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AROUND THE SOUTHEAST Missing girl’s mother told by police not to hold out hope GILMORE, Ark. — The mother of a young girl missing since the weekend said Wednesday that police have told her not to hold out much hope for the child. 1 Patricia Miles, age 7, has been missing since Sunday morning, when she rode her pink bicycle to a corner grocery store for sunflower seeds and a soda pop. Her bicycle was found in a cornfield early Monday, about 100 yards from her shoes. A woman arrested on a kidnapping charge, Jo Ann Buchanan, appeared Wednesday before West Memphis District Judge William “Pal” Rainey, who ordered that the Miles family friend continue to be held in lieu of $1 million bond. An arraignment had been scheduled Wednesday, but Buchanan said she didn’t have a lawyer yet and the judge delayed acceptance of a plea. A new arraignment date wasn’t set. Searchers on Wednesday used i a helicopter and boats in their search and also combed fields and ditches on foot. They expanded the search into a third county, Poinsett, after searching Sunday through Tuesday in Crittenden and Mississippi. The girl’s mother, also named Patricia Miles, met with police Wednesday. “They said they really didn’t want to get my hopes up,” Miles said. “I want her to be safe. I want her to come back. If my friend did it, why? I want to know why.” As late as Tuesday evening, police spoke optimistically about finding the child safe. They wouldn’t say Wednesday why they | were prepared to use various methods of searching for the girl. Buchanan has not been cooperating, police said. After Wednesday’s court hearing, some Buchanan family members objected to the size of the bond, which Rainey imposed in an initial hearing Tuesday. “She is not a flight risk. She is a resident,” said Gerald Stamps, a brother-in-law of Buchanan. “She has not been in trouble with the law before.” Stamps said Buchanan had told her family that she was innocent. Her two children, a boy age 16 and a girl age 11, were staying with separate relatives, Stamps said. Buchanan had occasionally babysat the little girl. Virginia regulator’s yank car dealer’s license NORFOLK, Va. — State regulators yanked the license of a Virginia used car dealer accused of luring young service members from North Carolina, then pressuring them to buy cars by playing on fears they’d be stranded. The dealer also faces a criminal investigation, authorities said Wednesday. Ronnie Neff surrendered his dealer and salesman licenses on Tuesday, about two hours before he received the decision by Bruce Gould, the executive director of the state Motor Vehicle Board. The decision was publicly released Wednesday. “I’m surprised he turned his licenses in,” Gould said. “I’m not sure exactly why he did, but he did, and I gladly accepted them.” Without a dealer or salesman license, Neff no longer can sell directly to the public, Gould said. Typically when a dealer’s license is revoked, the dealer is given about 30 days to deplete his inventory, either by taking the vehicles to an auction or consigning them to another dealer. Meanwhile, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles is conducting a criminal investigation of Carland, agency spokeswoman Pam Goheen said. She declined to give details. The dealer board looked into Carland after receiving complaints from at least nine service members at Cherry Point, Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune. Rush week impacts more than Greeks By JON TURNER THE GAMECOCK Rush week is wrapping up, and on Friday and Saturday, some USC students will begin their induction into Greek organizations. Orientation meetings were held Sunday in the Russell House, kicking off fraternity and sorority rush. Alex Rose, a first-year international studies student rushing for a fraternity, described the process. “The first two nights you went around and you had to meet with every fraternity and talk with them,” he said, “and you had to get this little sheet stamped by every frat or else you couldn’t accept a bid.” “It’s basically to force people to interact, to shop around in terms of what fraternity they want to join.” Rose said that the open rush days allowed him to visit whomever he wanted. Sororities hold Scholarship Day and Service Day Tuesday and Wednesday. “They’ll have food and stuff,” he said, “and you just kind of come and hang around with whoever you want to hang around with.” Today is the last day of rush for fraternities. “Tomorrow, it’s coat and tie, but it’s by invitation only,” Rose said. “They invite the people back who they want to come.” Friday is bid day for the fraternities, but the sororities aren’t done yet. They call it Leadership Day, and end their rush Saturday. Rose said he was convinced to join a fraternity for the social factor. “My dad did it, and it seemed like a good way to have some fun,” he said, and although he has them, Rose said wouldn’t feel right stating any preferences at this point. Tyler