INSIDE
Fashion Show sneak peak Who is SMU’s track star? GOP extremism hurts Muslims
Broadway visits Uptown
PAGE 2
PAGE 5
PAGE 3 PAGE 4
FRIDAY
MARCH 30, 2012 Friday High 84, Low 64 saturday High 84, Low 66
VOLUME 96 ISSUE 76 FIRST COPY FREE, ADDITIONAL COPIES 50 CENTS
tower center
Experts speak on BRIC’s power CHARLES SCOTT Contributing Writer clscott@smu.edu
SPENCER J EGGERS / The Daily Campus
Gamma Phi Beta and Black Men Emerging close the 24th annual Sing Song program with their Texan themed performance. Gamma Phi Beta placed 2nd last year.
Sing Song goes Coast to Coast RAHFIN FARUK News Editor rfaruk@smu.edu Raise your voice and pull out your dancing shoes because Sing Song is going All-American this year. Nine groups will perform 10-minute scripts based on this year’s theme: All-American Road Trip Friday evening. Each group chose a state where their script is supposed to take place. Alpha Chi Omega and Kappa Sigma will open the show with a Michigan themed skit. The road trip makes stops in New York, Illinois, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Hawaii and California. The show concludes with Gamma Phi Beta and Black Men Emerging’s performance
centered around the Lone Star State. “Sing Song originated in the 1920s. Program Council revitalized the program 24 years ago and has been working hard to make it one of the best programs in the spring semester ever since. Sing Song was one of the first events of its kind among universities,” Jonathan Machemehl, Sing Song vice president of programming, said. “Baylor Sing was started after a staff member left SMU and took the idea to Baylor for them to start a similar program.”. Each team invests large amounts of time into designing their skit – from night rehearsals to script writing to group coordination. Teams are hoping that SMU students show their support for Sing Song on
Friday night. “I think SMU students should come to the show because Sing Song is a huge tradition at SMU. There are over 250 student performers that have worked for months to put their performance together,” Alex Munoz, Sing Song chair, said. “Even if you don’t know anyone in the show, you should still come and support your fellow mustangs.” The skit is a result of months of preparation by more than 200 SMU students. The All-American theme was announced in early October and teams were required to select individual states a few weeks later. After each team selects a state, they only have about eight weeks before the event to perfect their pieces.
“The week of Sing Song groups practice in McFarlin for 3 nights and do a dress rehearsal for the event,” Machemehl said. “The groups put in hundreds of hours to get their shows ready so come out and support all of your friends and see all the hard the work they have put into this event since January.” This year’s event will include two non-Greek organizations – a recent trend for the traditional Greek event. Virginia Snider had a Sing Song group last year. Tickets can be purchased at the Mane Desk until Friday evening. Student tickets are $10 and nonstudents $12. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the show will commence at 7:30 p.m.
Bush Library
The 2012 Jno. E Owens Memorial Foundation Conference on Thursday brought together scholars and economic policy experts to discuss whether emerging markets will continue to boost world growth. The keynote speaker, Anne Krueger, spoke during the conference luncheon at the Meadows Museum about the emerging economic markets in Brazil, Russia, India and China; together known as BRICs. The history of emerging markets “has caught the attention of the world over the past decade or so,” Krueger, who is Professor of International Economics at Johns Hopkins University, said. She said that the BRIC nations were not originally predicted to grow as rapidly as they have. “There are likely indeed other countries that will emerge and grow rapidly over the next several decades,” Krueger said. However, she said that determining which countries those would be is nearly impossible to do. “You don’t know who will be next,” she said. Today, BRIC is still poorer per capita than the U.S. Krueger said the BRIC nations are still growing rapidly and that their share in world trade has risen significantly. However, income differences still exists even between BRIC nations. India and
China are much poorer than Russia and Brazil. Krueger said China’s per capita income “hasn’t come close to the industrial countries.” Of the BRIC nations, Brazil has the second highest per capita income compared with Russia, which has the highest. However, she said that the Russian population has fallen in recent years and that it’s hard to determine what the effects will be. India, on the other hand, has the lowest per capita income of the BRIC states, according to Krueger, but has grown more than any other country within the past decade. “India potentially has demographic dividends over the next few decades, but to benefit from that, major market reforms are needed,” she said. Each of the BRIC nations face a number of challenges going forward. Krueger said that China faces a demographic challenge because the number of people in the labor force is falling. She also said there is evidence that the Chinese are wasting their government investments. Russia faces the challenge of removing its Soviet era legacy. Brazil, she said, needs financial liberalization, and India must find the political will to carry out the major reforms necessary in the bureaucracy to improve infrastructure. An overall growth of BRICs markets in the future would yield a boost to the entire international economy, she said.
