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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2013 VOLUME 87 ■ ISSUE 133
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Bomb suspect influenced by mysterious radical person WASHINGTON (AP) — In the years before the Boston Marathon bombings, Tamerlan Tsarnaev fell under the influence of a new friend, a Muslim convert who steered the religiously apathetic young man toward a strict strain of Islam, family members said. Under the tutelage of a friend known to the Tsarnaev family only as Misha, Tamerlan gave up boxing and stopped studying music, his family said. He began opposing the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He turned to websites and literature claiming that the CIA was behind the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and Jews controlled the world. “Somehow, he just took his brain,” said Tamerlan’s uncle, Ruslan Tsarni, who recalled conversations with Tamerlan’s worried father about Misha’s influence. Efforts over several days by The Associated Press to identify and interview Misha have been unsuccessful.
US child porn suspect captured after 5 years WASHINGTON (AP) — Investigators say Eric Justin Toth’s five-year run as a fugitive began when he was fired from his teaching job at a prestigious private school in Washington after he was confronted about images of child pornography taken with a camera that was in his possession. It ended over the weekend when Nicaraguan authorities, acting on a tip, found him living in that Central American country illegally — with phony passports, driver’s licenses and credit cards, authorities said. The FBI has said it’s investigating why Toth was living there, but the bureau has previously said that he may have been advertising online for work as a nanny or tutor. Now, investigators are trying to piece together how he avoided capture even after he was placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted list, a notorious designation reserved for those considered dangerous criminals and that has featured the likes of Osama bin Laden and Whitey Bulger.
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Tech Muslim organization refutes stereotype By KASSIDY KETRON MANAGING EDITOR
After two bombs detonated, killing three people and injuring approximately 180 people April 15 at the Boston Marathon, the sole survivor of the two suspects has alleged he was motivated by his religion — Islam. Abdul Hamood said it is imperative for Muslims to not let terrorist groups, or people who act in extreme violence and claim to be motivated by Islam, represent the entire religion. “This is like a cancer,” the adviser for the Muslim Student Association said. “This terrorism is a cancer, and especially when it’s attached to our religion, and it’s our job to get rid of this cancer and will have to do everything in our ability to do it.” Hamood, a professor of microbiology at the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center, said Islam is a religion of peace — not violence. One basic aspect of the Muslim holy book, the Quran, is that to save one per-
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son is to save all humanity and to kill one person is to kill all humanity, which he said is known by every true Muslim. “Some people are going to use (the name of their religion) for their own dirty Abdul Hamood purposes,” HamMSA adviser oo d said. “ You may have legitimate grievances and sometimes, those nuts and criminals, they package it with politics and what is happening with the Middle East and so on. However, Islam never justifies it, in Islam the end does not justify the mean.” He said if someone has a grievance within their religion there are ways to voice their complaints in peaceful ways that do not include violence. “You don’t kill innocent people,” Hamood said. “You don’t destroy prop-
This terrorism is cancer, and especially when it’s attached to our religion, and it’s our job to get rid of this cancer ... ”
erty. You don’t (kill people), especially innocent life, people are so beautifully trying to have this festivity in Boston. How dare you do that? Who gave you the authority to do this?” Abdul-Fatai Titilope, president of MSA, said although what happened in Boston was a tragedy he is turning it into something positive. “I take it as a learning experience,” the senior chemical engineering major from Minneapolis said. “It’s not a great thing, we are not using it for publicity, but since it has happened we can use it as a positive outlet to teach people more about the religion and the actual religion and have them know something about it.” Krueng Abdullah, vice president of MSA, agreed that if people were to learn more about Muslims they would realize they are normal people, too. One idea people may have is that when Muslims move to a certain region they want to have a dominant presence among the people, which he said is not the case.