Tolleson, a second year religious studies student. said he had never seriously considered joining a fraternity. “I don’t know a lot about it, because I’ve never been very interested in it, but I know that a lot of partying is involved, and I’m not a party guy in any sense, good or bad,” he said. The posted schedule for fraternity rush emphasized that the week’s parties were dry parties, and Rose said everything had been fairly subdued. “It’s not really like I expect it to be,” he said. “It’s not really like the movies make it out to be.” He added that the different fraternities were not exactly the same. “The way they deal with things, the way they talk to people, they’re very different,” he said. Rose said everyone has been friendly to him, “but I kind of fit the stereotype,” he said. Tolleson pointed out that fraternities were good ways to network, but that they have a downside. “You know, I think they’re good ways to be social, and make a lot of friends in college, but I also think that there is a little too much importance put on it. The lives of my friends who’ve joined have just been so consumed by it all.” Tolleson didn’t like the idea of hanging out with a certain type of people. “The whole clique thing that you get in high school is official in college. I’m not big on having to do everything a certain way,” he said. “I like being around people and having friends and stuff, but not when they’re going to make me like them.” He said he was glad he had never pledged for a fraternity. “I know there are advantages they have, oh, test files, and the upperclassmen help out the underclassmen, but it’s just not my thing. I’m pretty happy the way things are now.” _ JASON STEELMANETHE GAMECOCK Nicole Hughshenas, a second-year pre-med and psychology student, discovers a ticket on her mother’s car on Bull Street. ■ PARKING Continued from page 1 assault cases in the garages last year. “USC is an urban campus and we want to make it one of the safest on the East Coast/ he said. Citing an increase in call boxes, better lighting and more sophisticated surveillance equipment in several lots, Huggins reiterated that “safety is our first priority.” Huggins said much of the extra revenue is going to pay for • a new parking garage on Bull Street in place of a gravel lot. However, the increase in price has drawn much criticism, including some from Student Government President Zachery Scott. “Personally, I stand against the raising of the garage passes because they were already far above the national average,” Scott said. “However, 1 did agree with the raising of the general student passes in order to match with the national average.” Scott expressed the desire of students for better parking services, especially those concerning safety. But felt that although he understood the decision to raise the prices of ^garage passes to pay for these services, he did not agree with it. Scott said that he was “extremely disappointed” with the approval of the increase by the Board of Trustees despite his objections as SG president. “Unfortunately, sometimes the school will decide an issue against the students opinion,” he said. Among students who are in disagreement with the increase, few are as angered as second-year engineering student Robert Freeman. “If you look at the number of spots in each garage and do the math on how much each spot costs, it just doesn’t seem to add up,” he said. “I can’t understand where the money’s been going for the past several years.” Freeman, who has a student sticker stuck on the back window of his 1996 Ford Taurus, typically parks at the engineering building where both of the lots are gravel. “On rainy days both of the lots flood and parking becomes next to impossible to park. I’ve just got to ask where the money’s been going to before.” For his part, , second-year physics student Ryan Mork recognized the decision to raise prices as unfortunate but necessary. “I really can’t believe that the increase is going to deter many from parking on campus. It costs ' money to provide services and if students want more parking and more protection they’re going to have to pay for it,” he said. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockneTvs@gwm.sc.edu »__. Carolinian SIGN IT. MEAN IT. LIVE IT. October 25 - 30,2004 Concerts! Debates! The Birdcage! 1 And an Essay Contest with a $500 first place prize! ► Bringing together the University Community for a celebration of the ideals set forth in the Carolinian Creed For more information, visit: http://www.sa.sc.edu/creed I Carolinian Creed Week is hosted by the Carolina Student Judicial Council and is sponsored by: University Housing, Office of Student Judicial Programs, the Residence Hall Association, and Student Government L v v v Party Time and Study Time Getting the most out of college requires balance. To make everything from researching papers to online gaming go blazing fast, get Road Runner High Speed Online. 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