Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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*r Four teens charged in shooting BY GREG HAMBRICK THE GAMECOCK Four high school students have been charged with the murder of one federal prosecutor and the in jury of another, both visiting the National Advocacy Center at USC. Michael Messer, 49, and Richard Ferguson, 52, both from the U.S. Attorney's office in Chica go, were assaulted while return ing to the campus Monday night at 9:55 p.m. after having dinner in Five Points. The students have been charged with murder, assault and battery with intent to kill and mul tiple counts of armed robbery and attempted armed robbery, as well as other charges, a spokesman for Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said. Lott broke the case when he hit a gray Volvo while pursuing another vehicle in a high-speed chase involving an unrelated rob bery. The Volvo, used in the as sault, belonged to the mother of one of the suspects. The mother re ported the damage to the sheriffs department. The four suspects arrested in Messer’s murder are Abram Dou glas Braveboy, 18, of 2113 Tammy Drive; Cichey Levar Mayo, 17, of 8308 Old Percival Road; Bryan Murray, 17 of 7920 Spring Flower Road; and Willie James Murphy Jr., 16, of 125 Leeside Circle. Braveboy was arrested Tues day at his home. Authorities ar rested Mayo, Murray and Murphy at each of their homes Wednesday morning. “We were able to solve this case through what I call divine in tervention,” Lott said. “The chances of me running into the murder suspect during the pursuit of another suspect are a million to AAAS WELCOME BACK COOKOUT Turnout to many of this year’s Welcome Week has been low, according to Carmella Carr, director of the Russell House University Union. In contrast, nearly 750 students attended Tuesday’s Welcome Back Cookout, sponsored by the Association of African-American Students, above. PHOTO BY MACKENZIE CLEMENTS “Multicultural events have a tradition of attracting a large number of students at their events,” said Carl Wells, director of Multicultural Student Affairs. At Thursday’s event, many multicultural student organizations were introduced, including traditionally black fraternities and sororities. Cedric Jenkins, surrounded by Jonathan and Joe Coe and Mike Scott, attended to represent Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, photo by sherry holmes TO OUR READERS OK. so this paper looks a little different than the one you might have picked up when you first came to campus. But we hope that it’s different in a good way. This summer, The Gamecock \ went through a massive redesign following a reduction in its width. We decided to slim it down in other ways, too, cutting down on loopy typefaces, thick lines and cluttery clip art. That makes it easy to get the news you need. We’ve also added features important to you. Among them is a locator map with the crime report and a higher number of state, nation and world briefs. The "It Happened" section following briefs catches you up on news you might have missed. And, yes, there are more comics. We hope this semester's run of The Gamecock serves you well. Write and tell us what you like, what we can do better. This is your campus, and it’s your paper. We’ve got USC covered. Send comments on The Gamecock's redesign to gamecockeditor@hotmail.com. USC employees sue for race discrimination BY MACKENZIE CLEMENTS THE GAMECOCK Twenty-six black mainte nance workers are suing USC for systematic discrimination, claiming they have been passed over for promotions and paid less than white workers for the same work. The complaint was filed in U.S. District Court earlier this month. Defendants included the university, President John Palms and director of Building Modification and Maintenance Services Department, Gerald Go ings. The workers also claim that the university has repeatedly ig nored and dismissed their com plaints about discriminatory conditions. USC “has met years and years of complaints from black employees regarding their unlawful treatment with con scious indifference, intolerance, and affirmative endorsement of their treatment,” the complaint read. According to the plaintiffs’ attorney, Dennis Bolt, the em ployees eventually took their grievances to the Equal Employ ment Opportunity Commission, which found that in all 26 cases, they were victims of racial dis crimination. The findings gave the work ers the right to sue, and because the judgment wasn’t binding on the university, the employees headed to court. “They tried and tried within the university framework before they even came to see me,” Bolt said, “and they felt the university has just