Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Vol. 94, No. 38 December 1, 2000 www.GAMECOCh.SC.EDU UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA - COLUMBIA, $.C, jBpBHIIlIiipiiilllMMHMBMiiililliilllMM Lawsuits: Med School lied to donors, families by Bran don Larrabee The Gamecock Lawsuits fifed against USC in Rich land County Crcuit Court paint a damn ing portrait of Jie university’s body-donor program, allying the university misrep resented hov it disposed of the remains of the donrrs and then obstructed rela tives’ altenpts to find out where their loved one> were buried. Die even lawsuits, viewed Thursday by The Jamecock, allege the university I—-' promised the donors they would be giv en “a dignified and respectful burial, after cremation, in a well-maintained ceme tery” before dumping the remains in un kempt mass graves. The “gift of body” program, begun by the university in the 1970s, is run by the School of Medicine, which uses the bodies to teach students. University officials have declined to comment on the chaiges, citing the on going litigation. The lawsuit asks for unspecified dam ‘The Defendant made these false statements with the intention of increasing the number of bodies donated to their program.* A lawsuit filed by Nancy Jo Strange ages on a number of charges, including negligence, gross negligence and reck lessness; breach of contract; fraud; inten tional infliction of emotional distress; neg ligent misrepresentation and wrongful bur ial. According to a lawsuit filed by Aman-. da Bridges, the granddaughter of three body donors, “the University of South Carolina, by its acts or omissions, was neg ligent, careless, reckless, willful, and wan ton” in its actions surrounding the buri als, causing Bridges emotional harm. Three of Bridges’ grandparents were donated to the university between 1979 and 1988. The lawsuits also allege “the defen dant used its position of power and au thority, as a university and agency of the Holiday Gridlock Brad Walters The Gamecock Shoppers make their way through Haywood Mall In Greenville on Nov. 24 during what’s traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year. Customers who wanted to get Into Kay-Bee Toy Store said they had to wait up to 25 minutes because of the store’s fire codes. Columbia police department tries to curb traffic problems by Eugene Rodillo The Gamecock The Christmas season: a time of merriment, gift-giving and, of course, the ever-present traffic problems that plague Harbison Boulevard. But tliis year, the Columbia Police Department is trying to curb traffic woes before they begin, of fering alternative routes for shoppers who feel ■1 drawn to the Harbison area this holiday season. Sheriff’s Ll Kevin Mooney said trolleys would be in service and running throughout the entire mall area to help alleviate the gridlock, including service to stand-alone shops and eateries such as Chili’s and Marshalls. He said Columbia police are encouraging shop pers to use alternative routes to access the Harbi son area. Alternatives include using Lake Murray Boulevard (SC 60) and Mall Drive to reach Columbiana Mall, and another route is to use Bow er Parkway and Jamil Road, off Piney Grove Road, to access the businesses on the east side of Harbi son Boulevard. However, Mooney said he’s optimistic the po lice will be able to move motorists along without a liitch, using the Friday after Thanksgiving, the tra ditional beginning of the holiday shopping season, as an example. “The traffic was so full on Black Friday, but we were able to keep the cars moving,” Mooney said. “We had six officers out there just directing traf fic.” Mooney said people’s need to shop would be stronger than the temptation to stay in and avoid traffic. “The traffic,wouldn’t stop me,” he said. “I’ve been doing it on one day for six years, and that’s Christmas Eve, and it hasn’t failed since.” Merchants'; too, said they’re optimistic traffic won’t decrease the amount of shoppers willing to drive to the Haibison area. Dillard’s employee Don Katz said people would continue to shop at the mall and other stores regardless of crowds and traffic. “They will still come to the mall,” Katz said. “There are so many choices of stores and places to go to.” Katz thinks shoppers endure traffic inconve nience on Harbison because of the shopping con venience the area offers. “The mall has a lot of specialty shops, and there are also many other stores around the mall,” Katz said. “They can do all their shopping