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Ihe ©amtcock Fraternity from page 1 of this," Dossaji said. According to the president, the na 9 tional body weighted the organization as a whole to see if it qualified to regain its charter. Also, all its members had to past a fraternity history test. The fraternity also had to contact past alumni as a condition of re-char tering. One of those alumni, Director of Student Life Jerry Brewer, even helped the group in its re-chartering. Along with various requirements, Phi Kappa Phi had to produce a 200 page re-charting proposal. Part of the proposal was a new consititution, by laws and committee rules. "The hardest part [of getting to re chartered] was getting everyone to work towards a common goal," Pi Kappa Phi Vice-President Jason Springs said. "It is probably the hardest thing I have every worked on outside of class." Until Saturday night, the members of the fraternity were only considered an associate chapter by the national body. In addition to the re-charting, Pi Kappa Phi got an on-campus hall this semester. The fraternity applied for a space in McBryde Quad, and a fraterni ty moved out over the summer, making a space available. Pi Kappa Phi is also looking to get a house in the proposed Greek Village when it’s built. "That should be a tremendous re cruitment, when we finally get a house," Dossaji said. Pi Kappa Phi is one of only a hand ful of fraternities that were started in South Carolina. It was founded in 1904 at the College of Charleston. The university desk can be reached at gamecockudesk@hotmail.com. Churces, state agency stress •importance of organ donation by Lindsey Marshall The Gamecock Nov. 10-12 marked National Donor Sabbath Weekend, with a goal to raise awareness about oigan and tissue dona tion across the country as local church es joined with the South Carolina Organ Procurement Agency, or SCOPA. On Sunday, churches across South Carolina handed out educational pam phlets on the importance of organ dona tion to its members. Nearly 100 church es in South Carolina were scheduled to participate in the cause, and more than 30,000 bulletins were issued. According to SCOPA Community Relations Coordinator Steven Padgett, 17,000pamphlets were given out last year. This year, more than 45,000 were dis tributed. “One organ can save the lives of hun dreds within a very small community,” Padgett said. “Fifteen die each day sim ply because they are not available.” According to SCOPA statistics, every 20 minutes someone is added to the trans plant waiting list. More than 72,000 peo ple await organ transplants in the Unit ed States, with more than 800 residing in South Carolina alone. Nearly 1,000 churches were to be involved nationwide this weekend. These statistics illustrate the need for raising the general public’s awareness about organ and tissue donation nation ally and locally, Padgett said. Not only does SCOPA head this week end’s project, they also do numerous pro jects throughout the year. South Caroli na is part of SCOPA’s national interdenominational outreach program. The annual projects usually focus on minority groups or other groups to pro mote and educate them on organ dona . tion. The United Methodist Church is the largest religious participant in the pro gram in Columbia, and it has recently adopted a resolution to help in education throughout the year. This weekend’s pro ject is sponsored in South Carolina by the Gift of Life Trust Fund. The promotion is designed to help those in the community awaiting organs for eventual transplants. Simply by choosing “organ donor” on their licenses, everyone can help with this cause and possibly save someone’s life, Padgett said. SCOPA is a non-profit agency feder ally designated to provide organ donation services and education in South Caroli na. The Gift of Life Trust Fund also en courages people to discuss their decision about donation with their family mem bers. For more information about organ and tissue donation, visit the organization’s Web site at http://www.scopa.oig. Their toll free number is 1-800462-0755. The city/state desk can be reached at gamecockcitydesk@hotmail.com. Vote totals officially reported in Florida; recounts continue by Ron Fournier Associated Press One week into America’s election limbo, Florida counties officially re ported their presidential votes after a Estate judge upheld Tuesday’s deadline, even as thousands of disputed ballots were counted into the night at A1 Gore’s behest. “When is it going to end?” asked Bush aide James A. Baker III. There was no answer in sight. Baker floated a proposal to cease the ballot-by-ballot fight for the White House, but Democrats said he offered nothing new — and dismissed it out right. With lawyers and judges front and center in the presidential election, nerves began to fray and adjectives failed to serve. “It’s like the seventh day of being held hostage,” stammered Jeb Bush, governor of Florida and the harried broth er of the GOP presidential hopeful. The latest maigin for Bush was 286 ■ votes, according to an unofficial AP tal ly judge Terry Lewis ruled that coun ties could file new vote totals after the state’s 5 p.m. Tuesday deadline to cer tify ballots. He gave Secretary of State Katherine Harris, a Bush supporter, au thority to reject or approve them us ing “the proper exercise and discretion. It was a setback for the vice presi dent, who wanted a clear order lifting the Tuesday deadline, but his lawyers found solace in ruling language uiging Harris to consider “all appropriate facts and circumstances.” _ Gore decided to hold off an appeal T.nd press forward with recounts in four Democratic-leaning counties. He hopes Harris will approve the hand-counted ballots