WEATHER INSIDE TODAY: partly cloudy NEWS 3 High: 70s Lew: 45 FOCUS 11 Tuesday: sunny OPINION 12 Hfch:65 Low:50 STYLE IS SPORTS 21 HUMOR 28 JAMESBreeze MADISON UNIVERSITY CLASSIFIEDS 31 MONDAY SEPTEMBER 13,1993 VOL.V0L 71. 71 NO. N0 5 Port Republic Road construction may last until spring by Matt Warner completed this fall had been "optimistic""optimistic said, but in terms of the 270 calendar days Diehl said the biggest problem she's h;had senior writer and that inclement weather has caused apportioned for the project, DLB is on with the construction is that periodically many construction "shut-down" days. schedule with about 65 percent of the she cannot get out of her driveway. The widening of Port Republic Road DLB Inc. of Hillsville is the general work completed. Shut-down days are not "What a hassle," she said when told the from two to four lanes might be completed contractor in charge of the primarily considered to be part of those 270 days. sometime this spring, according to the federally-funded SI.8 million project. The project, which runs from Interstate n Virginia Department of Transportation. Lineberry said construction began Nov. 2, 81 to Route 11, is being conducted in three If the temperatures Jeff Lineberry, the assistant resident 1992.. phases, Lineberry said. engineer for VDOT, said last February's Construction has repeatedly been The first phase, which was completed don't get real cold in projection that the project would be delayed by 146 shut-down days, Lineberry this year, was the installation of a sewer system along Port Republic Road and the fall, the contractor included widening the pavement along the road's south side. might be able to pave The second phase, which is still under construction, will widen the road along the up until December. north side, and the third phase is the Jeff Lineberry completion of the road's south side. "If the temperatures don't get real cold VDOT assistant resident engineer in the fall, the contractor might be able to pave up unul December," Lineberry said. construction won't be completed until "That can have a significant impact on the spring. "But it will be much nicer." completion date." DLB construction worker Mark Mays, Susan Greer, Commuter Student who is working on the project, said, Council transfer coordinator, said, "I've "We're way ahead of schedule." got a lot of complaints from commuter Mays said students should remember students about the construction going on that because Port Republic Road is in use longer than it should have. They're sick of during construction, work proceeds slower it." than it otherwise would. CSC President Mary Estrella said the The job sometimes becomes difficult biggest complaint she's heard from when "we pour something and the students concerning the construction is students walk in it," Mays said. that Port Republic Road congestion causes Mays also said workers become bus delays. "It's a hassle, but what can wc frustrated when commuter students swear AMY PETRUCCI do?" she said. at them as they drive by and tell them to Port Republic Road resident Ginger "get the hell out of the road." The Port Republic construction project has been delayed by 146 shut-down days. Gun control dominates race for new Virginia governor Candidate for L.A. Times/Washington Post recent polls that suggest Terry has a lead for Virginia's next governor may rest on but the election remains up for grabs. gov. proposes news service who better addresses the issue of Voters in three corners of Virginia's containing crime. Less than two months before triangle- Bedford, Hemdon and the Most voters interviewed around Town tuition-hike cap Virginians elect a new governor, there is Hampton Roads suburb of Chesapeake- Square volunteered that they want stricter only one issue that has penetrated the talked about the candidates and issues gun-control laws, echoing Terry's call for by Nicole Motley consciousness of many ordinary voters in seven weeks before the Nov. 2 election. a waiting period. Several also advocated news editor three communities across the state: gun In Hemdon, a feeling of fear toughening sentencing and parole, issues control. that Allen has stressed. With recent talk of budget cuts for In the Northern Virginia suburb of The mayhem of the nation's capital is "Gun control is huge," said Kevin 1994-96 at state supported colleges and Hemdon, residents in interviews last week 25 miles away, and it's been six years Byrne, 33, a computer operator who was universities, the Republican candidate expressed alarm at rising crime and since anyone was killed in the town of leaving Foot Anakin's English Dart Pub. for Virginia governor has outlined enthusiasm for a five-day waiting period Herndon. But you wouldn't know that to "When you were in high school, sneakers plans for putung a cap on this problem. for handgun purchases, which has been walk the streets downtown. were the coolest thing to have. Now it's a In a Sept. 7 press release George proposed by Democratic candidate Mary The way people talk, it sounds as if gun. It's so easy to get them into schools." Allen said, "In just the past four years, Sue Terry. crime is all around them. They speak in In many cases, though, the voters said under the watch of the Wilder/Terry But 250 miles away in Bedford, one of fear of guns in the schools, drive-by drug they did not know about Terry's proposal Democrats, the average tuition rate for the many small towns where voters have shootings, coldblooded slayings of or Allen's opposition to it. Nor were they Virginians attending state-supported supported Terry in the past, her embrace tourists. It doesn't seem to matter that it aware that Fairfax County already has a colleges and universities has jumped a of what to residents there is an unpopular mostly happens far from their quiet, tree- three-day waiting period for handgun painful 50 percent." idea provides an opening for her lined avenues; they're scared, and they purchases. According to the State Council of Republican opponent, George F. Allen. want somebody to do something about it. As in much of Northern Virginia, how Higher Education for Virginia, Throughout Virginia, people are "It's so indiscriminate in a lot of Herndon votes depends on the year and Virginia ranks second in the nation for beginning to wake up to this election, cases," said Bill Storey, 50, who moved to the candidates. It backed Republican tuition rates and 42nd in the nation for although many remain a bit hazy on the Herndon eight years ago because he saw it George Bush for president in 1988 and state support to higher education. details. Terry often gels identified as as a safe, sleepy small town. "Sometimes stuck with him in 1992, yet strongly "In my administration, higher "what's-her-name," and Allen is still best it doesn't seem there's any rhyme or supported Democrat L. Douglas Wilder education will no longer be singled out known as "the son of the Redskins coach/' reason." The vagueness supports the results of For people such as Storey, the choice ALLEN page 2 GUNS page 2 2 THE BREEZE Mondav. Setrt. 13 1993 Allen continued from page 1 to bear the brunt of state budget reductions, as it has been under the Wilder/Terry administration," Allen said. According to Allen, who is scheduled to speak at JMU on Wednesday, his plan to control tuition costs and increases would require state colleges and universities to establish binding contracts with parents and students. The contract would limit tuition increases to the rate of inflation over the course of a student's four-year term. This would enable parents and students to know their financial responsibility ahead of time and be able to plan accordingly, he said. "Taxpaying Virginians who struggle to put their children through college are being taken advantage of by schools and the state," Allen said. "Parents and students are powerless to do anything but pay the higher costs." Other key long-term elements in Allen's plan are to increase tuition rates for out-of-state students, give "rewards" to educational institutions for savings on administrative overhead costs, partnerships between community colleges and four-year colleges, and stabilization of Virginia's Tuition Assistance Grant. Also outlined in the plan are the expansion of telecommunications in the classrooms to accommodate a larger number of students and the expansion of summer course offerings. MEUSSA CAMPBELL "Our institutions of higher learning will be held to a high standard of fiscal accountability without Study break jeopardizing quality and affordability for those who pay tuition," Allen said. Sophomore Homa Magsi finds the warm sunny weather too distracting as she attempts to Allen is scheduled to speak at JMU Wednesday at 6 study with sophomore Anne Marie McMahon. p.m. in Phillips Hall. Guns continued from page 1 mistakes." aviation depot, seem less important to Terry's waiting period is fine with Burks said he believes Terry's voters than how to reduce crime. Cheryl Burns, 48, a school bus driver, but, for governor in 1989 and narrowly went proposed waiting period is designed for So far neither Terry nor Allen has for Democrat Leslie L. Byrne for she said, "I don't like people that run "appealing to the Northern Virginia made much of an impression on residents down other people.** She thinks Terry is Congress last fall. Terry collected 62 constituency." interviewed at two shopping centers in the percent of the vote from Herndon in doing that with her attacks on Allen.