Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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IChe ©amtcock University Thursday, Feb. 8 ■ Driving under the influence, corner of Main and Whaley streets. Reporting officer J. Aspedop saw Timothy Lyerly, 24, run a stop sign. The officer followed Lyerly for a block and watched as he swerved in and out of the lane. After pulling Lyerly over, the officer approached the car and could smell a strong odor of alcohol. Lyerly couldn’t produce his driver’s license or his insur ance papers without the help of the officer. He was later arrested after doing poorly on the ABC, finger-to-nose and two-finger touch sobriety tests. His blood alcohol content was recorded at 0.17. Wednesday, Feb. 7 ■ Disorderly conduct, 500 block of Main Street. Reporting officer J. Aspedon saw Joseph Young, 48, walking north on Main Street. The officer watched as Young was almost hit several times by ' cars as he stumbled on the side of the road. When the officer approached, he smelled a strong odor of alcohol about Young. ■ Burglary, 1000 Blossom St., (Thurmond Wellness Center construction site). Employees said someone broke a window in a trailer office at the con struction site. Inside the trailer office, the buiglars stole items worth $500, an ad dress book and various articles of cloth ing. Reporting officer: S. Sonnefield. ■ Malicious ii^ury to private prop erty, Bull Street Garage level 4. Reporting officer R. Shirer responded to a report of a vehicle running through the gates at the incident location. The officer later discovered someone had broken the entrance gate on level 4. ■ Lost keys, Capstone Conference Room. Reporting officer R. Shirer spoke with employees who said two keys to rooms on the 17th floor were lost. One of the keys fits rooms 1709-1719, and the other key goes to the elevator that goes to the 17th floor. Tuesday, Feb. 6 ■ Possession of marijuana, possession with intent to distrib ute. Capstone room 1002. Two RAs called USCPD and said they smelled what was believed to be marijuana coming from room 1002. When the officer arrived, he talked with Carpentellis Watson, 21, who admitted to having marijuana in the room. Watson produced a shoebox of marijuana that was described as containing more than an ounce. Watson was arrested and transported to Richland County Detention Center. Reporting officer: K. Colefieid. Columbia Thursday, Feb. 8 ■ Public drunkenness, 2316 Byrnes Drive. Reporting officer J. Charley was sent to the incident location in response to Allen Roberts causing a disturbance. The officer saw Roberts in an intoxicated condition knocking on the door. ■ Lost property, 920 Lady St. Jessica Smith lost her black Nokia cellular phone at Have a Nice Day Cafe. Reporting officer: K. Batiste. Wednesday, Feb. 7 ■ Disorderly conduct, 700 Harden St. Reporting officer J. Passmore saw Jerimiah Moultrie, 42, on the sidewalk shouting obscenities toward people walking by. Moultrie was extremely intoxicated and required assistance to stand. * ■ Indecent exposure, 300 William St., (Gamby Park). Xiomara Johnson said she was walking in the park and saw two males engaging in sexual activity. The two men were on a bench near the north side. Reporting officer: 0. Wiki. Tuesday, Feb. 6 ■ Malicious injury to real proper ty, 4004 Rosewood Drive. Dorian Baker, 21, said someone threw a concrete block through a window at her house. Reporting officer: A. Lester. SLED still watching Five Points by Rebecca Whitehead The Gamecock The USC Police Department, Columbia Police Department and SLED have put together a task force to monitor crime in the Five Points area. Task force members are from several different agencies, according to Columbia Police Chief Charles Austin. The goal is to enhance police patrol around the campuses of USC and Benedict College. The taiget points for patrol are the Martin Luther King Jr- Park area, Five Points and areas surround ing both campuses. Columbia Mayor Bob Coble, USC President John Palms, USC Director of Law Enforcement Ernie Ellis and Austin met this past month to dis cuss what needed to be done to prevent further crimes in the area. SLED had already agreed to help out. “Wfe needed to intensify our presence,” Austin said. He said the change was needed because of crime around Martin Luther King Jr. Park — a shooting of a student, three robberies involving students and another robbery not involving a student. The fatal attempted carjacking of non-student Raymond Jenkins also happened close to campus and Five Points. The shooting death of Philip Lee Jr. of Benedict College triggered the launch of a Benedict task force, as well. SLED spokeswoman Kathy Richardson said SLED was requested by the Columbia Police Department. “We’re working together. We provided them manpower,” she said. “It’s a joint effort.” Austin said SLED’s help was welcome. “We applaud their willingness to provide