10A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY BANSAN
MONDAY, APRIL 13, 2009
INTERNATIONAL
Somali pirates release Navy captain unharmed after five-day standoff
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MOMBASA, Kenya — An American ship captain was freed unharmed Sunday and three of his captors were killed in a daring rescue by U.S. Navy Seals that ended a five-day standoff between the world's most powerful Navy and Somali pirates in a lifeboat far off the Horn of Africa.
Capt. Richard Phillips was in "imminent danger" of being killed before U.S. Special Operations forces shot the pirates in an operation personally approved by President Barack Obama, U.S. officials said.
Phillips' crew, who said they had escaped after he offered himself as a hostage, erupted in cheers aboard their ship docked in Mombasa, Kenya. Some waved an American
flag and fired flares in celebration.
Phillips, 53., of Underhill, Vermont, was not hurt in several minutes of gunfire and the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet said he was resting comfortably on a U.S. warship after receiving a medical exam.
"I'm just the byline. The real heroes are the Navy, the Seals, those who have brought me home," Phillips said by phone to Maersk Line Limited President and CEO John Reinhart, the company head told reporters. A photo released by the Navy showed Phillips unharmed and shaking hands with the commanding officer of the USS Bainbridge.
Obama said Phillips had courage that was "a model for all Americans" and he was pleased about the rescue, adding that the United States
needs help from other countries to deal with the threat of piracy and to hold pirates accountable.
U. S. officials said a fourth pirate had surrendered and was in military custody. FBI spokesman John Miller said that would change as the situation became "more of a criminal issue than a military issue."
A spokeswoman for the Phillips family, Alison McColl, said Phillips and his wife, Andrea, spoke by phone shortly after he was freed.
"I think you can all imagine their joy and what a happy moment that was for them." McColl said outside of the Phillips home in Underhill. "They're all just so happy and relieved. Andrea wanted me to tell the nation that all of your prayers and good wishes have paid off because Capt. Phillips is safe."
Crew members said their ordeal had begun Wednesday with the Somali pirates hauling themselves up from a small boat bobbing on the surface of the Indian Ocean far below.
As the pirates shot in the air, Phillips told his crew to lock themselves in a cabin and surrendered himself to safeguard his men, crew members said.
Phillips was then held hostage in an enclosed lifeboat that was closely watched by U.S. warships and a helicopter in an increasingly tense standoff. The pirates were believed to be armed with pistols and AK-47 assault rifles, On Friday, the French navy freed a sailboat seized off Somalia last week by other pirates, but one of the five hostages was killed.
Talks to free Phillips began Thursday with the captain of the USS Bainbridge talking to the pirates under instruction from FBI hostage negotiators on board the U.S. destroyer. The pirates had threatened to kill Phillips if attacked.
A government official and others in Somalia with knowledge of the situation had reported hours earlier that negotiations for Phillips' release had broken down.
Three U.S. warships were within easy reach of the lifeboat on Saturday. The U.S. Navy had assumed the pirates would try to get their hostage to shore, where they could have hidden him on Somalia's lawless soil and been in a stronger position to negotiate a ransom.
Iamac Habeh, a 30-year-old pirate, said that the killing of the
three pirates was "a painful experience."
"This is unfortunate action and our friends should have done more to kill the captain before they were killed. This will be a good lesson for us," Habeb told the AP from one of Somalia's piracy hubs, Eyl.
Early Saturday, the pirates holding Phillips in the lifeboat fired a few shots at a small U.S. Navy vessel that had approached, a U.S. military official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The official said the U.S. sailors did not return fire, the Navy vessel turned away and no one was hurt. He said the vessel had not been attempting a rescue.
STUCKEY (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
looked for.
"You want candidates to be well-involved and well-liked and Darrell is the whole package," Heilman said.
Harrity said that Stuckey's biggest challenge would be to make sure he didn't overcommit because he was somebody who needed more time in the day to accomplish all the things he wanted to do.
