Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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_VOL. 94, No. 68 Monday March 26, 2001_ | Carolina Community since 1Q08 WWW.DAILYGAMEC0CK.COM UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA ' COLUMBIA, S.C.” AZ sponsors Turtle Tug ■ Proceeds from the event will benefit deaf, hearing impaired students I by Cristy Infinger The Gamecock Members of several USC student organizations spent part of their Saturday engaged in a tug-of-war competition over pools of red and green Jell-0 — all for a good cause. The spirited contest was part of Delta Zeta’s Turtle Tug, which raised more than $1,500 for the deaf and hearing impaired. Delta Zeta President Amanda Boatwright was pleased with the event’s turnout. “It is our first annual Turtle Tyg, and the turnout is awesome. I cannot believe that many groups came out to support us,” she said. A variety of groups, including sororities, fraternities and the Naval ROTC, participated in the event. Many went face-first into huge piles of Jell-O, which looked more like mud after a few rounds of competition. The day included food and T-shirt sales, a band performance and the awards ceremony for the tug-of-war contest. Movie and gift certificates donated by local companies were also distributed throughout the day. Members of the Delta Zeta sorority were referees for the tug of war and sold refreshments and Turtle Tug memorabilia. The event benefited Delta Zeta’s national philanthropy, with donations going to Gallaudet University for deaf and hearing-impaired students. Proceeds also will be locally donated to Brennan Elementary School’s program for the hearing-impaired. “It is a great time and a good cause. We enjoy beating ass and beating fiats,” Naval ROTC participant Michael Geiger said. “It was a lot of fun, and we are really glad that we could come out and support Delta Zeta,” Kappa Delta participant Kim Jones said. While participants seemed to enjoy helping Delta Zeta’s cause, Naval ROTC member Tom Siller said he was here for “the refs.” The university desk can be reached at gamecockudesk@hotmail.com Turtle Ttig results ■ First Place Delta Gamma ■ Second Place Delta Delta Delta ■ Third Place Alpha Chi Omega ■ First Place Baptist Student U. ■ Second Place Alpha Tau Omega ■ Third Place The Outbackers ■ First Place Carolina Body Building & Fitness ■ Second Place Semper Fidelis ■ Third Place Sigma Phi Epsilon IN FULL SWING: Baseball team sweeps Vanderbilt Aaron Hark/The Gamecock Garris Gonce, No. 22, swings at a pitch during Sunday’s game against Vanderbilt The Gamecocks swept Vandy In a three-game series this weekend by 13-1 Sunday, 7-1 Saturday and 4-1 Friday. Baseball America magazine ranked the Gamecock baseball team No. 7 in the nation this past week (SEE Sports, page 7). Harvard’s Let’s Go makes stop at USC by Cristy Infinger The Gamecock Harvard’s nationally publicized travel series Let’s Go made a stop at USC on Thursday during a promotional recreational vehicle tour and offered travel advice to students. According to Let’s Go crew member Adam Stein, the series is designed by and for college students. “Let’s Go is a travel guide series that is written entirely by students, and it ( focuses on traveling on a budget (and) finding good deals on hotels, restaurants and things to do,” Stein said. For more than 40 years, Let’s Go has provided travel advice and has boasted the title of the first completely student-run and student-written travel series. With such titles as First Timer’s Guide to Europe, Map Guide to Rome and Map Guide to New Orleans, travelers can find a guide to just about anywhere they’d like logo. The two Harvard graduate students leading the Let’s Go RV promotional tour are Adam Stein and Kaya Stone. Both crew members have worked for the Let's Go series throughout college as editors and researchers. Among other places, Stein and Stone have traveled to Spain, Italy, Greece, France, Mexico and 45 of the 50 states. Because they’re graduate students, Stein and Stone aren’t supposed to work for Let’s Go, which is all-undergraduate. “We talked them into it since we started this RV promotional idea before we graduated. Now we are just traveling around and having fun,” Stone said. As a part of the promotional tour, the Lei ’s Go company and StudentUni verse, an online travel guide, paired to hold a contest to win a trip to Europe with four friends. Let’s Go also distributed pamphlets and map guides Thursday to typical locations where students might study abroad, such as France, Australia and Spain. Stein and Stone led a lecture Thursday night focusing on travel tips. Students’ questions covered a broad variety of topics: What’s the best place to study abroad, where’s the best place to travel after graduation and how is it possible to travel without a lot of money? Information was also available about travel writing and general travel information, such as changing currency, rail passes, museums and other sightseeing possibilities. For the members of Let's Go, the more unique the possibility, the better. Roadside oddities, such as where to find a com palace or where to find the best church to buy liquor, are specialties of Let’s Go. Let’s Go staffers look for