personnel to assist us,” he said. Austin said he felt the crimes weren’t related to USC or Benedict College police departments’ performance. “I think the University of South Carolina has an outstanding police department,” he said. Since Jan. 1,116 crimes have occured in the Five Points patrol area. These include 30 vehicle break-ins, three stolen vehicles, one rape, one individual armed robbery, seven simple assaults and 12 larcenies, according to Columbia Police Department reports. There have also been concerns about campus safety. Second-year students Sally McCutchen and Laurie Whrd were robbed at gunpoint last month while walking on Greene Street between campus and Five Points. “They need to make more police patrol- the area for the safety of students rather than station them in Five Points so as to bust un derage drinkers,” McCutchen said. Friends and family of Daniel Duke, a USC stu dent injured on Pickens Street in December, were concerned about safety around campus and unhap py about the way Columbia Police took care of the incident. The city desk can be reached at gamecockdtydesk@hotmaiLcom SENATE L, ■ PHYSICAL ASSAULT OF SPORTS OFFICIAL Senate Bill 300, int|§|uf§d|)y Sen. Reese: Will amend current law hysical assault of a sports official sul ial penalties and prosecution. Referred to mittee on 1 Corrections and Penology. " ■ EAGLE SCOUT AWARD BILL Senate Resolution 307, introduced by Sen. PattersogLThe resolution congratulates Ryan Baxter of Columbia on receiving the Eagle Scout awai^'. The resolution was adopted. HOUSE ■ REPRESENTATIVE PORTRAIT BILL . .. pcrraitofRep. Terry Haskins to be placed in the State House. The resolution was adopted..^ ■ UFE SCHOLARSHIP BOX House Rill, 3478 Rep. Knotts: Would change current provision that makes students convicted of alcohol-related offenses ineligible for fa Life Scholarship. Bill sent to Committee on Judiciary. Sororities complete Derby Days by Cristy Infinger The Gamecock Thursday night marked the conclusion of a week of fund raising and competing for Sigma Chi and USC sororities. Sororities were still waiting for the winners to be announced at the final event, Airband. The announcements at Airband will include the winners of each event as well as the overall winners for the week. The award fist wasn’t available as of press time. “Sigma Chi Derby Days has gone well so far, and the sororities are really excited about the events of the week,” Derby Days Chairman Mac McClellion said. “I expect a big crowd at Airband to support the sororities’ skit show and for the Children’s Miracle Network.” Money was raised throughout the week by a penny wars competition, balloon sales and admission into Airband. Not including the money raised from admission to Airband, the Derby Days competition raised more than $5,000. Airband also raised money through pizza and beverage sales. All of the week’s proceeds will be donated to a local chapter of the Children’s Miracle Network. Last year, USC’s Sigma Chi chapter raised more than $ 15,000 for charity during Derby Days. Wednesday’s event, Derby Hunt, featured teams of sorority women racing each other to find the most derbies on the fraternity quad. The three sororities with the most derbies got points added to their total score for the week. “We are really excited that we can all work together and at the same time help out the community,” Alpha Delta Pi member Kristen Cook said. Derby Days is a nationwide event for the Sigma Chi fraternity. Every chapter has a similar fund raiser for charity. This week’s events provided ample opportunity to raise money. “After Derby Days, we present our check to the Children’s Miracle Network at one of their telethons here in South Carolina,” Sigma Chi President Michael Beiger said. “This year, the telethon will be June 1 and 2 on WIS.” The university desk can be reached at gamecockudesk@hotinail.com Judiciary committee ratifies lottery by Valerie Matchette The Gamecock A resolution that would eventually permit the formation of a South Carolina state lottery narrowly passed the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday. The committee’s final vote was closely split, 14-11, with dissenters citing their concerns that full legislation needs to be in place to actually set up the lottery before it is finalized. “I voted against the ratification,” said committee member Rep. John Altman, R-Charleston. “I want to know what the enabling acts are going to look like.” Rep. Chip Campsen, R-Charleston, gave similar reasons for voting “no” on the ratification. However, he said once legisla tion has been passed to better oiganize the lottery, it will be good for the state and will follow the will of the people, who approved a lottery in a referendum in November. “I don’t think there’s anyone on the committee who is ultimately against ratifying the referendum,” Campsen said. Both representatives said the enabling legislation