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Students react to Pledge case BY JAMIE DOWNS THE GAMECOCK USC students are sounding off on the Pledge of Allegiance, which is the center of a controversy sur rounding the latest battle over sep aration of church and state. “America is a nation with peo ple from all across the world, and it’s not fair for us to make them say something they don’t believe in,” said Jeannette Fulton, a first year undeclared student. California atheist Michael Newdow agrees. Last week, Newdow stood before the United States Supreme Court and argued that the phrase “under God” should be removed from the Pledge. Already in a custody battle with the mother of his daughter, ft Newdow claims that by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance his daugh ter is being forced to take an oath on something she doesn’t believe in. The phrase has been a part of American culture since 1954, but people like Newdow say the phrase “under God” has become out-of-place. Devon Johnson, a second-year computer information systems student, said the pledge is a mat ter of free will. “The Pledge of Allegiance is not something that everyone in America is required to do,” Johnson said. “In most cases, you do not have to recite it if you choose not to.” Andy Siegel, an assistant law professor at USC, said there are a lot of strong points to Newdow’s case. “A pledge is something where you assert your belief publicly,” he said. But in the Pledge of Allegiance, “you are asked to con firm a series of beliefs, including a belief in God, and to some this comes close to prayer.” Even though Siegel said Newdow makes a good argument, he said Newdow’s chances of tvin ning are very slim. He said the Supreme Court will probably rule against him because he is bringing the case to them on “narrow grounds” and the reli gious implications of the Pledge of Allegiance are so minimal they should not be tampered with. He added that the Supreme Court has always said the reference to God on coins and in the Pledge of Allegiance isn’t a major issue, be cause it reflects the nation’s his tory. The phrase “under God” was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954 by Congress, allowing the Pledge to stand both as an oath to our nation and as a public prayer. Monica Phillips, a first-year psy chology student, disagreed with Newdow. “There is no point in taking it out,” she said. She added that'the Pledge represents what America was founded on: equality, liberty, justice and a strong belief in God. She also said that “God” in the Pledge doesn’t have to represent the Christian God. “‘God’ in this sense means who ever your god may be,” she said. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocknews@gwm.sc.edu ■_mu _ I'ww* t___i_i PHOTO BY MORGAN FORD/THE GAMECOCK Students in classrooms across the country pledge allegiance to the American flag. The phrase “under God” is under scrutiny. m Statue of Liberty’s pedestal to reopen for summer visitors BY TIMOTHY WILLIAMS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK - Access to the Statue of Liberty, which has been closed since the September 11 ter rorist attacks, will be relaxed be ginning this summer, although tourists will still not be allowed in side the statue itself. Pledges of $7 million in dona tions, including a $100,000 gift from Mayor Michael Bloomberg, will finance upgrades that were necessary before the monument could be reopened. Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton said Tuesday that the ob servation deck on the statue’s pedestal will be reopened some time in late July. Currently, tourists can visit Liberty Island but are not allowed inside the 151-foot statue or its pedestal. “This impressive monument has always been a beacon for our shores,” said Norton. “Unfortunately, she has also been a symbol to the darker forces of terrorism before and after September 11.” Bloomberg, who joined Norton at a news conference on the island, said he was “proud to have played such a small role” in getting the statue more available to the pub lic. Norton said an examination of the 118-year-old national monu ment in New York Harbor re vealed potential fire problems and a lack of exits. Security screening * procedures, much like those at air ports, will be implemented along with a reservation system to re duce long lines. After the upgrades are com pleted, the public will be allowed to enjoy the panoramic view from the observation deck at the top of the pedestal, about 16 stories above ground. They will no longer be allowed into the crown, reached via narrow and winding stairs, be cause it cannot accommodate large numbers of tourists and does not meet local fire, building or safety codes. The island was closed for 100 days after Sept. 11,2001. Airport type metal detectors were in stalled to screen visitors boarding the ferry from lower Manhattan, and the island was reopened in December 2001. The statue itself las remained closed. Since the terrorist attacks, offi cials