THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013
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INTERNATIONAL
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OCCIATED PRESS grow house in through the growing ration chiefs chance to nullify use.
Venezuelan president dies after cancer battle
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CARACAS, Venezuela President Hugo Chavez, the fiery populist who declared a socialist revolution in Venezuela, crushed against U.S. influence and championed a leftist revival across Latin America, died Tuesday at age 58 after a nearly two-year bout with cancer.
Vice President Nicolas Maduro, surrounded by other government officials, announced the death in a national television broadcast. He said Chavez died at 4:25 p.m. local time.
During more than 14 years in office, Chavez routinely challenged the status quo at home and internationally. He polarized Venezuelans with his confrontational and domineering style, yet was also a masterful communicator and strategist who tapped into Venezuela nationalism to win broad support, particularly among the poor.
Chavez repeatedly proved himself a political survivor. As an army paratroop commander, he led a failed coup in 1992, then was pardoned and elected president in 1998. He survived a coup against his own presidency in 2002 and won re-election two more times.
The burly president electrified crowds with his booming voice, often wearing the bright red of his United Socialist Party of Venezuela or the fatues and red beret of his army days. Before his struggle with cancer, he appeared on television almost daily, talking for hours at a time and often breaking into song of philosophical discourse.
Chavez used his country's vast oil wealth to launch social programs that include state-run food markets, new public housing, free health clinics and education programs. Poverty declined during Chavez's presidency amid a histor-
Inflation soared and the homicide rate rose to among the highest in the world.
boom in oil earnings, but critics said he failed to use the windfall of hundreds of billions of dollars to develop the country's economy.
Chavez underwent surgery in Cuba in June 2011 to remove what he said was a baseball-size tumor from his pelvic region, and the cancer returned repeatedly over the next 18 months despite more surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments. He kept secret key details of his illness, including the type of cancer and the precise location of the tumors.
ASSOCIATED PRESS/FILE PHOTO
"El Comandante," as he was known, stayed in touch with the Venezuelan people during his treatment via Twitter and phone calls broadcast on television, but even those messages dropped off as his health deteriorated.
Two months after his last re-election in October, Chavez returned to Cuba again for cancer surgery, blowing a kiss to his country as he boarded the plane. He was never seen again in public.
After a 10-week absence marked by opposition protests over the lack of information about the president's health and growing unease among the president's "Chavista" supporters, the government released photographs of Chavez on Feb. 15 and three days later announced that the president had returned to Venezuela to be treated at a military hospital in Caracas.
He was also inspired by Cuban leader Fidel Castro and took on the aging revolutionary's role as Washington's chief antagonist in the Western Hemisphere after Castro relinquished the presidency to his brother Raul in 2006.
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez waves to supporters during a government march commemorating the anniversary of Venezuelan democracy in Caracas, Venezuela on Jan. 23, 2002. Venezuela's Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced on Tuesday that Chavez has died.
Argentine-born Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Chavez nurtured that cult of personality, and even as he stayed out of sight for long stretches fighting cancer, his out-sized image appeared on buildings and billboard throughout Venezuela. The airwaves boomed with his baritone mantra: "I am a nation." Supporters carried posters and wore masks of his eyes, chanting. "I am Chavez."
Chavez saw himself as a revolutionary and savior of the poor.
Supporters saw Chavez as the latest in a colorful line of revolutionary legends, from Castro to
"A revolution has arrived here," he declared in a 2009 speech. "No one can stop this revolution."
Chavez's social programs won him enduring support: Poverty rates declined from 50 percent at the beginning of his term in 1999 to 32 percent in the second half of 2011. But he also charmed his audience with sheer charisma and a flair for drama that played well for the cameras.
He ordered the sword of South American independence leader Simon Bolivar removed from Argentina's Central Bank to unsheathe at key moments. On television, he would lambast his opponents as "oligarchs," announce expropriations of companies and lecture Venezuela about the glories of socialism. His performances included renditions of folk songs and impromptu odes to Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong and 19th century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.
Chavez carried his in-your-face style to the world stage as well. In a 2006 speech to the U.N. General Assembly, he called President George W. Bush the devil, saying the podium reeked of sulfur after Bush's address.
Critics saw Chavez as a typical Latin American caudillo, a strongman who ruled through force of personality and showed disdain for democratic rules. Chavez concern-
trated power in his hands with allies who dominated the congress and justices who controlled the Supreme Court.
