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Governor wants flag referendum for March BY KRISTEN WYATT THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ATLANTA — Georgia’s governor wants a popularity contest on the state flag next year, first asking voters if the Legislature should change the banner and then whether they prefer the flag dom inated by the Confederate battle cross or an earlier version. Gov. Sonny Perdue announced Wednesday that he wants the vote — which is nonbinding — to coin cide with the state’s March 2004 presidential primary. The Legislature could then use the re sults to help them decide whether to take up the flag issue again. A binding referendum on the flag would violate Georgia’s Constitution. Black leaders said they would again call for an economic boycott of Georgia if the state returns to a flag dominated by the Confederate symbol. The boycott threat was one of the main reasons many leg islators supported changing the flag in 2001. “If they think we’re playing, they should try us. They’ll see,” state NAACP president Walter Butler said Wednesday, as hun dreds of protesters marched around the Capitol. South Carolina, which flies a Confederate battle flag on the grounds of its state Capitol, has faced a three-year boycott from the NAACP. Perdue said that “Georgia is somewhat a divided house” over the flag and the referendum will allow the people of Georgia to set tle this once and for all. He called it “an issue that should be healed as soon as possible.” Democrats have repeatedly said a flag vote would be more di visive than helpful. “We must not jeopardize the progress our state has made in hu man rights,” House Speaker Terry Coleman said. Perdue — the state’s first Republican governor in 130 years — campaigned on the promise of giving oters a say on the flag, which tb Legislature changed two years ap to nearly eliminate the Confedeate emblem. Former Gov. Roy Banes led the fight to change the flajand blamed his loss to Perdue ver anger about the move, especiay among rural whites. Supprters of the emblem say it reprsents Southern heritage, while tacks and others say it rep resentracism and slavery. Perae’s proposal must still be approvd by both the Republican contrded Senate and the Democat-controlled House. The'JAACP urged lawmakers to bloc the referendum, saying they aa certain the Confederate versio would win. “If iwere up to the majority of peoplen the state of Georgia, slav ery wold still be legal and lynch ing wuld still be the law of the land,’laid the Rev. Charles White Jr., iirector of NAACP’s Southast Region. Bisk leaders pointed to a vote two ears ago in Mississippi, where 65 percent of residents vot ed to keep flying the state flag and its Confederate battle emblem. Under Perdue’s plan, voters would be asked two ballot ques tions, the first a yes-no question on whether to keep the current flag. Voters will then be asked whether they wish to revert to the previous state flag with its Confederate battle emblem, or the flag that flew until 1956 without the St. Andrews Cross. Images of both would appear on the elec tronic voting machines. A voter would have to cast a ballot on each question, or neither vote would count. Hours after Perdue unveiled his ballot, state elections officials said Georgia voting machines are not designed to throw out incom plete votes. Aides for the Democratic Secretary of State Cathy Cox told reporters that each of the state’s 22,000 machines would have to be reprogrammed. Technical glitches aside, the proposal was lauded by Southern heritage groups. “It gives us an opportunity for a fair contest,” said Charles Lunsford, president of the Heritage Preservation Association. Georgia lawmakers attached the Confederate battle emblem to the state flag in 1956, in the midst of Southern segregationist defiance. The previous flag’s red and white stripes were similar to the first na tional flag of the Confederacy. “It’s offensive to have to choose between two Confederate flags. That’s supposed to solve the is sue?” said Rep. Calvin Smyre, head of the Georgia Democratic Party and the Legislature’s high est-ranking black member. Perdue said he wanted to force everyone who votes to pick from the two former flags because it was important to have a majority .-If ev eryone who voted to keep the cur rent flag did not answer the second question, it would not solve the is sue, he said. State and na tional Republicans had worried that a flag referendum during the November presidential election could spark a huge turnout by blacks and moderate whites and could also hurt GOP candidates, in cluding President Bush. By choosing to schedule it dur ing the presidential primary, Perdue averts that problem, but that is expected to be fought by Democrats in the Legislature. Perdue said he wants the refer endum in March of next year be cause then the Legislature - which meets until late March most years - could act before the next election. “I don’t think we ought to go through another campaign cycle where that is the predominant is sue,” he said. o Democrats in the Legislature took a different pose, saying a mid session flag vote would be too dis tracting. “To dominate the session with that would be a mistake,” Coleman said. Porn CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 said. “When I couldn’t buy it, I’d steal it.” McConnell said that through the age of 16, he was a major con sumer of pornographic materials. He would buy the magazines, tear the pictures out and sell them to his friends. But when