree (1995)

I Don't Wanna Live My Life Like You (1995)

Loveland (1997)

20th Century (1997)

Chapter One (1998)

Best of John Sykes (2000)

Nuclear Cowboy (2000)

Bad Boy Live! (2004)

References

External links

John Sykes' official website with news, merchandise, and information about his guitars

The Official John Sykes My Space page

Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:English rock guitarists Category:English heavy metal guitarists Category:English rock singers Category:English heavy metal singers Category:Thin Lizzy members Category:Whitesnake members Category:Blue Murder members Category:Badlands (U.K. band) members Category:People from Reading, Berkshire Category:Lead guitarists

conference.]]

Webster Griffin Tarpley is an author, journalist, lecturer, and critic of US foreign and domestic policy. Tarpley maintains that the September 11 attacks were engineered by a rogue network of the military industrial complex and intelligence agencies. His writings and speeches describe a model of false flag terror operations by a rogue network in the military/intelligence sector working with moles in the private sector and in corporate media, and locates such contemporary false flag operations in a historical context stretching back in the English speaking world to at least the "gunpowder plot" in England in 1605. He also maintains that "The notion of anthropogenic global warming is a fraud."

Education

Tarpley earned a BA at Princeton University in 1966 in English and Italian, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. Fulbright Scholar at University of Turin, Italy. Master of Arts in humanities from Skidmore College. He was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts in 1946.

Career

Tarpley was on the editorial board of the National Caucus of Labor Committees' journal, The Campaigner, in 1971, according to its masthead.

As a journalist living in Europe in the 1980s, Tarpley wrote a study commissioned by a committee of the Italian Parliament on the assassination of Prime Minister Aldo Moro. The study claimed that the assassination was a false flag operation orchestrated by the masonic lodge Propaganda Due with the cooperation of senior members of Italian government secret services but blamed on the Red Brigades.

Tarpley was president of the Schiller Institute of the United States in the 1980s and in 1993. In 1986 Tarpley attempted to run on Lyndon LaRouche's U.S. Labor Party platform in the New York State Democratic Party primary for the U.S. Senate, but was ruled off the ballot because of a defect in his nominating petitions. He was a frequent host of "The LaRouche Connection" which its producer LaRouche's Executive Intelligence Review News Service describes as "a news and information cable television program."

Tarpley first gained attention for co-authoring, with Anton Chaitkin, ("history editor of Executive Intelligence Review") a 1992 book on George H. W. Bush, George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography, which was published by Executive Intelligence Review, run by Lyndon LaRouche. He has expounded the "Versailles Thesis" laying the blame for the great wars of the 20th century on intrigues by Britain to retain her dominance. He gained experience as a political operative during his years with the LaRouche movement but broke away sometime after 1995.

In 2005, Tarpley published 9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA. He speaks at length about the themes in the book during an interview in the film Oil, Smoke, Mirrors.

Since March, 2006, Tarpley has had a weekly online talk radio show called World Crisis Radio, currently hosted on GCNLive.com. Tarpley is a member of the "world anti-imperialist conference" Axis for Peace, of Scholars for 9/11 Truth and of a research Netzwerk of German 9/11 authors founded in September 2006. He is featured in the film, Zero: an investigation into 9/11 (2007–2008).

Tarpley is a critic of the Dalai Lama; in 2010 he told the state-funded Russia Today that "pre-1959 Tibet ... was probably the closest thing to hell on earth that you had ... social reform was impossible." In the interview he criticizes US funding of pro-Dalai Lama organizations, which he says amounts to US$2 million per year, saying "this is a bad deal for the American taxpayers."

Bibliography

Chi ha ucciso Aldo Moro? (Who Killed Aldo Moro?), a study commissioned by a member of the Italian government and published in Rome in 1978 The Larouchian, Partito Operaio Europeo http://www.movisol.org/moro.htm, which broke open the affiliation of the Red Brigades with the neofascist lodge P2.

(1992) (co-authored with Anton Chaitkin, son of the lawyer who indicted Prescott Bush under the Trading with the Enemy Act for collaboration with Nazi Germany.) Reprinted 2004, ISBN 0-930852-92-3.

