Sharpton
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
too many donkeys that are run
ning around here that are ele
phants with donkey clothes
on.”
Sharpton also said that under
current leadership, the
Democrats have lost their soul.
“Clearly, those that have sat
andi allowed us to get here
shouldn’t brag about their medi
ocrity.”
After addressing the war,
Sharpton turned to such issues as
unemployment and the current
deficit.
He said he wanted to crack
down on exploitation of blue-col
lar workers.
“There needs to be federal laws
to protect workers’ rights,”
Sharpton said.
Sharpton said he would invest
in job creation if elected presi
dent.
Sharpton also said he was op
posed to the death penalty be
cause, he said, it has not proven
to be a deterrent to crime.
Sharpton then addressed some
people’s doubts about his winning
the Democratic primary.
“There are nine people run
ning. Eight of them are going to
lose,” he said. “Don’t act like
there’ll be eight winners and
Sharpton/’
Sharpton said he believed he
could win by the numbers that
support him. “I also believe we
can’t lose because we’re right,” he
said, and cited his heading a na
tional institution, the National
Action Network, as something
that qualifies him above other
state leaders.
Sharpton also answered ques
tions on issues such as minimum
wage and big business, trade
agreements, the legalization of
marijuana, foreign policy, his
uniqueness from other candi
dates, immigration policy, his
ministerial credentials and the
Confederate flag.
Aaron Polkey, vice president
of USC Law School Democrats, ar
ranged Sharpton’s appearance,
and said his organization is try
ing to arrange for each
Democratic primary candidate to
speak at the Law School.
Second-year law student Van
Anderson said he enjoyed hear
ing Sharpton speak.
“I have respect for him, and I
think he’s a product and sign of
the democratic process here.”
Third-year law student Terri
Vincent said she admired
Sharpton’s firm stance on is
sues.
“It’s just refreshing to hear an
swers to questions and strong
opinions on issues,” she said.
“There are too many wishy
washy candidates.”
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockudesk@hotmail.com
Palmetto
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Alpha Delta Pi, says the organi
zation is running on two plat
forms: budget redistribution and
Student Senate reform.
“With the budget, we want to
continue fiscal responsibility,”
Cubbage said. “Our goal is to
have a $20,000 plus surplus in
Student Government that can be
given to the student organiza
tions.”
According to SG President
Ankit Patel, this budget surplus
would originate from a combina
4-v.~ ;*->
creased student
activity fee and a
decrease in SG
spending.
“We’ve cut out
some things like
the Homecoming
parade,” Patel
said. “From my
perspective,
there is going to
be a large
amount of rev
enue coming in
next year from
the student ac
tivity fee in
crease.”
The second
part of the
palmetto party piattorm, senate
reform, would, entail some
changes in the structure of the
Student Senate.
“Our second proposal is to
have each senator serve on two
Senate committees and not just
one, and we want to make sure
that we hold our senators ac
countable,” Cubbage said.
“By having the senators serve
on two committees, this would
enable us to make sure that our
Senate is continuously working
hard to better serve the stu
dents,” she said.
In addition to having student
senators serve on an additional
committee, the Palmetto Party
would like to see some changes in
the overall committee structure,
Patel said.
“They want to have new com
mittees,” Patel said. “In my opin
ion, the current committees don’t
really reflect what the students
need. The Powers and
Responsibilities Committee, for
example, isn’t really relevant to
what students need. The
Palmetto Party wants to create a
housing committee, a parking
and safety committee, and an en
vironmental committee, among
others.”
The Palmetto Party is current
ly endorsing Tyler Odom for SG
president and Patrick Norton for
vice-president.
“We’re campaigning for them,”
Cubbage said. “Basically they
have campaign staff, and then we
have the Palmetto Party staff, and
♦ Via iMAViAr
combines to
gether.”
Both
Cubbage and
Patel ex
pressed hope
that the for
mation of a
party inside
SG would
spark the
creation of
other par
ties.