he turned 16, he had a sexual encounter with his 14-year old sister after discovering a book talking about sexual acts among siblings. From that day on, he said knew what he was doing was wrong and vowed to leave that world behind. When he got te college, he met his wife and was married two years later. But when his wife was pregnant, she began having mem ories of childhood sexual abuse and totally shut McConnell out of her life. He.fell back into the pomogra phy web when he was 21, because he didn’t know how to communi cate with his wife. “I was using pom to cope with relationship hurts,” McConnell said. “I found myself consuming on a regular basis.” He said he was crossing lines he said he would never cross, and was spending between $300 and $500 per week. Although McConnell said “very few people will ever be a rapist or a molester” because they consume pornography, he very nearly be came both. He said he was at a club one night and saw a girl that fit his vi sion of the perfect woman. So he followed her to her car and tried to force his way in the vehicle. But McConnell said when he saw the look on the girl’s face when he told her what he was go ing to do, he suddenly changed his mind, realizing how wrong he was, and apologized to the wom an. But he still served time in jail for his attempt. MConnell said society has placd too much emphasis on the perfet man or woman, leaving * man;people with a false sense of beauy. laiuig in garuage, ivicL/Onneu sal. limberly Drake knows how de grding it feels to be the one on the stae. irake said she got married whn she was 20 and thought a huband would be the answer to alher problems. ix months after they were married, she woke up one night and found that her husband was not in the bed. She found him in the family room, watching the Playboy channel and masturbat ing. Drake be-, gan partici pating in pornography with her husband. “We thought that what we were doing was spicing up our sex life,” she saiu. tsui me pornograpny was only driving them farther and far ther apart. “I had spent what seemed to be a lifetime to get my husband’s at tention,” Drake said. When she was almost 32 years old, she en tered an amateur contest at a strip bar and won $50. “I was center stage,” she said. “I got tons of money. I won com petitions.” But she was also competing with much younger women, and she said sifter the first few months of working the club, she began to feel like a piece of meat that was being tossed aside for something better. She worked as a stripper for over two years. “The worst part was that I be came the woman I hated,” Drake said. McConnell said the pornogra phy industry doesn’t stop with adults; child pornography is be coming more and more prevalent in today’s society with ads for products and clothing by design ers such as Abercrombie & Fitch. “We’re selling kids off as sex ob jects,” he said. “Child molestation is a major problem in society.” McConnell said pornography is not the real issue. “Pornography exists because we lead empty lives,” he said. “Intimacy is our greatest need.” Jeremy McCleery, a third-year finance student, said the presen tation was really informative. “You don’t hear the other side of the story often,” he said. “It makes you realize how it can de stroy people’s lives.” Brian Walsh said he was also surprised at the impact pornogra phy can have on a person. “It affected his whole family’s life,” the second-year nursing stu dent said. “I never realized it could affect someone’s life so much.” Karen Kirkpatrick, a first-year math student, said McConnell did a very good job on the presenta tion. “He did it in a very non-threat ening way, and he was very factu al about things,” she said. “Personally, when I think of pon^ I think mostly for people who are afraid of true intimacy with their partners.” Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com “Vhat theyve done is pace the valu on body shap and size, he said. “Beuty has abscutely noting to do witlthe exte rior’ “rou can’t expct beauty whn you’re “What they’ve done is place the value on body shape ahd size. Beauty has absolutely nothing to do with the exterior. You can’t expect beauty when you’re taking in garbage.” GENE MCCONNELL SPEAKER AT 'POWER OF PORN’ PRESENTATION Experience the World With.oat Leaving Home Join Carolina's Global Community in South Quad! Applications for Fall 2003 are nov available online at www.housing.sc.edu a the main housing office-1215 Blossorr Street Priority deadline is February 20 n The most important part of the Global Comnunity is learning about other people, cultures, and traditions. Ire learned that no matter where people come from, they will alvays share some thing in common with you. Damien Jumelais-International Business j_L.— —1 ^ 15 Is health carea , good lit ( for youP tm ** « rnm •> « » “1 •a . i v* mt ** f **• mm !**• *1 * *• Vi <■ College of Healdi Professions information sessions • Learn about MUSC • Receive detailed admissions information • Get acquainted with the various professions and the faculty • Attend a program-specific breakout session for one of the following: Physical Therapy Cardiovascular Perfusion Occupational Therapy Communication Sciences and Disorders_ Cytotechnology These program include formats Physician Assistant for working professionals: Bachelor of Health Sciences Master in Health Administration RSVP by 2/25/03 RSVP by 3/20/03 6:00 pm-9:00 pm 8:30 am-1:00 pm [ Basic Science Bldg. Aud. Harper Student Center Aud. 173 Ashley Ave. Comer of Courtenay and Bee Streets _ _