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VOLUME 135, ISSUE 13 • MONDAY, NOV. 24, 2008
Mortenson draws packed house Prof, student More than 1K come to see best-selling author at sold-out event Richard Kelly WASHBURN REVIEW Greg Mortenson has been all over the United States advocating for his causes. On Thursday he stopped by Washburn to speak to students, faculty and community members at White Concert Hall about his book “Three Cups of Tea” and the story behind it. For Mortenson, it all began in childhood. He was born in Tanzania, an area stricken by poverty and famine. His father and mother were both involved within their community, his father notably founded the area’s first teaching hospital. Halfway through high school, Mortenson moved to the United States, and that’s when he said he first encountered discrimination. “When I came to school the first day, I told the kids I was African,” said Mortenson. “I guess they took offense to that, because they beat me up. That was my introduction to people’s judgment based on ethnicity.” Later on in his life, Mortenson’s younger sister, Christa, became an inspiration for him. She had always wanted to visit Dyersville, Iowa, where “Field of Dreams” was filmed. But on a morning in 1993 when she planned her visit, she suddenly passed away after a long battle with epilepsy. This inspired Mortenson to take a journey to Pakistan to climb one the world’s highest mountains. After almost three months, the journey ended. Although Mortenson had nearly reached the top, he had to turn back because of exhaustion. “Even though I got so far, I felt as if I let my sister down,” said Mortenson. “But I couldn’t go any farther,” said Mortenson. He was brought to a small village in Pakistan, where the people helped Mortenson recover from his weakness. In honor of their kindness, Mortenson promised to build a school for their community. Mortenson then helped found the Central Asia Institute, which he said “is for mainly the education of girls of the Pakistan and Afghanistan
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regions, and is designed to help promote education and literacy.” Mortenson also helped start Pennies for Peace. Washburn’s iRead program was crucial in getting Mortenson to speak at Washburn. Ann Callies, Educational Opportunities program director, spent much of her time with Mortenson on Thursday, and played a role in getting him to campus. “The committee I’m on wanted to pick a book that fit well with what Washburn’s mission is,” said Callies. “We narrowed it down to Mr. Mortenson’s novel. We were just lucky enough to get him to come speak.” The audience at White Concert Hall gave Mortenson a standing ovation as he came onto the stage, and as he left. He addressed questions from the audience and discussed his story and his mission for Pakistan and Afghanistan. Earlier in the day, Mortenson spoke in a class on campus and received a $50,000 check from an advocate of his cause in San Diego to help pay for a new school, he emphasized a few things to both the class and to his audience during his presentation. “We have to get girls educated,” said Mortenson. “Even if nothing else at all is done in regards to birth control pills, or higher abstinence rates. A higher girls’ education rate will mean less reliance on a male-dominant society, and will also help to control high population increases of recent years.” Mortenson said he realizes there are still complications in the United States, and something needs to be done there as well, but “even if for every $100, we spend one of them in another country, it’s going to make a difference.” “Three Cups of Tea,” ultimately a book about his mission to better the society of Afghanistan and Pakistan, has become a commercial success and some members of the Pentagon have
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Christine Nelson WASHBURN REVIEW
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Photo by Danielle Smith, Washburn Review
Humanitarian: Best-selling author Greg Mortenson, who wrote this year’s iRead book “Three Cups of Tea” spoke before a packed house in White Concert Hall Thursday.
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Photo by Arissa Utemark, Washburn Review
Standing room only: With many visitors from both the Washburn and surrounding community, more than 1,000 people were in attendance Thursday as Greg Mortenson spoke about his life, experiences, inspiration and what drives him to help the children of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
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A Washburn student and professor received certificates of appreciation from the Washburn Police Department to acknowledge their outstanding ability to recognize a possible threat on campus and immediately notifying police, resulting in an arrest. Professor Tony Naylor, technical director of the university theatre, was leaving his office at about 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 3. As he walked to his car in the parking lot by the Bradbury Thompson Center, he noticed two people walking through the area who didn’t seem to belong. Naylor observed the two Matt Swift as they quickly began to walk the opposite direction of him, checking over their shoulders as they did so. Immediately suspicious of such behavior so late at Tony Naylor night, Naylor proceeded to contact campus police. Meanwhile in the Washburn Village parking lot, sophomore Matthew Swift sat talking in his car with his girlfriend. He noticed two people walking through the parking lot and he too said he knew they didn’t belong. As Swift sat in his car, the two passed by and made eye contact with him. Swift then saw one individual attempt to open a car door. That was when he, too, took action, notifying the Washburn police. Washburn police arrived on the scene, arrested the two suspects for outstanding warrants and charged them with lurking and prowling on a college campus. Thanks to the efforts of Naylor and Swift, possible car break-ins and theft were averted on campus that night. “People that step up and answer the call should be recognized for that,” said Dean Forster, Washburn police chief. He said this was the first time this year that a certificate was given in a situation like this. Both Swift and Naylor say that generally, people aren’t entirely aware of their surroundings, and don’t want to get involved if they do observe a
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