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EVENTS Die Zauberflote or "The Ma Flute." Mozart's operatic masl piece. 7:30 p.m. Tbday through ? urday, Drayton Hall. Tickets:! and $15 for adults, $5 for studei Wednesday, January 20,19 Studeni by Erin Reed Features Editor He only races camels for fun. He doesn't ride them to work. Qatar exchange student Mohammed Al-Abdulla, 23, wants to dispel the stereotype he believes most Americans seem to have about the Middle East. "Everybody thinks we live in tents and ride camels, but we live a normal life," he said. He said the country of Qatar, his native home, is developed like any major city, with malls, tall buildings and the Internet. Mohammed, an officer in the Qatar army, was sent in August 1997 by his government to the United States to study English and electrical engineering. He will stay four more years. The government ordered Mo- "EVCrvtxX hammed specifi- . cally to the United live IT states, and he and ride < chose USC because i . ?. he had some but We 111 friends here. He es- mal life." timates there are Mobammei about eight other Qatar students here from Qatar. Coming to America wasn't so much of a challenge for Mohammed. "I used to travel to Europe, so I know the system," he said. Although he has studied English for 12 years, his only significant adjustment was in getting accustomed to the American accent. "Our system there [in Qatar] is British English, and here it is American English, so it's hard to speak with people on the street," he said. In Qatar, his family employs three live-in servants who do the cooking and laundry, so Mohammed has had to learn to do for himself while living alone in Columbia. "Sometimes I miss them [the servants] being here, but sometimes no," he said. Not being one for American fast food, Mohammed mostly cooks for himself, sometimes driving out of state to buy food. "Sometimes I need to go to "jMjjg. ? - 19 iwmmm Special to Tlie Gameccxrk Mysterious si roses on pcx by Alex Dominguez Associated Press BALTIMORE ? A mysterious stranger clad in a three-quarter-length black peacoat left roses and cognac at the grave of Edgar Allan Poe early Monday, continuing a tradition that began 50 years ago. About a dozen u people waited inside IVIlOWl] and outside West- traditioi minster Church until the tall, unknown visitor made his arrival eilCOUTS at the tiny brick- was a U, walled cemetery just , before 3 a.m. dCHCd The stranger placed his hands on Poe's tombstone and appeared to pray. A moment later he was gone, leaving three roses and a bottle of cognac to mark the 190th birthday of the macabre author The identity of the first mysterious visitor, who had been dressed in black topcoat and fedora, has remained a riddle since the ritual began in 1949, a century after Poe died. i ne aging visitor believed to be tftt original carried on the tradition until 1993, when he left a cryptic note saying, "The torch will be passed." His followers have agreed to cany on the anonymous annual tribute, said Jeff Jerome, curator of the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum in Baltimore. "They said they would continue tht tradition in his footsteps,"'Jerome said I don t want to say too much more be igic ter5at ?10 its. ?99 t gives i North Carolina or somewhere just to buy our special food," he said. Mohammed's typical day in Qatar isn't much different from his typical day here. In the morning, he attends classes, goes through anny training exercises and works as an officer, giving orders to soldiers. "In the afternoon, we do nothing," he said. "We just waste our time ? hang around, go to the malls." Although Mohammed lives a modern life in Qatar, his family owns a farm on the desert, where they keep camels. They go to their desert home every weekend with Mohammed's eight brothers and sisters, and occasionally aunts, uncles and cousins. Besides his family and friends, Mohammed misses the dv thinks desert more than * . anything else back I tentS home. camels, "When we go ? to the desert, we live nor- a sjmpie he said. "We have no i Al-Abdulla TYthere; we can exchange student bring our ^ ' p and everything, but we don't want to do it. We just go there and live in tents. The children go and play together; we make a fire and stay around it and have coffee and tea." In the morning, the men hunt rabbits, lizards and birds, and sometimes they race camels. "We just do what our parents and grandparents did?toy to be away from modern life," he said. On the subject of Saddam Hussein Mohammed can't say much, as the government doesn't allow him to discuss his country's general opinion on the matter. But as Qatar is so close to Iraq ? halfway along the western coast ol the Arabian Gulf ? Mohammed admits he's concerned. "Both of them [Iraq and United Nations], they are doing a mistake," he said. "And we [Persian Gulf countries are paying for all their mistakes." He said the Qatari people are worried about Saddam's actions. iF flQR lid aiatci oaiu tiic awinv/opii^i c na ' "almost spooky." I "It's such a mysterious devotion, Gaskin said. "And the cemetery is al most like a little time capsule in th middle of the city. Ifs beautiful." mlr^m JmSmH ' Special to The Garnecocl :ranger leaves it's grave cause some of the note's contents art of a private nature. I'm not trying to b< mysterious, but some of this has ti remain with me because it may give j clue as to who it is." Poe penned classic horror storiei such as "The Fall of the House o Usher," "The Pit and the Pendulum, "The Telltali , Heart" and "Thi ^8 that thC Masque of thi H will l) Red Death." Hi famous poems in WHS clude The Raven iging, but I and"Annabe ttle sad- i , . He lived 11 Baltimore fron Lynns Finlay 1829 to 1836 am Poe enthusiast there 1?