should create a concrete plan outlining how the lottery would be carried out. Altman denounced the “gaudy,” flashy advertising, such as neon signs and highway billboards, that has become synonymous with gambling. He said the states’ attorney general should approve all advertising to make sure it’s legal. Campsen agreed that “certain ad parameters” should be set, saying too much advertising would send an undesirable message to South Carolina’s neighbors. He also said the lottery should be run by the state with no help from outside agencies, because if the gambling industry got involved, it could cause corruption within state government. Campsen said South Carolina doesn’t have a “good track record” with gambling money, giving the Lost Trust scandal as an example of high-level corruption. He went on to say illegal lobbying and unethical campaign contributions could result from an agency-controlled lottery. Altman agreed, saying the Freedom of Information Act and state ethics laws should apply to everything that goes on with the lottery. He also said he wanted provisions for the revenue generated from the lottery to go straight to state education. The resolution was referred to the House Judiciary Committee from a bill that was originally introduced in the House on Jan. 23. The bill provided for an amendment of the state constitution to allow a lottery “to delete references to the prohibition on lotteries, their advertising and ticket sales, to provide that lotteries may be conducted only by the state and to provide for the use of revenues derived from the lotteries.” Now that it has been ratified in the Judiciary Committee, it must go back to the House floor, then pass through the Senate before reaching the governor’s desk to be signed into law. The city desk can be reached at gamecockcltydesk@hotniail.com Discontent from page 1 Norton still might come to USC. Norton wrote a letter rejecting a job offer from USC on Jan. 18. “It appears that we may have lost a dean at the College of Journalism and Mass Communications,” Odom said. “However, the president has spoken to him, and I think that the door, although it’s almost closed, there may be a small crack. We may be able to talk to him again,” Odom said. If Norton were to re-enter the race for the journalism deanship, it would be for the second time. Norton originally withdrew his name from the pool of candidates in No vember, saying he didn’t think he would be the right fit for the job. But in December, he said he had reconsidered. Also, a proposed new curriculum for the Department of Exercise Science collapsed as questions emerged about the language arts requirement, lowered from 12 hours to nine, and the addition of a biology course. The department apparently failed to notify the biology department of the change or of how many students would enroll in the course. Because there was no one present from the Department of Exercise Science, the motion was tabled. After talking with Department Chair Larry Durstine via speakerphone, the senate briefly reconsidered, but decided there were still too many questions about the curriculum to pass the motion. The tabling of the proposal means it’s unlikely to make it into the hard copy of the academic bulletin. The deadline for the bulletin is in late February, while the senate’s next meeting comes in March. However, Sen. David Berube, chair of the committee on curricula and courses, said the new curriculum could still make it into the online bulletin, which can be updated at any time. He said students could choose either curriculum. “You just can’t waffle,” he said. The university desk can be reached at gamecockudesk@hotinail.com Budget from page 1 lieve higher education would take a cut the size of Hodges’ proposal. “I don’t anticipate that higher ed’s going to receive a 15 percent cut,” he said. Wilkins said the House wouldn’t support releasing colleges front a restriction that bars them from raising tuition by more than the increase in the Higher Education Price Index. A measure passed by the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Higher Education would temporarily relieve some institu tions from the provision holding colleges and universities to the HEPI standard. “We’re not going to remove that provision,” Wilkins said. Harrell also said his committee wouldn’t try to tell the colleges’ boards of trustees and presidents, who approve university programs, where they needed to make cuts. “I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to look at a given program ... and second guess them,” he said. After the meeting with Harrell and Wilkins, Ford said he was slightly more optimistic about the university’s budget. “I don’t think it’s time to start an outright celebration,” he said. “I still think we’ll take a cut, but I don’t think it’ll be as substantial as 15 percent.” South Carolina Student Association Li aison Kathleen