The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 19, 2005, Image 1
The University of South Carolina Monday, September 19, 2005 VoL 99, No. 18 • Since 1908
New Orleans evacuation money
went to causeway bridge study
Congress allotted
'% $500,000 to develop
emergency procedure
Rita Beamish
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
As far back as eight years ago,
Congress ordered the Federal
Emergency Management
Agency to develop a plan for
evacuating New Orleans during
a massive hurricane, but the
money instead went to studying
the causeway bridge that spans
the city’s Lake Pontchartrain,
1 officials say.
A The outcome provides one
™nore example of the
government’s failure to prepare
for a massive but foreseeable
catastrophe, said the lawmaker
who helped secure the money
for FEMA to develop the
evacuation plan.
“They never used it for the
intended purpose,” said former
Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La. “The
whole intent was to give them
resources so they could plan an
evacuation of New Orleans
that anticipated that a very
large number of people would
never leave.”
In Hurricane Katrina’s
aftermath, attention has
focused on the inability of local
and federal officials to evacuate
or prepare for the large number
of poor people, many of them
minorities, who had no access
to transportation and remained
behind.
That possibility was one of
the concerns that led Congress
in 1997 to set aside $500,000
for FEMA to create “a
comprehensive analysis and
plan of all evacuation
alternatives for the New
Orleans metropolitan area.”
Frustrated two years later
that nothing materialized,
Congress strengthened its
directive. This time it ordered
“an evacuation plan for a
Category 3 or greater storm, a
levee break, flood or other
natural disaster for the New
Orleans area.”
The $500,000 that Congress
appropriated for the evacuation
plan went to a commission that
studied future options for the
24-mile bridge over Lake
Pontchartrain, FEMA
spokesman Butch Kinerney
said.
The hefty report produced
by the Greater New Orleans
Expressway Commission
“primarily was not about
evacuation,” said Robert
Lambert, the general manager
for the bridge expressway. “In
general it was an overview of all
the things we need to do” for
the causeway through 2016.
Asked why the congressional
mandate was never fulfilled,
money • 3
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^ SG Treasurer Tommy Preston, left, USC President Andrew Sorensen and SG Vice President Ryan Holt talk to a USC student.
We the students ...
Constitution Day
festivities include reading
of document, speech
StephenFastenau
NEWS EDITOR
Fifteen USC student leaders and
administrators will meet on the Russell
House patio today for a reading of the
U.S. Constitution as part of USC’s
ongoing recognition of Constitution
Day.
A convocation at Rutledge Chapel
and reception featuring a speech from
an assistant U.S. attorney will follow
the reading.
The events are part of a weekend
long remembrance of Constitution
Day, designated by a bill signed by
President Bush in December 2004.
In conjunction with Student Life,
Student Government Vice President
Ryan Holt and Treasurer Tommy
Preston, both third-year political
science students, walked around
campus Friday in colonial-era garb
passing out pocket Constitutions and
buttons that read “We the people ...
Constitution Day.”
Holt said the activities came as a
result of a mandate given by U.S. Sen.
Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., that all
universities that receive federal funding
must recognize Constitution Day in
some form.
“We were mandated to do this,”
Holt said. “A lot of other schools are
doing different things.”
Holt said Byrds mandate is not
surprising, considering the senators
reputation as a Constitutional scholar.
“He’s the longest serving senator
right now,” Holt said. “He’s very old.
You’ll see him on C-SPAN with a
pocket Constitution that he pulls out
every now and then and references.”
“(Preston) and I have been working
with the Arts and Sciences school as
well as the law school and Student Life
in coming up with some way to observe
this so that we can still get federal
funding.”
CODSTITUTIOn • a
Markus Schreiber / The Associated Press
German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, left, and his challenger
Angela Merkel react after the parliamentary election in Berlin, on
Sunday. Projections showed conservative challenger Merkel
struggling to hold a lead in Germany’s close-fought election.
