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Arrests up sharply oyer 1999 Numbers don’t mean crime has increased, USC officials say BY ADAM BEAM THE GAMECOCK After the U.S. Education Department released its study last month identifying a 10.2 percent increase in drug arrests on college campuses nationwide, an analy sis of USC’s crime statistics shows that USC is leading the way. Although there were only 23 drug-related arrests in 1998, by 2000 that number had jumped to 68, a fact that USC Law Enforcement Director Ernie Ellis says is unique to the university’s circumstances. “We have several facilities that we include in our statistics, such as the football stadium and the Coliseum,” he said. “Alcohol and drug arrests at concerts and foot “I think over the next couple of years, the numbers will start going down.” JOHN MACDONALD use CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROFESSOR ball games are included in our sta tistics, so that gives a skewed pic ture somewhat compared to some other schools that don’t have those facilities.” The statistics for 2001 are not official yet, but they show a de crease in the number of drug ar rests to 46, something that crimi nal justice professor John MacDonald predicted. “I think over the next couple of years, the numbers will start go ing doyvn,” MacDonald said. “When people realize there is a zero-tolerance policy on these types of things, you generally see a return effect on the general college setting.” ♦ CRIME, SEE PAGE 3 USC crime index statistics 742 Even though crime at USC dropped in 2001 from 2000, total crime is up significantly since 1999. 1999 2000 2001 ♦Unofficial numbers ' GRAPHIC BY-BRANDON LARRABEE ◄ ► m Back Forward Stop Refresh J [ Flome Candidate: 1 -“ ~— ! m 1 ^— --———-— .'■" PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK Anklt Patel works with the Department of Social Services in Greenville County. Vote in Student Government Elections: http://v)p.sc.edu/ SG parliamentarian Patel: Rewarding those who serve Parliamentarian, SG presidential candidate touts community service BY GINNYTHORNTON THK UAMMU0CK If you ask Ankit Patel about his best memory of college, he tells the story of his work involved in forming the USC chapter of First Mentors, a program similar to Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. “It was stressful because we had no idea how it would go, but it turned out to be a great success,” Patel said in an interview with The Gamecock. Patel carefully recounted the de tails of recruiting chapter members, of coordinating volunteers and chil dren, pizza and soft drinks. When he came to the part about the children, his face brightened. “The best part, by far, is working with the kids. You’d be amazed at what these kids can do when they are shown some attention,” he said. Patel started the chapter because of his experience as a program coor dinator with the Department of Social Services in Greenville, where he planned activities for and worked with at-risk children. Patel has served for the past two school years as SG Parliamentarian, a position appointed by the vice president. He doesn’t see the SG presidency as too large of a leap from his background. “I’ve had leadership opportunities from different things, and I think I ♦ FULL STORY. SEE PAGE 4 About this series: Over the next three weeks, The Gamecock will profile the five candidates running for Student Government president. Old profiles, along with a list of all candidates running, will be available at www.dailygamecock.com from the day they appear in print until after the election. TODAY: Ankit Patel ♦ FRIDAY: Jim McFadden ♦ MONDAY: Kaleta Brown ♦ FRIDAY 2/15: Brook Bristow ♦ MONDAY 2/18: David Bomemann Kicking the habit USC students get help in quest to quit smoking BY MEGHAN MCNAIR THE GAMECOCK ' Students at USC who have want ed to quit smoking but have lacked the motivation can now break the habit. And they can go through the process with other students who are going through the same situa tions and addictions. A three-week program spon sored by Health and Wellness Programs allows students, teach ers and faculty to try to quit with out having to pay the $500 it would usually cost for medicine. The smoking cessation support group is a funded grant, meaning it has no sign-up costs and free medication. “My goal is total abstinence of smoking, through people in groups,” said leader Dr. Phil Michels. “Zero cigarettes by the end of treatment. I have spent putting together. I have dealt with over 70 people and six classes at the moment, but this is my first time at USC. Hopefully, we will have a good turnout, and then we can further continue to have more classes.” There were hopes that at least 20 students would participate in the class, according to Michelle Murphy, program