KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / MONDAY. FEBRUARY 8. 2010 / NEWS
5A
A columnist to remember
Mia Iverson/KANSAN
Pulitzer Prize- winning columnist and William Allen White Foundation 2010 National Citation recipient Leonard Pitts Jr. speaks Friday in Woodruff Auditorium. The event was part of the journalism school's William Allen White Day program.
POLITICS
Palin attacks Obama, Dems
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NASHVILLE. Tenn. — Sarah Palin took aim at President Barack Obama and the Democrats in a speech, telling a gathering of "tea party" activists that America is ripe for another revolution.
Noting his party's dismal showing in elections since Obama moved into the White House a year ago with talk of hope and promises of change, Palin asked the gathering: "How's that hope-y, change-y stuff workin' out for you?"
Her audience waved flags and erupted in cheers during multiple standing ovations as the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee gave the keynote address Saturday at the first national convention of the "tea party" coalition. It's an anti-establishment, grass-roots network motivated by anger over the growth of government, budget-busting spending and Obama's policies.
Palin's 45-minute talk was filled with her trademark folksy jokes and amounted to a pep talk for the coalition and promotion of its principles.
The speech also was rife with criticism for Obama and the Democrats who control Congress,
but delivered with a light touch. Aside from broad conservative principles like lower taxes and a strong national defense, the speech was short on Palin's own policy ideas that typically indicate someone is seriously laying the groundwork to run for the White House.
Indeed, Republican observers say she's seemingly done more lately to establish herself as a
political celebrity focused on publicity rather than a political candidate focused on policy.
Catering to her crowd, Palin talked of limited government
strict adherence to the Constitution, and the "God-given right" of freedom. She said the "fresh, young and fragile" movement is the future of American politics because it's "a ground-up call to action" to both major political parties to change how they do business.
"America is ready for another revolution!" she told the gathering.
Palin suggested the movement should remain leaderless and cautioned against allowing it to be
"Let us not get bogged down in the small squabbles. Let us get caught up in the big ideas," she said, though she offered few of her own.
defined by any one person.
The former Alaska governor, who resigned from office last summer before completing her first term, didn't indicate whether her political future would extend beyond cable news nuditry and
"America is ready for another revolution!"
SARAH PALIN Former gov. of Alaska
paid speeches to an actual presidential candidacy.
But, given the plethora of attacks that Palm leveled at Obama, she seemed like she was already running against him. And, perhaps, as an independent.
All she offered was a smile when a moderator asking her questions used
the phrase "President Palin." That prompted most in the audience to stand up and chant "Run, Sarah, Run!"
She talked little about the Republican Party and encouraged "tea party" aligned candidates to compete in GOP primaries.
CAMPUS
Event studies oppression
BY ROSHNI OOMMEN roommen@kansan.com
The Office of Multicultural Affairs is encouraging students to think about the effects of peer oppression. The office established Hate Out Week in 2001, a program designed to promote on-campus unity and positive attitudes among peers. The theme for this year's event, "No One Should Be Labeled," focuses on the different labels students give their peers and the oppression that comes with those labels.
Matt Reed, a complex director for student housing, said this event is important to bring to light oppression that still exists.
Monday, February 8
7:30 p.m., Alderson Auditorium Eva Vega: Diversity & Leadershp — Helping Good People Do Great Things
"These kind of events are crucial to our campus community," Reed said. "They help bring awareness to our peers, what happens to them and what we can do to help."
Scheduled events include a presentation by Eva Vega, a speaker who uses humor to bring important diversity issues to light, and an exhibit called the Tunnel of Oppression, which allows students to experience different forms of
oppression, or to be placed in unfamiliar environments. Reed said the events would help students focus on ways that they can work to eliminate discrimination and hatred.
"I feel like a lot of students come to KU not really understanding what oppression is out there." Reed said. "Through this, they can gain knowledge of what's going on. The more they know, the more they can do to play a role in order to eliminate hate."
Tuesday, February 9 noon, Sabatini Multicultural Resource Center, room 116 Brown Bag Discussion: The State of Diversity in Higher Education
—Edited by Kristen Liszewski
Thursday, February 11
3 p.m., Kansas Union
Diverse-A-Tea (Tea @ Three)
9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sabatini Multicultural Resource Center
9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sabah Multicultural Resource Center Tunnel of Oppression Tours start on the hour and takes approximately 30 minutes, please call the OMA to reserve a spot. 785-864-4350
Friday, February 12 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sabatini Multicultural Resource Center Tunnel of Oppression tours start on the hour and take approximately 30 minutes.Call the OMA to reserve a spot.785-864-4350