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Thursday, March 30, 2000 - Page 2 NEWS Road construction on Main Street causes traffic congestion for the college and local drivers continued/rom page 1 of West Main Street. Currently, West Main However, the college owns the land where the officers "have seen a substantial increase control cones, and should be up by Satur- is a considered a state highway, so the re- the embankments are. in non-college traffic using the road behind day, March 25. sponsibility of tearing up the pavement, re- "We were able to work out a nice agree- Levine as a shortcut." This is a problem be- Once the road block goes up, the only placing the old water lines, sewer lines, and ment," says Seidel. "Now the city won't have cause the college road is a private one and is access 10 the Whiteford and Garden Apart- storm drains falls into the hands of state con- to pay for the upkeep of the park, and they'll not designed to handle such traffic. ments parking lots will be off of Pennsylva- tractors. be able to renovate Uniontown." Webster has a solution, though. "We're nia Avenue, says Webster. "I think-that's The construction going on in front of The nice part is that it will not cost any- planning on closing the road right behind where most student come in anyhow," he WMC now is the last phase of this project. one anything. The new park is simply an Little Baker Chapel," he says. speculates. Over the past few years the state has refur- extension of the land that the arch now sits The road block will be constructed of The State Highway Administration could bished East Main Street and parts of West on, and there was talk of moving the arch to chain, orange snow fence and large traffic not be reached for an interview. Main Street. Now they will finish in sections, a more prominent position ,::.._-----___::.._----___::.._--------------, finally completing their work when they so that it could be easily reach Route 31. seen as people approach the "The Highway Administration has been college on Main Street. really good about working with thecoIIege," However, Seidel says the says Seidel. "They're doing the construction Board of Trustees made the in phases to minimize inconvenience. decision not to move the They've made an effort to schedule the con- arch because it was simply struction so as to not close all the entrances too expensive. to the college from Main Street at one time." In order to move the Once the construction is done, the road arch, it would have to be will become the property of the city, Seidel completely taken apart and says. In fact, that is how the college was able then reassembled in a differ- to get this section of West Main turned into ent location. Furthermore, a park. The city of Westminster was con- all of the utility lines would cerned about the increase of traffic on have to be moved because Uniontown Road, a city-owned road that the arch cannot sit on top of runs into West Main Street. them for practical reasons In order to help ease the congestion "All told, with moving caused in this area, the city decided to close the utilities and dissembling off the area of West Main between Union the arch, this project would Street and the college road that runs behind probably cost the college Levine Hall. This would cause all westbound about $250,001)," explained traffic to be routed from West .Main onto Seidel. "The trustees UNIoN 5T Uniontown Road, where drivers could then thought there were better bear right and rejoin West Main. ways to spend that money." Here is where the college comes in. The Unfortunately, the con- Illustration showing where the new by the junction city also owns Uniontown Road and ispl~n- struction i" causing so .....e park. will be 10cated Union Street, and of Road, Uniontown ning !ntriblll;lIgWriler homeless - who were nOI as lucky in the hand continued/arm page 1 Have you ever wondered what it might they were dealt - without noticing how simi- Citing an "if we ignore them, they will meruly against racism, a collective prejudice be like to be homeless? Have you ever lar we all are as people. go away" attitude, Cochran warned students and even hatred of gays and lesbians is com- wished that there was something you could . In the United Slates today, children make against blowing off the activities of white mon to both hate groups and some religious do here at Western Maryland College to up the largest age group of people who live supremacy groups, such as the Klu Klux groups. stand up for what you believe about justice in poverty, Poor families with chi.ldren are Klan, Nco-Nazis, and The World Church of "Pull out a Bible, and racism becomes and equality? Have you ever wanted to be the fastest growing population of people the Creator. acceptable," he said, adding that there are a part of something that could make people who are homeJess. A person working at All of these groups have bases in Penn- over 50,000 followers of the "Christian Iden- believe