Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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University of South Carolina CDIHAV OPTO RED 0/1 00 OR ' Vol.97,No.35 www.dailygamecock.com rixIL/Mlj UuIUDClX ^ Since 1908 -■ . . .. — - " 1 - - '■ ' - -- - -• ■ - - - ' !T .Grant inspires groups to clean BY Z’ANNE COVELL THE (iAMKCOCK Palmetto Pride, a statewide anti-litter organization, and the Student Services Committee an nounced Tuesday the first-ever Clean Carolina Challenge, which will award a $5,000 grant to one student organization that demon strates dedication to keeping cam pus clean. According to Student Services Committee Chairman Patrick Walsh, the Clean Carolina Challenge was a joint idea be tween him and Kelly Carver Melvin, public relations coordi nator at Palmetto Pride, which will be sponsoring the $5,000 grant. Both Walsh and Carver Melvin anticipate the grant mon ey will increase student cleanup efforts. “Of course, we expect the grant to increase participation and mo tivation. Five thousand dollars is a very enticing feature,” Walsh said. Carver-Melvin said Palmetto Pride already has two grant pro grams with local organizations. “We just thought there are so many groups and organizations at the university that are looking for ways to give back to the commu nity, and this goes hand in hand to help promote the litter-free mes sage,” she said. All USC organizations are eli gible to participate in the Clean Carolina Challenge and compete for the grant. The challenge re quires all competing organiza tions to take part in the spring semester Clean Carolina kickoff and the South Carolina Great American Cleanup. Organizations must also fulfill the responsibili ty of cleaning a designated area of campus on a monthly basis. According to Walsh, the win ning organization will be deter mined by both the participation of organization members relative to the its size and by the amount of trash the organization collects. The announcement date for the winner has not been determined. Carver-Melvin said the win ning organization must spend half of the grant money on a cam pus beautification project, while the remaining $2,500 may be spent however the organization decides. “It’s exciting for us to be in volved,” said Carver-Melvin. “We’ve been wanting to do some thing with USC and other state universities for a long time to pro mote litter-free campuses and communities.” All organizations planning to . participate in the Clean Carolina Challenge and compete for the $5,000 grant must register by Dec. 5,2003. Registration packets will be available in Student Government offices by next week. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com »Nobel-winning poet opens USC festival BY ALEXIS STRATTON THE HAMECOC.K Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott spoke to a full house in USC’s law school auditorium Wednesday as the first of several writers to share their talent and time at the Fall Festival of Authors. Walcott, who won the 1992 Nobel Prize for literature, was met with applause from the crowd, which was made up of a grab bag of ages and races, as soon as he was recognized making his way Pdown the auditorium aisle. According to Janette Turner Hospital, event organizer and USC English professor, it was uncer tain whether Walcott would be at tending at all. Fresh off a flight from Italy, Walcott’s connecting flight to Columbia was cancelled, leaving it questionable whether he could even make it to campus. Walcott’s admirers were not disappointed, however; a jet lagged and weary Walcott treated his audience to readings of several of his poems, including “The Saddhu of Couva,” “Sabbaths, W.I.” and “The Man Who Loved Islands.” “We’re just incredibly lucky to ^get a Nobel Laureate here,” said ^Hospital. “He’s really a towering figure in the 20th century.” Born on the Caribbean island St. Lucia in 1930, Walcott is best known as a poet and playwright, beginning his literary career in 1948 with the publication of “25 Poems.” Since then, he has pub lished a number of poetry collec tions and plays, many of which ad dress the conflict between the Caribbean and European cultures of the West Indies, where he was raised. He teaches literature and creative writing at Boston University. Walcott’s appearance is part of the annual Fall Festival of Authors that has been held, on and off, on USC’s campus since the 1980s. Hospital said this year’s events have been made possible largely because of a gift from an anony mous donor. “The English departments al ways, always wanted to do this — bring in major