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NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, APRIL 22, 2008
RELIGION
KU students among witnesses at New York papal mass
BY RUSTIN DODD
dodd@kansan.com
Rachel Shieber was back in Lawrence on Monday, but the Kansas City, Mo., junior, said she couldn't stop thinking about Sunday.
Shieber was one of three University of Kansas students who traveled to New York this weekend to see Pope Benedict XVI, and attend a papal mass at Yankee Stadium.
Shieber, Adam Hauser, Roeland Park junior, and Greg Wellnitz, Neosho Rapids
"it was very humbling."
senior, joined a 50-person group from the Archdiocese of Kansas City, which traveled to New York on Saturday.
on Saturday, Shieber said the group woke up at 7:40 a.m. on Sunday and headed for Yankee Stadium. When Pope Benedict entered the stadium in his Pope-mobile, Shieber said the crowd greeted the leader of the Roman Catholic church with cheers and chants of "Benedict."
"It was very humbling." Shieben said.
RACHEL SHIEBER Kansas City, Mo., junior
Shieber, Hauser, and Wellnitz were three of 57,000 who packed Yankee Stadium to see Pope Benedict celebrate mass on Sunday. The day's events concluded a six-day trip of the United States for Pope Benedict.
AftersightseeinginNewYorkCity
"I start-
tearing
up a little
bit," Shieber
said.
Shieber and Hauser earned the opportunity to go on the trip by winning a writing contest at
the St. Lawrence Catholic campus center.
The topic of the essay contest was, "In what way can St. Lawrence help KU?" Shieber said.
Back in Lawrence on Monday, Shieber said the experience of seeing the Pope in person had not quite sunk in yet.
"Usually when the priest walks into St. Lawrence, there's not applause." Shieber said.
—Edited by Nick Mangiaracina
Doug Ramp, Benedictine College, Adam Hauser, Kristin Hingula, Benedictine College, Rachel Schieber, Jason Osterhaus, Kansas City Young Adults, and Gina Smith Kansas City Young Adults pose in front of Yankee Stadium for the papal mass. Hauser and Shieber earned the trip by winning a writing contest at St. Lawrence Catholic campus center.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
CRIME
Parents turn in teen's attack plans South Carolina student had Columbine-like intentions
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHESTERFIELD, S.C. — Students arriving Monday at a small South Carolina high school faced newly installed metal detectors and extra security because a student was arrested in what authorities said was a plan to carry out a Columbine-inspired attack.
Bomb-sniffing dogs checked the hallways and classrooms at Chesterfield High School, authorities said. Metal detectors were borrowed from a courthouse, and police met students at the doors.
The father of one 16-year-old sophomore said the police work
over the weekend gave him confidence his son was safe. "I think they're pretty much on top of it. They've had plenty of time to find anything," said parent Michael
ASSOCIATED PRESS
which they'd retrieved after getting a delivery notice from the postal service, authorities said Monday. Police also said they discovered a disturbing journal.
Chesterfield County prosecutor Jay Hodge said he will ask that Schallenberger undergo a mental evaluation when the teen appears in court Tuesday for a bail hearing.
Schallenberger was one of the top students at the high school of about 544 students and had not caused any serious problems before his arrests.
ent Mic Wattson.
The alleged plotter, Ryan Schallenberger, 18, was assigned a lawyer during a brief court hearing Monday. The teen was silent but appeared agitated, his eyes widening at the sight of cameras awaiting him when he entered in an orange jumpsuit, hands cuffed and ankles shackled.
"We've had bomb threats at other schools before and we always have to take each threat seriously and I'm essentially concerned in this situation because of the documentation that the young man had and his apparent ability to actually carry out the conduct," Hodge said.
Schallenberger was arrested Saturday after his parents called police because the teen had ordered 10 pounds of ammonium nitrate,
Police Chief Randall Lear said Schallenberger "seemed to hate the world. He hated people different from him
with good-looking girlfriends."
Schallenberger was one of the top students at the high school of about 544 students and had not caused any serious problems before his arrest, principal Scott Radkin said.
The school's Web site lists Schallenberger as a member of the 2007 academic bowl squad. He won an academic award from Newberry College in the last school year.
The teen was in the Chesterfield
Ryan Schallenberger, 18, was arrested Saturday after his parents called police because 10 pounds of ammonium nitrate was delivered to their home in Chesterfield, S.C. Authorities said Shallenberger had a plan to carry out a Columbine-inspired attack.
County jail Sunday night, charged with possessing materials to make bombs, the police chief said. Other than the bomb-making material, no other weapons were found at his home. Lear said.
Schallenberger kept a journal for more than a year that detailed his plans for a suicide attack and included maps of the school, police said. The writings did not include a specific time for the attack or the intended targets.
