Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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January 26, 2000_ Serv e Carolina Community since 1Q08 Assessors to re-examine USCPD for accreditation Iby Patrick Rathbun Assistant News Editor The USC Police Department will un dergo an assessment accreditation process from Saturday to Feb. 2. The process will be the second the department has undeigone. The USCPD first gained accreditation in 19% for three years, during which time accredited agen cies must submit annual reports attest ing to continued compliance. “A team of assessors from the Com mission on Accreditation for Law En forcement Agencies Inc. will arrive Jan. 29 to examine all aspects of the Univer sity of South Carolina division ofLaw En forcement and Safety’s policy and proce ^ires management, operations and support services,” Director ofLaw Enforcement and Safety Ernie Ellis said. “It is a rather involved process.” 1 he UiLPD is going through much preparation, including filing and docu mentation procedures, in order to have information in place for the assessors, El lis said. The assessors can then verify the performance of the department, he said. The assessors will examine the de partment’s procedures, equipment and fa cilities, according to Ellis. They will then examine the quality of such items as pa trol cars, evidence storage and office space, he said. Barbara McMullen, the accreditation program manager for USC’s division of Law Enforcement and Safety, said CALEA will look for various materials. “The assessors will review written Materials, interview individuals and visit offices and other places where compli ance can be witnessed,” she said. The assessors will consist of three out of-state law-enforcement practitioners, McMullen said. Those assessors will report back to a board of commissioners who will decide whether the agency will be accredited again. The final decision will be made in March at a committee meeting in Las Ve gas, where the USCPD will be asked to make presentations and answer questions about its agency. Ellis said that although there are a great Police see page a2 | Unexpected snowstorm disrupts traffic and classes Jammed roads, empty classrooms Photos by Amy Gouiding Residents of Pinckney-Legare (top) and Honors College fresh men (bottom) build snowmen on the Horseshoe during the snow storm that struck Columbia on Monday afternoon. The storm caused classes to be canceled Tuesday. by Kelly Haggerty Assistant News Editor Classes will be canceled and university offices will be closed until 11 a.m. today because of poor weather and road conditions. The announcement follows similar action taken Tuesday, when USC canceled classes and closed its offices for the day following Gov. Jim Hodges’ decision to close 34 state offices. USC spokesman Jason Snyder said waiting for the gov ernor’s decision was typical. “Predominantly in cases of snow we try to follow what the governor dictates,” Snyder said. Snyder said he didn’t know how the cancellation of Tbes day classes would affect the schedule. According to WIS, downtown Columbia received four inches of snow Tuesday, the largest amount in 10 years. For USC students, the snow caused mixed reactions. Some ' students took advantage of the rare opportunity to have snow ball fights and make snowmen all around campus. Others, however, stayed indoors. Information science senior Kenisha Wright spent an hour outside in the snow near Columbia Hall on Monday night. “Some friends and I went outside and took some pic tures and made a medium-sized snowman. We had a scarf wrapped around him and used branches for this arms. I’m afraid he’s melted now, though,” Wright said. Also on Monday exercise science junior Gershona Holmes spent the day playing in the snow with friends. The snowfall became the perfect present for her 21st birthday. “The day started out bad because of the rain, but when I saw the snow, it just made my birthday,” Holmes said. “I went sledding down the hill across from McBiyde on a tray I found from the Russell House. I still have it in my room. I’m thinking about maybe doing it again today.” On the other hand, students like business management ju nior Latanya Davis didn’t dare go outside. “It’s too cold outside for me. I don’t want to go out and play in the snow, but the snow doesn’t bother me. It’s some thing different you don’t see in Columbia veiy often,” Davis said. Journalism freshman Sean O’Meara stayed indoors for some relaxation. “I pretty much slept and did laundry the entire day. 1 didn’t go outside in the snow because 1 only like to snowboard. There’s not really anywhere around here to do that, so there’s no point in going out,” O’Meara said. Still other students were out in the weather trying to dri ve home. Graduate student Rebecca Timmins drove from cam pus to Riverbends Apartments on Monday afternoon in the snow. “1 left work at 3 [on Monday] and didn’t gel back home until about 5. It took two hours for what’s normally a ten minute commute,” Timmins said. Columbia Police Chief Charles Austin said traffic had been almost chaotic. “Gridlock is a mild way to describe it. This is one of the worst storms I’ve experienced in Columbia,” Austin said. History sophomore Jo Anne Barney said she nearly had a nervous breakdown worrying about whether to come to school Tuesday. She said because she lives in the St. Andrews area the drive to campus wouldn’t have been safe for her. She had already made her decision not to come to school on Tuesday before she found out classes had been canceled, even though she didn’t want to be counted as absent. “Whatever decision was going to be made should have been made earlier. 