Feb. 4, 2005
www.guilfordian.com
Kyle West
Jan. 23 saw the Patriots win the AFC
Championship game, and nearly three feet of
snow fall on their home state of Massachusetts.
The blizzard dumped 40 inches where it devel
oped over Nantucket Island. Parts of Massachusetts
were hit with up to three feet.
New York, New Jersey and Connecticut were also
hit hard, each receiving as much as 18 inches.
Businesses across the Northeast saw very little
traffic as families holed up or dug themselves out.
With Sunday came more snow and the AFC
Championship game, keeping more people from
stores and businesses, the Washington Post said.
The hardest hit were travelers, as most of the
Northeastern airports were shut down. More than
1,200 flights were canceled in the New York area
alone, according to the New York Times.
"It was crazy," said Morgan McCluskey, a resident
of Bangor, Maine. "We hadn't had any snow for two
weeks, and then we get handed two feet!" Although
snow continued to fall throughout Maine, the week
end blizzard was all that brought snow for most of
the Northeast.
Due to the early warnings from meteorologists
Democracy in action: Yushchenko to lead Ukraine
Hannah Whalev
Staff Writer
According to the
New York Times,
Viktor A. Yushchenko
took the oath of office
as president of Ukraine
on Jan. 23, vowing to
unite the country. Ukrai
nian citizens casted
ballots three times in
attempts to achieve
democracy within the
nation.
The inauguration was
the culmination of an
extraordinary period in
Ukraine's history that
included two rounds of
voting last fall, then
huge street protests
and a legal challenge
that ultimately over
turned the declared vic
tory of his opponent,
Viktor F. Yanukovich.
This led to the third
round of voting on Dec.
26, in which
Yushchenko triumphed.
Yushchenko's plans
include addressing the
WORLD & NATION
January blizzard slaps New England
Staff Writer
parliamentary assembly
of the Council of
Europe in Strasbourg,
France, addressing the
European Parliament in
Brussels. He also plans
to discuss the steps he
will take to accelerate
Ukraine's membership
bid into the European
Union.
The newly-elected
president also recently
attended the 60th
anniversary of the liber
ation of Auschwitz, a
Nazi death camp by the
Soviet Red Army. Ac
cording to the Washing
ton Post, Yushchenko's
father was a Red Army
prisoner of war there.
Viktor Yushchenko
won the third election
with just under 52 per
cent of the popular vote
against Prime Minister
Viktor Yanukovych. But
Yanukovych still would
not give up the election.
Mr. Yushchenko start
ed the campaign as the
most popular politician
across the states, and also the diligent efforts of the
snow removal teams, most businesses and schools
reopened on Jan. 24.
There were few deaths, most of which were due to
heart attacks started by shoveling. In New York City
10-year-old Markita Weaver was struck and killed by
a snowplow as she waited for a friend on a snow
bank, according to the New York Times.
Dave Melendez, a member of Portland, Maine's
Public Works Department's, snow removal team,
was one of many who worked almost nonstop to
removed the snow from roads and highways.
"Our whole lifestyle changes when we get a big
storm like this," Melendez said, according to the
Bangor Daily News. "We're owned by the city
come winter operations. That's ok, it's worth it."
Melendez also said that although the storms are
hard for those with families, the plow drivers take
pride their work.
First-year Julia Kartman from Phoenixville,
Pennsylvania was surprised with the way many in
Greensboro handled the recent ice storm.
"Apparently, a lot of people went to the BP
because of the storm ... They wouldn't do that up
north, since they get crazy storms all the time,"
Kartman said.
Despite the huge snowfall, many ski resorts in
northern New England reported less than desired
in Ukraine, and it took a
very large propaganda
effort on state-run TV
channels to make his
rival, Prime Minister
Viktor Yanukovych, look
like a real contender,
says BBC news.
BBC also noted that
there were many
attempts to discredit Mr.
Yushchenko. However,
the worst attempt was
his poisoning weeks
before the crucial vote
that left scars and blis
ters on his face.
"You have to remem
ber that these people
have been oppressed
for a long time," said
Mark Koehler, American
missionary in Ukraine
and relative of a
Guilfordian staff writer.
"They've been told what
to do and how to do
things,"
Koehler is currently
renewing his visa in the
Urnted States, and in a
recent interview with
The Guilfordian he
shared some per
sonal reflections.
"Yanukovych
wanted nothing to
do with the weakest
and oldest people
in the country,"
Koehler said. "A
friend of mine was
even offered money
to vote for him!" All
the protests and
demonstrations
Koehler saw were
non-threatening,
and he feels that
now, after three
time-consuming
elections, "most of
the country is
happy."
"That's democra
cy," says Guilford
first-year Alden
Stevenson. "If the
people as a whole
didn't feel like the
government was
being run fairly, it
was entirely their
right to voice their
opinions.".*
amounts of fresh snow. Sunday River in Maine
reported only 4 inches, while Sugarbush in Warren,
Vermont received almost 20 inches.
Many would-be skiers were stuck at home during
the blizzard, but as the week progressed, "we'll see
our call volumes go up ... as people get out of their
driveways, and get their kids back to school," J.J.
Tolden, communications manager at Sugarbush
said, according to the Bangor Daily NewsM
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Viktor Yushchenko is sworn in as President of Ukraine
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Greensboro. N.C