Against Oligarchy (1996)

Surviving the Cataclysm: Your Guide through the Worst Financial Crisis in Human History (1999); updated edition, 2009.

9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA - Myth of the 21st Century (2005), Foreword by Thierry Meyssan, ISBN 0-930852-31-1, Fourth edition ISBN 0-930852-37-0 (April 2007).

Version française: La Terreur Fabriquée, Made in USA : 11 Septembre, le mythe du XXIe siècle (Sept. 2006). ISBN 2952557144

In Italiano: La Fabbrica del Terrore (Sept. 2007). ISBN 978-88-87307-36-6

En Español: 11-S, El Falso Terrorismo Jan. 2008 ISBN 0-930852-98-2.

Obama - The Postmodern Coup: Making of a Manchurian Candidate (Apr. 2008) ISBN 0-930852-88-5.

Deutsche Fassung: Barack Obama: Wie ein US-Präsident gemacht wird (Aug. 2008) ISBN 978-3-938516-74-4.

Japanese Edition: Obama: Dangerous Geometry (Nov. 2008) ISBN 4880862398

Barack H. Obama: The Unauthorized Biography (Aug. 2008) ISBN 0930852818; Japanese edition, March 2009.

References

External links

Tarpley's Website

Tarpley's Show on the Genesis Network

Ground Zero Grassy Knoll - Feature article in New York Magazine (March 20, 2006)

Publisher's web site

Amazon.com's Webster Griffin Tarpley page

Audio and Video Links:

Webster Tarpley lecture and interview videos

Category:LaRouche movement Category:Conspiracy theorists Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:U.S. Labor Party politicians

Victor Abimbola Olaiya, or 'Dr Victor Olaiya', is a Nigerian trumpeter who plays in the Highlife style. He was possibly the biggest star in Nigeria in the 1950s and early 1960s, but received little recognition outside of Nigeria. Alhaji Alade Odunewu of the Daily Times admiringly styled him "The Evil Genius of Highlife."

Life

Olaiya was born on 31 December 1931, in Calabar, Cross River State, the 20th child of a family of 24. His parents, Alfred Omolona Olaiya and Bathsheba Owolabi Motajo came from Ijesha-Ishu in Ekiti State. At an early age he learned to play the Bombardon and the French Horn. After leaving school he moved to Lagos where he passed the school certificate examination in 1951 and was accepted by Howard University, USA to study Civil engineering. However, due to lack of money he was unable to go, and instead started a career as a musician, a move of which his parents disapproved. He played with the Sammy Akpabot band, the Old Lagos City Orchestra (a dance band) and the Bobby Benson Jam Session Orchestra, where he was leader and trumpeter of the second band.

In 1954 he left Bobby Benson to form his own band, the Cool Cats, playing popular highlife music. His band was chosen to play at the state ball when Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom visited Nigeria in 1956, and later to play at the state balls when Nigeria became independent in 1960 and when Nigeria became a republic in 1963. On that occasion, he shared the stage with the famous American jazz player Louis Armstrong. During the Nigerian Civil War of 1967-1970, Olaiya was given the rank of a lieutenant colonel (honorary) in the Nigerian Army when his band played for the troops at various locations. His band later traveled to the Congo to perform for United Nations troops. He led his band, renamed to the All Stars Band, to the 1963 International Jazz Festival in Prague, Czechoslovakia. His music is infectious, typifying highlife music, played with great energy. The unique style of some of his recordings is inimitable.

He played with highlife artist E. T. Mensah of Ghana, and released a best-selling joint album with Mensah. Kola Ogunkoya played in the All Stars Band from 1986 to 1987 and went on to have a highly successful career with his own Afrobeat band.

