Today Friday Saturday
High: 54 High: 51 High: 51
Low: 39 Low: 39 Low: 35
Precip: 20% Precip: 30% Precip: 30%
Student Senate elects
new vice president
The Student Senate elected Sena
tor Eden Cortez as the new
Senate vice president by secret
ballot during a brief session
Wednesday night.
Cortez, who holds Programs Fi
nance Committee Seat 1, replaces
former Senator Colin Andries as the
vice president.
Senators also unanimously ap
proved four students for the ASUO
Elections Board, which will
oversee student government
elections this spring.
The Senate released $75 for the
eighth-annual Sustainable Business
Symposium, which will be
held March 30 through April 2 at the
Lillis Business Complex. It also
approved $61 for the Women’s
Law Forum to host Eugene
Mayor Kitty Piercy at a brown bag
luncheon Feb. 2.
ASUO Vice President Mena
Ravassipour announced during
the meeting that EMU Board of
Directors member Brandon
Rhodes has started a petition to
fully fund the EMU master plan
for renovation by 2010. She said
the renovation would add as much
as 50,000 sq. ft. to the aging
building. Copies of the petition are
available in the ASUO office.
The Senate currently has $36,770
in surplus funds.
— Parker Howell
i
Israelis, Palestinians make
progress toward peace
JERUSALEM — Israeli and Palestin
ian negotiators achieved significant
progress Wednesday toward ending vi
olence and resuming peace talks, com
pleting a plan for deploying Palestinian
forces in the southern Gaza Strip and
aiming for a summit within two weeks
between the leaders.
New violence, however, under
scored the fragility of the new momen
tum for peace. A Palestinian preschool
er in southern Gaza was killed by
Israeli gunfire after militants fired a
rocket at Israel. Israeli troops shot a
Palestinian militant to death and
wounded two others in a West Bank
arrest raid.
About 100 Jewish settlers disrupted
a meeting between Israeli and Palestin
ian commanders in southern Gaza,
throwing stones and slashing tires of
participants’ vehicles.
None of this appeared to spoil a new
flurry of peace moves following the
Nov. 11 death of Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat.
Rice wins confirmation
after heated debate on war
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Condoleez
za Rice won confirmation as secretary
of state Wednesday despite blistering
criticism from Senate Democrats who
accused her of misleading statements
and said she must share the blame for
mistakes and war deaths in Iraq.
The tally, though one-sided at
85-13, was still the largest “no” vote
against any secretary of state nomi
nee since 1825.
Separately, a Senate committee vot
ed to send Alberto Gonzales’ attorney
general nomination to the full Senate.
Jim Nicholson and Michael Leavitt
won confirmation as the new secre
taries of veterans affairs and health
and human services respectively.
— The Associated Press
Train wreck leaves 10 dead,
more than 180 injured
Two commuter trains collide Wednesday morning near
Los Angeles after a man parks his SUV on the tracks
BY TIM MOLLOY
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
GLENDALE, Calif. — A suicidal
man parked his SUV on the rail
road tracks and set off a crash of
two commuter trains Wednesday
that hurled passengers down the
aisles and turned rail cars into
smoking, twisted heaps of steel,
authorities said. At least 10 people
were killed and more than 180 in
jured in the nation’s deadliest train
accident in nearly six years
The SUV driver got out at the
last moment and survived.
The collision took place just be
fore daybreak on the outskirts of
Los Angeles. Employees at a Cost
co store rushed to the scene and
pulled riders from the tipped-over
double-deck cars before the flames
reached them.
“1 heard a noise. It got louder
and louder,” said passenger Diane
Brady, 56. “And next thing I knew
the train tilted, everyone was
screaming and I held onto a pole
for dear life. I held on for what
seemed like a week and a half... It
was a complete nightmare.”
Dozens of the injured were in criti
cal condition, and more than 120 peo
ple were sent to hospitals. Killed were
one woman and nine men.
Before his rescue, one trapped
man apparently used his own
blood to write a note on a seat bot
tom. Using the heart symbol, he
wrote “I love my kids” and “I love
Leslie.” The man’s identity was not
known, but Los Angeles Fire De
partment spokesman Rex Vilaubi
said the man was alive when he
was removed.
The wreck set in motion a huge
rescue operation involving more
than 300 firefighters, some of
whom climbed ladders to reach the
windows of the battered train cars.
A triage center was set up in a
parking lot, where the injured lay
sprawled on color-coded mats —
red for those with severe injuries,
green for those less seriously hurt.
Authorities said Juan Manuel Al
varez, 25, of Compton, parked his
Jeep Grand Cherokee on the tracks
and got out before a Metrolink
train smashed into the SUV. The
train then derailed and collided
with another train going in the op
posite direction. That train also
jumped the tracks.
Alvarez was arrested and expect
ed to be booked for investigation of
a “homicide-related offense,” police
Sgt. Tom Lorenz said. Alvarez had
also slashed his wrists and stabbed
himself, but the injuries were not
life-threatening. Authorities said Al
varez had a criminal record that in
volved drugs. District Attorney Steve
Cooley said no decision had been
made on charges in the wreck.
Derailed commuter train kills 10
Burbank. .Glendale
Los Angeles
rn
A commuter train smashed
into an SUV left on a crossing
by a suicidal man, causing it
to derail and crash into
another train killing 10 people
and injuring more than 180.
SOURCE: ESRI
'V \ '
Glendale
Los Angeles
Suicidal man left vehicle
on tracks, derailing train
AP
THURSDAY,
LEARN HOW YOU CAN LEAD THE MOVEMENT
TO END EDUCATIONAL INEQUITY.
Thursday, January 27, 4:00 p.m. • EMU Lower Level, Ben Linder Room
featuring alumnus guest speaker Jon Schetky ‘04
\.
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| Students In Low-Income Areas 7 Times Less Likely
f To Graduate From College Than High-Income Peers
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OUR GENERATION MUST TAKE ON THIS ISSUE.
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