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Death toll expected to rise in earthquake aftermath By FADLAN SYAM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS GUNUNG SITOLI, Indonesia — Residents searched through smoldering rubble for survivors on Indonesia’s Nias island Tuesday, and relatives wept over the bodies of the dead after an 8.7-magnitude earthquake hammered the region, triggering a tsunami scare. Death toll estimates ranged from 330 to 2,000. U.N. and other relief agencies rushed to ferry aid supplies to the island, which bore the brunt of the quake’s force almost three months to the day after an even bigger temblor nearby sent killer waves crashing into coastlines around the Indian Ocean’s rim. Fears of a second tsunami faded Tuesday when seas failed to rise up in the hours after the overnight quake but not before triggering panic in nations still traumatized by the earlier disaster. An overflight Tuesday of Gunung Sitoli, the island’s biggest l _—z—I city, indicated about 30 percent of its buildings were destroyed, and there was significant damage in the island’s second biggest town, Teluk Dalam. At least two fires were still smoldering in Gunung Sitoli. From the air It was possible to see about 1,000 people who had gathered in a large field in the town. In Jakarta, the SCTV network showed images from the island including survivors weeping over the sarong-covered bodies of a child and a middle-aged woman. In another image, two men on a motorbike carried what appeared to be a body wrapped in sarongs. In other scenes, survivors used their bare hands to toss away chunks of rubble from a collapsed building. Vice President Jusuf Kalla told the el-Shinta radio station in Jakarta that the death toll could rise to between 1,000 and 2,000, based on the amount of destruction to buildings. Other officials said the dead numbered in the hundreds, not thousands. Budi Atmaji Adiputro, a spokesman for Indonesia’s Coordinating Agency for National Disaster Relief, said rescuers found 330 bodies in the rubble Tuesday. The toil was expected to rise as more bodies were believed to be trapped in collapsed buildings, he said. The quake damaged Gunung Sitoli’s airstrip and prevented all but small planes from landing. The Indonesian military flew The Associated Press and other news organizations over the island to inspect the damage. Fishing villages along the coastline and inland appeared to be largely unaffected. In Gunung Sitoli, people could be seen digging through the rubble as smoke from burning buildings hung in the air. A steeple had been knocked off a church on the mainly Christian island. A soccer field was turned into a temporary relief center. People swarmed around U.N. helicopters as they landed to deliver relief supplies. ■ SCHOLARS Continued from page 1 assisting college students pursuing careers in these fields. This assistance comes in the form of a $7,500 per year scholarship spread over a maximum of two years to cover tuition, fees, books, and room and board. All three Goldwater Scholars were assisted by the Office of Fellowships and Scholar Programs, located in Harper College 101 on the Horseshoe. “My research mentor encouraged me to go to them to get information about the scholarship. The Office of Fellowships and Scholar Programs was very helpful. They’re really devoted to helping students,” Czako said. The staff works to make students aware of nationally competitive scholarships, help educated students about scholarship and application processes through one-on-one meetings and year-round workshops, and assists students through the application process. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocknetvs@gwm.se. edu ■ . i«-l - ■ ■■■» ■ RHA Continued from page 1 the organization will make things a lot easier on us to maintain what he has accomplished and take it to the next level.” With inauguration still almost a month away, Hark will enter into a lame-duck period, while Wilkins appoints and elects his counsel. An RHA president-elect appoints five members to his counsel, which will oversee the five senate committees, but must appoint from the pool of RHA applicants quickly because of a looming agenda the senate must prepare for in the fall. “Anyone who wants to apply for a counsel spot can,” Wilkins said. “But I must find someone who is committed to RHA for the rest of the year.” Hark said he has the utmost confidence in Wilkins and fully expects him to surpass the achievements of his administration. “I expect good things from RHA,” Wilkins said. “There are big issues to fill, but I think I can.” Other Winners: Vice-President — Jonathan Ross, first year political-science student from Maxcy Treasurer — Deirdre McCabe (re-elected), second-year history and theater student from Horseshoe Secretary — Karin Gardner, first-year electronic-journalism studentfrom South Tower Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockneivs@gwm.sc.edu ■ DONORS Continued from page 1 donors that wish to donate in hopes of curing certain diseases like Lupus or Alzheimer’s,” Buchanan said. Other universities offer similar programs that harder to get accepted to and are disease-specific and geared more for research, Buchanan said. She must assure donors that the cadavers are used for anatomy and dissection only. Donofs are given the option of returning their cremated remains to family members or donating them to the School of Medicine’s Memorial Garden. “We started the option of returning remains to the families in 1994,” Buchanan said. The amount of donations offered since has not increased, Buchanan said. At times, the donation count has actually decreased dramatically. In early 2002, a crematorium in Georgia was exposed for not returning cremated remains to families, but rather- wood and concrete dust. In all, more than 330 bodies were discovered on the crematorium grounds that were meant for cremation. “We had a lot of donors drop out after what happened in Georgia, and most people don’t realize that our program is geared toward education,” Buchanan said. After the scare died down, Buchanan has found that more and more families opt to receive their family member’s remains. Today, about 50 percent of them do so. The garden, located at the rear of the School of Medicine campus, is kept away from the noisy traffic of nearby Garners Ferry Road and is a peaceful and quiet place, Buchanan said. A ceremony is held once a year in honor of donors who have given their remains to the garden. The next ceremony is set to take place April 18 and is open to the public. The Gift of Body Program now has about 2,100 future donors, a small handful of whom are former USC faulty members. None of the current faculty members in the School of Medicine are on the future donor list. Comments on this story? 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