8A
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY OF JOHN KANSAS
MONDAY AUGUST 18, 2008
POLITICS
Student finds place as national democratic delegate
BT JESSE TRIMBLE
jtrimble@kansan.com
Clarissa Unger never dreamed she would be a national delegate for the state of Kansas.
But next week she will be one of many supporting Sen. Barack Obama (D-ill.) at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. She was one of five applicants out of a group of 70 to become a national Democratic delegate for Kansas. Unger, Colby senior, is one of the three youngest people in Kansas to be chosen as a national delegate.
Clarissa Unger, Colby senior, will be traveling to Denver for the 2008 Democratic National Convention as a representative delegate of Congressional District 3, which comprises the eastern portion of Lawrence. Unger was initially chosen to be a district delegate in February 2008 and later chosen as a convention delegate. The national convention will take place Aug. 25 to Aug. 28.
During the DNC, Unger and others will be able to formally vote for Obama as the Democratic nominee for president
Unger discovered a passion for Obama's campaign when she read his first book, "Dreams from my Father," a couple of years ago over Christmas break.
"I just fell in love with his policies and his plans for our country. I was incredibly fascinated by his second book as well and waited for him to announce his decision to run for president." Unger said.
year to help with the campaign.
Unger first got the chance to work with Obama's campaign in May 2007 with the KC Kickoff, where she helped prepare and set up for the event. After that she discovered an organization at the University of Kansas called "Students for Barack Obama" and immediately joined. She became the state coordinator and traveled to Iowa and New Hampshire last
Unger was surprised to receive a call from Obama's campaign staff offering her a position at Obama's campaign headquarters in Chicago.
"I dropped everything. I paid to get myself to Chicago and stay there for just over a month and I'm also paying to drive to Denver for the convention and stay in a hotel there," Unger said.
Chelsea Mertz, Topeka junior; will join Unger at the College and National conventions, held Aug. 22 and Aug. 25 through Aug. 28, respectively. Mertz won't cast a vote, but said it has always been her dream to be part of the campaign since she heard Obama's first speech in 2004.
"I've worked with Clarissa and am part of Young Democrats on campus and have been very excited about the campaign this year." Mertz said.
Diana Carlin, professor of communication studies, said she thought college students played a major role in the primaries and that they would continue to do so.
"A lot of things have happened within the past few years to have a huge impact on this generation. 9/11 had a tremendous impact as well as the 2000 and 2004 election years," Carlin said. "They've shown that votes do actually matter."
She added that many young people don't participate because they think their vote won't change anything.
"Both of the current candidates resonate with students. Whether it's environmental issues or foreign policy issues, students of this generation are listening."
Carlin said.
Carlin added that it had been a unique and exciting primary season. From T-shirts to other trends, Carlin said the outward display
students were showing was important, because young people hadn't been connected to the political scene in a while.
said. "All of the crucial issues that matter to students will encourage them to show up and vote."
"This will tie students in," Carlin
— Edited by Tara Smith
STUDENT SENATE Discussions to include rec center expansion
Student representatives from KU administration, recreational services and the athletics department will begin discussing a potential Student Recreation Fitness Center expansion early this fall.
Adam McGonigle, Wichita junior and student body president.
said a third party consultant would then conduct a formal study to determine how each group wanted to proceed with an expansion.
McGonigle and Michael Gillaspie, Ashland senior and student body vice president, will then lead focus groups of students around campus to find out what students want from the recreation center and how much they would be
willing to pay for it.
"We're committed to making sure students have the final say and are being leaders and determining what happens at the rec center," McGonick said.
Once the Senate has a better understanding of what students want from a rec center expansion, a bill would most likely appear in the 2009 Student Senate elections.
Gillaspie said he met with Kathy Rose-Mockry, head of the resource center, to review educational self-defense programs offered on campus and improve them.
"Because of recent things over the summer like deaths, rape and assault, we want to make sure that we're doing our best to educate students and make sure our students are safe." Gillaspie said.
Campus safety was one of former coalition United Students' platforms during the spring 2008 elections.
Mason Heilman, Lawrence junior and student executive committee chairman, said Student Senate had 100 wireless access points left to install from the KU wireless initiative that was approved in spring 2007. So far, the $2.6 million plan has added about 600 wireless access points to the 218 existing points in an effort to make all classrooms, labs and academic areas on campus wireless.
Resource Center to increase campus safety.
More wireless areas may be coming to campus
universities to discover how they handle enrollment, textbooks and academic records in hopes of finding ways to improve the University's online Enroll & Pay system. An improved enrollment system was a platform McGonigle and Gillaspie were elected on.
Gillaspie said he planned to present his report to the Provost, Chancellor and the department of information technology with ideas for how the University's system could be improved for students.
Gillaspie to present report on Enroll & Pay
The Senate will discuss where to put the remaining access points during the next meeting.
"It does what it needs to do, but we're really working on making it easier and more educational as far as knowing what requirements they have and how those fit in with their degree," Gilaspie said.
Women's resource center hopes to improve safety
Student Senate is working with the Emily Taylor Women's
Haley Jones
Gillaspie said he had been working with other Big 12
IRAQ
TAL AFAR, Iraq — A series of bombings in this small but strategic northwestern Iraqi city is stoking fears of a return to sectarian conflict here and raising questions about a strategy of handing urban security to Iraqi police.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Major bombings raise new fears
BY PHILLIP ROBERTSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
Since April, at least four major bombings have killed about 40 people and wounded nearly 150 on this city on the main route from Mosul to the east and the
Syrian border 60 miles to the west. The deadliest was on Aug. 8, when a suicide bomber detonated a truck packed with explosives in a vegetable market in a Shite district, killing at least 20 people, police said. U.S. officials blamed the attack on al-Qaida in Iraq.
"The goal was to start sectarian violence with the car bombs," he said. "There used to be a whole brigade here and now it's less. Soon, these policies will backfire in Tal Afar and allow terrorists to come in"
The city's mayor, Najim Abdullah, fears that the removal of American troops from his city and the deployment of Iraqi army soldiers to nearby Mosul have left his overwhelming Turkoman community vulnerable.
Those concerns have emerged even as insurgent attacks and sectarian bloodshed have ebbed over the past year throughout Iraq, and as the U.S. is considering a further reduction in the 145,000-member U.S. force following the July departure of the last of the troops sent here in 2007 to curb sectarian violence.
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