Avalanche rescue efforts
continue amid more snow
BY RAI IQ MAQBOOL
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
VALTENGU, India — Bashir Malik
wishes he had not lived to see this
day, when he buried all 13 members
of his family in a mass grave.
They and 109 others in a mountain
village in Kashmir were killed when
an avalanche struck Sunday, sweep
ing away their homes. Almost a quar
ter of the villagers were killed.
“How I survived is a miracle. But
what good is life for me now?” Malik
said Wednesday, his voice choking.
Malik, a 40-year-old teacher, lived
with his wife, three children, two
brothers and their wives and children.
All 13 died. Malik said he survived
because he had just stepped out of
the house when the avalanche hit.
“There was a deafening rumbling.
When I looked back everything was
buried under snow,” he said.
Avalanches and slides triggered by
heavy snow struck across the Hi
malayan region over the weekend,
killing nearly 300 people and leaving
hundreds more missing.
Valtengu, 45 miles south of
Srinagar, Indian Kashmir’s main city,
was hardest hit. Most bodies
were only recovered Tuesday when
volunteers reached the village.
On Wednesday they dug pits for a
mass burial because “there were so
many dead bodies and it was impos
sible to bury them one by one,” said
Raj Wali, whose two daughters died.
“It was terrible. An ocean of snow
swept everything away,” said Wajid
Ali, a 70-year-old herdsman who lost
his two daughters.
The snow, the worst in Kashmir in
15 years, cut off the Himalayan region
from the rest of India for days. Phone
and power lines were snapped and
roads remained blocked for days,
slowing relief work.
In Valtengu, residents complained
the government provided no help.
Some 200 civilian volunteers were do
ing the rescue work, said Mohammed
Latif, resident of a nearby village.
“I and other volunteers were the
first to reach here. No government
help has reached yet,” he said.
Elsewhere in Kashmir, military hel
icopters dropped food, medicine and
blankets to snow-covered villages.
Soldiers and paramilitary troops
trekked to remote villages in the Pir
Panjal mountain range, rescuing more
than 100 people stranded in wooden
houses covered by snow, said army
Lt. Col. V.K. Batra.
Helicopters delivering aid to
mountain villages could not land be
cause of the heavy snow, and would
not fly low for fear of triggering fresh
avalanches, Batra said.
Forecasters said the worst of the
weather appears to be over, but snow
may continue falling for a few days.
Officials said warmer temperatures
increase the risk of avalanches.
The number of dead in Kashmir —
split between India and Pakistan —
climbed to 287 after rescue workers
found 40 more bodies in avalanche
hit villages and three people who died
in a remote forest after being strand
ed in a log hut for four days.
In India’s portion of Kashmir,
229 people have been killed since
Friday, with 150 others missing. On
the Pakistan side, officials said at least
64 people have died in the past two
weeks, most of them in avalanches.
Large parts of Pakistan have report
ed record precipitation, including the
heaviest snow in southwestern
Baluchistan in 13 years, with 346
people dying nationwide this season.
Architecture: Movie, guest speakers to come
Continued from page 1
Prize of the field.
“She has been putting out some
amazing stuff for a long time,”
Midthun said.
Midthun said SAWA is not limited
to female students and is actively
trying to recruit more men.
SAWA plans to bring in additional
guest speakers and to network
with groups outside the University,
such as the National Association
of Women in Construction.
Events Coordinator Jenna Fribley
said the group also intends to show
the movie “My Architect,” about
the life of architect Louis Kahn, and
invite University professor Gary
Moye to speak at the event about his
work with Kahn.
SAWA tries to have a general
meeting once per month and
has plans to sponsor a forum
titled “Beyond the White Picket
Fence,” at the Holistic Options
for Planet Earth Sustainability
conference April 8-10. The group is
currently discussing the lack of
high-quality, affordable housing in
Eugene and plans to carry that
theme into the HOPES conference.
The public is invited to attend
tonight’s free event, held at
767 Willamette St.
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Education: Student and
community groups lobby
Continued from page 1
Higher Education Act.
Wu’s plan contains financial aid
improvements for students. The
Pell Grant bill would increase
the funding for the grants from
$4,050 to $5,800. The Student Loan
Interest Full Deductibility Act allows
eligible taxpayers to deduct the
full amount of student loan
interest rather than the existing
$2,500. It would also eliminate
the deduction’s current $50,000 per
year income limit.
