2
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2004
Welch, 23, ’O4
UNC graduate
BY JENNY RUBY
STAFF WRITER
UNC alumnus Edward Kent
Welch died Nov. 23 after sustain
ing serious injuries in an auto
mobile accident in Prague, Czech
Republic.
Welch, whom family and friends
lovingly referred to as “Kent,” grad
uated in June after double major-
ing in history
and peace, war
and defense.
Welch, 23,
traveled to
Prague to par
ticipate in a pro
gram in which
he learned how
to teach English
abroad.
“His intention
was to (teach)
for a year,” said
his sister Ashley
UNC graduate
Kent Welch
died Nov. 23 in
Prague after a
car accident.
Walker. “After being there for
about six weeks, he realized he
really missed the states and our
family.”
Welch was scheduled to return
home Nov. 20, but less than a week
before his departure, a car accident
left him in the hospital. He died
one week later.
Walker said that after the inci
dent, she sent an e-mail to family
and friends asking for support
“The entire world was praying for
him,” she said. “The word just trav
eled that quickly. It was amazing.”
Welch participated in a Czech
Republic organ-donor program,
an act of generosity not commonly
practiced in the region.
“The people in Czech don’t usu
ally donate organs,” Walker said.
“I think that makes it even more
special that they don’t do it over
there. The people in the ICU were
just blown away with gratitude.”
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Welch’s love for life could be seen
in all aspects of his personality, fam
ily members said. Loved ones por
trayed him as a caring brother, music
lover and UNC sports fanatic.
“He was an avid Carolina ath
letics fan,” Walker said. “When
Carolina beat Miami, he said it was
almost enough to make him want
to come home.”
Welch also was a passionate
musician. He developed a knack
for playing the banjo and could be
heard playing on campus Friday
afternoons with his band, The
Grindstone String Band.
“He really found his niche when
he picked up that banjo,” said his
brother Stuart Welch. “He loved
music.”
Kent Welch’s twin sister, Katie,
said she is unable to describe how
much her brother meant to her.
“Kent was an outstanding broth
er,” she said. “He was so loyal and
loving. He wanted to come back and
be closer to his family and friends.”
Kent’s friends described him as
“despicably likeable.”
“He loved life,” said friend
Catherine Davis. “He was abso
lutely amazing and cared for his
family so much. He really is one of
the few people you can say all this
stuff about and it’s really true.”
Katie Welch said her brother’s
presence will be greatly missed.
“The world is a better place when
he was here. He’ll be so dearly
missed by all of us.”
A memorial service will be
held at 2 p.m. today at St. Paul’s
Episcopal Church in Winston-
Salem. Instead of flowers, the
family is asking people to donate
to Young Life, a Christian organi
zation, in the Czech Republic.
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
TTA, town snag S23M transit grant
BY LIZ STANLEY
STAFF WRITER
Transportation in the Triangle
will receive a face lift in the next
few years thanks to a $23 million
grant from the federal government
to be used specifically for area
transportation improvements.
Last week, Rep. David Price, D-
N.C., helped secure more than S3O
million in funding for state trans
portation initiatives.
Of the $23 million, the Triangle
TYansit Authority was allotted s2l
million, while the remaining funds
were given to Chapel Hill Transit.
“We would not be receiving these
funds if it was not for Congressman
David Price’s efforts,” said Kim
Crawford, TTA government rela
tions manager.
Crawford said S2O million of the
money allotted for TTA is marked
specifically for the regional rail
project, bringing total finding for
the project to SBS million.
The rail system will connect
Durham, Research Triangle Park,
Cary and downtown Raleigh,
Crawford said.
“The funding has allowed us to
continue on the path that we’ve
been going and follow the sched
ule that we’ve laid out,” said Garold
Smith, TTAs community relations
manager.
David Bonk, principal transpor
tation planner for Chapel Hill, said
the $2 million Chapel Hill Transit
will receive as part of the grant is
earmarked through legislation for
replacing buses.
Bonk said the town will not pur
chase any new buses but instead
will “rehabilitate” 13 buses now in
Bills on domestic violence, drugs to become law
Existing penalties
to be strengthened
BY KEVIN CHANDLER
STAFF WRITER
People convicted of domestic
violence or sexual assault, as well as
producers of methamphetamine,
will face harsher punishments
when several state laws take effect
Wednesday.
