THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2009
NEWS
21
MEMORIAL
Pillars represent London bombing victims
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Friends and relatives of the victims of the July 7, 2005 London bombings walk amongst the pillars of the London Bombing Memorial before its dedication in London's Hyde Park, July 7. The memorial consists of 11.5 feet tall stainless steel pillars - one for each of the victims of the bombings.
BY MIKE BUSHNELL
Associated Press
LONDON - Families of terrorist victims joined royalty and lawmakers Tuesday to unveil a memorial of 52 steel pillars in a London park one for each victim of the July 7, 2005, attacks on the city's transit system.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, London Mayor Boris Johnson and the Prince of Wales and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, attended the memorial service along with the bereaved. The stainless steel columns stand 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) tall in central London's Hyde Park.
"I believe the date of the London bombings is etched vividly on all our minds, as a brutal intrusion into the lives of thousands of people." Prince Charles told those gathered for the memorial.
Some relatives of those who died left single white or red roses next to a memorial plaque, while the names of all those killed were read aloud.
Cathey Johnson, whose husband Adrian Johnson was killed, attended with her two children. "I think the designers have been really careful to accommodate everybody's needs. I think it's very fitting," she said of the
memorial.
Marc Lambert, a 46-year-old art consultant who works close to the park, carried a large bouquet of roses to the memorial service. He said he'd left flowers at the bomb sites each year since the attacks.
"Every year I have usually brought bouquets to each of the sites as a gesture to say that 'London hasn't forgotten you,'" said Lambert. "I hope this will crystallize as a place to remember how London gets knocked
down, gets up and carries on."
Former Mayor Ken Livingstone, who was in office at the time of the attacks by four suicide bombers on three subway trains and a bus, praised the design of the memorial. "I think it's just exactly right," he said.
As Londoners gathered for the ceremony, British lawmakers warned that the city's subway and bus network remain extremely vulnerable to attack by terrorists.
The Home Affairs Select Committee said in a report published Tuesday that the city's famous Tube and bus networks remained iconic targets.
Transport for London, which operates public transport in Britain capital, said it had carried out major improvements to security and upgraded communications systems for emergency staff.
Committee chairman Keith Vaz said that the panel will hold a new inquiry into the July 7,2005 attacks and will ask the heads of Britain's intelligence agencies to give evidence.
Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee has held two previous inquiries into the attacks, both of which rejected claims that security officials did too little to thwart the attacks.
"We must never underestimate the continued grave threat the U.K. faces from terrorist attack," Vaz said in a statement.
SUPREME COURT Republicans cite racial bias criticize Obama's choice
WASHINGTON — Conservatives stepped up their criticism of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor on Tuesday, but it was unclear how far Senate Republicans were willing to go to create bumps in what appeared to be a smooth road to confirmation for President Barack Obama's first high-court choice.
Even as the Senate's top Republican suggested that Sotomayor let racial bias cloud her rulings, he and other GOP senators refused to say whether they would accede to conservative activists' demands to try to delay a final vote to confirm her until September.
The fresh critiques of Sotomoyar came as the American Bar Association, a national lawyers' group, rated her "well-qualified" to be a justice.
Democrats rushed to defend so-tomayor against charges that she's an activist who would allow racial bias to interfere with her decisions.
7:30 p.m.·July 17,18,24,25,2009
5:00 p.m.·July 19 & 26,2009
Stage Too! Murphy Hall
The University Theatre is partially funded by the KU Student Senate Activity Fee; funding is also provided by the Kansas Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a national agency.
General admission tickets are on sale in the KU ticket offices: University Theatre, 864-3982, and Lied Center, 864-ARTS,
and online at www.kuheatre.com. Tickets are $12 for the public, $11 for senior citizens and KU faculty and staff, and $10 for
students. All major credit cards are accepted for phone and on-line orders.
TUE JUL 14
GOV'T MULE
w/ Backyard Bim
FRI JUL 17
THU JUL 16
SEVEN MARY THREE
& MARCY PLAYGROUND
UMPHREY's MCGEE
& MATISYAHU
SAT IUL 18
+BREWER & SHIPLEY
OZARK MOUNTAIN
DAREDEVILS
+ BREWER & SHIPLEY
THU JUL 23
RATT
w/EXTREME
FRI JUL 24
FRI JUL 24
Pitch BLOCK PARTY featuring
REV HORTON HEAT
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Split Lit Rayfield,
Neikromantix, & more
SAT JUL 25
KEVIN COSTNER & MODERNWEST
SUN JUL 26
THE WAILERS
+ TOOTS & THE MAYTALS
FRI JUL 31
COWBOY MOUTH
TUE AUG 4
GEORGE THOROGOOD
& JONNY LANG
FRI AUG 7
ROBERT RANDOLPH & THE FAMILY BAND
SUNDAY AUGUST 9
REEL BIG FISH w/The English Beat
TUE AUG 11
YONDER MOUNTAIN
STRING BAND W CORMEN
SAT AUG 15
AVETT BROTHERS w/ Railroad Earth
TUE AUG 18
FRI SEP 4
GRETCHENWILSON
FRI SEPT 11
CROSS CANADIAN
RAGWEED w/ Lucero