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_Vql. 93, No. 71 Mon March 13, 2000 _ ina Community since 1Q08 .. University or South Carolina . Cot™**. — ■ ' i .”• r: r--T- -T J - - ~; ' ’• ' DMV tracks uninsured drivers A ssociated Press Greenville — The state Depart ment of Motor Vehicles is developing a computer system to track who is driving without insurance. Under the new system, insurance companies would electronically report to state when drivers purchase, cancel or renew their insurance. DMV would then match that data against vehicle registra tion records to determine who is driving without insurance. DMV officials hope to install the sys tem by .October, replacing an unpopu lar system of random sampling. Currently, DMV employees choose 500 vehicle registration records at ran dom every day, sending letters to own ers demanding proof of insurance. Dri vers have 45 days to get their insurance agent to sign a form confirming the dri ver’s insurance. Judy Sharpe, DMV’s manager of fi nancial responsibility, said random checks are required by state law and will con tinue under the new system. But because DMV will have insurance information for many drivers, it will only send letters to those who are identified as uninsured. Florida is one of 12 states with sim ilar computer systems. Eght years ago, Florida’s system was unable to determine the insurance status of 35 percent of reg istered vehicles. Cooperation with in surance companies has cut that number to 20 percent. ‘‘The system is a good system, but it requires support from both the insurance industry and the motor vehicle side to make it work,” said Janet Dennis, spokes woman for that state’s Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Department. Eeanor Kitzman, president of Co lumbia-based Driver’s Choice Insurance Services, said the system sounds good if programmers are able to avoid glitches and mismatches. “We’ve got to make sure it’s going to work in the real world so we’re not causing problems for consumers that they don’t deserve,” Kitzman said. Marion Cooper, of Greenville, said he liked the idea of the state keeping track of who is insured. Cooper said if insur ance is mandatory, the state should make sure everyone pays. ► “I have always heard there is a num ber of people out there who don’t have it,” Cooper said. Gamecocks give valiant effort at conference tournament File Photo Samecock guard Herbert Lee Davis extends for a slam dunk earlier this season. USC made a strong showing at be SEC Tournament in Atlanta last week by defeating Alabama, 69-59, Thursday and upsetting Tennessee, 75-68, 'riday. USC’s run was spoiled by Auburn on Saturday when the Gamecocks lost in overtime, 77-72. I---—— Marriott drops illegal work rules Handbook amendment won't affect USC's dining services by Kelly Haggerty Assistant News Editor A change in work rules for Sodexho Marriott will not affect USC even though Sodexho-Marriott manages the universi ty’s food service operations. Sodexho-Marriott has agreed to amend its employee handbook by dropping its il legal work rules prohibiting employees from'talking to outsiders about their work ing conditions or talking to each other at the work site before or after their shifts. According to Food Service Opera tions Director Brad Masteller, the policy change will not affect USC because the university has “never barred [employees] from talking about their jobs.” “Our employees talk as much as they want before or after work. Believe me, they talk,” Masteller said. “What they do before or after work is their business. “However, we will monitor how em ployees conduct themselves at work,” Masteller said. Masteller admitted he didn’t know about the illegal rule. He explained that all employees re ceive a handbook from Sodexho-Marriott and one related to USC policies. He said he was sure the rule was in the handbook and would only be brought to attention if a problem occurred. “You have to realize [the handbook] covers over 100,000 employees. What may be a problem elsewhere wouldn’t be a problem here,” Masteller said. Masteller said he thinks the policy change won’t affect the university because there aren’t unions on campus. “I don’t think it’s a problem down here as in the Northeast, where unions have a strong basis,” Masteller said. Director of Business Affairs Richard Wetz, who had been notified by the Ho tel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union about the settlement, agrees with Masteller. “It’s not going to have any affect on USC. This was directed to hotels and for places that are unionized. “Since we don’t have either here [at USC] it will not be an issue,” Wfetz said. Pursuant to the settlement, Sodexho MaRRIOTT seepage A3 Professor sues Web site for slander by Lisa Fernandez College Press Exchange A college teacher’s quixotic legal bat tle to halt vicious name-calling on the In ternet could redefine the scope of re sponsibility on free-flowing Wfeb sites and chat rooms. Daniel Cuizon-Brown, a 20-year vet eran English teacher at City College of San Francisco, is trying to shut down — or at least change the nature of — teacher review.com, which posts anonymous cri tiques of instructors at the college. The openly gay playwright and au thor has been called a “homomaniac” and “mentally ill” on the site, while other teachers have been called racists and wom anizers and accused of hav:ng oral sex, according to his suit. Curzon-Brown is challenging the site’s Webmaster, who he says should be responsible for lies and li belous material posted online. The case is scheduled to be aigued March 29 in San Francisco Superior Court. Should Curzon-Brown prevail, supporters of free cyberspeech fear