University of South Carolina Libraries
_Vol. 93, No. 39 ~\)(/0(j[ll.0gcl November 10, 1999_ . ina Community since 1Q08 WWW.GAM6COCK.SC.EDU UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CA.OUNA COOMB,A. S.C. Impeachment Trial Charges against Fordham dismissed by Brandon Larrabee Staff Writer Impeachment charges against Student Body Treasurer Elizabeth Fordham were dismissed by ttie Student Government court of impeachment •esday by a nearly unanimous vote. The court, which is composed of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the chief justice of the Judicial Council, defeated all three articles of im peachment, which charge that Fordham hasn’t car ried out her duties as SG treasurer since the be ginning of the semester. The charges were defeated by 5-0 or 6-0 margins. Sen. Eric Neely abstained on the first ar ticle, which alleged that Fordham violated the oath of office she took in February. Neely wouldn’t comment on why he abstained. However, other senators said the articles failed because they were either factually or constitu tionally unsound. “We felt that... because of the nature [of some of the chaiges], that they could not be effectively proven, that they did not meet a certain standard,” said Judiciary Committee Co Chairman Patrick Gearman. “And other chaiges, because of lack of a constitutional basis in them, did not meet the standards.” Sen. Christian Stegmaier voted against the im peachment, but for different reasons. “I think the burden was on the folks who brought the chaiges to us to establish a standard, to establish why im peachment was warranted, and they just didn’t do that,” he said. “We, as a committee, felt that it didn’t rise to the level of impeachment.” Judiciary Committee Co-Chairman Adam Dawkins said he thought that the chaiges weren’t impeachable offenses. “1 felt like they were unfounded,” Dawkins said. “I think, after a strict interpretation of the con stitution, we were just unable to find any way to go on with this,” he said. “It just wasn’t there.” Sen. Nickalus Johnson agreed. “I do not feel like any of the charges that were brought against Ms. Fordham held constitutionally impeachable,” he said. “Also, we did not want to set precedents for some of the charges because we did not feel like they would rise to the level of setting a prece dent for impeachment.” Finance Committee Chairwoman Sally Bal lentine said the ruling was wrong. “I think this is a travesty, and I think that every student oiganizalion on this campus, their alloca tions will suffer,” Ballentine said. “Large and small clubs will all suffer from this because they have someone administrating that has not been there and has not prepared.” However, Fordham said she thought the vote was fair. “I feel like justice has been served,” she said. “Justice has definitely been served. I feel like this is what should have happened from the very beginning. This should’ve never come up.” The dismissal means that Fordham won’t face a trial in the senate, where it’s unclear whether she would have been convicted and removed from * office. The court announced its decision a day after hearing aiguments from Fordham and Ballentine, who has called for Fordham’s impeachment and removal, at an official hearing Monday. Several senators and Fordham’s parents were among those in attendance at both meetings. The Impeachment see pact 4 ‘I feel like this' is what should have happened from the very beginning.’ Elizabeth Ford ham, SG Treasurer | SAGE: Take global action by Kelly Haggerty Senior Writer ^ Students Allied for a Greener Earth Held the National Environmental Trust’s Pollution Solution Tour on Tuesday in an effort to educate students about how to reduce global wanning. The tour, held outside the Russell House, showcased eneigy-efficient prod ucts, wliich are either on the market now or will be in the next five years. Featured were three eneigy-efficient vehicles, two electric bicycles and a mobile home with solar-powered appliances. Among the eneigy-efficient products in the mobile home were a television, an air conditioner and a computer that uses a quarter of the electricity normal moni tors use. Also displayed were solar-powered •roducts, such as flashlights and laptop battery chargers, fire-resistant insulation that termites avoid made of recycled newsprint and a wind turbine, which, in winds of 18 mph or more, could charge the battery on a small boat. The tour also featured a photograph, taken by a thermo-imaging camera, show ing heal levels surrounding the Pinck ney/Legare residence hall. Environmental Trust Spokesman John Flowers said the image shows how heat can leak out of the dorm rooms because the windows have single instead of dou ble panes. “Basically, the students are paying to heat die outside of the building,” Flow ers said. “It’s pretty much a waste of heat.” The lour began