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University of South Carolina PPIOAV APPII 10 000/1 Vol.97,No.88 www.dailygamecock.com rr\IL/r\lj MirxIL J-Uj tUUH Sincel908 300 pharmacy students march on State House PHOTO BY MORGAN FORD/THE GAMECOCK Pharmacy students line up outside the State House. The Student Alliance to Protect Pharmacy in South Carolina is protesting the proposed merger of USC and MUSC pharmacy schools. BY KEVIN FELLNER THE GAMECOCK About 300 pharmacy students donned white lab coats and marched from the Coker Life Sciences building to the State House Thursday morning to protest a possible merger of the USC and MUSC pharmacy schools. The Student Alliance to Protect Pharmacy in South Carolina organized a news con ference on the State House steps and brief meetings with legisla tors. The student-organized grassroots effort is opposing a March proposal from three ex ternal pharmacy deans that rec ommends the relocation of USC’s clinical, research and adminis trative operations to a newly merged site in Charleston with the USC pre-clinical curriculum being taught mostly via stream ing video. “We’re hoping that we can at least delay any further action on the merger until further evalua tion can be made on the merger report,” second-year professional student Bryan Amick said. Alliance members are talking with legislators, alumni and the USC Board of Trustees to voice their disapproval with the re port’s recommendations and the methods used to reach its con clusions. Their advocacy already garnered the support of at least one legislator. “They have convinced me to get involved, and I am going to support them completely on this effort,” said Sen. Darrell Jackson, D-Hopkins, who said he will soon submit a letter to both boards of trustees urging them to seek fur ♦ PHARMACY, SEE PAGE 4 Media arts professor dies at 82 Harry Miller taught creativity class while battling cancer BY ALEXIS STRATTON thehamecock Beloved professor and cre ative thinker Harry Miller died Wednesday after a battle with cancer. Miller, 82, taught courses in multiple areas of the university, including the Honors College and the Media Arts Department. He taught at USC since 1973 and af ter retirement continted enlight ening USC students with classes such as his Honors College pro seminar course on creativity. Miller’s godson, Daniel Lackey, has been teaching the re tired USC professor’s Honors College pro-seminar on creativi ty for several weeks. Honors College Dean Peter Sederberg said Lackey had been hired after Miller fell ill last year. “He’s the kind of professor that deals with the same group of people every semester because everybody comes back to take more and more of his classes.” ASHLEY KOLAYA SECOND-YEAR ANTHROPOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY STUDENT “He was someone who had been close intellectually as well as personally to Harry,” Sederberg said. Lackey will take over the class for the remainder of the semester. Sederberg called Miller a “brilliant” and “illuminating” ♦ PROFESSOR, SEE PAGE 5 Life Sciences Act faces controversy BY KEVIN FELLNER THE HAMECOCK After a lengthy floor debate followed by a veto and an over ride, the S.C. Life Sciences Act should be the state’s newest leg islation for attracting biotech firms for research in South Carolina. But a mix of politics and civil action might prevent it. The life sciences bill, passed on March 11, allows for the ap propriating of at least $220 mil lion in bond revenue and the cre ation of at least 200 jobs at new research centers at USC, Clemson and the Medical University of South Carolina. “When people look back in retrospect, they will think that it was a watershed event in South Carolina history in that all three research universities banded together to foster sup S > v Ar - port for research that would stimulate and transform the state’s economy,” USC President Andrew Sorensen said. Legislators are speculating that after a March 16 veto from Gov. Mark Sanford and subse quent override, a lawsuit could stop the law’s enforcement based on grounds that unrelat ed items were bobtailed to the bill, violating the state’s consti tution. The bill’s controversial tack ons include a measure to convert USC-Sumter from a two-year in- . stitution to a four-year program. Sorensen opposed this because it didn’t meet size and academic program diversity criteria he outlined last fall. Sorensen supported the bill as ♦ BILL, SEE PAGE 5 PHOTO BY RYAN THOMAS/SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK A car collided into the South Quad residence hall after an accident on Wheat Street. Car crashes into South Quad FROM STAFF REPORTS Columbia police are investigat ing the causes of an accident on Wheat Street that sent a car ca reening into the South Quad resi dence hall Wednesday afternoon. USC police officers responded to the scene of the accident at around 2:30 p.m., said Ernie Ellis, USC director of Law Enforcement and Safety. According to Ellis, Columbia police are handling the investiga tion because the accident occurred on the street, which is city prop erty. Officials at the Office of Facility Services could not be reached for comment. The crash into South Quad is the latest in a handful of incidents involving cars crashing into uni versity property. Ellis said a brick USC sign on the comer of Pickens and Blossom streets was damaged in a hit-and-run accident over winter break, and an iron fence near the Strom Thurmond Wellness & Fitness Center on Blossom Street was damaged last month. Even so, Ellis said acci dents that damage USC property are rare. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocknews@gwm.sc.edu Concert choir to perform original oratorio Grant allows USC musicians to premiere new composition BY BETH EWOLDSEN THE OAMECOCK' The USC Concert Choir will perform “The Martyrdom of Polycarp” at First Presbyterian Church with the church’s Chancel Choir and a USC orchestra on Sunday. It’s the world premiere of the piece, composed by R.A.C. Redford. Choir Director Larry Wyatt, who also conducts the choir at First Presbyterian, played a cru cial part in bringing the oratorio to USC. The Arpad Darazs endow ment for Choral Music at USC and First Presbyterian Church com missioned Redford and poet Scott Cairns to produce the oratorio for USC and First Presbyterian Church. According to Concert Choir member and choral conductor graduate student Kris Ridgley, the group has been practicing consis tently since January. As the oratorio centers on the life of the Bishop of Smyrna’s ar rest and death sentence as a Christian martyr, Ridgley feels it will be well received by audi ences. The story is relatively un known as it hails from a biblical era text that is not included in the Bible. “With the impression ‘The Passion’ has been making on peo ple recently, this story will be in teresting to audiences.” Ridgley said. An oratorio “is similar to an opera; it’s a story through song without any spoken text,” choral professor Carol Krueger said. Because soloists play the indi vidual characters, “it is a more dif ficult score and more academic and may be strange to our ears, but that is necessary to expand our ability to listen. It’s very ben eficial to our students.” The USC Concert Choir will be on tour in May, performing “The Martyrdom of Polycarp” in Italy at venues in Rome, Verona, Viterbo and Arezzo. From there, they will travel to Bulgaria to sing ♦ ORATORIO, SEE PAGE 4 I 3 WHAT: “The Martyrdom of Polycarp," an oratorio by the USC Concert Choir WHERE: First Presbyterian Church, 1420 Lady St. WHEN: 6 p.m. Sunday COST: Free kWhars.inside ♦ WHITE RAG A tape possibly from bin Laden was released, asking for a truce with : European nations. FOR MORE SEE PAGE 3 i ♦ NO FRIES WITH THAT McDonald s to release health-friendly adult Happy Meals. A' 9 FOR MORE SEE PAGE 3 ♦ RISING STAR Local band 19 is kicking out tunes and taking stages. FOR MORE SEE PAGE 7 ♦ ROCKIN’ AND ROI1IN’ From R&B to alternative, the 3 Rivers Music festival has it all. FOR MORE SEE PAGE 7 ♦ HURLERS Baseball needs better pitching to beat Kentucky. FOR MORE SEE PAGE 10 Index ! Comics and Crossword 9 Classified12 Horoscopes 9 Letters to the Editor 6 Online Poll _ 6 Police Report_ 2 Entertainment News2 USC Calendar 2 Visit us online at: www.dailygamecock.com