culture
Presidential Center launches Freedom Collection SARAH KRAMER Editor in Chief skramer@smu.edu Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, introduced the online collection of interviews that tell the stories of those who have fought for freedom during an event Wednesday evening. The former president said he hopes the Freedom Collection, which is part of the George W. Bush Presidential Center, will inspire those who are in the same struggle. “The Freedom Collection honors courage. It reminds us of our duty to be always on the side of human rights and human dignity and the right for people to live in a free society,” he said at the Winspear Opera House. The collection is comprised of archives of various interviews from those who have fought again oppressive regimes from the 20th and 21st centuries. “We believe that freedom yields peace and therefore we believe it’s in our nation’s interest to stand side by side with dissidents, political prisoners, courageous folks who demand their God-given right,” Bush said. Currently, the collection contains 56 interviews, but it will continue to grow. During his presidency, Bush met with more than 100 dissidents from all over the world, including the Dalai Lama, Xiqui Fu, Ammar Abdulhamid and Vaclav Havel, who died in December. Bush also met with Liberian
MICHAEL DANSER/The Daily Campus
Students celebrate the Holi festival in 2011. The festival occurred again on Thursday.
SIDNEY HOLLINGSOWRTH/The Daily Campus
Former President George W. Bush addresses attendees at the Freedom Collection Wednesday at the Winspear Opera House.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who also spoke at the event via video teleconference. After spending time in prison for defending democracy and human rights, Sirleaf said she became stronger because she realized people take freedom for granted. Thus, she said she worked harder to bring freedom, equity and equality for all. “There’s no quick fix — no magic wand,” she said. “We need to communicate to people, to allow them to be a part as much as possible.” Sirleaf knows that the full objectives have not been achieved; yet, the transition to democracy is underway. “We need to share with the dissidents, stay the course, remain courageous, try new voices, join arms in working for those objectives,” she said.
Former U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, Kristen Silverberg said she hopes the collection will be a resource to people globally. “The goal is to advance democracy and freedom around the world,” she said. “We need to remind them that they aren’t alone in their endeavor.” During the event, artifacts, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, were donated on behalf of Dr. Oscar Elisas Biscet Gonzalez. Because he made a stance for democracy and is a human rights advocate, Gonzales was imprisoned for 12 years in Cuba. Bush said he hopes that the Freedom Collection will impact SMU students. “I hope the students at SMU will dedicate their lives to making sure people like Biscet can live their lives,” he said. “Courage is not in short supply. We must never forget that.”
Colors fly at Holi festival AN PHAN Contributing Writer aphan@smu.edu Speckled with pink, orange, blue, and green, SMU students from all cultures gathered for Indian Students Association’s (ISA) annual Holi celebration. Holi, also known as the Festival of Colors, is a Hindu festival that celebrates the arrival of spring. Participants throw colored powder and water at each other in a free for all battle. The event took place at Sorority Park on Thursday. Traditionally, Holi celebrates the end of winter and the beginning of spring on the day of the first full moon of March. It is mainly celebrated in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
and Nepal, but immigrant populations around the world celebrate the event. Holi is a unique time when social rules and structure are relaxed, as people of different social classes break social norms and play together. It is a unifying event, where rich, poor, young and old come together to embrace their Hindu faith and celebrate the arrival of spring. In preparation for the event, the members of ISA set up mini inflatable pools, buckets, water balloons, and water guns filled with dyed water. “I’m super excited. This is one of the most fun events at SMU because non-ISAers always come, and we get to teach others about Indian culture,” ISA’s vice president, Ankita Krishnan, prior to the event, said. Students who did not grow up
celebrating Holi are making the event a tradition. “I went last year, and I’m excited to get more colorful than I did last year,” Hayley Wagner, a sophomore, said. The event lasted about 40 minutes, and by the end, everyone was wet and dirtied with colored powder. Students enjoyed the thrills of the event and didn’t mind the mess. “Holi was awesome, and I’ve never looked better,” Nikita Agrawal, a first year, said. ISA members were enthusiastic with event attendance and optimistic about the future of the event. “We’re so glad such a diverse number of people showed up. Next year, we hope it is longer and better,” Anisha Durvasula, president of ISA, said.