the case would set a precedent for curbing the Internet’s unfettered, anything-goes nature. They say Webmasters would be come overcautious if held liable for every thing posted on their Web sites. In addi tion, the suit aims to hold the college and its student government liable for having linked to the site, which experts say would be unprecedented. “You would see a chilling effect on the robustness of speech and less op portunities to communicate,” said Eric Goldman, in-house counsel for Epinions, an online consumer review company in Redwood City and an Internet law ex pert at Santa Clara University. Goldman and other legal experts say for better or worse, the Web has its own set of laws. Internet computer service providers are immune from libel liabili ty: They have a special status not enjoyed by traditional media. There have been about a dozen legal opinions nationwide granting libel im munity to America Online and other In ternet service providers since 1996, when the federal Communications Decency Act became law. There is no legal opinion specifical ly defining the role of a Webmaster — the person who maintains a Web site. But experts, including Mike Godwin, First Amendment lawyer and author of “Cy ber Rights: Defending Free Speech in the Digital Age,” aigue that a Webmaster should be granted the same immunity from libel as an Internet service provider. Internet experts say that unlike news paper publishers, who are responsible for all material printed in their newspapers, an ISP is not liable if a third party pro vided the information. ISPs, they argue, are conduits for others’ opinions, and don’t really choose what they print. But absolving Webmasters from all libel liability is not a slam dunk to Jim Slander see page A2 ‘[Web) sites like this are the quintessential forum for expression of opinion...The First Amendment protects comments that are both unkind and flat ter ing.’ Ann Brick ACLU spokesperson Back from vacation With spring break completed, many USC students are returning from trips to different parts of the country. The ten states listed below were tops in the country for traveler spending in 1999. State Total traveler spending (in millions) California Florida New York _ awaCv Illinois Nevada Hawaii New Jersey Pennsylvania Georgia Source: 2000 World Almanac Writers' Festival to begin Wednesday Author Pat Conroy to speak at Koger Center Wednesday Staff Reports The Gamecock Novelist Pat Conroy will be among several novel ists, poets and non-fiction writers who will give talks and read from their works at USC’s annual writers’ fes tival from March 15 to 17. Conroy will replace Kurt Vonnegut, who was orig inally scheduled to speak. Vonnegut is recuperating from injuries suffered during a January house fire. Conroy, author of numerous works including The Lords of Discipline and The Prince of Tides, will open the three-day writers’ festival with a presentation at 8 p.m. March 15 at the Koger Center. All festival events are free and open to the public. Readings on March 16 and 17 will take place in Gam brell Hall, Room 153. In addition to Conroy, festival particpants will in clude USC distinguished Writer-In-Residence Jannette Turner Hospital, South Carolina native and poet Nikky Finney, Winthrop College Poet-in-Residence Su san Ludvigson and writer Rick Bass. The schedule for events is: • March 16,3 JO pm. Reading by HospitaL An Aus tralian native, Hospital has earned critical acclaim for Oyster, which was a finalist in both of Australia’s ma jor literaiy prizes: The Miles Franklin and National Book Award. Four of her short stories have appeared in Britain’s annual “The Best Short Stories in English,” and one of them, “The End-of-the-Line End-of-the-World Disco,” was selected for “The Best of the Best,” an anthology of the decade. •Match 16,8 pm. Reading by Finney. On Wings Made of Gauze, Finney’s first book of poems, was pub lished in 1985, followed by Rice, a collection of story poems and photographs in 1995, and Heartwood a vol ume of short stories in 1997. The University of Ken tucky professor also wrote the script for the documen tary “For Posterity’s Sake,” the story of Harlem pho tographers Moigan and Marvin Smith. She is a found ing member of the community-based writing collective, The Affrilachian Poets. •March 17,3 JO pan. Reaing by Ludvigson. A pro lific writer of poetry, Ludvigson has published six vol umes of poetry by Louisiana State University Press. They include “Northern Lights,” “Beautiful Noon of No Shadow,” “The Swimmer,” “To Find the Gold,” “Everything Winged Must Be Dreaming,” and “Trini ty.” This year, she will publish her collection, “Sweet Confluence, New and Selected Poems.” Ludvigson has represented the United States at the First International Congress of Women Writers in Paris. • March 17,8 p jn. Reading by Bass. Bass is con sidered to be a literary anomaly. He is a Texan and a ge ologist who worked in the oil industry before retiring to Montana to write. Since 1985, he has published 15 volumes of fiction and non-fiction, most of which have an environmental and conservative orientation. His short Festival see page A2 Weather Inside Datebook Online Poll Today 59 36 Tuesday 66 45 * Columnist questions Health Center’s namesake Page A6 Monday • The Gamecock, 4 p.m., RH333 • Fraternity Council, 4 p.m., RH 322/326 • Sorority Council, 5 p.m., RH 322/326 • CP, 3:30 p.m. '% ■;? Tuesday • AAAS, 6 p.m., RH The ater • FOCUS, 8:15 p.m. • S.C. Student Legisla ture, 9 p>m. • RHA, 7 p.m., RH 307 • Spring Board, 5:30 p.m. j • Dance Marathon, 8 p.m. VI As holidays end, should USC make its residence halls accessible earlier? Vote at www.gamecock.sc.edu. Results will be published Friday.