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www.dailygamecock.com WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2003 Since 1908 Hark defends Web site to RHA ft BY JUSTIN CHAPPELL Til K (JAMBCOOK Residence Hall Association President Adam Hark maintained that his Web site is unrelated to his presidential duties at an RHA meeting Tuesday night in re sponse to complaints by a South Quad RA. Those at the meeting briskly covered the Web site topic, and most attendees that voiced opin ions said they think the Web site is not an RHA issue. “If we didn’t impeach President Clinton for adultery, then we shouldn’t impeach Adam for a laugh between friends,” said Jordan Meredith, RHA President from Snowden and a first-year physics student. Stating a similar opinion both during the meeting and in an in terview, RHA Senator from Moore residence hall and first-year premed student Ashley Gallentine said Hark’s performance as presi dent should outweigh the current Web site controversy. “If anyone saw how he ran these meetings, they would know how well-spoken and how well mannered he is toward senators,” Gallentine said. “He has a lot of good programs going on right now,” she added. Initial complaints against Hark and his personal Web site, which contained a naked picture of him self and other friends, were made by South RA and fourth-year crim inal justice stu dent Hazel Matthews. Matthews attend ed the meeting but was unable to be reached for com- _ ment afterward. Hark said he ^ar** wasn’t concerned with the motives behind Matthews’ previously stated in tentions to move forward with im peachment proceedings. “Speculation as to the true mo tives of Hazel Matthews and/or the residents on whose behalf she speaks is irrelevant,” Hark said. Hark further maintained that the accusations are not a basis for questioning his presidency. “She has charged that I am un fit to execute the duties of my po sition on the basis of my person alrand legal, activities not con nected to my job,” Hark said. In order for impeachment pro ceedings to actually occur, an RHA Senate member must submit written charges to the RHA presi dent and RHA adviser. The charges must then be approved by a two-thirds vote of the senate in order for actions to be taken to ward impeachment. Currently, Matthews is unable to spearhead the impeachment' process. She would need the backing of at least one senate member before impeachment ♦ HARK, SEE PAGE 4 Sunday Night Alive draws record crowds with sketch comedy, music BY KEVIN FELLNER THE HAMECOCK Diana Carey spends a typical Sunday night pedaling a unicycle through a crowd of cheering stu dents in the Russell House Ballroom. But Carey, a fourth year advertising student, is just as surprised as anyone at the growing response her perfor mances are receiving. Now in its eighth season, Sunday Night Alive, a sketch-com edy stage show combined with a concluding Christian message, is ■ drawing its biggest crowds ever— '400 on a good night — and has cre ated a weekly stir that has stu dents arriving early to make sure they’ll get a seat. “I remember peeking out into the Russell House Theater before a show and seeing 20 people,” said Carey, who is the show’s most-se nior cast member. The cast decided to move from the theater to the ballroom last year after regularly entertaining v.- j overflow crowds that forced some audience members to sit on the floor in the aisles. The show was first performed in the Belk Auditorium but later moved to the Gambrell Auditorium and the j Booker T. Washington Auditorium to accommodate growing crowds. Third-year public relations stu dent and cast director Jamie Wright said the show has seen its largest attendance boom within the past year but that the cast hasn’t changed its tone. “It’s such a nonthreatening en vironment,” Wright said. “People ♦ SNA, SEE PAGE 2 S.C. NAACP president-elect says race issues still linger BY ADAM BEAM THE GAMECOCK For Lonnie Randolph Jr., pres ident-elect of the South Carolina NAACP, the 50th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court de segregation decision this May will be a time of commemoration, not celebration. “We really don’t have any thing to celebrate,” Randolph said at his Columbia optometry office Wednesday. “Our school systems are almost as segregated as they were 50 years ago. And in some school districts in South Carolina, the conditions are as bad today as they were when the Brown decision was rendered.” Randolph was elected to lead South Carolina’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on Oct. 11 at the state convention in Charlotte, N.C. The decision, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kan., was handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court on May 17,1954. The court ruled that the previous doctrine of “separate but equal” could never create true equality and that the segregation policies of some school districts, mostly in the South, were unconstitu tional. The suit was a combina tion of five similar