1 was very upset about the way it was handled. It was very stressful to have to wonder if I had to come or not,” Barney said. Snow see page u Record snowfall blankets Carolinas ^Commission outlines rules for candidates by Clayton Kale News Editor Filing for Student Government elec tions began Monday, but the office was closed Tuesday because of inclement weather. SG Dec lions Commission Chairman Emilie LeMaster said there won’t be an extension for students wishing to file for candidacy. Vs f they came [Tuesday] to file for election, they’ll probably come back when the [SG] offices are open,” LeMas ter said. “And there is still plenty of time to file,” she said. According to the SG constitution, a prospective candidate must file before campaigning to certify that he “meets the requirements for the office, has read the appropriate rules, and grants the Stu dent Government advisor permission to certify academic eligibility.” After filing, a candidate for execu tive office must disclose the names of his campaign staff and is in chaige of keep ing the Elections Commission up to date on staff changes. The Elections Commission is charged by the SG constitution to enforce the election codes, the selection and train ing of poll workers, and all publicity deal ing with the elections, among other du ties. Persons filing for senate candidacy must pay a $5 filing fee. The filing fee for executive offices is $25. Twenty dol lars of that is refundable if the candidate's campaign material is removed from cam pus within 48 hours of the election. The Elections Commission is in chaige of inspecting campus to ensure prompt removal of campaign materials. The Elections Commission can de clare any person ineligible to file for or Elections see page a2 Professor runs for president, breaks law by Joel Sawyer Staff Writer A USC political science professor has been fined $200 by the Federal Election Committee for inten tionally violating campaign finance laws in his presi dential campaign. Dr. William Kreml received the fine for refusing to disclose donors, filing a Financial Disclosure Report late and for refusing to disclose how he’s spending his cam paign contributions. “1 wanted to violate one law in each categoiy,” Kreml said. Kreml decided to conduct this campaign to protest current regulations regarding campaign finance. Specif ically, he wanted to protest individuals’ ability to spend unlimited amounts of money on certain types of cam paign advertising. A Supreme Court case in 1976, Buckle v. Valeo, ruled that individuals may spend unlimited amounts of money on issue advertising as long as the advertise ment didn’t specifically mention which candidate to vote for. This is different from “soft money” in that it isn’t funneled through a party or organization, but Kreml thinks that these types of spending are “both corrup tions.” “The system has been bought,” Kreml said. This is the effect of what he calls “undemocratic decentralization,” which the number of and autonomy of congressional committees and sub committees increased during the 1970s. “Individual members of Congress were less a part of their party — the institution — and that happened at the same time campaigning became much more expensive,” Kreml said. “Individual members of Congress had to go to the special interests [groups and] the lobbyists for the large amounts of money needed to stay in office.” Kreml said he thinks that the Supreme Court mis understood the First Amendment in ruling on Buckley v. Valeo. “With regard to expenditures, money equals free speech,” he said. “The supporters of the Bill of Rights weren’t concerned solely with individual rights — they were concerned about the ability of people to cre ate majorities and mobilize government.” Kreml thinks that the ill effects of this are apparent in the incumbancy rate, which was 98.3 percent in 1998. This incumbancy rate is higher than that of the 'The supporters of the Bill of Rights weren't concerned solely with individ ual rights — they were concerned about the ability to create majorities and mobilize government.' WilHam Kroml USC professor / presidential candidate Supreme Soviet under Communism. According to Kreml, only about 10 percent of congressional districts are ever really competitive. Kreml is refusing to pay the FEC’s fine against him. His goal is to take a test case to the Supreme Court for the purpose of overturning Buckley v. Valeo. It’s unclear what steps will be taken against him next, but he said hopes that his refusal to pay the fine will result in him getting his day in court. Kreml will appear on the ballot in the South Car olina Democratic primary on March 9. HBfgflHER POLL * fgj| Today i 42 21 Thursday Encore becomes Guided By Voices Encore! Wednesday • Journalism Career Fair • Student Organization Fair, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., RH Patio • Student Senate, 5 p.m, RH Theater • Fencing Club, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., Blatt 306 Thursday • NAACP, 6 p.m. • SALA, 7:30 p.m. • Entries close soccer, table tennis, badminton r Will online voting for the upcoming SG elections Jncrease voter turnout? Vote at www.gamecock.sc.edu. Results will be pifclished Friday.