Discography

A partial list of albums:

External links

References

Category:1931 births Category:Living people Category:Nigerian musicians

Name	Guillaume Soro
Office	Prime Minister of the Ivory Coast
President	Laurent Gbagbo (2007-2010) Alassane Ouattara (since 2010)
Term start	4 April 2007 (Disputed since 6 December 2010)
Predecessor	Charles Konan Banny
Successor	Gilbert Aké (Disputed)
Birth date	May 08, 1972
Birth place	Diawala, Ivory Coast
Party	Patriotic Movement
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Guillaume Kigbafori Soro (born May 8, 1972 in Ferkessédougou, Côte d'Ivoire) has served as the Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire since April 4, 2007. Prior to his service as Prime Minister, Soro led the Patriotic Movement of Côte d'Ivoire and later the New Forces rebel group as its Secretary-General.

Ivorian Civil War

A Roman Catholic from Diawala in the north of the country, Soro led the rebel Patriotic Movement of Côte d'Ivoire (MPCI) in a September 2002 rebellion against the government of President Laurent Gbagbo that triggered the Ivorian Civil War. In December 2002 Soro's MPCI combined with two other rebel groups - Ivorian Popular Movement of the Great West (MPIGO) and Movement for Justice and Peace (MJP) - to form the les Forces Nouvelles de Côte d'Ivoire (New Forces). He became Secretary-general of the group.

Political career

Following a peace agreement in January 2003, Soro joined the government as communications minister in April 2003. The New Forces ministers began a boycott of the government in September 2003 and returned to the government in January 2004. After an opposition demonstration held in Abidjan was violently broken up in March 2004, Soro and other former rebel and opposition ministers began boycotting the government. In turn, Gbagbo dismissed Soro from his position, along with two other ministers, on 19 May 2004. Soro denounced this move, saying that it was effectively a coup by Gbagbo against the peace agreement. On 9 August 2004 Soro attended a cabinet meeting and was reinstated in his position. On 28 December 2005, Soro was appointed minister of reconstruction and reintegration in the government of Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny; in this position he became the second ranking member of the government, after the prime minister. He did not, however, attend a cabinet meeting in this capacity until 15 March 2006.

Prime minister

Following a peace deal signed on March 4, 2007, it was considered a possibility that Soro would be named prime minister in a new government, and Gbagbo was said to want Soro as the next prime minister. In an interview published on March 26, Soro said that he would be willing to become prime minister. An agreement was signed on the same day according to which Soro would become prime minister, and Gbagbo was expected to officially appoint him to the position, which he did on 29 March. Soro took office on 4 April, and his government was named on April 7, with 32 ministers (excluding Soro himself); this was slightly fewer than in Banny's government, and Soro's government contained many of the same ministers as its predecessor.

In a speech broadcast on April 13, Soro apologized "to everybody and on behalf of everybody" for the harm caused by the war.

On June 29, 2007 rockets were fired at Soro's plane at the airport in Bouaké, significantly damaging the plane. Soro was unhurt, although four others were said to have been killed and ten were said to have been wounded. Arrests were subsequently reported.

Soro and Gbagbo participated in disarmament ceremony, the "peace flame", on July 30. This ceremony involved burning weapons to symbolize the end of the conflict.

Soro, as Prime Minister, was barred from standing in the 2010 presidential election by the peace agreement. Soro said in a March 2008 interview with Jeune Afrique that he would discuss his future political plans following the election. Rumors have suggested that Soro and Gbagbo have secretly agreed on an arrangement whereby Soro would support Gbagbo in the election and, in exchange, Gbagbo would back Soro in the subsequent presidential election; Soro derided these rumors as "gossip". Describing himself as an "arbiter of the electoral process", he said that the New Forces would not back any candidate and its members could vote for whomever they wished.

When the Gbagbo-allied Constitutional Council proclaimed the result of the 2010 poll and Gbagbo was sworn in, Soro resigned as prime minister, supporting opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara, who had been declared the winner by the electoral commission, politically closed to him. Ouattara reappointed Soro after taking the oath of office by writing at a rival ceremony.

References

External links

MPCI Official website Review of Guillaume Soro: Pourquoi je suis devenu un rebelle éditions Hachette Littératures (2005).