^' at age 40. Th three roses lef s each year are thought to represent th i poet, his wife and her mother. All ar buried in the tiny cemetery, i Lynne Finley, of Nashville, Tenn i spent the night at the church with he [ sister, D.J. Gaskin, of Burke, Va., t , celebrate Finley*s 40th birthday, whicl she shares with Poe. > "Knowing that the tradition will b 1 carried on was encouraging, but I wa a little saddened," Finley said. Uonirl ikn nfmnonknvA um Et The Gar "I j nsigni in m ML" 1%^r Qatar, a coastal country on the weste 11,427 square kilometers. "Whenever they try to do something for Iraq, we have an emergency in the army to be ready if something happens, and the price is going up," he said. He said there's always a chance the army will order him to return to Qatar "if something big happens." Mohammed believes Saddam will 1 continue his fierce quest for control. "He will try to stay, and the U.N. s will try to take him out," he said. "There 1 will be an end for everything, but when, we don't know." Mohammed said there's some unease in the Middle East with the United Nations' involvement. ^ "They [United Nationsl don't like Iraq to buy medicine or food for the people," he said. "The people do no misi take, so whv do thev stoD eivine them food and medicine and everything? 1 They are tryin'g to punish Iraq, but ! they should punish Saddam, not the I people," he said. f "Now they are punishing the people, not Saddam. He still gets the power, he still gets the food, and he has everything. But the people have noth* ing. This way, we will have no end for 1 all of that." USC signs < by Jamie Bowman Senior Writer The process of buying senior rings at USC has undergone a significant change this school year. In the past, a variety of companies competed for students' business, but no longer. Dunng fall semester, a decision was made to allow Art Carved to be sole vendor of USC class rings through a five-year exclusive contract. IThe decision was made through a long bid and purchasing process of five national ring companies. The process included evaluating both students' preferences ?by reviewing past orders ? and each company's benefits and marketing services. Art Carved has been students' preference for the past eight years. Art Carved's attractions include quick delivery time, flexible payment options 5 and close attention to detail, g In the past, each company offered o more than 60 rings. Even though stua * North Dakota e e e by Brian Write Associated Press s ? BISMARCK, N.D. ? Randy Mastre j is a tattoo artist of Christian themes. He inks Jesus into his customers. His tattooed Biblical inscriptions i t ;* ? J ? aiiu pui uana ui v/inist piuviuc aiaitling contrast to more typical flam3 ing skulls and "Born to Raise Hell" e markings adorning the leather-clad bikers he rubs elbows with at natione al tattoo conventions. e It was at one of those convention that he met the Rev. Daniel Ostrowski, a born-again Christian and Word ^ of Faith pastor who runs a tattoo par0 lor in Wassau, Wis. Last year, the two decided to unite other Christian tattooers. Since e then, almost 100 tattoo parlors across s the nation have heard the call of the Christian Tattoo Association. g "Our idea is: Let's take Christianity out of cloistered halls and put it ? right in the forum where people live,' 1 and let's make it so real, so up-to-date, so today that it impacts peoples' lives," r^of?*AUfoln omro vyouuTfoivi oajo. Adds Mastre, who is studying to bePentecostal pastor, "I think the best way to put it is a few like-mind necock Lto life i Special to The Gamecock trn side of the Arabian Gulf, covers * & ^Smmfm?/ 'i I JL Erica Perez Special to Tlie Gamecock This is the first feature in a series ofar- I tides on exchange students at USC. The I Gamecock hopes to increase awareness of, and interest in, diversity on campus by focusing on international students ' and their lives at home and at USC. exclusive co "USC has a diverse sti seems appropriate th; diverse selection of st dents want individuality in a class ring, they also desire a common design. By taking control of the ring situation, USC hopes that the confusion of selecting a class ring can be reduced. "The goal is to create a sense of identity and eliteness with the guarantee of a quality company serving students and alumni," Art Carved representative Julie Hicks said. Although it's projected that students will ultimately be pleased with the decision, the question of reducing their choices about something as personal as senior rings is still a concern. Computer science major