THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2008
NEWS
3A
》 LECTURE
Guest speaker declares parts of Nigeria safe for travel
BY RUSTIN DODD
rdodd@kansan.com
University of Kansas students aren't officially allowed to study abroad in Nigeria.
Garth Myers, director of the Department of African and African American Studies, hopes that might soon change.
Mindy Rickette/KANSAN
Mukhtar Shehu Shagari, the Deputy Governor of Sokoto State in Nigeria, speaks to students from the African and African-American Studies department on Monday. Shagari said parts of Nigeria were safe for students to study abroad in.
The U.S. State Department issued a travel warning for Nigeria in November 2007, and its against University policy to send students to countries with travel warnings.
But with political and civic leaders from Nigeria visiting this week, Myers said he hopes students realize that parts of the country are completely peaceful.
"It's a huge country, and it's a federal republic, and I think over the course of time, hopefully the whole country will settle down," Myers said.
His Excellency Mukhtar Shehu Shagari, the Deputy Governor of Sokoto State, will lecture on the political and economic developments of Africa's most populous country at 9 a.m. today in room 150 JRP Hall. Shagari's home — Sokoota State — is in northwestern Nigeria. Myers said most of the violence is confined to the Niger
delta region in southern Nigeria.
"It's like saying there's a rebellion in Florida, so you can't send students to Oregon," Myers said.
Myers said he hoped Shagari's visit would help foster positive University relations with Nigeria.
"If we can build a relationship with those regions that are experiencing stability, then maybe we can have students start going there, and we can have research exchanges with faculty."
Aminu Gusau, a native Nigerian who teaches in the African and African-American Studies department, said Shagari's visit could benefit students and University faculty members alike.
"It's important to have speakers who have practical experience in African politics." Gusau said.
Shagari, who is traveling with special assistant Jaafar a Sadeeq and Nigerian businessman Muktar A. Shinkafi, gave an informal lecture on Monday to a small crowd at the Kansas Union.
He said that past dictatorships had torn apart Nigeria, but there's reason for optimism.
The former minister of water resources for Nigeria's federal government said there's gaining confidence in the financial
sector and an improving water supply in parts of the country.
Shagari, who will also tour the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics and meet with Chancellor Hemenway during his visit, said more than 65 percent of Nigerians had access to water.
Shagar also said Nigeria had improved dramatically since the fall of its last
military dictator in 1999, and although Nigeria's democracy is in its infancy, Shaqari said it's steadily evolving.
"A democratic government, no matter how bad it is," Shagari said, "is far better than a military government."
-Edited by Mandy Earles
Study groups coordinate with classes
Former Missouri Gov. Bob Holden addresses the audience at a Spring 2007 study group. New policies some professors are implementing in their classes requires students to attend study session at the Robert J. Ole Institute of Politics.
DOLE INSTITUTE
JESSICA WICKS jwicks@kansan.com
For the first time, students can receive class credit for attending study groups at the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics.
Nicole McCleskey, political researcher for Public Opinion Strategies, will speak today as the first in a series of political leaders and analysts who will lead the study groups this semester
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
McCleskev
The Dole Institute has arranged a union between KU classes and the study group that any professor can use as part of his or her curriculum. The initiative is an effort to increase student participation and form a relationship between the Institute and KU academics.
The study group has brought various influential speakers to the University, including "Good Morning America" Kate Snow, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and President Bill Clinton. The group lets students spend personal time with major political influences. Each semester, the group talks about a specific topic of importance on Capitol Hill.
Jennifer Schmidt, senior fellow at the Dole Institute, said that the study group could become a second thought because students had so many obligations. If it is integrated into classes, Schmidt said, it would move from the list of things they want to do to things they have to do.
This semester's topic is gender, race and religion in politics.
"We are confronting these issues that we have never had to confront before, all three in the same presidential cycle," Schmidt said.
Mary Banwart, an assistant professor of communication studies, designed her class around the study groups. The groups make politics come to life in a
way that can't be captured in a textbook, she said.
"The study group is super responsive to students." Banwart said, adding that the continuation of her connection with the groups would be dependent on whether the students enjoyed it.
Schmidt said politics was something that you fell in love with. She said that when she went to Washington as a young adult, she was captured by the intellectual stimulation and history. She said this group helped bring that atmosphere to the University.
