F R I D A Y SEPT. 24, 2004 Vol. 126, No. 11
Sunny 80° / 60° w w w. s t u d l i f e . c o m
ELECTION COUNTDOWN
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DAYS UNTIL ELECTION DAY DAYS UNTIL THE DEBATE
INSIDE
STUDENT LIFE T H E I N D E P E N D E N T N E W S PA P E R O F WA S H I N G T O N U N I V E R S I T Y I N S T. L O U I S S I N C E 1 8 7 8
Mugged at gunpoint n Students assault-
ed near Kingsbury Apartments By Doug Main Contributing Reporter “The gun looked metallic in luster, but it felt plastic when he put it against my head and yelled, ‘I told you, motherfucker, give me your wallet!’” Just like that, senior Chandler Miller’s night of fun had come to an end, replaced by a harsher reality: he was being held up at gunpoint. Around 2 a.m. this past Sunday, Miller and friend senior Magda Luchini were chatting in the alley behind Miller’s Kingsbury apartment. Luchini was in the driver’s seat of her car, and
Brightening up the Gargoyle: Cadenza previews singersongwriter Matt Nathanson’s stop on campus.
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Linda Blair may have exorcised herself from the screen, but she’s chained to a whole new crowd.
PAGE 7 They shoot, but don’t score: men’s soccer takes a loss and looks to the future
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Miller was getting ready to say goodnight when three AfricanAmerican men in bandanas and doo-rags walked up. “The guys were wearing ninja masks and in my martini state of mind I couldn’t help but start laughing,” said Miller. “They looked ridiculous.” According to Miller, one of them pulled out a gun and demanded that the pair hand over their wallets. Luchini complied, but Miller was more reluctant. Thinking the gun was fake, he pretended he couldn’t get the wallet out of his pocket and instead gave them his phone. While Miller was stalling, Luchini dialed the police on her cell phone, out of sight of the muggers. Then the lead thief put the gun to Miller’s head and screamed in his face. “Alright, I’ll give you my wal-
let,” Miller recalled having said. “But you have to do me a favor: shoot me in the leg, because that’s a fake gun.” Miller explained that he then began pointing at his leg and advancing on the man, trying to get him away from Luchini. At that moment, one of the gunman’s accomplices punched Miller in the jaw and he momentarily lost consciousness. “They started punching and kicking him in the crotch,” said Luchini. “I was sobbing and saying to Chandler, ‘Just give them your wallet!’” After being kicked repeatedly while lying on the ground, Miller pulled himself up and chased after them. Approximately one minute later, a University City police cruiser pulled up in re-
EMILY TOBIAS | STUDENT LIFE
Students were held by gunpoint behind the Kingsbury Apart-
See KINGSBURY, page 3 ments, seen here. The case is now being investigated.
International students vexed by visa troubles By Carly Glazer and Liz Neukirch News Staff While many students at Washington University worry about catching a ride home or arriving at the airport on time, the University’s community of international students has dealt with more serious travel issues recently. Difficulties obtaining visas have prevented some international students from attending the University this semester. Kathy Steiner-Lang, director of the Office for International Students and Scholars, said that while the delays sometimes affect students who are already enrolled at the University, new students are most often affected. “It happens a lot,” said SteinerLang. “In the fall we had probably 300 or so international [graduate and undergraduate] students applying, and I would say more than half had some sort of lengthy process. It took from a couple of days to six weeks or longer.” Freshman Natalie Woo should have been a member of the Class of 2007 but could not obtain her visa to travel to the United States from South Korea in time. She deferred her admission and started this semester. “I applied to Wash U and got in last
year,” said Woo. “I was supposed to come on a student visa like everyone else who’s an international student. But at the time I was also signed up to get a green card in the States and that clashed with my student visa application. It looks suspicious, I guess. Security has gotten a lot tighter after September 11.” Helen Rhee, who should have been a sophomore at the University this year, agreed with Woo’s assessment. Also a Korea native, she was unable to receive her visa in time to return to the University this semester because of new procedures. Instead, she is studying in Barcelona, Spain. “I came [back] to Korea to change my visa status,” Rhee wrote in an email. “After the tragedy of September 11, the U.S. government made it mandatory that all foreign students return to their home country in order to change their visa status or apply for a new visa. Previously, students could change their visas in the States.” Rhee explained that she was able to study at the University last year under her parents’ visa, and did not
By Rachel Streitfeld Contributing Editor
COURTESY OF THEFACEBOOK.COM
Both Natalie Woo (top) and Helen Rhee (bottom) faced visa problems resulting from measures See VISA, page 3 taken by the U.S. after the September 11 attacks.
