Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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This Day In USC History September 8, 1971 —The Carolina Coliseum obtains license to sell beer and wine at private functions. Hit (Bamccodt Wednesday, September 8,1999 Komegay in Kosovo ►Van Komegay professor in \JSCs College of Journalism and hAaSS CommunioationS, volunteered in war torn KoSoVo over the Summer Members from the volunteer organization Samaritin’s Purse give bread and aid to refugees in the small town of Hamallaj, Albania. firoarmc for nrntprtinn Prntprtinn didn’t rontfi without a nrice. by Rachel Moyle Staff Writer Kosovo might have seemed a million miles away to most stu dents and faculty members spring and summer. It was only a border away, however, from journalism professor Van Komegay. In April, Komegay volunteered through his church, the First Presbyterian Church of Columbia, to travel to Albania and help the refugees fleeing from Kosovo. * Avoiding Serbian genocide, they came over the border in thou sands. Originally intending to help in any way possible, Komegay was quickly enlisted to help start a free-press newspaper because of his experience in public affairs. As it turns out, volunteering to aid ethnic Albanians would en danger his life: He would face a shotgun and land mines before re turning to South Carolina. Komegay volunteered through a program, Samaritan’s Purse, headed by Franklin Graham, Billy Graham’s son. Stationed near the coast in the small town of Hamallaj, Albania, the oiganization provided humanitarian aid to the refugees. Its main goal was to move the refugees away from the border and out of harm’s way. Once out of the range of shelling, it teamed up with a Muslim group, Holy Land Foundation, to provide the people with bread. It also worked to provide schooling tor the chil '■dren in the camp, as well as health care and recreation People had begun fleeing during the spring, and tht children’s schooling had been interrupted. Komegay arrived at the camp, composed of 2,500 refugees, on June 10, less than a week af ter the Kosovo Peace Agreement was signed. Three weeks later, when he packed his bags to return home, the ethnic Albanians were able to return home as well, and the camp was deserted. “Life in the camp was amazing in one sense: The people were so resilient,” Komegay said. “Any horrific thing you can think of that people would do to each other, the Serbs had done to these people.” The camp was primarily peaceful and composed of women, chil dren and old men. There were no young or middle-age men, as they had all been killed. When trouble did arise, Komegay said, it wasn’t from the refugees as much as from outside members of the community. Local Albanians took advantage of the situation and came in at night to loot the camp. Security began to break down. Samaritan’s Purse workers weren’t allowed to arm themselves and consequently were unprotected against outside threats. In defense, they hired security guards, who were allowed to keep -7—I I lUV/lUlUJ 1U1 J/l WIVVV1UU# 1 lUIVVHUll I v vwwiv .. owuuv v» J' ■ » ~ 1 though; the security itself was highly corrupt. The daytime was usually peaceful, but there was often shooting during the night, although no refugees or volunteers were harmed in the nights of gunfire during the three weeks that Komegay was there. The male volunteers did fear that the female staff members weren’t safe at camp, however, and rented a house on a hill outside the vil lage where they could sleep at night. Each night, two men were responsible for staying in the home to guard the women. It was one night when Komegay was driving the women up to the house that his life was threatened. He had walked the women up to the house and was about to re turn to the camp when a van of local Albanians pulled up the drive. Shouting from the vehicle, they demanded to know whether Ko megay was Spanish or American. He had the vague feeling that there was no right answer to the question. In the dead night, he could hear a gun cock within the van, followed by the sight of a gun barrel coming out through the window. With that, he jumped behind the van so the man would have to emeige from the vehicle to get a clear shot. After a moment, Ko megay darted toward the woods, hurdling a fence along the way. There, he waited until the van had driven off before reapproaching the house. While Komegay admits that the camp did get a little “lawless” toward the end, he said that he felt much more threatened by the land mines than by the occasional gun. In the camp hospital, he saw scores of children who had lost limbs and suffered major internal injuries because of landmines. The Serbs had buried many mines in schoolyards and medical clinics along the border. When Komegay and other volunteers went into the towns to help rebuild homes that had been damaged, they put themselves at gicai hois.. One day, they stopped to eat lunch under a plum tree in a school yard. Later that day, they heard that the tree had exploded because it had been wired with TNT to explode if anyone tried to pick fruit from its branches. Both land mines and cluster bombs killed many children. NATO had dropped cluster bombs all along the border in hopes of harming Serbians. As a cluster bomb falls, many smaller bombs scatter in the general vicinity. Unknowing children would pick up the clusters, only to have them explode in their faces. Samaritan’s Purse had hired a de-mining team, but it was im possible to find even a small percentage of those that were dropped. By the time Samaritan’s Purse closed the camp, an armed NATO es cort was required to ensure the safety of the last refugees and vol unteers as they crossed back over the border into Kosovo. They parted in Gjakova, Kosovo, a city hard hit by KLA rebels and the setting of many wartime atrocities. When asked if he would volunteer again despite such threats on his life, Komegay answered with a resounding “yes.” “I went to help, but I feel like I got something in return... to wit ness [such resilience],” he said. Special to The Gamecock Komegay, center, with a team from Samaritan’s Purse, conducts interviews with Kosovar villagers to determine the extent of damage to their village. Campus Notes USC Dance Company holds auditions USC’s Dance Company will hold auditions for the 1999-2000 sea son from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday. Auditions will be held in Blatt 114. All those 15 and older are welcome to audition. For more information, call Susan Anderson at 777-5636. NSCS announces first meeting Members of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars will hold its first meeting at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 14 in the Gressette Room on the third floor of Harper College. For more information, call Ian Scharrer at 544-0962. USC offers art classes Children ages 6 to 17 are invited to take art classes from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on Fridays from Sept. 24 to Oct. 29 in McMaster College. Classes will be offered in draw ing, painting, ceramics, mixed media and sculpture. Fall art classes are $60 per child and $50 for children of USC faculty, staff and students. For more informa tion, call Floyd in the USC art department 777-4236. City-Year announces annual Serve-A-Thon City Year will be hosting its annu al fund raiser Serve-A-Thon on Oct. 16. Participants will renovate buildings, build playgrounds, clear vacant lots, plant urban gardens, run children’s carnivals, and change the face of Columbia. For more information, call City Year at 254-3349. LRADAC needs volunteers The Lexington/Richland Alcohol and Drug Abuse Council needs college volunteers to share expe riences with high school students to help them prepare for life after high school. For more informa tion, call 733-1390. Open Door Center offers health services The Open Door Drop-In Center, • which is located in the basement of the Thompson Student Health Center. The center offers free information regarding health and nutrition, cholesterol screening, body fat percentage measurement, exercise and blood pressure read ings. No appointment is needed. The center is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday. For more information, call 7-8248. Briefs can be submitted to RH room 333. We can't promise to print everything, but we can promise to try. Intramural Golf Tournament Tournament to be held on Friday, October 21st at the Oak Hills Golf and Country Club Tee times 12:30pm - 3:00pm Captain’s Choice Tournament Four players per team Awards for longest drive, closest to the pin, and most accurate drive. Sign ups being accepted now thru Thursday, Sept. 23rd. $24 per person Call 777-4593 for more information The Office of Campus Recreation 202 Blatt PE Center I 1 *»♦■»* J Flag Football Officials Wanted! Earn Extra Cash $$$ Work On Campus Set Your Own Hours Call the Office of Campus Recreation i at 777-4593 for more info. \ .