FRIDAY. MAR. 1.2002
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 5A
Law Review features global viewpoints
By Mike Gilligan Kansan staff writer
John Head compared globalization to throwing an egg at a window.
"The metaphor suggests that an immovable object, the world, is being confronted by an unstoppable force, globalization," he said.
Head, professor of law, specializes in international law and was the opening speaker at the 2002 Kansas Law Review Symposium yesterday in Green Hall.
He and other speakers at the symposium expressed their viewpoints about globalization and its effect. The theme of the symposium, which more than 70 people attended, was globalization and sovereignty.
Head defined globalization as the process by which multilateral institutions, especially those dealing with economic activity, have grown in number and authority during the past 60 years. These institutions seemingly have grown at the expense of local and national companies and rules.
He focused on economic globalization and pointed to the drawbacks of organizations being closely tied to globalization such as the World Trade Organization and the World Bank.
"It is undisputable that free trade as it's practiced hurts some people directly," Head said. "People lose jobs because of it and they deserve a better shake."
He said the government should provide for training and searching for new jobs for people who were affected by globalization.
Head said rich countries should do their part to help poorer nations.
"There should be a dramatic increase in the commitment of resources by rich countries to the economic development of poor countries," he said.
The United States contributes a much lower percentage of gross national product, or GNP, to world economic aid than many other developed countries. Head said.
Lori Wallach, director of the Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, also spoke at the symposium.
Wallach said globalization was the defining phenomenon of our time.
"All of us need to think about these issues," she said. "The people who are going to live with the results of the decision should be the ones making the decision."
Wallach, who the Wall Street Journal describes as "Ralph Nader with a sense of humor," said she was not against trade rules.
tions like General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade," she said. "It's what has gotten attached to these institutions that we have a problem with."
"We need trade rules and institu
Wallach said the WTO was the source of many international problems.
She cited a specific incident involving hormones in beef.
"The European Union faces sanctions by the WTO because they wouldn't use hormones in their beef," Wallach said. "They didn't want to be guinea pigs, so they are being punished."
Wallach said her group believed in democracy and diversity.
"You need different people with different values to make decisions," she said. "That way more people are represented."
Another speaker, Herbert Morais, chair of the International Legislative Reform Group and former lead legal counsel for the World Bank, pointed out some of the positives of globalization.
"It is a key for stopping economic crises," he said. "The Asian financial crisis of 1999 sparked immediate reaction from foreign countries wanting to help."
Morais also pointed out how globalization helped ensure the integrity of corporate and financial institutions.
"It is indisputable that free trade as it's practiced hurts some people directly."
John Head professor of law
"International standards will help eliminate corruption," he said. "Enron is a perfect example of what can happen."
Morais now works on containing money-laudering and terrorist funds.
James Rosenthal, Coffeyville law student, attended the symposium to hear Lori Wallach. He said he had read a lot of her books and wanted to learn more about the issues.
"It's good to be informed about what's going on," he said. "People need to check corporations and governments and see what they are doing."
The Kansas Law Review and the School of Law sponsored the symposium.
mgilligan@kansan.com. This story was edited by Justin Guenley.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Contact Gilligan at
How can we know what God wants us to do?
By Maggie Koerth Kansan staff writer
The goal of all religions is to provide answers, especially to questions of morality and the divine. In order to gain a better understanding of what people believe, the Kansan features a Question of the Week in which we ask members of various religions a particular moral or ethical question. We hope the answers will illuminate the differences and sometimes surprising similarities between the beliefs of different people.
JOHN NOWAK/KANSAN
Q. How can we really know what God wants us to do?
SARA SHEPHERD/KANSAN
JOHN NOWAK/KANSAN
Mike Lee
Joshua Talley
A. Mike Lee, Lawrence junior and liberal Christian.
"in order to figure out what God wants one to do they must decide where their great gladness meets the world's deep sadness. One must take their interests and strengths, which I see as God-given but developed and expressed through a joint effort between the two, and use those in order to help the world in the situations which come before us.
"God lets us know what he wants us to do by the various people and situations which he sets before us in any given day. One can choose to ignore the 'coincidences' of time and place and continue about their life without making a change. In order to fully discern what God wants us to do one must be really conscious of the people
and activities around them. It is through them He shows us what paths we need to take. Then, once we have opened our eyes to our surroundings, we can apply or choose not to apply the skills God gave us to make a positive difference."
A. Joshua Talley, Topeka senior
and conservative Christian.
"In today's world where everything is so busy, where schedules are packed with a mind-spinning variety of things to do, it is easy to get confused. Fortunately, the God that made the universe and the seemingly insignificant planet we live on knows what's going on and is in control. Knowing that we will all be perpetually busy, and that our minds would be filled with plenty of stuff, God has made His will for our lives quite clear.
"Where does one find this information? It's easy: the Bible. The purpose of every Christian is an ever-present theme throughout the New Testament. Think of it this way. How do you know what your professor wants you to do? You go to class, follow the syllabus and ask questions. By doing those things, you learn to do homework, take quizzes and tests to further your knowledge and understanding of the material. It's the same thing with God. Go to church, read your Bible, pray and you will easily find out what God wants of you."
