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Interfaith Celebration includes representatives from 8 religions BY JACOB RABON THE GAMECOCK The Interfaith Celebration, originally scheduled for Sept. 11, took place Thursday on the Russell House Patio. Its goal was to foster better understanding of different faiths. Representatives of a variety of re ligions presented their faiths in dif ferent ways, but all tried to give oth ers a clearing understanding of them. Presentations ranged from a traditional dance by Hindu first year doctoral student Radhika Engineer to the story of a Jewish shepherd’s prayer told by second year students Sarah Ross and Rachel Rosansky. The organizers hoped attendees would leave feeling closer to peo ple of other faiths. We want to help bring about peace through understanding,” said Rachel Rosanski, who orga nized the Jewish segment of the event. The event lasted a little more than an hour and featured repre sentatives and presentations from eight faiths: Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Unitarian, Baha’i, Native American, Hindu and Buddhist. The presenters included a mixture of faculty, staff, students and people not affiliated with the university. Touch of Faith, a USC student chorale, opened the event. Religion professor Tom Wall, or ganizer of the event, said its dri ving force was a “need to come to gether and persevere through faith.” According to student Anne Thomson, speaking about the Sept. 11 attacks, said, “These things were important before but are even more important now.” Staff member Psyche Ready said she thinks more of these types of events should occur. “It is very important that we encourage an open dialogue between faiths,” she said. Some students said they came away from the event with a better understanding of other faiths. T.oby Housey, a fourth-year fi nance major and member of Touch of Faith, said, “I have a clearer understanding now; I rely less on stereotypes that are often incorrect.” The organizers encouraged fur ther cooperation between faiths. Carl Evans, religious studies de partment chairman, said we need more interaction among faiths. “Sometimes we lose sight of the fact that religions are practiced by people, and the only way to have a better understanding of them is to interact with people of other faiths,” he said. USC President John Palms and Student Government Vice President Nithya Bala also spoke at the Interfaith Celebration, which concluded with the International Prayer for Peace. An interfaith committee has al ready been established because of this event and will remain a fix ture at USC. The committee’s first meeting will be on Nov. 29 at 5 p.m. in the SEC room of the Russell House. The council will try to bring about better understanding of faith in general and greater co operation among religions. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com. A Muslim believer, right, referred to as brother, has memorized the text of the holy Quran, photo by michelle dosson STATE BRIEFS Thurmond calls for immigrant tracking COLUMBIA-U S. Sen. Strom Thurmond says tracking devices should be created to keep tabs on immigrants and help protect the United States from terrorism. “We should develop a single, comprehensive database of all noncitizens,” wrote Thurmond in a column published in The State on Saturday. “It should be updated as aliens enter and leave, and integrated with law enforcement. Also, foreign nationals should be prescreened prior to their arrival in our country.” The Republican senator says forgery of immigration related documents, such as visas and Social Security cards, is a serious problem and that identification cards with an immigrant’s photo, hngerprints and other unique physical characteristics should be created. He also says annual registration is needed to determine whether temporary aliens are here for reasons they were authorized for, such as attend school. He says most foreigners who come to America are “well-meaning, hard-working people who make valuable contributions to our nation.” IT HAPPENED NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED SCHOOL UNDER INVESTIGATION: Clarendon School District 1 is facing a financial crisis that has forced it to fire 12 employees and prompted an investigation by the State Law Enforcement Division. The county government asked SLED to investigate why $712,150 in state money, designated for school construction, apparently was spent on day to-day operations in last year’s budget. NATION BRIEFS Bishops will likely elect black leader WASHINGTON - The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is likely to elect its first black president during a four-day meeting that begins Monday. Diversity also will be the focus, and the group will renew the church’s fight against abortion, while proposing a day of prayer fof* peace as the war in Afghanistan continues. Bishop Joseph Fiorenza of Texas is finishing his three year term as head of the group, which serves as the church’s national voice on social, political and religious issues. Bishop Wilton Gregory of Belleville, 111., the organization’s vice president, is expected to succeed him. Conference vice presidents are traditionally elected president. The vote is scheduled for Tuesday. The Roman Catholic Church in the United States is 78 percent white, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, and black Catholics have long sought recognition from church leaders. Estimates of the number of - black Catholics range from 2 million to 3.5 million, out of 63.7 million nationwide. They welcome the upcoming election of Gregory as a sign their voices will be heard. IT HAPPENED NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED PUTIN TO VISIT AMERICA: When Russian President Vladimir Putin makes his first visit to the White House on Tuesday, President