RUNNING

Depleted Hoosiers no match
for bigger, faster Cats

KENTUCKY KERNEL

 

MONDAY, DECEMBER IS, 2008

CELEBRATING 37 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

 

 

-r. I. g ,. ,. ‘
PHOTO counrtsv or our MICKEY JORDAN

Capt phrkny Jordan stands In front of one of the schoothouses In his camp III Baghdad The build tag [5 part of a $2 million Impact to over
IIaaIII ‘t raan originally It.)||llb\/Bl|19h tru'rpgrntte 19505 III order to traIn Iraqr soldrerst n be an torre otfrrers

Lessons
freedom

R( )'l‘( I instructor
te Iches lr aq students
IIIilitaIy' concepts

By Blair Thomas

btl‘ontdsalkvkernel com

He stuck the clear packaging tape to
the side of the box. stretched the roll
over Its seam and ripped the tape at the
other end.

“I'll be moy mg out of my lllh
house. " said \lrckey Jordan smoothing

. ii ind at .ros. the Ir p t fthe bo\ "I‘m
getting good at this [‘tltl’s‘lllg thing.”

Jordan. .1 captain III the ['5 .\Ir
Force and an ROTC
was only days away from departing for
Iraq. his fourth assignment - . and sec»
ond trip to Iraq since ~Iotrirrig the All
liorce seven years ago. But this assign»
ment was different than his last . It
would require his teaching skills as well.

.lordan left for Iraq III early AugLIsi
and has been teaching the basics of be-
mg a military officer; Including commit
Irrcatiori and situational leadership skills.
to Iraqi students III Baghdad.

"\Vhat we're doing rs building up
the country's arr force Ir‘. an effort to
transition Ilraq'si military to operate on
its own so Iraq can be Its ow II free court
try.” Jordan said.

That was fottr months ago. ’l‘oday. he
can barely be heard to er the static on the
phone He Is more than (I500 miles
away from his students at l'K. with .I
new group of students III Iraq

~"l’hey 're still kids III many ways who
have been forced to grow up a lot III the
last few years." Jordan said of his new

instructor at l'l‘s'.

students. currently all males between the
ages of IX and 33. training to be Iraq air
force officers. "They’re the happiest folks
I‘ve met iii nry career ~- they show up
early for classes. they study hard."

Their enthusiasm is what makes
them good students. he said. but it isn‘t
easy. Rebuilding the air force and other
elements of the Iraq military is contro»
versial in the war—ridden country. Every
day the students show up for class.
they're taking a risk.

"There are a lot of groups III Iraq
It ho don‘t want this to happen so It Is
dairgerous for those who do." Jordan
said

His camp Used to recent three to four
strikes a day from rockets and iiiortai's.
While there ha\ en‘t been airy large attacks
on the camp III nrore than two and a half
months. Jordan said the danger still exrsts.

“.\ssrsting the country is always a
dangerous venture for the Iraqis." Jordan
said. "The number of people threatening
others Is far less than It was. but it only
takes one person to canse a lot of dam-
age and pain."

But many Iraqis. Including the stu»
dents in his classes. are ready to move
past that pain. Jordan said.

"Most of our discussions revolve
around the basic point: This Is your
country. you have to defend It." Jordan
said. “’l‘hey‘rc tired of the violence
They really get what‘s at stake.

“These new leaders don‘t see diyia
sum and difference. they see unity."

'lt's about teaching people’

Jordan has been to Iraq before: in
3005 he was part of a security detail
there overseeing supply and communi-
cations to the soldiers providing aiipow-
er to forces on the ground. And since

 

 

 

0m”!!!

Iormng the Art l'orce after graduating, he
has had other .issrgiiitients. but none are
like this one. he sard.

"It‘s about teaching peopIe ” Jordan
said before he left “I jumped at the op
por'turiity to go back Ito lraqt. When
you‘re there.e\ery day you klio‘\ you‘re
doing something that has a big Impact

"liyet‘y time sotr‘rc here It the front.
you bake the prryrlege of hem-.1 part or
sortiethirrg so much bigger than your-
self"

()n his last assignment in -005 he
was part of a team that flew ballots and
secured polling centers in the country ‘s
first presidential election sinct the exit
of the Ba'ath party.

"One of my students shared with me
that he was able to return home after our
forces freed the city of Ar Raniatir ti'orri
terrorism and violence." Jordan said.
“It‘s an amazing feeling to meet a family
that has a rtew life because of the work
we did there."

See Iraq on page 4

I hey Ic tired of the v iolcnce. I hey r ally" get whats at stake.

l hcse new l‘ Idcrs

don t sec division and difference they see unity

— Capt Mickey Jordan, UK Air Force ROTC instructor

 

Sorority donates teddy bears for kids

5 Naiah A'IEIEII
nallodch@kykernel com

to find comfort after she died.
said her

father. Shannon theyareiri."

feel better In the situation

said the project appealed to
the sorority.

Her family and friends
called the 10-year—old girl

"Brooklyn Bear" because of

her kindness. warmth and
love of teddy bears.

After Brooklyn Smith
died unexpectedly on Feb. 8
of what is believed to have
been a seizure. the family
used the teddy bears Brooklyn
loved so much to try and
make a difference in the Som-
erset. Ky. community where
they live. The UK chapter of
Alpha Gamma Delta somrity.
along with chapters at other
state universities. has decided
to help the project.

