The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 25, 2002, Image 1
TH
www.dailygamecock.com _WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2002_ Since 1908
Logos are
protected
for Greeks
Headquarters of fraternities and
sororities must permit use of names
BY RACHEL LADDAGA
THU liAMECOCK
0 A court decision about trade
mark rights for Greek organiza
tions might change the way fra
ternities and sororities market
and sell their name.
On Aug. 26, the U.S. Uth Circuit
Court of Appeals in Vista, Calif.,
reaffirmed a district court’s rul
ing that Taylor Corporation, d.b.a.
Greek Lifestyles was guilty of two
counts of trademark infringement
and one count of unfair competi
tion.
“The court upheld long-stand
ing claim that the unauthorized
use of Sigma Chi’s trademarks is a
violation of the fraternity’s trade
mark rights,” said Jack Wheat of
Stites & Harbison law firm.
Wheat, who specializes in intel
lectual property, represented
aChl
The court found Taylor Corp.
guilty of using Sigma Chi’s trade
marks without permission and for
taking away profits that were
rightfully owed to Sigma Chi.
According to Wheat, Taylor Corp.
went ahead with its marketing
plans after getting permission
from individual Sigma Chi chap
ters, but the court ruled that
Sigma Chi headquarters owns the
trademark and is the only body
able to authorize licensing agree
ments. Sigma Chi was awarded
about $13,000, plus a few thousand
dollars in court expenses.
Sigma Chi decided to pursue le
gal action in 1997 after several
years of out-of-court negotiations
with Taylor Corp.
“We tried to work out these is
sues without legal actions, but
Taylor Corp. left us no choice,”
said Brad Nihls, director of mar
keting for Sigma Chi headquarters
r >
PHOTO BY MANDY TRAUB/THE GAMECOCK
Delta Zeta Sorority members Lisa Schlecht, left, and Bonnie
Mattern wear their Greek letters on T-shirts. Companies need
permission from organizations' headquarters to use their logos.
in Illinois.
Taylor Corp. was using every
thing trademarked to Sigma Chi,
including its badge, crest and Greek
letters, in all its catalogs through
out the year. Nihls said Taylor
Corp. was using Sigma Chi’s trade
marks in offensive situations, such
as promoting alcohol.
“Even the judge in the first
court ruling, back in April of2000
said that she took offense in how
they represented Sigma Chi in the
catalogs,” Nihls said.
Sigma Chi said the use of its
♦ SIGMA CHI, SEE PAGE 2
Blackboard
« *
not just for
academics
BY COREY GARRIOTT
THE GAMECOCK
University Housing an
nounced plans on Monday to use
Blackboard for more than just
academic purposes, but also to
build e-commurjities at campus
residence halls.
All students at USC are auto
matically set up with a
Blackboard account at
http://blackboard.sc.edu. There,
they may access syllabuses or
view other course information.
Some classes take quizzes on
Blackboard and post term pro
jects.
“What we wanted to do was
take advantage of the
*
Blackboard infrastructure,” said
Ernest Pringle, assistant direc
tor for information resources.
Housing plans to build e-com
munities, “where students can
do everything they can do of
fline, online.”
Residence halls will receive
private bulletin boards, chat
rooms and mass-mailing capa
bility.
“The former provost of Wake
Forest University came to a con
ference after they switched to
campus-wide laptops,” Housing
Director Gene Luna said. “He
shared how Blackboard was pri
marily a communications de
vice.”
> BLACKBOARD,SEE PAGE 2
SNOW IN SEPTEMBER?
m student
V dressed up
as a
snowman
was grilling
chicken In
front of the
Russell
House
Monday
afternoon as
part of a
term project.
Here, a
student
dressed as a
llama has
already
taken the
chicken.
PHOTO BY COREY
GARRIOTT/THE
GAMECOCK
Library features WWI literature
BY JOHN PENNINGTON
TUB UAMKUJMi
An addition to the Thomas
Cooper Library has catapulted it
to the forefront of American re
search resources for the study of
World War I literature, USC Dean
of Libraries Paul Willis said.
The nationally ranked library
has added a collection of works by
®jrld War I poet and painter Issac
Rosenberg, including a copy of his
first and rarest book, “Night and
Day,” one of three known copies.
The collection came from
Rosenburg’s biographer, profes
sor Joseph Cohen. Cohen began
his collection in 1952.
Harry Bloom, a literary critic
and Yale University professor, said
in a news release that Rosenburg’s
poems “are among the preeminent
contributions to poetry of the
English language. Any archive or
discovery of Rosenburg’s work is
an important contribution to liter
ary scholarship.”
The addition complements the
library’s Joseph M. Bruccoli Great
War Collection, which specializes
in the literature of the American
Expeditionary Force and British
novels and poetry of the war, along
with the air war and trench war
fare topics. It includes music,
posters, art, manuscripts, corre
spondence, photo albums, scrap
books and slides from World War I.