Category:1972 births Category:Attempted assassination survivors Category:Government ministers of Côte d'Ivoire Category:Ivorian Roman Catholics Category:Living people Category:Patriotic Movement of Côte d'Ivoire politicians Category:Rebels

Name	Glenn Beck
Caption	Beck at the Time 100 Gala, 2010
Birth name	Glenn Edward Lee Beck
Birth date	February 10, 1964
Birth place	Everett, Washington, U.S.
Hometown	Mount Vernon, Washington
Education	Sehome High School
Nationality	American
Occupation	Political commentator, author, media proprietor, entertainer
Salary	US$ 32 million (2009–10)
Spouse	Claire (1983–1994) Tania (m. 1999)
Children	4
Website	http://www.glennbeck.com/
Religion	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon)
Residence	New Canaan, Connecticut
Home town	Mount Vernon, Washington

Glenn Edward Lee Beck (born February 10, 1964) is an American conservative radio and television host, author, entrepreneur and political commentator. He hosts The Glenn Beck Program, a nationally syndicated talk-radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks; and also a cable news show on Fox News Channel. As an author, Beck has had six New York Times-bestselling books, with five debuting at #1. Beck is the founder and CEO of Mercury Radio Arts, a multimedia production company through which he produces content for radio, television, publishing, the stage, and the Internet.

Beck has received wealth and fame, as well as controversy and criticism. His supporters praise him as a constitutional stalwart defending traditional American values from secular progressivism, while his critics contend he promotes conspiracy theories and employs incendiary rhetoric for ratings.

Personal life

Early years

Glenn Lee Beck was born in Everett, Washington, to William and Mary Beck, who lived in Mountlake Terrace, Washington. The family later moved to Mount Vernon, Washington, where they owned and operated City Bakery in the downtown area. He is descended from German immigrants who came to the United States in the 1800s. Beck was raised as a Roman Catholic and attended Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Mount Vernon.

Glenn and his older sister moved with their mother to Sumner, Washington, attending a Jesuit school in Puyallup. On May 15, 1979, his mother drowned in Puget Sound, just west of Tacoma, Washington. A man who had taken her out in a small boat also drowned. A Tacoma police report stated that Mary Beck "appeared to be a classic drowning victim", but a Coast Guard investigator speculated that she could have intentionally jumped overboard.

After their mother's death, Beck and his older sister moved to their father's home in Bellingham, Washington, where Beck graduated from Sehome High School in June 1982. In the aftermath of his mother's death and subsequent suicide of his stepbrother, Beck has said he used "Dr. Jack Daniel's" to cope. At 18, following his high school graduation, Beck relocated to Provo, Utah, and worked at radio station KAYK. Feeling he "didn't fit in," Beck left Utah after six months, taking a job at Washington D.C.'s WPGC in February 1983. The couple divorced in 1994 amid Beck's struggles with substance abuse. A recovering alcoholic and drug addict, Beck has been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

By 1994, Beck was suicidal, and imagined shooting himself to the music of his fellow Washingtonian, Kurt Cobain. Beck would later claim that he had gotten high every day for the previous 15 years, since the age of 16.

This was followed by Beck going on a "spiritual quest" where he "sought out answers in churches and bookstores." Beck would be baptized by his old friend, and current-day co-worker Pat Gray.

Beck announced in July 2010 that he had been diagnosed with macular dystrophy, saying "A couple of weeks ago I went to the doctor because of my eyes, I can't focus my eyes. He did all kinds of tests and he said, 'you have macular dystrophy ...you could go blind in the next year. Or, you might not." The disorder can make it difficult to read, drive or recognize faces.

Career

]] As an author, Beck has reached #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List in four separate categories : Hardcover Non-Fiction, Paperback Non-Fiction, and Children's Picture Books.

