4A
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2006
LOOMIS (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
His teaching style may not be flashy, but students continue to enjoy his courses.
"He's definitely one of my all-time favorite professors," said Janae Hartmann, Lawrence senior.
Elaine Sharp, the political science department chairwoman, praised Loomis' books and called him a "major player" in American politics.
"I think he does more political commentary than any other faculty member," Sharp said.
She credited Loomis with single-handedly turning around the department's internship program. Now the University regularly sends students to intern in Topeka and Washington, D.C.
"Many of the students who've gone to that have had terrific real-world experiences," Sharp said.
Loomis will readily admit that he doesn't enjoy broad political theorizing and statistical analyses.
Loomis knew Nancy Boyda would beat incumbent Rep. Jim Ryun in the 2nd district congressional race, though it took time for him to become convinced. He also approved of President Bush making the Iraq war the main focus of the 2006 elections.
"I'm interested in some of that stuff." Loomis said. "But I'm also interested in hand-to-hand combat."
"I think he gave the American people the chance to speak on the war and on his presidency," Loomis said. "It didn't turn out well for him, but I think it turned out well for the country."
Politics never gets old for Loomis. With the U.S. Congress, especially, there's always something going on, Loomis said. Sometimes he'll just read a story directly linked to his work.
Loomis was interviewed for the Thomas Frank book "What's the Matter With Kansas?" and has written several books about political
special interests and the religious right.
"You feel like a part of it all, and that's fun." Loomis said.
Loomis' body of work includes many articles and a number of political science textbooks and books about government trends, such as a 1998 book he co-authored called "The Sound of Money: How Political Interests Get What They Want."
Despite his high profile and positive relationships with current politicians such as Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, Loomis doesn't plan to ever run for office.
"I know too much to run for office," he said with a laugh. "I've written too much. Thered be a million quotes that could be used against me."
Kansan staff writer David Linhardt can be contacted at dlinhardt@kansan.com.
Edited by Shanxi Upsdell
WORLD
UN to increase presence in Darfur
BY LES NEUHAUS ASSOCIATED PRESS
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — African, Arab, European and U.N. leaders agreed in principle Thursday to a joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force for Sudan's Darfur region.
The force could be as large as 27,000, including the existing 7,000-member AU peacekeeping force in Darfur, but the leaders did not lay out a timetable for the force to begin work partly because Sudan had some reservations.
Sudan did not give the plan its unreserved approval because officials at Thursday's meeting needed to consult with their superiors, the country's U.N. ambassador, Abdul Mahmoud Abdelhaelem, said.
U. N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the additional personnel could include as many as 17,000 soldiers and 3,000 police officers.
A timetable for the expanded force to begin work was not announced partly because Sudan retained some reservations, including the question of who would be in charge.
"The next step is for the U.N. and AU to call a meeting of the nonsignatories (of the Darfur Peace Agreement) ... and the government of Sudan. It should take place in the next couple of weeks to resolve outstanding issues by the end of the year," Annan told reporters.
A U.N. Security Council resolution has called for U.N. peacekeepers to take over for the poorly equipped and underfunded AU force, which has been unable to quell a war that has left more than 200,000 dead since 2003. But Sudan's government has firmly opposed the takeover.
The agreement was announced at a meeting in Ethiopia that brought together senior officials from the AU, the Arab League, the European Union, Sudan, the United States, China, Russia, Egypt, France and a half-dozen African countries.
The expansion of the existing AU force will take place in three phases, said Annan, who had wanted to try to stop the bloodshed in Darfur before he leaves office on Jan. 1.
An African Union Peace and Security Council meeting will be held in the Republic of Congo on Nov. 24 during which Sudan is expected to present its final views, Annan said.
In recent days, pro-government militia forces known as janjaweed have stepped up attacks on villages in Darfur, killing dozens of people, international observers said Wednesday.
