PEOPLE
JULY 27 - AUGUST 2, 2005
WWW.KANSAN.COM
PAGE 15
Trump says he's cheaper
UNITED NATIONS Real estate mogul Donald Trump should bid on a United Nations renovation contract if he thinks he can do the job cheaper and better than anyone else, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said.
Trump told a U.S. Senate hearing last week that the United Nations would commit a boondoggle of immense proportions if it goes ahead with its plan to renovate the outdated United Nations secretariat, a project it says will cost about $1 billion.
Trump predicted that if the U.N. continues with its proposal, the cost will balloon to $3 billion. And he said that he could do the job for $700 million.
"If that's the case I'm sure he will get the contract and so I would encourage him to bid," Annan said July 25.
U. N. officials said their plan for the renovation was sound and expelled skepticism at Trump's claims.
Christopher Burnham, a former Department of State official recently appointed to oversee the building project as the U.N.'s undersecretary-general for management, told the same Senate hearing the United Nations would run "a lean, mean operation."
The 38-story U.N. headquarters is dangerously out of date. It has no sprinkler system, is packed with asbestos, and loses about 25 percent of the heat pumped into it in the winter.
Latin singer, Ricky Martin, pledges to fight stereotypes
Celebrity offers to speak for Arab youth
AMMAN, Jordan — On his first visit to the Middle East, Ricky Martin declared he would try to change negative perceptions of Arab youth in the West.
"I promise I will become a spokesperson, if you allow me to, a spokesperson on your behalf. I will defend you and try to get rid of any stereotypes," the 33-year-old singer told youngsters from 16 mainly Arab countries at a youth conference on July 25.
The children, ages 14 to 16, expressed concern about being labeled as "terrorists" by the West.
"I have been a victim of stereotypes. I come from Latin America and to some countries, we are considered 'losers,' drug traffickers, and that is not fair because that is generalizing," said Martin, who was born in Puerto Rico.
"Those comments are made out of ignorance and we have to sometimes ignore the ignorant, but we also have to educate the ignorant. You have me here as a friend," he said.
Martin, who is a United Nations Children's Fund goodwill ambassador, said he wanted to get to know the youth and their cultures better.
He said he planned to do a concert tour of
the Mideast and North Africa, including Jordan and the Palestinian territories, tentatively scheduled for May 2006.
Martin, whose hits include "She Bangs," "Shake Your Bon-Bon" and "Livin' La Vida Loca," posed for photos with fans, at one point draping over his shoulders a traditional Arab kaffiyeh headscarf with the slogan "Jerusalem Is Ours" written in Arabic on it.
"I had no idea that the kaffiyeh scarf presented to me contained language referring to Jerusalem, and I apologize to anyone who might think I was endorsing its message," Martin said in a statement released July 25 by his New York-based publicist, Ken Sunshine.
"My role is entirely humanitarian, and I will continue to promote the elimination of stereotyping anyone - be they from Latin America, the Middle East, or anywhere across the globe," he said in the statement.
Martin attended the silver jubilee of the Arab Children's Congress set up 25 years ago by Jordan's Queen Nour, King Hussein's widow, to promote creativity, peace, cross-cultural understanding and tolerance. He said he would like to promote a similar youth congress for his native Latin America.
Nader Daoud/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ricky Martin, left, is greeted by a Libyan participant of the 25th Arab Children Congress during the opening ceremony on July 24.