Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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_Vol. 94, No. 59 IMLonday February 26, 2001_ e Carolina Community since 1Q08 WWW.DAltYGAMECOCK.COM UNIVERSITY OF .SOUTH CAROLINA COLUMBIA, S.C. ELECTION: Running a campaign for the SG presidency Behind the Scenes SG elections happen in two and a half weeks, a whirlwind of activity shrouded from most students. To discover what goes on in a campaign, The Gamecock followed the presidential candidates as they stumped and strategized. Here’s what we found. Donald Brock BY REBECCAWHITEHEAD The Gamecock Student Government presidential candidate Donald Brock claimed campaigning was “physically draining.” But this past Wednesday, as he talked to students after the elections, Brock wasn’t anxious. “I wasn’t nervous,” he said. “I’m kind of relieved it’s almost over. I was happy that I could gel out there and talk to people.” Running as a candidate working for individuals, he pledged to make the campus safer with more officers on foot and better | lighting, to improve parking with shuttle systems and yearlong parking passes and to save students money by allowing them to use their meal plans whenever they chose. Coming into the election without SG experience, Brock claimed “dedication and determination” could prevail. Brock admitted his initial reasons for running weren’t purely to help students. “I wanted to be student body president because I thought it would look good on a resume and it would help me get into law school,” he said. “That is still there, but that’s taken second nature.” The campaign was rocky for Brock as the weeks went on. Having received four infractions, one short of being thrown out of die race, he grew more tense as the final ■ week began. ' “The election commission needs to use common sense when ruling,” he said. He said he thought they should have been more reasonable when filing violations, pointing out that people could have moved his signs to get him in trouble. This past Monday night, Brock went before the Elections Commission on the last two violadons he received. He told commissioners that vice presidendal candidate Nithya Bala had admitted at a debate sponsored by The Gamecock that she or someone on her staff had filed about 60 violations against her opponents. “Why could the same thing not happen | to me?” he asked. “We don’t have the answers to your quesuons,” Elections Commissioner Angie Alpert replied. “Then 1 don’t have the answers to I yours,” Brock shot back. Brock see page 2 Mackenzie Clements/The Gamecock Student Government President-elect Corey Ford. Corey Ford by Cristy Infinger The Gamecock Student Government Vice President Corey Ford had experience with USC elections long before this year’s presidential race. This year’s election seemed easier because the campaign staff was more oiganized than in the past year, Ford said. But the campaign’s smoothness also made him worry. “What am I not doing right?” Ford asked himself. Ford completed a hectic schedule of campaign events Thursday with a landslide victory, winning with almost 60 percent of the vote. Speaking at organization meetings, debates and interviews all paid off as he was named SG president for the 2001-2002 term. It was during a Senate meeting earlier in the year that Ford decided he wanted to run for the SG presidency. - ms Senators were verbally attacking each other and once tried to adjourn the meeting before all business was discussed. “I just was fed up with it,” Ford said. “I felt like I was a third-grade teacher.” He felt the position of vice president Limited his abilities and thought he could do more for students as SG president. That meeting “re-motivated me and let me know I still wasn’t done with Student Government,” Ford said. The letter-writing campaign Ford started in order to lobby the legislature against Gov. Jim Hodges’ proposed 15 percent budget cut provided a suiting point for Ford’s platform about a more unified student body and SG. At the end of every speaking Ford see page 2 Angela Wilson by Mary Hartney The Gamecock “This campaign is strange!” Angela Wilson ordered a maigarila at lunch and talked on her cell phone about the beginning of the Student Government presidential campaign. Wilson filed late — one day before applications were due — and was still trying to understand the campaign. Some of the things SG representatives know weren’t apparent to her, especially the large amount of money spent on the campaign trail. Angela Wilson wasn’t a politician with a lot of resources. Her posters were made at home and a non-USC student was her campaign manager. They recruited friends to help with the campaign. She didn’t have prepared answers for debate questions. She didn’t have SG experience. But that wasn’t necessarily bad. Wilson said she thinks the “SG clique” turns off students. She said she tried to go to student groups that are more of a “minority.” “The word ‘minority’ is a misnomer,” she said. “When you put them all together, it’s really a majority.” At first, Wilson seemed unsure of herself in the candidate role. She mumbled at times when speaking and didn’t have a solid platform. Some groups seemed unresponsive to her, she said, but “went ga-ga for Corey.” The first debate, Wilson said, was horrible. She thought she was being shot down every time and was not given enough time to answer the questions. “I’m a talker,” she said. “It was just enough time for me to get out a ‘Hello, how are you doing? I’m Ang-’ before the timer went off!” Wilson said she still didn’t feel like the underdog and didn’t understand why Donald Brock, another candidate, had so many complaints about being at a disadvantage without SG experience. But Wilson emphasized the fact that she has a life outside of politics and was \ not doing this as a resume-builder. 