Tuesday, November 14, 2000
The University Daily Kansan
Nation
Section A · Page 5
For comments, contact Lori O'Toole at 864-4810 or e-mail editor@kansan.com
Officials charge Colorado man in fatal collision
The Associated Press
EAGLE, Colo. — A man whose deadly collision with another skier at Vail prompted a safety crackdown by Colorado resorts went on trial for manslaughter yesterday, with prosecutors saying he ignored poor snow conditions as he sped down the mountain.
Nathan Hall, 21, collided with Allan Cobb, 33, after finishing his shift as a lift operator in April 1997. Cobb died a few minutes later.
Because it was the last day of the season, Hall should have known the snow was heavy and wet, like "mashed potatoes," prosecutor John Clune said during opening statements.
"He was bombing down the mountain," Clune said. "He was reckless. That is why
Allan isn't with us."
Defense attorney Brett Heckman asked the jury to recall popular opinion in the days before Michael Kennedy and Sonny Bono were killed in ski accidents.
"The evidence of skier safety awareness was not, unfortunately, as it is now," he said. "This has happened to anybody who skis."
Heckman has called the collision an accident and said skiing is a sport that carries an inherent danger.
Cobb's family sued Vail Resorts and won a settlement of an undisclosed amount. Hall is charged with reckless manslaughter, possession of alcohol by a minor and possession of marijuana. If convicted, he faces up to six years in prison.
Two courts dismissed the charges, ruling a reasonable person would not have expected skiing too fast to cause another person's death. But the Colorado Supreme Court overturned those decisions, setting the stage for Hall's trial.
The case is being closely watched amid growing complaints about speedy skiers and snowboarders. After Cobb's death, many Colorado resorts tightened their
http://www.court.state.co.us/disrict/0.5/hi/disrict/0.5.hi
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safety policies, threatening to strip season passes from hotdogging skiers and snowboarders. The National Ski Areas Association launched a safety awareness campaign a year ago.
James Chalat, who specializes in ski law, said the trial could affect the image of ski areas that are trying to portray a safe environment.
"It will be a huge advantage for Colorado ski areas for the public to view Colorado as a state willing to enforce safe skiing policy with the full force of the law," he said. "Killing someone recklessly is not part of skiing."
The ski industry has put a priority on safety in recent years, with Vail creating a squad to catch speedy skiers and snowboarders. The number of deaths nationally declined from 39 in 1998-99 to 30 last year.
Group sues for pirated software
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A software trade group that conducted an online anti-piracy sting sued 13 Americans yesterday, alleging they sold bootleg software worth tens of thousands of dollars on Internet auction sites.
The Business Software Alliance, which represents software companies such as Microsoft Corp., Macromedia Inc. and Adobe Systems Inc., conducted the worldwide sting operation to fend off pirates and educate consumers. CD-ROM recorders and high-speed Internet connections have made it easy for bootleggers to peddle illegally copied software quickly and cheaply.
"Many of the people who once sold
pirated software programs at flea markets have now moved to Internet auction sites in the hopes of reaching online consumers," said Bob Kruger, vice president of enforcement at the BSA. "In the great majority of cases, what you see is not what you get, and what you get is illegal."
The sting is a new angle to the group's efforts, which has targeted Web sites and chat channels. Just last month, the Federal Trade Commission listed auction scams among its top 10 "dot-con" ploys for consumers to avoid.
The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, was brought after the Washington-based BSA paid about $1,600 during several months for software that sells in stores
for more than $50,000. The defendants face damages of up to $150,000 for each program they sold.
In most cases, the software was shown in online advertisements in a boxed package, but arrived as a single CD-ROM with the program name and its serial number written in marker on one side of the disk.
By punishing the defendants, the BSA hopes the effort will show consumers how they can be taken online. While the programs are cheap, Kruger warns that consumers won't get product support or upgrade offers, and the CD-ROMs are likely to contain viruses.
"In some cases, you can make the case that the consumer is as much of a victim as the publisher," Kruger said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Americans to pay a penny more for stamps
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — For the second time in two years, Americans are being asked to spend a penny more to mail a letter.
First-class stamps will cost 34 cents and other postal service rates will increase, but 20-cent postcards will remain unchanged. The price hikes are likely to take effect in early January.
After months of hearings and deliberations, the independent Postal Rate Commission approved the new rates yesterday to offset rising costs. But it rejected some of the Postal Service's proposed higher rates — such as a penny more to send postcards and one cent more for a letter's second ounce.
The commission also for the first time set a one-pound Priority Mail rate of $3.50. Until now, people sending anything up to two pounds have paid the $3.20 two-pound rate. It also raised the two-pound rate to $3.95.
