Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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--- University of South Carolina www.dailygamecock.com ■__ Scott first openly gay oresident ■ BY JULIE LEDBETTER THE GAMECOCK Zachery Scott became the first openly gay Student Government president in state history when hp u/cic inuii. gurated Wednesday af ternoon in Rutledge Chapel. Scott, a third-year po liuv/Oi student, said his victory at the polls says a lot about the open mindedness of USC students. “It’s something to note that the times are changing, and the student attitude on campus is evolving and it’s evolving for the better,” he said. Sexual orientation has never been an issue in any elections Scott has run in, which Scott said represents the attitude of thp ctnHpnt body. “I’ve been in Student Government for three years, and it’s never been an says a lot — not just about peo ple who have run against me, but about the general tone on cam pus,” he said. Student Life Director Jerry Brewer said he has never con __ sidered sexual orientation an is sue with Scott or any student he has worked with. Scott said it’s good for students to know they can be involved on campus regard less of sex, race, nationality or sex ual orientation. “People are starting to finally realize that it’s not that big of an issue and that you can still be a lead er on campus in many different ar eas on campus, not just in Student Government,” he said. Sexual orienta tion was added to the USC nondis crimination poli “It’s something to note that the times are changing...” ZACHERY SCOTT SG PRESIDENT PHOTO BY MORGAN FORD/THE GAMECOCK t New SG president Zach Scott talking with ♦ SCOTT, former SG Presdlent Katie Dreillng. SEE PAGE 3 USC professor works to progress S.C. Amber Alert Police officers work with local media to catch kidnappers BY LADONNA BEEKER THE GAMECOCK Driving down an interstate, you might see an electronic sign informing motorists of a traffic problem ahead. But one day, you might see a message describing a child who has been abducted and the vehicle the kidnapper is driv ing. That’s how Amber Alert works in conjunction with law enforce ment, radio and TV broadcasters, and the Transportation Department to inform the public to be on the lookout for a child who has been abducted, accord ing to Hugh Munn, Amber Alert consultant for the U.S. Justice Department and a USC public re lations professor. A case of child abduction must pass the law enforcement’s criteria before the designated of ficers will activate the Amber Alert. Only deadly situations will be reported to the broad casters, then to the public. Once broadcasters are informed of the Amber Alert, public service an nouncements describe the child, ♦ AMBER, SEE PAGE 3 «:v Surf Yourself *. m .w i i - ' * Learn more about the Amber Alert at © u« p.* f ' www.amberalertnow.org i ' 1 I Step show PHOTO BY MORGAN FORD/THE GAMECOCK Members of Ten Mile Tide play around while they wait for their RV to pick them up. The band is from San Francisco and was in town to play at the Sundance Bar and Grill Thursday Night Pakistan advances manhunt Forces believed to have found al-Qaida leader in major battle BY PAUL HAVEN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN - Pakistani forces believe they have cornered and perhaps wounded Osama bin Laden’s deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, in a major battle near the Afghan border, an area where many be lieve the world’s most wanted terrorist has been hiding, three senior Pakistani officials said Thursday. Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said a “high value” target was believed trapped in South Waziristan, a semi-autonomous tribal belt that has resisted outside intervention for centuries. Hundreds of troops and paramilitary rangers pounded several fortress-like mud-brick compounds with artillery and fired on them from helicopter gunships, as entrenched sus pects fought back hard. An in telligence official said "dozens” were killed Thursday. At least 41 people — 15 sol diers and 26 suspected militants — were killed earlier this week in fighting in the area. The officials said that intelli gence indicated the forces had surrounded the Egyptian-born al-Zawahri in an operation that began Tuesday, the first major break in the world’s most in tense manhunt in more than a year. The region has long been con sidered the most likely hiding place for the top two al-Qaida leaders—but there was no indi cation bin Laden was with al Zawahri. However, the two have traveled together in the past, and bin Laden and al-Zawahri ap peared jointly in video tapes re leased shortly after the September 11 attacks on the United States. The United States has offered a $25 million reward for infor ♦AL-QAIDA, SEE PAGE 3 USC apology surprises students BY ADAM BEAM THE 0AMEC0CK Kappa Alpha Psi president Rodney Hollis said he was “pleas antly surprised” by USC’s apolo gy Tuesday night, but said there is more the university can do. Hollis, along with representa tives from the African-American Student Association and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, demanded a public apology from USC and ZTA after Tim Tice, a white student, wore black body paint to impersonate Janet Jackson during a ZTA fund-rais er for breast cancer research. In a Tuesday meeting with Student Life Director Jerry Brewer, Brewer promised Hollis he would get back with him by 5 p.m. to day. “I’m