Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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. University of South Carolina FRinAV FFRRIIARVR OHO A Vol.97,No.61 www.dailygamecock.com rr\IL/Ml, IlDI\UMlA I U, ZUUH Since 1908 . No new parking plans at Strom Z’ANNE COVELL THE (iAMECOCK Parking director Derrick Huggins said his department has no plans for creating more park ing spaces at the Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center, despite complaints from students. Although the university owns h> land behind the Wellness Center, W which could be used for another parking lot, Huggins said addi tional parking specifically for the Wellness Center is not financial ly possible. “To make that land into park ing would cost around one mil lion dollars to develop,” Huggins said. “We’re not budgeted to do something like that right now.” Kurtis Kennedy, a second-year management science student, who received a ticket for parking illegally at the Wellness Center, said USC should have put more of the money budgeted for the Wellness Center toward parking. “If they don’t have a million dol lars to spend on a parking lot, then they shouldn’t have spent millions of dollars on ridiculous things like ■ those hand sensors,” Kennedy said. “I’d rather have parking.” Huggins said a new parking lot is unnecessary, though, con sidering the other options avail able for students using the Wellness Center. “Even though there are only 125 close spaces, there are over 2,000 spaces across the street,” Huggins said. “Students can park in the oth er lots and use the bridges.” Huggins said the bridges were specifically designed to alleviate the parking problems at the Wellness Center. “We did anticipate lots of stu dents using the Strom Thurmond Wellness Center, and that is why those bridges were built.” Huggins said. “The university spent a cou ple million dollars on those bridges for students to walk across from the other parking lots.” Huggins said students can uti lize the shuttle systems if finding a parking space is not possible. According to Huggins, stu dents have begun to double park, park along the curbs and park in the grass, destroying the land scape. He says the USCPD will continue ticketing students who park illegally in the Wellness Center parking lot. “Just because there are no close parking spaces doesn’t mean students can park wherev er they want,” Huggins said. “We must have rules and regulations to avoid chaos, and to enforce these rules we must give out tick ets.” Students will be ticketed $25 when parking in the grass, in a no-parking area or along a yellow painted curb. Students will be ticketed $15 when blocking a side walk or driveway. Huggins said Vehicle Management and Parking Services uses the money collect ed from tickets for the mainte nance of the campus’ parking lots and parking garages. Paul Wilkes, a second-year sports and entertainment man agement student, said ticket fees could be used more effectively. “Money for new parking should not be a problem,” Wilkes said. “The money received from people paying their parking tickets could be used to solve the problem with a new parking lot, and the prob lem would end.” Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocknews@gwm. sc. edu Slamming Alabama Forward Renaldo Balkman goes up for a slam dunk in USC’s victory over Alabama on Wednesday, 90-82. ♦ FOR MORE SEE PAGE 7 PHOTO BY MORGAN FORD/THE GAMECOCK From left, Dr. Lonnie Randolph, Marcus Alexander, Marc Grlmmett and Tiffany Stewart answer students’ questions. Ricin investigators search Capitol Hill BY CURT ANDERSON THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — Investigators expanded their search Thursday for the source of ricin discovered on Capitol Hill after intensive testing of a Senate office mail room failed to turn up the dead ly poison’s origin. The ricin was discovered in Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s office. Law enforcement officials say no letter or note has been found indicating how it got there, who was behind it and whether the Tennessee Republican was the target. “We’re not at the point in time where we can say how it was de livered,” said Michael Mason, as sistant FBI director in charge of the Washington field office. “ We have not found a hot letter.” Mail has been the primary fo cus of the probe since Monday, when an intern found a small amount of ricin on a mail-sort ing machine in Frist’s office. But no further ricin or other ev idence was in the stacks of let ters nearby. Because no answers have come from mail or items in the mailroom, investigators now must consider if the ricin was placed on the machine by some one or if it had spilled out of an older letter and been there for a long time. If so, investigators would have to trace the paths of these older letters, some of which may have been destroyed. The discovery prompted the