/ NEWS / FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2011 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
SPEAKER
Book aims to break down barriers
Chris Neal/KANSAN
Goran Sabah Ghafour, a graduate student from Kurdistan, talks about his new book "Iraqi Fulbrighter" Thursday afternoon at the KU Bookstore. Ghafour signed copies of his new book after the talk for those who purchased it.
KU graduate student hopes his book will help people deal with stereotypes
BY SABRINA AHMED editor@kansan.com
Goran Sabah Ghafour wrote his book while at the University of Kansas as a Fulbright Scholar. "Iraqi Fulbrighter," which was published in February of this year, was written to break down the stereotypes between Middle Easterners and Americans.
Goran Sabah Ghafour, author of "Iraqi Fulbrighter," hosted a book signing at the Kansas Union last night to spread the word about his book.
"Instead of hate and fear, they can come together and understand each other." Ghafour said.
Ibrahima Bo, Ghafour's roommate and the first person who read the story, thinks the book will have a positive effect on future relations between Middle Eastern and American cultures.
"I hope it's going to have quite a big success because it deals with topics that each and every [person] can be interested in." Bo said.
Since the book's release, Ghafour has been publicizing his work. The book has since earned recognition and received offers for translations in Kurdish and Arabic to be published in Kurdistan. The book is also becoming popular in the United States.
"Recently, in San Diego, an organization emailed me to have a book launch to talk about my book fair," Ghafour said. The offer in California is pending, but Ghafour is hopeful that it will work in his favor.
barriers between Americans and Middle Easterners and change the opinion of just one person, then his book is a success.
At the reading, people lined up to get their books signed by Ghafour. And while Ghafour wants international recognition for his book, he says if he can break down
Edited by Amanda Sorell
For more coverage of this story, check out Kansan.com.
NATIONAL
The U.S. Department of Education hopes to raise number of college graduates by 2020
Obama establishes college "Tool Kit"
BY SHAUNA BLACKMON
shlarkmon at kargosg
"Everything was handed to me, but I wanted to be self-sufficient," Lowry said.
Phil Lowry had a comfortable life. Growing up, his parents paid for everything from rent to food to spending money. He didn't have to work, but he chose to anyway.
Within a few months of his third attempt at college Lowry was working upwards of 45 hours per week in addition to taking 15 credit hours at the University of Kansas. This kind of workload wasn't sustainable and it didn't
take long for
Lowry to quit
school.
Thousands of students like Lowry drop out of universities every year for a myriad of reasons. According to the U.S. Department of Education, while
51 percent of Americans between the ages of 25 to 34 start college, only 29 percent finish. The United States used to lead the world in the number of college-educated citizens, but in the past few decades, the U.S. has fallen into a four-way tie for ninth place with Israel, Belgium and Australia.
To combat this slipping number, the Obama administration presented a "College Completion Tool Kit" last week. The program offers ideas on how to enhance college graduation rates through strategies that are at "low-cost" or "no-cost" to the state. These strategies include aligning high school
In order for the U.S. to reach its goal of a 50 percent increase of college educated citizens, the Department of Education said each state would need to have a 60 percent retention and graduation rate by 2020. So far, the University of Kansas is on the right track with a 59,7 graduation rate, according to the American Institute for Research. However
"The dreams and skills of our college graduates will pave the way to a bright economic future."
standards with college entrance and placement standards, making it easier for students to transfer and targeting adults with some college education but no degree. Obama's administration's main push is reducing cost for students.
JOE BIDEN Vice President
while the University is on the right track, there is still room for improvement. To meet the 2020 goal, the U.S. will have to produce at least 8 million
additional college graduates by the end of the decade.
"Right now, we've got an education system that works like a funnel when we need it to work like a pipeline." Vice President Joe Biden said in a press release. "The dreams and skills of our college graduates will pave the way to a bright economic future for our nation."
Edited by Tali David and Samantha Collins
2013-11-11 11:17:49