Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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University of Iowa to notify parents of students’ underage drinking violations BY TONY ROBINSON THE DAILY IOWAN (U. IOWA) IOWA CITY, IOWA (U-WIRE) - First-year University of Iowa stu dent Chris Bauer will go home tc Wheaton, 111., this weekend to in form his parents that he receivec his first underage drinking tick et in Iowa City, Iowa. 1 The 18-year-old is determine! to tell his parents about the $15( citation before the university does UI plans to issue the first set o; controversial alcohol notification! to parents as early as next week. "They should hear it from theii son before reading something like this on a piece of paper," Bauer said "People living on their own in col lege should not be treated like kids.' Bauer's parents will be among the first to receive a notification that their son or daughter was cit ed for possession of alcohol under the legal agev The Office of Student Services plans to issue the first set of letters soon, said Phillip Jones, vice president of Student Services. More than 150 UI students have been cited for underage drinking offenses since school began. The notification says the uni versity can't stop students from drinking on private property. "That is why it is important that you know about the police charge at the off-campus bar and take the opportunity to discuss with your son or daughter the con sequences of underage alcohol consumption," the letter reads. Jones said that, though the pro cedure has drawn negative feed back from students, it is necessary to ensure their safety. "It seems to me that if students are responsible adults, they will not be caught breaking the law in the first place," he said Thursday, and added that the initiative was prompted by parental requests and the city's concerns about un derage drinking. But opponents of the measure say additional regulations are ir rational. These regulations place students hospitalized for "exces sive alcohol consumption" on dis ciplinary probation and require them to complete a substance abuse course. A second hospital ization will result in a one semester suspension. "This will make people debate whether to go to the hospital and receive the proper medical atten tion, and then it could really get dangerous," said UI Student Government President Nick Herbold, who said several parents echoed that statement. The initiative, set in motion during the summer, will keep a database of alcohol-related offens es and inform parents as they oc cur. Each year, about 500 to 600 UI students are arrested for alcohol related offenses, including pos session of alcohol under the legal age and operating while intoxi cated, according to police records. Jones' staff began tracking drinking offenses at the beginning of the fall semester, but letters have not been sent because some details are still being ironed out. Suicide CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 : cides are more likely to occur. The National Institute of Mental Health says attempted suicide rates among college campuses be gin to increase in the fall, but ac cording to Ronald Maris, a soci ology professor at USC, suicide rates increase in the late spring and early summer. Russell Haber, director of USC’s Counseling and Human Development Center, says the best way to help someone in need is to look for signals that “cry out for help.” The U.S. Department of Mental Health Services says 75 percent to 80 percent of college students who kill themselves are male, which leads Haber to think males are at higher risk because they are gen erally more violent and aggres sive-natured than women. The NSSP found that firearms caused 60 percent of deaths, making gun shots the most frequent method of suicide for young adults. Both Dave Terrell-Crum and Haber urge those who suffer from depression to get counseling. “Regardless of what people say, there is nothing the matter with going to get help at counseling,” Dave Terrell-Crum said. Though many patients can be treated by counseling, in certain cases of extreme depression, the patient would be referred to apsy “Human contact is so crucial,” Dave Terrell-Crum says. For him, the hardest times have been the past few months. “I’ve lost my best friend,” he said. But he says the this time has been rough, not only for him, but also for his wife’s friends and for her parents, who are still griev ing the loss of their eldest daugh ter. Since the death of his wife, Dave Terrell-Crum has shared the story of Kim’s life in the hopes of preventing everyone who is considering it from tak ing their own lives. “In order to be able to support those in need, you have to take care of yourself to make sure you’re effective in helping and supporting,” he said. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com i-------—- ~ I STATE Schools to honor memory of towers SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (AP) - Summerville schools will re member the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks with a ceremony de signed to exemplify the scope of the destruction at the World Trade Center. ^ About 2,200 children will form a circle that encompass es 16 acres—the same size as the site in New York City where the towers once stood. Inside that perimeter, two groups of kindergarten and first-grade students will form squares representing the foot prints of the Twin Towers. A helicopter will hover overhead at the elevation the towers reached. ‘The towers were 1,400 feet high, 110 floors and every floor an acre,” civil engineer Elliott Locklair said. “The enormity of this is something we can’t com prehend here in Summerville.” Locklair’s 13-year-old twin daughters, Anna and Meghan, attend the Rollings School of the Arts and will