News
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04-12-2011: Richmond & Reid For Metro State Senate
We are running for Student Senate in order to bring about cross-cultural awareness on campus beginning with the Student Government. I will enhance collaborative initiatives to include voices from various clubs and institutional entities. I will advocate for fairness in matters regarding: tuition, classroom space, parking fees; and will collaborate with outside agencies to provide opportunities for student interns and job placement for graduates. I will work to improve IT essential for a 21st Century University. I will strive to enhance dialogued between students and the administration for a smooth running of the school.
VOTE HERE
We need diversity in the Senate. Please write in these candidates
Dear Students of Metro State,
This is Leticia Duarte, Aryca Deforrest and Joceyn Bowyer. We are
running for Metro State senator positions. After voting for the 2011
General Election, we realized that there is a lack of diversity in the
selected candidates. As concerned students we have decided to step up
and get involved to resolve this issue. In addition, we believe in
student representation and believe we can be a positive voice for all
of our fellow Metro State students.Please Write Senators
Leticia Duarte
Aryca Deforrest
Joceyn BowyerVOTE HERE
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11-11-2010: From the terrors of Rwanda ........
From the terrors of Rwanda
to the trials of immigration and doctoral pursuit
Visiting Assistant Professor Hadidja Nyiransekuye’s book details a remarkable, accomplished life
Hadidja Nyiransekuye was born in Rwanda into a fairly typical Hutu and Muslim family. She would be stricken with polio at the age of two, which was to have a dramatic effect on her future.
She had to have a brace on one leg to walk and could not perform the tasks expected of a young girl in her country. The upside was she would get a better education since her father expected she might need to make her own way – a cripple was not a good bet to marry well in Rwandan society.
Life was very much about gender and to the Western reader her tale seems to revolve around the politics of family, marriage, gender and inheritance – plus unfortunately race.
The relationship between the Hutus and Tutsis in one way mirrors a conflict that developed in the Western U.S. between cattlemen and sodbusters.
The Tutsi were tall cattle herding people who are thought to have come from the headwaters of the Nile. The Hutu lived in the lowlands and raised crops.
Over the years, the two groups intermarried and mingled to a great degree and a better description of their interaction would be as an upper and lower class rivalry.
Nevertheless, the Belgians, who took control of the country during World War I, issued race identity cards naming everyone in the country either Hutu or Tutsi, except for a marginal group of Twa, descended from the indigenous pygmies of the area.
From that point forward relations between the two groups slowly deteriorated to set the stage for the genocide in 1994, in which an estimated 800,000 Tutsi were slaughtered.
This was the nightmare Hadidja awakened to as a wife and mother of four. It is difficult to understand how someone could deal with this level of terror. Was her husband, a Tutsi, still alive? Her four children made a small family by Rwandan standards but were they too many to hide? Would her whole family be taken by the madness that engulfed them and took so many of her friends?
“I am Munyarwanda,” she wrote in her book, “a woman, a mother and a witness to my people’s self-made tragedy. I saw my people descend into hell in the hundred days of the genocide, but I also witnessed their reaching out and rising to heaven.”
She survived and so did her family, but the horrors she experienced still visit her in nightmares after 16 years.
“The conclusion is clear.” she wrote, “I still cannot imagine how the very people you hoped would protect you would be the same ones to kill you. It happened many times during that dark period in the history of my country.”
Her book is titled The Lances Were Looking Down. The ordeal in Rwanda, however, is just the beginning of her story.
A few years after the war, she was lucky enough to interest a loose-knit charitable group of women here in Denver, known as The Marias, in sponsoring her continued education in the U.S.
Here she would find a whole new set of challenges including a culture completely alien to her – where people seemed to think she should know all the unwritten rules and mores of white American culture.
Cities, busses, cars, apartments, university bureaucracy and a host of unfamiliar gadgets and customs seemed to assail her at every turn. Add to that the worry over her children – still in Rwanda.
“I think my greatest challenge has been to let go of the past,” she said, “and just immerse myself into the new life. I think I’m resistant. It’s not the life I was born to.”
Now she has applied for and received political asylum, brought all four children here and has a Ph.D. at the end of her name.