that students today are not apathetic. minimum wage would have to work. 103 sylvania. Because most people think that no tity" movement. that we""'4re about the world around us and hours a week in order to afford a two-bed- one takes hate groups seriously, and that they Nearly 20 years after his first involve- that we can still make a difference? room apartment for their family. And one constitute a small, inconsequential percent- ment, Cochran left the Aryan Nation after As a senior social work major here at half of all women and children who are age of the population, the groups have had he was informed that his son would have to WMC, I have spent four years studying homeless are fleeing from violence. the opportunity to thrive, said Cochran. be euthanized because of a minor "genetic people and their strengths and weaknesses. I am not telling you all of this just to scare He became a member of the Aryan Na- defect." Although his son's sentence was I have worked for different social agencies, you or upset you. J am telling you so that tion when he was just fourteen years old, shocking, it took Cochran three months to including a shelter forwomen and children you'll understand why we're going to have when he was at the target age for hate group build up the courage to leave. who were homeless, J have volunteered at a sleep-out on Saturday, April 8 at 7:00 pm recruitment. Hate groups playoff adoles- Still reeling from the effects of his expe- a soup kitchen. And J have learned a lot in Red Square to stand up for social justice. cents' fears, lack of self-confidence, and riences with the Aryan Nation, Cochran has more than just how to serve soup or super- It is going to be a good night. Speakers are awkwardness by offering them a supportive been speaking our against hate groups for the vise a shelter or give people supportive coming from places that serve people who community with a common bond, he said. past seven and a half years despite harass- counseling. are poor/homeless and at least one speaker ment and death-threats. l have learned that people in this coun- will talk about his personal experience with He also said racist seeds had been sown He has appeared on numerous talk-shows try are not as different from each other as homeless ness. There will be some interac- in his mind by the media, friends, and fam- and newscasts, such as "48 Hours" (CBS), we sometimes might think. The only real tive things to participate in and maybe some ily prior to his recruitment, so the transition "Dateline" (NBC), and "Good Morning reason that I am a student at Western Mary- music. I'll provide tarps and lanterns so all to active racism was not drastic. Hate groups, America" (ABC). He has also been called to land College and not a resident of a shelter you need to bring is a sleeping bag or blan- in which "racism [is] the unifier," give ado- help in the fight against hatred by various is that} was lucky. I happened to be born to ket and an open mind. Please come and give lescents the sense of belonging that they organizations, including churches and parents who were able to provide me with it a try, I think you'll be happy you did. crave, he said. schools. food, shelter, and clothing and help me with In the next two weeks, I'll be giving pre- According to Cochran, many hate groups Cochran was sponsored by the History my schoolwork and support my efforts to sentations about poverty and homelessness justify their racism through "Christian Iden- Department, Multicultural Student Associa- go to college. in different classes and for different organi- tity," which is not so much a religion as a tion, Black Student Union, Jewish Student I happened to make a few lucky choices zations. If you would like to come and hear system of hatred. Through their interpreta- Union, Asian Community Coalition, Allies, about relationships and drugs and alcohol. more about all this before sleeping out, there tion of the Bible, white supremacy hate Office of Student Affairs, Alpha Phi Omega, I have not had any health problems that will be olle that's open to everyone on April groups "teach that only whites created things; Gamma Sigma Sigma, Phi Mu, Phi Kappa were not covered by our insurance, and I 3 at 8:30 pm in Hill Hall, Room 110. therefore [they] are entitled to the planet.'; Sigma, Hispanic Latino Alliance, College have [Jot needed treatment for a mental ill- Thanks so much for taking the time to Furthermore, hate groups also justify Activities, and the Office of Multicultural ness or for a childhood of abuse. Very little think about all of this. I look forward to see- anti-Semitism by claiming that Jews are the Services. of my current situation is thanks to me. It is ing you soon! If you have any questions, descendants of Satan, he said. Cochran also For more information, visit Cochran's mostly thanks to chance. Scary, but true. I'm at extension 8309. noted that although many people are vehe- website at www.geocities.comJCapitoIHili/ 7701.