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Carolina News_ McCain from page 1 “But they fought to sever the union of our great nation, a cause that would have terribly harmed America, perhaps irreparably, and, for a time at least, per petuated the grave injustice of slavery,” McCain said. “They fought on the wrong side of American history.” McCain added: “That is the honest answer I never gave to a fair question.” While calling a plan that passed the Senate on April 12 “a good faith effort” to resolve the controversy, McCain point edly didn’t endorse any specific plan. McCain said he was previously afraid to reveal his views on the flag because he thought it would cost him the South Car olina primary. McCain did lose the pri mary, to Texas Gov. Geoige W. Bush, on Feb. 19. McCain said he still believes South ■Carolinians can resolve the issue by them • selves. “I know you will get there,” McCain said. “You are good people.” Bush has said the flag is a state issue and has declined to comment on whether he believes it should come down. He main tained that position Thursday. “It’s the right of the state of South Carolina to make the decision on the flag,” Bush said McCain’s comments were deliv ered at Rosewood’s restaurant, on the state fairgrounds. A handful of people stood outside the fairgrounds waving Confed erate flags. Rep. Lindsey Graham, who was one of McCain’s key supporters in Congress and South Carolina, said McCain came to South Carolina to “set the record straight.” “I think what John did today was for John McCain,” said Graham, who said he was one of the ones who advised McCain against speaking his mind on the Con federate flag issue. Graham said he agreed with Mc Cain that the flag offended people. “You don’t have to be a rocket sci entist to figure that out,” Graham said. Others weren’t as kind as Graham; a few council members who attended the lunch didn’t applaud when McCain fin ished his speech. Larry Bull, a McCain supporter who attended the luncheon, said McCain shouldn’t have commented on the flag. “I think the flug is in a good place,” Bull said. He said the flag was raised in defiance of Washington. “I think it still serves the same pur pose,” Bull said, adding that South Car olina seceded once and “we hold the right to do so again.” The Associated Press contributed to this article. Residents forced to abandon apartments Kitchen fire in Cornell Arms causes more than $11,000 in damage by Brandon Larrabee • Associate News Editor Cornell Arms residents were forced to abandon their apartments for about an hour Wednesday after a fire broke out in a room on the second floor, doing an estimated $ 11,500 in damage. Residents had to leave their apartments around 8 p.m. and were allowed to return about 9:15 p.m., Co lumbia Battatlion Chief Aubrey Jenkins said. Mandy Pierce, a sports administration sophomore at USC, said she was asleep when the fire alarm went off. “I just heard the obnoxious alarm going off, and it woke me up,” Pierce said. She said it took her five minutes to decide whether the alarm was false. Pierce wasn’t the only one wondering whether the alarm was false. “Everyone at first though it was a false alarm,” said Garrett Hartzog, who is entering USC’s MIBS program this summer. Hartzog, who said Wednesday was his first day iij the building, said he left the building within about five minutes of hearing the alarm. “And then people just kept pouring out,” he said. Christopher White, a student at Midlands Tech, al so thought it was a false alarm. White said he thought: “Somebody has played with the fire alarm again.” White eventually made his way to the stairwell door, where he smelled smoke, he said. “I knew... right then that it was a fire,” White said. Not knowing if the fire was in the stairwell, White said, he returned to his room until some resi dents came up the stairs. Then he knew it was safe to head downstairs. Alyssa Perkowski, a marketing junior at USC, said she was unfamiliar with the sound of the alarm, which she had never heard. « “I thought the fire alarm was on my TV,” Perkows ki said. “And then I heard the fire trucks and stuff.” She said it took her “at least ten minutes” to figure out what was going on and leave the building. USC history senior Jacob Brechko thought the sound was coming from some partying neighbors. “I thought it was next door,” he said He said that within a few minutes after figuring out - it was a fire alarm, he thought he “might as well leave.” He said he grabbed his cat and left his apartment. Columbia Battalion Chief Aubrey Jenkins said the fire began-when a resident left his pot on the stove and left to go shopping. “When he got back, he discovered he had an apart ment full of smoke,” Jenkins said. Jenkins said the es- - timated the $11,500 in damage, included fire and smoke damage in the kitchen and light smoke damage in the rest of the apartment. The fire was contained in the kitchen, Jenkins said The first fire trucks were dispatched to the scene about 8:07 p.m. and made it to the scene in about four minutes, Jenkins said. He said the fire was under con trol by 8:28, and most residents were allowed to return to their apartments at about 9:15. 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