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_Vol. 94, No. 47 Monday January 29, 2001_ Serving the Ca rolina Community since 1Q08 WWW.DAILYGAMECOCK.COM UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA * COLUMBIA, S.C. USC celebrates MLK Day with rally, volunteering by Maggie Stewart The Gamecock A rally on Jan. 27 concluded USC’s iwo-wcck long scries of events cele brating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The theme of this year’s celebra tion was “Rcnicnibcr-Celebratc-Acl.” The event consisted of a rally on Greene Street and a march to Martin Luther King Park behind Five Points. Upon arriving at the park, nearly 500 volunteers from USC, City Year and Columbia were divided into 23 groups and bused to community service work sites across Columbia, including Epworlh Children’s Home, the Ar borctorum and Pets Inc. Tiffany Elser, a volunteer who served as a site leader, said, “1 wanted to ... help get everyone involved and to help give back to the community.” Before service began, however, about 150 students and volunteers gathered at the Russell House at 8 a.m., where speeches were given by Student Government President Jotaka Eaddy and representatives from USC’s Bicentennial Committee, Dance Marathon, Basic Theater and the Office of Community Service Programs. Isaac Williams, district aide to Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., was the fea tured speaker. In addition, Anilra Davis, a third year College of Science and Mathe matics student and the coordinator of I ‘The purpose of the day is to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and to celebrate him for being such an admirable man in our society/ Anrtra Davis Day of Service Coordinator die Day of Service, spoke about her feel ings toward the celebration. “The purpose of the day is to hon or Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and to celebrate him for being such an ad mirable man in our society,” Davis said. She also explained why the celebration was held nearly two weeks after Martin Luther King Jr. Day. “This year, instead of having the day of service on the recognized holiday (Jan. 15), we decided to have it on the 27th so that students would not just be moving back into the residence halls, and so they would also have tinte to hear ahout the event,” Davis said. Eaddy look the stage to welcome Kmo SEE PAGE 2 Councilman ' allegedly asks employees to waive his bills by Charles Prashaw Thk Gamkcock A Columbia City councilman will be formally investigated for having others waive his bills, according to information released Friday at City Hall. Councilman E. W. Cromarlic, who represents the downtown area and the city’s northeast neighborhoods, has been accused of having city staffers waive his personal business fees and other city bills ( he owed. City officials didn’t release any details in the matter Friday but simply said the councilman was under investigation. Assistant City Manager Charles Williams was named in the release for allegedly waiving business license fees, as well as garbage and water bills, for Cromarlic. The bills, which came from his private residence on Haskell Avenue and a private business, were left unpaid for several months, according to city records. The bills were zeroed out with no given explanation. Williams told The Free Times that Cromartic’s dealings with the city were always “on the level.” However, the city’s formal ' investigation stems from a scries of articles The Free Times did on the councilman’s numerous unpaid city bills. In a public statement, Cromartic said his struggles with his taxes and other finances have been well-docu mented, but he has always paid before being taken to court or losing property. “Everyone who is in business has money problems,” Cromartic said. “Sometimes I was late, and when I was, I paid the penalties.” Cromartic, who has been on Co lumbia City Council since 1983, was one of the first black members elected to City Council, t The Associated Press contributed to this report. The city desk can be reached at gamecockcitydesk@hotmail.com Student Incubator Center The student incubator center, which will provide financing and office space for 10 new student businesses, will be located at 1233 Washington St Student Government President Jotaka Eaddy announced the S.C. Research Institute’s $150,000 grant which will finance the center, last week. Interest meetings will be held today at 6 pm in Russell House 304 and Wednesday at 6 pm In Russell House 315. Professor: divorce, sexual abuse linked ■ USC's Robin Wilson publishes article in Cornell Law Review, advocates solutions involving justice system by Cristy Infinger The Gamecock Daughters of divorced parents face an increased risk of sexual abuse, according to an article by USC law professor Robin Wilson that has been published in the Cornell Law Review. Wilson teaches domestic relations, health care law, insurance and bioethics in tlic Scliool of Law. Her ninth legal pub lication, “Children at Risk: The Sexual Exploitation of Female Children After Divorce,” explains ways tlic justice sytem can make parents aware of the increased risk their daughters might face as a result of divorce. wnat me social science