Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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University of South Carolina FRI HAY QFPTFM RFR 1 Q ODD'! -Vo/. 97, No. 21 www.dailygamecock.com riML/nl, OLl I LIVIDLIX 1 Zt, Z.VJUO Sincel908 > Storm’s miss upsets some BY JON TURNER THE (iAMECOCK Hurricane Isabel hit North Carolina and Virginia hard ^ Thursday, but most South P Carolinians didn’t see a storm at all — and some USC students were slightly miffed. Rather than worrying about the economic implications of the storm, some students con sidered their daily routines in their appraisal of the situation. Adrienne Levy, a first-year advertising student, was en thusiastic about having class es possibly canceled. Missing classes is definite ly a plus,” she said. “I could use a little time to catch up on my reading.” Tiffany Blackmon, a third year pharmacy student, shared Levy’s sentiment. “I wish it had come so I could have missed my calculus test,” ^ she said, laughing. W Mark Reardon, a third-year sports management student, was another student not en tirely pleased at Isabel’s near miss. “I would have missed my ac counting test. That would have given me a little more time to study,” he said. “Right,” he added, gr inning. Reardon doubted that he would have found even the storm to be much more than a minor annoyance. “The lightning would be pretty sweet,i"he said, “but we could do without the rain.” The storm was 11 days old and had wind speeds of more I r ♦STUDENTS, SEE PAGE2 HURRICANE ISABEL PHOTO COURTESY KRT CAMPUS' Jim Hartman, of Hampton, Va., braves the wind and surf of Hampton Roads, getting a first glimpse of Hurricane Isabel’s power Thursday in Newport News, Va. The hurricane caused about 1.3 million power outages in North Carolina and southeastern Virginia alone. Isabel slams Outer Banks Category-two hurricane results in downed trees, snarled air traffic and power outages BY EMERY P. DALcSIO THE ASSOCIATED I’REXS KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. - Hurricane Isabel plowed into North Carolina’s Outer Banks with 100 mph winds and pushed its way up the Eastern seaboard Thursday, swamping roads and knock ing out power to more than 1 million people. The storm that only days earlier threat ened 160 mph winds and a 12-foot storm surge rolledin around midday just south of isolated Ocracoke Island with a 5-foot surge and gusts that rattled plywood boards spray-painted "Bring it on Izzy.” "A lot of trees are down — there’s one dowruacross the garage,” Rudy Austin said as he looked out on his yard in Ocracoke surrounded by a knee-deep soup of sea water and debris. "There’s a lot of stuff floating around: boards and buoys and boxes and young’uns’ plastic toys.” Despite downed trees, snarled air traf fic and widespread power outages — about 1.3 million in North Carolina and southeastern Virginia alone—there were no immediate reports of any deaths or widespread flooding. But National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield said fast-moving Isabel still poses a threat because of its di mensions — about the size of Colorado — and its potential to bring 6 to 10 inches of rain and flooding to an East Coast already sodden from one of the wettest summers in years. "This is certainly not over for people experiencing Hurricane Isabel,” he said. "This hurricane will not be remembered for how strong it is. It will be remembered for how large it is.” There were isolated areas of damage and distress on the Outer Banks and in land areas nearby. In flarlowe, a small commtu ity about 25 miles inland from the Outer Banks, about 30 to 40 homes were destroyed, ei ther by winds, falling trees, or flooding, said Jeremy Brown, chief of Harlowe’s volunteer fire department. He estimated about 200 homes were flooded. The storm spread rain across North Carolina and Virginia and into Maryland, Delaware and parts of West Virginia and ♦ ISABEL, SEE PAGE 2 PHOTO BY FORREST CLONTS/THE GAMECOCK Keith West, left, a representative for the Peace Corps, spoke with students Interested In enlisting In the volunteer program. Peace Corps volunteers visit USC, tell stories BY JON TURNER THE GAMECOCK Peace Corps volunteers Keith West and Jenny Tanner told their stories to an audience of 14 stu dents Wednesday at the USC Career Center with hopes of draw ing new volunteers for the corps’ foreign service projects. West has only been back in the United States for a year, but he has already been speaking as a re cruiter for nine months. He graduated from USC in 2000. He said about 20 USC alum ni are overseas, which — he was quick to add — is more than Clemson. During his foreign service, West was an English literature and conversational teacher in Cape Verde, which is on a chain of islands off the coast of West African nation of Senegal. Before he joined the Peace Corps, West said he had no idea the country existed. West joined the corps after fin ishing graduate school, buf said he wished he had joined earlier, because now he’s not really using his degree. “All you do in Peace Corps is use the skills you have. I used a lot of common sense,” West said. West said he enjoyed the isola tion, and when the Corps sent him a roommate, he was mildly disap pointed. “I loved my roommate to death,” West said, “but I definitely. preferred being alone on my is land.” Tanner, who grew up in Columbia, concentrated on envi ronmental education while in Senegal. “I have a degree in environ mental science, but now I’m going to get a degree in education,” she said. “That’s one way Peace Corps kind of helped me.” Both West and Tanner were amazed by the openness and ami ability of the native residents. West said it was normal to be the most popular guy in town. ♦ PEACE CORPS, SEE PAGE 3 U.S. weapons hunters report lack ,of evidence that Iraq had smallpox by dafna linzer THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Top American scientists as signed to the weapons hunt in Iraq found no evidence Saddam Hussein’s regime was making or stockpiling smallpox, The Associated Press has learned from senior military officers in volved in the search. Smallpox fears were part of the __ V case the Bush administration used to build support for invad ing Iraq — and they were raised again as recently as last weekend by Vice President Dick Cheney. A three-month search by “Team Pox” turned up only signs to the contrary: disabled equip ment that had been rendered harmless by U.N. inspectors, Iraqi scientists deemed credible who gave no indication they had Sf worked with smallpox and a lab oratory thought to be back in use that was covered in cobwebs. < V Fears that smallpox could be > SMALLPOX, SEE PAGE 3 SURFYOURSELF Centers for Disease U.N. Weapons Control: Inspectors: http://www.bt.cdc. http://www. gov/agent/smallpox unmovlc.org /index.asp Index Comics and Crossword 6 Classifieds 8 Horoscopes 6 Letters to the Editor4 Online Poll 4 Police Report 2 Weather C TOMORROW Jr'1 High 86 High 88 Low 63 Low 63 -4s In this issue ♦ PARENTS’ WEEKEND Read about Columbia attractions for the family and USC sports. Insert ♦ VIEWPOINTS Patrick Augustine delves into the nation's strange relationship with Israel. Page 4 ♦ THE MIX Columbia area cafes offer an array of decadent desserts. Grab a fork and dig in. Page 5 ♦ SPORTS Pinkins will start Saturday for USC versus UAB. Page 7