“Mbonaruza, to you and all the little boys and girls who were left alone by the folly of bloodthirsty killers at the beginning of your young lives. I dedicate this writing to you, all whose dignity was never claimed, whose names are lost to the world, and whom nobody is looking to reunite, I salute your souls. I am honored to have met you and for the privilege of having been a witness to your noble lives. ”
We worry about jobs, finances, investments, getting the kids through college or maybe just where to vacation next year. We forget there are places in the world where the realities are much more foreboding. Nyiransekuye has done us a favor by sharing her story. With it comes a fuller understanding of the world we live in – on two continents.
“The only way to avoid genocide is to never dismiss any race or class,” Hadidja concluded. “Whenever there is an injustice anywhere, even if it’s very small, we cannot tolerate it, because injustice hardens people. When you tolerate injustice, it kind of sends the message to the perpetrators of the injustice that it’s alright to do so.”
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11-11-2010: Mentors Wanted!
Mi Casa Resource Center has been serving the Denver community for over 30 years. At our Beacon Neighborhood Center in Lake Middle School (1820 Lowell Blvd.) we are looking to connect 30 CASASTART middle schoolers to great mentors such as yourself! CASASTART is a holistic case management program that seeks to transform the environment of urban youth into one that encourages positive growth and facilitating their future success. We provide incentives for improvement in school and work closely with their teachers to facilitate their academic progress. We meet with participants and their families regularly and connect them with resources in the community. We advocate for them in the juvenile justice system. We also connect them with adults like you whose kindness, openness and patience has the power to make their transition into adulthood a smooth and positive one full of possibilities and promise. If this is the difference you want to make and you have an hour a week to commit to it, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator Rebecca Young (ryoung@micasaresourcecenter.org).
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11-11-2010: Invitation to President Clinton's Global
The application to attend the 2011 meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U), hosted by President Clinton, is now available online - click here to apply now! CGI U 2011 will take place at the University of California, San Diego from April 1-3, 2011.
Click here to submit a Commitment to Action and apply for the meeting. Applying and attending are free. Limited travel and/or lodging assistance is available to those who qualify and apply by November 30.
CGI U is President Clinton’s initiative designed to engage the next generation of leaders on college campuses around the world. Each CGI U student member makes a Commitment to Action: a specific plan of action that addresses a pressing challenge on their campus, in their community, or around the world.
The early decision deadline is November 30, 2010. The final decision deadline is February 7, 2011.
Students will be admitted on a rolling basis. Space at CGI U 2011 will likely be filled after the early decision deadline, so we encourage you to apply early!
CGI U is proof that young people have the power to make a significant impact by confronting some of the world's most urgent challenges. We hope to see you in San Diego!
Best regards,
The CGI U TeamClick here to apply to become a CGI U campus rep.
Click here for a message from President Clinton. -
11-11-2010: Internships in Colorado, Apply Now!
Financial Representative Intern - Northwestern Mutual - The Cunningham Financial Group - Denver
http://www.internships.com/posting/Financial-Representative-Intern-I2111?cid=EM_ST_JA_110910_CO_TXNon-Profit and Internet Marketing - Culture Zest Inc. - Denver
http://www.internships.com/posting/NonProfit-and-Internet-Marketing-I4571?cid=EM_ST_JA_110910_CO_TXNon-Profit and Internet Marketing - Culture Zest Inc. - Boulder
http://www.internships.com/posting/NonProfit-and-Internet-Marketing-I4482?cid=EM_ST_JA_110910_CO_TXSpecial Events Intern - Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association - Steamboat Springs
http://www.internships.com/posting/Special-Events-Intern-I216?cid=EM_ST_JA_110910_CO_TXHealth care public policy intern - Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence - Denver
http://www.internships.com/posting/Health-care-public-policy-intern?cid=EM_ST_JA_110910_CO_TXCommunications Assistant - Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence - Denver
http://www.internships.com/posting/Communications-Assistant-I8209?cid=EM_ST_JA_110910_CO_TX
