The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 26, 2003, Image 1
SSSSSSSTWEDNESDAY, MARCH 26,2003' USS
DAY 6
•U.S. troops fight off Iraqi attack
Gamecock pride extends to Iraq
Columbia resident Robert Dean Widener, a soldier In the 169th logistics squadron from McEntlre Air National Guard, displays his
South Carolina and Gamecock pride from an American forces tent in Iraq. Widener Is a Gamecock Club member and avid fan.
Despite sandstorms, US. forces
inflict casualties near Baghdad;
British battle for control of Basra
BY DAVID ESPO
THE ASSOCIATED PKESS
American infantry troops
fought off a desert attack by
Iraqis on Tuesday, inflicting
heavy casualties in a clash less
than 100 miles from Baghdad.
British forces battled for control
of Basra, a city of 1.3 million slid
ing toward chaos.
Defense officials said be
tween 150 and 500 Iraqis were
killed in the battle near An
Najaf, adding there were no im
mediate reports of American ca
sualties.
Iraqis launched their attack
on a day of howling sandstorms
— weather bad enough to slow
the U.S.-led drive toward the
Iraqi capital.
After the sandstorm lifted in
Baghdad, coalition aircraft
struck the Iraqi state-run tele
vision channel, which U.S. mil
itary officials wanted to hit in
order to cut communications
links between Saddam Hussein
and his military and the Iraqi
people.
U.S. troops in control of a vast
Iraqi air base sealed 36 bunkers,
designated as possible hiding
places for weapons of mass de
struction.
American officials also issued
fresh cautions about the possi
ble use of chemical weapons by
Iraqi troops, although none has
yet been used in the 6-day-old
war — or even found by the in
vading troops.
As the pace of combat quick
ened, American and British offi
cials sought to prepare the public
for something less than a quick
campaign, and predicted difficult
days to come.
Still, President Bush forecast
victory. The Iraqi regime will be
ended ... and our world will be
more secure and peaceful,” he
said after receiving a war update
at the Pentagon.
Saddam saw it differently.
State television carried what it
described as a message from him
to tribal and clan leaders, saying,
“Consider this to be the com
mand of faith and j ihad and fight
them.”
If confirmed, the initial reports
of fighting near An Najaf would
make it the biggest ground clash
of the war, as well as the first en
counter between advancing
American infantry and the Iraqi
units guarding the approach to
Saddam’s seat of power.
A senior military official said
the U.S. troops had hunkere'd
down against a sandstorm when
Iraqis — either Republican
Guard or paramilitary Iraqi
troops traveling on foot —
♦ UPDATE, SEE PAGE 2
Outdoor debate
attracts crowd
BY MICHAEL LAFORGIA
THE GAMECOCK
Student Government candi
dates took their campaigns out
doors Tuesday when they par
ticipated in an annual debate,
which was held this year on
Greene Street in front of the
Russell House.
Elections Commissioner
Brooke Vickery said the debate
was held outside in hopes of in
creasing student participation
inSG.
“We had it outside hoping to
get students as they’re going to
and from class,” Vickery said.
“We wanted it open so everyone
could see what we’re doing and
be able to participate.”
Candidates for president, vice
president and treasurer outlined
their platforms, asked each other
questions and answered ques
tions from the crowd. About 38
people sat in attendance, some
wearing candidates’ campaign
T-shirts.
All the candidates seem to
agree on the main issues — bud
get concerns, campus safety and
parking problems—and all have
come up with their own ways of
dealing with them.
Presidential candidates
Tyler Odom and Justin
Simmons both offered solutions
to parking problems. Simmons
said he envisioned a SG that di
rectly represented students and
that “we need to think outside
the box on solving the budget is
sue.”
For her part, presidential
candidate Katie Dreiling em
phasized safety issues and re
structuring SG organization.
During the debate period be
tween presidential candidates,
Ginny Wright asked Odom why
he did not vote for legislation
that would reduce unnecessary
SG spending. Odom said he
wasn’t familiar enough with the
purpose of the legislation to vote
with certainty.
Odom asked Dreiling about
the subpoena she signed earlier
this year and she said she al
lowed it out of respect for her fel
low senators’ and constituents’
concerns.
Simmons asked Wright why
she left before voting on a piece
of legislation, and Wright said
she got into an accident and
had to attend an insurance
meeting.
