THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2013
PAGE 3
PROTEST
Pussy Riot inmate declares hunger strike
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MOSCOW — One of the imprisoned members of the Russian punk group Pussy Riot declared a hunger strike on Monday to protest what she described as inhumane working conditions and threats to her life at a women's penal colony.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this July 26, 2013 file photo. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, foreground right, a member of the feminist punk band, Pussy Riot, listens from behind bars at a courtroom at a district court in Saransk. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova says she is beginning a hunger strike to protest harsh working conditions and threats to her life.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova is serving a two-year sentence for "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred." She and two other group members were arrested in early 2012 after Pussy Riot burst into Moscow's main Orthodox cathedral and tried to perform a "punk prayer" denouncing Vladimir Putin.
In a passionate five-page letter published on the group's blog, Tolokonnikova said inmates in her penal colony are forced to work up to 17 hours a day in a shop that makes police uniforms in order to fulfill the quotas. Brigades that fail to meet the quotas are punished by being denied food, prevented from using the bathroom or made to stand outside in the cold, she wrote.
She also said the deputy warden
administration starts obeying the law and stops treating incarcerated women like cattle thrown out of the justice system to serve the needs of the sewing industry but like people," she wrote.
threatened her last month by suggesting that other prisoners would be encouraged to kill her in retribution for her attempts to challenge the prison system.
"If they find out that this happened because of you, then things will certainly never be bad for you because nothing is ever bad in the next world," Tolokonnikova quoted the deputy warden as saying.
Tolokonnikova submitted separate complaints to Russia's chief investigative agency and the prison service about the threats she said she has received and the working conditions at the penal colony in the Mordovia region, about 500 kilometers (300 miles) east of Moscow.
She described a system where inmates with ties to the prison administration are used to terrorize other inmates to keep them in line.
The prison service said the inmates work in two shifts and denied that the women spend any more than eight hours per day in the sewing shop, the Interfax news agency reported.
Fedotov, said on Twitter that four members of the council would travel to the prison on Tuesday to look into the complaints.
Tolokomnikova said she first appealed to the prison administration to shorten the work day and
Therefore, on Sept. 23, I am declaring a hunger strike and refusing to take part in the slave labor in the colony until the
The head of the presidential human rights council, Mikhail
call off the inmates threatening her, but it led only to increased pressure.
It was one year ago today that the president of the Republic of Columbia visited campus. Juan Manuel Santos happens to be a KU
Information based on the Douglas County Sheriff's Office booking recap.
- A 24-year-old male was arrested Sunday on Kansas Highway 10 on suspicion of criminal trespassing, criminal damage to property, aggravated burglary and domestic battery. A $12,000 bond was paid.
alumnus
- A 38-year-old male was arrested Sunday on Interstate 70 on suspicion of possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of controlled substance. A $2,000 bond was paid.
POLICE REPORTS
CRIME
Composer's son sentenced to 25 years in prison for murder
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — An Oscar-winning composer's son was sentenced Monday to at least a quarter-century in prison in the death of his fashion designer girlfriend, capping a saga of a one-hit-wonder father and an aimless son both were accused of seriously abusing women.
As Nicholas Brooks was given the maximum 25-year-to-life
conviction in the murder of Sylvie Cachay, there was no way his father could have been there to see him. Joseph Brooks, who wrote the 1970s touchstone song "You
Brooks' lawyer argued Cachay's December 2010 death was an accident, and Brooks told a court Tuesday it was "the most devastating thing that has ever occurred in my life.
"I think about her every day, and it breaks my heart. I loved her very much, and not a moment goes by where I do not miss her."
The liaison was laced with Brooks' jealousy and violence, prosecutors said; police once were summoned after he allegedly slammed Cachay's head into a wall, though no charges were
"I think about her every day, and it breaks my heart. I loved her very much, and a moment goes by where I do not miss her," said Brooks, who plans to appeal. But Cachay's relatives lashed
Light Up My Life," killed himself in 2011, while he was fighting charges of raping or molesting 13 would-be actresses.
The younger Brooks, 27, and Cachay had a tumultuous six-month relationship, bolstered by obvious affection but hampered by differences in age, attitude and ambition, according to trial testimony.
filed. Prosecutors said Brooks ultimately strangled Cachay because she was dumping him.
NICHOLAS BROOKS
out at Brooks:
"a cowardly liar, a parasite to our society,
an abuser of women and a repulsive murderer," said one of her brothers,
Patrick Orlando.
Manhattan
state Supreme
Court Justice
Bonnie Wittner
said Brooks squandered his education and privilege.
When Cachay met Brooks, he was a college dropout working odd jobs and living largely off a trust fund from his father. The elder Brooks largely raised him after a custody fight, said their mutual lawyer, Jeffrey Hoffman.
