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- . . .— .. USG pumped up for fitness PHOTO BY AARON HARK/THE GAMECOCK First-year student Brian Gander poses for the judges during the Mr. and Ms. USC Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships at the Blatt P.E. Center. For more on this story, see page 5. Housing fee takes some by surprise Students say they weren’t notified about $125 sign-up fee BY LAURA MOSS AND GINNY THORNTON THE GAMECOCK Fourth-year sociology student Maria Swinton said she was shocked to see a request for a $125 fee when she tried to sign up for her on-campus housing spot for next year. Many students applying for on-campus housing have been surprised to encounter the up front fee. Though the fee isn’t new this year, students previ ously haven’t had to pay it at the time of sign-up. In the past, $100 of the fee was part of students’ housing pay ments due in the fall. The addi tional $25 has been added this year to defray the technology costs the Housing Department has faced while updating its systems. Housing Administration Director Gretchen Koehler said the systems that have recently al lowed students to choose multi ple roommates and to sign up on line are pricey. “We needed help in paying for those advantages,” Koehler said. This year’s application process allows students to pay the fee in person at the housing office or on line with a credit card. But when many students logged on to sign up for housing, they weren’t pre pared to make a payment. First-year liberal arts student Lindsey Cencula was unaware of the fee until she tried to register, online. Because she didn’t have the money in her bank account, she had to wait a few days before applying. “It was upsetting be cause I wanted to get the whole process over with,” she said. Housing did try to inform stu dents of the changes through a letter reminding them to apply. But students were still caught off guard. “I was surprised by the fee because I didn’t have to pay one last year,” second-year finance student Ali Crabb said. Koehler said the fee isn’t as big a change as students might think; £he called $100 of the fee an “ad vanced room fee.” ♦ HOUSING FEE, SEE PAGE 2 Business program still getting noticed US. News ranks international business at USC 2nd in country BY GINNY THORNTON Tilt; uamkcock USC’s international business program has continued to earn national recognition this year. The graduate international business program is the top ranked public university pro gram of its kind in the country and No. 2 among private and public institutions, according to U.S. News and World Report. USC is the only public uni versity ranked in the top five, ahead of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, New York University and Columbia University. The rank ing marks the 13th consecutive year the international business program has been ranked either No. 1 or No. 2. The ranking appears in the April 15 issue, “America’s Best Graduate Schools,” and on the magazine’s Web site at www.us news.com. Joel Smith, dean of the Moore School of Business, said he was particularly proud that USC is the only public university ranked among the top five. “We at the Moore School of Business have focused on in ternational business education for over a quarter of a centu ry,” Smith said. “It is a tremen dous accomplishment for a state university to consistent ♦ RANKINGS, SEE PAGE 2 MIDEAST CRISIS PHOTO BY CHUCK KENNEDY/KRT CAMPUS President Bush announces Thursday that he will send Colin Powell to the Middle East to help peace efforts. Powell leaves for area as fighting continues BY MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH THE ASSOCIATED PIIESS NABLUS, WEST BANK - Israeli troops fought fierce bat tles with Palestinians in the West Bank on Sunday, encoun tering stiff resistance in the crowded Jenin refugee camp and in the winding alleyways of Nablus’ Old City. At least 14 Palestinians were killed in Nablus, where dead bodies were sprawled along nar row, rubble-filled streets on the 10th day of Israel’s offensive to weed out militants staging dead ly terror attacks on its civilians. Early Monday, helicopter gunships fired 18 or 19 missiles into a West Bank refugee camp on the western edge of the city of Jenin, witnesses said. The at tack came after troops used loud speakers to warn militants about the attack and urge them to surrender, witnesses said. The renewed fighting came as Secretary of State Colin Powell, due in the region this week to try to resolve the crisis, said that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has “taken very much to heart” President Bush’s call ♦ MIDEAST, SEE PAGE 3 HIP-HOR GOSPEL, BLUES, ROCK TURN VISTA INTO MUSIC UTOPIA PHOTO BY CANDI HAUGLUM/THE GAMECOCK Top: George Clinton invites a scream from the crowd as he makes his entrance on the BellSouth stage Friday night. Bottom: OutKast performs onstage at the 3 Rivers Music Festival on Saturday in the Vista. For more on this story, see page 5. Annual event to unify use Unity Week to include blood drive, concert, USC Showcase BY KEVIN FELLNER THE GAMECOCK Student Government and the Housing Department are cospon soring Carolina Unity Week, which lasts from Monday until Saturday, to bring together peo ple of the USC community. Carolina Unity Week has been held in past years to celebrate con nections shared within the Carolina Community. But this year, the planning committee has made arrangements with student organizations to make the week an integral and memorable event for USC, according to event orga nizer and fourth-year marketing and management student Tiffany Elser. “Based on the response we’ve had from other student organiza tions, this week has already been a success,” Elser said. Elser said she and the rest of the event’s sponsors expect a big turnout for the week’s events, which include a blood drive ben efiting the American Red Cross, a Clean Carolina Day and the USC Showcase. Elser said one of the week’s fea tured events is a concert by the rock group Better Than Ezra, which will perform in the Russell House Ballroom on Wednesday at 8 p.m. “All of our events are meant to promote an environment where students and faculty members can come together and meet people they don’t know or just celebrate being Carolinians together,” Elser said. She said students before hadn’t been made fully aware of the events involved in the annual Carolina Unity Week. She said her involvement in SG especially fos tered her interest in marketing the week to the entire campus. The USC Showcase is an annual event incorporated into Carolina ♦ UNITY WEEK, SEE PAGE 2 TODAY’S WEATHER: Mostly cloudy. High 78, Low 57. TOMORROW’S WEATHER: Mostly cloudy. High 80, Low 59.