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CHAIR: |
Excuse me. Excuse me. Could we have some order? |
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CHAIR: |
Thank you. That's better. Now we can hear. |
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STROTHER: |
May
I continue, please? |
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CHAIR: |
Yes, go on. |
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STROTHER: |
I
think this is a terrible idea. I hate it! |
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HADDAWI: |
That doesn't make it a bad idea. |
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STROTHER: |
Don't be stupid. |
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CHAIR: |
Please, please. Let's discuss this calmly. I would like someone to
state the problem clearly. Martin, could you explain? May we start
with Martin, everyone? |
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CAST: |
Yes. OK. Get on with it. Let Martin talk. |
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CHAIR: |
OK,
Martin. Tell everyone what this is all about. |
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MARTIN: |
I'll try. This is the idea. The city wants to build a new road from
north to south. It would go through Central Park. The idea- |
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FEMALE 1: |
Why? |
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CHAIR: |
Please don't interrupt. You can ask questions after Martin explains.
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MARTIN: |
I'll answer that question now. The new road would help people on the
north side of the city to get to the hospital faster. |
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HADDAWI: |
It
would be eight miles shorter. |
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FEMALE 1: |
You
can't do that. |
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HADDAWI: |
Yes, we can! It would save lives. |
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MALE 1: |
That's right. |
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STROTHER: |
You
don't know that. You don't know how many lives it would save. Maybe
none. What difference does eight miles make? |
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HADDAWI: |
I
have studied that. |
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STROTHER: |
You
have studied it?! He studied history when he was in college! |
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HADDAWI: |
What does that mean? |
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STROTHER: |
You
don't know anything about it. |
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CHAIR: |
Gentlemen! Keep calm. Please. Martin, please go on. |
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MARTIN: |
Let
me repeat. The road would go through the park. It would help people
get from the north to the south more quickly. |
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MALE 1: |
And
the people from the south to the north. |
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MARTIN: |
Of
course. I was thinking mostly about the hospital. |
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FEMALE 1: |
You
can't take sides. |
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MARTIN: |
I'm
not taking sides. Let me tell you the other side. The road would
destroy quite a lot of the park. |
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STROTHER: |
It
would destroy all of the park! |
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CAST: |
That's right. Of course it would. You'd better believe it. Right. |
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MARTIN: |
It
would go through the middle. |
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FEMALE 2: |
But
that's terrible. Can the city do that? |
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HADDAWI: |
Of
course we can. We have planned carefully. We have looked at all the
arguments. We studied it when we began planning. |
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STROTHER: |
Don't be absurd. |
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CHAIR: |
Mr.
Strother. Please. Please be polite. You can disagree politely. I
want Martin to finish. Then we can discuss it. |
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CHAIR: |
I'm
going to get angry. Please let Martin finish. |
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CAST: |
Well, OK. It won't make any difference anyway. What does the city
know? Do you think we don't know what's going on? |
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