Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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aaagggggff”WEDNESDAY, april 2,2003_ v Since 1908 RESEARCH COALITION Universities unite for research goals BY KEVIN FELLNER THE (JAMECOCK USC President Andrew Sorensen joined dozens of state legislators and the presidents of Clemson University and the Medical University of South Carolina on Tuesday at the State House to an nounce a legislative reform pack age that would change state laws to allow the three universities to fo cus on joint research development. “I never dreamed of this,” Sorensen said about having this initiative reach the General Assembly before his first anniver sary as president. “It has far ex ceeded my fondest expectations.” He said he Would like to see uni versities’ cooperation to continue throughout his tenure. The legislation, which has more than 50 sponsors from both parties in the House, calls for the creation of the South Carolina Research Oversight Council, a nine-member council that would oversee the three research universities and their specialized research interests. The nine members would in clude a member from each of the universities’ boards of trustees, and each board’s chairman, as well as other members appointed by the governor, speaker of the House and president pro tempore of the Senate. This initiative is in line with Sorensen’s goal to break free of the regulatory constraints the Commission of Higher Education places on the universi ty’s expanding its resources. “Being in the state capital has helped enormously with this,” Sorensen said. “And also, there are only three research universi ties in this state, and the three presidents get along extremely well. We’ve been working collab oratively all the way. There are many states where that kind of col laboration among presidents isn’t nearly as effective.” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, said the col laboration is representative of the General Assembly’s push to im prove the quality of life for South Carolinians who are without jobs or living in poverty. He also said businesses moving into the state to be near these research centers will bring sustained economic growth. “The ultimate goal is to grow our own knowledge-based compa; nies and improve economic pros perity for all South Carolinians,” Harrell said. Sorensen stood between Clemson President James Barker and MUSC President Raymond Greenberg as Harrell and House Speaker David Wilkins, R-Greenville, made the an nouncement. “Around the country in regions that are prospering, you will find that research universities are a key to economic growth,” Wilkins said. “They generate start-up companies, venture capital, high-paying jobs and an improved quality of life.” Wilkins and Harrell said the new laws would make the three universities nationally competi tive in research. The new laws would also allow ♦ RESEARCH, SEE PAGE 4 STUDENT GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS - Dreiling, Odom to vie for SG presidency in runoff DREILING: 30.5% ODOM: 26.9% BY MICHAEL LAFORGIA THE liAMECOCK Katie Dreiling and Tyler Odom are set to compete In a runoff election Thursday and Friday for Student Government president. This presidential runoff will be the third in four years of SG elections. ♦ PRESIDENT, SEE PAGE 3 VOTE ON VIP THURSDAY AND FRIDAY BETWEEN 8 A.M. AND 5 P.M. PHOTOS BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK Tyier Odom, left, and Katie Dreiling will compete in a runoff election because no candidate won a majority. ‘Sweep’ delays election results BY ADAM BEAM THE CAMECOCK When Elections Commis sioner Brooke Vickery stood on a table in the Russell House third-floor lobby, the crowd silenced for what it thought would be the election results. It was wrong. The official results were de layed two hours because sev eral candidates refused to take down their campaign signs as part of the “Clean Sweep” program put in place by the Elections Commission. Clean Sweep required all candidates to remove their campaign signs by 7 p.m. to make sure that the campus was cleaned up by the stu dents, not the custodial staff, Vickery said. The commission conducted ♦ SWEEP, SEE PAGE 3 Edwards narrowly wins treasurer post EDWARDS: 52.6% GROOMS: 47.4% BY WENDY JEFFCOAT THE GAMECOCK Third-year philosophy student Ben Edwards was elected Student Government treasurer by a slim mar gin in a race that ended Tuesday evening. Edwards said the way he ran his campaign