ABCDE METRO sunday, november 28, 2010 LOCALOPINIONS 36, 9 a.m. 44, noon 46, 5 p.m. 39, 9 p.m.
Obituaries Robert B. Daugherty reshaped rural America with mechanized irrigation systems that watered fields in a circular pattern. C7
Hit the town The Going Out Guide has ideas on how to wrap your weekend up right, and Dr. Gridlock has advice on getting around the area this week.
PostLocal.com
‘Miracle’ or mistake? Could the conviction of Ingmar Guandique turn out to be another horrible wrong turn in the botched investigation of Chandra Levy’s murder? C5
JOHNKELLY’SWASHINGTON
A ship’s sad slide An old minesweeper that landed in the Potomac held a man’s dreams. But it became an ill-fated voyage. C3
For D.C. voting rights, window appears closed ROBERTMCCARTNEY
EmbraceMetro governance reforms
ratus, here’s a way to appreciate the scale of the challenge: The task requires eight separate governmental bodies rep- resenting 12 distinct political jurisdic- tions to agree to rearrange how they oversee a ninth body, the transit system itself.
A What’s more, many of the changes re-
cently proposed by a high-powered area task force would affect spending, taxes and political patronage, which are all of critical interest to the various politicians and bureaucrats making the decisions. If that’s not daunting enough, consid-
er that the biggest changes would re- quire four entities—Maryland, Virginia, the District and Congress—to agree unanimously on identical wording to change the 44-year-old regional com- pact that createdMetro. Themyriad competing interests have
“created a kind of Gordian knot, and it takes a powerful force to cut through that,” said Thomas Downs, a former top D.C. transportation official and former Metro board member who’s now co- chairman of the transportation commit- tee onMayor-elect Vince Gray’s transi- tion team. As a result, it would be easy to cyni-
cally assume that the process is headed for failure.How canMetro possibly transform its entire governance struc- ture when it can’t even keep the escala- tors oiled? Nevertheless, riders, politicians, bu-
reaucrats and anybody else who cares about theWashington region should pitch in and strive to ensure that most of the reforms are adopted—and prompt- ly. It’s a good sign that Gray (D),Mary- land
Gov.Martin O’Malley (D) and Vir- ginia Gov. BobMcDonnell (R) have quickly set a 60-day deadline for agree- ing on a detailed plan to adopt the steps. Although the measures are not suffi-
mccartney continued on C3
More students seeking early
admissions U-Va. among colleges
BY DANIEL DE VISE The University of Virginia four years
ago joined Harvard and Princeton in a much-publicized revolt against early-ad- missionspolicies that the schools termed unfair to some applicants. But the revo- lution never spread, and it now appears to be over. U-Va. announced Nov. 16 that high
school seniors may again apply early in 2012, thoughunder amore flexiblepolicy than before. Harvard officials said they are reconsidering early admission; Princeton officials said they are not. The reversal reflects the remarkable
popularity of early-admissions policies among applicants — and college admis- sion officers — in an era when the collegiate sweepstakes is arguably more competitive and stressful than ever. “For many students, we’re their top
choice. And frankly, they don’t want to wait around,” said Greg Roberts, dean of admission at U-Va. Higher education leaders expected a
shift in the admissions landscape when three of the nation’s top national univer- sities announced a retreat from early deadlines in 2006. Officials at the schools said they thought their programs favored the wealthy and well-prepared, and they invited other colleges to follow their lead. Almost none did. Early admission
endures at most of the selective public and private colleges in and around Washington. Early applications are up this fall for at least 10 schools in Wash-
admissions continued on C4 BEN DE LA CRUZ/THE WASHINGTON POST
Adult bedbugs are about 3/16 of an inch long with oval flattened bodies—before they engorge on human blood, that is.
reinstating the debated but popular policy
PHOTOS BY EVY MAGES FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
Anngie Gutierrez, top, was born in Guatemala but was brought to theUnited States at age 8; the aspiring forensic scientist is hoping that the DREAMAct could help her gain legal status. Above, Gutierrez joins EliasVlanton, one of her teachers, and his family for Thanksgiving dinner.
