The Utah Statesman, November 20, 2009

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Utah Statesman Friday, Nov. 20, 2009

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Rwanda ambassador shares trauma of genocide By MEGAN ALLEN staff writer

The Rwanda of 2009 is very different than the Rwanda of 1994 because the country is now reconstructing and reconciling after a genocide killed one million citizens. His Excellency Eugene-Richard Gasana, the ambassador of Rwanda to the United Nations, visited USU and spoke to students and faculty as a part of International Education Week, Thursday. “This is a special time of celebration,” Gasana said. “We are building academic partnership and strengthening friendship.” The genocide of 1994 was a dark time in the small country of Rwanda, located in eastern Africa. Gasana called the three months the “100 days of terror.” The country lost 10,000 people per day, which meant more than one million people killed in just three months. However, things are different now. The country has an invigorated spirit of determination, Gasana said. The citizens are working together to rebuild and grow. “It is not the solution to revenge yourself,” Gasana said. “It is easier and better to sit and talk with your wife, with your children, with whoever and see how you can rebuild. It is a choice. Our daily cup of tea is bitter, but we have to go through with it. That is our best option.” Gasana said the way for Rwanda to reach its goals of peace and democracy is through its plan, “Vision 2020.” Gasana talked about the four steps the country is taking. The first step is to have good government. Gasana said the country has no tolerance for a corrupt or controlling government. The national parliament of Rwanda is led by a 56.2 percent majority of women. Rwanda is the only country in history to do this. Gasana said, “Our women are our mothers. Isn’t that beautiful? Shouldn’t we recognize that? They are stronger than us men.” The women of Rwanda have been through so much, Gasana said. They have been raped by the same groups of men that killed their husbands. “They have to get the courage to accept it and to fight it. They need to work hard,” Gasana said. “It is something very unique.” Gasana had nothing but the highest praise for the women of Rwanda, especially those leading parliament.

“They are the men. They are the strongest. They are the most intelligent. They are a great investment,” Gasana said. Gasana said he feels that a good government is the most important part of the plan and of a strong country. “When you have a strong leadership with a vision, there is no way you cannot succeed,” Gasana said. The second step is to attain justice, Gasana said. The country is working to apprehend the perpetrators of the genocide crimes and bring them to justice. Gasana’s third step is in social progress. Rwanda is working together to rebuild trust and confidence, Gasana said. The nation is charged with the challenge of reversing effects. The final step, Gasana said,

is to work on economic development. A student asked the ambassador what Rwanda’s most important resource is, and Gasana responded by saying, “We invest in people, in human capital. The more stuff you have, the more problems you have.” A big focus of Rwanda right now is education. The country is offering free primary education to every child – enrollment is up 150 percent. The country’s goal is to have every Rwandan child enrolled in school by 2012, a total of 2.2 million children. The country is working to modernize the education system and have up-to-date technology. Gasana said, “They can cut your hands, they can cut your feet, but you will have your education forever. That is a true investment.” Gasana called Rwanda “a country and a movement.” “There is nothing worse than genocide,” Gasana said. “Now we come together to rebuild our country.” Gasana and Rwanda are going to continue to build a relationship with USU. The administration of the university presented Rwandan President Paul Kagame with the first ever Presidential Recognition Award. They are working to build agreements with universities in Rwanda. “I invite you to visit the Land of 1,000 Hills,” Gasana said. “Come to Rwanda. Come get a taste of the country, the people and the culture. You get the plane ticket, and we will take care of the rest.” – megan.allen@aggiemail.usu.edu

New business building low on state priority list By CATHERINE MEIDELL news assistant editor

The Huntsman School of Business is working toward accumulating private funding for a $60 million addition to the current business building. Plans for the new building have been underway since December 2007, when Jon Huntsman gave a $25 million endowment to the business department, USU’s largest donation, said Ken Snyder, executive dean in the school of business. He said the large sum of money has given the school of business the ability to develop a number of new programs, but nowhere to put them. The dean of the school of business, Doug Anderson, said USU President Stan Albrecht made the decision to put the business building on the list of top priorities for school construction. After the new agriculture buildings are constructed, the addition to the business building will be at the top of the priority list. On the state level, construction of the business building comes in at No. 17, a lower ranking than it held in 2008. Anderson said, “We are looking to attract $15 to $20 million in private funds and then the state will be more willing to help.” Anderson said he is not at all worried that plans for the building will fall to the wayside due to the current economic situation and budget cuts, and as the economy improves more donors will be willing to help the business school in its endeavors. In a memorandum sent out on Oct. 9 to the State Board of Regents from Utah’s commissioner of higher education, William Sederburg, the USU business building is shown as the No. 6 priority in Utah campus buildings. It is the most expensive building on the list by $10 million. The building with first priority is the Holland Centennial Commons Building for Dixie State

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College, a $35 million structure. Following DSC’s building will be a $49 million addition to University of Utah’s health sciences building. The addition to the business building will become the main entrance and will be home to many needed classrooms, as well as offices for business students, staff and faculty. At approximately 95,000 square feet, the building will prevent business classes from outsourcing to other buildings, Snyder said. He said the entrance will be located on the south side of the current business building, but other than that, the only knowledge of the new building’s structure is in sketches put together by architects familiar with architectural designs. Because the development committee is unsure when the building will be constructed, details about the building’s design have not been formulated. The trick to moving higher on the state’s priority list is a matter of attracting donors for a solid financial base, Anderson said. Until then, the new building will not be approved by the Utah Legislature. The Legislature uses a formula to determine a building’s ranking on the list of structures to be built by factoring together the need for the building and the funding available to construct it, Snyder said. “We have a classroom shortage, office shortage and we are growing. It gets more and more complicated as we continue to grow,” Snyder said. Because the business school is running out of places to put new programs, a group dealing with USU relations in China is held in the basement of the Eccles Conference Building and another has outsourced to the The Junction basement. Snyder said the business school is continually growing but will have difficulty expanding further without the resources of a new building. Until the new building is constructed, business classes and offices will continue to fill empty work spaces as the depart-

11/20/09 Women’s volleyball won in four sets against Nevada. Page 9

ment grows. “We are very grateful to President Albrecht for that support. We can’t become a top-tier

business school without expanding our space,” Anderson said. – catherine.meidell@aggiemail.usu.edu

Source: www.utah.gov

The businesses on Federal Avenue create a unique atmosphere. Page 5

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