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Show Today's weather 37/26 Sunny SEE M O R E O N PAGE 2 The THE THE ABORTION DIARIES A&E Opinion Sports Page 5 Page 7 Page 8 Digital Movement GOP is falling down, falling down The union of technology and Christina Coloroso says the Republican Party is They call them flippers pp dance at the U has electrifying potential for local arts. imploding in its quest for power, but Jessie Fawson says Democrats aren't exempt from the corruption in D.C. TJ gymnasts pound Nebraska in home opener. University o fUtah's I n d e p e n d e n t Student Voice A film attacking the stigma attached to abortion ( Post Theatre < 7:00 p.m. I Monday, Jan. 23 Since 1890 DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE Visiting professor: Americans don't understand Arabs Davey Davis Chronicle Writer Americans think they understand the Arab world But may be missing the truth entirely, said Professor Keith Watenpaugh, a visiting Research Fellow from Le Moyne College, in a lecture at Carlson Hall on Jan. 18. "We need to abandon historical vocabulary which creates cultural barriers and instead explore how religion and secularism work together," he said. Watenpaugh focused his remarks on the Western misconception that Arab and Islamic thinkers are fundamentalist and not modern-minded in their ideology. These ideas came from Western journalists, he said, and the media oversimplifying Islamic thought and law. There are serious implications when our culture creates a mental environment in which the Arab world is unavoidably foreign and incompatible with Western thought; it creates an irresolvable conflict, he said. Watenpaugh opened his'lecture with comments about current events in Iraq, such as the United Iraqi Alliance's victory in last month's election. It is a bad idea, he argued, to characterize secular government as democratic government. A focus on the past in Islam does not make the ideology closed to change. "Fundamentalists may want to actually recreate the seventh century, like the Wahhabis ... but this is not a common goal," Watenpaugh said. Many leaders would rather base their teachings on the ideal of the past, taking from it the best aspects and evolving new societal systems. "The idea of learning from religious past—using history to instruct, not as an absolute—is very modern thinking," he said. The creation of the Middle East as the "consummate other" is a recent, post- twentieth century idea. This idea has created a convenient enemy of the day, fabricated to have no solution. Watenpaugh sees the Islamic world as something to which Westerners can relate, and vice versa. He draws a distinction between those Arab thinkers who want to incorporate the good parts of Western culture and reject the bad and those Jihadists who declare everything Western as evil. Accepting Islam as part of modern thought, Watenpaugh said, will help us acquire a more comprehensive understanding of our conflict with Iraq. Watenpaugh's remarks spurned a lot of thought in the history department. VoL 115 No. 114 , Monday, J a n u a r y 23, 2006 www.dailyulalichroniclc.coni Maher lambastes Republicans in first visit to Utah Joe Beatly Chronicle Writer When political comedian Bill Maher came to Salt Lake City for the first time Saturday, Jan. 21, to speak at Kingsbury Hall, he voiced his surprise at the boisterous reaction he received from people who live in the reddest of red states. And after a few quick barbs at the local area, he gave the crowd what they were waiting for: many helpings of jokes aimed squarely at the Oval Office, with various other asides along the way. Leading off with talk about Iraq, the controversial host of "Real Time with Bill Maher" attacked Bush's intelligence, the defense department's intelligence and the intelligence of just about every other current Republican. Speaking about Bush's propensity for making strange promises during State of the Union addresses, Maher addressed the president's promise to take the United States to "worlds beyond." "We can't get from Baghdad to Baghdad Airport," Maher said. "How are we going to get to Mars?" Like most of the night's jokes, Maher elicited howls of joy from the partisan crowd. But it wasn't all completely politi- Potty humor cal. Relationships, the technological Evolution, the technological revolution's impact on relationships, Viagra and marijuana were ah1 topics of diatribes—most of which eventually led back to Maher doling out red meat to the Bush-bashing crowd. But it wasn't just Republicans getting poked. Maher also gave back-handed cornSee M A H E R Page 3 Students win money to help start their own company Lana Groves Chronicle Writer Four students walked away $5,000 richer last Friday after their company won first place in the Opportunity Quest business competition. The first place winner, Thermoscan, submitted by Robert Teel, Kirk Anderson, Jon Lindsey and Heather Trecker, represents a noninvasive method of diagnosing vesicoureteral reflux (VUR), a cause of