closure of three Senate office buildings, one of which reopened Thursday, and decontamination procedures for staff and Capitol police officers who were at the scene. Ricin is a highly toxic sub stance with no known antidote.' Although no one has become ill from the ricin, nine staffers in Frist’s office have been asked to submit two blood samples to Navy medical researchers, Frist spokesman Nick Smith said. A U.S. Capitol police officer guards a doorway of the closed Hart Senate Office Building Wednesday. Panel speaks on progress of black students BY PATRICK AUGUSTINE THE GAMECOCK Nearly 80 students filled the Russell House Theater Tuesday to hear USC and state leaders discuss the progress blacks have made on campus in the university’s first State of the Black Student Address. Organized by USC’s African American Association of Students, the panel discussion brought to gether students with dignitaries like Rep. Leon Howard, D Richland, and state NAACP President Lonnie Randolph. The eight-person panel an swered questions from moderator and AAAS President Justin m Williams, centered around the theme “Do black students belong at USC?” In response to a question about the progress USC has made since it was integrated in 1963, Howard said the university had the duty to use its influence to push statewide changes that would ben efit minorities. Randolph said the problem is that “other ethnic groups continue to not have the barriers that people of color still have” in South Carolina, and went on to advocate an academic re cruiting system for minority stu dents modeled after the one used by the athletics department. ♦ AAAS, SEE PAGE 3 USC celebrates Black History Month BY LESLIE DENNIS THE GAMECOCK As a tribute to Black History Month, organizations at USC have prepared a month of music, speeches and presentations hon oring black heritage and culture. The events are not only de signed to be entertaining, but will provide learning for students un familiar with black history pro grams. “The goal of our Black History Month celebration is to educate the USC community about con tributions made by historical and contemporary men and women of color,” said Carl R. Wells, di rector of the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs. The Russell House will be showing films featuring promi nent black actors and actresses, including Academy Award win ners Denzel Washington and Cuba Gooding J». Grammy-winning artist Roberta Flack will appear in a USC production at the Roger Center Feb. 26 at 8 p.m. in a bene fit concert for The Auntie Karen Foundation. Tickets range from $30 to $37.50 and proceeds will go to ward the foundation’s mission to “empower, enlighten and ed ucate children through the arts with a series of outreach pro grams,” according to the foun dation’s Web site, www.aun tiekaren.org. Professors from various USC campuses will be speaking on black history and personal ex periences in the fight for equali ty “I will be talking about the civil rights movement and as sessing experiences from the sit ins to the march on Washington leading up to the black power and anti-war movement,” said Cleveland Sellers, director of USC’s African-American Studies Program. To extend education about blacks and other minority groups throughout the year, the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs has planned a retreat for stu dents. “We have devised a diversity retreat to take key student lead ers to educate about issues such as gender, race, gays and les bians,” Wells said. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocknews@gwm.sc.edu SURFYOURSELF For information about upcoming programs, visit the Office of Multicultural Student Affair? Web site at http://www.sa.sc.edu/omsa/. ♦ MIND YOUR BUSINESS Moore School of Business ranks in top 40 business schools worldwide. FOR MORE SEE PAGE 3 ♦ ATA GLANCE Check out I state, nation and world briefs. FOR MORE SEE PAGE 2 ♦ ROTTEN EGG USC smart to end Easter Monday holiday. What^ln<;iHp for more see page 4 VVMdlb.lllblUe ♦OUTFLANKED Justin if---1_41__jf__ Simmons says Bush’s lack of Live TV could be military service is troubling. compromised at this year’s FOR MORE SEE PAGE 4 Grammys. FOR MORE SEE ♦ A DECADE LATER Garnet & PAGE 5 Black celebrates its 10th ♦ NEW RECRUITS USC anniversary. FOR MORE SEE officially signs new football PAGE 5 players. FOR MORE SEE ♦ GRAMMY MADNESS PAGE 7 • Music’s biggest nights bring ♦ 7-DOWN Women’s the stars out in full. FOR basketball loses seventh SEC MORE SEE PAGE 5 game. FOR MORE SEE PAGE ♦ MORE THAN TROPHIES 7 Index Weather visit us Comics and Crossword 6 TODAY SATURDAY . online Poll 4 online at: Police Report 2 High 66 High 54 www.dailygamecock.com j Entertainment News 2 ^ 47 Low 28 -;---—— Showers and Party cloudy The GameMckls printed on USC Ca endar 2 . , ' . windy and windy recycled paper. ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■I