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.:3a^«a^«aBBwawag8S«aa^i&T«gataif-a USC studies athletics Evaluation part of NCAA rules l for certification BY KEVIN FELLNER THE GAMECOCK USC President John Palms an nounced this month that the univer sity is beginning a year-long study of the its athletics programs as part of the NCAA Division I certification process. This will be the first time that USC has undergone the NCAA’s revised certification process, which focuses more on self-evaluation. “While academic accreditation for colleges and universities is common, athletics accreditation is relatively recent,” Palms said. “We are very proud of our athlet ics programs, and we welcome this opportunity to evaluate them and their relationship to the mis sion of our university.” Areas that will be studied in clude academic and fiscal integri ty, governance and compliance, commitment to equity, student-ath lete welfare and sportsmanship. According to the NCAA Division I Committee on Athletics Certification, the certification process is designed to help ensure integrity in the institution’s ath letics operations. It opens up ath letics to the rest of the university community and the public. College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management Dean Pat Moody will chair the committee that will study the USC athletic de partment. “The goal is not only to be certified with the approval of the NCAA, but, in the process, to do anything we need to do to im prove any weaknesses that might exist,” Moody said. “It will be a very thorough and very intense study. We certainly expect it to be successful.” Moody added that the study would ensure that the university is complying with all NCAA gov erning principles as well as re cruiting guidelines. The study will also analyze topics such as gender equity in USC athletics. The study will determine the financial health and predict the stability of the pro gram in the future. Moody will chair the steering committee of ten faculty and staff members. Four other committees of faculty members will be re sponsible for each designated top ic in the self-evaluation. Sports Information Director Kerry Tharp said most Division I athletic programs now view this certification process as the new standard procedure for determin ing athletic integrity. “We cer tainly think that we will be judged favorably by the NCAA,” Tharp said. He added that USC’s partici ♦ ATHLETICS, SEE PAGE 3 ELECTRICAL FIRE BLOCKS TRAFFIC A downed powerline blocked traffic both ways on Sumter and Pendleton streets between 2-3:30 a.m. on a drizzly Saturday. “That little buzz that you hear, yeah, it’s an electrical fire," said USCPD officer Nick Beza. The line spewed sparks and an occasional fireball, igniting a pole, fallen leaves and charring a nearby tree. Columbia firefighters hosed down the spot where the line fell, preventing a larger fire. Power was out in Cornell Arms, Sammi’s Deli and Beezer’s for half an hour. SCE&G cut power to the damaged line and started repairs around 3:15 a.m. Streets were reopened before 10 a.m. on Saturday, photo by martha wright Jailed soldiers of bin Laden » • stage uprising BY BURT HERMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS MAZAR-E-SHARIF, Afghanistan - Hundreds of Osama bin Laden’s foreign legion were killed after staging an uprising with smug gled arms in a northern alliance prison Sunday, officials said. U.S. airstrikes helped quash the day long insurrection. A U.S. special forces soldier in side the fortress was taped by a German television crew saying an American may have been killed, but-the Pentagon said later that all U.S. forces in Afghanistan had been accounted for and that none had died. The U.S. Central Command, which oversees the war in Afghanistan, declined to say whether U.S..forces were inside the Qalai Janghi fortress when the fighting began. The fighters, about 300 Chechens, Pakistanis and Arabs who surrendered Saturday from the besieged city of Kunduz, had smuggled weapons under their tu nics into the fortress and tried to fight their way out, Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Dan Stoneking said. The alliance said most of the prisoners were killed. The uprising began about 11 a.m., witnesses said. Alliance spokesman Zaher Wahadat said the prisoners seized other weapons from their guards and captured an ammunition depot, using its contents to fight the troops sent in to put down the re volt. Yahsaw, a spokesman for northern alliance commander Mohammed Mohaqik, said the prisoners broke down the doors and tried to escape. As outnumbered guards perched on the compound’s walls fired wildly down at the prisoners, a U.S. special forces soldier could be seen in footage by a Germany television crew using a telephone to call in airstrikes and reinforce ments. “There’s hundreds dead here at least,” the man, who identified himself only as David, can be heard saying on Germany’s ARD television network. ♦ UPRISING, SEE PAGE 3 State of War Other major developments this weekend related to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks: ♦ AT LEAST EIGHT U.S. BOMBS reportedly exploded on Pakistani territory during a raid on Taliban positions along the frontier with Afghanistan. Witnesses say at least 13 Afghans were killed. The reports could not be independently confirmed. ♦ PRESIDENT BUSH, in his weekly radio address, says the effort