The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 10, 2003, Image 1
University of South Carolina FRI HAY OPTORFR 1 O OfiflR Vol.97,No.30
www.dailygamecock.com • i\ I Ur\ I, UulUDLlA -LvJ, Z.\JVJvJ . , Since 1908
Howell gets 30 days for assault
USC basketball player can pay fine,
get counseling to suspend sentence
BY BRAD SENKIW
THE GAMECOCK
USC basketball forward
Rolando Howell pleaded no con
test Thursday to criminal domes
tic violence charges stemming
from an Aug. 9 arrest.
Magistrate Golie Agustus hand
ed down a 30-day sentence that
will be suspended if Howell pays
a $50 fine and completes a 26-day
abuse counseling program that
will take place during the 2003-2004
basketball season.
According to Howell’s attor
ney, I.S. Leevy Johnson, the crim
inal domestic violence charge will
go down on Howell’s record as a
misdemeanor and will be ex
punged from his criminal record
after three years if Howell isn’t
involved in any other legal
matters.
Howell was charged by
Richland County for assaulting
Mary Jones, his girlfriend at the
time, at an apartment the two
shared with their 2-year-old son.
This is Howell’s second run-in
with the law since he has been at
USC. He was ordered to complete a
pretrial intervention program in
2000 after involvement in a mon
ey-order scam. Since Howell fin
ished the program and that inci
dent is no longer on his record,
Johnson said it played no part in
the magistrate’s decision in this
case.
Johnson also said it was a coin
cidence that Agustus, who played
basketball for USC in the 1970s,
was chosen as the magistrate and
that it was the normal sentencing
for the charge.
Johnson said Howell has been
apologetic about the situation and
is ready to take on the responsi
bility of correcting his mistake and
paying the consequences.
“I’ve been doing this for 35
years, and I’m convinced that he
is genuinely remorseful about the
fact he made a mistake,” Johnson
said.
In a statement released after
the legal situation was resolved,
Howell apologized to Jones, his
parents, Athletics
Director Mike
McGee, USC head
coach Dave Odom,
his fellow team
mates and the
fans.
“I will use this
as a learning expe- HoweM
rience and work as
hard as I possibly
can to be a good citizen and a stu
dent athlete that brings honor to
the University of South Carolina,”
Howell said.
Odom said he was glad the situ
ation was resolved and that he is
ready to move on with his basket
ball team.
“While I am very disappointed
that Rolando was involved in this
incident, I am encouraged by the
way he has taken responsibility
for his actions,” Odom said. “The
athletics department will review
the situation and make a determi
nation about Rolando’s status as
itpertains to the Gamecock bas
ketball team.”
USC hasn’t released a state
ment or taken any official action
against Howell.
Johnson said he expects the
university to treat this incident in
a way similar to what it did in
2000, when Howell was suspended
for seven games.
“The next step is that the uni
versity will take some kind of ac
tion,” he said. “It’s just logical
that Dr. McGee will suspend him
for some games because he sus
pended him last time for some
games.”
Howell, a senior, averaged 10
points and 6.3 rebounds a game
last year and is expected to help
carry the load for this year’s
team.
The Gamecocks kick off prac
tice Oct. 17 at Midnight Madness
and will open the season against
Gardner Webb in the Guardians
Classic a month later.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockudesk@hotmail.com
Taking the bite out of the Wildcats
Students say
merger isn’t
ideal match
BY ADAM BEAM
THE GAMECOCK
It might not be the Carolina
Clemson matchup, but students
in the College of Liberal Arts and
the College of Science and
Mathematics have a rivalry all
their own.
Since 1973 the students have
been separated into their own
colleges and have endured sev
eral attempts to bring them
back together. But on Oct. 1,
USC President Andrew
Sorensen announced that he
will go before the Board of
Trustees on Oct. 17 — a week
from today— and ask that the
colleges come together again in
what many think will not be a
holy matrimony.
Danny Nguyen, a second
year biology student, was sit
ting in the Coker Life Sciences
Building on Thursday after
noon, studying for a develop
mental biology test. He said he
spends about three hours a day
studying.
“Liberal arts students are
more laid-back and slack, while
math and science students are
more anal,” he said. “I know lib- .
eral arts students have to study,
but when I see them, they are
just having fun — something
that I’d like to do.”
Nguyen is taking 18 hours this
semester. Katie Wright, a second
year exercise science student, is
taking 19 hours. While Wright is
in the Arnold School of Public
Health, she says science students
don’t see eye-to-eye with liberal
arts students.