Libby Napoli/KANSAN
"A Darrell Stuckey comes around once in a decade, and I'm incredibly fortunate and blessed to have the opportunity to be a close witness to all the things he has been doing," Harrity said.
Sidetaker.com is a Web site where both sides of a dispute can be posted anonymously and people from around the world pick a side and decide who they think is right.
SIDETAKER (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
Student Senate is new to him, but with his involvement in the community and University organizations. Stuckey said he thought running for Student Senate gave him a certain sense of ownership.
Edited by Casey Miles
"It's a new thing for me, but I think Student Senate is a great place to be and a great place to influence your campus and to really see what goes on your campus to voice the opinion of your peers." Stuckey said.
determine what intentions people would have.
"To air your arguments online, it doesn't help." Gillath said. "It might deal with the symptoms but definitely not with the problem."
The site's disclaimer doesn't guarantee that an argument will be resolved but rather is used as a resource to provide clarity.
"As far as having it completely resolved, I wouldn't totally rely on any third party," Marinos said. "It's really between the people fighting."
Tracy Fernandez, Overland Park senior, said she and her boyfriend were very private people and would not use the site. She says prefers talking to her friends about problems and views a site like this as a need for people to feel socially accepted.
"There's a growing insecurity as far as social networking is concerned," Fernandez said.
— Edited by Realle Roth
Rvan McGeenev/KANSAN
"We were very lucky to find a lot of people who are willing to support us in our endeavors," Siler said.
The money funded handmade banners, informational fliers and buttons in different languages.
Siler said some of the money came from fundraisers that involved alumni from both his fraternity, Beta Theta Pi, and Senate. He said the coalition also raised money at social events promoting Senate.
Siler said he thought these were the basic methods to get more people involved in Senate.
May Davis, Clay Center junior and United Students vice presidential candidate, estimated United Students spent about $3,000 on its campaign.
JI Siler, Overland Park junior and Envision presidential candidate, said Envision had spent about $2,000 on its campaign.
During the debate, Wood said the Students of Liberty campaign raised and spent about $700.
CAMPAIGN FUNDING
"Which is a lot more than I thought wed ever do," Wood said. "Last year we ran a campaign on $70."
Mason Heilman, Lawrence junior and United Students presidential candidate, said the money came from family, friends and
it's not really about ideas, it's just about who can spend the most money on materials."
Wood said half the money came from fundraisers and the other half was donations.
DEBATE (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
Adam Wood, Lawrence senior, presidential candidate with Students of Liberty, answers a question posed by a panel of moderators at a Student Senate debate Friday in Alderson Auditorium. Presidential and vice presidential candidates from the United Students and Envision coalitions also participated in the debate.
There will be another debate among the presidential candidates at 1:30 p.m. today in the KUJH-TV newsroom, room 2000 of the Dole Human Development Center, which is located south of Watson Library.
— Edited by Sonya English
"Student government is a government and student fees are taxes." Wood said.
Alex Porte, Great Falls, Va., junior and Envision vice presidential candidate, said the way to respond to the economic crisis was to wait a couple of months before planning the year's budget.
Wood said there shouldn't be an increase in fees, but wanted to take it a step further by putting money back in students' pockets. He said it would come from fees that would be expiring this year, such as the boathouse fee. He also said it only made sense to lower taxes during a recession.
"I think that because this crisis essentially happened in a four- to five-month period, to project for an entire year would be extremely short-sighted of us," Porte said. "However, I think the zero-percent fee increase that was mandated by the Board of Regents and the
"One of our biggest responsibilities as Student Senate is making sure that we are not overstepping our bounds in terms of asking for money," Heilman said. "I think you can see that through our platform with common sense, low cost issues."
Porte said keeping the same amount of services on campus was more important than avoiding an increase in fees.
ECONOMIC ISSUES
people who had helped them in the past. Davis said her coalition acquired additional funding by advertising for businesses while promoting itself.
Heilman said keeping costs for students down was a priority.
chancellor is something we seriously need to look at keeping for another year."