| Filip Mazurczak Opinion Editor | April 23, 2010 |
Each year on April 24, Armenians around the world celebrate Genocide Remembrance Day. Between 1915 and 1923, 1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered by the Ottoman Empire.
Yet more horrific than the atrocity itself is Turkey’s ongoing denial of its responsibility for this major crime against humanity.
Today, the Turkish government denies that the genocide occurred, even though it is remarkably well documented. The country’s penal code sentences any Turkish citizen who questions the official account to a prison sentence between six months and three years.
For decades, Congress refused to recognize the Armenian Genocide as such, because Turkey is perhaps the United States’ most loyal ally in the Muslim world. Yet this year the House Foreign Affairs Committee finally acknowledged Turkey’s responsibility for the first major European genocide of the past century.
Turkey wants to join the European Union. Many Europeans do not like this idea because only 3 percent of Turkey’s territory is in Europe and because of its Muslim heritage.
This is not my main objection to their joining of the European family. Muslims have played an important role in the development of Western civilization, and Europe is more of a cultural construct than a geographic reality.
The European Union and NATO are governed by the rules of democracy and pluralism.
Turkey continues to persecute its Armenian and Kurdish minorities. For it to be an ally of the U.S. against Islamic fundamentalism and prove that Islam and the secular state can be reconciled and enter Europe, it must make some serious changes.
What kind of democracy tries to jail Orhan Pamuk, a Nobel Prize laureate and Turkey’s most prominent living intellectual?
To treat its minorities better, Turkey should begin by acknowledging its historical sins against them. It should begin with the Armenians, and then apologize for its genocides of Assyrians and Greeks in the final days of the Ottoman Empire.
| http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/04/turkey.armenia/index.html |
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If only tuition costs followed the trends of the economy. As tuition costs around the country continue to climb, including at Creighton University, students are seeking new ways to bring the cost of an undergraduate education down. Some choose to live at home or in more affordable housing at the expense of convenience. Others choose first or second jobs. But there’s a third option, one that requires no extra time or work on the part of the student. It can pay off even full tuition, amounting at Creighton to almost $30,000. Creighton is one of many universities to offer full tuition remission, which is to say that if you are the spouse or child of a full-time employee, such as a professor, of at least three years, Creighton will foot the bill for you to go to school. Some claim this as an unfair policy as in most cases financial aid, understandably, is rewarded by merit rather than relation. While Creighton is not the only university to offer full tuition remission, many others take a much more modest approach. By comparison, while the University of Nebraska at Lincoln offers a similar program, it only covers 15 credit hours per academic year, whereas Creighton University offers a much more generous 136 credit hours no matter when they’d be taken. Is such a policy unfair? From a certain perspective, perhaps. Such generous scholarships are typically rewarded for outstanding behavior in or out of the classroom. But even so, do those who dedicate so much of their time to the pursuit of education under Creighton’s banner not deserve some privileges? In comparison to the rigorous financial and time commitment needed to attain a graduate degree, most professor’s wages are modest at best. Fortunately this opens the door for universities such as Creighton to offer their employees privileges to being a part of the faculty and staff. These advantages are not only consistent with the Jesuit values that Creighton aims to embody, but allows for a stronger community on Creighton’s campus as a whole. When faculty and staff have a spouse or child enrolled in the university, what once may have been just a job suddenly becomes a personal connection with Creighton’s education. Through this personal stake, the relationship with the university ascends to a much more personal level. Nothing is perfect, especially when talking about an educational institution. But we must strive for community and opportunity within our campus bubble, because no matter what, we all have a stake in this university. |
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As Father Frank passed around the month-old newspaper displaying a front-page photo of a dead body with its decapitated head lying a foot away, I let my eyes go out of focus as they pooled with tears. “To tell an accurate story of the individuals involved in the drug cartels is very dangerous,” he said. Just the day before, I had been chatting with a young graphic designer born, raised and still living in Juarez, Mexico. I told him I was studying journalism. His eyes got big and he gave a nervous chuckle. “We stay away from that,” he said. These encounters on my spring break service trip to El Paso, Texas, across from Juarez on the U.S.-Mexico border, forced an unexpected reflection on my career path. While I am sitting in a classroom learning concepts and techniques, I fail to grasp the magnitude and power of the skills I gain. I practice my skills through abstract scenarios and perhaps the occasional project that attempts to apply them to the real world, but the classroom seems far from reality. Many of us can attest that this is not unique to journalism but seems to be true in most undergraduate programs. The skills acquired in any discipline can have far-reaching consequences if applied in the right way. Government officials and business owners of all types are targeted in Juarez because they have money. Journalists are not the only victims. So what? Most journalism students will probably never report from the front lines of the so-called “war on drugs.” Most political science students will never be ambassadors in cities plagued by violence and political instability. Most business students will never have a gun held to their head by a 15-year-old who needs money to buy tortilla. If I won’t be in that position, why should I care? On the one hand, this helps me realize how blessed I am to receive an education. Right now, I am lucky to be here and not there. True. On the other hand, it also helps me realize that the skills and knowledge that I am gaining are not something to be taken lightly. As a wealthy, educated U.S. citizen, I have more power than the majority of individuals in the world, and most of the time I don’t even think about it. Sometimes the problems of the world are overwhelming. It is easy to say that my efforts won’t make any difference anyway and find a comfortable job in a familiar place. But that is wrong. All of our efforts will make a difference. We cannot continue to sit through classes without connecting what we are learning to the real world. And by the “real world,” I don’t mean the cut-throat competition of corporate America. I mean the huge population in our world that cannot even get access to clean water, let alone a quality education. My peers in Juarez are risking their lives to attain an education that I take for granted. We must connect our skills and knowledge to this reality and realize that we can change it. Emily Ruskamp, Arts & Sciences senior |
| "What should university dining services change?" |
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“Thin crust pizza in Brandeis for lunch and dinner.” David Dann Business junior |
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“I would like to have Chinese food and not the horrible stirfry.” Steele Valenzuela Arts & Sciences sophomore |
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“I would like to see fresher, healthier food. And unbruised fruit.” Jessica Havens Arts & Sciences sophomore |
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"More variety." Ashley Loerts Arts & Sciences freshman |
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“Skutt should have meal exchange for lunch, and Brandeis should be open until 8:30 p.m.” Jessica Bakhit Nursing freshman |
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“I think Becker should do what Brandeis does and have a grill day. They should also cook their pizza all the way through.” Andrew Blair Nursing freshman |
| Turkey must acknowledge responsibility for genocide |
| My mother defined my college years |
| Suggestions for university dining services: a Brandeis manifesto |
Comic By Jake Schutz
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Contact the Opinion Editor at OpinionEditor@creightonian.com
Contact the Opinion Editor at OpinionEditor@creightonian.com