studies suggest is that once two parents divorce that have daughters, then those girls are exposed to an increased risk of sexual abuse by someone, not necessarily a parent,” Wilson said. The article, published this month, is getting worldwide attention. Wilson presented her article this summer at the Tenth World Conference of the International Society for Family Law in Brisbane, Australia. Wilson proposes that female children arc more likely to become sexually abused after a divorce than males. One reason for this phenomenon, Wilson says, is increased traffic in the child’s life between two houses and two sets of families. Another reason Wilson gives is an initial decrease in supervision immediately following the divorce. Parents aren’t as organized with their children and their lime as is possible in a two-parent home, Wilson said. “We have one very convenient opportunity to address this public health problem, and that is simply to tell two divorcing parents that the risk to their daughters may escalate after their divorce,” she said. That solution might seem simplistic, but many parents don’t think about their daughters’ increased risk of sexual abuse, Wilson said. The article proposes that live justice system tell parents about the increased risk. After learning about the risk, parents might want to take their daughters to risk management classes or talk to them about the possibility so tlicy will be able to handle an abusive ‘We have one very convenient opportunity to address this public health problem, and that is simply to tell two divorcing parents that the risk to their daughters may escalate after their divorce.* Robin Wilson (JSC law professor situation. “We may even want to use this to weigh the scale during a custody proceeding. If one parent refuses to acknowledge this problem, then maybe we should prefer the other parent,” Wilson said. Wilson sees several uses for this information. One is that if the justice sysleni acknowledges this important issue, parents can complete their divorce without the added stress that comes from putting their daughters in a vulnerable position, Wilson said. The univeisily desk can be reachedal gamecockudesk@hotmaiLcom Weather i umr 58 50 Tuesday 62 47 Coming Up Quote of the Day Online Poll IJt'aiKing services investigates illegal use of handicapped tags. Wednesday “He who hesitates is a damned fool.” — Mae West 4 1 ‘We don’t have a history of that’ ■ Administrators, student leaders worry about impact of budget cuts on students, faculty, USC programs * by Brandon Larrabee Thf. Gamecock Gov. Jim Hodges’ proposed 15 percent budget cuts could deeply affect programs that benefit USC students and cause enrollment numbers to drop, according to USC administrators and student leaders. Fewer students coming to USC, the cutting of beneficial programs and more difficulty in attracting quality faculty are some, of the voiced concerns — if the cuts go through the General Assembly. One worry is that increased tuition could cause students to leave USC or not to consider it as an option. Terry Davis, director of undergrad uate admis sions, said she thinks most stu dents expect tu ition to rise every year. But slie said there was noth ing to compare to standard if the budget cuts pass. Student Government President Jotaka Eaddy said some students wouldn’t be able to pay for higher education if the tuition increases go through. “Tuition is high as it is,” she said. “Students can’t afford tuition hikes as it is.” USC President John Palms echoed that sentiment Wednes day after a meeting with faculty • about the budget cuts. “Students... do not need a 30 percent increase in tuition right now,” Palms said. Some administra tors oppose a dras tic increase in tu ition. “My personal opin ion is that we can’t afford to put a 15 percent, or whatever the budget cut is, on the backs of stu dents,” chairman of the board of trustees Mack Whittle said af Inr I hr» kn'nntnn . the 32 percent in crease the university has said it would need to compensate for the state bud get cuts. “We don’t have a history of that,” she said. However, Davis said she believed the size of the proposed increase would aficct enrollment levels at USC. “Because that’s such a significant increase, it would have to have some kind of negative impact on enrollment,” slic said. By state law, tuition increases are kept in line with the Higher Educa tion Price Index, limiting the amount tuition can rise. However, some college presidents and legislators have talked about relieving colleges from the HEPI nial kickoff. “We’ve done that... and tliat’s just not the answer.” SG Vice President Corey Ford said he believed the cuts could keep lower-income students from even considering South Carolina institutions. “A lot of lower-income potential students will be turned off (by the higher prices),” Ford said. “I think that diversity could be a problem,” Eaddy also said. But Palms has said tuition increases wouldn’t be enough to fight the problem. Tlie university could also have to cut programs and the number of students that could enter the Budget Cuts seepages Will you be able to afford a raise iri tuition? Vole al www.dailyganiccock.com. Results will be published Friday. i