Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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. \/l I _ ina Community since 1Q08 Dennis unlikely to make S.C. landfall by Clayton Kale Associate News Editor Even though the National Weather Service says it’s unlike ly that Hurricane Dennis will make landfall in South Carolina, university officials say the university is prepared for such an event. An advisory early Sunday from the National Weather Ser vice in Charleston said “if Hurricane Dennis remains on its pre sent course and speed, steady tropical storm force winds will * begin affecting the South Carolina coastal counties.” Tropical storm force winds are classified as sustained winds under 74 miles per hour. A tropical storm is classified as a hur ricane when wind speeds are steady at 75 miles per hour. Director of Housing Gene Luna said university officials “don’t anticipate that the storm will be coming to Columbia.” But he added that a preparedness plan for the campus began on Friday. “We have been watching the news and the Weather Chan nel,” Luna said. “We are watching it [Hurricane Dennis] care fully.” Luna said, if classes should ever be canceled or delayed, stu dents will be notified by radio stations and the campus cable channel. , USC police officers, members of the department of Student Life and resident advisers will ensure that everyone is notified in case of evacuations or class cancellations, Luna said. If the coast is evacuated, colleges along the coast send stu dents inland to their homes, Luna said. “But those students who do not have a place inland to go are sometimes sent to USC,” he said. Lynn Bramer, an advertising sophomore at the College of Charleston, said the hurricane has been a hot topic on campus. “Everyone has been talking about it [the possible evacua tion] all weekend, and we don’t know if classes are being can celled,” she said. As of 7 p.m. Sunday, Bramer said students were not going to be evacuated from the College of Charleston campus. But she said plans had been made to bus students to USC who don’t have a way to leave town if an evacuation had been ordered. “In the past, we [USC] have housed those students [from coastal colleges] who cannot go home,” Luna said. “We provide support for that.” Resident advisers have private rooms, and it’s possible to house one or two students in those rooms, Luna said. “Most RAs have agreed to use their rooms for housing stu dents in an emergency. The [Blatt] PE Center can also have stu dents bedded down on the floors,” he said. Study lounges are al so available to house students in an emergency. Director of Law Enforcement and Safety Ernie Ellis said USC police officers would “work with Student Affairs to es tablish living areas for students coming from the coast.” “And we would be involved with, for lack of a better Dennis see page 2 «* % Columbia • J •• *, v • / Charleston # «• _ _ - ■ ■ ga r : A glancing blow _ \&i r (8 p.m. As of 8 p.m. Sunday, Hurricane 5 Sunday) Dennis was projected to miss the Carolina coast. Its effects DENNIS are still being felt on the Carolina coast, though, as tropical storm winds have been reported along the South Carolina beaches. NAACP boycott raises tension 9 by Erin Newsome Associated Press Charleston - Sen. Glenn McConnell holds unique sway over the Confeder ate flag issue. The Charleston Republican sells artwork from his North Charleston store, CSA Galleries, that depicts scenes from the Civil War, uniforms and camping gear used by re-enactors and belt buckles that read “The South will rise again.” He’s one of the S.C. General As sembly’s more ardent supporters of the Confederacy and one of the Senate’s more influential members when it comes to whether the Confederate flag flies atop South Carolina’s Statehouse. • McConnell has supported compro mises on moving the flag in the past. The NAACP boycott has him digging in heels and wanting to do whatever it takes to keep the flag flying. “I’m not going to surrender it now to a reputation of shame,” McConnell told The (Charleston) Post and Courier. Still, Senate leaders look to McConnell to help resolve the issue, including Sen ate Majority Leader John Land. “With the standing that he has in the Senate, if he said, ‘This has gone far enough, and we need to move the flag,’ ... we might could solve this matter, and he would be the man to do it,” the Manning Democrat said. What McConnell ^ares about is not allowing the Confed eracy to be thought of as an embarrass ment to South Carolina. If the state could come to an under standing in which there was mutual re spect for Southern and black heritage, McConnell would not mind moving the fl^ to a monument on the Capitol grounds. A few years ago, he was prepared to sign off on a deal to that effect. Then terms like “red rag” and “odi BOYCOTT see page 2 A clean pool beckons students to swim Sara Ladenheim The Gamecoc* Computer science senior Tate Austin, left and math senior Thomas Cramer jump into the reflecting pool in front of the Thomas Cooper Library. The pool was recently drained, cleaned and refilled. The two took advantage of the water while it was still clean. Alabama Straw Poll Talk-show host wins Alabama straw poll by Phillip Rawls Associated Press Birmingham, ALA -The few who came prospered in Alabama’s first-ever Re publican straw poll. Talk-show host Alan Keyes won the non-binding ballot, with Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah finishing second and Texas Gov. Geoige Bush, front-runner in the national race for the presidential nomi nation, third. Keyes, Hatch and Florida education advocate Angel Rocker were the only candidates who came. “The only people showing up are the candidates with no chance of being elect ed,” said Merle Black, a political scien tist at Emory University in Atlanta. “That diminishes the straw poll.” Gary Bauer was fourth, Elizabeth Dole fifth and Steve Forbes sixth. Keyes pulled 29 percent, Hatch 27 percent and Bush 25 percent. The other Poll see page 2 DESK ASSISTANTS Security guards replace desk assistants in dorms by Mackenzie Craven Senior Writer For the second full year, USC has hired security officers to serve as third-shift desk assistants for on-campus residential housing. Sizemore Security International signed a state contract with USC effective July 1, re placing Advance Security as the university’s security provider. According to Melani Miller, residential and housing services director, there were no problems with Advance Security, but its con tract ran out, and Sizemore Security was the first to place a bid. In previous yean, security officers were only hired on an as-needed basis, for events like exams week and the beginning of fall and spring semesters. But beginning last fall, se curity officers worked every night from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. at the front desks of many res idence halls. Fifty officers from Sizemore Se curity International currently work at USC, most as third-shift desk assistants. Jennifer Vaughan, operations manager at Sizemore Security, says she believes that the relationship between the residents and stu dent DAs has influenced the amount of con trol kept over the dorms. This has resulted in the hiring of security officers. “Desk assistants are around all the time, and they are less likely to keep law and order because they know [residents] too well,” Vaughan said. Biology sophomore Laquisha Stokes, a Sims desk assistant, said she thinks that stu dents see D\s as peers, and that many might feel that security guards are more reliable in emeigency situations. “I think [people] would trust [a security guard],” Stokes said. “With the outfit and everything, they look professional.” Guards see page 2 i__j Kevin Langston The Gamecock Mechanical engineering sophomore Lerone Cohen worics as a DA for Preston. Guards replace students nightly. Weather Inside Datebook Online Poll Today 86 69 Tuesday 82 65 etCetera says go to the puppet show \ Page 9 Today •The Gamecock news meeting, 4 p.m., RH 333 • Fraternity Council, 4 p.m., RH 322/326 • Sorority Council, 5 p.m., RH 322/326 • Carolina Productions, 3:30 p.m., 2nd floor RH Tuesday • Student Organization Fair, 10:30 a.m to 3 p.m., RH patio • S.C. Student Legislature, 9 p.m. • RHA, 7 p.m., RH 307 • AAAS, 6 p.m, RH Theater How will the Gamecocks do this season? ^ Go to www.gamecock.sc.edu to vote in this week’s poll.