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M—— • Columbia, S.C. Kevin Langston The Gamecock , Jim Miles speaks In the lottery debate. Lottery debaters discuss addiction by Brandon Larrabee The Gamecock Clashing over education funding, support for scholarship increases and the size of government, South Carolina Secretary of State Jim Miles debated with former chief of staff Kevin Ged dings over the lottery Thursday night. During tire debate, which took place in the Russell House Theater, the two sides disagreed without getting overly contentious or negative. Miles, one of the few Republicans left in statewide office, said the lottery would create a group of addicts in South Carolina. He said proposing a state run lottery would be akin to Miles mak ing a proposal to encourage South Carolinians to smoke and increase revenues. "How would you respond to that?" he asked. "Would you think I'd lost my mind?" Miles said gambling was the fastest growing addiction in America. But Geddings said many of the ad diction problems come from sources like Internet gambling. He said that some one could lose ”$1,000 in five minutes" on the Internet - something that would be harder with $1 lottery tickets. "You know how long it’s going to take to scratch off a thousand of these things?" Geddings asked. Geddings said die lottery would pro vide extra money for public education in South Carolina. He said the propos al would allow for more scholarships and technology in classrooms, includ ing helping thousands of students who can't afford college to attend. "Wfe would help 13,000 of those kids go to college without student loans," Geddings said. But Miles said Gov. Jim Hodges was hypocritical for asking for lottery mon ey to raise scholarship funds while not signing a bill to double the size of LIFE scholarships from $2,000 to $4,000. "He felt like it would hurt his po litical cause in relation to the lottery," Miles said. After the debate, Geddings said Hodges supported the bill. "The governor supports increasing the LIFE scholarships," Geddings said. "The governor has not vetoed that pro vision." While Geddings often referred to Georgia in his arguments, Miles said the South Carolina ballot initiative con cerning the lottery mirrored the lan guage used by Florida in their lottery vote. He said that, while all the money from the lottery goes to education in Florida, money previously devoted to schools went elsewhere. "They moved the equivalent amount out of the education budget and spent Lottery seepages Walk raises money to cure diabetes by Betsy Baugh The Gamecock The Juvenile Diabetes Foundation is sponsoring the “Walk to Cure Dia betes” Sunday at the Sesquicentennial State Park in an effort to raise money to battle the disease. Last year the 5K walk raised $540,000 for diabetes research and ed ucation. Director of Juvenile Diabetes Foun dation Gail Ginsbert said the organiza tion’s motivation is to be rid of the dis ease for good. “Our mission is to find a cure for di abetes and its complications through the support of research,” Ginsbert said. “We are the largest organization that funds di abetes research other than the govern ment.” Diabetes is the leading cause of kid ney failure, blindness and non-traumat ic amputations, with more than 16 mil lion people in the United States battling the disease. Every three minutes someone dies from diabetes. There are two types of diabetes, ac cording to the JDF fact sheet. Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in childhood and is caused by the de struction of insulin-producing cells, or islets, in the body. Type 1 diabetics must take insulin to live. Type 2 diabetics can produce insulin, but their bodies don’t use it effectively. This type is usually diagnosed in adult hood. Ginsbert said the latest research has found a way to implant healthy islet cells in the diabetic’s body. However, this ex pensive procedure isn’t always effective because the body sometimes rejects the cells. Also, there’s a small supply of them. “The procedure has been done eight to 10 times, and those experimented on are now diabetic free,” Ginsbert said. "They plan to do 50 more procedures by the end of the year.” Renee Gibson, pubic information co ordinator at the Institute for Families and Society, has had diabetes for 25 years. She said continued research has greatly helped her live a more normal life. “When I was diagnosed with diabetes the doctor gave me what I now call the Diabetes SEE PAGE 2 Election 2000 ^———■—din^ur^jAMEcocK Some USC students could benefit from either of the two proposed plans to fund higher education. Bush and Gore both have plans to aid people wanting to attend college. Bush, Gore propose college funding plans by Alicia Ballard The Gamecock As the presidential candidates grapple for the votes of college students, both are striving to find ways to improve federal aid for college tuition. Republican candidate Geoige W. Bush propos es funneling $7 billion in expanding access to col lege for lower-income students, while Democratic candidate A1 Gore is making up to $10,000 in col lege tuition tax deductible. Bush’s plan adds money to the already existing government programs, according to information re leased by the Republican National Committee’s Vic tory 2000 Coalition. It would fully fund the Pell pro gram for first-year students by increasing the maximum grant amount to $5,100 from its current level of $3,300. All other students would continue to be eligible