writers — but the English departments don’t always have either the money or the per sonnel to do it,” said Hospital. Other writers speaking at the fes tival are Percival Everett, Elizabeth George and Sue Monk Kidd. The festival, which began Wednesday, continues today with “Sixty-Minute Bistro,” a reading by USC’s MFA students at 3 p.m., and a reading by Elizabeth George at 6 p.m. Along with readings by Everett and Kidd, there was a public collo quium and reception Thursday at the Museum of Art, where atten dees could mingle with the authors. “In that place tomorrow, there will probably be more literary ♦ WALCOTT, SEEPAGES PHOTO BY FORREST CLONTS/THE GAMECO Derek Walcott reads his work to a crowd In Gambrell Auditorium. Index Comics and Crossword 9 Classifieds _ 12 Horoscopes 9 h Letters to the Editor 6 Online Poll 6 Police Report 4 Weather TODAY TOMORROW High 74 Low 43 In This Issue ♦ NEWS Graduates of the first Navy ROTC class return for ceremony. Page 2 ♦ VIEWPOINTS Julie Cook says the U.S. Senate’s partial-birth abortion bill is too broad. Page 8 ♦ THE MIX High-strung horror: Columbia Marionette Theatre reprises its adaptation of “Frankenstein.” Page 7 ♦ SPORTS The USC football team hopes to get a win over Vanderbilt Page 10 PHOTOS BY JASON STEELMAN AND MORGAN FORD/THE GAMECOCK Cocky congratulates Sarah Bayko and Josh Black as they are crowned queen and king at the Homecoming Showcase. This year's ceremony included performances by Higher Harmony, USC’s male a capella group, and the Coquettes, the dance team. Homecoming royalty crowned, groups perform at Showcase I BY KATE WILL THE GAMECOCK Josh Black and Sarah Bayko were crowned USC’s 2003 Homecoming King and Queen on Wednesday night during USC’s Homecoming Showcase. The showcase began at 7 p.m. at the Colonial Center. The stage was lined with white lights and depicted the Columbia skyline as the backdrop. The showcase’s theme, as for all of Homecoming week, was “Coming Home to a New Carolina.” Along with announcing the ■ king and queen, the showcase also featured several USC per forming groups, such as the male a cappella group Higher Harmony and USC’s dance team, the Coquettes. The contestants who made it to the stage Wednesday night went through a different selection process than in past years. Previously, organizations could nominate as many candidates as they wanted, and members could nominate themselves. This year, only two candidates from each or ganization were nominated. The competition started off with 10 stu dents for king and 10 stu dents for queen. Those groups of 10 were slimmed down to five. The top five men and top five women re mained after interviews I “It is a great time to be here at the University of South Carolina, with all of the improvements to campus... we have truly come home to a new Carolina.” SCOTT SOWELL 2003 HOMECOMING COMMISSIONER an improvisa tional piece on the piano. Scott Sowell, the 2003 Homecoming Commissioner, was also pre sented with a palmetto tree statue for his hard work that has been ongo with the judges. Homecoming King Josh Black played “St. Elmo’s Fire” on the pi ano. Queen Sarah Bayko played ing since December 2002. “It is a great time to be here at ♦ HOMECOMING, SEE PAGE 3 I Float-making fun Jfuels USC rivalries BY ALEXIS BASS TlIKUAJfECOCK As Homecoming comes to an end this week, rivalry takes cen ter stage with student organiza tions rushing to finish their floats for the Homecoming Parade today at 4 p.m. Although float-building is not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of rivalry, this event has become one of the most interesting parts of the USC Homecoming tradition. USC float-building is not just about show, however; it’s also about competition. Katherine Tanner, a second year advertising student and member of Alpha Delta Pi, said she feels that the major compe tition for her sorority this year will be Chi Omega. Last Year, it lost first place to Chi Omega. This year, Alpha Delta Pi is putting all its efforts into creat ing a float even bigger and bet ter than last year. With any organization eligi ble to enter, this event is not about who you are, but what you represent. The floats will be judged during the Homecoming Parade. Judges include commu nity and faculty members, as well as university staff. The float themes of each organization are not discussed, but with the 2003 Homecoming theme, “Coming Home to a New Carolina,” pa rade viewers can expect to see ♦ FLOATS, SEEPAGES PHOTO BY JASON STEELMAN/THE GAMECOCK The sisters of Chi Omega work on their float for the Homecoming Parade.