THE UNIVERSITY OF DARRY KANSAN
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2008
NEWS
3A
STUDY ABROAD
Italy business program moves to University of Iowa
BY KEVIN HARDY editor@kansan.com
A popular KU study abroad program that draws more than 150 Jayhawks each year to Italy, has moved from the University of Kansas to the University of Iowa.
The program, called CIMBA, the Consortium Institute of Management and Business Analysis, has been sponsored by the University for more than eight years and offers classes in business, journalism and communications in Paderno del Grappa.
Al Ringleb. a former professor of business at the University, is the program's executive director. An Iowa native who has close ties to the
University of Iowa, Ringleb moved the program to Iowa's university when the University's contract with the program expired this summer.
"We fully expect that this transition will not have a negative impact on students attending from KU." Ringleb said in a telephone interview from Italy.
Tim Shaftel, professor of business and faculty advisor to the Office of Study Abroad, said that KU students would still be able to participate but must obtain credit from the University of Iowa.
Shaftel said he expected most classes would transfer and that there would be no change in the price for KU students.
Several KU professors travel to
Italy each semester to teach classes. KU professors and students have predominantly led the program in attendance, but that is expected to now shift to Iowa.
"Iowa was interested in running it," Shaftel said. "KU was feeling that the administration of the program was more of a burden than it wanted to take on."
Iowa faculty, in the meantime, see the takeover of the program as an opportunity.
"Like Kansas, we work hard to maintain a national reputation, and heading this international program really aids in that mission," said Gary Gaeth, a professor of marketing and faculty director of the program on the Iowa campus. "It's great
for our students, our reputation, and faculty development."
Gaeth said he still expected a high level of participation from KU students. Last spring, 56 KU students attended the program, though 21 attended this fall semester. Updated enrollment figures anticipate 70 KU students will attend this spring semester.
Ringleb said although the switch to Iowa was a tough decision, it was necessary. He pointed to Iowa's progress in neuroscience, brain imaging and leadership development as motivating reasons for the move.
Ringleb said that growing up in Iowa did leave him a little biased in regards to the move, as did friendly relations with other University of
iowa leaders. He said that Sally Frost Mason, now the president of the University of Iowa, and the former dean of the KU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, also helped in his decision to take the program to Iowa.
Ringleb said he had always hoped to see more involvement from the University of Iowa, which was not a participating school in the program until it took over in August.
"If it hadn't been at Iowa, I probably wouldn't have been as interested," Ringleb said.
Although the University of Kansas no longer oversees the program, Ringleb said that he still would like it to play an important role.
"There was a strong sense of loss,
even though it was a move forward" Ringleb said.
The University still maintains a program office on the KU campus, although with a much smaller staff than it once had.
"The KU student has really set an impressive standard." Ringleb said. "With a KU student, you're starting with a product that has a high sense of value and purpose."
Students now wishing to attend the program in Paderno can find more information at www.cimbaitaly.com or by visiting the Italy Program office in Summerfield Hall. Applications for the summer semester are due Feb. 1.
NATIONAL
III. governor says 'business as usual; ignores Obama's pleas to step down
Edited by Jennifer Torline
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, center, leaves his home through a back alley Wednesday, a day after he was arrested on federal corruption charges.
Associated Press
BY DEANNA BELLANDI AND CHRISTOPHER WILLS
Associated Projc
CHICAGO — His career in shreds, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich clung defiantly to power Wednesday, ignoring a call to step down from President-elect Barack Obama and a warning that Senate Democrats will not let him appoint a new senator from the state.
"Everyone is calling for his head," said Barbara Flynn Currie, a leader in the Illinois Senate and, like the governor, a Democrat.
One day after Blagojevich's arrest, fellow Illinois politicians sought to avoid the taint of scandal-by-association.
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. said at a news conference in Washington that he was Senate Candidate 5 in the government's criminal complaint — a man Blagojevich was secretly recorded as saying might be willing to pay money to gain appointment to Obama's vacant Senate seat. Jackson said he had been assured by prosecutors he was not a target of the investigation, and he emphatically said he had not engaged "whatsoever in any wrongdoing."
Other Democrats in Washington edged away from calls for a special election to fill Obama's place in the Senate, hoping that Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn would soon become governor and fill the vacancy on his own. That would assure the party of holding the seat, and on a far faster timetable than any balloting would allow.
Ensconced in his downtown
office, Blagojevich gave no sign he was contemplating resigning, and dispatched his spokeswoman, Kelley Quinn, to say it was "business as usual" in his 16th-floor suite, situated a few blocks from Obama's transition headquarters.
"At the end of the day, the top priority for our office is to serve the people, and we have not lost sight of that, nor will we lose sight of that," Quinn said.
One day earlier, federal prosecutors released a thick document that included excerpts of wirtapped conversations in which the governor allegedly schemed to enrich himself by offering to sell Obama's Senate seat for campaign cash or a lucrative job.