director for Health and Wellness Programs. Eleven individuals showed up for Monday night’s first meeting, most of them faculty or staff. Only a small number of students at tended. “As far as the program goes, I am really excited about our part nership with Richland,” Murphy said. “Michels’ stats and research have been very positive in the past. His success rates have been great, and we are hoping that this partnership will continue.” Class attendees were asked to list the positives and negatives of smoking. The outcome was 10 good things about smoking ciga rettes and 35 bad things. A home work assignment was to pick ♦SMOKING, SEE PAGE 4 PHOTO BY ANNIE LEE Dr. Phil Michels is the leader of the smoking cessation support group at the university. USC students complain about postal service BY CHARLES PRASHAW THE GAMECOCK The old adage that the check is in the mail just might be true af ter all at USC. Recently, some stu dents have complained that the USC postal service has either lost mail or delivered it very late to on campus addresses. “Somehow, they completely lost my letter of recommendation for grad school in the mail,” fourth year psychology student Stacey Thatch said. Thatch said she spoke to her professor about the letter of rec ommendation and the professor said he sent it before winter break. By the time she came back to cam pus, the letter still hadn't been de livered to graduate admissions. “It was a real setback. Fortunately, I was able to get the professor to send another letter, and I barely made the deadline,” she said. A similar story was recounted by third-year business student Eric Johnson, who said his in ternship packet was lost in the mail and cost him the internship. Postal Services Director Ladonna Moss defended her de partment by saying mail on cam pus is delivered in a timely man ner and to the best of the Postal Services’ abilities. Moss said the postal service routinely delivers mail to student mailboxes the same day it’s received from the U.S. Mail service at the Main “Around this time of year, we get buckets and buckets of mail every day.” NANCY DOWD OFFICER MANAGER AT GRADUATE ADMISSIONS Street Post Office. Others on campus defended USC Postal Services also. Nancy Dowd, office manager at graduate admissions, said the workers do a great job of getting mail there. “Around this time of year, we get buckets and buckets of mail every day,” Dowd said. Dawn Hiller, academic adviser at the College of Liberal Arts, also praised the mail service. “At the beginning of the semes ter, they are usually slow, but as far as getting things I need, 1 have had no problems about them bringing things to me,” she said. The only delays students should expect are for packages, which are handled differently. Moss said mail and packages han dled by UPS might also be delayed, but that has nothing to do with USC Postal Services. Moss said other delays come from students or those corre sponding with students. Students who use a different name than the one registered on VIP might have trouble getting mail. Each student mailbox has a name behind it ♦ POSTAL SERVICE, SEE PAGE 3 New community will be housed in South Quad BY LIZ SWARTZ THE GAMECOCK NADA is getting a new home and a new name. In fall 2002, it will be known as just Carolina’s Global Community, and the new commu nity will occupy the majority of a floor in South Quad. Patricia Wilier, the director of International Programs for Students, collaborates with University Housing on managing the program. “We are tremendously excited about the new arrangements for Carolina’s Global Community,” Wilier said. “The new facility in South Quad offers a number of ad vantages, which will help the in ternational living and learning community to grow and thrive in the years ahead.” Carolina’s Global Community this year and next year will house 44 students who are a mix of in ternational exchange students and Americans. Currently, the com position is 70 percent internation als, but a 50-50 mix is planned for next fall. In the past, there has been some difficulty filling all the spots re served for Americans. But Gretchen Koehler, director of the University Housing Administration, believes “the op posite problem will be true next se mester” due to the program being moved to South Quad. All students will have single bedrooms, where as in the present NADA, most stu dents share. Carolyn Rowe, a history and politics exchange student from England, said, “Carolina’s Global Community is a very strong and unique program that forms a close-knit group.” American Thomas Eybl, a criminal justice junior, believes moving the pro gram to South Quad will strength ♦ NADA, SEE PAGE 3 TODAY’S WEATHER: Rain expected by evening. High 44, Low 36. TOMORROW’S WEATHER: Cloudy, rain in the morning. High 50, Low 37. ____s__