happy they said some thing, but they didn’t say what we asked them to say,” Hollis said. “I want the university to also include a similar statement that they do not condone such acts and that they will not tolerate them.” Two weeks after the incident there is still no reaction from ZTA. ZTA members say all questions have to be directed to their na tional president, Julia Hill. Carmen Lau, who works in Hill’s office, did not return repeated phone calls. Hollis said USC’s ZTA has been very supportive and very apolo getic. “They are very nice girls and you know they didn’t mean for that to happen,” he said. “We brought them into this because it was their event.” Several minority groups met Monday night to compile a list of demands that include hiring a black staff member in the Office of Greek Life, a restructuring of ZTA’s fund-raiser, “Big Man on Campus,” and a program where black students could make a pre sentation on why certain things are offensive. Hollis said Kappa Alpha Psi, Omega Psi Phi, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Phi Beta Sigma, Alpha Phi Alpha, AAAS and the NAACP were represented at Monday’s meeting. “These are the demands of the minority on this campus who are fed up with being treated like sec ond class students,” Hollis said. The incident has sparked de bate on campus, including the Residence Hall Association Senate. During Tuesday night’s senate meeting, RHA president Adam Hark said the senate dis cussed the ZTA incident for “about 40 or 50 minutes.” The dis cussion prompted RHA senator Steven Byrd, a second-year polit ical science student, to draft a res olution encouraging the white and black Greek organizations to work together or not be allowed to use USC property for events or meet ings. “What I witnessed was severe apathy on the part of mainstream Greeks to embrace diversity on this campus and the issues that surround it,” Byrd said. Byrd plans to introduce the leg islation at Tuesday’s RHA Senate meeting at 7 p.m. on the third floor of the Russell House. The resolu tion “equates the current system of fraternity and sorority rush to segregative policy” and “con demns the use of university facili ties to promote and promulgate a system of segregation.” The reso lution would be sent to the Student ♦ ZTA, SEE PAGE 3 USC graduate lectures on global threats BY JACOB DAVIS THE GAMECOCK According to one terrorism ex pert, the environment can be as vulnerable in this age of global ter rorism as civilian victims. Jacquelin Michel, a USC doc toral graduate and world renowned expert in oil and haz ardous material spills and re sponse, delivered a presentation Wednesday at the 13th Townsend Lecture at the USC Law Center. Michel spoke on her experiences in a 2003 United Nations-funded scientific venture sponsored by the Saudi Arabian government to study the effects of one of history’s most massive crimes against na ture. In her lecture, Michel dis cussed the oil spill that occurred in the waning days of the first Gulf War. Retreating Iraqi troops dis bursed nearly 11 million barrels of Kuwaiti crude oil into the Persian Gulf. By leaking the con tents of eight oil tankers, as well as three entire coastal on noia ing facilities, they created an ecological disas ter some 40 times the size of the one created by the Exxon Valdez. The 11 mil lion barrels of oil went on to con taminate more than 8 million cu bic meters of Persian Gulf coastal ecosystem, mostly in Saudi Arabia. While almost 1 million barrels were recovered from the surface of the water, virtually no other cleanup was undertaken and the problem was left to fes ter. The lecture hall was packed, with more than 100 people in at tendance. Micnei saia tne team that ac companied her to the Persian Gulf was as tounded by what they saw. They exhaus tively re searched the coastal areas, collecting 28,000 soil samples, and conducting extensive chemical research as to the dam age inflicted on the ecosystem. “We found oil pooling 12 years later,” said Michel, which took questions afterward. The team trekked more than 24,000 kilometers of coastline and coastal islands, surveying the mas sive damage. Michel discussed the make-up of the land she and her team vis ited during their expedition. The Saudi coast includes numerous types of shoreline, ranging from sandy beaches to rocky flats and salt-water marshes. All were dev astated. Some, like the salt marshes, whose natural stagna tion holds them static, experi enced almost total wildlife ex tinction. The spring lecture always cov ers an international topic and the fall lecture covers Southern histo ry. The fall Townsend Lecture will ♦TERRORISM, SEE PAGE3 1 i USC graduate lectures on her experiences at the Persian Gulf sitewhere Iraqi troops dumped Kuwaiti crude oil during the Gulf War. What’s.lriside ♦ IMAGE OF LEADERSHIP USC s chapter of the NAACP holds first Image Awards ceremony. FOR MORE SEE PAGE 4 ♦ SHANGHAIED A Columbia organization 1 wants to send you to China. FOR MORE SEE PAGE 3 ♦ HUBBLE TROUBLE Astronauts want to keep Hubble telescope running. FOR MORE SEE PAGE 4. ♦ TOO SMOOTH Students slurp smoothies t for snacks, meals. FOR MORE SEE PAGE 6 ♦ EYE OF THE TIGER Baseball team plays host to No. 1LSU for weekend series. FOR MORE SEE PAGE 9 »_ Index Comics and Crossword 8 Classified 12 | Horoscopes _8 Letters to the Editor 5 ft Online Poll 5 Police Report_ 2 Entertainment News 2 USC Calendar 2 Visit us online at I www.dailygamecock.com