Contact Koerth at mkoerth@kansan.com. This story was edited by Brooke Hesler.
SARA SHEPHERD/KANSAN
Recycling center moves operations to new location
The KU Recycling program has moved to new offices on the third floor of the Varsity House, 1043 Indiana St.
By Leah Shaffer Kansan staff writer
A large Victorian house at 1043 Indiana Street has opened its doors to environmental stewardship.
The building, known as Varsity House, is owned by the University of Kansas and now is the new home for the expanding KU recycling program. The program handles the collecting of recyclable material from campus such as newspapers plastic bottles and cans.
ine program was moved to the Varsity House because it needed for more employees and more parking space for the trucks that gather the material.
Lindy Eakin, associate provost, said the program now had its own department, the Department of Environmental Stewardship. Eakin said the University started the program in 1996 in Burt Hall as part of the Department of Environment, Health and Safety. That department monitors radiation safety and plans for the handling of other hazardous materials on campus.
"The program has outgrown being a component of environment, health and safety." Eakin said.
Originally, the recycling program had only one employee, Victoria Silva, who is now the program's resource conservation manager. However, since that time, the program has grown. Now 10 part-time students and one full-time program assistant work under Silva.
Silva said the office in Burt Hall was too small for all the recycling technicians and before more recycling centers on campus could be added, more space would be needed. The program has completed its second week at Varsity House. The added space has given Silva the option of hiring more people and room to park the two trucks that the program uses.
"This place is most suitable because of the parking issue," she said.
Lindsey Hodel, St. Louis junior and recycling technician, said the old office was too small for all the technicians, and the old location was too far from where campus recycling centers were located. Hodel said the new location was a marked improvement.
"I like it a lot more. Now we have our own office where we can meet." Hodel said.
Faith Forum studies liberal Bible interpretation
By Maggie Koerth Kansan staff writer
Five students gathered in a candlelit room Wednesday night. They had come together for a Bible study. But to them a Bible study doesn't just mean studying the book. It also means studying yourself, the world around you and how all three interconnect.
The group, Faith Forum: A Liberal Take on Christianity, is the brainchild of Rev. Thad Holcombe of Ecumenical Christian Ministries.
Holcombe said the group had been formed last semester in response to student requests. He said about 10 students usually attended the meetings each week.
Contact Shaffer at Ishaffer@kansan.com. This story was edited by Andy Gassaway.
"A lot of students had said they wanted a place where they could talk freely about their religious questions and beliefs," he said.
Holcombe said Faith Forum tried to provide that environment by looking at Christianity through the liberal tradition.
"Conservative Christians see the Bible as a true, literal document," she
He said liberal Christianity differed from conservative Christianity for several reasons, but one stood out to him.
"Conservative Christianity has a tendency to focus exclusively on a person's individual salvation," he said. "The liberal understanding is that salvation is important, but we must also try to figure out how our salvation affects other people, our environment and our world."
She said she thought the biggest difference between liberal and conservative Christianity was how each tradition viewed the Bible.
Alex Fraser, Lawrence graduate student, attends the Faith Forum. She said she was raised in a conservative Christian family, but started asking questions about her beliefs when she was in junior high.
David Green, Salina senior and president of Intervarsity Christian Fel-
Fraser said she came to Faith Forum because she was able to discuss her beliefs with other people who were concerned about similar things.
said. "While I believe the Bible is true, I also realize it was written in a historical context and contains a lot of metaphor and storytelling. For instance, as a biologist, I believe in evolution."
Tim Miller, chairman of religious studies, agreed that the biggest difference between liberal and conservative Christianity was Biblical interpretation.
"For a lot of people there's not a great attraction to conservative religion and yet they don't want to give up the spiritual dimensions of their lives," he said. "A more liberal approach is something that fits with the modern world and how they live."
He said many liberal Christians thought conservative Christianity was stifling and inhibited rational thought and inquiry.
He said he thought the Faith Forum could be very useful to some people.
"People don't choose their religion based on rational thought, they choose it based on what is comfortable," he said. "I think it's more about people wanting to hold on to aspects of their life that maybe they shouldn't."
Holcombe said members of Faith Forum were not interested in criticizing other people's religious beliefs. He said he didn't like the labels of liberal and conservative.
"When you label people they end up trying to live their lives as a label and not as people of faith," he said.
lowship, a campus Christian group, said he didn't think rational thought was really the issue.
Faith Forum meets every Wednesday night from 8:50 to 9:30 in Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread Ave. Meetings are open to all students.
Contact Koerth at
mkoearth@kansan.com. This story was edited by Jenna Goeffert.
SARA SHEPHERD/KANSAN
Abilene senior Heather Young and Rev. Thad Holcombe discuss the Bible at a meeting of the Faith Forum, which meets Wednesday nights in ECM.