Dreiling asked Odom what he
♦ DEBATE, SEE PAGE 6
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
Justin Simmops
BY JULIA KNETZER
THE GAMECOCK
Justin Simmons envisions
a student government that is
accessible to the average stu
dent, originating in and thriv
ing from its involvement with
student organizations.
‘‘I think there are ways to
get the student senators closer
to the students than the ways
we have now,” he said.
One of the problems the
second-year political science
student sees with SG is that
the representation is not actu
ally representative of the stu
dents they have been elected
to serve.
As SG operates now, student
senators are elected from each
college at USC, with the num
ber of senators varying ac
cording to the size of the col
lege, Simmons said.
“Once senators get installed,
they don’t communicate much
with the people they repre
sent,” he said.
Simmons proposes to fix the
communication problem by
changing the representation
system so it originates in stu
dent organizations instead of
USC’s colleges, he said. Doing
♦ SIMMONS, SEE PAGE 6
.President Personals
Age: 20
Hometown: Columbus, Ga.
Hobbies: Reading and frisbee
golf
Favorite restaurant: Olive Garden
Favorite thing about USC: “I
would say definitely the
excitement Everybody seems very
enthusiastic about the school and
what’s going on.”
Why did you choose to come to
USC: “My dad played football
here, and I was interested in
going out of state. When I came
here to visit, I was really
impressed with the sense of
school pride."
VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES
Patrick Norton and
Zachery Scotty—
BY ALLYSON BIRD
THE GAMECOCK
Though second-year politi
cal-science students Zachery
Scott and Patrick Norton are
vying for the same position —
Student Government vice pres
ident — they agree that com
munication within the univer
sity must improve.
Scott is serving his second
year in the Student Senate,
through which he has repre
. sented the Association for
African-American Students
and the Women’s Student
Association. Each senator is
supposed to
UUU^l C WV
ganizations
to support,
yet he finds
this obliga
tion is often
unmet.
About oth
ers’ plans to
revamp SG,
Scott said, “If
you make
new rules, it
♦ VP, SEE
PAGE 6
Top: Zachery Scott. Above: Patrick Norton.
Index
Comics and Crossword_12
Classifieds^_ 15
Horoscopes_ 12
| Letters to the Editor 9
Online Poll__ 9
Police Report 8
Weather
TODAY TOMORROW
High 83 High 70
Low 50 Low 48
In This Issue
♦ NEWS A husband and wife
work together to run Pritchard’s
Island. Page 5
♦ VIEWPOINTS The Gamecock’s
editorial board endorses SG
candidates. Page 9
♦ THE MIX Curious about our
comic strips? Read interviews
about the poor souls whose
livelihood is your laughter.
Page 10
♦ SPORTS The Gamecocks’ title
hopes are dashed as they lose
to Penn State. Page 13
-jfe
University-owned island allows conservation, research
BY ALEXIS STRATTON
THE GAMECOCK
As murky seawater laps
against the sandy, house-lined
shore of South Carolina’s Fripp
Island, the undisturbed shores of
)
the opposing Pritchard’s Island
seem exotic and inviting.
Looking at the remote island
from across the Skull Creek inlet,
it seems like something off
“Survivor.” There is no sign of
houses, construction or other
man-made innovations, just a
weathered, out-of-use dock pro
jecting from the sand across the
water.
No roads or bridges stretch
across the restless water to make
the untamed island more accessi
ble. In fact, the only way to reach
Pritchard’s Island is by boat.
While Pritchard’s Island is one
unscathed by the hand of man, it
is the hands of men that saved it
from the ruins of development
and expansion.
Initially a wilderness used for
fishermen’s camps and hunting
parties, this 1600-acre island is
now dedicated to conservation,
education and research. The is
land is owned and preserved by
the University of South Carolina.
The effort to preserve and uti
lize the natural setting of
Pritchard’s Island began in 1982
when USC-Beaufort biology pro
fessor Dave McCollum began the
Pritchard’s Island Loggerhead
Sea Turtle Project.
“McCollum would come over
to Pritchard’s on his weekends or
days off ... and just walk the
beach,” said Bo VonHarten, is
land manager. “What raised his
eyebrows was all the loggerhead
sea turtle nests that we were get
ting in the summertime, and the
raccoons and the high tide were
destroying almost all the nests.”
In 1982 McCollum asked then
owner Phil Rhodes, a retired
Atlanta businessman who
VonHarten said paid between $1.2
♦ PRITCHARD'S, SEE PAGE 5
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