CEDAR FALLS - Paul Rusesabagina, the acclaimed hero of "Hotel Rwanda" fame, asked a group of hundreds a simple question: How many of you do not have cell phones?

Not surprisingly, only a few hands went up out of the hundreds packed into Lang Hall Auditorium at the University of Northern Iowa on Tuesday night.

Cell phones, computers and other electronics require a special mineral - coltan - that can only be found in a few select countries, he told the crowd.

One of those countries is the Democratic Republic of Congo, where coltan is a mineral funding the civil war and resulting genocide of millions of Congolese.

"And yet, we still have closed our ears and closed our eyes and our tongues. We do not want to listen. We do not even want to be involved," Rusesabagina said.

It takes a bold speaker to call out a roomful of people for buying cell phones, but Rusesabagina is used to telling people things they don't want to hear.

For three months, as the mass slaughter of millions took place in Rwanda in spring 1996, Rusesabagina was on the phone to anyone and everyone he could think to contact, trying to secure help for the 1,268 Rwandan refugees holed up in his Sabena Hotel des Mille Collines in Kigali.

Though exiled from his home for more than a decade, and despite public denouncements by Rwanda's president, Rusesabagina still speaks out about that time, and about current genocides occurring in the world, particularly African nations.

"My young students ask me, 'Why did you risk your life in order to save other people's lives?'" Rusesabagina said. "The answer is very simple. When you go through such an experience, you do what advises you - your own conscience."

Rusesabagina's visit was made possible by a partnership with two UNI groups, the Holocaust and Genocide Education Program and the Center for Multicultural Education.

"The 20th century has been ... full of violence and genocidal tendencies," said Michael Blackwell, director of the CME and emcee for the evening. "If we can get the younger generation to care about it and understand it, they will be able to appreciate these differences and build a more positive society."

Stephen Gaies, co-chair of HGEC, said everyone was invited to an organization meeting of a potential UNI chapter of STAND, or Students Taking Action Now: Darfur, an international movement to end genocide. The meeting will be today at 3 p.m. in Lang Hall, Room 208.

"Some students at UNI want to move beyond knowledge and memory alone," Gaies said of STAND.

Rusesabagina agreed the best way was to take action. After all, it's what saved 1,268 Rwandan refugees in 1996.

"Today, let us stand up and raise awareness," Rusesabagina said. "You can change the world. You can shape the world. The future is yours."