Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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wtvtv.dailygamecock.com _MONDAY, AUGUST 30, 2004_ IN THIS ISSUE ♦ NEWS #RHA might assign student advocates The Residence Hall Association will be considering a proposal by its president Adam Hark that would assign student advocates to their peers facing university disciplinary action. Page 4 ♦ VIEWPOINTS Both sides of the Bush issue Viewpoints columnists ARyan Holt and Patrick •Augustine battle out their differences on President Bush at the start of the Republican National Convention. Page 5 * --1 I ♦THE MIX Stars use power to gain voters Celebrities and musicians take on a politically active role, organizing movements to mobilize students j^and youth alike to vote ^ in the upcoming November election. Page 6 ♦ SPORTS Just 5 days until kickoff Daniel Kerr compares and contrasts the receiving corps for both USC and Vanderbilt. Page 9 WEATHER ♦ TODAY ♦TUES. High 87 High 89 Low 7l Low 72 FOR EXTENDED FORECAST, SEE PAGE 2. INDEX Comics and Crossword.8 Classifieds. .11 Horoscopes.8 Letters to the Editor.5 Online Poll.5 Police Report.2 PHARMACY SCHOOL Graduate assistants take cut in tuition supplement By MAJORIE RIDDLE THE GAMECOCK Graduate assistants in the College of Pharmacy were notified in an Aug. 9 e-mail that their supplemental tuition provided by the college had been reduced, and an e-mail to pharmacy faculty members said the tuition supplement would be eliminated by Fall 2005. The e-mail was sent by Dr. Joseph W. Kosh, director of graduate studies for the College of Pharmacy. “This year, based on the funds available, the College of Pharmacy will be able to provide 55 percent of the tuition charges for all teaching and research assistants for the fall 2004 semester,” Kosh wrote in the e-mail. Kosh sent two e-mails, one to faculty members and one to graduate assistants. The last line of the faculty e-mail, which did not appear in the graduate assistant e-mail, read, “Beginning in the Fall of 2005, no more College of Pharmacy tuition supplements will be provided.” Kosh would not comment for this story because he said he was upset about a column by Kevin Simmonds that ran in The Gamecock. Simmonds, president of the Graduate Student Association at USC, wrote about the tuition supplement decrease in his Wednesday column. “All graduate assistants were under the impression that the school would pay 100 percent of their tuition,” Simmonds said. Graduate students in the College of Pharmacy were hesitant to talk about the situation. The Gamecock was unsuccessful in contacting seven students in the college. Also, Richard Schulz, professor of pharmaceutical and health outcomes sciences, did not return calls to his home and his office. Michael Wyatt, assistant professor of biomedicinal chemistry in the college of pharmacy, said he could not talk about the situation. Two pharmacy students, one a graduate assistant and one a former ♦ Please see PHARMACY, page 3 JASON STEELMAN/THE GAMECOCK Pharmacy graduate assistants received an e-mail on Aug. 9 telling them their tuition assistance from the college had been reduced. GARNET MEDALISTS DAVID J. PHILLIP/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Senior Otis Harris and the rest of the Gamecocks racked up seven medals at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. Harris, above, celebrates after his silver medal finish in the individual 400 meters. He and his U.S. teammates also won gold in the 4x400 relay. ♦ FOR MORE ON USC MEDALISTS, SEE PAGE 9 TROPICAL STORM GASTON f •; J.P. Noble, left, sits on a park bench with his father, Phil, as Noah Smith, left, and Alex I Abrams kayak with Noah's dog, Radio, Sunday after streets were flooded in Charleston, because of Tropical Storm Gaston. PAULA ILLINGWORTH/T HE ASSOCIATED PRESS Gaston dampens students’ weekend By MICHAEL LaFORGIA THE GAMECOCK CHARLESTON — Tropical Storm Gaston put a damper on some USC students’ plans when it struck the coast over the weekend, bringing sheets of rain and strong winds to the Lowcountry for the second time in two weeks. Tropical storm Bonnie and Hurricane Charley swept over the Charleston area the week of Aug. 13 after battering Florida. Gov. Mark Sanford declared a state of emergency Sunday as winds reached speeds of more than 80 miles an hour in Charleston, scattering debris and toppling powerlines around the city. The storm left more than 100,000 Lowcountry residents without power Sunday afternoon, ♦ Please see GASTON, page 4 Graduate work By ALEXIS STRATTON THE GAMECOCK Graduate school is not for the faint of heart. With endless hours of research, loads of difficult coursework and numerous professors to work for, the pressures can seem insurmountable. Ryan White found this out the hard way. After three semesters of the physics doctoral program at USC, he had to get away. He took a year off to travel across the continent, visiting relatives and, more importantly, relaxing. “It’s exhausting,” the now third-year particle physics graduate student said. “I was always stressed out, and I didn’t feel like I was doing the best that I could do.” Mark Laughlin also knows a lot about the stresses of graduate school. Having earned a doctorate of musical arts in piano pedagogy from USC, he has returned for a master’s in piano theory. He said he’d always wanted to go to graduate school because he realized how much he has yet to learn about his craft. “That bothered me tremendously,” he said. Laughlin said it’s important for students to make sure they’re ♦ Please see GRADS, page 4 VOTER REGISTRATION Organizations push for informed students ■ use NAACP to register voters on Greene Street today By ELLEN TWEEDY THE GAMECOCK The USC branch of the NAACP will hold a voter registration drive on Greene Street Monday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event, called “Make it Count Monday,” is a joint effort between NAACP Regional Youth Directors to help make college students aware of the political process and motivate them to register to vote. There will be tables set up for registration, with entertainment provided by DJ Prince Ice and a live remote broadcast from Hot 103.9 radio station. Chapter leaders said they expect about 1,000 people to stop by. Fourth-year economics and marketing student Shaundra ♦ Please see NAACP. page 3 y&m ■ SG encourages on-campus groups to register students By Z'ANNE COVELL THE GAMECOCK With the presidential election just months away, several student organizations are initiating voter registration drives to ensure that all USC students have the opportunity to vote on Nov. 2. According to Student Government President Zachery Scott, SG is campaigwing for all student organizations to hold their own voter registration drives as a way to encourage as many students as possible to vote. “We want every student on campus to be registered to vote,” Scott said. SG Elections Commissioner Stacy Rainey said organizations interested in holding registration drives should contact SG. “We’re trying to reach out to a mix of organizations — both those that are traditionally very liberal and those that are traditionally very conservative,” Rainey said. Rainey said SG would supply organizations with i voter registration forms and would help with publicity for the drives. According to Rainey, SG is also trying to enable students to register to vote online for free through the Rock the Vote program. If the plan works, students would be able to access registration forms through a link on the USC Web page. SG would also keep track online of the number of USC students who register. While registering to vote is the first step of the process, Rainey said she hoped students would ♦ Please see VOTING, page 4