The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, August 02, 2000, Page 4, Image 4
Quote, unquote
"Just because you’re being artistic does not mean that
you are privileged to violate the law.”
-Marc Linder, Law Professor, University of Iowa
(page 4 WitSmracIt ~~ Wednesday, august 2,2000,
Wk (5amccock
Serving the Carolina Community since 1Q08
Editorial Board
Miranda LaLonde • Editor in Chief
Ann Marie Miani • Managing Editor
Pete Johnson • Viewpoints Editor
John Huiett • News Editor
Did legislators move fast
enough on Guardrails?
When six members of a family of eight died in a tragic acci
dent on 1-26 Monday, July 26 all of Columbia reacted in
shock and sadness.
The Odom family of Ashville, N.C., were driving to the beach
with two Russian exchange students for some fun in the sun when
a tractor-trailer driving on the opposite side of the highway blew
a tire, crossed the grassy median and slammed into their Chevy
Suburban head on.
The accident killed the truck driver, Jim Harris, 72; Taylor
Odom and his wife Marianne; Kirby, 7; Lacey, 9; Allie, 12 and
Nadzeiz Rogachova, 13. Allie’s twin sister, Mary Taylor, died two
days later. The other exchange student, Nastia Bliudux, 12, and
two of the Odom children, Kaitlyn, 8 and Abel, 16, survived the
crash.
Just two days after this terrible accident, the S.C. Department
of Transportation began putting guardrails along 1-77. It is a shame
that it takes such a terrible accident to inspire a change, but there
have been many cross-median accidents along South Carolina’s
highways. The cable guardrails, which are about half the price of
concrete barriers, have been used primarily in Northern states.
The installation of the guardrails has been planned since earlier
this year.
It is a shame that it takes the senseless deaths of a happy fami
ly to make this into a public issue. There should have been some
sort of barrier in place already, so that this tragedy might have
been averted. Seven people are dead, and a family is broken as a
result of our fast-paced, dowivto-business legislators.
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■ nc wwcvuvn
Miranda LaLonde
Editor in Chief
Ann Marie Miani
Managing Editor
Features Editor
John Huiett
News Editor
Pete Johnson
Viewpoints Editor
Student Media
Ellen Parsons
Director
Susan King
Creative Director
Kenton Watt
Advertising Manager
Carolyn Griffin
Business Manager
Sherry Holmes
Classified Manager
Erik Collins
Faculty Adviser
Jeff Romig
Sports Editor
Jacquelyn Poston
Copy Desk Chief
Photo Editor
Sean Rayford
Photo Editor
Will Gillaspy
Online Edita
Jonathan Dunagin
Graduate Assistant
Todd Hooks
Creative Services
Brantley Roper
Gina Me KeIvey
Robyn Gombar
Melissa Millen
Advertising Staff
Washington Post
greatest eourim OH earth w 6AS0U me r
SOCIAL ISSUES
Face down on a smelly couch
is it
h a t
ery
thing seems to go
wrong when you
are moving? I
have spent the
past four days
continuously dig
ging through
piles of junk,
while meticu
lously cleaning
out my room,
lifting heavy fur
niture (and occa
sionally dropping
items on my
toes), fighting off
legions oi anis
and sleeping on a smelly couch.
Despite my foul mood, I am filled
with a sense of excitement and
anticipation for another year in a
new environment.
It all started in late June. My
friend and I were out prowling for
apartments for the fall when we
stumbled upon the perfect place.
Hardwood floors, fireplace,
expansive bathroom and kitchen,
three large bedrooms, and best of
all, a HUGE wooden back porch.
Excitement, elation, exhilaration,
euphoria ... these were but a few
words to describe the feeling.
In just one short month, I
would be blissfully moving all of
my belongings into a killer new
place and living in style. All I
needed was a bed, dresser and
some other assorted apartment
furniture. I didn’t bother to go
out and look for these items until
last Friday - three days before I
was to be booted from my apart
ment when the lease ran up July
31.
i waited even longer to start
packing things and clean out my
room. The most frustrating thing
is when your car is full and you
think you might be half way done
moving. But hours later, your
naivete shines through when you
are still sorting through the junk,
which seems to be multiplying
like homy rabbits.
I found myself wondering how
1 could have so many stacks of
papers and other assorted junk
piles in my room and barely
notice them all year long.
Needless to say, it made the job of
moving very difficult. You know
you need to clean more often
when you find 10-month-old
receipts in your room, and you’ve
only been living there for a year.
On top of that, it was incredibly
hot all weekend. There is nothing
worse than continuously lifting
heavy furniture and boxes all day
in intermittent rain and stifling
heat. Well, I successfully packed
and moved all of my stuff.
Unpacking it all and buying fur
niture is another story. I still don’t
have a bed to sleep on, so I’ve
been sleeping on the smelly couch
I managed to get free from
Whaley’s Mill when I moved out.
Yes, upholstery cleaner and
Febreeze are two of the things on
_ :i~ i_„i_: i* * a jj
llij uiuv ivitg uoi, nuu
ant killer to that. It seems that
ants love to invade dirty, food
stained microwaves. Who would
have thought? I’ve been
patrolling my new kitchen with a
bottle of Windex for the past two
days. (Windex is a very good sub
stitute for ant spray, in case you
didn’t know).
The most frustrating part of it is
that two of my roommates have
their rooms unpacked and set up,
and I don’t even own furniture
yet. I guess it will be another
night on the smelly couch for me.
Cheers.
Pete Johnson
is a journalism
senior and view
points editor. He
can be reached
at gamecock
viewpoints® hot
mail. com