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Fayetteville, NC
Vol. XXXVII, No. 6
February 14, 2000
Snow Blankets The
By Krista McArtan
Photo Editor
Winter 2000, brought an unusual
weather experience to North Carolina,
Fayetteville, and Methodist College.
Having recently recovered from this
year’s hurricane season with record
floods leaving a trail of disaster, the
Methodist College community was
surprised and shaken again by raging
snow storms.
Weather forecasters called the
first wave of the winter blast a small
storm, which covered Fayetteville with
3 inches of ice and snow on Jan. 19,
rendering roads impassable. The city
was practically frozen solid with little
more than snow removal teams, work
crews and emergency vehicles trying
to navigate over ice-covered streets.
Schools, businesses and government
offices were closed, and children of all
ages were off frolicking in the cold
white year 2000 winter surprise.
The overnight accumulation
record for Fayetteville had been set by
a storm that dumped 3.7 inches in
1989, but that would soon change as
North Carolina received the fallout
from what local news anchors called
“The Storm of a Lifetime.” The heart
of the storm arrived on Jan. 25
blanketing the state, the city, and the
campus. Fayetteville and the sur
rounding area accumulated 6 to 12
inches of the cold white stuff The
National Weather Service measured a
record breaking 20.3 inches at the
Raleigh/ Durham International Airport
on Wednesday, Jan. 26. The highest
snowfall measured at RDU before that
was from a storm that hit in 1893,
burying Raleigh/ Durham under 20.0
inches. Moore County got the worst of
Stout Hall sparkles in the first snow of2000.
it with a record twenty four inches.
More snow, ice, and subfreezing
temperatures followed and lasted
through the end of January.
Carolina Power and Light
Company reported thousands of
outages through the end of the month.
N.C, Governor Jim Hunt asked people
throughout the ten-county Cape Fear
Region to check on family members
and neighbors, especially the elderly.
State National Guard personnel were
deployed to clear roads, assist officials
in rescuing stranded motorists, and
provide emergency medical aid. As
temperatures remained below freezing
and precipitation continued, the county
resembled a scene from the arctic
adventure movie “The Great White
North". Roads in rural areas and
inside neighborhoods were completely
coated with thick sparkling ice, and
unprecedented closings prevailed.
County schools, Fort Bragg, local
government offices and many busi-
Pholo hv Francine Hum
nesses remained closed for the better
part of the last 2 weeks in January in
an effort to keep people off slick
roads.
Despite travel warnings issued
by the state Department of Transporta
tion, retailers reported plenty of
business and the state Highway Patrol
reported hundreds of accidents. For
many students the unexpected break
from classes at Methodist College was
a welcomed one.
“The time off was good for me,
but 1 can see how it became a safety
issue for the college,” said student
Wilton Morales.
Tara King, sophomore, said, “I
was really glad to have the mini
vacation. 1 think Methodist made the
right call because the roads were really
icy, and there could have been some
dangerous situations.”
Other students questioned the
need to cancel classes or delay the
opening of the campus for such an
By Eddie Price
Contributing Writer
The Student Government
Association was very busy during the
fall semester, tackling issues such as
speed bumps and commuter parking, as
well as managing the student activity
fee.
After fall break, the campus
community returned to find the
addition of numerous giant speed
bumps. The SGA took swift action,
organizing a petition which over 500
members of the college community
endorsed within 48 hours.The president
delivered the petition, along with a
request to lower the speed bumps to
Dr. Hendricks, and within two weeks,
work had commenced to lower the
SGA votes on parking lot proposal.
Pholo h\ Jami Sheppard
extended period due to the inclement
weather.
“It seemed kind of silly at first,
but the South just isn’t prepared to
deal with the snow, so I think the
college made a good decision,” said
Bethany Helton, a senior communica
tions major.
Faculty members wondered how
they would complete planned syllabi
now that the semester was disrupted by
an unusual but memorable act of
nature.
Paul Joseph, an assistant profes
sor in the communications department,
said, “1 was a little disappointed that so
many classes were canceled. That may
be because 1 come from Massachusetts
where this type of snowfall and icing
are practically everyday occurrences in
the winter.”
For some nontraditional
students, it was difficult to get to the
college on the days when classes were
delayed instead of canceled. The
closing of public schools, and daycares
poses a unique problem for students
and employees who have children.
“ With the county schools
closed and travel warnings issued, 1
couldn’t find anyone to care for my
children, while 1 attended classes,
said, Cindy Bridges, senior history
major. “While Methodist was holding
classes, many daycares remained
closed because child care employees
were at home caring for their own
school-aged children, who were home
due to extended county-wide clos
ings.”
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SGA Creates Commuter’s Parking Lot
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Monarchs brave the cold, ready or not.
Photo bv Francine Hunt
speed bumps.
The congestion of the parking lot
adjacent to the Trustees’ building
became a highly debated issue. Many
different solutions were discussed, but
ultimately the Senate voted to restrict
the Trustees’ parking lot to commuters,
faculty, and visitors only. Resident
students will be cited after the effective
date, which has yet to be determined.
The SGA will advertise the switch,
which should occur within the next
couple weeks.
The SGA apportioned over
$15,000 to clubs and organizations
during the fall semester. This was as a
result of the revitalization of the
student activity fee, which was passed
last year. This was done in an attempt
to make clubs and organizations more
visible on campus, and has been a
success. Grants are still available for
clubs and organizations. The deadline
for filing for a grant is the 15th of each
month. If you have any questions
concerning grants or sUident govern
ment, please stop by the SGA office
located in the Bems Student Center, or
call 630-7108.
What Y2K?
By Stephanie Hein
Staff Writer
To extremes such as with
drawing entire savings from the
bank and growing one’s own food
to simple self conscience worrying,
the Y2K computer gliteh took it’s
toll on everyone world wide.
The Year 2000 crisis stemmed
from computer systems built in the
1960s and 1970s only allowing
dates to be stored in six digit fields
rather then the eight digits that
would be required for the year 2000
to register. With the absence of the
two digit fields a threat of total
computer shutdown at the dawning
of a new millennium filled
everyone’s minds.
The billions of dollars and
countless hours spent on making
computers Y2K complaint has
seemingly worked thus far. There
have been no blackouts, the stock
market is still up and running and
generators can be turned off.
There have been no reports of
serious computer shutdowns due to
the Y2K glitch, but many people
were prepared for the worst.
*‘My family and I took
extreme precautions to prepare for
the millennium. We took money
out of the bank, bought all canned
food, filled up buckets of water,
unplugged everything in case of a
power outage,” said sophomore
Patti Wisniewski.
According to Kim Dowd,
dean of students, the computers at
Methodist were not effected when
the new century arrived and there
are no perceived problems with
them.
Opinion Poll:
Wbgt cjo you think oftbe new lool, of the
nie//en9er ?
E-mail us at mmessenger@inethodist.edu or at studentmedia@aol.com and tell us what you think.
Inside:
Tally Center conference is around the comer...page 3.
What an editor thinks of the SGA decision...page 4.
What is Valentine’s Day all about?...page 5.
Music trivia! - win a free CD...page 6.
Upcoming sports events...page 7.