Chavez acknowledged after he was diagnosed with cancer that he had been recklessly neglecting his health. He had taken to staying up late and drinking as many as 40
cups of coffee a day. He regularly summoned his Cabinet ministers to the presidential palace late at night.
Now, it will be up to Venezuelans to determine whether the Chavismo movement can survive, and how it will evolve, without the leader who inspired it.
NATIONAL
College cancels classes following racist activity
ASSOCIATED PRESS
OBERLIN, Ohio — Scrawls of racially offensive graffiti and, more recently, a report of someone wearing what looked like a Ku Klux Klan-type hooded robe on campus have shaken students at historically liberal Oberlin College, one of the nation's first universities to admit blacks.
A day after the school canceled classes and students marched on campus, many remained worried about their safety.
Tom Weston, of First United Methodist Church, talks about the recent racial incidents at Oberlin College Tuesday in Oberlin, Ohio. The college cancelled classes after a person wearing a hooded robe resembled the Ku Klux Klan was near campus.
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"I just really feel uncomfortable walking alone anywhere," Modjeska Pleasant, 19, a first-year student from Savannah, Ga., said Tuesday.
She said she became upset after hearing a few white students suggest that the racist graffiti first found a month ago and anti-Semitic and racist fliers and other messages left around campus since then were just a prank to get out of classes.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The college canceled Monday's classes after the early morning sighting of the hooded robe. Classes resumed Tuesday.
President Marvin Krislov and three college deans told the campus community in an open letter that
Hate-filled graffiti and racially charged displays are hardly unusual on college campuses. But what makes this string of incidents so shocking is that it happened at a place tied so closely with educating and empowering blacks in America.
they hope the ordeal will lead to a stronger Oberlin. Students and professors gathered Monday afternoon to talk about mutual respect.
Oberlin began admitting blacks nearly 180 years ago. Among its graduates are one of the first blacks elected to public office and the first black lawyer allowed to practice in New York state.
The city itself was a stop on the Underground Railroad that aided escaped slaves.
The college, with nearly 3,000 students, remains a liberal oasis in the middle of northern Ohio, surrounded by conservative farming towns and rust belt cities. Cleveland is about 30 miles away.
Isaac Fuhrman, a psychology from Lexington, Mass., said the incidents were upsetting, especially for black students.
"I guess for them, Oberlin doesn't seem like such a safe haven perhaps," said Fuhrman, who is white.
There are no fraternity or sorority houses at Oberlin, and athletics isn't a big part of campus life. Instead, students come to study music, art and creative writing.
Notable recent alumni include
Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry's ice cream and Lena Dunham, creator of the HBO series "Girls" – a show featuring several characters who met at Oberlin.
Dunham wrote on her Twitter account Monday that she was saddened by the hate-filled incidents.
Hey Obles, remember the beautiful, inclusive and downright revolutionary history of the place you call home. Protect each other," she wrote.
Ready for Commencement? The Grad Fair is tomorrow and Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the KS Union Ballet. You can order announcements, cap and
gowns, class rings, etc.
Information based on the Douglas County Sheriff's Office booking recap.
- A 35-year-old male was arrested yesterday on the 600 block of Wakarusa under suspicion of driving while intoxicated. A $250 bond was paid.
A 40-year-old male was arrested Monday on the 3400 block of Iowa Street under suspicion of urinating or defecating in public. A $100 bond was paid.
A 24-year-old male was arrested Monday on the 3600 block of 25th Street under suspicion of possession of controlled substances. A $500 bond was paid.
- A 28-year-old male was arrested Monday on the 2100 block of Harvard Road under suspicion of driving with a suspended license and driving while intoxicated, third offense. A $3,000 bond was paid.
Emily Donovan
CAMPUS
Contest encourages students' creativity
Students have the opportunity to use their creativity to win a computer in a contest organized by KU Information Technology.
The contest asks students what they would create with a Raspberry Pi, a $35 computer about the size of a business card. Despite its small size, innovators have developed a variety of projects with the Raspberry Pi, including a high-altitude weather balloon, a phone-activated coffee machine and a Pandora jukebox.
A panel of three judges, two from the School of Engineering and one from KU Information Technology, will read through the 250-word-or-less entries to find the winner, who will be picked based on innovation, "cool factor" and practicality.
Students can collaborate together and may enter more than one submission into the contest, but only one computer will go to the winning entry. Interested students can complete the official entry form on the KU Information Technology website. Submissions are due by March 8.
— Katie McBride