Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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INSIDE: Your guide to Student Government elections -• : __———— ■ ■ - Knotts wants to relax gun law BY CHARLES PRASHAW THE GAMECOCK A new bill amending South Carolina’s con cealed weapon per mit law would al low gun owners to carry concealed weapons in previ ously restricted Knotts areas, lawmakers say. The change that would affect USC students most would allow university students to have con cealed weapons in their dorm rooms. Housing officials were un available Tuesday to comment on how exactly the bill could impact housing policies. However, Student Government President Corey Ford spoke out against the bill, saying that no one needs guns on school cam puses. “I think it is the most ridicu lous piece of legislation to ever come out of the General Assembly,” Ford said. “I don’t think this will be beneficial pub lic policy.” Other changes would allow concealed weapon permit holders to carry their weapons into churches and allow parents tak ing their children to school to have concealed weapons in their cars. Also, permit holders would be able to carry weapons into state parks and interstate rest stops as well as parking lots of lounges, ♦ KNOTTS, SEEPAGES Students press for lottery dollars BY JESSICA FOY THE (JAMECOCK USC students are making it known that education funding from the lottery should be a top priority. On Wednesday morning, stu dents stood in the State House lob by and awaited members of the Legislature coming to work. They asked each memberto sign a pa per pledging their support as they walked through the door. The paper read: “Higher edu cation must remain a top legisla tive priority in the state of South Carolina. A college education is a proven avenue of success for our state’s students and their future. Please sign this pledge agreeing to set the incoming lottery rev enue for college scholarships by March 28.” __—-A W,, - —U1J VtUJ U1 X l/J Student Government President Corey Ford and treasurer candi date Terrance Beeks. Beeks feels it is important for the Legislature to know that stu dents are concerned about the lot tery education funds. “My main thing is to get stu dents’ voices heard,” Beeks said. While he felt some legislators were ignoring their efforts, he said, “At least they are seeing stu dents who care.” Presidential candidate Brook Bristow said he was disappointed ♦ STATE HOUSE, SEE PAGE 4 PHOTOS BY COREY DAVIS Ankit Patel’s campaign staff handed out cards Tuesday to potential voters. GETTING PERSONAL Campaigns entering the final round BY ADAM BEAM THE UAMECOCK For one week of the year, Greene Street, the land of ZipSheets and credit card hawkers, turns political as stu dents vying for Student Government executive offices send out their troops to meet the student body. “Hello, don’t forget to vote tomorrow, Patel for president, log onto VIP,” Haley Smith says to students. She sounds more like a broken record than a political campaigner. “You’re in it for the cause,” she said, commenting on her work. “You’re trying to sup port it as much as you can and just get his name out there.” Armed with red index card sized flyers that simply say “Patel for President,” these red clad soldiers distribute their lit erature to a mostly apathetic campus. Third-year internation al studies student Laura Bauld attempts to hand out a flyer. “Vote for Patel —if you can.” ■ Across the street sits the Bornemann clan, putting up last-minute posters with red, white and blue balloons. While Patel’s people are busily hand ing out flyers, Bornemann and his gang recline on the bricks taking in the rays. “I love students, I like my classmates, but they just don’t want to be harassed,” Bornemann campaign manag er Chrissy Stauffer said. SG presidential candidate David Bornemann, far left, took his campaign to Greene Street on Tuesday, the first of four days of person to-person campaigning. Crossing the street now, Patel’s team unfurls their poster, and the familiar sounds of duct tape begin to echo across the street. “Hey, Chrissy,” a Patel sup porter calls out while taking a break from tearing duct tape with his teeth. “Y’all had any infractions yet? “No,” she says. “Has anyone?” “I think so,” she replies. “Why, do y’all have a lot com ing?” “No, no,” he says quickly. “We seriously don’t.” With the posters up, Patel’s group heads back to the fliers, but not without stopping to hand some to Bornemann’s staff. “Any vote counts,” Bauld said. But the Bomemann team has a few tricks up its sleeve, includ ing walking dogs with Borne mann T-shirts on around cam pus and giving students a lift to class on a campaign golf cart. “David has been meeting people since he stepped out on this campus three years ago,” Stauffer said. “But we’re going to have golf carts and dogs, and, you know, the proverbial kiss ing babies around campus; and so, I think it will work for us.”. The person-to-person cam paigning is usually accompa nied by tables in the middle of Greene Street, but SG had the tables canceled because no one showed up on Monday. “I called [SG] to see how many tables they needed this morning,” Russell House reser vationist Janet Dedmon said. “They called back and canceled the tables for today and said they would need them for Wednesday and Thursday.” Table cancellations were an inconvenience for many can didates. “It’s a familiar sight... but this time they are wrong to take them away,” she said. “If you tell candidates that tables will be there for four days, they need to be there for four days.” The other candidates plan to start their person-to-person push today, using the tradi tional two days instead of three or four. Jim McFadden plans an informal campaign between his classes. “I’ll be out there tomorrow, real informal, talk to some peo ple, pass out some fliers, and that will be it,” he said. “Nothing special.” Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com Security measures take night I At the Columbia Metropolitan Airport, passengers Ryan Grant, Shawn Jameson and Brad Filyaw wait to check in at the United Airlines’ desk on Tuesday afternoon. Increased airport security is evident in Columbia and across the country. PHOTO BY CANDI HAUGLUM » • Candidates rate issues on NAACP report cards Student group’s questionnaires aim to inform USC voters BY KEVIN FELLNER THE HAMECOCK The USC chapter of the NAACP released its first ever “USC Student Government Report Cards” for presidential candidates this week. The report cards are self-re ported candidate evaluations, which were conducted at the re quest of the NAACP. Four out of the five presidential candidates participated. “We did this so Students would feel like they would know the can didates when they come to vote,” said Jerome Bryant, vice presi dent of the USC chapter of the NAACP. “With the report cards, you can see the candidates’ inter ests and concerns.” The report cards asked candi j dates to rate seven campus issues in order of importance. All of the can didates picked different issues as their top priority. “Discrimination among USC staff” was the issue with the highest average priority rating. The issue that received the least amount of attention from the candi dates was “Noticeable Student Government.” , The report cards also asked can didates what » SEE THE their greatest NAACP REPORT strengths and CARD F0R each wea^"?sse* _ PRESIDENTIAL would be as SG president. CANDIDATE, Brook Bristow PAGE 2. listed leader ship as his greatest strength, Kaleta Brown said handling di versity, Ankit Patel said commu nications skills and David Bornemann said experience. " Bryant said having the candi dates rate the issues allows the NAACP to get involved with key is sues without endorsing a candidate. Presidential candidate Jim McFadden did not return a com pleted questionnaire with his pri oritized issues. According to Bryant, McFadden cited time constraints within his campaign as the reason for not participat ing. McFadden said Tuesday that the NAACP did not notify him far enough in advance to meet his scheduling needs. He also said the process was not' thoroughly ex plained to him. “I don’t have anything against • the NAACP, but they need to re alize that I’m a busy guy,” McFadden said. He said he would like to have enough time to think about the evaluation be fore he puts his opinions out in public. Bryant said he hopes the ♦ NAACP, SEE PAGE 2 Meningitis death worries students Freshmen in dorms are at a greater risk BY LOGAN BARLOW THE GAMECOCK A Columbia area high school student’s death last week from bacterial meningitis has raised concerns among USC students about the risk of infection. Shaik Rahman, a freshman at A.C Flora High School, passed away on Feb. 11, only 45 minutes after being admitted to the hospi tal. Dr. Terry King, clinical ser vices director at USC’s Thomson Student Health Center, said, “It’s one of the most rapidly progress ing diseases, where you can go from being perfectly well to dead within 24 hours.” The mortality rate for bacteri al meningitis is between 10 per cent and 20 percent, a very high rate for an infectious disease. However, Dr. King noted, “Many individuals who survive the dis ease have residual problems fol lowing the infection.” During the 1998-1999 academic year, 83 cases of meningitis were reported at U.S. colleges, includ ing Dartmouth and the University of Minnesota. Six cases were fatal. Although college students as a whole are at no greater risk for contracting meningitis than any other segment of the population, there are subgroups that have been identified as being more like ly to develop the disease. About Meningitis _• SYMPTOMS ♦ Headache ♦ High Fever ♦ Nausea and Vomiting ♦ Stiff Neck ♦ Sensitivity to bright lights ♦ Fatigue and Lethargy ♦ Rash (not in all cases) HOWTO PREVENT IT ♦ Wash hands frequently. ♦ Get vaccinated. ♦ Avoid sharing personal items. ♦ Don't drink after others. ♦ Cover mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing. ♦ Do not share cigarettes. Two studies conducted in 1998 concluded that college freshmen living in dorms are 6 percent more likely to become infected with bac terial meningitis than college stu dents in general. A student of any age living in a dorm is at a 3 per cent higher risk of contracting the disease. Experts theorize that freshmen face a higher risk because they are new to the stress and sleep depri vation that come with the college experience. Both these factors can make them more susceptible to meningitis and put them at an in creased risk. Despite this risk, many USC students still have not been vacci nated. Dare Perry, a second-year ♦ MENINGITIS, SEE PAGE 2 ,rt Ti . , <1 TODAY’S WEATHER: Cloi|dy, 30 percent chance of showers by latp.afternoon. High 69, Low 48. TOMORROW’S WEATHER: Partly cloudy, sunshine by afternoon. High 69, Low 42.