The N.C. General Assembly
made the crime of assault by stran
gulation, formerly a misdemeanor,
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Passengers wait for a bus Monday afternoon along South Road. About $23 million in federal funding has
been secured for local transportation initiatives that will include the regional rail project and bus replacements.
service.
“Several of the buses right now
are inoperable,” he said.
“That is why these funds are
important.”
The regional rail project is one
of the most prominent area trans
portation initiatives.
The TTA has been in the plan
ning stages of creating a regional
light rail system since 1992.
The project was created in
hopes of providing a reliable rail
service for residents while getting
them off the area’s already crowd
ed roads.
a felony punishable by as many as
two years in prison.
The N.C. Coalition Against
Domestic Violence worked hard
with legislators to pass the bill, said
Beth Froehling, public policy spe
cialist for the coalition. “This type of
behavior often leads to homicide.”
Froehling said strangulation is
used as an intimidation method
by assailants.
The new provision also lowers
the threshold at which the assailant
is labeled a “habitual misdemeanor
offender.” Such a label automatically
makes an abuser guilty of a felony.
Initially, the project was
planned as a 35-mile, 16-station
transit system, Smith said.
But factors such as the global
rise in the cost of steel and con
crete and the “flattening out” of
one of its funding sources forced
TTA to reassess the project and
reduce it to a 28-mile system with
12 stations, Smith said.
Crawford said builders will start
construction on the rail this sum
mer, and the project is planned to
be complete by 2008.
Smith said that depending on
funding, the TTAs future goal is to
“The number of(meth) labs that’ve been
discovered where people have been
exposing their children ... has exploded.”
WILLIAM MCKINNEY, SPOKESMAN FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL ROY COOPER
Froehling said she is hopeful that
the package of laws will improve
the state’s domestic violence repu
tation. “We will not tolerate domes
tic violence in our state.”
Similar laws will protect victims
of sexual assault.
One will terminate the parental
Batty (Tar
add stations in northern Raleigh,
the Duke University area and
Chapel Hill, as well as at Raleigh-
Durham International Airport.
The TTA plans to use the
remaining $1 million from the
grants for bus replacement.
The group will begin replacing
several buses over the next year,
Crawford said.
Bonk said Chapel Hill residents
should see the town’s renovated
buses by next fall.
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu.
rights of men convicted of a rape or
sexual assault in which the victim
becomes pregnant.
The law stems from a court case
in which a man accused of a sex
offense refused to waive his parental
rights unless the victim told authori
ties a lesser crime took place. !IfH
Another pair of laws also will
increase the use of civil no-contact
orders. ./ i.. '!
Monika Johnson Hostler, execu
tive director for the N.C. Coalition
Against Sexual Assault, said the new
laws are significant for the state.
“(Some) rape and stalking victims
in North Carolina are not eligible for
restraining orders because there is
not a relationship between victims
and assailants that fall within cur
rent specifications,” she said.
Formerly, to be eligible for a
restraining order, there had to be
a defined relationship between
victim and antagonist. Now, those
guidelines will be loosened.
A related law also allows com
panies to file restraining orders on
behalf of employees if the threat of
workplace violence exists.
In a step intended to stop the
spread of methamphetamine labs
in the state, penalties for meth pro
duction will be dramatically stepped
up when the laws take effect.
In 1999, nine meth labs were
uncovered in the state, compared
to 177 last year and 207 so far this
year.
“It’s a large problem in North
Carolina,” said William McKinney,
spokesman for Attorney General
Roy Cooper.
Meth manufacturing will be
bumped up to a class C felony,
punishable by up as many as 17
1/2 years in prison. Previously, the
crime was a class H felony, likely
carrying a punishment of proba
tion for the first offense.
Meth producers also will face
harsher sentences if the drug was
produced in the presence of a child
because of the dangers of the fumes
and possible explosions involved.
“The number of labs that’ve been
discovered where people have been
exposing their children to danger
has exploded,” McKinney said.
He added that Cooper and his
staff are pleased with the more
than 20 laws that will take effect
Wednesday.
“They were laws we pushed
for, and we worked hard with the
General Assembly to create. And
we hope they will be used effec
tively.”
Contact the State £2 National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
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