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Professor CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 journalism school,” Konkle said. Advertising professor Van Kornegay said Witkoski’s Introduction to Public Relations course is being taken care of. “We’ve got a group of people who immediately stepped up and said we’ll be happy to carry the ball for him to the finish line,” he said. “So there are about four dif ferent faculty who will take turns to finish it out.” Media law profes sor Erik Collins will take over for Witkoski’s graduate class. “He was one of those personal professors who got to know his students really well.” BRUCE KONKLE PR PROFESSOR A Beaufort native, Witkoski earned his bachelor’s and master’s in English and his doctorate in lin guistics at USC. He worked on the staff of the S.C. House of Representatives and served as di rector of research for the Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs Committee. : Witkoski is survived by his wife, Maggie, and four children. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in Columbia. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocknews@gwm.sc.edu BY JONATHAN D. SALANT THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON - “Bubba the Love Sponge” is gone, and radio shock Howard Stern is on hiatus from somd stations. TV networks are time-delaying certain shows to make sure inappropriate material doesn’t make it onto the airwaves. Broadcast executives cited these and other examples Thursday as evidence they are taking heed of the government’s call to clean up the airwaves/ “We at Fox have heard your concerns loud and clear,”, said Gail Berman, the network’s president of entertainment. “We sincerely regret that a few incidents of inap propriate programming have over shadowed the good shows we proudly air on Fox each week. ” It was the second time in two weeks that the House Energy and Commerce telecommunications subcommittee queried broad casters about indecency. The first hearing came on the heels of the notorious Super Bowl halftime show that ended with singer Justin Timberlake exposing Janet Jackson’s right breast to 90 million viewers “Networks are being proactive in the efforts to clean up the air waves,” said subcommittee chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., who has sponsored legislation to increase the maximum fine for indecency from $27,500 to $275,000. Several broadcasters endorsed the higher fines. John Hogan, president Clear Channel Radio, said the move would “serve as a ‘shot across the bow’ of the in dustry, putting us all on notice that Congress and the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) are serious about cleaning up the airwaves.” Federal law bars radio sta tions and over-the-air television channels from airing material that refers to sexual and excreto ry functions between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when children may be tuning in. The rules do not apply to cable and satellite channels and satellite radio. FCC Chairman Michael Powell and other members of the FCC have criticized radio and TV network executives for not doing more to police the airwaves. They have warned executives they will face greater scrutiny and more fines if they fail to act. The most dramatic response came from the nation’s largest ra dio chain, 1,200-station Clear Channel Communications. This week it fired the disc jockey known as “Bubba the Love Sponge,” took the Stem show off the six stations it owns and out lined new standards that include immediately suspending any on air talent accused of airing inde cent material by the FCC. Hogan said he was “ashamed” of the “Bubba” show. The pro gram, which aired in Florida, re cently brought a proposed $755,000 FCC fine for sexually ex plicit content and other alleged indecency violations. Meantime, officials of ABC, NBC and Fox told lawmakers they are beginning campaigns touting the V-chip in television sets that allows parents to block certain programs. The network executives also said they would also call more attention to TV pro gram ratings, such as using larger lettering or rerunning the ratings after every commercial break. ABC President Alex Wallau said his network would air the Academy Awards on a time de lay for the first time in the event’s 76-year history. The three network executives also told lawmakers their affili ates are free to reject any pro grams they feel are inappropri ate. For example, Wurtzel said the NBC affiliate in Salt Lake City does not air “Saturday Night Live.” Wallau said “NYPD Blue” does not air on two ABC stations in Mississippi. Authorities reveal Columbine contacts BY ROBERT WELLER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LAKEWOOD, COLO. Authorities had at least 15 con tacts with the Columbine High School killers dating back two years before their murderous at tack, the state attorney general said Thursday, angering families of the victims. Ken Salazar also said he is in Salazar said his investigators looked at how sheriff’s officials re acted to 1997 complaints about Harris, from a thrown snowball that cracked a car window to a prank telephone call. There were more ominous signs, too. Authorities have said an anonymous tip that year led a deputy to a Web site run by Harris that said the two teens had built pipe bombs and concluded, “Now our only problem is to find the place that will be ‘ground zero.’” Authorities on Thursday also publicly unveiled a chilling dis play of evidence and released two videos, one of the anxious scene in a park across the street from the school that day, and another, 90 minute compilation of videos made by Harris and Klebold. PHOTO BY ALISON SHUMAN/THE GAMECOCK Morgan Cooke, Bates House resident adviser, consults his curriculum while teaching on Wednesday. PR team brings credit seminar for students BY HILARY SCHRAMM THE GAMECOCK Ninety students attended two sessions of a credit education program this week at Patterson and Bates residence halls. The program, “Your Credit. Your