Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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University of South Carolina TUI IRQHAY Al IPI IQT 00 0000 Vol.96,No.6 www.dailygamecock.com inUIxOL/nl, nUuUOl Since 1908 . Fatal fall prompts scrutiny of high-rises USC student’s death follows similar incident at Ga. university BY ADAM BEAM THE GAMECOCK Tragedy surrounded Welcome Week festivities at USC as a first year student fell to her death from her sixth-floor room at Patterson Hall. After noticing some movement in the bushes outside shortly af ter 6 a.m. Sunday, a Patterson se curity guard went to investigate Jfc and found Jessica L. Horton, 18, ^ of Suwanee, Ga., lying severely injured on the ground, according to Dennis Pruitt, director of Student Life. The guard notified the resi dence hall director, who immedi ately called the police and emer gency services, and Horton was taken to Palmetto Richland Memorial Hospital. She died three hours later of multitrauma in juries, according to Richland County Coroner Gary Watts. It is unknown whether alcohol or drugs were involved in the in cident, and toxicology test results are expected in the next 30 days. “The law enforcement author ities indicate they do not suspect foul play,” university spokesman Russ McKinney said. “Apparently, she was in her room alone, and there were no witness es, so it is very difficult for us to try and piece this together.” ♦ use DEATH, SEE PAGE A6 PHOTO BY CANDI HAUGLUM/THE GAMECOCK Sigma Alpha Epsilon president Jac Carrington discusses the features of his fraternity’s house In the Greek Village. For Greeks, it takes a village Three fraternities and 1 sorority 0 find a new home on Blossom Street BY MICHELLE Nl DHALAIGH THE HAMECOCK This year, move-in day saw fra ternity and sorority members tak ing possession of their housing in the new Greek village on Blossom Street. Greek Life Coordinator Mason Reuter was eager to talk about the benefits the new vil lage will provide the campus. Reuter said the Office of Greek Life has been excited about this housing development for a long time, and was happy that stu dents are benefiting from the fruits of its efforts. The four Greek organizations that moved into the village earlier this week were Kappa Alpha, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Alpha Tau Omega fraternities and Zeta Tau Alpha sorority. The village ♦ GREEK VILLAGE, SEE PAGEA6 Index Comics ___B5 Crossword B5 A Classifieds^ Bll Horoscopes B5 Opinions AlO Online Poll AlO Vtfeather TODAY TOMORROW & High 93 High 97 Low 73 Low 72 -------f Inside ♦ VIEWPOINTS J.D. Cooper writes a fictional freshman letter to home. PageAlO ♦ THE MIX A guide to local music acts and local venues. Pages B1-B2 ♦ THE MIX Music you might have missed over the summer. Page B4 ♦ SPORTS Holtz whips the Gamecocks into shape for their season opener Aug. 31 against New Mexico State. Page B6 Making a splash . r . i, M -,TtfVt7iriJnffr^-'FffrrYfh"ir~' ' ~ ,,,-i—"~Mi—iti'T " ^ ; ■■? !— —I ■■■ I ■■■ I——— II — —■ PHOTO BY CANDI HAUGLUM/THE GAMECOCK Students on Greene Street find a way to beat the heat at the Alumni Association’s Cool Off Carolina on Tuesday. The event was part of USC’s Welcome Week, which is meant to acquaint students with the university. West Nile detected in 2 more S.C. birds No humans in state have the virus, carried by mosquitos BY SEAN WALLER THE GAMECOCK Two more birds tested positive in South Carolina with the West Nile Virus, the state Department of Health and Environmental Control said Monday. Two American crows infected with the virus were found in the Greenville area Aug. 9. DHEC re leased the information Monday after extensive testing to make sure the two birds had the virus. A blue jay that was infected with the virus was found in the Irmo area Aug. 12. Local residents found the three birds, but no hu mans are infected in South Carolina. “It was only a matter of time before cases were found in South Carolina,” said Kevin Judd, a fourth-year sport and entertain ment management student. The virus can infect people, horses, birds and other small an imals. DHEC says there is no evi dence yet that the virus can be spread from person to person or from animal to person. It is spread through mosquitoes that bite an infected bird. “I’m not too concerned with the outbreak because it’s not as serious as people and the media are making it out to be,” Judd said. Tom Barry, a spokesman for DHEC, said, “You are more likely to get sick and die from influen za than to die from the West Nile Virus.” There is a 1 percent chance that a human will be infected, and 1 percent of those infected get a type of encephalitis, which is the cause of death and major illness. The most common types of en cephalitis that result from the West Nile Virus are St. Louis en cephalitis and West Nile en cephalitis. Encephalitis is an inflamma tion of the brain. Symptoms in clude headaches, high fever, neck ♦ WEST NILE, SEE PAGE A7 Housing can’t meet freshman demand Overflow from j, 3,600first-year students lands them in 3 hotels BY ADAM BEAM THB GAMECOCK USC welcomed more than 3,600 freshman to campus this past weekend as a flood of ap plications spawned the largest freshman class in USC histo ry, causing everything from housing overflow to SAT spikes. University Student Services received more than 12,000 ap plications from freshman for the fall 2001 semester, an in crease of 12 percent over last year, of which 7,000 were ac cepted. “To give you a feel for that, in the early ‘90s, we had an ap plicant pool of 7,000,” said Dennis Pruitt, director of stu dent and silumni services. Pruitt credited Sept. 11 and the recent publicity from the Athletics Department as the reasons for the jump. The events of Sept. 11,2001, were a factor because more Southern parents now want their kids to go to college closer to home. ♦ FRESHMAN, SEE PAGE A2 USC’s new president, Andrew Sorensen, lends a hand helping students move into Maxcy College Friday morning. A taste of Hawaii PHOTO BY AARON HARK/THE GAMECOCK Nicole Burns waits for her snow cone at the Residence Hall Association’s Aloha Carolina on Greene Street Wednesday night.