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INSIDE: St. Patrick’s Day events T?V*i fl OTT March 8,2002 ♦ Vol. 95, No. 70 highlighted in The Mix -L JL 1U.Q Y University of South Carolina ♦ www.dailygamecock.com Hunter overturns infraction BY BRANDON LARRABEE THE GAMECOCK In the latest of a series of deci sions surrounding last week’s presidential runoff, Student Government Attorney General Brian Hunter has overturned one of the infractions issued to President-elect Ankit Patel. Hunter ruled Wednesday on Patel’s appeal of two of the three infractions given to him by the Elections Commission. The overturned infraction was given to Patel for campaigning in academic buildings. That infrac tion resulted from testimony by former candidate David Bomemann’s campaign manager, Chrissy Stauffer, that said she had seen a campaign staff member passing out Patel materials in the lobby at the bottom level of the Business Administration building. In his appeal, Patel said Stauffer’s information was too vague. v • “It is unsubstan IcPB'MmI tiated, false, and I if a do not think it right [Y*^ for the Elections W y-.Jji Commission to take B)k jB Stauffer’s ‘word for | it’ and to charge this violation to Patel me>” Patel wrote. In his ruling, Hunter agreed the charge was too vague and said there seemed to be a contradiction between a writ ten statement by Stauffer about the allegation and her testimony to the commission. In the viola tion she filed, Stauffer said the in cident took place at 2 p.m., but she told the commission Saturday that the violation was at 10 a.m. “I could understand a small difference in time, but this is a four-hour window of time,” Hunter wrote. Hunter also found fault with Stauffer’s description of the staff member as “a blond female.” Hunter wrote: “The Patel cam paign stated that a T-shirt was is sued to only one blonde on his staff and that she was at Greene Street at the time of the testimony of Ms. Stauffer. In my opinion, the burden of proof was not satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore, I must overturn the in fraction against Mr. Patel.” Hunter sustained the other ap pealed infraction, given to Patel for soliciting door to door at resi ♦ INFRACTION, SEE PAGE 2 Residence Hall Association holds Casino Night rrlU I U D T AAKUIN t1AKr\ Mandy Reeves and Mike Townes look on as first-year student Brett Nolan restocks the bank at RHA's Casino Night, held In the Towers’ lobby Thursday night. Novelist lectures on S.C., writing Dori Sanders visits English. class that might lose funding BY CRISTY INFINGER THE GAMECOCK South Carolina native and peach farmer Dori Sanders’ audience on Wednesday listened to her speak about becoming an author. Sanders, a York County native, has written two novels and a coun try cookbook. Her first novel, “Clover,” has been made into a Hallmark movie. Sanders was at USC for profes sor Janette Turner Hospital’s ENGL 439 class, “Caught in the Creative Act.” The class incorpo rates lectures on specified novels with lectures by the authors. It has been popular with students and more than 250 members of the Columbia community. The feedback from the public is great,” Hospital said. “The range of people involved is enormous — from doctors and lawyers, profes sors from other departments. And there are even two people who have never been enrolled in college who just like to read.” Sanders had the audience laugh ing out loud at her stories of a coun try girl making it big and at her ex periences as a South Carolina farmer on one of the only black owned peach farms in the state. “I am a certified South Carolina peach farmer, and, yes, my tractor is still more powerful than my ♦ SANDERS, SEE PAGE 2 Graduate builds support for candidacy BY GINNY THORNTON THE (iAMECOCK A former USC student leader returned to campus Tuesday to recruit support for his next ad venture in leadership. Columbia attorney Steve Benjamin spoke to the Law School Democrats about his plans to run for South Carolina attor ney general. Benjamin was Student Government president and graduated with his bachelor’s degree in 1991, and was president of the USC Law School and grad uated in 1994. “Our guest today sets a very high bar for someone who only graduated from law school eight years ago,” said Law School Democrats President and first year law student Eli Poliakoff. Benjamin served on Gov. Jim Hodges’ Cabinet as director of the Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon from March 1999 to September 2001 and was also named 2001 Young Lawyer of _ , . the Year by the enjam n south by the South Carolina Bar Association. Benjamin hasn’t officially an nounced his campaign, but said he has been “on the campaign