Dr. Susan Ellis, a professor at Wayne State College, gave a presentation on the global implications and issues facing Syria in the Kanter Student Center last Tuesday.

 
Ellis started the presentation by discussing the relations of all the countries scattered through the Middle East and even some of the factions fighting for what they believe, including ISIS and ISIL.

To give an idea on the size of Syria, Ellis presented a slide with the size and population of Nebraska compared to Syria.

 
The most shocking part of the presentation was the total number of people who died in the uprisings in Syria alone.

 
“Three hundred and thirty thousand people have been killed, just in the uprisings,” Ellis said.

 
Ellis gave some examples of the time she lived in the country of Syria and her experiences with the people in Syria.

 
“I never felt threatened, but one night a bomb landed close to where I was living,” Ellis said.

 
She asked locals how they felt about the bombs and how they had become accustomed to them. Ellis showed pictures of the refugees trying to flee Syria. The pictures included people trying to get into Turkey while starving and carrying everything from the houses they once lived in.

 
One of the most tragic pictures was an image of a three-year-old boy’s body that had washed up on the shores of Greece; it was from one of the refugee boats that tried to flee the country. Many of the families sell their daughters off to people just for money.

 
“Syrian families are selling their daughters to men who they will marry for a small amount of time, just for their services,” Ellis said.

 
ISIS and ISIL have destroyed priceless architecture that can never be restored.

 
“These are not religious Islam people. Islam is a religion of peace. They just claim to be Islamic worshipers,” Ellis said.

 
Ellis finished the presentation with a powerful comic strip showing a sailor on a boat asking refugees where they are from, with the refugees replying, “Earth.” This gave the idea that we are all humans looking to survive.