"While rates will go up, they will go up not quite as much as the Postal Service proposed," said commission chairperson Edward Gleiman.
Beyond the penny increase, each additional ounce of first-class postage, up to 11 ounces, will be shaved from 22 cents to 21
cents.
The Postal Service had hoped for a 6 percent increase overall in postage rates for all classes of mail, but the five-member commission granted only a 4.6 percent overall increase.
By law, the Postal Service's budget must break even each year, and the commission decided that could be done with a smaller increase.
It is now up to the post office Board of Governors to decide when the higher rates will go into effect. That decision likely will occur at its scheduled meeting the first week of December.
Student dies from drinking
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A University of Michigan engineering student died yesterday after celebrating his 21st birthday with 20 shots of scotch in 10 minutes, police said.
The Associated Press
Byung Soo Kim was blue and unconscious when he was found early Saturday. He died at a hospital, where he had been admitted with a blood-alcohol level of 0.39 percent, nearly four times the legal limit for driving, police said.
Eleven friends had gathered in an apartment building Friday night to celebrate Kim's birthday. Police said Kim was trying to down a shot for every year of his life but passed out after the 20th drink.
Friends told investigators they put him in the back bedroom and discovered he was not breathing when they checked on him an hour later.
"If he was 20, there would be a lot more to investigate," said Sgt. Michael Loghge. "Since he's 21 and allegedly made the purchase legally himself, there's no crime in what occurred."
The Associated Press
BRADENTON, Fla. — A teenage driver seriously injured in an accident is suing the city because a police officer failed to arrest him for drunken driving minutes before the crash.
Drunken driver sues police after accident
Richard L. Garcia filed suit last week, alleging that officers who found him in a 1999 disturbance told him to drive home. He crashed his car minutes later, rupturing his aorta.
"He's got a plastic aorta now," said attorney Wade Thompson. "For a (teen-ager), that's pretty wicked."
Garcia and his mother, Betty Hernandez, are seeking damages exceeding $15,000. They said Garcia's medical bills are nearing $100,000.
City officials declined to comment
Police went to a home at 1:20 a.m. Feb. 9, 1999,
after a man found Garcia climbing into his step-
daughter's window. She had apparently invited
him in, police said.
Thompson said Garcia, then 16, was obviously drunk — he stumbled, his car was parked cockeyed and numerous open beer cans were visible in the vehicle. But the officers let him drive away, he said.
"They walked him to his car and put him in." Thompson said.
A few minutes after Garcia drove away from the girl's home, he missed a curve and slammed into a tree.
Bradenton officer Robert Semler made no mention in his report that Garcia was drunk. Semler later resigned from the department after admitting to a crack cocaine habit.
Garcia's blood-alcohol level was found to be double the legal limit for adults and almost 10 times the limit for minors. He later pleaded guilty to drunken driving and received one year probation and a fine.
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BARGAIN MATINEES INDICATED BY () STADIUM SEATING * ALL DIGITAL
Set- Sun Daily
1 Billy Elliot* (1:35) 4.25; 7.15; 9.45
2 Remember the Titans* (1:05) 4.15; 7.05; 9.45
3 Pay for Walk-in* (1:20) 4.20; 7.15; 10.00
4 Red Planet* (1:40) 4.40; 7.10; 9.40
5 Little Nicky* (1:15) 4.10; 7.00; 9.30
6 Charlie's Angels* (1:55) 4.55; 7.35; 10.05
7 Little Nicky* (2:00) 5.00; 7.35; 10.05
8 Charlie's Angels* (1:25) 4.25; 7.05; 9.35
9 Men Of Honor* (1:10) 4.50; 7.05; 9.30
10 Bedazed* (1:40) 4.45; 7.35; 9.30
11 Meet The Parents* (1:45) 4.50; 7.00; 10.00
12 The Legend of Beverage Vengeance* (1:00) 4.10; 7.00; 9.55
PLAZA 6
Sat & Sun Daily
1 Almost Famous⁺ (1:50) 4:30 7:00, 9:30
2 The Legend Of Drunken Master¹ (1:55) 4:35 7:05, 9:35
3 Lucky Numbers⁻ (1:50) 4:40 7:10, 9:40
4 Dr. T and The Women¨ — — 7:10, 9:35
also... the Little Vampire¨™ (1:55) 4:40 — —
5 BlaB Witch 2¨ (2:00) 4:45 7:15, 9:35
6 The Exorcist¨⁺ (1:45) 4:30 7:00, 9:30
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