The teen planned to make several bombs and had all the supplies needed to kill dozens, depending on where the devices were placed and whether they included shrapnel, Lear said. Ammonium nitrate was used in the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 that killed 168 people.
Schallenberger also left an audio tape that was to be played after he died explaining why he wanted to bomb his school, authorities said. Lear wouldn't detail what was on the tape except to say Schallenberger was an angry young man.
Schallenberger's parents could not immediately be located by The Associated Press. Their phone number is not listed and they did not attend the court hearing Monday.
In his writings, Schallenberger said he admired the two teens who killed 13 people at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999 before committing suicide, Lear said. The attack happened nine years ago Sunday, but Lear said investigators do not know whether there was any link between the anniversary and Schallenberger's plans.
Attorney William Spencer, the teen's court-appointed lawyer, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Chesterfield is a town of about 1,500 people in northeastern South Carolina near the North Carolina line.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MIDDLE EAST
Iraqi prime minister asks for debt forgiveness, opening of embassies
Cameraman Hameed Hashim of the Biladi TV channel is treated for gun wounds in Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday. Unidentified gunmen in two speedy cars opened fire in al Rubaei street in Zayouna area of eastern Baghdad wounding three civilians including Hashim.
BAGHDAD — Iraq's prime minister appealed Monday for support from his Arab neighbors, urging them to open embassies and forgive Iraqi debts as his government tries to crack down on Shiite militias in a crucial power struggle.
But the government plea came as militia leaders warned more violence could await.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, leader of the biggest militia, said they could widen the battles with the government even asking supporters for blood donations to aid fighters injured during weeks of urban clashes.
With tension rising, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki flew to Kuwait for a meeting today of Iraq's neighbors to discuss ways they can help Iraq's Shiite-led government as it confronts both Shiite militias and Sunni extremists including al-Qaida in Iraq.
Al-Maliki said he
will be looking for tangible support, including relief from Iraq's $67 billion foreign debt - most of it owed to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
"There are countries that support the political process and are opening embassies here. We need the others to open embassies here, too," al-Maliki told reporters.
The direct appeal to Arab heavyweights highlights the regional dilemma posed by Iraq.
Sunni Arabs have a strong stake in keeping Iraq -- which is majority Shiite — firmly in the Arab orbit as a buffer against expanding influence by Iran, the largest Shiite nation. But Arab neighbors are still leery of al-Maliki's government and the deep Iranian ties of its main backers.
Al-Maliki is hoping that the ongoing crackdown against Shiite militants will allay their fears of Iranian leanings and a bias against his own Sunni population — which long held a privileged position under Saddam Hussein.
But he also pointed the finger at "some nations" he claimed were supporting extremist groups and "inciting strife through the media"
"There are countries that support the political process and are opening embassies here. We need the others to open embassies here. too."
an apparent reference to Arab
NOURI AL-MALIKI Iraqi Prime Minister
satel- lite TV stations based in the Gulf which t he leaders ship here considers hostile to
U. S. officials have accused Iran which will attend the Kuwait conference of supporting Shiite extremists in Iraq, an allegation the Iranians deny.
the government.
"I am a bewildered by the position of these nations," al-Maliki added, without specifically naming a country. "Do they want to support Iraq? Iraq has emerged from a crisis and needs to be supported."
The United States, too, has pressed Arab governments to respond to security improvements
In Najaf, a top Sadrist spokesman, Salah al-Obeidi, warned that open warfare was a "strong possibility" if the government did not ease the pressure on al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.
and political advances in Iraq with financial and political support. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who visited Baghdad on Sunday, is scheduled to be at the Kuwait meeting to lend support to Iraq.
Al-Obebidi complained that government officials and Shiite intermediaries had offered "no serious proposals" for ending the confrontation and "we are ready for all possibilities."
The government has demanded that al-Sadr disband the Mahdi Army or else the Sadrists will not be allowed to run in provincial elections this fall.
Last weekend, al-Sadr, who is believed to be in Iran, threatened in a Web site statement to declare full-scale war on the U.S.-backed government if attacks on his followers continue.
The crisis began nearly a month ago when al-Maliki launched a military offensive against the Mahdi Army and other Shiite militias in the southern port city of Basra.
Militiamen responded by shelling Baghdad's U.S.-protected Green Zone, which houses the U.S. Embassy and offices of the Iraqi government. U.S. and Iraqi forces then laid siege to the Baghdad militia stronghold of Sadr City.
The daily clashes have raised fears that al-Sadr may formally scrap the unilateral truce he declared last August — a move that American officials credit with helping dramatically reduce violence.
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