"The president-elect agrees with Lt. Gov. Quinn and many others that under the current circumstances it is difficult for the governor to effectively do his job and serve the people of Illinois." Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said in response to questions from The Associated Press.
Blagojevich, whose 52nd birthday was Wednesday, is charged with conspiracy and solicitation to commit bribery, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and 10 years, respectively.
More than 24 hours after the arrest, Obama joined other prominent Democrats from his state in calling for Blagojevich's resignation.
Asked whether Obama supports a special election, Gibbs said Obama believes the Illinois General Assembly should consider how to fill the Senate seat and "put in place a process to select a new senator
that will have the trust and confidence of the people of Illinois."
Top Senate Democrats were more pointed in a letter circulated among the rank and file for signatures.
Blagojevich's resignation, followed by an appointment made by a new governor, would "be the most expeditious way for a new senator to be chosen and seated in a manner that would earn the confidence of the people of Illinois and all Americans," wrote Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and the party's second-ranking leader, Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois.
They added that if Blagojevich chose to "ignore the request of the Senate Democratic Caucus and make an appointment we would be forced to exercise our Constitutional authority ... to determine whether such a person should be seated."
Top Illinois lawmakers have said they are preparing to call the Legislature into session as early as next week to set a special election to choose Obama's successor. Many officials said Blagojevich should be impeached if he refuses to leave.
The Constitution gives the Senate authority to refuse to allow a member to be sworn in.
Still, it was unclear what incentive the governor had to give up his office.
His attorney said Tuesday that he is innocent, and a resignation might make him appear guilty. The office also gives him a certain amount of clout, which can help him raise money for his defense.
BY JENNIFER LOVEN
Obama will use full name for inauguration ceremony In an effort to'reboot' America's image worldwide, Obama to use'Hussein'when swearing in next month
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama says he will try to "reboot America's image" among the world's Muslims and will follow tradition by using his entire name
- Barack Hussein Obama — in his swearing-in ceremony.
The U.S. image globally has taken a big step.
POLITICS
The U.S. taken a deep hit during President George W. Bush's two terms in office, primarily because of opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, harsh interrogation of prisoners.
the indefinite detention of terrorist suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and mistreatment of inmates at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
Obama promised during his campaign that one of his top priorities would be to work to repair America's reputation worldwide, and that one element of that effort would be a speech delivered in a Muslim capital.
He pledged anew to give such a speech, though he declined to say whether it would happen during his first year in office.
"It's something I intend to follow through on," Obama said in an interview published Wednesday in the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times. "We've got a unique opportunity to reboot America's image around the world and also in the Muslim world in particular. So we need to take advantage of that."
"The tradition is that they use all three names and I will follow the tradition, not trying to make a statement one way or another."
to create a relationship of mutual respect and partnership with countries."
During the campaign, Obama repeatedly faced questions about whether he is a Muslim, particularly in whisper campaigns that noted his middle name, that his father is
"I think the world is ready for that message," he said in the interview, conducted Tuesday.
Obama said his message would be twofold: that his administration will be unyielding in stamping out terrorist extremism but also "unrelenting in our desire
BARACK OBAMA President-elect
Asked if he would drop his middle name during his inauguration on Jan. 20, thir
Kenyan, and that he lived for a time as a child in Indonesia. Obama is a practicing Christian.
president-elect said he would not.
Obama also talked about the spiritual support he sought during his White House bid, particu-
"The tradition is that they use all three names and I will follow the tradition, not trying to make a statement one way or another," he said.
Obama said
tary, since he and his family left Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ after inflammatory comments by its pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah W right, became a campaign issue.
BARACK OBAMA President-elect
On other topics:
other religious faiths.
"We've got a unique opportunity to reboot America's image around the world and also in the Muslim world in particular."
"I'm not even sure that all of them voted for me." Obama said. "But they were willing to pray for me, and that's something that was wonderful."
—The man about to be the nation's first black president said he will make enforcing civil rights laws and making the criminal justice system color-blind top priorities for his administration. The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division "over the last eight years has had a lot of problems and
Obama said he, his wife Michelle and their two young daughters will make frequent visits during his presidency back to their home in
Obama would not put a timetable on issues important to organized labor, what he called his promise to "put an end to the kinds of barriers and roadblocks that are in the way of workers legitimately coming together in order to form a union and bargain collectively," Among other things, he has promised support for a card-check system for unions trying to organize a new workplace and for adding labor and environmental protections to the North American Free Trade Agreement. "I don't want to anticipate right now what sequences will be on these issues," Obama said.
Obama said he set up a "sort of prayer circle across the country" of pastors who would pray for him every morning on a conference call. Obama said he sometimes joined the call, which involved leaders from various Christian denominations and
really declining morale," he said.
Chicago, perhaps as often as every six weeks. "My Kennebunkport is on the South Side of Chicago," he said. "Our friends are here. Our family is here. And so we are going to try to come back here as often as possible."