stalled their efforts from the very beginning.” Bolt said the individuals in volved in the suit are seeking monetary compensation for eco nomic benefits lost because of past discrimination. They’re also seeking punitive damages. Though USC spokesman Russ McKinney could not com ment on the specifics of the case, he said the lawsuit was ground less. There are 137 maintenance workers employed at USC - who are black. No black employee holds a management position. Only 26 of the 34 black em ♦ LAWSUIT, SEE PAGE A14 USG’S PAST AUGUST 24,1875: USC students played one of the first intercollegiate athletic contests in South Carolina — a baseball game with Claflin College, which USC won, 41-10. } j' WEATHER Tomorrow Scattered T storms, 94/72 INSIDE TODAY’S ISf Gavin Floyd to join Gamecocks? Prized recruit likely to shun professional baseball for USO. ♦ PAGE B5 \f one.” * Conviction for the murder of a federal employee carries a sen tence of death or life imprison ment. Investigators canvassed the neighborhood around the 800 block of Laurens Street Tuesday where Messer and Ferguson were assaulted. According to the police report, two men passed Messer and Fer guson and then turned around and ran toward them. One of the men told Messer and Ferguson to lie on the ground and hand over their money, the report said. Instead, Messer and.Ferguson began to run. At least one of the would-be robbers began shooting at the two men. A witness reported hearing five shots. Messer fell after he was shot in the back and the leg. Fatally wounded by the shot that pierced his lungs and heart, Messer was pronounced dead on arrival at Pal metto Richland Memorial Hospi tal. After being shot in the arm, Ferguson ran back to the Advoca cy Center before phoning police. He was treated at the hospital and returned home Tuesday. A witness reported seeing men run down Laurens Street and turn ♦ SHOOTING, SEE PAGE A14 CHANGING THE WAY WE EAT Name was first thing to change at USC’s Dining Services. BY CHARLES PRASHAW .THE GAMECOCK USC’s Dining Services made a few changes while students were away this summer, starting with a change in name. The name change to Carolina Dining was prompted by changes inside the Sodexho-Marriot cor porations, despite some students’ belief that the switch meant the company was no longer running campus dining. Around mid-summer, Sodex ho-Marriot spun off some of its op erations into separate companies, according to Carolina Dining Ser vices Marketing Manager Sheila Derrick. One of the spin-offs is Sodexho Alliance, which will now oversee the operations of Caroli na Dining Services. Aside from the new name, changes include new uniforms and menus, remodeling of some of the 15 dining facilities, firing of some dining facilities managers, pay increases and better employee training. Barbara Black, 41, who works at the Carolina Grill, and Mildred Scott, 44, a food service worker for eight years, said they had so far enjoyed working under the new management. Black said she liked being able to work more hours, and Scott appreciated the new team environment. According to Elizabeth Bohlke, Sodexho Alliance district manager of USC operations, din ing services tries to do something new every year for returning stu dents. Last year, dining services added Veggie Street in the Caroli na Mall; this year, she said stu dents should notice some changes in most of the dining faculties. Bohlke said USC maintenance personnel and dining services em ployees did most of the remodel ing to keep costs down. Most of the remodeling consisted of re-tiling, painting antHianging new signs. The SbbTcour! “Even though in Capstone m0st Of the House in- . elude a new changes are paint job, tile Subtle, work, new signs, the re hopefully the movai of sub changes will City and a new menu making with rotis eating on sene chicken, , baguettes and C3HipUS just panini sand- that more wiches. The Pa enjoyable” tio, inside Patterson ELIZABETH Hall, now fea- BOHLKE turps an px- SODEXHO ALLIANCE lutes dll ex DISTRICT MANAGER tended salad bar. Dining services also plans to serve health ier food to improve students’ eat ing habits. The Grand Marketplace (GMP) has benefited from the changes as well. Starbucks will now start serving sandwiches so ♦ DINING, SEE PAGE A14 Darryl Jones and Mildred Scott, employees of Carolina Dining, show off their new uniforms in the renovated Grand Marketplace. Carolina Dining made several changes over the summer. PHOTO BY AARON HARK SUE < The young and the restless The first installment of The Gamecock’s look at the lives of five freshmen. ♦ PAGE B1 ONLINE POLL Do you think Derek Watson was given the correct punishment for his actions? www.dailygamecock.com.