2
TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2004
Impromptu sledding ends in injuries
BY BROOK R. CORWIN
UNIVERSITY EDITOR
Covered in sleet and ice, Skipper
Bowles Drive was transformed into
a treacherous sledding hill by hun
dreds of students early Monday
morning, several of whom were
sent to UNC Hospitals with con
cussions or broken bones.
Beginning late Sunday night,
several hundred students
including several members of the
UNC men’s basketball team
used objects such as police barri
cades, benches and even picnic
tables to careen down the steeply
sloped road overlooking the Smith
Center, said students at the scene.
“Anything that could slide was
being taken,” freshman Dan
Dall’Asta said the next afternoon.
“It was pretty out of control.”
Between 8 p.m. Sunday and
1:35 a.m. Monday, four people
were checked into UNC Hospitals
with sledding injuries, including
one with a broken bone, said Tom
Hughes, a hospital spokesman.
Among those students was
Dall’Asta, who said he suffered a
concussion when several students
sliding on a street sign collided with
him near the bottom of the hill.
“The last I heard was ‘get out of
the way,’ and then I was flipped in
Economy, Iraq war could tip Bush re-election
BY KAVITA PILLAI
STAFF WRITER
As Democratic presidential can
didates vie for their party’s nomi
nation, experts say President
Bush’s re-election campaign unof
ficially has begun.
“The State of the Union speech
was clearly a campaign speech,”
said Allan Lichtman, history pro
fessor at American University.
“And you don’t raise over SIOO mil
lion without being an enthusiastic
campaigner.”
The president’s campaign for re
election began even earlier, said
James Stimson, a professor of
political science at UNC. “The real
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the air,” he said.
Several officers from the UNC
Department of Public Safety
arrived at about 2 a.m. to clear the
overrun roadway of sledders. No
one was arrested, said University
police Chief Derek Poarch, but stu
dents could have been written up
for obstructing the street
“We could have written up stu
dents on the spot for illegally
blocking the road,” Poarch said.
“They then refused requests to
move and put up barricades to
block the road. ... Next time we
may not be as patient with them.”
Several students including
one injured at the scene said
police intervention wasn’t neces
sary to ensure the safety of the par
ticipating students, some of whom
were piling 15 to 20 people on
uprooted picnic tables.
“We’re all pretty mature college
kids, trying to watch out for each
other,” said Lawrence Bianco, a
sophomore public policy who suf
fered a separated shoulder and a
concussion after being hit by a
sled. “Accidents happen, but it was
n’t because of a lack of concern.”
Bianco said that while he was
unconscious for a couple of min
utes, a group of students gathered
to help him to his feet One of these
ity is presidents begin thinking
about their re-election before they
are inaugurated.”
Being an incumbent is a clear
advantage for Bush, but a faltering
economy and problems abroad
could prove problematic as
November nears.
For the president to be re-elect
ed, “the economy has to hold up,
there can’t be a compelling scan
dal, and he has to avoid major
reverses abroad,” Lichtman said.
Bill Ferguson, a professor of eco
nomics at Grinnell College in lowa,
said three economic factors will
affect the president’s chances of re
election: the economy’s growth,
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Students use a picnic table to sled down Skipper Bowles Drive on
Monday. Hundreds flooded the road to sled on anything they could find.
was Matt Mullane, a Robertson
Scholar studying this semester at
Duke University.
Mullane compared the scene to
the vocal and festive atmosphere of
a sporting event, adding that most
students had safety on their minds.
“I think it’s a Chapel Hill tradi
tion that should never be stopped,”
Mullane said. “It’s a classic event I
unemployment rates and the fed
eral deficit.
However, if unemployment
remains high throughout the elec
tion season, the public likely will
blame Bush, hurting his re-elec
tion chances.
“One would wonder how the
public would weigh the trade-off
(between the growing economy
and high unemployment),”
Ferguson said.
Bush’s tax policy also likely will
come under heavy fire by
Democratic challengers as a pri
mary reason for a ballooning
deficit
“Cutting taxes cuts down gov-
News
hope will continue.”
Students said they expect the
event will continue whenever
classes are canceled again.