Future,” produced by USC’s Palmetto Solutions team contending in a public relations competition, taught students about credit through video, a quiz and personal testimonies by the students’ RAs. It was held Tuesday night at Patterson and Wednesday night at Bates House. Palmetto Solutions decided to seek the help of RAs and University Housing in teaching about credit after focus groups and over 250 surveys showed that RAs are very influential in the lives of their residents. Three RAs at Patterson and five at Bates par ticipated in the event, and all RAs in Bates were encouraged to bring at least four students to the Wednesday program. “We really thought it was im portant to include the RAs in our education programs, because re search showed how influential they are,” third-year public rela tions student Jacque Riley said. “Their presence brought the stu dents in and allowed them to open up to a more personal level.” During the program, RAs asked questions and rewarded students who answered with 11 gift certificates from local restau rants. Restaurant sponsors in cluded Texas Roadhouse, Hennessey’s Restaurant and Lounge, Chico’s, Sesame Inn and India Pavilion. They also showed a video about a clueless freshman forced to make credit decisions. Students enjoyed the events, which also included music, free food and free gifts such as pens and peanuts. Preliminary eval uation survey data shows that most students thought the event was successful and informative, and most RAs would recom mend that others teach “Your credit. Your future.” “I came to learn about credit, because I didn’t have a credit card yet, and they talk about in terest rates and applying for one,” first-year criminal justice student Shanetra Davis said. Other students left the meet ings with a more serious and ac curate idea of what credit is about. “I like to spend money, and I was thinking about getting a credit card,” first-year biology student Kalendra Thompson said. “This was a way to make me think twice.” Credit is growing more im portant every year, as students across the country grow in creasingly dependent upon loans and financing to pay for college. According to the State Public Interest Research Group’s Higher Education Project, 64 percent of college stu dents graduated with student loan debt in 1999-2000. Loan provider Nellie Mae currently charts the average student debt at $18,900. To help educate young adults about credit and prevent debt problems, the “Your Credit. Your Future.” program will also be presented to University 101 classes and area high schools. More information on credit and on Palmetto Solutions can be found at www.yourcredity ourfuture.net. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocknews@gwm.sc.edu 4 i < r & » >'> '■" I M u m ■ ■ ' Ktm.m Registered Nurses You matter at University Health Systems. As a teaching hospital, our wide variety of patients and the complexity of their care provide the opportunity to expand your . knowledge and the autonomy to help remind you why you are a nurse. Our team environment truly presents you with opportunities to enhance your future.^as well as ||j ours...while the strong relationships you foster will allow you to experience many | disciplines and not just nursing. University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina includes Pitt County Memorial Hospital, Roanoke-Chowan Hospital, Chowan Hospital, Bertie Memorial Hospital, Heritage Hospital, physician practices, home health and other operated health services. We are also affiliated with the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. | As one of the most dynamic healthcare networks in the Southeast, we offer exceptional | growth and learning potentialgenerous compensation and benefits; a vibrant, enthusiastic attitude about the care we deliver and the future we're budding; and a singular fusion of technologically advanced, medically sophisticated care. ..ha compossioodmcn, community-focused healthcare environment WE DEFINE FAMILY-FRIENDLY! Pkt County Memoriol Hospital wos named one of the nation’s 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers for 2003 by Working Mother Magazine! We recognize that commitments to compassionate core at work often come from your everyday achievements at home. We continue to look at ways we can promote and encourage a healthier work force and better work environment, because the exceptional core of 1.2 m&on of our jamiy ana jricnas in eastern iiorui Carolina Degins ay twang exceptional care oj you. jP' For the second consecutive year, Solucient has included Pitt County Memorial Hospitoi W in its list of top 100 hospitals in the country for cardiovascular services. PCMH has also Ip been ranked among the top SO hospitals in the country for urology, heart and heart surgery H services by US. News & World Report If you are unable to attend our Open House, please contact: University Health Systems of Eastern Canoltna,Attn: Employment Office, PO Box 6028, Greenville, NC 27835; Phone: (800) 342-5155; FAX: (252) 847-8225; or e-mail: khortr@pcmh.com. The possibilities are as diverse and fascinating as our own people: an Equal Opportunity Employer. vestigating whether authorities tried to cover up what they knew about the rampage. He did not blame the Jefferson County sheriff’s office for missing warning signs about Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold and said he found no evidence of negligence. The attorney general said his investigation is not complete and has grown from a request to look into contacts between the killers and investigators two years before the attack. Asked if he thought there was a cover-up, he said, “I do not know today.” Speaking in a room with somber families of the dead star ing at him from the back wall, Salazar promised to issue a sup plemental report. Harris, 18, and Klebold, 17, killed 12 students and a teacher be fore taking their own lives at the school near Littleton on April 20, 1999. It remains the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.