Undocumented youths chasing a dream A
BY SHANKAR VEDANTAM
nngie Gutierrez knows how bodies decompose. She can deduce from a skeletonwhether thepersonwhodied was a man or a woman. In her high school forensics biology class, she has
learned to determine time and cause of death. The 17-year-old Bladensburg High School
junior readily admits that her siblings do not share her taste for decomposition: “I am the weird one in the family.” Gutierrezwants to become amedical examin-
er or a forensic investigator, like the investiga- tors she loves to watch on “CSI.” But unlike her twobrothers andher sisterwhowereborninthe UnitedStates, shewas borninGuatemala—and is undocumented. Thousands of immigrants of high school and
college age are lobbying Congress, introducing themselves to citizens by scheduling meals to- gether and performing acts of public service to draw attention to the DREAMAct—ameasure that seeks to provide legal papers for undocu- mented immigrants who were brought to the United Stateswhen theywere
children.Gutierr- ez’s parents, who also are undocumented,
The lawsuits have made Whitney the BY J. FREEDOM DULAC Daniel Whitney has staked his claim
on the title ofMaryland’s bedbug barris- ter: Since Sept. 1, the Towson attorney has filed eight lawsuits on behalf of bedbug victims across the state seeking a total of more than $7 million in damages. The claims, ranging from$100,000 to
$3.55 million, are mostly against apart- ment building owners and managers who the victims say were negligent in dealing with infestations.
object of scorn, with some people sug- gesting that he’s, well . . . something of a human parasite himself. “I’m very aware of the derogatory
comments people make about me being a bloodsucker seeking large sums of money,” Whitney said. “It’s nonsense. These people need help.” Whitney is far fromdone.He says he’s
on the verge of filing five more bedbug lawsuits and has 21 other open files that could result in complaints. “Potential clients keep contactingme, almost daily,” said the lawyer, whose
“All teachers push every day to get our kids to go to college and work hard, and then you have kids who want to do that and are being denied,” says Elias Vlanton, a Bladensburg High School teacher who supports the DREAM Act. The measure would open a path to legal residency for young, undocumented aliens who go to college or serve in the military.
s theWashington region begins an important effort to fixMetro’s out- dated, unwieldy governing appa-
Chance of passage rated at ‘zero’ in next Congress
after GOP takeover of House BY BEN PERSHING
Advocates for giving the District full
voting rights in theHouse brimmedwith confidence four years ago as the Demo- cratic takeover of Congress seemed to move their long-standing goal closer to reality. Two years later, when President Obama was elected, that confidence
turned to near-certainty. “I really can’t think of a scenario by which we could fail,” Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) said inNovember 2008. Yet fail theydid.House leadersdecided
this year to pull a voting rights bill from the floor rather than have it coupledwith a measure to weaken the District’s gun laws. Now,withRepublicans set to take over
the House in January, the window to move a voting rights bill appears to have closed, and glumsupporters arewonder- ingwhat—if anything—to do next. “I think the best shot we had at voting rightswas probably last year,” saidHouse
Majority Leader StenyH.Hoyer (D-Md.), who will serve as minority whip in the next Congress. “The Republican Party . . . has fought
this tooth and nail,” Hoyer said. “I don’t think that there’s much shot that they’ll do it this time.” Former representativeTomDavis (Va.),
who was the lead Republican supporter of voting rights until he retired in 2008, put the chance of passage in the next Congress at “zero.” “If theDemocraticCongress can’tdo it,
you’re not going to get a Republican Congress to do it,” Davis said, complain- ing that Democrats missed their best
chance this year. Norton, who has lobbied for a House
vote for twodecades, saidthat “we should have been able to get this bill through” in this Congress. But she declined to be as pessimistic about the future asHoyer and Davis. She said she hesitated tomake any predictions about the new majority’s in- tentions. “We’re trying not to indicate what
they’re going to do before we have the opportunity to introduce the new mayor to their people,” she said. Republicans won’t sort out their com-
voting rights continued on C4 C EZ SU
brought her herewhen shewas 8. Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-
Nev.), who was helped by the Latino vote in his narrow reelection victory this month, and House SpeakerNancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) have said theywill advance themeasure—technically, the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act — before the lame-duck session of Congress ends andthenewRepublicanmajority assumes power. The billwas blocked in the Senatewhen Reid
introduced it before the midterm elections. dream act continued on C4
Md. lawyer helps bedbug victims bite back
firm, Whitney & Bogris, would collect between 33 percent and 40 percent of any settlement or judgment in the cases. “I’mgoing to have to takemy number off ourWeb site.” Over a three-decade career, Whitney
hasmostly defended corporate clients in product liability, malpractice and toxic tort cases. “I never thought I’d become known as
the bedbug attorney,” he said. Bedbug complaints constitute a rela-
tively nascent legal niche, surfacing only bedbugs continued on C4
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