University of South Carolina Libraries
Vol. 93, No. 43 Moni November 22, 1999_ fc na Community since 1Q08 IECOCK..SC EDU : U N J V Eft Si TV Of S O U TH € A ROU N A v ' COLUMBIA, S.C. Worst season ever > 0-11 season first in SEC by Charlie Wallace Senior Writer It's finally over. For South Carolina players, students and fans alike, Satur day's game against the arch-rival Clem son Tigers put an end to a bewildering year. When the last second ticked off the clock late Saturday afternoon in Williams Brice Stadium, the Gamecocks found themselves on the losing end yet again, this time by a 31-21 score, to earn the infamous title of being the only USC or. Southeastern Conference team to ever ^ finish a season 0-11. As harsh as that might sound, though, the Gamecocks didn't get blown out every game. Saturday’s game proved to be a prime example of how Carolina just couldn’t put the necessary ingredients together to win a game. “I'm sorry for the seniors,” a Lou Holtz admitted afterward. “Does it hurt? Yes. Am I embarrassed? Absolutely not.” The hype of this year's annual Clem son-Carolina game had a different angle. The Gamecocks came into the game des perately trying to avoid a winless season. Clemson came into the game with a lot on the line. The Tigers, 5-5, needed a win against USC to clinch a bowl bid. The teams, both filled with emotion, did n’t disappoint. After trading punts on the first two possessions, the Tigers drove all the way down to the Carolina 6-yard line, but the Gamecocks held Clemson to a 22-yard field goal try. Kicker Tony Lazarra's kick missed wide right, and the Gamecocks took over at their own 20. A 41-yard pass from quarteiback Phil Petty to wide receiver Brian Scott put the Gamecocks on the Tiger 13-yard line and set up the game's first points, a 20-yard field goal by senior kicker Steve Florio. Clemson's next possession resulted in perhaps the loudest crowd response at a Carolina game this year. On three consecutive plays, Tiger quarterback Football see page 7 Sean Rayford photo editor Above: Gamecock defensive back Ray Green (3) races Clemson’s Brian Wofford (25) for a loose ball. Left Running back Ryan Brewer attempts to squeeze through the Clemson defensive line during the second half of Saturday's game. Brewer came up big In the game, returning a punt for 42 yards. Although Carolina had its best offensive performance of ‘99, the Gamecocks came up short, losing 31-21. New arena closer to becoming a reality by Brock Vergakis News Editor The Board of Trustees is getting closer to a de cision on whether a new basketball arena will be built in the Vista after a presentation Friday. The athletics department hopes the arena will be ready to open in October 2002. Athletics Di rector Mike McGee said if this date if USC is to meet this deadline, construction needs to begin in September. This means the Board of Trustees will have to approve the arena within the next three months. Vice President of Student Affairs Dennis Pruitt said there is much more at stake for USC in get ling the arena than just having more seats for bas ketball fans. “The quality of student life is affected. We’re caught between Raleigh, Charlotte and Greenville [for concerts and cultural events]. Our students take # lot of road trips. We want them to stay here and people from other schools to visit us,” Pruitt said. “This is a wonderful opportunity to make this a university of distinction. This will be great to attract entertainment, and great to attract academically tal ented students.” The new arena will have between 18,000 and 19,000 seats and will also have more than 30 luxu ry skyboxes with estimated prices ranging from $25,000 to $50,000. Another key feature of the are na is that there will be twice as many women’s re strooms as men’s. The design of the building is being modeled af ter Bud Walton Arena at the University of Arkansas. “Wrlton arena is one of the best in the coun try and also has one of the best home court advan tages. Our design stems from Walton arena, yet we’ll see some improvements,” McGee said. “If we’re looking at 18,000 to 19,000, we would move na tionally from 63rd in capacity to 17th,” McGee said. The increased seating capacity in the arena would generate more revenue for the university. The Col iseum’s revenues from events and concessions have been decreasing in recent years, and some of these revenues are used to fund scholarships. The new arena is also being designed to ac commodate aminor league hockey team. USC would lease the space to the hockey team, and the hock ey team would have to pay for any improvements to locker rooms or other facilities they think don’t meet their standards. While USC would own the arena itself, the city would own the land for the first 10 years in order to repay bonds. At the end of those 10 years, the city would return all property to USC. In addition to being used for basketball, con certs, hockey and other cultural events, there are Arena see page 2 Holtz thanks tans at ligerburn by Patrick Rathburn Senior Writer • Members of the Gamecock football team and their fans gathered at the S.C. State Fairgrounds on Friday for the annual TigerBum pep rally, where they set fire to a synthetic tiger representing Clem son’s