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friday, april 9, 2010
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Vol. 115 | No. 134
International Expression
SGA
Reynolds elected Speaker Danny Davis | Collegian
Italian lecture provides cultural insight
Photos by Chelsy Lueth | collegian
Top: Captain Mattia Zuzzi, an officer in the Italian army, speaks about the culture of Italy Thursday afternoon in the Hemisphere Room at Hale Library. Above: Captain Mattia Zuzzi showed an assortment of pictures and YouTube.com videos during his presentation on Italian culture.
Austin Enns | Collegian Italy’s uniqueness as a country resonates throughout its millennia of history, strategic location in the Mediterranean and its excellent food, setting the country apart from the rest of the world. On Thursday afternoon, Captain Mattia Zuzzi, an officer in the Italian army, spoke to a group of people about Italy and some of his personal experiences in the army. Zuzzi gave a broad overview of Italy. His topics ranging from national pastimes, “We have two passions: soccer, in which we won the World Cup last time, and Ferrari Formula One racing;” to Roman history, “Nobody else has ever conquered Britain;” to the Navy, “we’re the only country in Europe with two aircraft carriers.” One of the anecdotes focused on why the owner of the Ferrari car company, Enzio Ferrari, did not sell his business to Ford Motor Company in 1963. Zuzzi stated that Ford was only going to budget $100,000 to the racing arm of Ferrari’s company, and that was five times less than the amount Ferrari was currently spending. Ferrari decided to keep his company independent so he could chase his dream of designing a car that can “fly without leaving the ground.” Another area of focus for Zuzzi was Italy’s place in world affairs. Zuzzi said that Italy mainly focused on lands bordering the Mediterranean, like North Africa and the Middle East, because of Italy’s central-
ized location by the sea. For example, Italy obtains its gas from Libya, a North African country, in exchange partly for building roads and infrastructure. A section of the lecture was spent detailing some of Zuzzi’s personal connections with Italy’s present and past. His great grandfather, after whom he is named, fought in Italy’s war for independence, and Zuzzi spent some time serving his country in Afghanistan. Zuzzi showed a picture of a non-extremist member of the Taliban participating in a meeting of the local village’s elders, and stated that members of the Taliban’s political party are distinctive because of their long beards and black turbans. Robert Clark, associate professor in French, was appreciative that Zuzzi spent some time talking about his personal experiences, instead of just focusing on Italian trivia. “I enjoyed it. I think it’s always interesting to hear a different perspective on world events from someone who has experienced them first-hand,” Clark said. “It’s a great opportunity to hear a different point of view, especially a friendly, sympathetic one.” Markie Griffin, senior in art history, said that she found the discussion of Italian culture fascinating. Griffin said that her favorite part of the lecture was “when he was talking about the different parts of Italy and different places for tourism.”
Jeff Corwin speaks to packed house Thursday Karen Ingram | Collegian More than 300 people came to the Student Union’s Main Ballroom to see conservationist and TV icon Jeff Corwin on Thursday. Half an hour before the presentation was scheduled to begin, the line waiting outside stretched down the corridor. Copies of Corwin’s book, “100 Heartbeats,” quickly sold out. Representatives from the Sunset Zoo and the K-State Insect Zoo entertained people as they waited, showing them insects and snakes and answering questions. Corwin spoke at length about the plight of the planet, punctuating his message with stories about his childhood and his work that had the audience rolling in laughter. “He was hilarious,” said Kendra Fuller, junior in animal science biotechnology. “If he wasn’t a conservationist or a naturalist I’d have told him to be a stand-up comedian.” While many of his stories were funny, there were some serious notes as well. Corwin described how habitat loss, climate change, pollution, poaching and human population growth are
See CORWIN, Page 7
Osamah Alhamdan | collegian
Jeff Corwin gives a lecture on his experiences with animals Thursday evening in the K-State Student Union Ballroom. Corwin signed copies of his book “100 Heartbeats,” which quickly sold out.
OPEN SATURDAYS 10AM-2PM
A new Student Senate for the 2010-11 term took office yesterday evening. To begin the meeting, former Speaker of Student Senate Amy Schultz, senior in biology, installed newly elected senators. Following the installation of the senators, former Student Body President Dalton Henry, senior in agricultural economics, agricultural communications and journalism, and former Vice President Wayne Stoskopf, senior in agribusiness, swore in the new president and vice president. Danny Unruh, junior in food science and political science, will serve as president and Annie Oliver, junior in life sciences, as vice president. Afterward, the senate had to elect a new speaker. Schultz presided over the meeting while candidates were nominated and gave speeches. The nominations for speaker were Molly McGuire, junior in political science; Michael Champlain, junior in political science; and Kyle Reynolds, junior in personal finance. The senate elected Reynolds 35-23 after a runoff vote between Reynolds and McGuire. Reynolds said he was running for speaker because he wanted to become more familiar with the members of senate. Serving in a full-time position would allow him to build relationships, he said. “It’s something I feel very comfortable doing and I feel qualified to do it,” Reynolds said. “I have the experience necessary to handle the internal affairs of this job.” Jessica Schultz, former chair of the Privilege Fee Committee, spoke in support of Reynolds. She said she supported him because he had a strong desire to be involved in informal discussions as he recognized the importance of them. Megan Deforce, junior in secondary education, said one of those informal discussions involved the Privilege Fee allocation to the K-State Student Union. New information had been brought forth out of committee and an agreement was reached between a few committee members and the Union outside of committee. When this was presented in senate, Reynolds spoke against the bill and in favor of returning it to committee so that all members could discuss it. “He recognized the hard work that was put into trying to reach an agreement in committee,” Deforce said. “He felt that everyone should be involved in the last step of the information-sharing process.” Reynolds spoke about some of his goals as speaker. He wants to foster a more open and positive relationship within senate, he said. Also, he wants the senate to have a better relationship with the Collegian and to establish an identity for the senate. Many students and community members have no idea what the senators are doing for students, he said.
See SGA, Page 7