Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Rare snowstorm sweeps across Israel BY KARIN LAUB THE ASSOCIATED DRESS JERUSALEM - A rare snow storm swept across the Middle East on Tuesday, closing high ways and schools in Israel, Lebanon and Jordan, cutting pow er and blanketing the steeples and palm trees of Jerusalem in wintry white. Forecasters said the storm would continue through Wednesday and is expected to de liver the heaviest snow since 1950. By midmorning Tuesday, a foot had fallen in Jerusalem. Snow also covered northern Israel, the hills of the West Bank and the moun tains of Lebanon. Israelis and Palestinians wel comed the respite from a 29-month old conflict that has claimed near ly 3,000 lives. Many cherished a rare feeling of normalcy as weath er led the news for a change. “It’s a moment of relief for all of us,” said an Israeli woman building a snowman in downtown Jerusalem. Just to the south, in Bethlehem in the West Bank, residents en joyed the idea of being kept in doors by weather rather than the customary Israeli military cur fews. “It (the snow) is making us happy,” said Hana Hania, 25, who lives across from Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity. At the shrine, marking Jesus’ traditional birthplace, monks wiped clean the main gate. In Israel, Lebanon and Jordan, unaccustomed to winter storms, the snow closed major roads, in cluding the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem prayer, his black-beard covered by snow flakes. Jewish seminary students from Detroit snapped pictures of each other against the backdrop of the Wall. “This (the snow) makes it more spiritual at the Kotel,” said and the Beirut Damascus high ways. The highway linking the Lebanese and Syrian capitals, which snakes through moun “It’s a moment of relief for all of us.” AN ISRAELI WOMAN BUILDING A SNOWMAN IN DOWNTOWN JERUSALEM Gadi Bernstein, . referring to the Wall by its Hebrew name. In downtown Sacher Park, teenagers threw snow balls. Schools, of tain passes, is one oi neoanon s busiest and its main link with the Arab world. Authorities closed the road at the first mountain ridge, a 15-minute drive from Beirut. Jerusalem residents awoke to a silent city. Streets were desert ed, except for a few snow plows and the occasional pedestrian. Tree branches crashed down un- - der the weight of snow. At the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site, a lone worshipper wearing the traditional black hat and coat of ultra-Orthodox Jews pressed against the large stones in iices ana mosi Dusinesses were • closed in Jerusalem and its hilly suburbs, and public transportation came to a halt. Israel’s parliament convened as planned, with legisla tors brought to the Knesset in all terrain vehicles. The storm forced the closure of dozens of gas mask distribution • centers where Israelis have been lining up to get new filters for their masks, in preparation for a possible missile attack by Iraq. Off Israel’s coast, a Turkish freighter, the Kamal Okan, broke free from its anchor chain and was swept out to the stormy sea, where it foundered. Israeli helicopters and tugboats rescued the crew of 10'from the sinking ship. -in Lebanon, the storm cut pow er in parts of Beirut and other ar eas. Schools in mountain areas were closed. Mudslides were re ported in the north and the south and rivers burst their banks in other regions. The storm dumped more than a foot of snow on parts of northern Jordan. At least 30 motorists were stranded on Amman’s hilly streets, which were covered with ice and snow. “We haven't had a blizzard like this since I was a child,” said 72 year-old Mohammad Rifai, a shop keeper in Amman, where 16 inches of snow had fallen by noon Tuesday. A Civil Defense spokesman in Jordan said rescue teams helped more than 600 people, including tourists caught in snow or floods at several sites. In Syria, for the first time in years, snow covered the Qassion mountain overlooking Damascus. Flooding elsewhere in Syria dam aged homes and farmland. PHOTO COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS Hljazi Shalalda of Amman, Jordan, walks past palm trees In a makeshift rain/snow jacket out of a plastic bag. BREIFLY Meeting planned for SG hopefuls Monday The Office of Student Government and Student Organizations will hold an infor mational meeting Monday, March 3 at 5:30 p.m. in Russell House room 203 for students interested in running for SG offices The offices of president, vice president and treasurer, as well as all Senate seats, will be open next semester. Students can file for can didacy March 4 to 5 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Student Government office. There will be a mandatory candidates meeting March 18 at 4 p.m. for Senate and 5 p.m. for executive candidates in the Russell House room 315. An executive debate will be held on March 25 at 12:30 p.m. on Greene Street. Elections will be held on Monday. March 31 and Tuesday, April 1, with the results being an nounced Tuesday evening. Students can vote at www.vip.sc.edu from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the election days. Video to aid students in career search The USC Career Center and the College of Liberal Arts will spon- ■ sor a nationally broadcast video conference today to help students in their search for a career. Donald Asher and Howard Figler, nationally renowned