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Muslim students plan to educate public The Muslim Student Association hosts a series of discussions and lectures throughout the month to dispel myths By Moriah Baling News Reporter Being a Muslim on campus has never been too difficult for senior business major Nadia Hasan, especially considering the University's continuing support of Muslim students. Nonetheless, Hasan said there are still a number of stereotypes and misconceptions associated with Islam. "Stereotypes dominate people's minds be cause they don't know any better," she said, adding that this can make things especially hard for the estimated 40 to 50 Muslim students on campus. The Muslim Student Association hopes to cor rect some of these myths and misunderstandings through its "Islam in America" series. The event will include a number of lectures, panel discus sions and a cultural event and is intended to "edu cate the community about different issues in Is lam," Hasan said. The event started Friday with a panel discussion titled "Growing up Muslim." The panelists includ ed four students from Iraq, Malaysia, Indonesia and Turkey. The discussion was well-attended, Hasan said. "I was trying to give people a perspective on what it means to be Muslim and what it entails," Hasan said before the event. The next event, to be held Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Wesley Foundation Center, will be a panel discussion titled "Christ in Islam and Christiani ty. " The panel includes Tamam Adi, director of the Islamic Cultural Center in Eugene; Daniel Bryant, senior minister at First Christian Church; and Tim othy Gianotti, a University religious studies pro fessor. Minister Jeremy Hajdu-Paulen of the Wes ley Foundation will moderate. Talal al-Rahbi, a University graduate student from Oman and a MSA member, helped organize the event. He said he was inspired after an organ ized discussion at Northwest Christian College about the movie "The Passion of the Christ." "From the discussion I realized that a lot of Chris tians do not know the importance of Christ in Islam and that Muslims believe in Christ," al-Rahbi said. "The intent is not a debate but more giving under standing to Jesus' message of peace and the impor tance of his teachings in both religions." Adi said that the misunderstanding goes even further. "We often hear in the media something like Muslims consider Christians infidels ... we don't consider them infidels, we consider them believ ers," he said. "The other misconception is that we worship a different god ... but Allah just means God." Wednesday's event, a lecture entitled "Women and Human Rights in Islam," will take place at 6 p.m. at 142 Knight Law Center. Nadira Najieb, a community activist from Portland, will lecture along with Anita Weiss, a University international studies professor. "There is a stereotype that women in Islam are oppressed," Hasan said, adding that this is fre quently a cultural tenet. "But Islam the religion does not advocate oppressing women." The final event in the series is titled "Muslim "From the discussion I realized that a lot of Christians do not know the importance of Christ in Islam and that Muslims believe in Christ." Talal ai-Rahbi University graduate student Night: A Glimpse of Culture," and will take place April 27 in the Knight Library Browsing Room at 7 p.m. Mona al-Zubair, a graduate student at the Uni versity, helped organize the event. She said the event will include food and music with an Asian and Middle Eastern flair. There will also be a cul tural display with a collage of various cultural items from around the Islamic world. Al-Zubair will have small mgs and Arabic calligraphy on dis play from her native Saudi Arabia. "Each (member) has something from their home," she said. "It kind of represents their cul ture." Al-Zubair added that one of the purposes of the event is to show the diversity of the Islamic world. "It shows the diversity of our background be cause we come from different countries," she said. "It's not just for the students. It's for us to leam about each other and how our cultures are differ ent." Contact the people/cultu re/fa rth reporter at moriahbalingit@dailyemerald.com. NEWS BRIEF Emerald named best student paper in five-state region The Oregon Daily Emerald was named the best all-around daily stu dent newspaper in a five-state region by the Society of Professional Journal ists. The annual contest is open to all student newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. Emerald staff members also re ceived awards for their published collegiate work from the 2003 calen dar year. Senior News Reporter Jared Paben received a first-place award in the gen eral news reporting category. Colum nist Peter Hockaday received a sec ond-place award in the sports column writing category. Editor in Chief Brad Schmidt received a second-place