for the minimum levels. The cost of the pro gram would be $5 billion over five years. Bush is also offering enhanced Pell grants to stu dents who pass advanced-placement or college-lev el math and science courses, giving those students an additional $1,000 dollars for tuition. The cost of this proposal would be $1 billion over five years. He has earmarked $ 1.5 billion over five years to cover state costs to establish a merit scholarship pro gram. States would be allowed to design their own scholarship program, as long as they meet baseline course requirements. States that have already established such a pro gram would still be eligible for federal funding, if they continue and expand their scholarships. The Bush proposal would expand education sav ings accounts, allowing families or individuals with incomes up to $150,000 a year to contribute up to $5,000 annually per child into education savings ac counts. That amount is up from the current $500 limit. Parents would be permitted to withdraw funds without being taxed on any gain or interest earned. Victory 2000 communications director Jim Dyke said the focus of Bush’s plan is to make college ac cessible to everyone. “Governor Bush’s plan focuses on people who need help, and those are people who we should help,” Dyke said. “But, the primary goal is to make college available to all people. Bush hopes to accomplish that by increasing the Pell Grant.” Bush would use part of the money from the pro jected 10-year surplus to fund the $7 billion plan, Dyke said. “Over the next 10 years, there is a $20 trillion projected surplus,” Dyke said “Governor Bush plans to use a part of that to fund his plan. It is also a ques tion of priority. There is money in the current ad ministration now to do these things. Governor Bush plans to make education his top priority.” Dyke also cites Bush’s record in Texas as proof of his commitment to education. “He clearly has shown his dedication to educa tion through his record in Texas,” Dyke said. “His plan helps all Americans through relief funds and Pell grants. He realizes the importance of education for all Americans.” The targets of Gore’s educational proposal are the middle class and prospective teachers, accord ing information released by Gore’s campaign. Gore’s plan would provide families with a tax deduction or a 28 percent tax credit, up to $ 10,000 for tuition and fees. The credit will apply to all post-secondary education, including college, graduate school or skills training. In order to attract college students to the teach ing profession, the Gore plan would provide inten sive support and financial incentives to prospec tive teachers. Financial incentives include up to $10,000 in college aid and expanded loan foigive ness. The plan would benefit about 860,000 college students who,commit to teach in high-need schools or subject-shortage areas. Gore’s plan would also create a national college tuition savings plan that would link existing state col lege savings and pre-paid tuition plans. These ac counts would allow families to save for college tax and inflation free. Dyke said the major fault in Gore’s plan is it ex cludes some people. “Gore’s plan is limited,” Dyke said. “It doesn’t include all Americans. Everyone should have access to a higher education.” Gore representatives were unable to be reached for comment. The city/state desk can be reached at gamecockcftydesk@hotmall.com. Festival celebrates GINT department by Christine Lawhon The Gamecock Jazz music wafted down to the piz za-munching students mingling around the "GINTfest 2000" political displays at the festival on Greene Street Wednesday. Dr. Robert Angel from the Govern mental and International Studies de partment said the reason for the festival was to celebrate the GINT department’s role in educational politics and as a thank you to their students. The chairman of the GINT depart ment Harvey Starr spoke about his con cern over how students may view poli tics. Starr said politics are more than an election eveiy four years; he believes in the importance of a political education. "Government is us, and the key to government is education. The more ed ucated a student is, the more they will participate, care and become involved," Starr said. The organizations of Professional Stu dents of International Studies, College Democrats, College Republicans, the Green Party and more set up booths to introduce themselves to students. President of PS1S Gillian Mabrey said her group was for getting students inter ested in international relations and to help them find internships and jobs. "Wfe want students to know that there is a future in this major," Mabrey said. The College Democrats and Repub licans were also there. They were look ing for student support for the oncoming presidential election. The Green Party performed a drama tization of what they believe Bush and Gore are doing to liberty and how they are only puppets of big name corpora tions. For the demonstration, two students GINTFEST SEE PAGE 2 .."'^^^^^^^""^^^Cnnstm^awho^H^GAMECocK Students dramatize presldental candidates at GINT test 2000 Weather mmmNHRRNNhMMI Today 83 45 Saturday 81 47 Carolina prepares to take on the Hogs. Page 9 “I never forget a face, but in your case, I’ll be glad to make an exception.” — Groucho Marx 3 Friday • Fall Break begins • AAAS annual Step-c Carolina Coliseum, p.m. k Saturday • Football vs. Arkansas 1 (T P-m. g • Great Gamecock Tail gate Party • Hispanic Heritage month ends