In addition, Wu’s college
textbook pricing bill would require
the Government Accountability
Office to investigate the price
differentiation between textbooks
sold in the United States and
overseas. He promised to work on
legislation taking the GAO’s findings
into account.
Members of the University
community will also be lobbying for
changes they want to see in the
Higher Education Act.
“Reauthorization is an opportuni
ty to improve and strengthen
financial aid laws,” University
Federal Affairs Director Betsy Boyd
said. “The value of the Pell Grant
has in no way kept up with inflation
or the cost of tuition.”
Affordability and access for
needy students are at the top of the
University’s priority list, Boyd said.
“The UO has a duty to make sure
that the Oregon delegation know
how it’s affected by this law,”
she said. “We can provide local
examples; we put the Oregon
face on what these programs do
to Oregonians.”
Boyd said the state’s delegation
has been very supportive of higher
education, especially Pell Grants.
“You’d be hard pressed to find a
member of Congress who doesn’t
want constituents to have access to
higher ed,” she said.
The University works with organi
zations such as the Association of
American Universities and the
National Association of State
Universities and Land-Grant Colleges
to ensure that its voice is heard
in Washington.
It’s important to have the
full weight of many universities
standing behind legislative issues,
Boyd said.
There are some possibilities
for the act the University would like
to avoid.
If the federal government tried to
change the accreditation process or
increase oversight on the tuition
pricing process, the act would
put the University and other
state colleges at a disadvantage,
Boyd said.
“If you’re going to get a
reauthorization that undermines
what was accomplished in previous
years, that’s a problem,” she said.
The ASUO will be lobbying for
student-friendly changes through the
United States Student Association.
ASUO Federal Affairs Coordinator
Ashley Rees, a USSA representative,
is optimistic the reauthorization
will be passed in the current
congressional session.
“We want to make sure student
voices are heard in the prioritization
of these programs,” Rees said.
Student leaders will be working
with both of Oregon’s senators
and Rep. Peter DeFazio to push
their priorities.
USSA’s legislative priorities
include the elimination of origination
fees and insurance premiums on
financial aid loans, expansion of loan
forgiveness and strengthening grant
support. The student organization
also hopes to erase the act’s provision
that disqualifies students from
receiving financial aid if they have
been convicted for a drug violation.
“Mostly, our efforts are on
preserving the programs that we
have,” Rees said.
adamcherry@dailyememld.com
Apparel: Researcher says sports
bras should be accomodating
Continued from page 1
manager and floor manager
at Copeland’s Sports in Eugene,
said Nike Dri-Fit women’s yoga
separates are big sellers because
they are both attractive and good at
keeping people warm.
Currently, many athletic clothing
companies also design lines of
clothing that are gender-specific
rather than unisex. Marisa Hastie,
assistant fitness director at the
Student Recreation Center, said
many women benefit from athletic
clothing that is designed specifically
for female bodies.
“It does enhance your per
formance even if it’s not a
technological thing, just a comfort
thing,” she said.
Susan Verscheure, now a faculty
member and certified athletic
trainer in the University’s human
physiology department, did her
masters research at the University
about sports bras, an important
aspect of exercise apparel for
most women.
“I hate knowing that there are
so many women out there who
don’t know what to look for and
wind up getting frustrated and may
choose not to participate in certain
activities,” she said.
Verscheure found that while
r
traditional elastic compression
sports bras may work for
small-breasted women, a better
option for women whose breasts are
C-cups or larger is an encapsulated
design that looks more like a
standard bra with cups and a clasp,
but provides extra support with
thick straps not made from elastic.
“The encapsulated design ... was
the best of both worlds, meaning
it was most effective at reducing
motion and more comfortable,”
she said.
Verscheure also noted that
sports bras sized individually
(e.g., 36C, 38D) provide better
fit than sports bras sized small,
medium, and large, and that
straight straps provide better
support than t-back bra designs.
Regardless of the technological
advances, simply feeling good
is a priority for many exercisers.
Hastie, an aerobics instructor,
said she encourages her students
to wear whatever they are most
comfortable in.
“I think a lot of people think that,
to go to a gym, you need to wear
the most ‘in’ clothes,” she said.
“I think being comfortable is
more important.”
evasylwester@dailyemerald.com
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