U. S. President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush arrive at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Friday, where Bush will attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. Bush, who has fought against comparisons of the Vietnam War to the Iraq war, challenged Democrats to reject "the old temptations of isolationism and protectionism."
AIR FORCE ONE
Bush pays visit to Vietnam
Charles Dharapak/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Bush's itinerary promised some interesting moments. Before attending a state dinner Friday evening, Bush was to drop by the headquarters of the Communist Party to talk with its general secretary.
BY TERENCE HUNT
ASSOCIATED PRESS
On Air Force One as it flew to Hanoi, White House press secretary Tony Snow dodged discussion of the Vietnam War, either its lessons for Iraq, or Bush's personal interest in visiting a country that once so divided the United States.
Bush was the fourth U.S. president to visit Vietnam, where communist forces prevailed over the United States and a Washington-backed regime in Saigon in a conflict that claimed the lives of more than 58,000 Americans. President Clinton visited Vietnam in 2000; Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon made wartime visits.
Bush and his aides have pushed back against comparisons of the war here and the Iraq war, now in its fourth year. Like Vietnam, the United States faces a determined insurgency in Iraq; both wars have demonstrated the limits of U.S. power.
"The Vietnamese are not particularly interested in that," Snow said. "This is not going to be a look back at Vietnam. It's going to be a look forward" on how to best cooperate on health, trade, prisoners of war and military issues.
Bush flew here from Singapore after warning a nuclear-armed North Korea against peddling its weapons and vowing the United States will not retreat into isolationism.
HANOI, Vietnam — President Bush opened a visit Friday to the wartime capital of this once-divided country, a trip that is stirring inevitable comparisons between the unpopular war in Iraq and the divisive conflict fought and lost in Vietnam more than three decades ago.
Vietnamese officials greeted Bush and his wife, Laura, at the airport on humid and breezy morning. Two young girls, wearing flowing traditional dresses, presented them with bouquets of flowers.
Bush will draw on his powers of personal diplomacy in meetings Saturday and Sunday with Russia's Vladimir Putin, China's Hu Jintao, Japan's Shinzo Abe and South Korea's Roh Moh-hyun.
Although Republicans lost con
All are partners with the United States in talks aimed at persuading a defiant North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons.
"We hear voices calling for us to retreat from the world and close our doors to these opportunities," the president said in a speech at the National University of Singapore. "These are the old temptations of isolationism and protectionism, and America must reject them."
Bush came to Vietnam for a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders and individual meetings with a handful of leaders — all of them curious whether election setbacks had unsettled Bush.
trol of Congress, Bush directly challenged newly empowered Democrats who are demanding a fresh course in Iraq and fearful that free-trade agreements could cost U.S. jobs.
Bush's message in Asia was clear: The United States has been a power in Asia for more than six decades and isn't about to pull back now. Many nations in the region are nervous about the rise of China and how Washington will react.
While North Korea's nuclear test has been widely condemned, the 21 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum appeared divided over what to say publicly. Rice went to Vietnam ahead of Bush to seek a consensus.
Bush said the transfer of nuclear weapons or material by North Korea to others would be "a grave threat to the United States, and we would hold North Korea fully accountable for the consequences of such action."
"For the sake of peace," he said, "it is vital that the nations of this region send a message to North Korea that the proliferation of nuclear technology to hostile regimes or terrorist networks will not be tolerated."
Despite Bush's tough talk, he was unable to deliver a promised agreement to normalize trade with Vietnam. The accord was held up by the House, sending a bad signal across Asia about Bush's clout and the future of trade-liberalizing bills in the Democratic Congress taking power in January.
White House National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley readily admitted the administration was disappointed about the Vietnam trade bill but expressed optimism it would pass.
CORRECTION
Wednesday's This Week on Campus ad contained an error. Hillel's showing of Keep on Dancing at Fatso's tonight is from 9:00 pm - 2:00 am, not 8:30 pm - 11:59 pm.
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