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' I . . ???* 1 Looking for a job? rgsfc. Opus on vacation s""*"" Columbia's Chamber of Commerce has a new plan : Bloom County creator Berke Breathed to expand both the city's business and employment \ will be calling in sick the next few weeks f The Gamecock Founded 1908 Wednesday Volume 78, No. 55 University of South Carolina Jannov. on mo* | Campus reacts ) to catastrophe \ Shuttle flights should continue, USC students, faculty agree By STEPHEN C. GUILFOYLE and PAULA WETHiNr.Tnu Staff writers The space shuttle program should continue despite Tuesday's Challenger tragedy, said USC students and faculty. ? Student Pierre de Lucy said he thought the Challenger astronauts had it better than the Apollo 1 astronauts, who died in the cockpit of a rocket that caught on fire on the launching pad in 1967. "The shuttle's booster rocket has a very explosive liquid oxygen compound," he said. "They didn't have time to suffer." NASA should "continue to delay any other program until they find out what happened, but they 1 should go on," de Lucy said. I Students were watching the launch in the TV area of the Russell House gameroom. Computer science freshman Kim Godbold said the games stopped as ^ the students gathered around the set. When the crowd saw the explosion, they all exclaimed in surprise and then got quiet, Godbold said. "It was real quiet, too quiet." She said she thought the CBS coverage of the event was rather thorough. "They even had a model, and they showed the reactions of the family," Godbold said. "The family was cheering, and then they got real quiet. The teacher's mother was in tears; the father was just quiet." Some of the people in the gameroom wondered aloud why the shuttle was sent up and how something like this could happen, Godbold said. Rhonda Baskerville, a music education i sophomore, also said the shuttle program should I continue, though she added that more care was ' required. Broadcast sophomore Bill Sengstacken said, "I I heard about it earlier, but I thought they were jok- i ing. 1 couldn't believe it until I turned on the TV." ! Another student who thought the explosion was a joke at first was journalism freshman Earle J CrawfnrH 1 "I thought it was awful that it happened to our ! space program," Crawford said. "There has been < nothing serious except delays until now." 1 He said NASA should continue the program and not dwell too much on it. < Phil Cook, a journalism student, said, "I don't ' think they should send anything (else) up until they ' find out what happened." USC faculty and staff also were dismayed at the ' shuttle news. Several people, such as Pam Young, < an administrative assistant at the College of ? Humanities and Social Sciences, heard the news on 1 ( See "Campus," page 2 i McNair was to join USC staff next fall By AMY DELPO and MARY JO MILLER Staff writers South Carolina native Ronald McNair, one of the seven astronauts who died in the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger on Tuesday, was expected fe to join the USC staff in fall 1986, according to ^ university officials. i nis was to be his last flight," Provost Francis Borkowski said. "We discussed the possibility of 5 employment with him, and he was to come aboard ? next fall." P Borkowski added that Nair's official capacity at ?| USC was not yet determined. |j Born in Lake City, McNair, 36, was one of two W black South Carolinians selected for the space shut- ^ tie program, the other being Charles Bolden of M Columbia. H "It was a personal loss to me," Lt. Gov. Mike (H Daniel said. "It was more than just a loss to NASA, s it was a loss to the world. _ I McNair earned a bachelor's degree in physics I from North Carolina A&T University and a doc- H ^ torate in physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technoloav. In 1Q84 ncr- ~~ ? ,, [JIV.3VII1CU llllll Willi ctu honorary doctor of science degree. H In April 1984, Gov. Dick Riley presented McNair H with the Order of the Palmetto, the highest award J the S.C. governor can bestow. I "Ron received many awards in his lifetime. I B thank God that we honored him while he was still alive," said Alex Harvin, S.C. House majority leader. ?| McNair, his wife, Cheryl, and their two children, H Reginald, 3, and Joy, 1, lived in Houston. McNair joined the space program in 1978 and | flew his first mission on Feb. 3, 1984. His second mission was in November 1985. Tuesday's was to be I his third and last mission. m< SB SsBHH Hr'i i,?. ?. 1 Ek -< Tragedy The space shuttle Challenger burs in the worst disaster in NASA's hi Government By LYNN CUSICK and MARY JO MILLER Staff writers Government leaders expressed >hock and a sense of loss Tuesday upon hearing the news of the >pace shuttle explosion and the ieath of South Carolinian Ronald McNair. "It was one of the most ievasting and tragic events that I lave witnessed," Lt. Gov. Mike Daniel said. On the state level, the House of Representatives held a moment )f silence on behalf of the istronauts and unanimously massed a resolution to send their .'UMUWlMlWk 10 McNair s family I n Lake City. The House then ad- I up i 1 V/ \ qBj m Donald McNair was awarded an hor jncement exercises in 1984 HBHM?r 'V HHH iJSI ts into flames shortly after takeoff Tut story. South Carolinian Robert McNaii IparlerQ mm wwav?WI V III VJ t journcd to honor the memory of astronauts on the space shuttle Challenger. "Ron McNair was more than just an excellent role model for all young people in South Carolina," Gov. Dick Riley said in a written statement. "He was also an outstanding example of the brilliant potential that rests in the minds