13.3 - Contributors

Autumn 2005 (13.3)

Contributors

Pirouz Khanlou Architect Pirouz Khanlou of Los Angeles has been involved in Azerbaijan since the first days of its independence in the early 1990s. Khanlou stresses urgency in addressing issues related to urban development in Baku and insists that unless serious steps are taken, the future spells disaster, especially given that the city is located in an active earthquake zone.

Khanlou, an eternal optimist even when confronted with seemingly insurmountable difficulties, suggests tackling the city's urban development problems on both a short-term and long-term basis. He outlines specific ways to do this. Page 32.

Meg Hayes Dr. Meg Hayes, physician and educator in the Department of Family Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), became involved with Baku in 2000 in a partnership with the Narimanov Health District which serves a large refugee population. Thanks to Dr. Hayes a new concept of medicine has been introduced there - Family Medicine - in which physicians provide outstanding health care from birth to death, in a therapeutic relationship, based on continuity of care, and within the framework of an understanding of the social and family dynamics affecting that patient. Page 80.

Thomas Goltz Thomas Goltz from Montana - passionate, gutsy and eloquent as always - takes a look at Baku's construction boom and doesn't like what he sees. He's deeply concerned that irreversible changes are taking place in Baku. Radical steps should be taken to stop now, especially the destruction of buildings from the oil boom period and unsafe building practices. Goltz is author of three books related to the Caucasus: "Azerbaijan Diary" (1998/99), "Chechnya Diary: A War Correspondent's Story of Surviving the War in Chechnya" (2003) and "Georgia Diary" (2006). Page 28.

Shaig Jabiroghlu Safarov Shaig Jabiroghlu Safarov is a true philologist - he loves words. So much so that he spent 12 years compiling the first-ever Thesaurus for the Azeri language. Actually, he didn't set out to write such a dictionary. Simply, he wanted to translate some of the well-known English language playwrights like Arthur Miller and Agatha Christie into Azeri. As there were no major English dictionaries in Baku, a trip to Moscow introduced him to Roget's Thesaurus and then came the inevitable question: "Well, why doesn't Azeri have a Thesaurus, too?" Today, it does. Thanks Shaig. Page 84.

Ronni Gallagher Ronnie Gallagher worked as Environmental Manager for BP in Azerbaijan from 2000-2003. During his free time, he explored much of the countryside, enjoying natural history and searching for evidence of ancient settlements. Here, Gallagher shares some of his observations about Parigala (Angel Castle) near Zaqatala and challenges archaeologists to help solve the enigma of its existence. His observations on stone circles, cup marks, cart ruts and mud volcanoes have been published in earlier issues of Azerbaijan International. Currently on assignment in Angola, Gallagher returns to Azerbaijan whenever possible. Page 74.