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Monday, February 16, 2015
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Video reportedly shows IS SA pushes for role beheading Coptic hostages in program changes Prioritization | From Page 1
The Associated Press
Cairo | A video purporting to show the mass beheading of Coptic Christian hostages was released Sunday by militants in Libya affiliated with the Islamic State group. The killings raise the possibility the Islamic militant group — which controls about a third of Syria and Iraq in a self-declared caliphate — has established a direct affiliate less than 500 miles from the southern tip of Italy. One of the militants in the video makes reference to that possibility, saying the group now plans to “conquer Rome.” The militants had been holding 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians hostage, all laborers rounded up from the city of Sirte in December and January. It was not clear from the video whether all 21 hostages were killed. It was one of the first such beheading videos from an Islamic State group affiliate to come from outside the group’s core territory in Syria and Iraq. The Associated Press could not immediately verify the video, but the Egyptian government and the Coptic Church, which is based in Egypt, declared it authentic. The Egyptian government declared a seven-day mourning period and President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi addressed the nation late Sunday night, pledging resilience in the fight against terrorism. “These cowardly actions will not undermine our determination,” said el-Sissi, who also banned all travel to Libya by Egyptian citizens and said his government reserves the right to seek retaliation. “Egypt
But, the resolution quotes the NIU Constitution as also saying “that all discussions and deliberations regarding program elimination be as open and inclusive as possible.” Program elimination is a part of what the task force will be discussing. The SA’s position is that in order for the discussion to be “as open and inclusive as possible” per the university’s guidelines, students must be involved, according to the resolution.
The Associated Press
In this Friday photo, a Coptic Christian woman in Egypt prays for the release of 21 Coptic Egyptian men who were abducted by Islamic State militants in the central city of Sirte, Libya. A video purporting to show the mass beheading of Coptic Christian hostages was released Sunday by militants in Libya affiliated with the Islamic State group.
and the whole world are in a fierce battle with extremist groups carrying extremist ideology and sharing the same goals.” The Coptic Church in a statement called on its followers to have “confidence that their great nation won’t rest without retribution ... .” The video’s makers identified themselves as the Tripoli Province of the Islamic State group. The video, released Sunday night, depicts several men in orange jumpsuits being led along a beach, each accompanied by a masked militant. The men are made to kneel and one militant, dressed differently that the others, addresses the camera in North American-accented English. “All crusaders: safety for you will
be only wishes, especially if you are fighting us all together. Therefore we will fight you all together,” he said. “The sea you have hidden Sheikh Osama Bin Laden’s body in, we swear to Allah we will mix it with your blood.” The men are then laid face-down and simultaneously beheaded. The militant speaker then pointed northward across the red-stained waves and said, “We will conquer Rome, by Allah’s permission.” Villagers accused the Egyptian government of doing little to help the captives. The authorities, they say, were able to free Muslim Egyptians abducted in Libya in recent months but have done nothing to save the 21 because they are Christian.
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... If there’s a student who’s on the committee who could fully articulate the student position, I think that would benefit the task force immensely.” Ben Donovan Student Association director of Governmental Affairs
“What we have in the status quo is students who are, as outlined in the constitution, an integral part of the university’s system of governance being left out of a prioritization process that is supposed to be as open and inclusive as possible,” Donovan said. “I think that’s a really big problem.” Donovan said the SA is “open to negotiation” as to a solution. But, he said one possible system would be to have two students — a junior and a senior — serve on the program prioritization task forces. The senior would be a student involved in and knowledgeable about NIU’s governing system.
Read more
Go to NIU’s program prioritization website at niu.edu/program-prioritization/. Read the Northern Star’s article on program prioritization at bit. ly/18EAyso. To see Provost Lisa Freeman’s presentation on prioritization, go to bit.ly/1DXlrGw. He or she would train the junior to step into a leadership role. The next year the junior, now a senior, would train another junior, and so on in a rolling process. Donovan said he understands NIU is excluding students from the task forces because of students’ short-lived stays at the university, but Donovan said whether faculty on the task force will stay at NIU isn’t guaranteed. “I don’t think the status of students as a transient population is unique enough to the student body to warrant leaving them out,” Donovan said. “... If there’s a student who’s on the committee who could fully articulate the student position, I think that would benefit the task force immensely.” The Senate had no questions or discussion on the resolution’s first reading Sunday and will hold a second reading and vote on the resolution at its next meeting. SA Senate will meet 6 p.m. Sunday in the Holmes Student Center, Sky Room.
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