Young, who helped organize the daylong effort, said she was also en couraged by the meeting. “I was encouraged that they said they were going to put higher education ahead of other programs,” she said. “It’s still going to be tough.” Clemson SG Research and Development Director Gary Kirby said he thought higher education would receive a cut. “I think we need to prepare for that,” he said. But student leaders also said they were united in their effort to fight cuts. “We’re very much in the same boat on this one,” Kirby said. The university desk can he reached at gamecockudesk@ho1mail.com Strange laws run rampant by Eugene Rodillo The Gamecock Just when you thought it was perfectly legal to walk your pet alligator down Main Street in Charleston or dance in public in Lancaster, beware — you might be committing a crime. Whether the laws are old, outdated or just wacky to begin with, certain state or local laws and ordinances are still in place. A few outdated laws include those permitting adult males to carry firearms to church to ward off Indian attacks and to discharge firearms when approaching an intersection in a non-horse driven vehicle to warn oncoming horse traffic. Lee Coggiola, Richland County chief public defender, says he believes they were put in the books because of the times. “At some point in time, they were relevant and applicable,” Coggiola said. Ann Bowman, a USC government and in ternational studies professor, offered another suggestion as to how these laws originated. “Sometimes they’re added as amendments to other legislation, and people really aren’t paying attention,” Bowman said. “They may not have gone through a committee process or a subcommittee process, and so they just end up getting tacked on.” In many cases, most of these laws and ordinances are no longer enforced as they were when they were first enacted. One example is the law that prohibits the “sale or offer to sell” certain items on Sunday. Some of these items are specific types of clothing, housewares, furnishings and jewelry. “You simply don’t enforce them. I mean, there’s always discretion about enforcement of the laws,” Bowman said. One wacky and outdated law concerns Frances Willard, a 19th Century feminist who had little to do with South Carolina. This state law reads, “The fourth Friday in October in each year shall be set apart and designated in the public schools as Frances Willard Day, and in each public school it shall be the duty of the school to prepare and render a suitable program on the day to the end that the children of the state may be taught the evils of intemperance.” lammy barver, anotner usl oiin t professor, aigees with Coggiola about some of these laws being appropriate at the time. “The laws reflected the attitudes of the time,” Sarver said. All three agreed that the laws are still in the books because no one has been charged with them and the current laws supersede them. “If they were part of the South Carolina Code, if they were to recode all of our laws, they would have a chance to clean house. But that was last done, I think, in 1975 or ‘76 when they went through all of them,” Coggiola said. Coggiola also said another way to remove outdated laws is for someone to challenge the law if they were charged with it. “Somebody who has standing, meaning they have been charged with it, raises the issue and says, ‘this is not constitutional or it is outdated or it is not fair, or whatever,’” Coggiola said. So, until someone says that beating their wife on the courthouse steps on Sunday isn’t legal or that driving a motorized vehicle on King Street in Charleston should be legal, peo ple should remember, no matter how crazy or outdated it might be, it is the law. The city desk can be reached at gamecockcitydesk@hotmail.com j Some of the state’s strangest laws ■ SPARTANBURG: Eating watermelon in the Magnolia Street cemetery is forbidden. ■ RIDGELAND: * It's illegal for women weighing more than 200 pounds and wearing shorts to be seen eating onions in a restaurant or at any public picnic. ■ STATE LAW forbids “the abominable crime of buggery,” which is anal sex. ■ rrs A CAPITAL OFFENSE to inadvertently kill someone while attempting suicide. ■ rrs LEGAL to beat your wife on the courthouse steps on Sundays in some counties across the state. Some counties even carry a thumb rule: that the stick you beat your wife with must be no bigger than the width of your thumb. ■ rrs ILLEGAL to give or receive oral sex in South Carolina. ■ HORSES may not be kept in bathtubs. ■ CHARLESTON: It’s illegal to drive a motorized vehicle on King Street. Also, the fire department may blow up your house under city ordinance. In addition, it's illegal to walk your pet alligator down Main Street. ■ FOUNTAIN INN: Horses are to wear pants at all times. ■ LANCASTER: It’s illegal to dance in public. ■ STATE LAW forbids crawling around in public sewers without a permit.