Candice Dellinger said, "With so many students, it's not fair that they have narrowed our options to such a minimum." man makes ma "We don't want ever to think that tattooii devil, because it isn'1 ed people that are trying their very best to share the word of God in a place where it's never heard." At tattoo conventions, they put up a table and work the crowd. Some members adopt tattoos that cover their entire backs. Tattoos of St. Michael slaying the devil and the Last Supper are popular. "I've seen hundreds of full-back Christian tattoos," Mastre says. Mastre says he's wanted to start a Christian tattoo group for years. He said Christians in the industry need to encourage each other. "We don't want everybody in the world to think that tattooing is the work of the devil, because it isn't," Mastre says. "It's a beautiful art form." Rand Johnson, a tattooer in Willmar, Minn.,-describes the group as a ministry focused on people in the tat n Midc Left: Qatar exchange student Mol he won in team handball, wears i Above: Clad in the traditions Mohammed smokes tobacco fi Columbia apartment. Regular tot: in the top of the pipe, and smoke ntract for ident body, and it at it should have a udent rings." Tim Redding engineering major Engineering major Tim Rede said, "USC has a diverse student b and it seems appropriate that it sh< also have a diverse selection of stue rings." This change has also brought al decreased prices. There is now an e\ day low price that eliminates thi sue of on-the-spot discounts. "A symbol of the university shi not be regarded as a discount prodi Hicks said. "Rather, it should be a1 able to everyone at any time for a g price." A twofold savings has also occui resulting in lower advertising and i keting costs because of the elimina of competing companies. rk with Chris pbody in the world lg is the work of the t." Randy Mastn Christian tattoo arti: too industry ? and whoever else listen. Tor the most part, the world ol toos and tattooing and such is a ] ty dark world, and as a Chris you want to shed a little light in th Johnson says. Some members of the clergy a wild about the idea. Fargo Bishop Rick Foss says if somebody has to have a tattoo, rather it have a Christian theme, he adds, there are better ways to sp God's word. Td be really surprised if any could make a very good case if Bible or the basis of Christian ti tion that this is somehow a really thing," says Foss, who heads the 1 ern North Dakota Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Church in A ica. SITE OF THE PAY Dedicated to crime comics of the '40s and '50s. http://www.crimeboss.com Page 5 lie East if.. J* -v lll:; I IVx>^. ^ Sm^mk I Erica Perez Special to The Gamecock hammed Al-Abdulla, pictured with medals regular street clothes when not in Qatar, il clothing he wears when in Qatar, 'om a traditional smoking pipe in his tacco, similar to that in cigarettes, is lit i is inhaled through the end of the pipe. senior rings The official ring is actually the historic Carolina ring that has been lost in the shuffle in past years. The men's and women's official rings are exactly alike except for size. Ifs a gold signet that bears the school seal. There is an "official" collection of class rings that offers five additional styles. Art Carved will remake other class rings or even other company's rings 'u*c* into the official ring for a small charge. len Its goal is to provide students with a high-quality product with a lifetime ^?ut guarantee. rwy* "In a large university, you are gene ,s" erally known by your social security number," Hicks said. "That's why it's 3U'1? so important to have something like a ac*' traditional class ring. It makes stu" dents feel like a part of history." reat "Students that ordered a class ring will be invited to attend a ring-turnTed> ing ceremony before the president's renar" ception on May 6," said Lisa Tillman, to?n graduate assistant for the Alumni Association. Han taltnn arm in vxwjl x vw vvvy vy vy j^y Some clergy members who are against tattooing cite a Biblical passage in Leviticus, which they say warns, J "Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you..." e Mastre argues that the passage sl is part of the Old Testament, and that many rules were changed in the New will Testament. "If they want to live by the Old f tat- Covenant, they have to do it all," Masoret tre said. "They just can't pick out one tian thing or the other." ere," Christian tattoos have always comprised a sizable piece of the tattoo marren't ket, Ostrowski says. Whafs new is the effort to organize, that From small Biblical quotations to he'd portraits of Jesus, Mastre works in his But, tattoo parlor in a Bismarck mall. A iread sign saying "Praise the Lord" hangs above one of his studios, where he'll body make a small tattoo for $40 to $100. . fV? a T orrror* \ir/-vv?Lro run fvnm 4- V* / ? 1 W1C LJdl gci w \Jl rvo 1U.11 11 win ?puvv llltu tlic radi- thousands. Mastre says he also regood moves about 40 tattoos a month. Sast- "I know that several times people the have come in with demonic type of tatiner toos, and they've become Christian and wanted them removed or covered," he says.