*The Real America: Messages from the Heart and Heartland, Simon & Schuster 2003. ISBN 978-0-7434-9696-4

An Inconvenient Book: Real Solutions to the World's Biggest Problems, Simon & Schuster 2007. ISBN 978-1-4391-6857-8

The Christmas Sweater, Simon & Schuster 2008. ISBN 978-1-4165-9485-7

America's March to Socialism: Why We're One Step Closer to Giant Missile Parades, 2008 (Audiobook) An Unlikely Mormon: The Conversion Story of Glenn Beck, Deseret Book 2008 (Audiobook). ISBN 978-1-59038-944-7

The Christmas Sweater: A Picture Book Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing 2009. ISBN 978-1-4169-9543-2

America's March to Socialism: Why We're One Step Closer to Giant Missile Parades Simon & Schuster Audio 2009 (Audio CD). ISBN 978-0-7435-9854-5

Glenn Beck's Common Sense: The Case Against an Out-of-Control Government, Simon & Schuster 2009. ISBN 978-1-4391-6857-8

Arguing with Idiots: How to Stop Small Minds and Big Government, Simon & Schuster 2009. ISBN 978-1-4165-9501-4

Idiots Unplugged, Simon & Schuster 2010 (Audio CD). ISBN 1-4423-3396-0

The Overton Window, Threshold Editions 2010. ISBN 1-4391-8430-5 Idiots Unplugged, 2010 (Audiobook) , Simon & Schuster 2010. ISBN 1-4423-3457-6.

Stage shows and speeches

In 2009, the Glenn Beck show was one of the highest rated news commentary programs on cable TV. For a Barbara Walters ABC special, Beck was selected as one of America’s "Top 10 Most Fascinating People" of 2009. In 2010, Beck was selected for the Times top 100 most influential people under the "Leaders" category.

Beck has referred to himself as an entertainer, and a "rodeo clown".

Time Magazine described Beck as "[t]he new populist superstar of Fox News" saying it is easier to see a set of attitudes rather than a specific ideology, noting his criticism of Wall Street, yet defending bonuses to AIG, as well as denouncing conspiracy theories about the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) but warning against indoctrination of children by the AmeriCorps program. (Paul Krugman and Mark Potok, on the other hand, have been among those asserting that Beck helps spread "hate" by covering issues that stir up extremists.) What seems to unite Beck's disparate themes, Time argued, is a sense of siege. One of Beck's Fox News Channel colleagues Shepard Smith, has jokingly called Beck's studio the "fear chamber", with Beck countering that he preferred the term "doom room." The progressive watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting's (FAIR) Activism Director Peter Hart argues that Beck red-baits political adversaries as well as promotes a paranoid view of progressive politics. Howard Kurtz of The Washington Post has remarked that "Love him or hate him, Beck is a talented, often funny broadcaster, a recovering alcoholic with an unabashedly emotional style."

Critical biographies

In June 2010, investigative reporter Alexander Zaitchik released a critical biography titled , with a title mocking Beck's work, Common Sense. In an interview about the book, Zaitchik theorized that "Beck’s politics and his insatiable hunger for money and fame are not mutually exclusive", while stating: "Beck’s true religion is not Patriotism, Mormonism, or Conservatism. His true religion is cross-platform self-marketing ... According to Beck’s worldview, there’s no inherent contradiction between his sophisticated instinct for self-promotion, his propagandist rodeo clown act, his self-image as a media mogul, and his professed belief system. I think he actually believes that God wants him to make a ton of money and become this huge celebrity by fear mongering and generally doing whatever it takes in the media to promote right-wing causes."

In September 2010, Philadelphia Daily News reporter Will Bunch released The Backlash: Right-Wing Radicals, High-Def Hucksters, and Paranoid Politics in the Age of Obama. One of Bunch's primary theses is that Beck is nothing more than a morning zoo deejay playing a fictional character as a money-making stunt.

