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THE MASSACHUSETTS
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DAILY COLLEGIAN DailyCollegian.com
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
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CMASS holds Kwanzaa celebration UN chief: Syrian leader implicated as war criminal Assad linked to crimes in civil war By Raja aBdulRahim Los Angeles Times
CONOR SNELL/COLLEGIAN
Students and community members light the seven candles in the traditional kinara as part of CMASS’s Kwanzaa celebration on Monday.
Welcomes students to celebrate African culture By ConoR Snell Collegian Staff
Food, music and entertainment all highlighted the holiday celebration in the Student Union Ballroom, where tables spread with black, red and green welcomed guests to sit, eat and celebrate Kwanzaa on Monday night. The University of Massachusetts Center for Multicultural Advancement and Student Success, working with the Malcolm X Center, invited students, faculty and community members to reflect on values and traditions of the international West African community celebrated by this holiday. Serving traditional food like fried catfish, collard greens and sweet potato pie, the two organizations welcomed guests of all ethnic backgrounds to come and join in the recognition of the holiday. Kwanzaa, which means “first
fruits” in the Swahili language – the most widely spoken African language – is celebrated from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1, but because students are on winter break during that time the celebration is usually held at UMass in early December. The ceremony began with a speech from Amherst Regional High School Dean of Students Mary Custard, who explained the history behind Kwanzaa, from its founding in 1966 by Maulana Karenga as the first holiday meant for the African diaspora. Custard introduced the seven important values emphasized by Kwanzaa: Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (collective work and responsibility), Ujamaa (cooperative economics), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity) and Imani (faith). Each is represented by a colored candle on the traditional candle holder, called a kinara. “Kwanzaa focuses on our own history, our values, our community, and our culture,” Custard said. “It was created to strengthen the bonds
“Kwanzaa focuses on our own history, our values, our community, and our culture... it celebrates what it means to be African and to be human in the fullest sense.” Mary Custard, Dean of Students, Amherst Regional High School between people … and it celebrates what it means to be African and to be human in the fullest sense.” Dr. Amilcar Shabazz, a UMass Afro-American Studies professor and Faculty Advisor to the Chancellor on Diversity and Excellence, then took the stage for a more in-depth discussion of Kwanzaa, as well as a close look at the traditional African-American song “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Shabazz see
KWANZAA on page 2
Syrian President Bashar Assad is implicated in war crimes and crimes against humanity in the country’s ongoing civil war, the United Nations’ human rights chief said Monday. A U.N. panel of experts, which has been investigating abuses in Syria, has gathered a “massive” amount of evidence indicating such crimes were committed, said Navi Pillay, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights. “The evidence indicates responsibility at the highest level of government, including the head of state,” Pillay said at a news conference in Geneva. The charge came as a Syrian opposition human rights group said that nearly 126,000 people had been killed since the beginning of the uprising against Assad’s government in 2011. The dead include more than 44,000 civilians, according to the Britishbased Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks daily casualty tolls in the country. The U.N. said in July that the death toll had probably surpassed 100,000. The U.N. commission of inquiry gives Pillay lists of suspected criminals that will remain under seal until they are requested by international or national authorities for a “credible investigation” and possible prosecution, she said, according to the Associated Press. Although Pillay referred to Assad, it wasn’t clear whether his name was on
any of the lists. She said the lists must be kept secret “to preserve the presumption of innocence” until proper investigations are launched. The U.N. panel has not been allowed to conduct investigations inside Syria and instead relies on interviews with refugees and phone or Skype conversations with people in the country. The panel has documented the growing brutality of the conflict, including massacres said to have been perpetrated by Assad’s government as well as opposition forces. On Monday, Pillay said the scale and viciousness of the crimes committed in the war almost defy belief, the AP reported. The Syrian conflict has spilled over into neighboring countries with similarly volatile mixes of religious sects and political affiliations. Sectarian tensions exacerbated by the Syrian crisis flared over the weekend in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, where 12 people were killed and dozens were wounded, according to state media accounts. It was the latest in a series of clashes pitting supporters of Assad, who is a member of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, against Sunni Muslims, who dominate the Syrian opposition. In response, the Lebanese government instructed the army to take “the necessary precautions to preserve security in Tripoli for six months,” the country’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, told reporters. The decision places all security forces in the city under the army’s control.
Sandy Hook to Officials: NY train that derailed was release 911 calls going 82 mph into a 30 mph curve Calls made during shooting divulged By dave alTimaRi The Hartford Courant
HARTFORD, Conn. — Newtown officials on Wednesday will release the 911 calls from the Dec. 14 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting made to their police department. The decision to release the tapes appears to indicate that State’s Attorney Stephen Sedensky has decided not to appeal a Superior Court judge’s ruling from last week that the calls should be made public. A spokesman for the Office of the Chief’s State’s Attorney said a statement would be issued later Monday. Sedensky had gone to court in an attempt to delay implementation of a Freedom of Information Commission ruling that the tapes be made public. Judge Eliot Prescott denied Sedensky’s request, dismissing
his argument that the shooting in which 20 first-graders and six adults were killed was a case of child abuse and that the calls were the equivalent of signed witness statements. The tapes will be released Wednesday afternoon by the town’s law firm, Cohen & Wolf of Danbury, Conn. There were seven 911 calls made to the local police department after Adam Lanza shot his way into the school. The longest call to Newtown police was from custodian Rick Thorne, who was on the phone with a dispatcher for more than 10 minutes. His call was cut off when Newtown police officers temporarily detained him.
There also were numerous 911 calls made to Connecticut State Police Troop L in Litchfield, which received the cellphone calls. Those calls are the custody of the state police and are not among the ones that will be released by Newtown officials.
Four passengers
killed, over 60 injured By Tina SuSman Los Angeles Times
NEW YORK — A speeding passenger train barreled into a sharp curve at about 82 mph when it should have been traveling 30 mph, and there was no attempt to slow down until “very late in the game,” investigators said Monday. Four passengers were killed in Sunday’s New York City derailment, the worst in the 30-year history of the Metro-North Railroad, and more than 60 were injured. All were expected to survive. About two dozen remained hospitalized Monday as the first details of the National Transportation Safety Board’s probe brought calls for stricter safety standards. It was the first Metro-North crash to involve passenger
fatalities, but the third serious incident involving the railroad since May. At a news briefing, Earl Weener of the NTSB said two “event recorders” retrieved from the wreckage had provided investigators with details on the speed, brakes and throttle control on the seven-car train, which went off the tracks at 7:20 a.m. about 10 miles north of its destination, Grand Central Terminal. “The preliminary information ... from the event recorders shows that the train was traveling at approximately 82 miles per hour as it went into a 30 mile per hour curve,” Weener said. “That speed, again, was 82 miles per hour.” That exceeds the 70 mph speed limit on the straight portion of track. The brakes weren’t fully applied until just five seconds before the engine stopped, Weener said. By then, the
MCT
A New York commuter train derailed on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013, in the Bronx. train, including the engine, was careening off the rails, and it was far too late to stop the catastrophic derailment that sent train cars rolling onto their sides and sliding down a hill toward the Harlem River. Three of the four people who died were thrown from
the train. Rescue workers had to cut through a tangle of metal, glass and broken seats to reach victims inside the cars. Residents of nearby buildings described the screetch of metal-on-metal and loud bangs. see
DERAILED on page 3