“I’m hope
ful that some
other stu
dents will
start their
own parties
to spur more aeDate aDout me is
sues on our campus,” Patel said.
The Palmetto Party is made up
of a diverse group of students, ac
cording to Patel.
"There are people from all dif
ferent political affiliations in
volved in this,” Patel said.
“They want to make sure the
party remains diverse, and I
think they are doing a good job of
that. International students and
people frpm all different religions
and cultures are involved,” he
said.
“I guess we’re bipartisan,”
Cubbage said.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockudesk@hotmail.com
“There are people from
all different political
affiliations involved in
this. They want to make
sure the party remains
diverse, and I think they
are doing a good job of
that. International
students and people
from ail different
religions and cultures
are involved.”
ANKIT PATEL
STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT
BRIEFLY
Sites say what to
do if S.C. attacked
USC’s Division of Law
Enforcement and Safety is urg
ing students, faculty and staff
of the university to visit its
Web site and President
Andrew Sorensen’s Web site to
familiarize themselves with
important information that
might help them if a terrorist
attack were to happen.
“Of course, we don’t want to
unduly alarm the USC commu
nity,” Ernie Ellis, director of
Law Enforcement and Safety at
USC, said in a news release.
‘•‘But we know from past expe
rience that knowledge and a
plan for responding to emer
gencies are critical in dealing
with a crisis, especially one
that threatens our safety and
well-being.”
The law enforcement web
site is www.les.sc.edu, and the
emergency preparedness web
site is www.sc.edu/emergency.
There are links on both sites to
information concerning what
to do in the event of a chemical
or biological attack, how to
spot suspicious packages and
how evacuation procedures
will be conducted.
Registration begins
for walking event
Registration for the Walking
for Wellness Initiative, which
will take place during April, be
gins today and lasts through
Friday.
The event is sponsored by
the Multi-Cultural Health
Council and under the guid
ance of USC’s Health and
Wellness Office.
According to the news re
lease, the overall purpose of the
program is “to increase physi
cal activity and nutritional
knowledge in women.”
■ ■ ■ ■ ■
uovs junior cnusen
for Goldwater award
Andy Frassetto, a junior geo
physics student at USC, has
been selected as a 2003 Barry
M. Goldwater Scholar.
Frassetto, a South Carolina
Honors College student, has
done research in USC’s
Department of Geological
Sciences with Alicia Wilson and
Tom Owens. During the sum
mer of 2002, he participated in
a National Science Foundation
Research Experience for
Undergraduates.
Frassetto is a member of
First Mentors USC Volunteers
and the Geology Club. He plans
to pursue a Ph.D. in geo
physics, and hopes to teach and
do research at a major univer
sity.
Jae Jun Kim, a sophomore
physics and mathematics stu
dent, received an honorable
mention in the competition.
The Goldwater Scholarship
is awarded nationally to sopho
mores or juniors pursuing
bachelor’s degrees in the natu
ral sciences, mathematics and
engineering with an intention
of pursuing a career in re
search or college-level teach
ing.
Only four students from
each college or university can
be nominated, and students
must be nominated by a uni
versity faculty committee to ap
ply.
Students interested in ap
plying for the award should at
tend the Goldwater
Scholarship workshop April 7
at 4 p.m. in the Gressette Room.
STATE
USC, black colleges
join to study health
COLUMBIA (AP) - Higher ed
uction officials hope a new part
nership to study health could
represent a watershed moment
in relations between the
University of South Carolina
and the state’s historically black
colleges.
Leaders from South Carolina
State, Allen and Claflin univer
sities and Benedict, Morris and
Voorhees colleges announced
last week they would partner
with USC in the $2.75 million
W.K. Kellogg Foundation health
disparities project.
“With this, we’re involved on
the front end and not the back
end,” said Leroy Davis, former
president of South Carolina
State University and now head
of Voorhees College’s Center for
Excellence In Rural and
Minority Health.
“We’re very excited about it
and we see our participation at
the very maximum level.”
