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* University of South Carolina MOMhAV IAMI IADV 1 9 9009 VoL96.No.46 www.dailygamecock.com IVIUINUMl, JMINUMlxT lO, ZUUO Since 1908 CLASSES CANCELED 1:__ ■■ _1 PHOTO BY ADAM BEAM/THE GAMECOCK First-year electronic Journalism student Sandra Stone, left, and McKensey Campbell, a student at Tri County Technical College, read the “No Entry” signs at the Jones Center. Water leak •shuts down Jones Center BY ADAM BEAM TIIKIiAMKCOCK A water leak tainted with as bestos in the Jones Physical Science Center has forced the building to be closed for the first day of classes. According to Russ McKinny, university spokesman, the leak started Saturday morning on the eighth floor of the science build ing, located on Main Street. It eventually leaked down and flood the first floor basement area be '~fore it was discovered late Saturday afternoon. McKinny said the building would not be open for classes or labs on Monday. “Hopefully, it will be open by Tuesday, but we don’t know,” he said. McKinny said the reason the clean up will take so long is that some of the tiles in the ceilings of the eight floors that were exposed to the leak contained asbestos, which call for a very thorough clean-up pro cess. The university has to contract with a licensed asbestos removal firm for the cleaning job. McKinny did not know whether the missed classes would be rescheduled. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmall.com (JSC forced to cut budget a 3rd time Belt tightens after millions of tgiollars removed BY ADAM BEAM TIIKIIAMKCOCK A 5-percent budget cut handed down in December has left uni versity administrators scrambling for more funds, and solutions might include raising tuition and cutting back on the number of classes offered. On Dec. 10, the five-member State Budget and Control Board approved a 4.5-percent cut that af fects all state agencies, as well as another half-percent that would be returned if the economy im proved. “I think \\e all understand that the chances of that are essential ly nil,” Provost Jerry Odom said. “So every state agency looked upon this as a 5-percent cut.” The reduction translates to a $7,858,000 cut for the university. USC’s third cut during the past three years, it brings the entire budget shortfall for all USC cam puses to about $33 million — $24.5 million of that taken from the Columbia campus. I — * “I would say that students can expect fewer classes, and that is a direct result of this budget situa tion,” Odom said. “I would cer tainly think that there would be consideration for a tuition in crease for next fall.” Rick Kelly, USC’s chief finan cial officer, said that while a tu ition increase would help the fi nancial situation considerably, the effect of fewer classes would not be as great. “I think, in the February March time frame, we will know what we will be doing,” he said. According to Kelly, USC can’t expect relief from the state any time soon. Another cut is expected before the semester ends, and the General Assembly is already look ing at a budget reduction between 5 percent and 10 percent for the next fiscal year. The university has budgeted reserve funds in case of emer gencies. To compensate for the latest cut, the provost’s office took 2.5 percent from the reserve fund and asked all university de partments to cut back 2.5 percent. “We’re approaching it from a lot of different angles, increasing research activities, trying to shake the bushes and generate ♦ BUDGET, SEE PAGE 6 Grant administrator charged with theft Anonymous tip leads police to missing $50,000 BY MICHAEL LAFORGIA THE GAMECOCK Prosecutors charged a worker at USC’s Center for Colon Cancer Research last Monday with steal ing about $50,000 from the uni versity. Investigators said that Renee Sturkie, 39, a Lexington resident and grant administrator for the newly created research center, used several university credit cards to purchase computer equipment and sell it to Jackson’s Gold N’ Pawn in Columbia. Maj. Lawrence Pathel of the USC Police Department led the investigation. Pathel said Sturkie was re leased after a bond hearing on a personal recognizance loan hours after she turned herself in to Richland County authorities on Tuesday. Sturkie will be sub ject to a fine if she doesn’t appear in court. “The judge decided that she was not a risk to flee and not re turn and not a risk to public safe ty,” Pathel said. Sturkie is charged with em bezzlement of public funds greater than $5,000 and may re ceive up to 10 years in prison if convicted. USC spokesman Russ McKinney said Sturkie “was ma nipulating the