suits, includ ing Briggs v. Elliott, which origi nated in Clarendon County. The 50th anniversary will sure ly be a time of massive media at tention to celebrate the decision and the impact it has had on U.S. race relations: But for Randolph, all of the festivities surrounding the anniversary will symbolize “how far we haven’t come,” espe cially in South Carolina. “Education is still a race issue in South Carolina,” he said. “While America has a race prob lem, South Carolina has an ob session with racial problems.” The state NAACP still refuses to hold major events in South Carolina to honor an economic boycott on the state involving the Confederate Flag. For 38 years, the Confederate naval jack flew from atop the State House dome until it was removed July 1,2000, following a compromise worked out by the General Assembly. The flag was moved from the State House to the Confederate Soldier Monument in front of the State House on Gervais Street. The NAACP is demanding the flag be removed from the State House grounds altogether and plans an economic boycott of the state until it feels the matter is resolved. On Thursday, Randolph will address USC’s NAACP chapter at 6:30 p.m. on the second floor of the Russell House, where he plans to discuss a number of is sues including the boycott and voter registration. “We will not do anything to im pede the educational progress of our young people,” he said, but would give students a list of busi ness that “don’t have their best interests at heart, that disrespect them. We will give them the in formation we have to let them know these are businesses that PHOTO BY FORREST CLONTS/THE GAMECOCK S.C. NAACP president-elect Lonnie Randolph Jr. says school systems are almost as segregated as they were 50 years ago. you should not spend your money with." Randolph was bom and raised in Columbia, where he graduated from Dreher High School and Benedict College. He chose op tometry over pediatrics because of an article he read in Jet magazine outlining the racial discrepancies in the field. Randolph served for eight years as president of the NAACP’s Columbia, the state’s largest and most successful fund-raising chapter. But when people ask him how much the NAACP pays him, he has an automatic reply. “I say they pay us no atten tion,” he said. “Because there is no money involved; we do this ^strictly because we have a com mitment for the cause of justice for all people.” Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com Interfaith Council to hold dinner Z’ANNE COVELL TUB GAMECOCK The Interfaith Student Council will be playing host to an inter faith storytelling potluck dinner at the PALM Center on Thursday, Nov. 13. The informal dinner will begin at 6:30 p.m., and all are welcome to come and leave as they piease. According to student body chaplain and Interfaith Council Chairwoman Rachel Rosansky, this is the Interfaith Council’s fourth potluck dinner, and the past dinners have all been suc cessful in bringing together many of the various faiths and religions on campus to enjoy both food and stories. “It’s an opportunity for differ ent religions to come together and tell stories about their faith and to also share samples of the food from their religion.” The theme for the stories of the upcoming dinner is “Views of Deity.” Currently, representa tives from five different campus religions are scheduled to speak. Each representative will relate a 10-minute story on the topic, and then the floor will be open for questions. Rosansky said that the food served at the dinner could best be described as ethnic food. The dif ferent dishes are cultural cuisine from the regions where the dif ferent religions are practiced. The eating stipulations of certain religions also determine the types of food prepared by the different faiths. According to Rosansky, Islam, ♦ DINNER, SEE PAGE 3 Panelists debate existence of God BY ALEXIS BASS THE GAMECOCK A debate about boundaries of faith, how people believe and what they believe in was held Tuesday at 8 p.m. in the Russell House. The debate, “Does God Exist?” did not specify who was right or wrong, but it explored what many people restrain from be cause of religious justifications or convictions. The two professional de baters were Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic Magazine, and Doug Geizett, professor at the Talbot School of Theology of Biola University in La Mirada, Calif. The only thing the two pan elists agreed on was that they ♦ DEBATE, SEE PAGE 2 Index Comics and Crossword 8 Classifieds 11 Horoscopes 8 Letters to the Editor_ 5 Online Poll 5 Police Report 4 Weather TODAY * High 81 Low 60 THURSDAY In This Issue ♦ ON THE WEB State, nation and world briefs. www.dallygamecock.com ♦ VIEWPOINTS David Stagg calls out the fall season as a hide-and-go-seeker. Page 5 ♦ THE MIX Theatre South Carolina’s “Polaroid Stories” merges mythology with the modem day. Page 6 ♦ SPORTS Former Gamecock quarterback Todd Ellis still excels off the field as the Gamecock announcer. Page 9