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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014
PAGE 3
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Spec. Jason Dumas, left, helps Spec. David Quichocho with his protective boots during a training session on Oct 23. The Kansas National Guard will send soldiers to West Africa next spring to help fight Ebola.
Kansas National Guard to head to West Africa
JAMES LAMB
@thejameslamb
The Kansas National Guard will be sending approximately 170 soldiers to West Africa next spring as part of the U.S. military's efforts in the area to fight against Ebola.
According to a press release from the Kansas Adjutant General's Department, soldiers from the 891st Engineer Battalion will begin training next month, deploy starting spring of 2015 and be deployed between six months and a year.
"The 891st was selected because it has the right capabilities to fit the mission requirements," said Maj. Gen. Lee Tafanelli, Kansas Adjutant-General in a press release. "Our role in this mission is very critical in the overall fight against Ebola in West Africa."
Primarily, the 891st Engineer Battalion will be building medical facilities in the area when they deploy, having been authorized to join active duty forces in Operation United Assistance by executive order from President Obama signed Oct. 16, read the press release.
"As with any of our deployments, our highest priority is our soldiers' safety and well-being," said Tafanelli. "We will ensure we take all the necessary steps [and] make sure they have the proper training to accomplish their mission, as well as to ensure they have the correct protective measures in place."
speak from his own experience as he was deployed with the Kansas National Guard to Djibouti, Africa from 2011 to 2012.
Will Chuber, an assistant professor of Military Science at the University said he believes these kind of humanitarian deployments can be a positive experience, both for those being deployed, and those being assisted. Chuber was able to
"We worked with not only different militaries of Africa, but we also got to work with the local communities. We would do English discussion groups, where the Dijboutian people, from grade school to college, who hadn't really had a chance to talk to Americans, [got to] practice their English and ask questions, kind of a cultural interaction thing." Chuber said. "My unit actually kind of adopted the local orphanage, so we did things like take care of the orphans, and painted and fixed things. It was a pretty rewarding experience actually."
Edited by Miranda Davis
Life sentence conviction in Chinese students' slayings
Photos provided by the Los Angeles Police Department show shooting victims Ming Qu, left, and Ying Wu, two students from China.
ILINDA DEUTSCH
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — A man convicted of killing two Chinese graduate students was sentenced Monday in Los Angeles to multiple life terms in prison by a judge who denounced him for showing no remorse and smiling while a grief-stricken victim's father spoke in court.
Javier Bolden made no comment during a lengthy hearing during which the mother of one victim sobbed and the father of another called him "human trash" and "a monster."
The killings drew international interest and fueled concerns in China about the safety of students abroad. Bolden, 22, was found guilty last month of shooting Ming Qu and Ying Wu as they sat in a double-parked car about a mile from the University of Southern California campus, where both were graduate students. His sentence includes two consecutive terms without possibility of parole.
Superior Court Judge Stephen Marcus said the killings put a stain on the reputation of the university and on the city of Los Angeles.
Wan Zhi Qu, the father of Ming Qu, said, "Our two outstanding children are gone, but the monsters who took their lives are still alive."
"Nothing will erase the pain you have caused," he told Bolden. "This is truly one of the saddest cases I have presided over."
A co-defendant, Bryan Barnes, who shot into the locked car where the students sat, pleaded guilty in February to two counts of first-degree murder and was
"You have committed heinous crimes against our families and the judgment you have received is not fair," said Qu, suggesting the two convicted killers should have received death.
"This is humiliating to the people of China," he said. "We have received no comfort or consolation from the responsible parties. As a society that is very particular about human rights and justice, do you think this is rational and fair?"
Authorities said Bolden told a cellmate that he shot the engineering students. The cellmate was a police informant and secretly recorded Bolden discussing how he and his friend had planned to steal the couple's BMW.
also sentenced to life without parole in a plea deal to avoid the death penalty.
Bolden also was convicted of attempted murder and assault with a firearm in earlier shootings that wounded two men and a woman.
He asked that the men be required to apologize to the families because, he said, until then their dead children could not rest in peace.
is within a mile of gangplagued neighborhoods with historically high crime rates. Since the 2012 killings the Los Angeles police department has assigned about 30 more officers to the university community.
The judge paid tribute to the two 23-year-old graduate students, who were in love and planning to be married.
"You killed their dreams," he said, and also noted that he caused unending grief for his own family. Bolden's mother was in court for the sentencing but rushed out afterward, making no comment.
He noted that in a confession to a jailhouse informant, Bolden was cavalier in his attitude and said of the killings, "It was boom boom, and that was it."
Marcus held up a newspaper picture of Bolden smiling at his conviction. "I even caught you smiling during the (father's) statement today. Mr. Bolden, you just don't get it. How can you be gleeful about the grief you caused?"
USC's urban campus
He said Bolden sounded as if he was playing a video game.
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