award in the category of in-depth re porting. University graduate Adam Jude received a second-place award in the sports writing category. Photogra pher Adam Amato received a second place award for spot news photogra phy and a third-place award in the photo illustration category. Universi ty student Mark McCambridge also received a second-place award in the sports photography category. First-place award winners from each of the 12 regions will move on to compete in the national contest, which will be held Sept. 9 through 11 in New York City. GIFTS continued from page 1 president of the University Founda tion, which manages private gifts giv en to the University. According to the release, graduates of Oregon high schools in areas where former building materials and paper products company Willamette Industries operated will receive pref erence for those scholarships. "Oregon's past includes a heritage in natural resources, but its future is in the knowledge economy, so we need educated citizens," Swindells said in r the release. Freshman Babak Ghafarzade re ceived a Presidential Scholarship from the Swindells trust, which he said gives him the time to explore various subjects and classes because he does n't have to work to put himself through school. "I'm trying to kind of get my feet wet wherever I can," he said, adding that he can also continue to partici pate in extracurricular activities as he did in high school. "It just gives you time and freedom to do other things." He added that with one brother in college and another on the way, the money will help take the financial burden off his family. In addition to the gift from the Swindells trust, five donors gave $8.45 million toward Presidential Scholarships, and three donors con tributed $925,000 toward Dean's Scholarships. Eight donors also gave $2.6 million to support specific Uni versity schools and college scholar ships, according to the release. Freshman Dana Harlan, who also received a Presidential Scholarship, said the money her parents had saved for her college fund can now go to ward graduate school. Harlan, who achieved junior status by taking college credit courses in high school, said the funds have giv en her the time to develop more meaningful relationships with other students now that she doesn't need to keep a job throughout college. "I've been able to make a lot more friends," she said. "I just feel like I have more time to do more self growth type of things." The University currently awards about 200 Presidential Scholarships a year at about $5,400 each, and about 3,400 students receive the Dean's Scholarships, which vary from $500 ODDBALLS ARE NOT ALWAYS A BAD THING! It's spring again! This means we need to clear out our odds and ends to make way for our fabulous new collections. SALE April 1 9 - May 1 30% to 70% off £ B O U X www.boux.com All sales are final • No returns or exhanges • Sale merchandise sold as is and more! 2827 Oak St.*Eugene*Southtowne Shoppes* 10:30-5:30 Mon.-Fri./11-4 Sat.*541.485.4891 to $5,000, Director of Admissions Martha Pitts said. Scholarship money comes either directly from actual funds or from fee remissions, she added. The $12 million will be placed in endowments where it will accrue in terest that will continuously fund scholarships, she said. '"This will affect students for many, many years," she said, adding that it is important to maintain and protect the endowments to ensure students always have access to scholarship funds. The donations count toward the University's Campaign Oregon: Transforming Lives initiative, which has an overall goal of raising $600 million to support students, faculty, programs and facilities, according to the release. Ihe campaign will formal ly kick off next year when directors will announce its progress. Campaign Oregon Vice Chairman Tim Boyle, who is also chief executive officer of Columbia Sportswear Co., noted the importance of college grad uates to Oregon's economic health. "In the next few decades, new and existing businesses will need thou sands of college-educated employ ees, " Boyle said in the release, adding that it is up to universities to provide graduates to support and draw in businesses. "This is critical for Ore gon's future prosperity." Contact the higher education/ student life/student affairs reporter at chelseaduncan@dailyemerald.com. CAMPUS BUZZ Monday Art exhibit featuring work by Percy Appau, Steve Baggs, Eric Layton and Morgen Masciana, Bache lor of Fine Arts multimedia: Karen Larsen, BFA metals: and Michael Tolar, BFA painting, LaVerne Krause Gallery, Lawrence Hall, Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Opening reception 65 p.m. Jere miah Lecture entitled “Ethnicity, Violence and the State in Pakistan," Browsing Room, Knight Li brary, 4 p.m. Student Groups Advertise in the Oregon Daily Emerald. Call 346-3712 to speak with a sales rep. We have great University rates.