stump” for a while; though he has never liked public speaking. Benjamin spoke of his first public speaking experience, say ing a young boy from his church approached him when he was fin ished and asked him if he needed some money. “When I asked him what he meant, he told me I was the poor est speaker he’d ever seen,” Benjamin said. “I’m going to hold press con ferences only when I have some thing to say, unlike the current at torney general. I call it prosecu tion by press release,” Benjamin said of Charlie Condon. Benjamin discussed his con cerns about the treatment of se nior citizens, domestic violence, guns in schools and his belief that South Carolina needs a compre hensive crime prevention plan. Benjamin said people shouldn’t hesitate to be involved in politics. “Every right you have, from the day you’re bom and you’re issued your government birth certificate, to the day you die and you get your gov ernment death certificate—they all come from someone’s involvement in politics and legislation that has been passed,” he said. Benjamin also wants to in crease pay for law enforcement officials. “We have to do a much better job of protecting those who protect us,” he said. “As future lawyers, we are very interested in who our attor ney general is because he will rep resent us in front of the entire na tion,” Poliakoff said. “We know that this is a man we can be proud of as our attorney general.” Benjamin described his in volvement in USC student life as a fantastic experience. “Getting in volved while I was a student, I think, prepared me for life after school. The relationships you build, the contacts you make, even just a rudimentary knowl edge of the political process helps out a whole lot,” he said. “You’11 treasure when you leave here how much fun college actual ly is,” Benjamin told the students. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com SCHC deans respond to petitions, questions BY KEVIN FELLNER THE GAMECOCK In response to petitions against the new policy that will give hon ors students a higher allocation of Horseshoe apartments, South Carolina Honors College deans met with representatives from Student Government and the Residence Hall Association this week to discuss the change. SCHC Dean Peter Sederberg emphasized his intention to build a community among honors stu dents to reflect the South Carolina Honors College’s vision, devel oped at its conception nearly 30 years ago. He said few non-honors students would be affected. Sederberg said the SCHC is cur rently projecting for honors stu “If we’re overflowed with sophomore demands for Horseshoe housing, we might go back and rethink this decision.” PETER SEDERBERG HONORS COLLEGE DEAN dents to occupy 85 percent of the Horseshoe. That scenario would cause about 60 more honors spaces available on the Horseshoe than before, a 15 percent increase. Sederberg’s estimate will be correct if the demand for campus housing doesn’t increase by more than what’s expected, junior and ♦ HORSESHOE, SEE PAGE 3 Taking it to the skies Tourist industry making travel easier, cheaper for students BY SARAH MCLAULIN THE GAMECOCK Spring is in the air, and many students are making travel plans for the upcoming season. Travel has become a rite of pas sage for many American college students. Trips have been made easier for students to obtain, from those of personal enjoyment to studying abroad. Because of the Sept. 11 attacks, many more travel incentives are being offered, and not only to stu dents. According to the Travel Industry Association of America, Congress recently passed Commerce-Justice-State appropri ations bills that give the tourist in dustry $500,000 to encourage travel. The TIA projected that the end of2001 was going to fare poorly for the travel industry. Despite their concerns, Americans repeatedly show that they intend on travel ing, regardless of the risks. With new regulations on travel, people are less wary of venturing out. According to CEO Williams. Norman, the TLA realizes the im portance of travel safety as warm weather ensues. "Travel is one of our most fun damental freedoms,” Norman said. “It is our industry’s respon sibility to protect and preserve that freedom.” The federal government is try ing to ensure not only safety mea sures, but also the tourism indus try in America. The Travel America Now Act was the initial act of the government’s attempt ♦SPRING BREAK, SEE PAGE 3 ill\j i \J u i lil im ii niiij Students check out vendors at the Contikl Choose Your Own Adventure Day. This event, hosted by USC’s Bateman Team, was held to promote travel with college students. TODAY’S WEATHER: Mostly sunny. High 75, Low 51. TOMORROW’S WEATHER: Partly cloudy. High 77, Low 47.