Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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_News_ If referendum were held today, voters would ban video poker, poll says Staff Reports Associated Press A majority of likely voters in South Carolina would vote to ban video gambling if the Nov. 2 referendum were held to day, according to a new poll conducted for six newspapers in the state. The South Carolina Issues poll shows 71 percent of 872 likely voters polled by telephone want to ban video gambling, 16 percent want to keep the games legal and 23 percent were undecided or refused to ansjwer. The maigin of error is plus or minus 3.3 percentage points, and higher for subgroups in the sample. South Carolina voters will decide Nov. 2 if video gambling remains legal in the state. Two-thirds of those surveyed said the issue was very im portant or somewhat important. Nearly 90 percent said they plan to vote. The poll shows that 8 percent of likely voters participat ing had played the games in the past year. That probably is low, said Nancy Todd, a political con sultant who has worked on 200 pro-gambling campaigns, but is not involved in the Nov. 2 referendum. People often are reluctant to reveal anything about their personal habits to a stranger who knows their name and phone number, she said. The poll was conducted by KPC Research of Charlotte for The Charlotte Observer, The State, The Greenville News, The Beaufort Gazette, The Island Packet (Hilton Head), The Herald (Rock Hill) and The Sun News (Myrtle Beach). KPC is owned by Knight Publishing, which is publisher of The Char lotte Observer. Exit polling after last year’s election, in which video gam bling was a major issue in the governor’s race, showed that 59 percent of voters disapproved of the games. Last month, a poll conducted by KPC for The Charlotte Observer surveyed the general population. It showed that 52 percent of307 South Carolina residents polled want video gambling to remain legal, 40 percent want it.banned and 7 percent were unsure or had no opinion. That poll’s margin of error was plus or minus 5.6 per centage points. If the latest poll numbers are correct, they reflect “all the misinformation that’s been out there” about video gambling, said Mike Fletcher, chairman of the industry group Vote Yes. “We’ve started to give people good, solid information now, and hopefully, that will clear up some of the confusion that’s out there,” he said. “And I think Nov. 2, the numbers will be there.” Todd said South Carolina gambling proponents appear to have run a poor, uncoordinated campaign that’s leaving vot ers confused. “They’ve lost about 5 points a week,” she said. “This is what happens when you run multiple efforts.” “It doesn’t work. Any issue which is confusing to the vot ers, they vote against,” she said The poll shows that support for keeping video gambling legal is strongest in the coastal counties with 25 percent, and weakest in the Piedmont area with 10 percent. The Midlands is in between at 16 percent. Wmthrop University political scientist Glen Broach said one explanation for the sagging support for video gambling is that churches and business groups are uniting against it. Broach also senses that many people “want to kill it just to get it off the agenda. It’s taking away from more pressing matters, in many people’s view.” E-mail from page 1 “Due to network problems, less than 200 messages don’t get through,” he said. Mowery added that those are good odds. But not all students agree. As many as 20,000 e-mails per semester could be significantly delayed, although Mowery said they do eventually reach their destination. “My professor tries to send us our work, but it doesn’t come through,” business freshman Jessica Kristich said. “And it can be a real pain.” Mowery said because there are so many student accounts, the limited space prohibits students from sending laige attach ments . CMS is text-based, so students can’t send graphics, pic tures or even electronic greeting cards. Mowery said he thinks one of the reasons students dislike CMS is because of the green screens that appear when the network is accessed. But he said anyone with a computer can use any POP, like Eudora Pro, to read CMS mail. Connections aren’t necessarily problems at other univer sities in the state. Many students from Clemson University, the College of Charleston and the University of Georgia use their campus e mail systems both on and off campus. The President of the College of Charleston even used the university’s e-mail system, Edisto, to relay information about Hurricane Floyd to students. Vanderbilt’s VUNet includes services like an online direc- ^ tory of e-mail addresses for students and professors, as well as an electronic message service. Until Computer Services completes the University Infra structure Project, some students said they will continue to avoid the “green screens.” “I will just use an outside account with which I already have e-mail set up,” business sophomore Marshall Griffen said. Safety from page 1 escort service for a ride home or stop by the USC police station on the way back to their dorms. Although USCPD doesn’t always provide a ride home, it will always guarantee an escort. The safety committee also discussed the latest Safe Ride pro posal. Safe Ride is a program that would provide a free shuttle between Five Points and campus on Friday and Saturday nights. The program will have a trial period during fall break in Oc tober. Student Affairs will fund the trial weekend, and either Student Government or Student Alumni Services will take over the expenses after that, if the program is adopted. Student Government has to speak to Finance Committee and Legal Council before any plans can be finalized. The program will be covered by USC insurance. SG hasn’t officially decided who will drive the buses or if the bus es will have monitors. “We were talking about having a driver and a monitor. That way, there would be two people on the bus. That way there would be less problems,” said Melissa Fletcher, student senate ^ services committee chairwoman. Dorsel suggested that the Fraternity Council be in chaige of arranging the monitors for the buses. Dorsel believes that council support will not only ensure monitors, but will also increase the popularity of the shuttle sys tem. “I was also thinking about increasing the popularity of Safe Ride,” Dorsel said. “If Fraternity Council is supporting that, there is going to be other people on there, and if everyone is getting on it, then more people are likely to ride it,” Dorsel said. All drivers and monitors will have to be trained and certi fied. It’s Time To Order Yom> Official Class Rin , Sept. 27 ~ Oct. 2 1Oem - 4pm ^vk Oct. 4, 5 10am-4pm r 3 D T 3 D \ / E mTSB X At the Russell House Bookstore T /]|\|l/]|\y[2L/ I'M V ... ^ \ College /ewe/ri'JMI Under the tent on Greene St. \_ _ CAROLINAN CREED WEEK ESSAY CONTEST $500 AWARD “ The aim of education should be service, not success. ” - Anonymous Essays should discuss, in 500 words or less, how this quote relates to the Creed and to students at USC. All essays should be double spaced and should include a title page with the student’s name and social security number as well as the submitting faculty member or instructor’s name. The first place winner will receive $500. Essays must be submitted by a faculty member and are due no later than October 18 at noon to the Office of Student Judicial Programs, 900 Assembly Street, Suite 103. Sponsored by University Housing, the Carolina Student Judicial Council, and the Office of Student Judicial Programs !\ 4 4 SPECIAL ADVANCE SCREENING ' mm. ■ s • Mary tom Ron coim Maury m Burt t? Cormack Davidovich Eldard Meaney Chaykin Reynolds ^^^^EEMOVIEPOSTER^U?IFTBAG^^n Tuesday, September 28 8:00 PM Russell House Theater Pick Up FREE Passes Russell House Info Center PrraerMdBy Carolina Productions Brought tc vou bv —-KI L E J PUNITUDC ^ Feel NaturalE' Feria uoreal Mi aim i u wmin IT” WWW.PREVIEWTHEATER.com r> ) » »