The project, designed to get
more minorities in public health
careers, was viewed by some as
the latest in a long line of empty
promises from USC to include
the black colleges as partners.
Catawba tribe owes
$1 million in fees
YORK (AP) - A Circuit Court
judge has ordered the Catawba
Indian Nation to pay the Rock
Hill School District for back fees.
The school district sued the
tribe in June 1999, claiming it
owes about $1,400 per year for
each student who lives on the
tribe’s York County reservation.
The district says a 1993 agree
ment with the state requires the
Catawba to pay out-of-district
fees.
Families who live on the
reservation are exempt from res
idential property taxes, a major
source of funding for public ed
ucation.
When the lawsuit was first
filed, it meant to recover at least
$280,490 in fees. The Catawbas
agreed to pay the money to com
pensate for revenue lost due to
the tax-exempt status of the
tribe’s land and portions of prop
erty on the reservation, accord
ing to the suit.
That amount has increased to
almost $1 million, said school
district attorney Don Harper.
Judge Lee Alford signed the 17
page order last week, ruling that
the Catawbas owe the district fees
for educating their children.
Budget cuts might
hurt state’s defense
CHARLESTON (AP) - Some
fear the state’s first line of de
fense could be weakened be
cause of budget cuts to South
Carolina’s National Guard.
A loss of nearly $6 million be
cause of the state budget crisis
has resulted in the South
Carolina Military Department
losing up to $12 million in feder
al matching money during the
last three years.
During that time, the Guard
has closed 10 of the state’s 76 ar
mories. Officials with the
state’s military say closing the
armories, which serve as train
ing facilities and staging areas
during hurricanes and other
disasters, likely has cost the
Guard some troops and new re
cruits.
The Guard’s remaining facili
ties are suffering from $16 million
in deferred maintenance that of
ficials say they cannot afford.
NATION
Air Force helicopter
crashes, killing six
WASHINGTON (AP) - A U.S.
Air Force helicopter crashed in
Afghanistan Sunday, killing all
six people on board, the U.S. mil
itary said.
The HH-60G Pave Hawk heli
copter was on a medical evacu
ation mission when it crashed
at about 11:20 a.m. EST, about 18
miles north of Ghazni,
Afghanistan, U.S. Central
Command said in a statement.
The helicopter was not shot
down, the statement said.
The precise cause of the crash
is under investigation.
U.S. Military officials in
Washington and Afghanistan
said The medical emergency and
the helicopter flight was not in
connection with Operation
Valiant Strike, a mission in
volving members of the Army’s
82nd Airborne Division in south
eastern Afghanistan.
That mission, which began
earlier this month, is meant to
root out remnants of the al
Qaida and Taliban believed to be
operating in the area.'
The last helicopter crash in
Afghanistan was Jan. 30, when
an Army Black Hawk helicopter
— the Army’s version of the
Pave Hawk—on a training mis
sion crashed near the Bagram
air base, killing four.
Owners of N.C. plant
sued after explosion
KINSTON, N.C. (AP) - Three
people have sued the owners of
the Kinston plant that exploded
in January, alleging the blast ex
posed them to dangerous chem
icals and damaged their proper
ty.
The lawsuit is the first stem
ming from the explosion that
killed six people and destroyed
West Pharmaceutical Services’
medical supply plant Jan. 29.
Plaintiffs Terry Ellis, Rosalie
Whitley and Gloria Young want
a Superior Court judge to classi
fy the case a class-action lawsuit,
which would allow others with
similar claims to join as plain
tiffs.
The three, who did not work
at West Pharmaceuticals, live
within a mile of the plant.
“It was a community harm,”
said New Bern attorney Donald
■ J. Dunn, one of seven attorneys
handling the complaint. The
other lawyers are from
Louisiana.
The lawsuit alleges West
Pharmaceuticals, based in
Lionville, Pa., failed to keep its
plant safe and didn’t carefully
handle dangerous chemicals.
Plant manager Thomas Clagon
is accused of failing to properly
supervise employees.
The plaintiffs also say the
company should be held liable
for damages even if negligence
isn’t proven because the nature
of its work was so hazardous.
