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bulk • commie mom 8 stores in lifestyle strip centers — the same type of center as Carolina Pavilion at Interstate 485 and South Boulevard — rather than traditional malls, many of them in smaller markets. “That strategy is by far the best one I’ve heard in a long time,” he said. Johnny Belk said acquiring a company is another way to fight the competition facing the department store industry, because Belk can also acquire its expertise and get new ideas. “We learned a lot from Proffitt’s/McRae’s ... which helps us be a stronger retailer against (not only) other department stores,” Belk said, “but also against the Wal-Marts of the world, the Kohl’s of the world.” Though Belk is privately held, it has enough shareholders to be required to file quarterly and annual sales reports and other documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. At the time of its last 10-K filing, the company had just under 51.7 million shares of common stock outstanding, including 50.2 million shares of Class * A stock and 1.5 million shares of Class B stock. There were 562 holders of Class A stock and 294 holders of Class B stock. Last week, Belk announced a stock buyback of up to 2.6 million shares at $19 per share. Because the stock is not traded on an exchange, the company employed a firm, Willamette Management Associates, to calculate the stock’s value. Company spokesman Steve Pernotto said the reason for the buyback was to provide liquidity for shareholders. spmn • conunuED PRom i The indictment says the cell spent about $120,000 to stage the attacks — everything from buying explosives to renting safe-houses — and caused damage and civil liability of more than $26 million. It said the central figure in the financing, planning and execution of the attacks was a Moroccan named Jamal Ahmidan. . Vaughn Braxton / THE GAMECOCK Syrian democratic reformer Ammar Abdulhamid speaks Tuesday night in Gambrell. svrio • conTinueDPRorni “All countries embraced some kind of change,” Abdulhamid said. “So many parts of the world understood that this is a new world order, except the Arab world.” Despite the end of the Cold War, the Arab world could not deliver more than lip service to the idea of reforming the government, Abdulhamid said. Abdulhamid said the causes and effects of this lack of change stem from things the Arab world lacks, such as freedom in government and the great knowledge gap. “Even when students graduate from universities, they are not able to fill the intellectual positions that need to be filled,” Abdulhamid said. “They are not capable of generating new ideas.” Abdulhamid said this' is because of the way that the educational system is organized, specifically in Syria, but it applies to most of the Arab world. Abdulhamid said this effect is not because of a lack of government investment in education but an inability to carry dialogue within the classroom. Abdulhamid spoke of his experience with his son in Syria, where he said that “the school looked like the interrogation centers and even the teachers used the same kind of dialogue as the interrogators.” “This does not produce the kind of people who can speak their mind about issues,” Abdulhamid said. Abdulhamid said the system of education does not allow for intellectual dialogue to be produced that the area has no leaders to look to. The government, while in name is a republic, is more like a monarchy with leadership being passed down from father to son, Abdulhamid said. Because of the educational system “you end up having a bunch of ruffians as your leaders,” Abdulhamid said. The Syrian government in particular has been called a “mafia regime” by many of those who oppose it. It was this attitude that led to Abdulhamid’s exile from .1 _ _ o__1_ Lilt V^WUXl LI V 111 J\.JXI.V11XUV,1 2005. “People said that maybe our government will be like Michael Corleone (from ‘The Godfather’),” Abdulhamid said. “He’ll reform and try to change things. But I said ‘I think he’s a Fredo Corleone. For those who aren’t familiar with the movies, he’s the dumb brother.” The governments are not trying to reform, Abdulhamid said, they are trying to preserve the status quo. “Whoever tells you that the Arab world is interested in reform, take it with a grain of salt ... or maybe a mountain of salt,” Abdulhamid said. However, Abdulhamid could not offer a suggestion for a solution to the problems, except to say, “we’ll have to take it out of the hands of the governments.” Abdulhamid suggested a global coalition of civil society to deal with the problems of the Arab world. “The problems are being exported,” he said. “The problem is (the world’s) problem.” After his speech, Abdulhamid answered questions from the audience of about 40 students ranging from the U.S. in Iraq to the issue of different religious factions warring with each other. Anthony Busch, a second year international business student and treasurer of SDD, said Abdulhamid was asked to speak because he would bring to light many things students don’t think about. “He represents a lot of things people don’t pay attention to, something a lot of people don’t think about,” Busch said. “He steps down on the ground and does something about it. He has a practical approach.” Jason Fairbanks, a third year international studies •student, said it was one of the best SDD events he has attended. “It was the best job I’ve seen of diagnosing Syria’s problems as well as giving a diagnosis of the greater problems of the Arab world,” Fairbanks said. “I was impressed.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocknews@gwm.sc. edu r oslovakia? ■ ^ an3*jj:j»MSUv USC’s Totally NEW Off-Campus Housing Site 0 Searchable Off-Campus Housing Listings 0 Pictures & Maps • 0 Email/Web Site Links 0 Roommate Listings 0 Furniture to buy/sell i 0 Summer Sublets to list for rent . www.sa.sc.edu/offcampus ~s* * L i