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University of South Carolina rpirjAV AI IPI I CT Q H OHHO * Vol.96,No.9 www.dailygamecock.com irvIL/MI, MUVJUOI OU, 4UI/4 Since 1908 Towers to be torn down Demolition part of university master plan BY KEVIN FELLNER THE GAMECOCK Housing Director Gene Luna confirmed Wednesday that the Towers residence halls on Sumter, Blossom and Main streets will be tom down, pending com pletion of the Greek Village and West Quad. The residence halls will be re moved in accordance with the master plan, a list of the universi ty’s campus development goals. While the USC Board of Trustees has not given a specific date for the demolition, Luna said the opening of the Greek Village next fall and the expected completion of West Quad in fall 2004 are prerequisites for the Towers’ demolition. Douglas, LaBorde, Moore and Snowden, nicknamed the honey combs because of their unique concrete facades, are best known to their 1,000 combined residents as the Towers. Replacing them will be gradu ate science research facilities, sim ilar to the buildings on Sumter Street that opened in 2001, replac ing two other residence halls. Campus housing is gradually eliminating the traditional two person bedroom and one hall bath room setup. The Towers comprise four of the eight campus resi dences that offer this hall style. The other four — Bates House, McClintock, Patterson and Wade Hampton — are also reserved typ ically for freshmen. This shift from hall-style hous ing is integral to the Housing Department’s vision of the Quads, two apartment-style residence halls on the southern part of cam pus. The style offers kitchens, bathrooms and living rooms to be shared between as few as two ju nior or senior students. In an effort led by Luna, Housing designed East Quad and South Quad, along with the future West Quad, based on the results of student focus groups who dis cussed what they would prefer to get from on-campus living. ♦ TOWERS, SEE PAGE 3 PHOTO BY CANDI HAUGLUM/THE GAMECOCK The Towers, which house 1,000 freshmen, will be torn down after 2004. CHANGE OF COMMAND --—. PHOTO BY AARON HARK/THE GAMECOCK Charles Bierbauer took over in July as dean of the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies. He stands here by a picture from his CNN days In the 1980s, when he reported on President Reagan. “This Is a professional school, and I have a professional background,” he said. From CJNJN to the Coliseum NEW DEAN BRINGS 30 YEARS’ EXPERIENCE TO USC BY ADAM BEAM THE GAMECOCK When Charles Bierbauer agreed to lead the College of Journalism and Mass Communications, he didn’t know he would be picking up a new college. With the approval of the Strategic Directives and Initiatives report by the Board of Trustees in April, the College of Library and Information Science joined the journalism school to create the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies. “When I was nominated for the position, the merger wasn’t an is sue,” Bierbauer said. “It was sort of like I was told at the halftime of a football game that the rules are going to be different in the second half.” But the merger didn’t dissuade Bierbauer, a 30-year journalism veteran, from coming to South Carolina. “I’d rather call it opportunity than pressure,” he said. Yet the opportunities facing Bierbauer are many, with the journalism school rapidly out growing its faculty and the November opening of Newsplex, a sophisticated news center combing all forms of media, from newspapers to radio to television. “There was some concern when the SDI report came out as to whether the larger Goumalism) school might swallow the smaller (library) school,” Bierbauer said. “But I think we have deployed those concerns by having two equal partners in this merger.” Structure and location The new college is composed of two schools, each with its own director. Erik Collins is serving as interim director of the jour nalism school, and Fred Roper is handling the responsibilities of the library school. Roper will retire in 2003, but Bierbauer plans to have two new directors in place by the begin ning of the next school year. Also at issue is the location of the journalism school. Bierbauer “in sists” it be moved from the Coliseum to Petigru as soon as pos sible. “Look around; do you think I like having an office with four walls and no windows?” he said. “It reminds me of the basement of the White House.” It is unknown when the move will take place; the school is wait ing for a series of other moves, mainly the asbestos clean-up of the Bell South building, to make Petigru available. “Its just like dominoes,” Bierbauer said. “Once the domi ♦ BIERBAUER, SEE PAGE 3 Index Comics_ 7 Crossword_ 7 Classifieds 10 Horoscopes_ 7 Letters to the Editor 4 Online Poll 4 Weather TODAY TOMORROW High 83 High 83 Low 71 Low 73 Inside ♦ THE MIX Jubilee celebrates black culture in South Carolina. Page 5 ♦ THE MIX A USC student takes time off to fine-tune his music. Page 5 ♦ SPORTS A preview of the football team’s season opener against New Mexico State. Page 8 ♦ SPORTS Sports Challenge makes its much-anticipated debut. Page 9 Judge gives Kennedy , cousin 20 years to life BY JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NORWALK, CONN. - A judge sentenced Michael Skakel to 20 years to life in prison Thursday for bludgeoning his teenage neighbor with a golf club in 1975. "I would love to be able to say I did this crime so the Moxley family could have rest and peace, but I can’t,” he said, sobbing. "To do that would be a lie.” Kavanewsky said he was im posing a substantial sentence on Ethel Kennedy’s nephew be cause of the brutality of the crime and because Skakel was unrepentant. "The defendant has been liv ing a lie about his guilt,” the judge said. Skakel, 41, was convicted in June of killing Martha Moxley when they were 15-year-old neigh bors in wealthy Greenwich. He plans to appeal. Birth control added to GWU health plan BY WINNIE WINFORD THE OAMECOCK A decision by George Washington University might af fect students all over the coun try, according to Leslie Brueckner of Trial Lawyers for Public Justice. GWU announced Wednesday it will include prescription con traceptives in its 2002-2003 stu dent health insurance coverage. The decision came after Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Trial Lawyers for Public Justice and the National Women’s Law Center sent a let ter to the university demanding * the coverage be added to the stu dent health plan. The groups got involved when Amy Moses, a GWU law student, asked for their help after she discovered her student health plan did not cover prescription contracep tives. “We believe universities in this country are obligated to pro vide prescription contraceptives in their health plan,” Brueckner said. The groups argued that the university was discriminating I • ' - ■ -« »_' • ' ■ : - - -.TilT • • on the basis of gender. The letter said the university was in violation of the District of Columbia Human Rights Act and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. “Pregnancy directly implies women’s health issues,” Brueckner said. “To deny cover age for a women’s health issue that does not affect men at all is sex discrimination.” ♦ BIRTH CONTROL, SEE PAGE 2 Students turning to alternate meal plan Carolina Bagel, Beezer’s among dining choices BY SEAN WALLER THE GAMECOCK Students started using the new Five Points Meal Plan last week at designated local restau rants. The Off Campus Access com pany has made available the new meal plan, which lets students eat at various restaurants in the campus area. The idea is for stu- . dents to eat what they want, when they want, where they want and as much as they want. Off Campus Access got the idea from other schools who are using the plan. The University of California at Berkeley and the University of Colorado at Boulder use the plan, but under different companies, said Brandon Lloyd, vice president of operations at Off Campus Access. “Columbia has a great selec tion of restaurants and a student body who wanted to interact with the restaurants more,” Lloyd said. Eighteen restaurants have signed up for the plan, and more are expected to participate. Carolina Bagel, Beezer’s, Subway, El Burrito, Domino’s and Yesterdays are a few of the restaurants in the plan. “I wish I had (the Five Points ♦ MEAL PLAN, SEE PAGE 3 HOME DECORATING PHOTO BY CANDI HAUGLUM/THE GAMECOCK Students Erika Borgqulst, left, and Jade Wang search for a poster for their apartment at the poster sale on the second floor of the Russell House. The sale, which began earlier this week, will end today.