Army soldier hangs
himself in jail cell
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) - An
Army Special Forces soldier
charged with killing his wife af
ter returning from Afghanistan
nine months ago hanged himself
in a jail cell this weekend, offi
cials said.
Lt. Glen Mobley of the
Cumberland County Sheriff s
Department said Master Sgt.
William Wright was found dead
in his cell about 2 a.m. Sunday.
Wright was one of four sol
diers at Fort Bragg suspected of
killing their spouses in a six
week stretch last summer.
The deadly spree forced the
Army to re-evaluate how it pro
vided support for soldiers with
strained marriages and those
readjusting after combat ser
vice.
WORLD
Fighting in Nigeria
forces oil giant out
LAGOS, NIGERIA (AP) - Oil
giant ChevronTexaco on Sunday
evacuated staff and shut down
most of its installations in
Nigeria amid weeks of fighting
between ethnic militants and
government forces that has
killed scores of people.
The development came as the
militants’ leaders accused the
army of attacking the Niger
Delta village of Okpelama, near
the company’s main Escravos
oil export terminal.
Ethnic militants have threat- *•
ened to blow up 11 multinational
oil installations they claimed to
have captured in retaliation for
government military raids.
In a communique, Jay Pryor,
chairman and managing direc
tor of ChevronTexaco’s Nigerian
subsidiary, said the company
was evacuating its remaining
workers from the Escravos ter
minal and offshore rigs “to pro
tect them from harm.”
“The safety of people is our ab
solute priority,” Prior said. The
company earlier evacuated most
of its staff at onshore oil sites.
Battles between rival Ijaw
and Itsekiri militants have
drawn a massive armed re
sponse. Villagers accuse the |
armed forces of indiscriminate
ly pouring gunfire into their
towns, killing and injuring resi
dents and causing others to flee
their homes.
U.S. military prison
releases 18 Afghans
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (AP) -
Several Afghans who had been
held at the U.S. military prison
in Guantanamo Bay were re
leased because they were no
longer considered a terrorist
threat, officials said Sunday.
A Pentagon spokeswoman,
Lt. Cmdr. Barbara Burfeind,
said 18 prisoners had left the
base at Guantanamo on Friday g
to be released.
About 30 new prisoners were
taken to America’s high-security
island prison in Cuba on
Sunday, bringing to about 660
the number of inmates there,
Burfeind said.
Afgan presidential
spokesman Sayed Fazel Akbar
said earlier that U.S. authorities
handed over 19 prisoners to
Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry
on Saturday. There was no im
mediate explanation for the dis
crepancy in numbers.
“According to the Americans
who investigated them, they no
longer posed a terrorist threat
to the international coalition,” -
Akbar said. *
Akbar gave no other details
and it was unclear if the prison
ers were still in custody. Interior
Ministry officials were not im
mediately available for.
New barrier would
give Israel more land
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel is
considering two plans to extend
a barrier separating Israelis
from Palestinians, officials said
Sunday. Both would likely claim
more land for Israel and muddy
progress on a U.S.-backed plan
for Palestinian statehood.
Israel says the electronic
fences and cement blocks that ^
Israelis have been calling a “sep
aration fence” are meant to pro
tect Israel proper and Jewish set
tlements from attacks by
Palestinian militants.
The barriers do not run strict
ly along the border of undisput
ed Israeli territory; instead they
bite in several areas into the
West Bank, which the
Palestinians claim as the heart
land of a future state, incorpo
rating thousands of Jewish set
tlers — and Palestinians.
Tuesday, March 25«6:30p.m
www.joshlamkin.com
PRESBYTERIAN STUDENT ASSOCIATION
1702 Greene Street • 799-0212
http://web.sa.sc.edu/psa
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Summer 200
Financial
^Applicatian0^
available on-line
www.sc.edu/fin
Application Deadline:
April X 2003 at 5:00PM
_
Office of Student Financial \ J
Aid & Scholarships
1714 College Street
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