Satire, spoof and parody of Beck

Beck has been the subject of mockery and ridicule by a number of humorists. In response to Beck's animated delivery and views, he was parodied in an impersonation by Jason Sudeikis on Saturday Night Live. The Daily Shows Jon Stewart has spoofed Beck's 9-12 project with his own "11-3 project", impersonated Beck's chalk board-related presentation style for an entire show, and quipped about Beck "finally, a guy who says what people who aren't thinking are thinking." Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report satirized Beck's "war room" by creating his own "doom bunker." Through the character Eric Cartman, South Park parodied Beck's television program and his commentary style in the episode "Dances with Smurfs". The Onion, a satirical periodical and faux news site, ran an Onion News Network video "special report" where it lamented that the "victim in a fatal car accident was tragically not Glenn Beck." Meanwhile, the Current TV cartoon SuperNews! ran an animated cartoon feature titled "The Glenn Beck Apocalypse", where Beck is confronted by Jesus Christ who rebukes him as the equivalent of "Sarah Palin farting into a balloon." Political comedian and satirist Bill Maher has mocked Beck's followers as an "army of diabetic mallwalkers", while The Buffalo Beast, named Beck the most loathsome person in America in 2010, declaring "It’s like someone found a manic, doom-prophesying hobo in a sandwich board, shaved him, shot him full of Zoloft and gave him a show."

Public disputes

Several incidents involving Beck and President Barack Obama have resulted in notable public controversy. In response to Obama's remarks on the Henry Louis Gates controversy, Beck argued that Obama has repeatedly shown "a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture," saying "I'm not saying he doesn't like white people. I'm saying he has a problem. This guy is, I believe, a racist." These remarks drew criticism, and resulted in a boycott promulgated by Color of Change. In 2009, the boycott resulted in at least 57 advertisers requesting their ads be removed from his programming, to avoid associating their brands with content that could be considered offensive by potential customers. He later apologized for the remarks, telling Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace that he has a "big fat mouth" and miscast as racism what is actually, as he theorizes, Obama's belief in black liberation theology.

In July 2009, Glenn Beck began to focus what would become many episodes on his TV and radio shows on Van Jones, Special Advisor for Green Jobs at Obama's White House Council on Environmental Quality. Beck was critical of Jones' involvement in STORM, a left wing non-governmental group, and his support for death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal, who had been convicted of killing a police officer. Beck spotlighted video of Jones referring to Republicans as "assholes", and a petition Jones signed suggesting that George W. Bush knowingly let the 9/11 attacks happen. In September 2009, Jones resigned his position in the Obama administration, after a number of his past statements became fodder for conservative critics and Republican officials. Time magazine credited Beck with leading conservatives' attack on Jones.

In 2009, Beck and other conservative commentators were critical of Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) for various reasons, including claims of voter registration fraud in the 2008 presidential election. In September 2009, he broadcast a series of heavily edited undercover videos by conservative activists James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles, which seemed to portray ACORN community organizers offering inappropriate tax advice to people who said they were engaged in illegal activities. Following the videos' release, the U.S. Census Bureau severed ties with the group while the U.S. House and Senate voted to cut all of its federal funding. Beck's lawyers argued that the site infringed on his trademarked name and that the domain name should be turned over to Beck. The WIPO ruled against Beck, but Eiland-Hall voluntarily transferred the domain to Beck anyway, saying that the First Amendment had been upheld and that he no longer had a use for the domain name.

Websites

As of 2009, GlennBeck.com was estimated to receive 5-million unique visitors per month. and Pat Gray, begun in 2010

Beck University, interactive classes offered beginning in July 2010

In August 2010, Mercury Radio Arts also launched the independent political blog, The Blaze.

See also

Beck University

Conservative talk

List of most-listened-to radio programs

References

External links

Glenn Beck's Official Website

Glenn Beck's Radio Program

Glenn Beck – The 912 Project

Glenn Beck's Common Sense Tour

Official Site at Fox News

Multimedia

A Day in the Life of Glenn Beck - photo slideshow by Time magazine

Katie Couric Interview of Glenn Beck - video by CBS News

"Brand it like Beck" - video interview by Forbes magazine

John Stossel: "Glenn Beck, Conservative Narcissist?" - video by ABC News

Glenn Beck Discusses his Mormonism - video testimonial at The Week

Category:American activists Category:American anti-communists Category:American Latter Day Saints Category:American magazine editors Category:American magazine founders Category:American political pundits Category:American political writers Category:Conspiracy theorists Category:Former Roman Catholics Category:American talk radio hosts Category:American television talk show hosts Category:American people of German descent Category:Conservatism in the United States Category:Converts to Mormonism from Roman Catholicism Category:Environmental skepticism Category:People from Bellingham, Washington Category:People from Fairfield County, Connecticut Category:People from Mount Vernon, Washington Category:People from Seattle, Washington Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:Tea Party movement Category:Writers from Washington (U.S. state) Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:Fox News Channel people