The duo checked into the Soho House hotel after a small fire in Cachay's apartment. A surveillance camera showed the two wobbling into their room, then Nicholas Brooks leaving and returning several times, at one point
Cachay's partially clothed body was discovered in an overflowing bathtub. Medical examiners ruled she was forcibly drowned and stranded.
Cachay, 33, had worked as a designer for Marc Jacobs, Victoria's Secret and Tommy Hilfiger and had her swimsuit line.
appearing frantic, before taking off for hours.
"Couples break up every day without one ending up in a gunny inside the coroner's office.
He just had to walk away. That's all he had to do. 'Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann said.
Hoffman argued Cachay drowned accidentally, passing out from an overdose of alcohol and prescription drugs used to treat migraines and fibromyalgia, a disorder that causes widespread pain.
Brooks wanted to spend his future with Cachay, and "it was the first time in this man's life that he had ever had that depth of feeling for anyone and from anyone," Hoffman said.
Joseph Brooks won the Academy Award for best original song in 1977 for "You Light Up My Life," sung by Debby Boone. Brooks wrote and directed the romantic comedy of the same name, but then his career foundered.
Prosecutors said the songwriter lured the women to his Manhattan apartment through an online ad offering movie auditions, then sexually assaulted them after making them drink apparently drugged wine for an "acting exercise." He pleaded not guilty. Four days after his suicide at 73, his former assistant pleaded guilty to criminal facilitation, saying she helped him meet 10 of the women.
MONEY FROM PAGE 1
life-skills.
"These decisions are complicated, especially for young people."
In her research for "Children as Potential Investors," Friedline analyzed seven years of data on young people who began savings accounts at the average age of 17. She found that those who started accounts were twice as likely to maintain their account, and four times more likely to have invested in stocks and accumulated an average of $2,000 by the time they were 23. Young people who did not start an account accumulated an average of about $100 in the same amount of time.
Friedline said her findings also indicate that people who open savings accounts at a young age are more likely to develop a good relationship with financial institutions and understand how they operate.
"Having connections with banks and learning how to use them well is important for transitioning into independence and adulthood."
Friedline said. "Being able to invest in future assets and making those decisions at a young age can make it easier to make healthy financial decisions throughout the course of your life."
Friedline said her research indicates not all young people are being properly educated when it comes to finance, which she thinks needs to be addressed in schools.
"In some ways, it shows as a country we kind of neglected helping people grow up to be financially capable citizens." Friedline said. "Many kids are learning about financials through osmosis from their parents, but it is something that needs to be integrated much more systematically as far as schools and our public discourse and conversation."
Ginger Werp, a senior from Overland Park, said she wasn't taught the nuances of savings and finance in school or at home, and that most young adults are forced to learn through experience.
"I think it's just life," Werp said.
"When you run out of money,
you realize maybe next time you shouldn't spend so much, and prioritize bills and food instead of clothes and go out."
Werp added that an education plan similar to what Friedline calls for could be beneficial for students.
"Maybe if high schools, or when you're a freshman in college, if they kind of teach you about finances, that would be helpful." Werp said. "Even just an hour of a class could make a difference in what you think about when you're spending."
Not everyone thinks a financial education is necessary, however. Evgeny Grishin, a junior from Russia, said with the resources available, people shouldn't need a class to learn the basics of savings.
"I probably wouldn't attend it," Grishin said. "It's time, and there are other things to spend time on. I can probably learn it on my own; there's Internet and other things, so people can find out on their own."
—Edited by Duncan McHenry
GUTH FROM PAGE 1
encouraging, I trust University leaders will seek to minimize further damage to the reputation of the University of Kansas by severing all ties to Mr. Guth," Wagle wrote.
Guth's Twitter account has been removed in the wake of the public backlash, but he has refused to apologize for his comments.
"All I did was what any American should have the right to do: express his or her opinion in an opinion forum," Guth said last Thursday. "I regret that there's been a blowback at KU. I didn't do it on a KU site."
Senator Greg Smith (R-Overland Park) also called for Guth's dismissal this weekend, citing his past conduct in addition to the recent tweet. The University censured Guth in 2010 for "unprofessional, threatening and abusive behavior towards another faculty member."
"Professor Guth has a history of threatening colleagues, and he was censured for that," Smith said. "Apparently he likes to threaten people whether it's in social media or in person, and that's not the person I want to be spending tax dollars on educating the people of Kansas."
Another topic working its way into the discussion surrounding
"The problem I have with tenure is that sometimes it protects employees that do acts like this that would get someone in the private sector fired," Smith said. "The legislature can definitely look into that, but we would probably defer to the Board of Regents on that issue."
—Edited by Duncan McHenry
Guth is the subject of tenure, which could prevent the University from dismissing him. Smith said the issue is one that should be evaluated on a state level.