1 “I have a regular life. I’m 28 years old, I work two jobs, I just bought a house with my girlfriend (campaign manager Stacy Roper). I refuse to let this thing drive me.” But as the campaign continued, she invested more energy in the race and began to see results. Wilson see page 2 Bourne, Hunter endorse White in SG VP runoff by Brandon Larrabee The Gamecock Two former candidates for Student Government vice president have thrown their support behind SG Sen. Nathan White for this week’s runoff. White and Freshman Council Adviser Nithya Bala will face each other in a runoff Wednesday and Thursday. One endorsement comes from former competitor Adam Bourne, SG’s institutional affairs director. “He has the leadership ability to win over even those who oppose him politically,” Bourne wrote in a letter to The Gamecock. “I know. He has won this opponent over.” Bourne echoed those comments in an interview Friday. “I feel that over the course of this campaign, Nathan has proved to me that he has the leadership ability to win over his opponents,” Bourne said. According to Bourne, his endorsement had little to do with the bitter campaign for vice president. Sen. Brian Hunter, who also ran for vice president, said he and While had agreed to endorse each other should one of them make the runoff. “He got in the runoff, so 1 told him I’d endorse him,” Hunter said. But he said he had other reasons for endorsing White. “1 just think he would be a better leader,” Hunter said. He said While would “cooperate better and not try to run his own system there” in Senate. Bala White White said he appreciated the endorsements. “I am thoroughly pleased that they’ve endorsed me,” White said. “I think that shows that I am the most qualified candidate left in the race for vice president.” White said he believed he, Bourne and Hunter might have split a vote that could help him win. “1 think we have a lot more support than the vote indicated,” White said. “1 think we can pool our votes and win and get additional votes from people that did not vote in the previous election.” Bala acknowledged the candidates’ right to hold opinions. “Everyone is entitled to their opinion of who would do the best job,” she said. “I respect their opinion.” Bala said the election wasn’t a matter of whom the candidates or The Gamecock chose to endorse. “I think it’s a matter of whom the students choose to endorse,” she said. The university desk can be reached at gamecockudeskOhotmaiLcom Dance Marathon raises $58,000, breaks record by Mark Hiner The Gamecock After 28 consecutive hours of dancing, the USC Dance Marathon boasted raising a record $58,651.80, exceeding the previous record of $55,469 from the marathon’s first year. The third annual Dance Marathon was held Friday and Saturday in the Russell House Ballroom to raise money for the Children’s Hospital of Palmetto Richland Memorial Hospital. About 200 students raised a minimum of $ 150 each to participate in the marathon. They danced for 28 hours without interruption. Additional money was raised through the dance committee’s fund raising and corporate sponsorship of the event. “This is the most USC has ever raised from a dance marathon," fourth-year College of Liberal Arts student Edward Bender said Bender was chairperson of the event. “It was such a big surprise that we raised so much,” he said. Bender was also pleased that few dancers defected from the marathon. According to Bender, only about 15 students quit dancing prior to the marathon’s end. “For us, that is a big accomplishment because in years past, we lost a great deal of dancers,” he said. “This year, when the dancers showed up, they were ready to dance the full 28 hours.” T talked with a mom who told me about rocking her little girl in a rocking chair that we helped raise money for. That made me feel great.* Michael Hannon participant The students danced from 6 p.m. on Friday to 10 p.m. on Saturday. The dancers took occasional breaks but were required to stay on their feet the entire time. Watches were banned to prevent dancers from keeping track of time. Helping the dancers stay enthusiastic and energized for the duration of the marathon was the responsibility of the morale committee, a group of students who led dances and activities during the marathon. This year’s morale committee was the best and most dedicated committee to date, Bender said. Dance seip«e2 Weather Coming Up Quote jf the Day Online Poll Why Carolina Productions wants to hike student fees. Wednesday 5 “The weak in courage is strong in cunning.” — William Blake Should Eddie Fogler keep his job as USC’s head basketball coach? Vote at www.dailygamecock.com. - Results will be published Friday.