to root out terrorism will take time and may expand to more countries: “The fight we have begun will not be quickly or easily finished." ♦ U.S. AIRSTRIKES continues pounding suspected terrorist hide outs among ATgnamstan s ■ tunnels and caves. ♦ THE MOST SENIOR TALIBAN MEMBER to defect so far blames Osama bin Laden and Taliban hard-liners for transforming Afghanistan into a terrorist haven and bringing on a disastrous war with the United States. ♦ THOUSANDS OF MOURNERS packed the cathedral in Catania, Sicily, for the funeral of Italian journalist Maria Grazia Cutuli, who was killed Monday along with three colleagues on the road from Jalalabad to Kabul. ♦ THE EUROPEAN UNION AND PAKISTAN agree there can be no talk of deploying a multinational force in Afghanistan until a multiethnic government has been agreed upon for the country. SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS MEDICINE ‘LIKE SPEED TO THEM’ Experts don't q know whether USC students misuse Ritalin BY GINNY THORNTON THE GAMECOCK Fourth-year biology major Annie Lee doesn’t keep her medi cine in prescription bottles any more. Lee started hiding her Adderall, prescribed to her for attention deficit disorder (ADD), after it was stolen from her last year. Though she hasn't had any similar inci dents since, she says she’s now more aware that the drug is abused. 4 “I just don’t understand, ’’ she said. “It upsets me and disgusts me that people would abuse some thing I need.” Adderall and Ritalin, a similar drug, are stimulants used to treat attention deficit disorder and hy peractivity. Since 1995, Ritalin has ranked on the Drug Enforcement Administration’s “most stolen” list. “For people without ADD, Adderall is like speed to them,” Lee said. “Anybody who takes it and gets hyped up doesn’t need it.” Statistics on Ritalin and Adderall use in college are hard to find, and statistics on the abuse of these drugs in college are nearly nonexistent. But rumors of college abuse prompted a 1998 University of Wisconsin-Madison study. In a student survey, 1 in 5 stu dents who responded admitted to past or present misuse of Ritalin. Misuse can vary from using more of the drug than prescribed to stealing it for illegal use. USC’s Student Health Center has filled only 27 prescriptions of Adderall and 15 of Ritalin since Aug. 1, according to pharmacist Tammy Batson. But many stu dents might get their prescriptions filled in commercial pharmacies, which keep no statistics on college use. “Where you go all depends on your insurance plan,” Batson said. “The drug definitely has poten tial for abuse,” pharmacy profes sor Dr. Tom Oppelt said. “But it’s hard to tell how much of a prob lem it is in college. We focus main ly on children.” Sean Dozier, a first-year phar macy student, agreed: “Most of the information I get from class is about children.” Students now might have more reason to reconsider abusing stim ulants. A recent University of Buffalo study found that Ritalin might cause long-term changes in the brain, similar to those caused by amphetamines and cocaine. This contradicts the popular be lief that Ritalin is a short-acting drug. “I don’t know how I feel about anyone using Ritalin,” Oppelt said. “Doctors are also using other drugs to treat ADD now. Anti-de pressants like Wellbutrin and Effexor seem to be less abuseable, although sometimes they don’t work as well.” Lee still uses Adderall to help her focus. During busy weeks, such as exam time, she said she has to write a note to remind her self to take it. “That’s why I know I’m not ad dicted,” she said. “I don’t depend on it or feel like I can’t live without it, but I know it does help me study.” Lee, who says she doesn’t even drink caffienated drinks, tries to avoid taking unnecessary drugs. “I don’t like to put anything un natural in my body, so it’s hard for me to understand abusing drugs.” “I can understand how society looks down on using drugs for ADD,” said Lee, who thinks stu dents who abuse Adderall and Ritalin probably don’t under stand how helpful the drugs are for those who need them. “They’re giving what I need a bad name. But I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it, and other people probably wouldn’t if they understood it.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockudesk@fwtmail.com. USC’s Ritalin, Adderall numbers While the number of students who misuse Ritalin and Adderall at USC is unknown, the university does know how many prescriptions it has filled. ♦ 27 Adderall prescriptions since Aug. 1 ♦ 15 Ritalin prescriptions since Aug. 1 But studies show Ritalin misuse is a problem at the nation’s colleges. In a 1998 University of Wisconsin Madison survey, 1 In 5 college students admitted to past or present misuse of the drug. users PAST November 26,1949 The board of trustees named a new building housing the school of law for James L. Petigru. an 1809 graduate and distinguished Charleston attorney. WEATHER Today Tomorrow Partly cloudy, Partly cloudy, 80/59 82/56 Lady Gamecocks pick off Duke Women’s basketball team surprises many by defeating No. 7 Blue Devils. ♦ PAGE 7 X INSIDE TODAY’S ISSUE < A One Eared tow and some glass Visit the One Eared Cow glass gallery, where Columbia artisans blow glass into bowls, vases and more. ♦ PAGE 5 ONLINE POLL One more time Is human cloning a good idea? Vote at www.dailygamecock.com. Results are published on Fridays. _ y MmmmmmmMFmmmmmm:*