FW: DARWIN AWARDS 1997

["John P. Karasaki, P.E." <jpkarasa@cbg-engrs.com>]

It's that time of year again!

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Karl R. Atteberry [SMTP:krattebe@cbg-engrs.com]
> Sent:	Thursday, April 02, 1998 11:32 AM
> To:	jpkarasa@cbg-engrs.com
> Subject:	DARWIN
> 
> >From: "Brian J. Lottis" <bjlottis@cbg-engrs.com>
> >To: Karl Atteberry <krattebe@cbg-engrs.com>, Phillip Gioia
> >	 <pgioia@cbg-engrs.com>, Steven Ricks <saricks@cbg-engrs.com>
> >Subject: DARWIN
> >Date: Thu, 2 Apr 1998 11:09:53 -0800
> >
> >DARWIN AWARD CANDIDATES
> >
> >1.  BUXTON, NC A man died on a beach when an 8-foot-deep hole he had
> dug
> >in the sand caved in as he sat inside it. Beachgoers said Daniel
> >Jones,21, dug the hole for fun, or protection from the wind, and had
> >been sitting in a beach chair at the bottom Thursday afternoon when
> it
> >collapsed, burying him beneath 5 feet of sand. People on the beach on
> >the Outer Banks used their hands and shovels, trying to claw their
> way
> >to Jones, a resident of Woodbridge, Va., but could not reach him. It
> >took rescue workers using heavy equipment almost an hour to free him
> >while about 200 people looked on.  Jones was pronounced dead at a
> >hospital. "You just wouldn't believe the outpouring of concern,
> people
> >digging with their hands, using pails from kids," Dare County Sheriff
> >Bert Austin said.
> >
> >2.  In February, Santiago Alvarado, 24, was killed in Lompoc, Calif.,
> as
> >he fell face-first through the ceiling of a bicycle shop he was
> >burglarizing.  Death was caused when the large flashlight he had
> placed
> >in his mouth (to keep his hands free) crammed against the base of his
> >skull as he hit the floor.
> >
> >3.  According to police in Dahlonega, Ga., ROTC cadet Nick
> Berrena,20,
> >was stabbed to death in January by fellow cadet Jeffrey Hoffman, 23,
> who
> >was trying to prove that a knife could not penetrate the flak vest
> >Berrena was wearing.
> >
> >4.  Sylvester Briddell, Jr., 26, was killed in February in
> >Selbyville,Del., as he won a bet with friends who said he would not
> put
> >a revolver loaded with four bullets into his mouth and pull the
> trigger.
> >
> >5.  In February, according to police in Windsor, Ont., Daniel
> Kolta,27,
> >and Randy Taylor, 33, died in a head-on collision, thus earning a tie
> in
> >the game of chicken they were playing with their snowmobiles.
> >
> >6.  In October, a 49-year-old San Francisco stockbroker, who "totally
> >zoned when he ran," according to  his wife, accidentally jogged off
> of a
> >200-foot-high cliff on his daily run.
> >
> >7.  In September in Detroit, a 41-year-old man got stuck and drowned
> in
> >two feet of water after squeezing headfirst through an 18-inch-wide
> >sewer grate to retrieve his car keys.
> >
> >8.  In September, a 7-year- old boy fell off a 100-foot-high bluff
> near
> >Ozark, Ark., after he lost his grip swinging on a cross that marked
> the
> >spot where another person had fallen to his death in 1990.
> >
> >DARWIN AWARD WANNA-BE'S
> >
> >(1)   In Guthrie, Okla., in October, Jason Heck tried to kill a
> >millipede with a shot from his .22-caliber rifle, but the bullet
> >ricocheted off a rock near the hole and hit pal Antonio Martinez in
> the
> >head, fracturing his skull.
> >
> >(2)  In Elyria, Ohio, in October, Martyn Eskins, attempting to clean
> out
> >cobwebs in his basement, declined to use a broom in favor of a
> propane
> >torch and caused a fire that burned the first and second floors of
> his
> >house.
> >
> >(3)  Paul Stiller, 47, was hospitalized in Andover Township, N. J.,
> in
> >September, and his wife Bonnie was also injured, by a quarter-stick
> of
> >dynamite that blew up in their car.  While driving around at 2
> a.m.,the
> >bored couple lit the dynamite and tried to toss it out the window
> tosee
> >what would happen, but they apparently failed to notice that
> thewindow
> >was closed.
> >
> >(4)  Taking "Amateur Night" Too Far:  In Betulia, Colombia, an annual
> >festival in November includes five days of amateur bullfighting.
> This
> >year, no bull was killed, but dozens of matadors were injured,
> including
> >one gored in the head and one bobittized. Said oneparticipant, "It's
> >just one bull against [a town of] a thousand  morons."
> >