participate in the service. ‘We’re not trying to make a pretty picture,” Locklair said. “The point is to get the stu dents out there to get a feel for what happened.” NATION Report says agency employs criminals MIAMI (AP) - Florida’s child welfare agency employs at least 183 people with crim inal pasts, including felonies such as child molestation, child abuse, sex crimes and drug dealing, according to a report. Among the Department of Children and Families employ ees with criminal records, three were punished for child abuse, 22 for grand theft, seven for ag gravated battery, two for DUI manslaughter, three for deal ing drugs, 10 for aggravated as sault with a weapon and nine for welfare fraud, the Miami Herald reported Sunday. One employee, the head of the agency’s data-security team in Tallahassee, Fla., is listed on the state’s list of sex ual predators for molesting a 5-year-old boy. DCF spokesman Tim Bottcher said the agency does not consider the man a risk because he does not come into contact with clients. Bottcher said the 183 em ployees with records should be considered in the context of the number of people the agency employs statewide, about 24,000. WORLD Tip leads to arrest of Turkish bomber BERLIN (AP) - German au thorities had suspicions nearly two months ago about a Turkish man suspected of plotting to bomb U.S. military bases in Germany, but bureaucratic pro cedures delayed his arrest until last week, a prosecutor said Sunday. A tip from U.S. security offi cials that a witness reported the suspect had chemicals at home reached German prosecutors in mid-July, but a judge put off questioning of the woman, scheduled for Aug. 13, because the summons could not be de livered on time, said Elke OiDonoghue, a prosecutor in the city of Stuttgart. When the witness was inter viewed later, she said suspect Osman Petmezci “was planning something very soon,” Donoghue told the Associated Press. Prosecutors got a search warrant Aug. 30 — six days be fore Petmezci, 24, and his American fiancee, Astrid Eyzaguirre, 23, were arrested Thursday near Heidelberg, home to U.S. Army Europe headquarters in southwestern Germany. Warning Signs ♦ Changes in personality of demeanor ♦ Change in eating and sleeping habits ♦ Withdrawal from social activities ♦ Relationship rejection ♦ Talk of death ♦ Abnormal substance abuse ♦ No talk of the future ♦ Giving away cherished items Causes of Suicide ♦ Financial burdens ♦ Academic failure ♦ Developmental issues Suicide Hot Lines ♦ Suicide prevention Sen/ice Helpline of the Midlands 790-4357 ♦ Psychological Service Center 777-4864 ♦ Palmetto Health 24-hour Center 434-4813 ♦ Student Health Center 777-3174 Source: USC Counseling and Human Development Center BRIEFLY Springsteen fan gets first ticket A Columbia man was se lected by a random-number distribution process to be the first person to purchase a tick et for the new Carolina Center, opening in November. Jimmy Williams from Columbia was the first in line to buy Bruce Springsteen tick ets at Williams-Brice Stadium. After accepting his ticket for the distribution, Williams’ lucky number was picked, and fans with consecutive numbers lined up after him to buy their tick ets. Williams, a big Bruce Springsteen fan, bought one tick et in the reserved section to kick off sales for the show in Columbia. A limited number of tickets are still available for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s Dec. 9 performance at the new Carolina Center. All tickets are $75, not including service charges where applicable. Floor seating is general admission, with no chairs. The Carolina Center will have 18,000 seats, 41 suites, four entertainment suites, and the Frank McGuire Club, a full-service hospitality room that will have a capacity of300. Sorensen plans 25-city state tour USC President Andrew Sorensen is getting out to meet the people of the Palmetto State on a 25-city trek called the “Carolina Bow Tie Bus Tour.” Sorensen, known for his trademark bow tie, kicks off his tour today in Columbia, where he’ll begin his day at 8:15 a.m. with a meeting of guidance counselors at Williams-Brice Stadium and end it with a Carolina alumni reception at 5:30 p.m. back at the stadium. The Columbia tour is in dicative of the kind of sched ule Sorensen will have throughout the state, where he will stop at schools, diners, civic meetings and alumni gatherings to learn about the needs of the state from as many citizens, community and business leaders, parents, students, teachers, school ad ministrators, alumni and friends of the university as possible. “I’m eager to get out and connect with people in every comer of this state,” Sorensen said. Voting CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ment initiatives. It is also prepar ing informational packets on candidates and their platforms to educate students on the political process, Bryant said. He added that some students don’t under stand the specific responsibilities of some political offices and that education is the best way to en courage students to become in volved with the political process. “A lot of times, people just don’t know why they’re voting or what they’re really voting for,” Bryant said. “For instance, we can edu cate people that this is the job of the attorney general, or this is the job of the lieutenant governor.” Bryant said getting students registered could also be a coop erative effort by several organi zations. He said he would meet with several other student orga nizations this month to encour age their members to become po litically active. The support for the chapter’s voting initiatives has already been substantial, Bryant said. “I think the university is real open, and I think they enjoy see ing us go out there and actively register people to vote,” Bryant said. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com Cheney CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 tells us that he is in fact actively and aggressively seeking to acquire nuclear weapons,” Cheney said. Cheney said he did not know for sure whether Saddam al ready has a nuclear weapon. Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he did not think so. Bush will address the United Nations on Thursday to build his case for action against Iraq. Bush outlined a new doctrine in June warning he will take “pre-emptive action, when nec essary, to defend our liberty and to defend our lives.” He men tioned no specific nations at the time. On Sunday, Cheney point ed a finger directly at Iraq. Critics, some of them in coun tries allied with the United States, have questioned whether mili tary pction to achieve the U.S. government’s goal of overthrow ing Saddam Hussein from power is legal under international law. Asked about the criticism, Cheney said in the case of Iraq, such action is justified. “If we have reason to believe someone is preparing an attack against the U.S., has developed that capability, harbors those as pirations, then I think the U.S. is justified in dealing with that, if necessary, by military force,” Cheney said. 2j ! " p f . Sept. 11 Events Summon the Heroes: A Commemorative Concert * 9/11 tribute in Finlay Park * Sponsored by the city of Columbia and the USC School of Music *7 p.m. Wednesday * Preconcert music by area churches, schools and professional choirs to begin at 6 p.m. * Admission is free. * Will feature inspirational, spiritual and patriotic music by the USC Symphony Orchestra and the South Carolina Philharmonic, along with the USC Concert Choir, the University Chorus, the Columbia College Chorus, the Sandlapper Singers, Cola Voce, the Columbia Symphonic Chorale, the Capital City Chorale and other local choirs * Free parking available at the Employment Security Commission’s two lots at 700 Taylor St. and 1500 Gadsden St., as well as the Columbia parking garage at 1600 Assembly St. * Taylor St. will be closed from 8 to 8:20 p.m. for pedestrian traffic. ■ IPP _1 A A P_..Inn U<JU ticpi. XX JCI »IV»» * 9/11 tribute on the Horseshoe, in front of the president’s house * 12:30 p.m. Wednesday * Remarks by USC President Andrew Sorensen and USC student body President Ankit Patel * Music by the USC Faculty Brass Quintet * Time for silent reflection * Dramatic reading by a USC faculty member * Tolling of Carolina Carillon in Rutledge Chapel ( * End with the national anthem and the playing of “Taps” Shandon Baptist Church * Special night of remembrance * 7 p.m. Wednesday at Shandon Baptist Church Worship Center, 5250 Forest Dr., Columbia * Patriotic music from celebration choir and orchestra * Video and multimedia presentation Columbia Museum of Art * 9/11, “A day of remembrance’’ * Columbia Museum of Art, downtown Columbia, comer of Main and Hampton streets * In the museum’s Lorick Auditorium, showing of HBO’s documentary “In Memoriam: New York City 9/11” at 10 a.m. ^ and 2 p.m. * Entrance is free all day. PHOTO BY JOHN ROCA/KRT CAMPUS Protests CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Planned Parenthood’s board said: “We feel fortunate that we don’t have a lot of protestors, and that indicates that the Midlands community knows that Planned Parenthood does a lot more than abortion. We are a safe, proper place for reproductive rights and family planning.” The board, citing safety issues, would not discuss how it deals with protestors. Albert Cox, pastor of Greene Street United Methodist Church, said that, though pro life messages can be expressed in many different ways, “every body has to basically get the message across the best way they can.” “I have no problem with peo ple using whatever methods,” such as picketing in front of the State House, he said. Cox disagreed, however, with Columbia Christians for Life’s protests in front of Shandon Baptist Church. “That is a little judgmental. I would be hesitant to picket it,” Cox said. “When different meth ods get the same message across, I think that picketing a Christian church could be wrong.” Lefemine criticized the two churches in particular because, he said, “both claim to be pro life, but nobody comes out to represent Jesus Christ.” Lefemine said the “primary re sponsibility is at the feet of Christians” and that they need to take a stand to get the laws changed. Lefemine considers what his organization does - namely, holding 4-foot-by-6-foot signs de picting aborted fetuses and oth er images of abortion in promi nent places - to be action. Doug Cowser, a second-year biology and French student who is vice president of the USC organization Students for Life said, “Personally, I feel that trying to gross people out like that is counterproduc tive.” Cowser said Students for Life focuses on education, such as * the distribution of literature and bringing speakers to its meetings. Holly Gatling, executive di rector of South Carolina Citizens for Life, said in a statement that her organiza tion, which works with Students for Life, focuses on education, legislation and po litical action. more visible approach, he said he usually sees quite a reaction from people who view his signs. “Some people are very support ive; some are opposed; some get very angry. But I believe lives have been saved.” While Lefemine said Columbia Christians for Life does not condone “violence against abortion doctors and women,” he said “abortionists should be executed, but it is the job of the government, not an individual acting alone.” Cox said all Christians should work together, despite differences in opinion about what is the most effective. “We ought to all be very careful that we don’t battle each other.” Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com.