War of words as candidates vie to replace Gephardt By Erin Harkless Contributing Editor
Brian Schroeder gives us the skinny on why fat people need to put their money where their mouth is.
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INDEX News Forum Sports Classifieds Cadenza
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EMILY TOBIAS | STUDENT LIFE
Congressional candidates Kevin Babcock (Libertarian), Bill Federer (Republican), and Russ Carnahan (Democrat) participated in a debate last Wednesday in May Auditorium.
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One Brookings Drive #1039 #42 Women’s Building St. Louis, MO 63130
Debate decision likely
Washington University can now boast that it already has one debate under its belt for this year after playing host to candidates for Missouri’s Third District Congressional seat on Tuesday night. Close to 150 students and voters from around the community fi lled May Auditorium in Simon Hall to hear from Democrat Russ Carnahan, Republican Bill Federer and Libertarian Kevin Babcock. The three candidates are vying to fi ll the seat held since 1976 by former presidential hopeful and veteran Missouri politician Dick Gephardt. The University’s Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy sponsored the debate along with KETC-TV Channel 9, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and KWMU public radio. The debate was moderated by Jim Kirchherr from KETC, and panelists included Katie Ridgway, a junior majoring in political science and economics, Jo Mannies from the Post-Dispatch, and Tom Weber from KWMU. The panelists fi red a slate of questions at each candidate. The candidate who received the question fi rst had one minute to speak, while the other candidates were then given 30 seconds to respond. The fi rst candidate
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With time drawing short, the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) seems poised to put an end to doubts plaguing the fall debate lineup by early evening. Though both the KerryEdwards and Bush-Cheney campaigns have publicly accepted the Commission’s proposed debate schedule, a codicil of changes accompanying the joint announcement Monday left the Commission wary. Despite frequent talks with the CPD about ongoing preparations, Washington University debate coordinator Steve Givens has received no official confirmation of the Oct. 8 debate. Givens said his conversations with the Commission have been “procedural,” and no timetable for the expected announcement has even been discussed. Negotiators from both camps compiled a 32-page list of stipulations on the proposed debates, ranging from lighting and camera guidelines to podium size to changes in the format laid out by the Commission. Top Kerry adviser Vernon Jordan worked with Bush negotiator James Baker on the “memorandum of understanding,” and though Baker did wind up agreeing to the townhall debate at the University, the Bush team is generally regarded as otherwise taking the lead in the talks. The more controversial of the stipulations involve restrictions on follow-up questions and changes to the town-hall format: the substitution of “soft” supporters for the undecided voters originally slated to question the candidates. Now, town-hall members must submit questions for approval ahead of time, and any attempts at modification during the actual debate will be cut off. The campaigns are asking that both the CPD and the journalist-moderators sign the agreement, but both parties have been hesitant to endorse the proposed restrictions. Only one moderator, Bob Scheiffer of CBS, has signed the understanding. The Commission explained its noncompliance by saying it has yet to compile a final list of debate participants for the fall. It must first determine which candidates qualify based on polling information. The Commission meets today to determine which candidates will qualify, though the outcome will certainly leave all third party candidates off the roster. Independent Ralph Nader, with projected support of fewer than five points, will not make the 15 percent threshold.
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