Merkel elected
amid uncertainty
Conservative woman unseats Schroeder
to claim chancellorship in German elections
David fllcHugh
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BERLIN — Conservative
challenger Angela Merkel’s
party won the most votes in
German elections Sunday but
fell short of a clear mandate to
govern, according to official
results. Chancellor Gerhard
Schroeder staged a dramatic
comeback and proclaimed that
he should head the next
government.
The vote heralded the end of
Schroeder’s seven-year tenure
but left in doubt who will
follow. The inconclusive results
make it likely that Germany’s
next government would be
weakened because of the
narrow vote margin and
difficulties in forming a
coalition.
The vote centered on
different visions of Germany’s
role in the world and how to fix
its sputtering economy.
Schroeder touted the country’s
role as a European leader and
counterbalance to America,
while Merkel pledged to reform
the economy and strengthen
relations with Washington.
But, Merkel’s move to
become Germany’s first female
chancellor puts those finance
reform plans in doubt. She
must now find a majority in a
coalition that would likely force
her to water them down.
The result was a major
setback for Merkel, whose party
was at 42 percent in polls the
week before the election.
She smiled but appeared
uncomfortable as she argued
that she had a mandate to be
CLCCTIOn • 3
U.S. Department of Education
to assist Texas TRIO programs
$2 million to help students affected by Katrina
Jessica Robertson
THE <U. HOUSTON) DAILY HOUSTON
HOUSTON — The U.S.
Department of Education is
doing its part to help students
displaced from universities
destroyed by Hurricane Katrina
by allocating $2 million to
Houston and Dallas-Fort
Worth TRIO programs for
low-income and disadvantaged
students in Texas.
TRIO refers to three
programs, Upward Bound,
Talent Search and Student
Support Services, which assist
eligible students in getting a
college degree.
The Challenger Program is a
TRIO program at the
University of Houston funded
by the U.S. Department of
Education that provides
support services to low-income
and first generation students.
It will use its share of
additional funding primarily to
supplement existing services
and to offer financial assistance
to displaced students, said
Frank Anderson, director of the
Challenger Program.
“The university isn’t going to
get the whole $2 million, but
since we probably have been hit
harder than other institutions
in the state, we’ll get a good bit
to support the services we
already have, like tutoring and
advising,” he said. “We’ll also
use some of it to offer grants to
displaced students who are now
at UH.”
The program’s existing
services include tutoring,
RELIGF • 3
INSIDE
Viewpoints
Tim McManus says
played-out war slogan
^fras no real meaning.
4
The Mix
Nintendo’s Revolution
The announcement of
video-game controllers
smaller than most TV
remote controls has the
gaming world talking.
5
X
Sports
High Tide
Alabama steamrolls
USC 37-14 Saturday
before a capacity crowd.
10
Paul Sakuma / The Associated Pres
Portable MP3 players, such as
Apple's iPod series, have been
proven to cause hearing loss.
College students' MP3 players can cause hearing loss
Audiologists advise
portable listening
moderation
J.P. Wilson
KANSAS STATE COLLEGIAN
MANHATTAN, Kan. — The
box of an MP3 player is covered
with information from battery
life to the amount of storage on
the device. The information
fails to state that the device may
cause permanent hearing loss.
“MP3 players’ users blasting
loud music for long amounts of
time can cause permanent
hearing loss,” Cornell Cheung,
a Manhattan audiologist, said.
Batteries in MP3 players
allow for longer use than
previous portable music
products and new technology
has amplified the sound it can
produce. Put these two factors
together and MP3 players allow
for longer listening at louder
volumes, making exposure to
dangerous levels more likely.
But, companies producing
MP3 players could be liable for
the damage their product
causes if they don’t alert
consumers to the dangers in
using the product. Although
there has not been a case
involving MP3 players and
hearing loss, William
Westerbeke, professor of law at
the University of Kansas Law
School, said all manufacturers
have a legal duty to the
consumer when their product
could cause harm.
“The manufacturer has a
duty to provide a warning that
is obvious to the user,”
Westerbeke said. “The duty is
to not hide it. The warning has
to be seen and understood.”
HERRMG • 2
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