4
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2005
Rita set to strike Gulf Coast
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KEY WEST, Fla. - Rapidly
strengthening Hurricane Rita
lashed the Florida Keys on Tuesday
and headed into the Gulf of
Mexico, where forecasters feared it
could develop into another block
buster storm targeting Texas or
Louisiana.
Thousands of people were evac
uated from the Keys and low-lying
areas of northern Cuba. On the far
side of the Gulf of Mexico in Texas,
Galveston started evacuations and
officials made plans to move refu
gees from Hurricane Katrina who
had been housed in the Houston
area to Arkansas.
Forecasters said Rita could
intensify in the Gulf of Mexico into
a Category 4 storm with winds of at
least 131 mph. The most likely des
tination by week’s end was Texas,
although Louisiana and northern
Mexico were possibilities, accord
PROTEST
FROM PAGE 1 .
a massage program and a civil dis
obedience class.
The civil disobedience class will
teach the students to use direct
action as a way to to effect change,
Carson-Dewitt said.
And individuals will be able to
participate in painting umbrellas
or “peace parasols” Thursday
as a way to express their concerns
visually.
“People everywhere understand
umbrellas as a symbol of security,”
said Roger Ehrlich, coordinator of
Public Assembly, an activism group
that sponsored the parasols along
side the camp site.
Painting the parasols is an ideal
opportunity to participate in free
expression, he said.
But all the week’s activities are
a mere lead-in to the Washington,
D.C., trip.
The protest expedition will pro
vide several possibilities for peo
ple’s voices to be heard at both the
national and local scenes, Carson-
Dewitt said.
“Hopefully it provides visibil
ity to the growing anti-war move
ment,” she said. “Also, it empowers
people to continue to do work in
their own community.”
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
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ing to the hurricane center.
Acting FEMA Director R. David
Paulison told reporters that the
agency has aircraft and buses avail
able to evacuate residents of areas
the hurricane might hit. Rescue
teams and truckloads of ice, water
and prepared meals were being
sent to Texas and Florida.
“I strongly urge Gulf coast
residents to pay attention” to the
storm, he said.
Stung by criticism of the gov
ernment’s slow initial response to
Hurricane Katrina, President Bush
signed an emergency declaration
for Florida and spoke with Texas
Gov. Rick Perry about planning for
the storm’s landfall.
“All up and down the coastline
people are now preparing for what
is anticipated to be another signifi
cant storm,” Bush said.
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said
more than 2,000 Florida National
KIDS
FROM PAGE I
coping with Katrina justified feder
al support for all affected students,
regardless of where they enroll.
More than 370,000 students are
estimated to have been displaced
by the storm, and Thornton said
more than 40,000 are expected to
enroll in Texas schools.
“They are children of this nation,
and whether they go to a private
school right now or a public school,
this is due to being displaced by a
catastrophe,” she said. “Wherever
these children find a home for edu
cation, I believe the federal govern
ment should help them because of
this unusual situation.”
Many public education advo
cates contend that allowing federal
dollars to pay for private schools is
a backdoor way of implementing a
large-scale voucher program. The
Bush administration has voiced
consistent support for school
choice initiatives.
“It is a failed issue that they’re
trying to take advantage of in
these tragic circumstances,” said
Bruce Hunter, associate executive
director of public policy for the
American Association of School
Administrators.
“There’s no reason for subsi
dizing the private schools. This
is merely an attempt to get some
thing they have been unable to
News
Guard troops and dozens of law
enforcement officers were ready
to deal with the storm’s aftermath,
although it appeared the Keys were
spared the storm’s full fury.
“I think we did, so far, dodge
a bullet,” said Key West Mayor
Jimmy Weekley.
Rita started the day as a tropical
storm with top sustained wind of 70
mph. But as it cruised through the
Florida Straits between the Keys
and Cuba, it gathered energy from
the warm sea and by early after
noon it had top wind of 100 mph
with higher gusts, the National
Hurricane Center said.
Bush received a briefing about
Rita aboard the USS Iwo Jima,
which is docked near downtown
New Orleans, as the hurricane
caused new anxiety among Katrina
victims in Mississippi, Louisiana
and Alabama.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin
enact under other circumstances.”
Most students forced to relocate
because of the storm likely will be
enrolling in the nearest available
public school, he said, so the focus
should be on shoring up school
districts that will face enormous
costs from the sudden influx.
Without sufficient funding,
Hunter said, schools would have
to dangerously stretch resources
to deal with such rapid growth in
student population.
“They would end up robbing
Peter to pay Paul internally in their
districts,” he said.
Legislation introduced last
Thursday in the U.S. Senate,
sponsored by Mike Enzi, R-Wyo.,
and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., does
not specifically mention private
schools.
Alexa Marrero, spokeswoman for
the House Committee on Education
and the Workforce, said Congress
would begin examining long-term
aid proposals in the coming weeks,
and the outline of any final aid
package still is up in the air.
“Both public and private schools
have been opening their doors,”
she said. “We are certainly work
ing with the administration to
determine how we can help all of
the children and families displaced
by the hurricane.”
Contact the State & National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
suspended his plan Monday to start
bringing residents back to the city
after warnings that Rita could fol
low Hurricane Katrina’s course and
rupture his city’s weakened levees.
“There’s still plenty of warm
water that it needs to move over
in the next couple days. The fore
cast is favorable for further inten
sification,” said Michelle Mainelli,
a meteorologist at the National
Hurricane Center.
Residents and visitors had been
ordered out of the Keys, and volun
tary evacuation orders were posted
for coastal mainland areas such as
Miami Beach. Some 58,000 people
were evacuated in Cuba, on the
southern side of the Florida Straits.