university pro cess” for her own gain. Pathel said an anonymous phone call in early November first alerted authorities that uni versity property was on sale at a local pawnshop. From there, in vestigators found a university la bel on the computer equipment that led them to the Department of Biological Sciences. Sturkie, who has worked for USC since 1992, was placed on un paid leave in November. She act ed as an administrative assistant to the Biological Sciences Department before joining the colon cancer research team in ♦ EMBEZZLEMENT, SEE PAGE 2 Dining, fitness projects achieve mixed results Dining Services on schedule; no opening date set for fitness center BY KEVIN FELLNER THE GAMECOCK A new year means new expan sion for the university, and while several projects are expected to be complete by the end of the month, completion of the Strom Thurmond Fitness and Wellness Center is still up in the air. The most current addition to the university’s projects is Cooper’s Corner, a gourmet cof fee and sandwich cafe inside Thomas Cooper Library, which opens today. While food will be required to stay in the cafe, spe cially designated cups — filled with the customer’s choice bev erage — will be allowed to be tak en into the library area. Mike Scheffres, Dining Services’ general manager, said his department made the decision to build the coffee shop based on requests for such a facility on sev eral rounds of student surveys. Dining Services is also ex panding its operations inside the Russell House. A new Italian fair, Pandini’s, is scheduled to open Jan. 27 on the Greene Street side of first floor lobby. On the Grand Marketplace side of the same lob by, Zia’s Juices, a Freshen’s smoothie location, Sub Connection and Cinnabon are also scheduled to open Jan. 27. The Freshen’s location and Cinnabon are moving from oth er locations in the Russell House. These new facilities were also chosen based on student feed back, Scheffres said. He added that all the work is on schedule to meet the planned opening date. These expansions are only the beginning of a three-year project to update dining facilities in the ♦ CONSTRUCTION, SEE PAGE 5 PHOTOS BY ERIC SOONG/THE GAMECOCK Top: The new dining areas In the Russell House are scheduled to open at the end of the month. Left: Construction Is still being done on the new Strom Thurmond Fitness and Wellness Center. Right: The climbing wall Is one of new opportunities that will be provided In the new fitness center. Index Comics and Crossword _ 10 Classifieds 13 Horoscopes 10 Letters to the Editor_7 ^ Online Poll 7 * Police Report 5 Weather TODAY TOMORROW fc f: High 53 High 52 Low 31 Low 22 Inside ♦ NEWS Hundreds gather at the State House steps to protest abortion. Page 4 ♦ VIEWPOINTS Brook Bristow examines the most common new year’s resolutions. Page 7 ♦ THE MIX The recent “Lord of the Rings" films revive interest in the classic books. Page 10 ♦ SPORTS The basketball teams continue conference play after each wins SEC opener. Page 11 I " . ~1 Decoys to take aim at‘tapping’ BY KEVIN FELLNER THE (IAMECOCK In an effort to crack down on underage drinking in Columbia, the Lexington/Richland Alcohol and Drug Abuse Council an nounced Friday that it will be implementing a new series of “Shoulder Tap” operations. The new tactics, which the council’s Multi-Jurisdictional Alcohol Enforcement Team will oversee, are aimed at underage citizens who obtain alcohol by giving money to adults outside of supermarkets and conve nience stores to purchase it for them. The plan is for underage de coys to try to convince store pa trons to buy alcohol for them. South Carolina law prohibits the practice of “Shoulder Tapping.” The punishment for providing alcohol to someone under the age of 21 can be up to a $200 fine or imprisonment for as many as 30 days. People found guilty of the mis demeanor can also have their driver’s licenses suspended for 90 days on a first offense and six months on a second or other sub sequent offense. While the program is being introduced within the next week, officers will only issue warnings, instead of citations, to the patrons who agree to pur chase alcohol for the decoys, who are instructed to tell their ages. cided to fund the effort about six months ago at the price of $240,000, since this is South Carolina’s first alcohol en forcement team. The Governor’s Office added $250,000 for work with schools, businesses and other organiza tions for a prevention effort to span the entire Columbia com munity. The project’s co-sponsors in clude the South Carolina The federal government de- ♦ SHOULDER TAP, SEE PAGE 6 ..mu.min.■»—.I-rrn ...