mascot. Head football coach Lou Holtz spoke at the event, along with tlie football team’s iri-captains.The team’s representatives expressed appreciation for fans’ support, assessed the season and also made pre dictions for Saturday’s game against Clem son. Holtz assessed the season and pre dieted victory for the Clemson game. “It’s not a sin to get knocked down,” he said. “It’s a sin to stay down. Wfe aren’t going to stay down. We’ll take care of burning the tiger [Saturday] at 12:40.” Holtz also said he never had a team that “had as much adversity” as this year’s Gamecocks. He said he expected the “finest performance this team’s given” this season, against Clemson. Holtz en couraged “more love and feeling” in the university, and asked students to “take pride in what we are.” Linebacker and tri-captain John Abra ham said he appreciated the Gamecock fans’ support. “Thanks for being out there every game,” he said. “We love you.” Linebacker and tri-captain Corey Atkins also said he appreciated fans’ “sup port and love,” and went on to make pre dictions for Saturday’s game. “Every time they run the ball, we’re going to try to knock the piss out of them,” he said. Sport administration senior, tight end and offensive captain, Trey Pennington, said the Gamecocks were “the best fans, bar none.” Pennigton also said USC’s foot ball team would “turn this thing around.” Several attendees of the event shared their overall thoughts on the season and TiqerBurn SEE PAGE 2 Amy Goulding The Gamecock Gamecock fans participated Friday In the annual tradition of Tiger Bum at the State Fairgrounds. Palms in support of flag removal by Brock Vergakis News Editor Opponents of the Confederate flag flying above the Statehouse gained an other ally on Friday, when USC president John Palms released a statement outlin ing his opposition to the flag. In a three-page letter, which was cir culated to all the deans of the university, and the Board of Trustees, Palms said he had made a written request to the state Legislature to remove the flag from the statehouse. In a written statement, Palms said: “1 therefore want you to know that I have respectfully asserted my right as a citi zen and written our legislature to request that they take the necessary action to re move the Confederate flag to a more ap propriate place of respect and to ensure that only the sovereign flags of our elect ed governments fly above the South Car olina Statehouse.” South Carolina is the only state in the country to fly the flag over its capitol. Geoigia and Mississippi have incorpo rated the emblem into their state flags. in the letter, Palms gives reasons for his disapproval for the flagf, but also stresses he isn’t speaking for the univer sity, only himself. “By sharing my own personal view of the Confederate flag’s position above the Statehouse, I hope to stress that what ever our individual opinions, we must take every precaution to ensure ftat we are not perceived to be speaking for the university.” Palms said he’s been opposed to the Confederate flag’s position above the Statehouse for many years and said he thinks anything other than the state and national flags should be flown elsewhere. “Flying anything except the official flags above the Statehouse can only in spire a debate that cannot be resolved since any symbol that is not an official one is especially subject to personal in terpretation,” Palms said. “The Confederate flag has very dif ferent meanings to people. The state and _*!_1 n__ «L. .<1_I_I .1_.L iiauwuai iiug.3, V7ii uit- v/viiti iuuiu, au^iigui en our unity as citizens. At the same time, citizens have the right, as they should, to display any symbol on their personal prop erty. I believe that these facts require that only the official flags of the elected gov ernments of South Carolina and the Unit ed Stales fly in the position of authority above our State House.” This is the first time since Palms began his temi as USC president that he has taken a position for or against the Con federate flag, which was put up in 1965 during the height of the civil rights move ment. In the letter, Palms recognizes the in credible amount of symbolism the Con federate flag holds in the minds of South Carolinians. “I have had the chance to see the power of particular language and symbolism over people,” he said. “But whether we are trained that way or not [to make decisions based upon log ic, dispassionate judgment and evidence], symbols can have power over our emo tions. The profound, symbolic impor tance of the flag is obvious by the con viction both sides have brought to the discussion. For both sides, the flag sym bolizes tremendous pain and suffering and invokes deep pride and determination.For Palms see page 2 -WiATHER X JtelPE I ONLME POM. I .: ■ v Today i 71 59 Tuesday > 3 | Men’s | basketball | starts off I 2-0 | Page 7 Today •Fraternity Council, 4 p.m.,RH 322/326 •Sorority Council, 5 p.m.RH 322/326 * Carolina Prodictions, 3:30 p.m. t Tuesday •AAAS, 6 p.m., RH Theater •FOCUS, 8:15 p.m., Women’s Club •S.C. Student Legislature, 9 p.m. •Dance Marathon, 8 p.m. •Spring Bfr'rd, 5:30 p.m. •RHA, 7 pun., RH 307 Should all residence halls stay open during Jhanksgiving break? Go lo www.gamecock.sc.edu to vote in this week’s poll.