might have made a differ ence; he defeated second-year phar macy student Billy Grooms by 118 votes. Edwards said he campaigned on the issues and his experience, not on a slogan that exploits his name, per sonality or any other characteristic. Grooms said that although he is disappointed, he tried his best and felt he ran a good campaign. “I think overall I ran a clean cam paign,” he said. “I did not purpose fully get dirty.” After receiving 52.6 percent of the vote, Edwards said he plans to contin ue his campaign platform: He wants to make it easier for student organi zations to receive funding, make sure PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK Ben Edwards defeated Billy Grooms by 118 votes. benefits from fee increases return to student organizations, and ensure the treasurers’ workshops operate as quickly and as smoothly as possible. Treasurers from every organization must attend the workshops, and he hopes to make them more effective. Edwards said he encourages stu dents to get involved in SG by apply ing for empty Senate seats, universi ty committees or Cabinet positions. ♦ TREASURER, SEE PAGE 3 PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK Zachery Scott rejoices Tuesday night, moments after the announcement of his victory in the SG vice-presidential election. Scott, whose campaign focused on enforcing Student Senate rules, earned 65 percent of the votes. Scott triumphs in VP race SCOTT: 65.3% NORTON: 34.7% BY ADAM BEAM THE GAMECOCK Second-year political-science student Zachery Scott won a comfortable victory in the SG vice-presidential race, taking 65 percent of the vote. Scott defeated second-year political-sci ence student Patrick Norton. “I’m so proud of USC for finally taking a stand, finally releasing and making a choice that issues matter, making the choice that we are a progressive institution,” Scott said. “They don’t care about frivolous things, and they really care about what can be done and ♦ VICE PRESIDENT, SEE PAGE 3 Index Comics and Crossword 9 Classifieds 12 Horoscopes_ 9 Letters to the Editor 6 > Online Poll 6 Police Report 5 Weather L TOMORROW High 81 Low 55 wmfrmmmm In This Issue ♦ ON THE WEB Look for state, nation and world briefs online. www.dailygamecock.com ♦ VIEWPOINTS Brook Bristow rhymes his way through the night before SG elections. Page 6 ♦ THE MIX Summer quickly approaches - do you have a job? Page 7 ♦ SPORTS USC and Clemson baseball teams get ready to | clash at Sarge Frye Field. Page 10 Troops prepare for Baghdad assault BY DAVID ESPO THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Army ground forces attacked Republican Guard units Tuesday near Karbala, scarcely 50 miles from Baghdad, part of around-the clock combat pointing toward an assault on the capital. An American POW was rescued from Iraq. Defense officials sa\d Army units attacked elements of the Medina Division of the Republican Guard in the clash near Karbala, part of an elite Iraqi force targeted by heavy air wmmmimmmmmmm bombardment over several days. Pfc. Jessica Lynch, a 19-year old supply clerk from Palestine, W. Va., was the POW rescued. Neither her condition nor the de tails of her rescue were immedi ately available. “Coalition forces have con ducted a successful rescue mis sion of a U S. Army prisoner of war held captive in Iraq. The sol dier has been returned to a coali tion-controlled area,” Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks said in the briefest of appearances at U.S. Central Command in Qatar. Other officials provider her ^ ____ name. The developments unfolded as huge explosions rocked Baghdad, Saddam Hussein’s seat of power and the site of repeated bombing in the two weeks of the war. Saddam summoned his coun try — via a spokesman — to a “ji had,” or holy war, against the in vaders. But American and British officials used the occasion to raise fresh doubts about the fate of a man seen in public only on video tape since the war began. The attack on forces near Karbala marked the first major ground battle against Saddam’s Republican Guard, and capped a day of aggressive American and British military’ actions. Marines staged a nighttime raid on Nasiriyah, a column of amphibious assault vehicles rolling into town under a moon less sky — and finding Iraqis had abandoned a huge, walled police compound. In Basra, a city of 1.3 million, warplanes dropped 500-pound and 1,000-pound laser-guided bombs on an Iraqi intelligence complex in an effort to dislodge ♦ UPDATE, SEE PAGE 4