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wunv.dailygamecock.com WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20,2004 “£$5 IN THIS ISSUE ♦ NEWS Foiled, again Get to know one of USC’s more interesting clubs. The fencing club meegs twice a week during the fall semester. Page 4 ♦ THE MIX Word up The pen proves mighty at USC's Fall Fesetival of the Authors. Writers Susan Vreeland, Mark Strand and Stanley Crouch will discuss th eir craft. Page 10 ♦ THE MIX Symphonic wonders Teenage violin virtuoso Bella Hristova to perform with the USC symphony Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Koger Center. Page 10 ♦ SPORTS Cory Boyd proves worth Stephen Fastenau takes a look at this second-year, underrated runningback. Page 13 WEATHER - I ♦TUESDAY High 82 High 75 Low 61 Low 56 FOR EXTENDED FORECAST, SEE PAGE 2. INDEX Comics and Crossword.1.2 Classifieds.15 Horoscopes.12 Letters to the Editor.9 Online Poll.9 Police Report.2 « f USC solitician policies conflict with campaigns ■ Officials warn students, faculty that university e-mail lists, telephones off-limits for political canvassing By KEVIN FELLNER SENIOR WRITER With the election less than two weeks away, students are partaking in campaigning and partisan messages, but USC officials warn that USC’s solicitation policy and rules regarding the use of state owned resources apply to campus campaign efforts. Student Affairs Vice President Dennis Pruitt said students should be aware of the policies anyway but should pay particularly close attention when thinking about spreading a political message. “We’re not trying to trunk anyone’s free speech, but there are restrictions that any public institution must follow,” Pruitt said. Public funds from the state are used to pay USC employees’ salaries, and therefore employees are prohibited from doing voluntary campaign work or consulting during the business hours for which USC is paying them. Their involvement after hours and off campus, however, is at their discretion. Students and employees also are not allowed to use USC computers, telephones, e-mail lists and other technology resources to prepare and distribute campaign information because such infrastructure is paid for by state funds. Smdent Life Director Jerry Brewer said USC’s solicitation policy is clear in protecting against political activity the same way it would commercialism. For instance, just as sales representatives are prohibited from making transactions in ♦ Please see POLITICS, page 3 SENATE RACE Senate hopefuls reiterate platforms By TAYLOR SMITH STAFF WRITER U.S. Senate candidates Inez Tenenbaum and Jim DeMint showed nothing new in their debate Monday night as Tenenbaum continued her assault on DeMint’s Republican alliances and DeMint reiterated Tenenbaum’s ties to the Democratic Party. DeMint tried to portray Tenenbaum as a liberal Democrat, while Tenenbaum tried to establish herself as an independent who would “represent the people of South Carolina.” The debate, which started at 7 p.m. and was broadcast on WIS, featured questions submitted voters via e-mail or video feed. WIS broadcaster David Stanton was the moderator. “Jim, you have been voting for your party 99 percent of the time, no matter the issue ... and that is what I don’t want to be, a rubber stamp,” she said. For almost 10 minutes of the debate, questions focused on the war in Iraq, DeMint said he supported more active forces, increased pay, better equipment ♦ Please see DEBATE, page 4 Supporters blockade WIS ■ Students turn out to chee\ on Tenenbaum, DeMint BY TAYLOR SMITH Staff writer About 250 people piled onto the Bull Street side of the WIS building in downtown Columbia to show support for their candidates. The mass of people also inhibited anyone from entering the building before the televised senatorial debate. “When I pulled up I was surprised,” said Randy Dargan, co-chairman of the Young Republicans. “(The Young Democrats) came out big in Charleston, and they had a lot of paid staff out there.” Dargan said the Young Republicans had planned on rallying for the event but had not planned on an ** organized contention from Democrats. “Ours was planned, but we didn’t let (the College Republicans) know until two nights before hand,” Dargan said. “And obviously (the Democrats) had something planned, too.” The group started gathering at about 4:45 p.m. with banners and signs supporting DeMint, but the Democratic supporters had arrived at about 3 p.m., Young Democrat member Anna Fox said. “The Democrats had received word that the Republicans were coming out in numbers,” Fox said. “When I got there, all four corners of the street were blocked.” Fox said the congestion arose because of cheering and counter-cheering that was leading to small ♦ Please see RALLY, page 4 Republican Jim DeMint and Democrat Inez Tenenbaum prepare before their televisede debate on Monday. NICK ESARES/THE GAMECOCK Organizations must add clause to stay official By JULIA SELLERS THE GAMECOCK Campus student organizations must adopt a sexual orientation clause to their constitutions before Oct. 27 or they will no longer be classified as official campus organizations. The clause indicates compliance with a change made more than a year ago in USC’s affirmative action statement, said Jerry Brewer, student life director. “If there were a problem, this is a definitive answer, and it will prevent future problems,” Brewer said. The changes in USC policy in Article II, Sections I and II were made during the summer. The changes state: “Membership ... shall not be limited to persons based on their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or veteran status. It is policy of the university that an individual’s sexual orientation be treated in the same manner.” Because the revisions address that sexual orientation be “treated in the same manner” as race and color, the changes could pose problems to some organisations’ beliefs. But Brewer said the office did not know of any problems any organization is having with complying with the changes. “We did discuss (the revisions), but ♦ Please see CLAUSE, page 3 f Panel discusses struggle for black identity in U.S. By THOMAS CHANDLER THE GAMECOCK The black American’s sometimes confusing struggle for cultural identity formed the focus of Tuesday evening’s panel hosted by the Association of African-American Students in the Russell House Theater. Students Shaundra Cunningham, president of USC’s NAACP, and fourth-year African-American studies Jamel Middleton teamed with faculty members to answer the association’s and students’ questions about whether American culture has influenced the African culture of blacks or if it’s been the other way around. Christina Smith, chairwoman of the Cultural Awareness Committee, said the forum stemmed from class discussion with political |cience and African-American studies professor and panelist Todd Shaw. Smith presented the first question to the panel regarding the advantages or disadvantages of using the labels “African-Americans” or “blacks.” The panelists’ opinions for each question varied considerably. “Our goal is not to come up with cookie cutter answers but to bring forth questions and allow people to formulate their own opinions,” Smith said. The speakers quickly illuminated deeper interpretations for the labels such as the negative symbolism of “black,” the fact that “black” inadvertently displaces lighter-skinned people of African heritage and the explicit cultural ties of including the word “African.” Chris Leary, a professor of African-American studies and a Baptist minister, tossed ou^both in favor of “negro” for its African origin. Panelists then considered the duality described by W.E.B. DuBois and how African-Americans should retain the culture from a remote homeland while “conforming to a society not for us.” Middleton showed distress over this issue. “Sometimes I feel like we’re ghosts stuck in between,” he said. Leary and Shaw took more progressive views, suggesting that each culture can add to the other, and the shifting of naturally dynamic cultural definitions of “American” or “blackness” should not be cause for concern. Personal investment played the most significant part of finding cultural ♦ Please see PANEL, page 3 k