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Ihe ©amecock President CONTINUED FROM PAGE A1 cause of impending budget cuts, hir ing freezes and class cancellations. Trustee Mack Whittle said on the occasion of Palms’ decision to continue as president until June 2002, “This is obviously an important day in the life of this university.” “There were a couple of steak dinners wagered on whether Palms would run for Senate or not,” said trusted Miles Loadholt. ‘They were pleased he didn’t, though state Democrats have becoming increas ingly dismayed at there being no de mocratic candidate to challenge Re publican Lindsey Graham for the Senate seat to be vacated by Sen. Strom Thurmond in 2002. Darla Moore also decided against running on the democratic ticket, and wealthy Greenville busi nessman Hayne Hipp cited “signif icant” business commitments in spuming Democrats, making him the eighth Democrat to turn down the offer to ran. The news desk can be reached at gamecockudesk® hotmail.com Thurmond Jr. CONTINUED FROM PAGE A2 would not be considered for that po sition except for family name and family ties. It’s nepotism.” Thurmond Jr.’s nomination is a “result of naked political favoritism,” said Tom Fitton, executive direc tor of the Washington watchdog group Judicial Watch. He added, “It is unfortunate that this important position is being filled as the re suit of political patronage and cronyism.” DonAiesi,a political scien tist at Furman University, said the appointment was in“poor taste and inap propriate.” He added, “You need to have experience to draw on. Re grettably, (Sen.) Thurmond’s son has little legal experience. I don’t care how smart you are — and I’m sure the Thurmond boy is a bright, young man—experience is one of the basic elements.” An analysis by The State news paper found that the country’s 93 current U.S. attorneys — some states have more than one — average 22 years legal experience and 50 years of age. A poll by The State also found that 40 percent of South Car olinians oppose Thurmond Jr.’s nom ination, while 34 percent indicated they have no problem with it. 26 percent were undecided. Sen. Thurmond defended his ac tions, saying, “I am not employing Strom Jr. I’m recommending him for a position. If he’s confirmed, I think he’ll do a fine job. Strom Jr. is a man of character and integrity, and he will make a fine U.S. attorney.” Genevieve Emy, a spokeswoman for Sen. Thurmond, said, “(Thur mond Jr.) is going to be working for the Department of Justice. He is not going to be working for Senator Thur mond.” Thurmond Jr.’s former employ er also came to his defense. “I have never met anyone his age who has the ability to digest com plex legal issues the way (Thurmond Jr.) can,” said Pete Strom. Thurmond Jr. said he was “pleased” to have been nominated for the post, saying, “my qualifi cations and my background are sim ilar to those of the state’s previous federal prosecutors.” About his father’s role in the nomination, he said, “I’d be inter ested in the position if I were not his son, and I think I’d be quali fied if I were not his son.” The news desk can be reached at gamecockudesk® hotmail.com “(Thurmond Jr.) didn't set the classroom on fire with his brilliance, but he didn’t turn the lights out either.” Eldon Wedlock One of Thurmond Jr.’s former law professors Summer Recap President Palms to retire in June 2002 by Brandon Larrabee The Gamecock While saying he had no plans to run for U.S. Senate in 2002, USC President John Palms also said it was time for him to announce his re tirement. Palms told USC trustees May 14 that he would end his decade-long tenure as president of the university in June 2002, more than 11 years af ter he took over a university wracked by the scandalous downfall of his predecessor, James Holderman. Palms had been considering for more than a month whether to enter the race for the seat of U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C. Thurmond has said he won’t seek re-election in 2002. Palms said he had opted out of what would have been his first bid for political office. In a letter to the board of trustees, Palms wrote that the next academ ic year “will be an auspicious time to seek a leader committed to the next decade of the University’s life, and for this reason I have de cided to step down from the presi dency effective June 1,2002. A de parture next June will ensure the University sufficient time to search thoughtfully and carefully for its next president,” he wrote. Also on May 14, the board ap pointed recent chairman William Hubbard, who has himself been men tioned as a possible successor to Palms, to lead the search for the pres ident’s replacement The board passed at their April 12 meeting a resolu tion laying out the groundwork for how the search would be conduct ed. According to Palms, he made his decision May 1, as he told the board he would do in a March 28 memo. The next two weeks gave him time to consider how to