one-of-a kind experiences to offer the most of their travel opportunities to the readers. Let’s Go is a featured part of CNN’s Travel Guide show and has launched its own Web site this year. The site offers all map guides online, as well as advice for excursions to particular locations and reactions to different travel destinations. The university desk can be reached at gamecockudesk@holmaiLcom Columbia woman abducted, raped ■ Woman reports being carjacked by armed robber on Blossom Street by Charles Prashaw The Gamecock A Columbia woman was carjacked, robbed and kidnapped Saturday night just a few miles from the USC campus, then driven to a remote area of the city and forcibly raped, according to police. The incident, which police are still investigating, occurred at 4427 Blossom St., at the Hampton Park Apartments. The apartments are about five miles from USC, near the intersection of Beltline Boulevard and Blossom Street. According to a police report, the 42-year-old victim, whose name isn’t being released, was walking to her car when a male between the ages of 20 and 25 with a small handgun approached her from behind. The man forced her into her car about 7:15 p.m. and told her to drive, the victim said. While driving, the man rummaged through the woman’s purse and look her money. Afterward, the man told the victim to drive to a remote part of the city. Police declined to name the area. At the location, the man forced llie woman to take off her clothes, and he forcibly raped her. According to the report, the man then look the stolen money, threw it at her and left. - The victim went for help and called the police. Investigators searched the scene and collected evidence from the car. Later, the woman was taken to Palmetto Richland Memorial Hospital fora post rape examination. In all, the victim told police the incident lasted about 30 minutes. Officer Karen Long said no more information was being released about the incident. “Before tliis, mostly (tliefts o0 heibie curbies only happen in that area — it really isn’t known for violent crimes,” Long said. The manager at Hampton Park Apartments was unavailable for comment about the incident. The city desk can be reached at gamecockcrtydesk@hotmail.com Village at Sandhill Richland residents express concerns about development by Valerie Matchette The Gamecock Northeast Richland County residents, concerned about the possible repercussions of a new development in their area, shared their doubts about the plan this past week, as County Council voted 10-1 to approve it despite potential problems. Developer Alan Kahn’s project, the Village at Sandhill, would allow a tract of about 300 acres to be rezoned as “a mixed-use village consisting of elements of retail, office, residential and other land uses appropriate To the property,” according to a county ordinance. The ordinance also included specifications about building heights and proximity of retail zones to residential areas. Randy Jorgenson, director ol planning for Richland County and the city of Columbia, was pleased with the way the development came about, despite earlier doubts. He said the project meets community interests while letting the developer use the land properly. He said landscaping would be provided to screen the business district from private residences. According to Joigenson, traffic signals would be in sync and wouldn’t impede traffic flow, and roads would have limited access during peak hours. Joigenson commended Council for the way it dealt with the development plan over a course of several months. He also complimented Kahn for following through on his original plan. “I believe that that will be the product that will be delivered,” Jorgenson said. North Springs neighborhood residents were receptive to Kahn’s development, but cited concerns about potential problems that could occur with such a large development. Resident Paul Mitchell said he would appreciate the developers lowering the building height limits, while his wife Louise was worried about possible traffic problems. “My big concern—it has been from day one—is tlie traffic,” Louise Mitchell said, imploring County Council members to “keep an eye” on the situation. Gus Hoffineyer of Woodlake agreed. “1 drink drere are going to be problems,” he said. Bonnie Randle of North Trace subdivision said markers had been placed for a readjust 50 feet from her yard, a distance she said was unacceptable for safety reasons. “I’m very scared for the security of my home now, and my family,” Randle said. However, Valerie Hutchinson of Northeast Columbia praised the plan. “I think how this has been handled has been wonderful,” Hutchinson said. Khan’s lawyer, Bob Fuller, was satisfied with the way the development process had been handled. “You can sleep well tonight knowing we’ve done the best we can do,” Fuller said. The city desk can be reached at gamecockcitydesk@hotmail.com Weather Coming Up . Quote of the Day Online Poll Today 52 30 Tuesday 55 32 VH1 ’s Save the Music comes to South Carolina Wednesday "The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.” — Walter Bagehot Are you going to the spring football game or the Carolina Cup? Vote at www.dailygamecock.com. Results will be published Friday.