“I think it’s all about just getting to know how Muslims really operate and whatnot,” the junior construction engineering major said. Abdullah said he has practiced Islam his whole life and about 10 years ago his family moved to the U.S. from Malaysia. Because Abdullah grew up in Houston, he said he considers the U.S. his home and is as heartbroken by what happened in Boston as other Americans. “Knowing that somebody like that would do something to my country and then claim it under a religion — it’s heartbreaking on both sides,” he said. “For me, this my country and when something like this happens, this is my country. So, of course, it hurts and when they say they’re Muslims it’s just as bad. How can they say that?” Hamood, who moved to the U.S. in the 1980s from Iraq, said it is a Muslim’s duty to protect property, life and honor wherever they live. STEREOTYPE continued on Page 2 ➤➤
Tech hosts 5th annual undergraduate research conference By MIKAEL GONZALES STAFF WRITER
Texas Tech’s Center for Active Learning and Undergraduate Engagement hosted its fifth annual kickoff event to commence the weeklong Undergraduate Research Conference from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday in the Student Union Building. The conference began Monday with a social media participation event and continues through Thursday night. Jerylme Robins, the unit coordinator for the Center of Active Learning and Undergraduate Engagement, said the conference allows undergraduate researchers at Tech to present their research to students, faculty and staff. “The purpose of the conference is to give a platform to mainly our TTU undergraduate researchers to kind of present what they’ve done this past year or two,” he said. Robins said the conference has more than 100 presenters and posters. “All the poster presentations and oral presentations actually start tomorrow,” he said. “This year we have over 130 presenters. About 95 of them are posters and the rest are oral presenters. We have 94 reviewers comprised of TTU faculty and grad students.” Many of the speakers for the event come from other universities with a few coming from as far away as South America. “We have six visiting students from
as far away as Honduras,” Robins said. All of the presentations and speaker sessions are open to Tech students, faculty and staff, but reservations must be made to attend the Spring Banquet on Wednesday, and the come-and-go luncheon and panel discussion Thursday. “All of the presentations, and we also have a speaker series, are open to any TTU student and staff,” Robins said. The conference is a great opportunity for Tech students to explore the projects researchers have been working on, he said. “This is a perfect platform for them to come and see what they can take a part in,” Robins said. “For the faculty, a lot of the projects are graduate level projects.” This year the conference celebrates its fifth anniversary and has received more participation from Tech’s faculty than in previous years, he said. “Each year we’ve gotten more and more participation from other TTU departments collaborating,” Robins said. According to the schedule for the conference posted on the Center for Undergraduate Research’s website, lectures occur throughout the day today and Thursday with poster set-ups between those times. The event ends at 6 p.m. Thursday with the Undergraduate Research Banquet, hosted at the Frazier Alumni Pavilion. ➤➤mgonzales@dailytoreador.com
PHOTO BY EMILY MCCARTHY/The Daily Toreador
ELLEN CRESTO, A junior marketing major from Austin, sets up her presentation during the Undergraduate Research conference Tuesday in the Student Union Ballroom. Cresto’s presentation is about wine marketing.
Texting while driving ban passes in Texas House, awaits Senate vote By MATT DOTRAY STAFF WRITER
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Drivers in Texas may need to wait until they are off the road to ask their friends what they are doing. House Bill 63, or the Alex Brown Memorial Act, which would make using a hand-held wireless communication device for text-based communication while operating a motor vehicle a statewide offense, passed on third reading in the House on April 18. Today, the Senate Committee on Transportation will hear the companion bill, Senate Bill 28. The committee will discuss the bill, as well as hear from individuals who have lost a family member due to texting while driving. Rep. Tom Craddick of Midland filed House Bill 63 on Nov. 12, 2012. He said there are more than 22 million motor vehicles in Texas, and more than
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100,000 drivers are texting at any moment throughout the day. “Texans want our roads to be safe and texting while driving is a dangerous habit that is risking the lives of Texas drivers, passengers and pedestrians,” Craddick said in a news release after the bill passed in the House. “House Bill 63 will reduce crashes and save lives. With the House’s approval, we are sending a message to all Texans to put your phone away and keep your eyes focused on driving.” Thirty-nine states have already banned texting while driving, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. Lawmakers have already prohibited bus drivers, anyone in a school zone and drivers under the age of 18 from texting while driving. In a previous interview, Craddick said lawmakers have a responsibility to make roads safer, and the goal of House Bill 63 is to reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities.
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According to the Texas House of Representatives website, approximately 25 cities in Texas have adopted ordinances that ban texting while driving. “The patchwork of city ordinances on this issue underscores the need for a uniform statewide ban so drivers know, regardless of where they are in the state, that it is illegal to text and drive on Texas roadways,” Craddick said. In a survey released by AT&T, 49 percent of all commuters and 43 percent of teenagers admit to texting while driving. “Every one of us can recall a time where we have to swerve in reaction to a distracted driver weaving through lanes of traffic as they play on their phone,” Craddick said. “It is dangerous. It is irresponsible. And it can have devastating consequences.” Captain Stephen Hinkle of the Texas Tech Police Department said he does not see drivers texting too often on campus because it is a heavy traffic area and
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drivers are cautious of pedestrians, but he sees texting a lot on the city roads. A statewide ban would be a good start to the problem, he said. “I think it’s a good start to actually pass the ban,” Hinkle said. “You know, unfortunately it’s not going to stop people from doing it right away until they’re pulled over by law enforcement and issued a citation for it. “So I think the enforcement aspect of it, if it does pass, is going to be a really big deal.” Similar to enforcing seat belts, he said officers would need to train themselves to look for it. It would be easier on campus, Hinkle said, because the vehicles are moving slower. Gov. Rick Perry vetoed a similar bill in 2011, House Bill 242, and said he viewed it as a “government effort to micromanage the behavior of adults,” according to his website. ➤➤mdotray@dailytoreador.com
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