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11-11-2010: International Week Events
11/11/10
Thursday
Movie night
“Pelada” in the Starz Movie Theatre Complex at 4:00pm
11/17/10
Wednesday
Study Abroad Day
1:BafaBafa: Intercultural simulation
in Tivoli 440/540 11:30 am- 12:45 pm
2: We belong abroad! In Sigi’s 140 1:00pm-2:15 pm
The lifelong benefits of Study Abroad
3: Study Abroad 101 in Sigi’s 140 2:30pm-3:45 pm
How to get ready to Study Abroad for students
4: The Time of My Life! In Sigi’s 140 4:00pm-5:15 pm Panel of returning Study Abroad students discusses their experiences
11/18/10
Thursday
International Education And Commerce Day
1: Fulbright Scholar Dr. Hilary Hughes – Australian Learning Journeys Tivoli 320 10:00am-11:15 pm
2: Invisible Hook – The economics of piracy
in Tivoli Turnhalle 11:30 am-12:45 pm
3: Cultural Issues in International Trade
in Tivoli 320 1:00pm-2:15 pm
4: Away From Home! Teaching and working in other countries Tivoli 440/540 2:30pm-3:45 pm
5: International Trade- Panel In Tivoli 640 2:30pm-3:45
6: Music and food! Reception in Tivoli Turnhalle 4:00pm (ends at 5:00)
11/19/10
Friday
International Student Day
1: Career Tips for International Students In Multi-Cultural Lounge 10:00am-11:00 pm
2: Take No Unwanted Baggage Home:
in Multi Cultural-Lounge 11:15 am-12:15 pm
3: “Woman”- An intense film about a Syrian woman
in Multi Cultural Lounge at 12:30pm-2:00 -
09-28-2010: Rwandan genocide survivor speaks
Rwandan genocide survivor speaks to Lincoln students
Rwandan genocide survivor Hadidja Nyiransekuye speaks at Lincoln High School on Friday, April 23, 2010. (Jacob Hannah / Lincoln Journal Star)
Hadidja Nyiransekuye stood on the Lincoln High School stage Friday, bridging the gap.
The gap between genocide in Rwanda and students in an audience more than 8,000 miles and 16 years from the violent deaths of nearly 1 million people.
Nyiransekuye, who survived 100 days of killing in her native country, told the students the violent crime all around them is not so different from violence in Rwanda.
The pain caused by a man who kills his wife in the United States is the same pain Rwandans felt.
"As a Rwandan woman I bring that pain with me, and my lost home," she said. "It is the same as the pain you experience here every day. It doesn't need to be a genocide."
Nyiransekuye, an assistant professor at Metropolitan State College of Denver, was one of the speakers in the third Yom Hashoah speaker series sponsored by holocaust literature teachers at Lincoln Public Schools.
She spoke at Southwest High Friday morning.
At Lincoln High in the afternoon, she noted how diverse her audience was, how some of the students may themselves have spent time in a refugee camp, as she did after the genocide.
Nyiransekuye, a member of the Hutu tribe, grew up in Rwanda, went to school and taught French in secondary education.
She married a Tutsi, whom neighbors hid in their ceiling when the Hutu-led government began rounding up Tutsis and killing them.
She, her husband and their four children all survived and went to a refugee camp in the Congo. She returned to Rwanda, then came with her children to the U.S. in 1997.
When she left, a friend told her to remember she wasn't going to America just for herself, but as an ambassador for the Rwandan people.
And so she gave her young audience on Friday a history lesson on Rwanda, on the Tutsis and the Hutus and how the divisions grew between two tribes that once coexisted peacefully.
As the world's future leaders, students need to understand the history behind such horrors and to understand the humanity all people share, she said.
"You need to make it that shared pain, our shared humanity, our shared mission."
Such events can't be someone else's problem, too distant to affect them.
"It's not far away," she said.
She was critical of former President Bill Clinton's reaction -- as well as those of other powerful nations -- to what happened in Rwanda.
"First of all, he was very dismissive," she said. "That meant we don't matter to the American people."
Had he said what was happening was wrong, perhaps it would have stopped. Instead, Rwandan radio stations said powerful nations supported it.
Other nations couldn't even settle on whether to call it a genocide, she said.
"It took longer to decide what to call the killing than it did for people to die."
One student asked Nyiransekuye what people could do, here in Lincoln, to stop genocide.
Get your elected officials to do something, she responded.
"Keep making noise. Talk about it. Write about it. You can't wait for people to call it a genocide to do something."
Reach Margaret Reist at 473-7226 or mreist@journalstar.com.
Posted in Education on Friday, April 23, 2010 6:52 pm Updated: 9:56 am. | Tags: Rwanda, Genocide, Lincoln Southwest, Lincoln High