announce it, he said. Chairman of the board Mack Whittle said the advance warning of Palms’ retirement would give the board more time to conduct a search for someone to fulfill the universi ty’s goals. “We’ll get a national search for someone who can deliver those goals,” Whittle said. Palms took over the university in 1991, after having served as pres ident of Georgia State University for 18 months. Then, USC had been tar nished by the personal and financial shortcomings of Jim Holderman, who had led the university from 1977 1990. Holderman stepped down after facing five years of accusations of lavish spending. Student interns to Holderman later alleged the former USC president had sexually harassed them. After those accusations surfaced, Palms, who had already made pub lic the names of students who re ceived special scholarships from Hol derman, began tenure revocation procedures against his predecessor. Holderman later resigned with out a fight. Since then, Palms has said, he has made an effort to restore the uni versity’s credibility. The news desk can he reached at gamecockudesk® hotmail.com “(Next year) will be an auspicious time to seek a leader committed to the next decade of the University’s life ...” USC President John Palms Editor CONTINUED FROM PAGE A11 alize that USC is a public school and that it’s not exempt from the Constitution.” But Vergakis says his days of battling the administration are over. “There really isn’t going to be anything controversial in Car olina Spectator. It’s going to be something all students can en joy,” he said. “USC fans can’t get enough of the Gamecocks,” he said, “and we know that. We’re go ing to have the types of stories that everyone else has over looked. We’re the ones to read when you want more than a game preview. We’re the pub lication for the true Carolina fan.” The news desk can be reached at gamecockudesk@hotmail.com Housing CONTINUED FROM PAGE A1 “We have a ton of upperclassmen who did not go through the traditional method of signing up for housing at the end of last year and have now requested to live on campus,” Luna said. To make room for those stu dents, upperclassmen were offered a chance in July to be released without penalty from their previ ously signed housing contract. More than 100 upperclassmen released themselves from their fall housing contract, but some remain on a waiting list. Because some people each year decide to transfer from USC at the last minute or decide not to enroll here, some wait-listed stu dents still have a chance to receive on-campus housing, Luna said. There’s also a chance that some new students will be placed into Greek housing. Director of Greek Life Gena Runnion said the concept isn’t a new one. “It could happen any every year; the last time it happened was in 1997,” Runnion said. If fraternities and sororities can’t fill their allotted spaces in McBryde Quadrangle and South Tower, then the vacancies can be filled by non-Greeks, Runnion said. “This year, because of the uni versity has had such a successful enrollment, we just can’t afford to have any vacancies in McBryde and South Tower.” “The tactic has sometimes been used,” Luna said. “Hopefully the non-Greek students can be placed in different housing as soon as pos sible.” Even though many students are having to make alternate arrangements, Housing was able to accommodate every student who went through the traditional sign up process and turned in housing applications by June 1. The university is already an ticipating future growth and has begun negotiations to build a new 500-person apartment-style resi dence hall south of Blossom Street. The completion of the new Greek Village will also alleviate some of the pressures with plac ing students. The spaces left in McBryde Quadrangle and South Tower will be offered to other Greek organi zations and to non-Greek students. Despite the crunch to find space for the growing student body, Luna was optimistic. “We feel that the university is in a good position to provide housing to just about every student who wants to live on campus,” Lu na said. The news desk can be reached at gamecockudesk @ hotmail.com Pop Quiz What can you get for only *39.99 a month? 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Depending on credit, a $125 deposit, a $25 setup fee and customer service charges may apply. Included minutes are not good for calls made while roaming off the Sprint PCS Nationwide Network, whether local or long distance. Roaming calls are charged at $0.69 per minute or $0.39 per minute, depending on specific local-market offers. Domestic long-distance calls made while roaming off the Sprint PC1S Network will be charged at an additional $0.25 per minute. Night & Weekend Minutes are Monday-Thursday 8pm-7am and Friday 8pm-Monday 7am. Copyright ©2001 Sprint Spectrum L.P All rights reserved. Sprint, Sprint PCS, Sprint PCS Phone and the diamond logo are trademarks of Sprint Communications Company L.P