Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Volume LXVI No. 1 University of South Carolina Columbia, S.C. September 4 1975 City Counci Green Stree By TOM.'OONEY Gamecock Staff Writer A plan to widen Green Street was approve Columbia City Council Aug. 20 and it rej alternate plan to close Green. The Council approved USC's plans for G Sumter Streets upon the recommendation of Traffic Committee. The council approved the widening of Gre( by 10 feet on both sides, the construction of wide median, down Green Street, the elimit Carolina sti By MICKEY TRIMARCHI Gamecock Staff Writer One student was found guilty and three others acquitted on assault charges for the May 11 "pieing" of USC English Professors James B. Meriwether and Cleaneth Brooks. The trail, held in July, involved Jim Barroll, Mike Buckley, Winston Duncan and William King, all members of the now defunct Pie-In-Your-Eye, Inc. King was found guilty in the Richland County Munmciple Court of simple assault charges. He was given a suspended sentence and fined $105. The other three were acquitted. Meriwether was hit at a lecture at the USC Business Administration Auditorium as he was introducing Brooks, a visiting professor from Yale University. Brooks also was hit by stray pieces of crust. A witness recorded the license-plate number of the "getaway" car and turned it over to the Campus Police. The students were each charged with two counts of assault, one count by each professor. At the trial, Brooks did not show, thereby nullifying his assault Gamecock Staff Plw I approves t widening parking on Green, and the diverting the west (Coliseum ) side of Longsti d by the Two weeks earner, Harold Bru acted an president of operations, and SGA Pre. presented the University's proposals *een and At that time, council delayed action < the City because it disagreed with some aspec In particular, council members obj m Street wish to obtain and close the east a 20-foot ' iation of Please See GREEN S ident fined f4 charge. "IN THE EYES of the law they had him (King)," Buckely said. "Even though it was a case of simple assault, we weren't out to hurt the guy (Meriwether)." According to Buckley, they got the pieing idea from an article in Time Magazine. "It was kind of like a fad," he said. An ad for Pie-In-Your-Eye first ap peared -in the March 27 issue of The Gamecock. However, the company was not started as a get rich scheme. "You think about the money, but in the back of your mind you know it's not going to happen," Buckley said. In a similar incident, Russell House Director Robert Todd was "hit" with a pie on April 2. "I was upset when it happened, but personally, I felt that there was no need to prosecute." Meriwethier did prosecute. "It was an unfortunate incident and a discredit to too many people. I'm sure Brooks was em barrassed, but he went right on with the lecture, being the old pro he is. "After the boy (King) was found guilty, I myself made a strong point in favor of a light sentence," Meriwether aid. "I think As summer fades al once again to battle t] what these two coeds i that the real battle w. get the books home. Boari law si By BILL PRATT Gamecock Staff Wr Fourteen freshmei regular law school admission program, the USC Board of Tuesday. Official response available, but the t. bY e. a discuss the situatior ALSO, THE board accredidation by ti Schools and the Am The 14 students v summer grades in ti Trail program (SPA. SPAT program, sum: can be admitted to t of all traffic to the student passes tt eet Theatre. session, if not the stuo iton, ession,e oident Steve Hill Students were reqt to city council. (GPR) to enroll in 1 in the proposals raised by the 14 no ts of the plans. school's Academic ected to USC's stdnswom eI side of Sumter tudents who made I r., Page Three F )r pieing pr the young men involved were poorly ad vised as for taking the case to the Municiple Court. "I didn't think charges should have been pressed," Duncan said. "But since it went that far, they had to go through with the trial. It seems like Meriwether took it too personally. He got in over his head." BUCKLEY ALSO felt the same way. "I didn't expect this all to happen as it did. IT was more trouble than it was worth to everybody." At a later hearing held by the Univer sity, the four men were placed on disciplinary probation for the remainder of their academic careers at USC. During that time, if one of them causes disgrace to the Universtiy in any way, he will be suspended indefinitely and a permanent record will be filed. "The University was not interested in the simple assault thing," King said. "They were more concerned with the fact that we disturbed a university function. At the hearing, Meriwether said he did not take it personally and that he had a sense of humor." Buckley, Barroll and King all have arrest records resulting from th inidnt way, it is time te books. But recently found is in trying to d admits Ludents iter i law students, denied admission to session under a special summer were readmitted to the school by Trustees in an executive session from the law school was not faculty met twice Wednesday to 1. s action may endanger the school's ke Association of American Law erican Bar Association. rere denied admission when their ie school's Summer Pre-Admission P) were not satisfactory. Under the mer students who have poor grades ie school for a summer session. If ie session he is admitted to the fall lent is not allowed to enroll. iired to have a 2.0 grade point ratio he fall, but after questions were 3wly admitted students, the law Standing Committee allowed >etween a 1.66 and 1.99 to be read 'lease See LAW SCHOOL, Page 20 10fessors Duncan, through a private trial, does not. The three were placed in the Columbia City Jail for several hours after their warrants were served April 11. "It was just like Alice's Restaurant," King said. "We were all in there with these criminals. When they asked us what we had done and we said we hit somebody with a banana cream pie, they all laughed hysterically. "As FAR AS I know, I was the only one ever arrested and convicted for pie throwing," King added. "The charges against two students from Duke were dropped after they pied somebody at a lecture. Even the Governor of Tennessee didn't prosecute when he got hit." As for the motive, Meriwether could only speculate why he got hit. "Mavbe t he. didn't like me, Faulkner or the Southern Studies program; It could be a thousand different reasons. "All I can say is that the pie was in tended specifically for Meriwether. We received $40 in the Campus Mail from the anonymous customer prior to the hit.'' King said. "We didn't mean anv harm"