and is prepared to appeal if she doesn’t. Officials in Volusia County pledged an appeal, saying they needed more time to complete their hand recount. “If the secretary of state arbitrarily refuses to accept the amended returns based on the recount and violates what tliis court has ruled... wliicli is to accept those results unless she has good reason not to, then we will be back in court,” said a new member of Gore’s massive legal team, David Boies. A lawyer for Harris said if updated totals are submitted after Tuesday’s dead line, “It is then in her discretion to con jjfcder all the facts and circumstances, and she will certainly do that.” The spokes women, Donna Blanton, s^id the out come of the statewide election should be known on Saturday, when all over seas absentee ballots have been count ed. But she left open the issue that could determine who becomes the nation’s 43rd president — offering no definitive guidance on the fate of hand recounts in progress in scattered counties at Gore’s request. The race tumbled to the courts af ter a statewide machine recount trimmed Bush’s lead from 1,784 votes to a few hundred, prompting Gore to push for painstaking manual recounts and Bush to fight them in courts of law and pub lic opinion. Officials in two counties tabulated ballots by hand Tuesday, with action in two other jurisdictions pending. Shoving matches and shouting fits punctuated the action inside and outside Florida’s courtrooms. Jeb Bush said tilings were getting “nerve-racking” through out his state. “I can’t even walk around outside now,” he said at a town hall meeting 60 miles northwest of Tallahassee. President Clinton weighed in from Air Force One, telling AP reporters he hnnoc tho rlicniitn tr\ » nroc. idency crippled by controversy. “I think it’s too soon to say that bit terness and partisanship will paralyze the next president,” Clinton said as he flew from Hawaii to Brunei. “We don’t know that.” With the razor-thin lead in ballots counted so far, Baker said presidential candidate Bush would accept the results of manual recounts collected by close of business Tuesday and the overseas ab sentee ballots due in Friday. Both sides would also drop their dueling lawsuits, Baker said. “It truly was not a proposal,” sniffed Gore campaign chairman William Da ley during a visit to Capitol Hill to calm Democrats leaders. “It was strictly, in my opinion, an inaccurate description of the laws of Florida. The laws of Flori da will be determined by the courts.” If any Democrats were jittery about the course Gore was steering for the par ty, they appeared to benefit from hand holding on Tuesday by Daley. “The support of the caucus is sol id,” said House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, even as Democrats said pri vately they would reassess after final overseas ballots are counted Friday. Bush’s team has heard some com plaints from Republicans who want him to be more aggressive in courts and in the media. “There’s a sense of helplessness, that we’re watching an American presi dential election being stolen right out from under our nose and nothing’s be ing done to stop it,” said Rusty Paul, for mer Georgia GOP chairman. Both Bush and Gore were lying low. Gore called for calm on Monday but de clined to field reporters’ questions. Bush monitored the legal fight from his ranch in Texas for a third straight day and ex pected to talk to journalists Wednesday. The presidents-in-waiting are try ing to strike a balance between their de sire to be seen as prepared — and a fear that they will appear overeager. Gore leads in the nationwide popu lar vote by just 200,000 votes out of 100 million cast, but the Electoral College tally is so close that whoever takes Flori da almost certainly will win the White House. Only three times in the nation’s , history has a candidate won the popular I vote but lost the presidential race, the last time in 1888. Not counting Florida, Bush carried 29 states for 246 electoral votes. Gore counted 19 states plus the District of Columbia for 262 electoral votes, with 270 needed for victory. Gore led in New Mexico, but the state remained too close to call. Republicans have talked about chal lenging Gore’s victories in close-voting states other than Florida, but the tactic would be a long shot. A new poll Tuesday said voters believe the results of the recount in Florida should deter mine the next president. The Bush campaign has said for days it would accept the results of absentee ballots and those certified by Tuesday. Baker threw in the manual counts in a further effort to portray Bush as the on ly candidate who wanted the issue re solved quickly. “It would give some degree of fi nality,” Baker said. He said Bush was taking a risk be cause manual counts could erode his lead. But Republicans have closely mon itored the recount process and knew there was little chance Gore could over take the Texan by Tuesday night. “That’s like offering sleeves from his vest,” Christopher cracked. t Visit Our Gamecock Store At 4464 Devine Street In Columbia . SPECIAL APPEARANCES 10:30am - 12:00pm • George Rogers, Duce Staley, Coach Eddie Fogier (will be signing autographs) • USC Cheerleader Performance • Mascots: Cocky And BI-LO Bull • Pepsi Wagon • Product Sampling-Wednesday Thru Saturday USC PEP RALLY 5:00pm - 7:00pm In Preparation for the USC vs. Clemson Football Game on Saturday • FREE Hot Dogs, Chips And Drinks • USC Cheerleader Performance • Mascots: “Cocky” And BI-LO Bull • “Tiger Burn” Display GRAND FINALE FIREWORK SHOW 7:00pm ■lsPSL L •-■ st H™L ,.» —HP®®,.-. fflSP®,. ^SSPB 1 !?!£ i r^i | Any 990 Or Above | I Moore’s Or Wise | i Snack Item ■ I I . $ m SAW • SAW. . 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