career experts, will talk to students about ♦ developing an understanding of the job market; ♦ identifying career paths for liberal arts graduates; ♦ learning how to define a job objective and find your mission; ♦ identifying skills that liberal arts students haveto offer em ployers; ♦ learning effective job-search tactics; ♦ and determining how to score points in the job interview. Students nation wide will also be able to call in and ask for ad vice. Conference to discuss 18th-century studies More than 225 scholars from around the world will be at USC tomorrow for a conference on one of the most rapidly growing fields of study: the 18th century. The lecture and all the confer ence sessions will be held at the Clarion Townhouse on Gervais Street and are open and free to the public. Among the scholars will be USC professor emeritus David Rembert, who researches botani-. cal exploration and the plants and people of the colonial period. He will give a public lecture at 4:30 p.m. on 18th-century botanical ex ploration in the American Southeast. The scholars belong to the Southeastern American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, an inderdisciplinary organization that promotes the sharing of ideas and information on all aspects of the 18th century, from culture, his tory, literature, music and philos ophy to politics, economics, ar chitecture, medicine and science. Four U.S. soldiers killed in Kuwait helicopter crash BY CHRIS TOMLINSON THE ASSOCIATED DRESS KUWAIT CITY - A U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on night training crashed Tuesday in the Kuwaiti desert, killing all four crew members. The Kuwaiti mili tary said sandstorms were report ed in the area at the tune the chop per went down. The aircraft, which belonged to the Army’s V Corps, was part of the force that has massed in this Persian Gulf emirate for a possi ble invasion of Iraq. The Pentagon identified those killed Tuesday as Spc. Rodrigo Gonzalez-Garza, 26, of Texas; Chief Warrant Officer Timothy W. Moehling, 35, of Florida; Chief Warrant Officer John D. Smith, 32, of Nevada; and Spc. William J. Tracy, 27, of New Hampshire. Kuwait army spokesman Col. Youssef al-Mulla said the heli copter went down in bad weather. Sandstorms and high winds were reported overnight and continued Tuesday afternoon. The UH-60 Black Hawk crashed about 1 a.m. near Camp New Jersey about 30 miles northwest of Kuwait City, an Army state ment said. The helicopter was part of the 158th Aviation Regiment, 5th Battalion, of the 12th Aviation Brigade based in Giebelstadt, Germany. The group is attached to V Corps’ llth Attack Helicopter Regiment, which is part of some 9,000 troops from the corps de ployed as part of the recent U.S. buildup. It includes a headquar ters unit commanded by Lt. Gen. William Wallace. V Corps spokesman Bill Roche said from the corps headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany, that it was still too early to speculate about a cause of the crash. “A V Corps safety team is al ready on site, and then additional people are coming in from the U.S. Army Safety Center in Fort Rucker, Ala.,” Roche said. The bodies are expected to be brought back to Germany, Roche said. The helicopter was one of two V Corps helicopters participating in the exercise. The other re turned safely. The soldiers’ identifications were withheld until their families could be notified. The crew were the only personnel on board, the Army said. On Jan. 30, an MH-60, an adapt ed version of the Black Hawk, crashed in a training mission sev en miles east of Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Four members of an elite aviation regiment were killed. More than 70,000 U.S. troops are training in the Kuwaiti desert in preparation for a possible inva sion of Iraq. President Bush has threatened to use force to disarm Baghdad of weapons of mass de struction if it does not do so vol untarily according to U.N. resolu tions. Iraq denies it has such weapons. Check out today’s spring sports insert for previews of baseball, softball, track, golf and tennis. Studying's Hard. Eating Shouldn't Be. Publix. WHERE SHOPPING IS A PLEASURE.* NOW OPEN: Publix at Rosewood Shopping Center 2800 Rosewood Drive, Columbia. SC 29205, (803) 806-8839 Where Do YOU Want To Grow Today? Remember when you were just a kid? Childhood memories will always be special, and one of your more special memories is when you visited Toys"R"Us. So now that you are grown and looking for a career, wouldn't it be special to work at a place you grew up with? The "R"US family of businesses provides wonderful opportunities for talented, resourceful and service-oriented individuals who can commit to providing an outstanding experience for any customer (guest) that visits Toys"R''Us. We are all about taking care of our guests. If you are interested in hearing about the many opportunities in our stores or distribution facilities that Toys"R"Us, Inc. offers to bright, talented and excited candidates, then please visit with us. Our campus representatives want to meet you, so check with your career services department and make time to talk with us. "Where do you want to grow today?" At Toys"R"Us, Inc, of course. We offer an exciting and competitive portfolio of benefits, individual development, career growth and fun. We can't wait to meet you! Visit us at www.tru-careers.com Inc.