"It is not TV or a big audience," Schmidt said. "Students really get the chance to sit down and talk with these people."
mer lead pollster for the Republican State Leadership Committee, will have a hands-on discussion about her experience in polling, mock trials and community attitude research at today's study group.
Beka Romm, Bennington senior, said she originally came to the group for the free cookies but kept coming because the group engaged her in political discussions that students don't normally get access to.
McCleskev, today's speaker and a for
Romm, who got her job as the Dole Institute's student outreach coordinator from one of the fellows at the institute, said the networking opportunities were incredible. She said the discussions were determined informally by the students, which made the speakers more
approachable.
The study group is funded by the Dole Institute and is still open to all students and faculty.
- Edited by Katherine Loeck
LAWRENCE
Journalist shares her passion, expertise for the environment
Simran Sethi joins city's task force
BY ANDY GREENHAW agreenhaw@kansan.com
When it comes to working with environmental issues in the media, not many people have as an extensive résumé as Simran Sethi, the Lacy C. Haynes professor-in-residence in the School of Journalism at the University of Kansas.
Sethi, an environmental correspondent for NBC News and former MTV News anchor, has found her home in Lawrence and works to lower greenhouse gas emissions on the city's Climate Protection Task Force, a position she was appointed to last week.
"I just want to bring the knowledge I have to improve the quality of life here in Lawrence", she said.
Sethi attended Smith College in Northampton, Mass., and like most college students, had no idea what she wanted to do with her life.
Sethi, a journalist who covers environmental issues, said she never
took a journalism class and failed the only environmental studies class she had enrolled in.
"I just wasn't that interested at that point," she said. "I remember thinking, 'this
practices.
In her spare time she is writing a book about the effects of American consumption.
After the show was canceled, she was a host for a weekly podcast for TreeHugger.com, which won the 2006 Vloggie award for "Best Green Vlog" under her management.
"The purpose of the podcast was to show people that you can care about the environment and still be cool," she said.
Today, Sethi is a contributing environmental correspondent for NBC News, and is featured on the Today Show, CNBC and NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. She also hosts and writes for Sundance Channel's, "The Green and EcoBiz".
"It's about looking at how we consume things in our everyday life from tennis shoes to water bottles," Sethi said. "It's about how those things are created, how we use them and where they end up when we're done with them."
"She's a very strong person and I think she could reach contacts far and wide that can really help us in our cause."
DANIEL POOL Sustainability advisory board director
was nothing to do with me; I'm only 19-years-old."
Sethi landed her first internship at MTV working in its documentary division when MTV was in its infancy.
"My goal was to always talk about social issues from the rise in Neo-Nazism to HIV testing," Sethi said.
After earning her Bachelor of Arts in sociology and women's studies in 1992, MTV's management wanted her to work full time.
At MTV she learned the art of storytelling, she said.
She returned to school to receive her Masters of Business in sustainable management from the Prestidio School of Management in 2005.
Sethi returned to MTV where she produced and anchored the news for MTV Asia and created several documentaries including "Sex in the 90s," "Help Not Wanted," and "Hate Rock."
While earning her master's, she also worked as a writer and host for the PBS series, "Ethical Living," a series about sustainable business
S e t h i came to the University about a year ago to teach as a professor-in-residency for two years in the School of Journalism.
In Sethi's short time at
the University, she's started a media and the environment class. She has worked as a volunteer for the city's sustainability advisory board and recently she has been appointed by the mayor to work on the city's Climate Protection Task Force.
Daniel Pool, director of the sustainability advisory board, said Sethi was one of mayor Sue Hack's best choices for the job.
"She's very knowledgeable and has a lot of connections around the country," Pool said. "She's a very strong person and I think she could reach contacts far and wide that can really help us in our cause."
Now that Sethi is on the Climate Protection Task Force, she said she plans to live here for a long time.
first session
"All of the environmental change that needs to happen needs to happen on a local level," Sethi said. "And I don't mean to sound too precious about it or anything, but I want to give back to Lawrence what Lawrence has given to me."
Who: Nicole McCleskey, political researcher
What: Political study group
When: 3 p.m. today
Where: Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics
—Edited by Sasha Roe
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