February 26, 2014
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Left, students from student organizations Latinos Unidos, Southeast Asian Organization, and Native American Cultural Awareness Association joined International Student Association in support of their Free Venezuela Campaign on Feb. 20 in Hyland Hall.
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Above, Eleana Alvarez, Carol Alvarez, Estefania Mora, Silvia Reyes, Diego Antezana, Daniela Carrera, Eddie Samson and Angie Agreda, all members of International Student Association, went to Chicago to participate in protests against the ongoing violence in Venezuela.
Students support Venezuela By Vesna Brajkovic Senior Staff Writer
The unrest in Venezuela led one UW-Whitewater student organi- zation to shed light on the student protests that broke out this month. Students protesting on the streets of Venezuela have been de- manding better security, an end to goods shortages and freedom of speech. The passive protests that have transformed into riots were fueled
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nationwide by major social and economic problems in the country. On Feb. 12, three people were killed in the protests, including two opposition members and a govern- ment supporter, according to the Associated Press. The UW-Whitewater Interna- tional Student Association (ISA) has responded to these protests by starting a campaign called the Free Venezuela Project to raise aware- ness of the situation.
“As international students, we mit their own pictures holding a all have to be supportive of each banner saying, “I other and help raise awareness on am from ___ and campus,” ISA Secretary Angie I care. #prayfor- Agreda-Zamudio said. venezuela” and On Feb. 20, ISA invited stu- to set it as their dents and other student organiza- SUR¿ OH SLFWXUH RQ tions to take a picture with a banner Facebook. that read: “We attend the University ISA President Mora of Wisconsin-Whitewater and we Estefania Mora care. #Prayforvenezuela.” said the impor- As part of the campaign, ISA tance of the effort in Venezuela is also encouraged students to sub- great.
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From Cambodian labor camps to working in the White House
By Michael Riley
Abraham Lincoln impersonator, Fritz Klein, performs on Feb. 19 in the UC. Klein speaks on the legacy and lessons of the age of Lincoln. For more information, read the online exclusive story at RoyalPurpleNews.com
“I think sometimes we’re so busy with classes and we are not aware of anything other than what’s going on right here,” Mora said. “I think [the campaign] will make an impact.” The Venezuelan government has control of most of the coun- try’s radio and television airways. The main communication for the protestors was through Twitter and
Sichan Siv escaped Cambodian genocide in 1976 off the back of a truck with his mother’s scarf, an empty bag of rice and $2. Exactly 13 years to the day, Siv began to serve as deputy assistant to President George H.W. Bush in the White House. In 2001, DIWHU XQDQLPRXV FRQ¿ UPDWLRQ by the Senate, he served as the U.S. Ambassador to Unit- ed Nations under President George W. Bush. Siv Siv conveyed his “Ameri- can dream” to more than 70 UW-Whitewater students and faculty on Feb. 18 in the Old Main Ballroom as a part of the Southeast Asian Heri- tage Lecture Series. Siv has spoken on numerous college campus-
es, talking about his international bestselling book “Golden Bones” that documents his life. “My mother, my sister, my brother and my children were all killed.” Siv said. “My book took me very long to write because I did not want to relive those painful memories.” Justin Murphy, president of Whitewater Stu- dent Government, welcomed Siv to the stage after listing all the different awards he has won in and out of the private sector. Co-president of SAO Mai Yia Lee said the op- portunity to facilitate a lecture with a former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. was a humbling experi- ence. “Listening to someone who is a minority with that kind of perspective, who held such a powerful position, is motivating,” Lee said. “He gives my organization and all minority students hope that we can do something way bigger in the future.” Hope is something Siv said his mother told him never to give up. He said in the lecture that
no matter what job he had in his life he always kept hope. Siv did not know his host family or anyone else when he made it the United States, so he said he worked and worked. +LV ¿ UVW MRE LQ WKH 8QLWHG 6WDWHV ZDV SLFNLQJ apples and working in an ice cream shop. After moving to New York, he became a taxi driver be- fore 1986 when he began volunteering in George H.W. Bush’s presidential campaign. He enrolled and graduated from Columbia University’s Master of International Affairs pro- gram with a full scholarship. He also studied at the U.S. Army War College. “The great thing about America is if you focus on something hard enough and you put your mind to it there is a great chance you will achieve it,” he said. “I always thought about what I was going to do, not what had happened to me.”
IN THIS ISSUE Meet the new leaders of the First <HDU ([SHULHQFH RI¿ FH Page 6
Women’s Hoops goes undefeated in WIAC play Page 10
Student-Run Weekly Newspaper at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
See 13 years Page 3