by Toddric Logwood
This year the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
The OPCW was formed on April 29, 1997, and is located in The Hague in Netherlands. It currently consists of 189 member states (which is 98 percent of the worldwide chemical industry), including the US. It is a growing organization, with a current staff of 500, and has a 71 million dollar yearly budget.
by Liying Qian
Part of the solution to global problems such as poverty could be social entrepreneurship.
Courtesy of Krochet Kids International
That was the message delivered by Mizzou Reads speaker Kohl Crecelius, the CEO and co-founder of the Krochet Kids International, in a speech at Jesse Auditorium on Wednesday that was meant to inspire entrepreneurship among students.
“I think the speech is a good takeaway of the book we chose, Start Something That Matters,” said Caitlin Mundschenk, a graduate assistant working in the Office of New Student Programs. The book, written by Blake Mycoskie, was this year’s Mizzou Reads selection and encouraged incoming freshmen to think about pursuing suitable business solutions to solve social problems.
Consolee Nishimwe’s recollection of her fight against “The Killers”
by Shy Hardiman
Trigger warning: discussion of genocide, rape, sexual assault
Consolee Nishimwe’s father was well known locally. He was a schoolteacher, a father and a husband. Nishimwe was only 14 when she heard of his death, and the young teenager was grief-stricken.
source: consolee.com
Her father had been killed by Hutu soldiers during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. She came to MU April 5 to share her tale of surviving what has been considered one of the most horrific mass killings in history.
“Giving a testimony was very hard for me. It took many years,” Nishimwe said of the horrific event.
She vividly describes the way the “Killers,” as she refers to the Hutu soldiers, murdered her fellow Tutsis. The Killers would hit people atop the head with long wooden sticks that had nails on the end.
Although Nishimwe had been in contact with her immediate family when the genocide first broke out, she didn’t know where her extended family was. Her parents were scared and many people fled trying to evade the danger.
“No matter what, we stick together,” her mother and aunt had told her.
Photos by Katie Bell
Story by Niki Kottmann
Multiple students left Stotler Lounge with full stomachs and big smiles on Thursday, April 11 after experiencing a holiday many of them had never heard of.
The celebration of the Songkran Festival, or Thai New Year, began April 13. The Thai Students Association hosted a celebration that was open to all and attracted a large crowd despite being moved from Carnahan Quad to Stotler Lounge because of rain.
“We have done this every year for seven years. I come back because I like showing students Thai culture,” said Columbia resident Saranya Norkaew.
by Toddric Longwood
The Syrian civil war has been going on for almost two years now, and from the looks of things, it isn’t going to come to a halt anytime soon.
source: Freedom House flickr/ Children chanting Syrian freedom songs near Aleppo Dec. 26, 2012.
What started out as a simple protest promoting the resignation of the current president has turned into an armed rebellion, what some are calling a civil war.
The once-protesters demanded the resignation of the President Bashar al-Assad. They wanted the president to resign because they wanted a change in government; they wanted a re-instatement of civil rights. After not getting what they demanded, the protestors turned violent, and as a result the Syrian Army was deployed to stop the protest.
by Niki Kottmann
There was plenty of activity on Carnahan Quad on Wednesday, April 3, as students were drawn in by free ice cream but stayed for some conversation during the Trulaske College of Business’ Diversity Day.
The Trulaske College of Business Diversity Day attracted students to Carnahan Quad on April 3, 2013.
The business college’s Diverse Student Organization sponsored the third annual Diversity Day as a part of the annual business week festivities, and the event allowed students to go from table to table and learn about the various multicultural organizations Mizzou has to offer.
“Our main goal is to spread diversity awareness within the college, and this event specifically is meant to open up to the whole campus, “ said Diverse Student Organization President Brittany Bennett. “We want to showcase diversity to students in a fun way.”
by Niki Kottmann
Who knew that Russia has problems with religious tolerance too?
Leyla Almazova, head of the Centre of Written Heritage and Archeography at Kazan Federal University, gave a guest lecture on Russian clashes of faith on March 18 in Stewart Hall. She shared her knowledge of the practice of Islam in post-Soviet Russia and gave insight into a realm of religion with which many MU students are unfamiliar.
What struck me as particularly fascinating was the fact that in 1993, the Russian government passed the Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations, which declared a special status for the Orthodox Church. The Duma also asserts respect for religions that played a vital role in the development of the church, such as Christianity and Islam.
This led the Russian government to give financial support to the Russian Orthodox Church and traditional Islamic institutions, which in turn sparked a rise in religious practice throughout the country—a trend evident in the increased public church attendance of Russian politicians.
by Corinne Kennedy
The emcee for MU International Night walked out on stage to introduce to the first show after intermission.
“Has anybody hyperventilated from awesomeness yet?” she asked.
by Toddric Longwood
On the night of March 9, MU’s annual International Night began. I arrived early so I got to watch Jesse Auditorium fill up while the performers were working out the kinks of their performances and fighting off their nerves as well. I was able to talk to a few performers and audiences members and what they all said was similar: “This should be fun,” and, “I am ready for it to begin.” On to the show.
by Brandon Jackson
Since recorded human history began, 15,000 violent clashes and approximately 600 significant wars have taken place. However, drones are the new kids on the block as far as the modernization of war.
Although most conflicts do not resort to violence in the international system, war has become a regular feature in international politics because of the size and diversity of the world. Post-WWI, there have been over four billion global casualties due to warfare.
But in current events, we see war changing before our eyes in how and why it is being fought. In both World War I and World War II, conventional warfare was how conflicts that erupted into violence were solved. It was simply army versus army.
Now war has changed at its very foundation.
The Missouri Atlas 