Bush hopes he can overcome Russian objections to his missile defense plans with promises of new cuts in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. WORLD BRIEFS Leader’s capture provokes rioting JAKARTA, INDONESIA Riots erupted Sunday after an independence movement leader was kidnapped and killed in Irian Jaya, one of several Indonesian provinces wracked by violence amid a traumatic transition to democracy after decades of dictatorship. Villagers found the body of Theys Eluay, 64, in his wrecked car in a ravine 18 miles east of the provincial capital, Jayapura. Police said he appeared to have been strangled and that his assailants had tried to * * make the killing look accidental by pushing the car off a remote stretch of road. There were no clear suspects, and his driver was missing, they said. Eluay s widow, Yaneke, blamed the Indonesian military, which is often accused of human rights atrocities. Police said Eluay , was killed as he returned home after dining with local Indonesian army commanders Saturday night. Senior military officers refused to comment. Hundreds of independence supporters set fire to a hotel, a market and a bank near Eluay’s home inSentani, close to Jayapura’s airport. Others ‘ blocked roads with burning tires and threw rocks at police, who responded with warning shots. There were no reports of injuries. IT HAPPENED NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED ACTION IN ISRAEL: Omar Abu Zayed. 25, a member of - the militant group Islamic Jihad, was killed Sunday when the bomb he was making exploded in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Palestinian security officials and witnesses said. POLICE REPORT Each numbered symbol on the map represents a single crime that corresponds with the numbered descriptions in the list below it. DAY CRIMES f □_Violent crimes ■ NIGHT CRIMES (6 a.m.-6 p.m.) Q Nonviolent crimes # J (6p.m.-6a.m.) □ © CRIMES AT UNKNOWN HOURS Friday, Nov. 2 (T LARCENY OF BOW, 511 MAIN ST. The victim said someone took a brown and white violin bow from the band hall. J.D. Patterson. ® LARCENY OF LICENSE PLATE, 902 SUMTER ST. The victim said someone took the license plate from his 1997 white Nissan Sentra. Estimated value: $10. Reporting officer: J.D. Patterson. Tuesday, Nov. 6 ® AUTO BREAK-IN, 1200 CATAWBA ST. The victim said someone broke out the rear driver’s-side window of his 1995 silver Nissan Pathfinder. A “Reinforced Concrete Engineering” textbook and a green London Fog jacket was missing. Total estimated value: $130. Reporting officer: J.A. Henry. ® ILLEGAL USE OF TELEPHONE, 1520 DEVINE ST. The victim said she received three harassing phone calls from an unknown caller. The victim was given a log to keep track of the calls. Reporting officer: J.A. Henry. Q USE OF ALTERED CURRENCY, 1400 GREENE ST. The complainant said someone used a $1 bill that was made to look like a $10 bill. The bill placed into an evidence locker. Reporting officer: J.A. Clarke, o GRAND LARCENY OF LAPTOP, 500 SUMTER ST. The complainant said someone took the following items from her room: a Toshiba Satellite laptop, the internet connection to the laptop, a Sony CD Walkman, a sapphire and diamond necklace, a gold bracelet, three gold necklaces, $30, a Discover card, a Visa Verizon card, a Social Security card and a driver’s license. Total estimated value: $2,640. Reporting officer: J.B. Coaxum. o LARCENY, 500 SUMTER ST. The victim said the following items were taken from her South Quad residence: a blue Jansport book bag, a silver Guess watch, a TI-86 calculator, a silver James Avery ring, a Dayplanner, $20, a tin with $10 in change, an anthropology textbook, a statistics book and a physics book. Total estimated value: $480. Reporting officer: J.B. Coaxum. Wednesday, Nov, 7 © AUTO BREAK-IN, 1600 SENATE ST. The victim said someone broke out the passenger-side rear window of his 2000 white Honda Civic. A CD case containing 35 audio CDs was missing. Total estimated value: $525. Reporting officer: J.R. Merrill. Thursday, Nov. 8 ® LOST PROPERTY, 1400 SUMTER ST. The victim said he lost a Samsung cell phone. Reporting officers: D. Hare and J.D. Rosier. Habitat Clemson has built house for 8 years CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 Clemson isn’t any better than USC, and they should be able to do the same.” “Planning is already un derway for next year’s house, we are trying to make this an annual event,” she said. Habitat for Humanity is a Christian service organization whose goal is to eliminate poverty housing by helping provide simple, decent, afford able housing. USC’s student chapter started in 1998. Before this event, the chapter provid ed volunteers to help build the Central Carolina chapter’s houses. Kristen Crookes, pres ident of the USC chapter, said, “It’s good to be finally building our own house.” More than $50,00 has been donated in only seven months through the fundraising ef forts of Columbia Rotary Clubs and USC’s chapter of Habitat for Humanity. Seven student organizations and 200 students have pledged their support to the event. According to Tally, “the only thing that will throw us off-schedule now is bad weather.” After construction crews delivered materials and pre pared the foundation, student volunteers started building the house. Under the supervision of trained supervisors, they will construct the floors and walls, raise the roof trusses, nails shingles and install sid ing and electrical wiring. The finished house will be moved to its permanent location on Nov. 16, and the plumbing and other finishing work will then be done by professionals. The goal is to have the house dedi cated by Christmas. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockudesk'ahotmail.com. I-1 Interested in working for The Gamecock? 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