of our people. His loss, and the loss of the rest of the shuttle crew, will be a great tragedy for all of us. S.C. House Majority leader Rep. Alex Harvin III exnrrccprt 3 deep sense of personal loss over MeNair's death. Harvin, whose district is close to Lake City, was with MeNair's PBLii 'jRUBw/kM V HHH |lfe ||j| n Sgp: ;; 1; HlflH RAY GRONG lorary Doctor of Science Degree at si mm i< .1 A PBtJill^ i - I^K STEVE HELBER/Associated Press tsday, killing all seven crew members - was on board. irn deaths family in Florida for his first launch. "When I think of the pride that must have been in his mother's eyes when the shuttle lifted off, it really brings the tragedy home," he said. Harvin said he expected the State House flags to fly at half?staff today in memory of Harvin and the rest of the shuttle's crew. On Capitol Hill, the House chaplain asked for a silent prayer, and the Senate, which was not supposed to be in session today, held an afternoon prayer session. Congress also sent its condolences to the astronauts' tamilics and adjourned early. By JIM NEWMAN I and STEPHEN C. C Staff writers The space shu exploded Tuesday 72 seconds after I None of tin members survive ficials said. Astronaut Ron; of Lake City, d veteran of two r missions. Also on boar McAuliffe, 37, t teacher from G who was selecte teacher and civilit Other member* sion commander 1 46; mission pilot 40; and mission sp Onizuka, 39; Juc and Gregory Jarv The shuttle lau a.m. Tuesday in to be a flawless lif 56th mittln died in a fire wh (ERG/The Gamecock launch pad aboart One of the Chi jrnmer com- fuel stacks was s from the spacecral ia.a i uai j } 1 JOD Journalists ^:n ? dlllE tl$?5*if B shuttle trip BY CARL DAWSON Assistant news editor Journalists vying to be the first reporter in space expressed sorrow and encouragement to the Journalist-in-Space project's main office at USC Tuesday after the first civilian in space died in an explosion that destroyed the space shuttle Challenger. "We've gotten calls from four applicants, and they all said pretty much the same thing," said Jack r) .1 : - u?i55, mc prujeci s puonc relations coordinator. "They expressed that they were saddened, that they wanted their names to remain in the applicant pool, and that they hoped the project would keep going forward," Bass said. Bass would not comment on how Tuesday's tragedy would affect the selection process or the project's schedule. Nor would he release the names of the four applicants who called. Bass referred most questions to NASA and declined further comment, but released a twosentence statement from the president of the organization which oversees the project's selection process. The statement from Robert Hoskins, president of the Assnrintirm r?f 1 1 v. uviiuuu \ji juuiiidiisni anu Mass Communication, read, "At this point we are referring all calls to NASA. Our hearts go out to the families of the crew members aboard the flight." A total of 1,703 journalists have applied to be the first in space, including former CBS anchor Walter Cronkite and ABC correspondent Geraldo Rivera. Sixteen South Carolinians applied for the flight, which was scheduled for the fall. NASA's Space Flight Participation Project is designed to give private citizens a chance to experience space travel. The Journalist-in-Space program is to be the second phase of the project. The first participant was New Hampshire school teacher Christa McAuliffe, who died in Tuesday's explosion. Applications for the journalist project have been sorted and sent to five geographic regions, where they will be narrowed to eight nominees from each region. The 40 nominees will then meet in Washington the first week in April, where they will be interviewed by a 14-member national selection panel that will select five finalists. The finalists will be evaluated by a NASA committee that will judge the applicants on such factors as compatibility with the flight crew and aptitude for training to prepare for space flight. The names of the primary and back-up canSee "Journalists," paye 2 soger explodes; H v members die plosion, possibly sheared away lUILtOYLE by the force of the detonation. Jesse Moore, NASA associate ittlc Challenger administrator, said everything ' morning about appeared normal before the iftoff. launch, and the weather was ; seven crew good. d, NASA of- The detonation took place around the external fuel tank, aid McNair, 35, NBC news reported. ied. He was a Recovery forces reported that >revious shuttle debris continued to fall from the cl/t/ .Ti\j ivm *-> iiiinuics ancr me d was Christa explosion. he high school The search crews have spotted oncord, N.H., debris from the shuttle. NASA d as the first officials say pieces are five to ten in in space. feet long and two feet across. The included mis- debris will be recovered and put Francis Scobee, in a hangar at the nearby Patrick Michael Smith, Air Force Base. iecialists Ellison USC graduate astronomy inlith Resnik, 36 structor Ben Malphrus, watching is, 41. at the time of explosion, said his nched at 11:38 main concern was that it will set what appeared the space program back. He said toff in NASA's he thinks the incident should not n. At the 1:12 Hp a rt*??rim?rv# ---- v/v U MVil IlllVlli I KJ> I I IV* }JI Ugl (UII . iger caught fire Malphrus did say NASA will probably be more careful from ;t space-related now on and that NASA may 's history. On reduce the number of flights. iree astronauts ile still on the President Keagan said all 1 Apollo 1. public buildings will fly their illenger's solid flags at half-staff for seven days, ecn separating one for each member of the ft after the ex- Challenger crew.