Name	Eri Kamei
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	(Kamei Eri)
Born	December 23, 1988 Arakawa, Tokyo, Japan
Died
Origin	Tokyo, Honshū, Japan
Genre	Japanese pop
Occupation	Singer
Years active	2003–present
Label	Zetima
Associated acts	Morning Musume, Morning Musume Sakuragumi, Tanpopo#
Url

was a member of the Japanese pop group Morning Musume. She joined in late 2003 as a sixth generation member along with Miki Fujimoto, Sayumi Michishige, and Reina Tanaka. She graduated on December 15th 2010 in Yokohama Arena along with Junjun and Linlin.

History

(left), Sayumi Michishige (center), and Kamei performing at Morning Musume's Platinum 9 Disc concert tour in May 2009.]] Kamei was selected from the Morning Musume Love Audition 2002 to join Morning Musume as a member of the sixth generation. She first appeared on the single "Shabondama" and her first album was Ai no Dai 6 Kan.

Towards late 2004, Kamei is thought to have opened up after receiving her own segment on the Japanese variety show Hello! Morning, where she had been a regular since her debut. In the segment, known as , she, along with her co-host Yuko Nakazawa, and most often several guests promote the latest products from the Hello! Project. Her segment was removed from the show in the winter of 2005, but she still stars in the rest of the show as a regular.

In 2004, Kamei appeared in the 2004 Hello! Project shuffle units unit H.P. All Stars. She was also involved in Morning Musume Sakuragumi when Morning Musume was split into two groups.

In 2009, Kamei was put in the group Tanpopo as the fourth generation along with fellow Morning Musume member Aika Mitsui, Berryz Kobo member Yurina Kumai and C-ute member Chisato Okai.

On August 8, 2010, Kamei's graduation from Hello! Project was announced by Tsunku on his blog and at that day's Hello! Project concert. Due to her suffering from atopic dermatitis, she was unable to continue her activities and therefore graduated on the last day of the Autumn Tour in 2010.

Releases

Photobooks

^† An exclusive digital version of this photobook was also released for cell phone users. Entitled Jungle, and retailing for 525 yen, it was released on February 19, 2007. A second batch of photographs was made available on the 21st.

DVDs

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |- ! # !!nowrap| Title !! Release date !! Description |- | – || || July 16, 2003 || DVD with Sayumi Michishige and Reina Tanaka |- | 1 || || March 14, 2007 || First solo DVD |- | 2 || || January 14, 2009 || Second solo DVD |}

Acts

Movies

Musicals

– As Stepsister Portia

Television shows

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |- ! style="width:300px;"| Show !! Start date !! End date !! Station |- | || June 1, 2003 || April 1, 2007 ||rowspan="9"| TV Tokyo |- | || September 29, 2003 || December 26, 2003 |- |rowspan="2"| || April 26, 2004 || April 28, 2004 |- | July 14, 2004 || July 22, 2004 |- | || October 7, 2004 || December 15, 2004 |- | || April 11, 2005 || September 1, 2006 |- | || April 8, 2007 || September 28, 2008 |- | || October 6, 2008 || March 27, 2009 |- | || April 5, 2009 || March 28, 2010 |}

Radio

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |- ! style="width:300px;"| Program !! Start date !! End date !! Station |- |rowspan="2"| || April 1, 2005 || April 15, 2005 ||rowspan="2"| TBC Radio |- | May 30, 2005 || June 10, 2005 |- |rowspan="4"| ||colspan="2"| June 26, 2005 ||rowspan="4"| ABC Radio |- |colspan="2"| December 18, 2005 |- |colspan="2"| June 11, 2006 |- |colspan="2"| December 17, 2006 |- | B.B.L. || November 6, 2005 || November 13, 2005 ||rowspan="2"| FM-FUJI |- |Gaki・Kame || April 8, 2007 || September 27, 2008 |- | Five Stars || April 6, 2009 || December 13, 2010 || InterFM |}