kidney infections, in children. The Thermoscan method potentially can replace the current VUR test in which pediatric urologists insert a catheter into the urinary tract and up to the bladder, which they fill with radioactive dye to take X-ray photos. Thermoscan's technology, the "Thermoflux Scanner," uses ultrasound to develop a picture so doctors can diagnose VUR without inflicting pain or using chemicals, "We'd like to continue on and see it through; hopefully; we can become the next medical imaging company," said Robert Teel, an MBA student Two other student companies, Rescue Medical Systems and Quick Clinic, won second and third place, winning 33,000 and 32,000 respectively. Opportunity Quest is a contest for students wishing to start their own business after graduation. The students design a product and submit an executive summary. Out of 30 teams, ro finalists were selected to present their product to a panel of judges. The teams also received advice from mentors in the local business community. The $5,000, $3,000 and $2,000 awards will help the proposed business plans become reality, but some of the people involved with Opportunity Quest believe that the experience of actually working toward an entrepreneurship goal was the real reward. "The biggest prize teams get out of this is that their executive summary has been critiqued by professionals and they have solidified their ideas through the presentation," said Erin Peterson, student chairwoman for Opportunity Quest. "I think this is wonderful, a great opportunity for our students," said Martha Eining, associate dean of the School of Business. Despite the large turnout this year, the program developers have plans to try to make next year bigger. "We would like to see more participation throughout the university, students Ian Jentzsch, a freshman film major, acts in a skit during the Friday Night Live sketch comedy performance In the Union Ballroom on Friday. i See M I D D L E EAST Page 5 See M O N E Y Page 3 President attends summit, learns of National Security Foreign Language Initiative Jed Layton Chronicle Writer U President Michael Young was informed of a new foreign language program while attending a university presidents summit co-hosted by the U.S. Departments of State and Education early this month. Invited by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Young met with other university presidents and listened to the initiative offered by President Bush. "The president announced the National Security Foreign Language Initiative," Young said. "This initiative is comparable to the call for education in math and science after Sputnik was launched." The initiative's goal is to aid national security through education, especially in the development of foreign language skills. U administrators expect it to be an asset for the U, which already places heavy emphasis on foreign languages. John Francis, associate vice president for academic affairs and undergraduate studies, said the U has plans to expand international focuses and will take advantage of any resources offered. "The initiative cornes with money—I don't know how much, that depends on Congress," he said. "But we must be well prepared for when the federal government has funds available." Young said that Bush would use the initiative to place importance on "critical need" languages—namely Arabic, Hindi, Chinese, Russian and Farsi. "These languages are projected to be very important in the future," Young said. "They either do have or will have international implications down the road." Young noted the initiative plays well to the university's strengths, saying that the U already does well in learning and teaching foreign languages. He hypothesized that the U is second only to BYU in having students fluent in foreign languages. Francis noted the U'$ Middle East Center, popular Russiai and Chinese language classes and i' commitment to include Hindi in the Asian Studies Program. Because of these programs, Young did not anticipate any major changes to the university's objectives coming from the initiative. "The initiative will provide more assistance than what we had before," Young said. "We will use enthusiasm for the initiative to tap into other resources, but our main goal will stay the same." Young said that a major problem schools face in teaching foreign languages is the lack of instructors. He said that the initiative must also try to train more students to become masters. "The hiring of instructors proficient in the language being taught will likely be the main infusipn of funding," Francis said. j.layton@ chronicle.utah.edu CRITICAL NEEDS LANGUAGES LISTED BY THE NATIONAL SECURITY FOREIGN LANGUAGE INITIATIVE RUSSIAN Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, fatvia, Lithuania, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine CHINESE China, Taiwan FARSI ARABIC URDU Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Ubya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Yemen Pakistan, India, Fiji t |