March 21, 2008

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
U.S. House Speaker Urges World To Denounce China Over Tibet
Associated Press (03/21/2008: wsj.com)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, one of the fiercest congressional critics of China, was the first major foreign official to meet the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader, since protests turned violent last week in the Chinese-ruled region.

EDUCATION
At Harvard, Students’ Muslim Traditions Are a Topic of Debate
Neil MacFarquhar/New York Times (03/21/2008)
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Two issues of Muslim practice — whether the call to prayer should ring out across Harvard Yard and whether the university should grant women separate gym hours — have unleashed small waves of controversy over how Harvard practices tolerance.

Woman's suit against seminary dismissed
Anabelle Garay/Associated Press (03/21/2008: news.yahoo.com)
DALLAS - Leaders of a prominent Southern Baptist seminary who believe women are biblically forbidden from teaching men were within their rights when they told a female professor to leave, a federal judge has ruled. Sheri Klouda was the only female professor teaching at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's School of Theology when officials decided not to renew her contract in 2006. Klouda claimed seminary officials breached an oral contract guaranteeing she would remain employed if her performance was favorable.

DOCTRINE AND PRACTICE
Pilgrims Crowd Holy Land For Good Friday
Associated Press (03/21/2008: cbsnews.com)
Thousands of Christians from all over the world crowded the stone alleyways of Jerusalem's Old City to mark Good Friday, retracing the route Jesus took to his crucifixion.

Forgiving Catholics ask that LDS missionaries not be charged in shrine incident
Jessica Ravitz/Salt Lake Tribune (03/21/2008)
An investigation that likely would have led to criminal charges against three LDS Church missionaries has been stopped.

SPORTS
Piety vs. March Madness
Brent Jones/Baltimore Sun (03/21/2008)
EMMITSBURG - Her Catholic parents generally keep days like Good Friday solemn by shunning technology, and if that holds true tonight, Mount St. Mary's University senior Maria Parker will find herself in a predicament. Should she sneak off to watch her school attempt to topple top-ranked and No. 1-seeded North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, a feat that would be one of the greatest upsets in college basketball history? Or does she stay firm to the reasons Mount St. Mary's closed its doors and sent students away from campus for three school days -- to reflect on the Easter season and spend time with family?