with one slop.” Eric Reformado, another Dillard’s employee, added that Harbison not only has a vast amount of stores, but it also has many restaurants where peo ple like to eat. Ultimately, though, he felt some shoppers feel disheartened to come to the mall. “It’s discouraging to know you will get stuck in traffic when all you want to do is go to the mall,” Brad Walters The Gamecock Traffic snarls Friday on Haywood Road In Greenville as cars make their way Into Haywood Mall, one of the state’s largest shopping centers. Reformado said. Ellen Henderson, a shopper at Old Navy, said she sees both sides of the dilemma. She said she prefers to go another side of town to complete her shopping, but could understand why people would choose Harbison. “I go to Columbia Mall because Harbison is al ways crowded,” Henderson said. “I know a lot of people who will not go there because of traffic. But I also know a lot of people who just don’t care about it.” Darcy Robirds is another shopper who said she is fed up with all the traffic problems. Her solution is to not even leave the house. “The holidays are hectic to begin with, and that just makes the traffic even worse,” she said. “So this year I decided to shop online for all of my gifts.” The city/state desk can be reached at gamecockdtydesk@hotmall.com. State of South Carolina, to adversely af fect the Plaintiff’s interests as well as those interests of tire Plaintiff’s deceased grand parents.” It also claims the university lied to Bridges. “The Defendant was purposely eva sive and misleading regarding the true whereabouts of the burial site of the ash es of the Plaintiff’s grandparents,” it says. The lawsuit alleges the university wouldn’t tell Bridges where Iter grand Lawsuits see page 2 USC Student Government Bill would loosen SG restrictions by Amanda Silva The Gamecock Because of a proposed set of new amendments to election codes, students running for Student Government will have to deal with less campaigning restraints, SG Sen. Michael Kozlarek said Thursday. “My attitude toward this is, I want the elections to be as open and democratic as possible,” said Kozlarek, who reorganized the bill according to the new amendments. The bill Kozlarek drafted cited “the necessity of encouraging political debate, and the need to protect first amendment privileges in order for tire election codes to embrace fundamental principles of democracy.” While one of the codes was merely rewritten, two were brand new and con cerned the controversial issue of person to-person campaigning during the elec tions. The cause for debate centers on where candidates are allowed to campaign, par ticularly in what buildings. Many of the buildings serve as polling stations and, ac cording to Kozlarek, it would be illegal for the candidates to campaign within them, as outlined in the present election codes. “I understand there is some concern about allowing people to campaign in the buildings Kozlarek said. “But we as a stu dent government should not restrict them, it should be left up to the deans of the col leges to decide whether or not to allow campaigning in the buildings.” Kozlarek said he wants the election codes to be as open as possible, and rather tlian the two days of campaigning, there should be four. The four days would con sist of person-to-person campaigning and distribution of campaign materials, ac cording to Kozlarek. “I think it should be open as possible, or at least left up to the deans of each col lege to make the final decision,” he said. One of the buildings Kozlarek iden tified as being a possible problem for can didates campaigning is the Russell House, which also serves as a polling station dur ing elections. “The way I read our codes now, they provide that there can be no cam paigning in any building which also serves as an official polling station,” he said. The amended codes were only intro duced to die body for a period of techni cal questioning, but will be further dis cussed at next week’s senate meeting, where questions concerning the content of the bill will be open for debate. The university desk can be reached at gamecockiMesk@hotmalLcom. Weather Inside Quote of the Day Datebook The Columbia Museum of Art’s latest exhibit Page 4 ^ r "In a thousand pounds of law, there is not an ounce of love.” — John Ray Friday • Women’s Basketball vs. Akron at the Carrier Classic, 1 p.m. Saturday • Men’s basketball at Char lotte University, 7:30p.m. • Women’s Basketball vs. Syracuse at the Carrier Classic, 1 p.m.