Oct. 4 in Bucks Coun ty, Penn., and will end Dec. 2 in Albany, N.Y., having traveled to 36 cities in 14 states. Paul Mutter, who travels with Flow ers, said: “We’re here to show that there are simple things that we can do that are inexpensive, easy and will [prevent] air pollution, which contributes to global warming.” According to Flowers and Hutter, the easiest way for people to conserve ener SAGE SEE PAGE 2 The graduate research science center comes closer to opening " ' vWSr ''3 _ ~ I ...._..._.i Amy Goulding The Gamecock Jose Martinez works on drying the new tile on a floor In the Graduate Science Research Center next door to the Towers. Holocaust revisionist targets colleges by John Huiett Assistant News Editor A California-based publisher is distributing a newsletter to university newspapers nation wide in an effort to encourage students to rethink accepted historical facts of the Holocaust. “The Revisionist,” the brainchild of San Diego publisher Bradley Smith, contends that many accounts of the extermination of millions of Jews by Hitler’s Third Reich during World War II are either exaggerated or false. The publication includes assertions that Hitler’s orders to exterminate Jews were “imag inary and forged,” dismisses a witness to mass murder at the Belzec death camp and questions American recognition of the Holocaust through the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Wash ington, D.C., by saying the Holocaust was “huge ly a non-American tragedy.” Smith said it’s necessary to target university publications with “The Revisionist” because col leges are largely responsible for discouraging de bates about Holocaust facts. “I am encouraging a free press and intellec tual freedom with regard to the Holocaust con troversy,” Smith said. “I am a simple writer who discovered that the academic community par ticipated in creating a taboo regarding what went down between the Germans and the Jews dur ing World War II, and that the academic com munity has the primary responsibility for main taining the taboo today.” Although Smith offers no evidence when asked to support his belief that the Holocaust has been misrepresented by history, he said it’s im HOLOCAUST see page 4 U.S. representative to speak at BGLA conference by Brock Vergakis News Editor An openly gay U.S. congressman has commit ted to speak at the ninth annual Bisexual, Gay, Les bian and Transgender Southeastern Conference, to be held on campus in February. U.S Rep. Barney Frank, D- Mass., will be the keynote speaker for more than 250 bisexual, gay, lesbian and transgender students from different col leges and universities around the Southeast. According to Pat Patterson, graduate assistant for the Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Association, Frank is one of only three openly gay congressmen. “He was one of the most vocal Democrats in the House during the Clinton impeachment trial,” Patterson said. “He was all over the news. Shows like ‘20/20’ and ‘Meet the Press.’” Joining Frank at the conference will be the sis ter of Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., former Speaker of the House. Candace Gingrich is openly lesbian and works with the Human Rights Campaign, the largest lob bying organization for gays and lesbians in the na tion. Candace Gingrich is the director of the Na tional Coming Out Project Patterson said more speakers will be announced as the conference date approaches. The BGLA hopes to have a large student in volvement by bringing in a lot of big names that stu dents will recognize. “We hope to involve as many members of the USC community as we can. Whether it be athletes, fraternity members or sororities who volunteer, we just want to get as many people involved as we can,” Patterson said. This is the first year USC has hosted the con ference. “Last year, it was at Duke, and the year be fore, it was at the University of Florida. So we're in good company, and it's a big honor for us to be selected,” Patterson said. He said the purpose of the conference is to both educate and develop leadership skills for those stu dents in attendance. This year’s theme is “Learning from our past, teaching for the future.” Patterson said the BGLA hopes to hold 40 work shops during the conference, including some on de veloping successful student organizations, campus safety and self defense; coming out issues; and health and wellness issues. Conference see page 2 Weather Inside Datebook Online Poll Today 81 54 Thursday 80 56 Oxfam holds a relay for hunger awareness Page 2 Today • Emerging Leader Graduation • Student senate, 5 p.m., Russell House Theater • “Rushmore,” 9 p.m., RH Theater * Thursday , • NAACP, 6 p.m. • SALA, 7:30 p.m. • “Rushmore,” 9 p.m., RH Theater What do you think of the spur and claw painted on the Woodrow court? Go to wwwt^amccock.sc.edu to,, vote in this week’s poll.