“I’m certain students will be
back out,” Bianco said. “It was a
ball for most people.”
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
eminent revenue,” Ferguson said.
He added that while production
is falling, government spending is
increasing.
But Bush’s campaign will
emphasize national security and
tap into the public’s fear of terror
ism instead of the economy,
Stimson said.
“They are goin£ to hold the
Republican convention in New
York City so they’ll be close to
Ground Zero,” he said.
Lichtman said one major differ
ence between Bush’s re-election
campaign and his 2000 campaign
will be the public’s perception of
him.
“Last time he campaigned as
the united man who could bridge
the gap between conservatives and
democrats,” he said. “He’s more
explicitly conservative this time.”
Contact the State & National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
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Libya welcomes
U.S. delegation
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TRIPOLI, Libya - A
Republican congressman led a U.S.
delegation into uncharted territory
Monday: a meeting with Libyan
leader Moammar Gadhafi and a
tour of a Libyan nuclear reactor.
The extraordinary meeting is a
hallmark of improving relations
between the United States and
Libya after decades of animosity.
“It was an extremely positive
two hours,” said the delegation’s
leader, Republican Rep. Curt
Weldon of Pennsylvania.
While lawmakers said there was
little discussion of remaining
points of contention between the
countries they were impressed
with Gadhafi.
The meeting took place in a
white tent emblazoned with green
palm trees and circular designs,
erected beside the wreckage of
Gadhafi’s house, destroyed by U.S.
bombs in 1986. A child said to be
Gadhafi’s adopted daughter was
killed in the attack.
The two nations have come a
long way since then. In recent
months, Gadhafi has renounced
his support for terrorist organiza
tions and invited U.S., British and
U.N. experts to dismantle his pre
viously secret programs to develop
weapons of mass destruction.
The lawmakers said they were
convinced Gadhafi was serious
about his new place in theworld,
and wanted desperately to come
back in from the cold after decades
of U.S. and U.N. sanctions
imposed for his support of terror
ists took a toll on his country’s oil
wealth and regional power.
Rep. Darrell Issa, a California
Republican, said Gadhafi
“expressed his regret that a quar
ter century has passed of isolation
between our countries.”
Coming out of the meeting, the
lawmakers celebrated with lunch at
the Libyan-American Friendship
Association, established in 2000.
The lawmakers were three and a
half hours late, and most of the 180
guests had eaten already.
A traditional Libyan band
played a bagpipe-like instrument
and drums as the lawmakers
arrived, and a group of girls, ages
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3 to 10 in makeup and wedding
dresses, received them.
Before their meeting, the law
makers toured Gadhafi’s bombed
out house, damaged in attacks
launched by then-President Ronald
Reagan in retaliation for the bomb
ing of a German disco that killed a
U.S. soldier and a Turkish woman.
Thirty-seven people were killed in
Libya in the U.S. attacks.
The lawmakers shook their
heads at a photograph said to be of
Gadhafi’s adopted daughter, killed
in the bombing. Issa said Gadhafi
complained the United States did
n’t give him the proper warnings
before the attacks.
Gadhafi admitted last month
that he tried to develop weapons of
mass destruction and U.N., U.S.
and British inspectors have been
inspecting the facilities to deter
mine how to dismantle them.
Although the facility wasn’t used
for weapons development, scien
tists working on the nuclear
weapons program presumably
gained knowledge working at
facilities such as Tajura.
Libya is hoping to end the U.S.
sanctions, in place since 1986, that
have cost it more than S3O billion
in lost business. Investment is
needed for the oil industry. The del
egation indicated the sanctions
could be removed as soon as
Gadhafi made good on his pledges.
Another U.S. lawmaker,
Democratic Rep. Tom Lantos of
California, is in Libya on a sepa
rate visit. He landed in Libya on
Saturday in the first visit by an
elected U.S. official in 38 years.
In addition to Weldon, Ortiz
and Issa, the delegation includes
Louisiana Democrat Rodney
Alexander and Republicans
Candice Miller of Michigan, Mark
Souder of Indiana and Elton
Gallegly of California.
lattg (Tar Bed
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