References

External links

Morning Musume: Official Hello! Project profile

Category:1988 births Category:Japanese female singers Category:Japanese pop singers Category:Living people Category:Morning Musume members Category:People from Tokyo Category:Tanpopo members

Dramane Koné (surname sometimes also spelled Kone; b. Ougadougou, Burkina Faso, January 1980) is a famous master drummer and griot from the west African nation of Burkina Faso who rose to prominence in 1997 via his appearance (studying balafon at age 4) in the award-winning Taali Laafi Rosselini epic (20 years in the making) documentary film Great Great Grandparents Music that featured vignettes of Dramane Koné's griot family life in west Africa. He specializes in the goblet-shaped hand drum called djembe. He is a member of the Dioula ethnic group.

Regional Origins

Koné was born in the capital city of Ouagadougou, in central Burkina Faso. He began studying music at the age of three (his family says practically from birth), under Dougoutigui Koné, elder djembefola (master djembe player) of Ouagadougou. Koné was educated in the ancient drumming traditions of west Africa, and was initiated into the history and music of the Manding (also spelled Mandingue) people. His later musical education included private studies with a number of lesser-known village elders, masters and griots. In discussions with writers, Koné teaches that griots are the spokespeople of the kings and are the originators of what we now call music. He said in an interview in November, 2010, "The king would come tell the griots his messages intended for the king's subjects in the form of a story. 'When you finish playing your music, assemble the people to receive my message in the form of the story I am about to tell you,' the king might say," as Koné relates a griot family's mission. Koné asserts that griots are useful to communicate both the king's official messages in his language, and additional musical messages via local languages as conveyed by skilled drummers as is well known in west African and other Earthly traditions.

Family Background, Early Travels

He is the son of well-known musical griot/master drummer Dougoutigui Koné. After their appearances in the Rosselini film, his father had moved the family to and from Mali, west Africa, and Dramane had begun to win national contests starting in 1996, the film was released in 1997, and in 1998 Dramane went on to perform as djembefola (djembe drummer) with the National Ballet of Burkina Faso (he also plays Dunun, Balafon and Ngoni) accompanying dancers in the ballet and was then promoted to lead djembefola in the NBBF before migrating to the U.S. in 1999 where he is a citizen and where he permanently resides, teaches and travels to perform, although he claims to have double citizenship (in the U.S. and Burkina Faso).

Other Travels

Dramane Kone traveled widely in western Europe in 1997-1998. In the U.S. he has performed at hundreds of venues including convention centers, large theaters, small clubs, private colleges and public universities 1999-2010. In November, 2009 he taught a special public master class on djembe and dunun at the Toronto Centre for the Arts sponsored by the Burkina Faso consulate and a private association of Burkina Faso expatriates to benefit flood victims in his country of origin. He organized and performed with Djelia Kadi in a similar benefit event at Motherland Music, a retail African import music store in Los Angeles in January, 2010.

He is also the brother of notable griot and master drummer Mamadou Koné, and the two Koné brothers and their father played together in various traditional and popular music ensembles in Burkina Faso and elsewhere. Their griot lineage extends many generations.

Koné resides in Santa Monica, California, United States.

Discography

Djelia Kadi (2003 CD) Traditional west African Drumming featuring Dramane's dance music group (title tr. "It's good to be a griot.").

Film/Video

• Great Great Grandparents Music (1997 Documentary Film) produced and directed by Taali Laafi Rosselini United States Role: Subject (music student).

• Ballet Djelia Kadi with Dramane Koné, Master Drummer (2010 CD/DVD), produced by David Hilal and Miro (24 tracks: 12 audio, 12 video).

External links

Dramane Kone official site

David Hilal's YouTube.com channel

Dramane Kone's Facebook page

See also

Djembe

Category:1980 births Category:Living people Category:African drummers Category:Burkinabé musicians Category:Master drummers