Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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VOL. LXI - No. 51 University of South Carolina, Columbia, S. C. 29208 Friday, February 12, 1971 Pro tes t S tudents U.S. Offer By CHUCK KEEFER Staff Writer More than 1:30 students, some with signs and candles, moved away from the Russell House along the sidewalk and then into the streets in a Student Mobilization Committee sponsored march yesterday. 0 'The candle light march protesting the recent allied in cursion into Laos and continued U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia left the Russell House shortly after 6 p.m. and gained in numbers as it moved toward the State Capitol. More than 200 students were in the prcessio wheniarvdt stdet roesorrotestlui Situedes peientfsC waU .S. patcptonfifte orthsAan cosunts, toome wit snsd. adls oe the dwalk and then opsto come Comemnow," sponsoaid Arch0 yestay.itrcnlit ti iet come cane." gt ac Teprotest th eent allied ino Gervin into.ao and maconiedu Asick leto the rel HosarlA atrad pemi hand bebained ubr aesday movd tor thce police Mree taffic arunts wre inr theross. nwe tarvda rchers - Tony Cheung protest isive The attendants of several stores and resturants took up positions on the sidewalk in front of the entrances and customers shifted their chairs to watch as the protestors moved almost silently down the street. SMC marshalls moved the protestors off the street and onto the sidewalk and parking lot when they reached the Romer Building which houses the Draft Board. A coffin that had been carried at the head of the procession was. placed on the steps of the building. Miss Fellers again addressed the group saying simply that the march was to protest U.S. mn volvement in Southeast Asia. She then asked the group to disperse quietly. Bly 7 p.m. the march was over and the crowd whad gone. SMC members picked up signs that had been dropped and carried away the coff in. In an interview after the march, Miss Fellers said that people are gaining confidence in SMC. She said that this march was twice as large as the last one sponsored by SM(C SMC is now more represen tat ive of how people on campus fee[' she said. SMC will have another meeting Soon b)ut no (date has been set as New gr Amid parlimentary confusion the Faculty sustained the new grade system enacted by the Faculty Senate last month. A motion by Robert B. Pat terson professor of history, to abolish the new grading plan was defeated by a vote of 113 to 93. The faculty allowed the change to stand by not passing any motion brought on the floor. The- special meeting was held Thursday night in hopes of either modifing the new system or abolishing it altogether. Under the new system a grade of C or better is required on all course work. A grade of NC is recorded if a student fails to complete the course satisfactorily. Suspensions are based on a 12 month period. A student must pass half of the hours attempted to remain in school. All suspensions are for the next calendar year. Effective this summer all GPR's will be recomputed with Fs Final exams to be held in December Exams will be held before Christmas next year. In a unanimous vote the Faculty Senate changed the University calendar effective this coming fall. Classes will start around Labor Day and the semester will end with the beginning of Christmas break. Classes for the second semester will begin the first week in January and end in May. Specific dates have not been set. ading dropped. Requirements for graduation will be based on the total number of hours earned and grade point ratio will not be a factor. Oppostition to the grade change was based on the argument that it Six USC cleared ta Six South Carolina students who were tried and convicted of trespass in the takevover of the Russell House last spring will be acquited because of a recent state Supreme Court decision which deems the S.C. trespass law applicable only to private property. But the case is closed forever for the other defendants in the takeover, more than 30, who pleaded guilty or forfeited bond. These facts were revealed Wednesday in a joint statement issued by State 'Law Enforcement Division (SLED) Chief J.P. Strom and Assistant Attorney General .J C Coleman, who prosecuted the case. The officials said they had "no other choice" but to consent to dismissal of charges against the six - Mrs. Barbara Herbert', Paul Foxworth, G.P. Sammon, Paul Gumm. Miss Lynn Zorak and another unidentified defendant because of a Supreme Court decision which says the state trespass law does not apply to Whatsit? to stay would create a backlog of students in survey courses causing an over load on the budgets and staffs in these departments. A student will have to repeat a required course until he attanins a C level of proficiency. students keover public owned buildings such as the Russell House. The decision was issued in December in an appeal by demonstrators convicted of trespass at Columbia Metropolitan Airport on May 3. 1969, during a visit by President Nixon. The defendants in that case were also predominately CarQlina students. Coleman said only the six who took their case to trial are eligible for acquital, because of a longtime ruling that a case is closed forever once a guilty plea is entered and a fine paid. Strom and Coleman said they plan to discuss with Attorney General, Daniel R. McLeod the possibility of legislation assuring that a consenting action such as theirs will not be necessary again. The move, their statement said, is -'due to legal necessity and is not motivated in any degree what soever by any feeling that the activi of te idV tIlUfreizen!. officers in removing the sitters from the Russell House, in the circumstances prevailing, was not necessary and lawful."