Many of Key West’s shops and
bars were boarded up, and at least
one segment of the Keys highway,
U.S. 1, was barricaded because
of water and debris, the Florida
Highway Patrol said.
STATE
FROM PAGE 1
permit included a map of where
their table could be. “We were
asked to stay at the table on one
side (of the brickyard),” he said.
CR members passed out protest
signs and yellow ribbons to anyone
who wanted them.
When Sheehan arrived, pro
testers rushed to the bus an
area Everett says was off-limits to
the College Republicans —and a
shouting match began.
The controversy is about who was
protesting the College Republicans
or other people who attended.
“People who were at the table
stayed at the table,” said Brittany
Farrell, a CR member who was
working at the table. “We just
took the grief of everyone who was
opposed to Sheehan.”
But she also said that when she
heard the commotion by the bus, she
ran to see what was happening.
Gene Feldman, former president
of ACLU, said he was in attendance
to listen to Sheehan, but stepped in
to protect the Campus Greens’ and
Sheehan’s freedom of speech.
Campus Greens also is filing
a complaint against the Campus
Police Department for its mishan
dling of the situation. She said it
should have kept the protesters
away from the bus.
Campus police Sgt. Jon Barnwell
said officers were told only that two
groups would be in the brickyard.
“They could be anywhere in the
brickyard as long as they weren’t
fighting,” he said.
Feldman said police did not help
restrain the crowd despite his efforts
to get support. He said the disrup
tion led to a violation of the group’s
First Amendment rights.
“It was a blatant disregard for the
civil liberties that the Greens that
any group was entitled to.”
Contact the State & National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
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TAX
FROM PAGE 1
a more affordable level, especially
for people on fixed incomes.”
He said he would like to suspend
the variable tax rate for two years
or until prices come down.
Georgia’s state legislature called
a special session earlier this month
and voted to approve a suspension
of the state gas tax until Sept. 30.
The initiative was led by Ga. Gov.
Sonny Perdue. Most discussions
across the nation about suspending
the tax in the wake of Hurricane
Katrina have proposed doing so
for a few months at most.
Bernard Weinstein, direc
tor of the Center for Economic
Development and Research at the
University of North Texas, said the
proposals are shortsighted.
“Most states are hungry for rev
enue,” he said. “They cannot afford
to give up the gasoline tax or part
of the gasoline tax, especially if you
POKER
FROM PAGE 1
Kevin Kruger, associate execu
tive director of the National
Association of Student Personnel
Administrators, says that for
the most part, the game is fairly
harmless and even can be a posi
tive social experience for stu
dents.
But he does say there are a few
issues to consider, such as if play
negatively impacts students’ aca
demics, social life and personal
finances.
“Like a lot of activities like this,
I think it will peak, but there’s
nothing in the popular literature
that suggests that it is slowing
down at all,” Kruger says. “I think
we’re looking at something that’s
going to continue for a number of
years.”
Carman says his parents, who are
former professional bridge players,
encourage him to play because they
view poker as a safer alternative to
other behaviors.
“I’ve had 20-plus-people tourna
ments at my house in Durham,” he
says. “It’s kind of a thing that my
parents would rather have me sit
downstairs and play poker with
friends than have me go out and
drink and drive.”
Although Carman says he’s made
a small amount of money playing,
it’s the competitive thrill of the
game he likes.
“It’s more just kind of a thing
that I like to have a good time and
hopefiilly make some money,” he
says.
Others treat poker more as a
money-making skill. Reid Young,
a 20-year-old sophomore at Wake
Forest University, started playing
Texas Hold’em online this summer
because of his interest in other card
games.
“Once I start playing a game
like that, I do what I can do to get
pretty good at it,” he says.
Part of Young’s strategy is read
ing the seven poker books he’s
bought.
“You can study and have more
experience than someone, and it
(Thr Hatty (Ear Urri
“I think the
problem is we, in
America, consider
cheap gasoline a
natural birthright ”
BERNARD WEINSTEIN, RESEARCHER
look at the federal government, in
the aftermath of Katrina, could put
a lot of highway projects on hold.”
“I think the problem is we, in
America, consider cheap gasoline
a natural birthright.”
Pate said that while highway
funding is an issue, it is outweighed
by prices upwards of $3.
“I think it’s what can the people
stand,” he said. “People on a fixed
income are having great difficulty
... and I don’t think it’s right.”
Contact the State & National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
“Its more just kind
of a thing that I
like to have a good
time and hopefully
make some money.”
STEVE CARMAN, SOPHOMORE
pays off,” he says.
And for Young, it pays off in the
thousands. Since he started play
ing this July, he has made about
$5,000.
He says his poker playing doesn’t
impact his other activities at school.
“I come back from the gym and I’ll
play for half an hour, or if I have
some time off and there’s nothing
else to do.”
Jeremy Wisuthseriwong, a
junior business administration
major at UNC, was inspired by
old western movies and started
playing five-card draw in his ele
mentary and middle school days
with chips from the game Connect
Four.
Now he plays with his friends as
a social occasion. “It’s a good way to
start conversation,” he says. “When
excitement does build up in one of
those monster hands, it’s a lot of
fun for everybody.”
Wisuthseriwong also started
playing poker online last year by
investing s2oo' he’d saved from
various jobs. He says if he ever
dips below that amount, he’ll stop.
But so far, he’s made about S6OO
in profit.
At school, he typically plays on
the weekends because he says it
would take up too much of his time
otherwise.
“(If I were to lose money), I’m
going to get frustrated and that’s
going to affect how I perform in
class and around other people,” he
says.
“I think it’s just too dangerous.
There’s a chance you can win big,
but there’s a big chance you can
lose big.”
Contact the Features Editor
atfeatures@unc.edu.