“Math and science students
think that English students are
really lazy because they only
have to take like 12 hours a
semester,” she said. “I’m taking
19, and they are all pretty much
♦ MERGER, SEE PAGE 2
Business school
ranks among
Forbes’ top 50
BY JULIE LEDBETTER
THE liAMECOCK
According to Forbes maga
zine, USC’s Moore School of
Business graduate programs are
a good investment, based on stu
dents’ salary increases after
graduation.
In the Oct. 13th issue of Forbes,
the magazine ranks the Moore
School of Business No. 44 among
the top 50 business schools in the
United States in a report titled “B
schools: The Best Payback.”
In compiling its findings, Forbes
sent 18,000 questionnaires around
the world to full-time Masters of
Business graduates of the class of
1998. The class has seen a great re
turn on its degree investment.
According to the report, “The av
erage 1998 grad almost tripled his
or her pre-M.B.A. salary five years
out of school, to $106,000.”
The Forbes survey is different
than most because it bases the
rankings on pre-M.B.A. salaries;
♦ FORBES, SEE PAGE 2
-_j» --- . _ ■
i;i
PHOTO BY MORGAN FORD/THE GAMECOCK
Dr. Frank Berger, director of
the Center for Colon Cancer
Research and a biology
professor, works in his office.
1
Colon cancer research center
marks first-year anniversary
BY JOCELYN MEYER
THE GAMECOCK
Since USC’s Center for Colon
Cancer Research was established
lqst year with an $11 million
grant, director Frank Berger said
his staff has made several inter
esting findings about chemother
apy and nutrition and how they
relate to colorectal cancer.
The research center receives
a little more than $2 million a
year to operate and plans to buy
more equipment with the help of
a $470,000 grant from the
National Institutes of Health.
Spce USC received this grant,
Berger said the university has
gained a good reputation. People,
want to come here to study and
conduct research because the
equipment and funding are avail
able in Columbia, he said. In fact,
the research center just hired
four new faculty members.
“In the 18 years that I have
been here, this is the greatest
quality of applicants to apply for
jobs at USC,” Berger said.
The research center collabo
rates with the College of Science
and Mathematics, the College of
Pharmacy, the School of
Medicine, Palmetto Health, the
Veterans Administration and the
Medical University of South
Carolina in Charleston.
The plan is to carry out re
search on specific molecular, bio
chemical, genetic and lifestyle
factors that impact colorectal
cancer and its therapy. This will
be done by four junior faculty
members who are mentored by
senior faculty members.
“I was extremely impressed
with the cooperation that exists
between the various research en
tities here in Columbia,” said
Phillip Buckhaults, a new faculty
member at the research center.
“There is a commitment by the
university to grow science on a
very large scale; therefore, the
♦ CANCER, SEE PAGE 2
USC students square off with peace protesters
BY ALEXIS STRATTON
THE GAMECOCK
Hawks and doves clashed
Wednesday afternoon as five USC
students brought out a cowbell and
pro-Operation Iraqi Freedom signs
in front of the State House to
counter a peace vigil sponsored by
an international peace network.
The Foundation for the
Defense of Democracies, or FDD,
sponsored its first State House
rally to support U.S. soldiers,
while the Women in Black
brought out 20 supporters for
their weekly peace vigil.
Although the members of each
protesting group tried to remain
separated, this did not prevent
comments from passing between
them as each supported its cause.
At about 5:50 p.m. police ar
rived as cars driving down Main
Street still honked at each group’s
“Honk for Peace” or “Honk for
U.S.-led Iraqi Freedom” signs.
The police advised Jeremy Wolfe,
the FDD representative for USC,
about obtaining a permit and me
diated as a few more comments
were exchanged between the
♦ RALLY, SEE PAGE 2
PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER MITCHELL/THE GAMECOCK
Police question USC student protesters as they rally in front of the
Capitol in support of U.S, soldiers and the fight against terroris n.
Index
Comics and Crossword 5
Classifieds 8
Horoscopes_5
1 Letters to the Editor 3
Online Poll 3
Police Report 2
Weather
TODAY SATURDAY
High 74 High 74
Low 61 Low 57
In This Issue
♦ON THE WEB Check out
state, nation and world briefs.
www.dailygamecock.com
♦ VIEWPOINTS J.D. Shipman
points out the lessons to be
learned from the California
recall election. Page 3
♦ THE MIX Get in gear and go
explore some of South
Carolina’s more eclectic
attractions. Page 4
♦ SPORTS The USC football
team defeats Kentucky 27-21.
Page 7
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