“This new material positions
the Thomas Cooper Library col
lection among the leading
American research resources for
the study and teaching of the lit
erature, history and culture of
World War I,” said Willis in a
news release.
Rosenborg's three published po
etry pamphlets will be on display.
Only libraries at Oxford and Yale
universities also house all three.
Isaac Rosenburg, recognized as
the first significant Jewish poet in
English literature, was one of
three major poets killed in the
World War I, along with Wilfred
Owen and Rupert Brooke.
Rosenburg was the only one who
served in the ranks. He died in
♦ LIBRARY, SEE PAGE 4
Construction site security
PHOTO BY ERIC SUTTON/THE GAMECOCK
A saw at the Carolina Center sits unguarded Tuesday
afternoon. Recent thefts at USC construction sites have raised
questions about security. On Sept. 16, police recovered $5,400
In construction materials that were stolen from the arena site.
On Sept-14, police responded to a robbery alert at the Strom
Thurmond Fitness and Wellness Center.
Democrats fight
Bush’s Iraq plan
BY JIM ABRAMS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Democrats
continued to resist giving
President Bush all the powers he
wants to wage war against Iraq,
and one senior Republican said
some give-and-take is necessary.
“I still remain,” said House
Majority Leader Dick Armey,
“the toughest sell in this town.”
Both parties promised
prompt action and a broad con
sensus on a resolution authoriz
ing the president to use force if
necessary to eliminate Iraq’s
weapons of mass destruction and
remove Saddam Hussein from
power. But finding the proper
wording for the resolution was
proving elusive.
Democrats pushed for mod
eration of a draft proposal the
White House sent to Congress
last week, saying it diminished
the need for international action
in dealing with the problem of
Iraq and was overly broad in giv
ing the president authority to use
force to bring security to the re
gion around Iraq.
Senate Democratic leader
Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said there
♦ CONGRESS, SEE PAGE 4
Index
Comics 8
Crossword _8
Classifieds n
Horoscopes 8
Letters to the Editor 5
Online Poll 5
Weather
TODAY TOMORROW
High 75 High 80
Low 67 Low 70
Inside
♦ THE MIX Honey Child brings
its retro sound to the Russell
House Patio. Page 6
♦ THE MIX Charles Tomlinson
explores the challenges of
eating without a meal plan.
Page 6
♦ SPORTS True freshmen are
making the most of their
increased playing time for the
USC football team. Page 9
♦ ON THE WEB Read state,
nation and world briefs.
www.dailygamecock.com
Making a scene
for art’s sake
Surprised students react to odd
happenings at the Russell House
BY COREY GARRIOTT
THK GAMECOCK
Students walking to class
Monday who saw a snowman
roasting chicken over a portable
grill thought they were seeing a
skit straight out of the mind of
Tom Green or MTV. But what
they were really seeing were
term projects of USC media arts
students.
The antics of Media Arts 270
students, who used their projects
to orchestrate performance art
on campus, surprised students
walking across Greene Street on
Monday and Tuesday, and might
again today.
“The reactions were pretty
normal for South Carolina,” me
dia arts student Katie Board
said. “A few were really curious,
asking us if we were from MTV.
‘No,’ we said, ‘this isn’t Tom
Green or Jackass.’ ”
On Monday, a man in a snow
man costume roasted chicken
outside the Russell House until
two students in a llama suit
came to take him away. On
Tuesday, a politician gave ab
surd campaign speeches until a
devil, apparently his cohort, ar
rived to give him money and
smoke a cigarette. The students
participating in the presentation
did not want to be identified.
The events were similar to
Allen Kaprow’s happenings, a
sometimes-popular genre of im
provised theatrical art that be
gan in the 1960s. They were sur
prise events that took place in
real life and usually required
some sort of audience participa
tion.
“It’s performance art with au
dience participation; it’s highly
orchestrated,” said Marianne
Parrish, a third-year chemistry
student. She participated in a
happening last year put togeth
er by English professors Crys
Armbrust and Gail Widner.
“It involved fruit and Jell-0
and umbrellas and dancing,” she
said.
Media Arts 270 students
Board and Silvio Kohs complet
ed their first happening by tap
ing the reactions of USC stu
dents as an assigned project.
Board said Kohs usually comes
up with the ideas, while she fig
ures out how to do them. “I cap
ture the crazy things Silvio thinks
and bring them to reality,” Board
said. “He has the ideas, and I put
them into a video.”
When Kohs dreamed up the
happenings, she said, “we drove
two hours to Charlotte to get the
costumes.” The snowman, llama
and devil costumes — oppres
♦ PERFORMANCE, SEE PAGE 2