have said the number of vis itors to Liberty Island has dropped t>y 40 percent. Still, more than 4 ' million people have visited since then. The upgrade project is being cverseen by the Statue of Liberty Ellis Island Foundation. The stat ue had undergone a major restora tion for its 100th birthday in 1986. Death toll climbs to 42 in Uzbekistan amid gunfire, explosions BY BURT HERMAN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN - Gunfire and explosions resound ed in the capital Tuesday as Uzbek forces battled for hours with sus pected Islamic militants after two more suicide attacks. Officials claimed 20 terrorists and three po lice died in the fighting. The bloodshed brought the death toll to 42 in three days of vi olence, the government said — the most serious unrest in the country since Uzbekistan let hundreds of U.S. troops use a base near the Afghan border after the Sept. 11 at tacks. All of this week’s attacks ap peared to target Uzbek authorities. The clashes Tuesday were cen tered in the Yalangach neighbor hood, just outside the city limits off the road heading to the official home of President Islam Karimov. The Interior Ministry said in an statement read on state-run TV that 20 terrorists and three police were killed in the confrontations that began about 7:20 a.m., while five other police were wounded. The statement didn’t say how long the operation lasted, but wit nesses indicated explosions and shooting went on for at least sev eral hours. The clashes began with a pair of suicide bombings. Police stopped a small car, and two alleged terrorists jumped out and detonated explosive-laden belts, killing themselves and three police and wounding five more of ficers. Down the road, a woman deto nated explosives after refusing to heed police orders to stop ap proaching a bus The suicide bomber was decap itated in the blast, said Hairniso Supiyeva, 64, whose front gate was pitted with shrapnel from the ex plosion. Three black-clad women who had been in a car with the bomber fled to a nearby apartment building, where police then began a nearly five-hour standoff with them and other suspects. An Interior Ministry officer said 16 suspected terrorists —11 men and five women —were killed in the apartment building. Some were shot by police but others killed themselves with grenades, said the officer, who re fused to give his name. His com ments contradicted the Interior Ministry statement, and the bod ies on the sidewalk also appeared intact and not tom apart by an ex plosion. Five men escaped, said a build ing resident who refused to give her name. She said the women in the car wore veils revealing only their eyes, rare attire in secular Uzbekistan. She said they were speaking another Central Asian language she could not under stand. The people had moved into an apartment in the four-story build ing in January, the resident said, adding that a young man who spoke Uzbek with an accent signed the rent agreement. She didn’t know how many people lived there, saying they spent their days slsewhere and returned in the svenings. It was unclear whether the four were among the 16 the Interior Ministry officer reported killed in the siege. Nineteen people were killed and 26 wounded Sunday and Monday. Saddam keeping quiet during U.S. questioning BY KATHERINE PFLEGER SHRADER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — He doesn’t have a lawyer in the room, but Saddam Hussein apparently is practicing what most attorneys would advise: Don’t talk. Diplomatic and military officials say the former Iraqi leader has provided little useful information in interrogations so far — and may even be having fun. ( The questioning of Saddam — initially handled by the CIA — is now a joint CIA-FBI operation, a sign that the aim is changing from finding intelligence to gath ering evidence for any eventual trials. The people who are asking the questions at the moment are from the FBI, said a U.S. intelligence of ficial, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has indicated in inter views that interrogators aren’t learning much from the former president of Iraq. In a recent interview, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said he occasionally sees the interrogation briefing re ports. “He’s a pretty wily guy, and he’s not giving much information that I’ve seen. But he seems to be enjoying the debate,” Armitage told WPHT-AM radio in Philadelphia. When Saddam was captured, haggard in an underground room in December, officials hoped the interrogation would yield details about the Iraqi insurgency, Saddam’s weapons programs, hu man rights violations and corrup tion in the U.N. oil-for-food pro gram. In an interview with The Associated Press last week, FBI Director Robert Mueller said the FBI is assisting with “certain in terrogations” in Iraq, as well as helping with investigations into killings there. Details of the interrogations could come out in any eventual tri al of Saddam. 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