Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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MSA Muslims will defend any place of worship CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 gions, and races are now all “forced to know each other,” he said. Shaheed also said members of the Muslim faith believe all hu mans are made from the same soul and see people as “humanly the same, culturally different.” Shaheed described Mohammed, the Islamic prophet, as a “lover of life.” In the Islamic religion, Mo hammed is believed to be the mes senger of God. “Islam did not come to liberate Muslims,” said Shaheed. “It came to liberate all people who were de nied religious freedom.” He con tinued to clarify that the responsi bility of Muslims includes defend ing Christian churches, Jewish synagogues or any other places of worship that may fall under attack. Shaheed concluded his speech by saying Muslims who are true followers of the faith wouldn’t have been involved in terrorist attacks. “Would Mohammed, the peace upon him, kill innocent men and women?” he asked. After finishing his speech, Shaheed opened the floor for any questions the audience mem bers wanted to ask. He said he was pleased with the response he received from the crowd. “I felt that the audience asked very excellent questions, and , many did not ask [their ques- i tions] because we answered them [during the speech],” Shaheed said. “I feel that the audience was receptive to the message.” “The questions indicated to me that the desire of the individ ual for clarity concerning Islam, Muslims and where we stand in relation to terrorism,” he added. “This is an event to condemn the evil acts and to prevent fur ther backlash,” Syed said. There are 1.2 billion Muslims in the world, and Islam is the world’s fastest-growing religion, [slam came into existence in the seventh century when the prophet Mohammed brought the scripture of the Quran, the Is lamic holy book, to the Arabs. Comments on this story?E-mail '.amecockudesk@hotmail.com. FBI USC students choose to remain overseas CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 9 nia Democrat, has suggested a six month moratorium on issuing stu dent visas. Even before the recent terrorist attacks, the Immigration and Nat uralization Service has been preparing a computerized database of the estimated 500,000 foreign stu dents in the United States on stu dent visas. Still in development, the system is designed to catch students who stay illegally after finishing their studies. Though some foreign students are leaving the country, Hey Kyung Coh, a spokeswoman for the Institute for International Education, said only a few Amer ican students have asked to come home or cancel their plans. “We don’t really expect huge numbers of students to cancel, and if they do I don’t think it’s because students feel there is imminent danger in going abroad or staying here,” Coh said. “It’s more that they want to be closer to their fam ilies.” McKinney said that no USC stu dents currently studying overseas have requested to come home early. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com. Salary Market economy determines pay CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Former Faculty Senate Chairwoman Caroline Strobel said that the faculty salaries at USC are not the main at traction. “People come to teach here because they want to and because they love the University of South Carolina.” Faculty pay is a complex is sue for the USC; ' dministration, “It’s a market economy on salaries,” Strobel said. She said professors in some departments get paid more than others be cause of the demand for person nel and the competitive salary range in today’s economy. “I think that most of the faculty thinks they’re under paid,” Strobel said. She said that having nationally com petitive salaries at USC is not a primary goal. “We try to be competitive with our peer group in the Southeast. Salaries have been a No. 1 pri ority with legislatures [in South Carolina] for a while.” The state appropriations bill for fiscal year 2001 was coupled with reductions in higher edu cation funding, which were lat er vetoed by Gov. Jim Hodges. In a letter to the South Car olina House of Representa tives, Hodges justified his ve toes of the attempted budget cuts that would have helped , —-m-T .1 — "I balance the state budget. “We cannot afford to balance the budget on the backs of stu dents and their parents.” Some at USC and in the general assembly have raised concerns that next year’s state appropriations bill will contain the same proposed budget cuts. In the event of a cut, all institutions and agen cies will receive the same per centage reduction, Strobel said. USC faculty members view salaries with mixed reactions. In a survey last year, several professors listed income as a concern, but Strobel said there was not a negative re sponse. The Gamecock contacted several professors in different departments about their sat isfaction with their income. Some professors character ized their salaries with the same simplicity as biology professor David Lincoln: “I wish it were better.” Law pro fessor James Underwood said, “[My salary] is basically com petitive.” Other professors simply said they were satis fied for now. Vice President Jameson said President Palms and the university administration will continue to urge the state general assembly to consider the value of public education. “Every year since Dr. Palms has been here, his goal has been to give as much as possible to our faculty,” Jameson said. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk(cvhotmail.com. Imagine a place... WHERE affordable tuition individualized learning experiences YOU CAN exceptional graduate programs and faculty assistantships and internship opportunities HAVE IT ALL! 16 accredited master’s level programs two graduate certificate programs The University of Charleston, S.C., the graduate school at the College of Charleston, provides post-baccalaureate education, advanced training and professional development through its master’s level programs. T7ie Graduate School at the College of Charleston Use graduate study to Craduate Sth°o1 °fflce r „ University of Charleston, S.C. prepare for or change a career Charleston, SC 29424 and keep abreast of changes (843) 953-5614 in your field. http://univchas.cofc.edu gradsch@cofc.com STATE BRIEFS Corps to improve Clemson dams CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) - Work will start next week on a plan to improve two dams on Lake Hartwell that protect parts of Clemson University. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wants to make the dams more resistant to earth quakes, Corps spokesman Jim Parker said. The dams were built in 1961 to protect school facilities from flooding. The possibility of earth quakes wasn’t considered when the dams were designed nearly 50 years ago, Parker said. “This is not an emergency,” he said. “This is strictly preventative maintenance. It is designed to prevent an emergency.” The state is considered a moderate earthquake area, said University of South Carolina geology professor Pradeep Talwani. Engineers will be at the dams next week to take sam ples of earth around the site. The dams will be off limits when construction starts next summer. It’s expected to take 18 months to complete the project, Parker said. Dead eagles have scientists worried CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - Biologists worry the disease that killed dozens of eagles at two South Carolina lakes last season might return. Sixteen dead eagles were found near Lake Strom Thur mond, but scientists think that number is just a fraction of the total death toll. Dead eagles were also found near Lake Murray. Researchers have diagnosed some of the dead birds with avian vacuolar myelinopathy, a nervous system disorder that causes poor coordination and brain lesions. They worry the disease, which has mainly been con fined to inland lakes, might move to coastal reservoirs. The * disease has been found at about a dozen other sites across the Southeast. The problem apparently begins in coots, a duck-like bird that’s the favorite food of the eagles. NAr [ON BR 5FS Attacked bus driver receiving accolades MANCHESTER, TENN. (AP) - The Greyhound driver whose neck was slashed by a passenger just before his bus crashed was hailed as a hero for crawling from the wreckage to search for v help. But his brother said he “felt like he did what anybody else would do.” Six of the 40 passengers, including the attacker, died when the bus crashed early Wednesday after Garfield Sands was cut. “From the side of my eye, I saw a hand move toward me real quick and cut my throat,” Sands told WSMV-TV on Thursday from his bed in the intensive care unit at the Medical Center of Jr Manchester. Bandages could be seen on Sands’ throat. Dr. Ralph Bard said Sands told him that he managed to crawl from the wreckage and stumble through the pre-dawn darkness toward a nearby light. “Everybody who could be saved from that accident was saved,” Bard said. “He gets out and goes for; help. This is a good guy.” Bishops set to elect first black leader The U.S. bishops’ group that sets religious policy for Roman Catholics in America and serves as the church’s national voice on social and political issues is poised to elect its first black president, Bishop Wilton D. Gregory of the Belleville diocese in southern Illinois. Gregory, who also serves as the vice president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, is expected to ascend to the group’s top post when the bishops hold their fall meeting next month in Washington. Since 1966, every conference vice president but one has been elected president. In that one exception, the vice president refused to be a candidate, said conference spokesman William Ryan, declining further comment on the election. WORLD BRIEFS U.S. official says missile downed plane MOSCOW (AP)-A Russian chartered airliner carrying Israelis to Siberia for family visits exploded Thursday and xrashed off the Black Sea coast with at least 76 people on board. U.S. officials said an anti aircraft missile fired during a Ukrainian training exercise appeared to have accidentally brought down the plane. A U.S. official, speaking in Washington on condition of anonymity, said “this looks to be a military training exercise gone terribly awry.” , The Ukrainian Defense Ministry, however, said none of its weapons could have hit a civilian aircraft, and Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had no reason to doubt the denial. Earlier, Putin, who has taken a high-profile position in the international anti-terrorist • coalition that has formed following the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, said a terrorist act could have caused the Tupolev 154 to explode. The plane tumbled into the sea 114 miles off the Russian coastal city of Adler on the Georgian border. Elder Bush meets pope, Italian leader ROME (AP) — Former president George Bush had breakfast Thursday with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and then a private audience with Pope John Paul II. The former president has tried to avoid interviews and news conferences during what the U.S. Embassy calls a “strictly •private visit” to Italy. But when asked if he was proud of his son’s ' handling of the terrorism crisis, he was quick to reply. “Yes, very,” he said. Bush began the day with a breakfast with Berlusconi at the billionaire businessman’s palatial private residence in downtown Rome. Security, which has been tight throughout his visit, snarled traffic for blocks. Bush then moved on to the Vatican, where he met privately with the pope. The pontiff later said he had expressed his sympathy with the terrorist tragedy in the United States. He said Oct. 11 Would be a day of prayer in the Vatican. I ^■inTvMiiTj L*J,( 1 kf'li Mill