The Brooklyn Bear Proj—
ect was one of the ways
Brooklyn's family was able

Smith. He works in the Som-
erset Police Department.
which receives some of the
teddy bear donations.

“She was never a selfish
person. She always had two
of everything: she always
loved to share." Shannon
Smith said. "This helped con-
tinue her philosophy In life to
give to others and make them

The Brooklyn Bear Project
Is intended to help children in

tough or emergency situations.

such as a parent‘s arrest. The
bears are distributed among
fire. EMS and police depart-
ments to offer to children.

“This offers a little bit of

reassurance that our emer-
gency personnel can give to
children to make them feel
more comfortable with the sit-
uation they are in." Shannon
Smith said.

By the first few months.

the project had collected at
least 2.000 bears. Shannon
Smith said the goal is to have
a never-ending supply to give
to children.

Sarah Matichak. the pres—

ident of Alpha Gamma Delta.

“It was a great opportuni~
ty that presented Itself to as."
she said. “We figured we
should take advantage of it csI
pecrally before the holidays."

The Alpha Gamma Delta
chapter started collecting the
stuffed animals right after
Thanksgiving Break and will
continue until right before
Winter Break. The toys will
then be delivered to the Som~
erset Police Department.

At least I70 bears have
been collected because each
sorority member was asked
to donate at least one stuffed
animal. Matichak said. Dona-
tions can be any size or type:
they can also be different
types of stuffed animals other
than bears.

WWW.KYKERNEL.COM

Theft increase
not expected

in dorms over
Winter Break

BLTravis Walker
twalker@kykemel com

Residence halls are not
at a great risk for having
valuables stolen over Winter
Break than at any other
point in the year. said the
official iii charge of UK‘s
housing.

“We’ve never had a
case where someone broke
Into a resrderree hall and
stole something. to my
knowledge." said Ben
('rutcher. L'K's associate
vice president for Auxrlrary
Services.

L‘rutchcr said while no
security personnel patrol
residence halls during
breaks. precautions are tak~
en. ('ameras monitor the
front desks of the residence
halls. and every dorm room
In the residence halls re
quires a key to gain entry.

“Nobody can not w all;
into residence halls unless
they have a card swipe."
(‘nitcher said.

Haggtrr Hail Resident.
Director Joe Lewis said the
only people who enter occu-
pied dorrrIItory rooms are
resident advisers. who
check to make sure dorm
rooms are ready to be shtit
down on Saturday at noon
()y er Winter Break. the only
two undergraduate dormito»
ttz‘s fro? .I‘.‘ :Ipet \'.\\
North and South halls. he
said

”VM II\ to lock the
PlitsC down.” Lewis said.
“People Itist cant come in.
We take .I lot of precautions
to make sure people can't
get to your stuff."

Dormitory residents are
advised to take a majority of
belongings home over
break. according to the
sheet posted on residents‘
doors. But many students
may not take all of their be—
longings. said Wallace
Hawkins. Haggin Hall's as-
sistant hall director.

Most students choose
what to take home based on
what they will use and not
necessarily how valuable
possessions are. he said.

"Most college freshmen
bring stuff home because
they want to use it.‘
Hawkins said.

Undeclared freshman
(‘hris McCabe said while
he Is taking “everything of
extreme value." such as his
laptop. he does not plan on
taking many of his belong—
Ings home over Winter
Break. McCabe said he be—
lieyes theft will not be a
big Issue.

”There's going to be
less people III here over the
break." McCabe said.
“They're going to better
watch over the place.
whereas now. there are hurr-
dreds of people who cotild
pr‘ItentIally steal stuff."

Any thefts III HaggIII
Hall are tisually referred to
police. Lewis said.

Mar .loe Monroe. ['K's
I. «two point. china. trust
.‘II‘II l‘t' ‘L‘éithIL'tl in! com—
na‘nt lhursday through
Sunday about IlIeIts to
campus buildings. Anthany
Beatty. I'ls‘s assistant vice
presrderttt or pt.rblr sa f.ety
could not It. reached Sun-
day.

 

Fraternity house
shut down over
fire, safety Issues

By Morgan Witt

myI/Irt@kykernel com

17K ordered Kappa Sigma members to evacuate their
fraternity house Thursday due to unsafe living conditions.

said I‘K‘s

assistant fire marshal.

I‘be Hilltop Av enue house rechved an unannounced fire
irrspectron around 4 pm. by I'K Assistant I'II‘L‘ Marshal
(ireg Williamson. which was initiated by a coirrplaint about
the house conditions. WilliarIIson said.

"We went III to follow tip on the conrplarnt and make
sure that the house was III a safe living condition and what

we found was that It was not."

he said.

Williamson found multiple fire and lifc~safety viola-
tions; eight doors were not operating properly. candles were
found in the house. furniture was in the stairway blocking
exit access. bicycles were stored In the house potentially
blocking exrt access. Windows were coy cred with flamma-
ble material and clectncal wire was exposed.

“Fixing these things are going to be a process. but hope-
fully with alumni support and compliance with the universa—

ty'. we will be back on campus next fall."

president. Roddy McCleary

said the fratemity‘s

See Fraternity on page 6