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Gariane Phillips, a senior, receives an autograph and a handshake from Dr. Patch Adams following his speech Tuesday night In the Russell House, photo by regina goodwin Laughters • BEST MEDICINE PATCH ADAMS PROVES HE’S MORETHANACLOWN BY GREG WHITT THE GAMECOCK A standing-room-only crowd packed the Russell House Ball room to hear Dr. Patch Adams speak as one of the chosen per sonalities in the Bicentennial “Search For Six” campaign. The line to enter the Russell _ House Ballroom coiled past Taco ™ Bell into the student eating area. Giddy students, parents, faculty and other curious onlookers cre ated an audible excitement throughout the building. The ball room itself was jammed beyond capacity. Red clown noses pep pered the audience. Even in the room’s heat, a man donned a pink wig; Adams’ style of medicine was taking effect before he even made his entrance. Made famous by a 1998 movie starring Robin Williams, Adams proved his unconventionality at his appearance. As he removed the podium from the stage be fore he began to speak, he said he was “always trying to change ^ things.” ^ A former mental hospital pa tient, Adams studied to become a doctor in the late 1960s and ’70s. He said he angered his profes sors and university administra tors with his unorthodox man ner. Adams is famous for his use of humor and medicine to reach out to humanity. He described his technique as “a gimmick to get people into the university of human culture.” Be fore he could make it to the stage, Adams proved this by his dress and demeanor. Half of his long, ponytailed hair was dyed a bright royal blue. His handlebar mustache did all it could to repress his infectious smile. Long, mismatched orange and green socks climbed his long legs. He wore baggy multicolored pants, a checkered tie and an out landishly loud shirt. Adams said he is “a political ac tivist whose methods are medi cine and clowning.” He expressed all of these aspects of his charac ter during the nearly three hours he spent mesmerizing the ball room crowd. He spoke about us ing novelty dog droppings as an alternative to Prozac for combat ing depression. He told the crowd, “If everything stays the same, we will be extinct by mid-century.” Adams expressed his distaste for capitalism and a “society based on money and power” — and argued that ‘whoopee’ cushions are uni versally funny. Adams’ address showed he is much more than a clown. He won dered why Bill Gates has enough money to end much of the world’s hunger but doesn’t. He questioned why “America’s No. 1 television show is ‘Who Wants to Be a Mil lionaire?’ and not ‘Who Wants to be a Good Friend?”’ He asked what the difference was between the thousands of children who die of hunger daily and the deaths stemming from the events of Sept. 11. . At the end of Adams’ lecture, his effect on audience members ♦ ADAMS, SEE PAGE 2 Grads face job crunch USC students finding fewer opportunities BY ALICIA BALENTINE THE GAMECOCK USC students worried abou job opportunities during the cui rent recession can find little sc lace in recent business surveys. Manpower Inc., the nation’s largest staffing company, has re leased its quarterly survey of 16,000 American businesses. The report revealed that, though 16 percent of companies plan to add jobs during the first quarter of next year, the same number an t ticipate cutting staff. Even before the Sept. 11 at tacks, the nation’s economy had started to lag. “It’s too early to say what kind of effect the terrorist at tack has had on hiring, but Sept. 11 would have sped up an already downward trend.” said Jeffrey Jo erres, chief executive officer and chairman of Manpower. Mike Reen, 3 chemical engi neering major graduating on Dec. 17, has had two interviews but no job offers yet. “I’m going to con tinue looking for a job in my field, but work anywhere until I find it,” he said. This employment crunch has many college graduates in a fren zy, and there aren’t as many re cruiters on campus this year. But they aren’t leaving altogether; re cruiters want to maintain their presence for when employment outlooks improve. ♦ JOBS, SEE PAGE 2 THE WRITING ON THE WALL And When it is Ro ugf I h ‘Cocks Get Going. . M Hail to Our Colors of Gai iu.s ,; * H?aek,# 1 ij t„#« arol i iii -* ^j|f,.. JL $ r — Members of Student Government and Freshman Council work from a transparency projection to paint the fight song onto the walls of the Russell House Gameroom. photo by aaron hark RH gameroom gets