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	Vol.7, No 13, September 21, 1999
	CSULB student struck by car By Don Weberg  and Sarah LaVoie Daily Forty-Niner With a broken windshield and a dangling side view mirror, a red Nissan sportscar sat at the curb after striking  a 19-year-old sophomore near the Vivian Engineering Center.   Cal State Long Beach student Melani Coleman, a liberal studies major, lay still on the ground, a spilled mocha to her left, as she insisted to on-lookers she was not injured. Despite her claims, the driver and other witnesses urged her to stay down and wait for help, according to the driver of the vehicle, sophomore Kalid Taylor,  and his friend, sophomore Amanuel Gebru, who was riding in the car with him. "I just didn't want to hurt her," Taylor said. "I just hope she's okay." The victim stepped off the curb and was hit by the car's left side, the mirror spinning her around and onto the car's windshield and over the roof, eyewitnesses said. "I thought she would be more badly hurt than that," said one eyewitness who wished to remain anonymous. "They were probably going about 15 - 20 miles per hour." The driver and his passenger were trying to secure a glass roof panel that had become loose in the rear of the vehicle, apparently sliding forward into the drivers area, according to Taylor. "I thought it was my car that had gotten hit,"  witness Juan Muniz said of the noise outside the engineering center. Though Muniz's car received no serious damage, it did sustain a black mark down its side, likely the result of the victimís shoe striking it.  "When I saw her, I called back into the building to call 911 and went to help her," Muniz said.  "It's a shock to see someone laying on the ground [after an accident]." Capt. Bruce Balbarnie of the Long Beach Fire Department said the victimís main complaint was a laceration and contusion to her left hand.  The department also determined she lost consciousness due to the impact. Coleman said she didnít remember being hit by the car, only the moments before and after impact.  "My head hurt and I looked up and my hand was gushing blood,"  Coleman said at Long Beach Memorial Hospital after the incident.  Coleman said that she had crossed the street and was near Munozís car about to step up onto the sidewalk when she noticed the sportscar right upon her.  According to the hospital, Coleman suffered a contusion near her left eye, but she has no fractures despite hitting her head against the windshield.  She was kept overnight for observation and should be released sometime today. "It's a miracle,"  said Coleman.		An accident vicitim, student Melani Coleman, 19, is examined by paramedics after being hit by a car on campus Monday.                                                                                                             CSULB remembers fallen soldiers Beach lovers storm local shores CSULB student struck by car CSU cuts energy charges Dope doesn't discredit Jambalaya heats up crowd Basement Jaxx grabs house fans Rack and Roll Game win streak comes to hault LBSU washed out by competition One goal equals win Fall 99 ISSUES DAILY 49ER HOMEPAGE
Forty-Niner Publications, Department of Journalism, California State University, Long Beach ©1999 All rights reserved.