facelift Students paint murals to make room a more ‘spirited place’ BY SEAN WALLER THE GAMECOCK The gameroom in the Russell House is being improved with newly painted walls and added features. The School Improvement Committee, which is part of Stu dent Government’s Freshman Council, began working on the gameroom on Nov. 25. The School Improvement Committee also worked on the painted gamecock on Greene Street in front of the Russell House and the designs painted in the tunnel leading from the law school to the Carolina Coli seum. The School Improvement Committee consists of nine freshmen. Twenty-seven other Freshman Council members and several Student Government members have worked on the improvements in the gameroom. “Our purpose is to beautify the campus,” said Linsey Hock er, a pharmacy major on the School Improvement Committee. The gameroom is getting a whole new paint job. The game room was stripped down and then painted white. The stu dents are painting the state flag in garnet and black, the gamecock in the design of the American flag, the interlocking USC letters, the USC fight song and the USC seal on the walls of the gameroom. “We are painting the USC lo gos to make it into a spirited place,” said Manasi Sinha, a third-year chemistry and psy chology major who is a liaison for the Freshman Council. The gameroom is also getting new carpet and some new features ♦ GAMEROOM, SEE PAGE 3 * Olympic torch to travel through Columbia BY JUSTIN BACHMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS ATLANTA-Carried by a crew of gold medalists including Muham mad Ali and Peggy Fleming, the Olympic flame began a 46-state, two-month journey Tuesday to the opening ceremony of the Salt Lake City Winter Games. Starting in the last U.S. city to hold the Olympics, the Summer Games in 1996, the relay will in volve 11,500 people lugging the 3 pound torches and their symbol ic fire more than 13,500 miles be fore the Feb. 8 ceremony. ^ ‘This precious, magical flame can w illuminate us all with its hope of a brighter future,” said Billy Payne, who led Atlanta’s Olympic effort “In its light, you can see the promise of a world united, not divided.” The relay left the downtown Centennial Olympic Park after Ali, a boxing champion at the 1960 Sum mer Games in Rome, lighted a torch from a massive cauldron and passed it to Fleming, a figure skat ing gold medalist at the 1968 Win ter Games in Grenoble, France. Ali lighted the flame that burned over the Atlanta Games. He and Fleming were joined by other Olympic medalists - cyclist Lance Armstrong, five-time speed skating champion Bonnie Blair, 1960 figure skating gold medalist Robert Paul and 1998 freestyle ski winner Nikki Stone. The closely guarded flame arrived in Atlanta after an 11-hour flight aboard a jumbo jet painted with “The Soaring Spirit” and pictures of Blair, ski jumper Ryan Heckman and luger Duncan Kennedy. Fleming and Paul, her former coach, carried the flame on the first leg of its journey through the park. The flame then visited Coca-Cola’s headquarters, a General Motors as sembly plant and Athens, Ga„ be fore arriving in Greenville, S.C., for an evening ceremony. Since the Sept. 11 terrorist at tacks, Salt Lake officials have been promoting the Winter Games as a rallying point for the nation and an opportunity to demonstrate friendship among countries. Among the torch bearers will be Lyz Glick, the wife of Jeremy Glick, one of the passengers aboard United Flight 93, which crashed Sept. 11 in Pennsylvania after passengers apparently strug gled with hijackers. She is to car ry the torch Dec. 23 in New York. The torch will visit 80 cities in all. The torch will arrive at the intersection of Bull and Harden streets at 10:41 a.m. It will reach the Harden and Gervais intersection at 11:12 a.m. D and will reach the State House at 12:02 p.m. □ before making a stop in Finlay Park II and heading into West Columbia. SOURCE: THE STATE USG’S PAST Dec. 5,1855 Francis Lieber, South Carolina College’s most prominent antebellum scholar, resigned from the faculty after being denied the college’s presidency. WEATHER Today Tomorrow Sunny, Sunny, 78/48 80/54 INSIDE TODAY’S ISSUE Freshmen survive first semester Five students tell the tale of their starts at USC. ♦ PAGE 5 < Women stay solid in top 25 Team slaps around Temple to pick up win. ♦ PAGE 9 ONLINE POLL Calling Volunteers How much does it hurt to root for Tennessee this weekend so we’ll get a good bowl? Vote at www.dailygamecock.com. Results are published on Fridays. 1