The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 10, 2004, Image 1
www.dailygamecock.com FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10,2004 V°l Since 1908
IN THIS ISSUE
♦NEWS
RHA debates
voting power
Members of the
Residence Hall
Association met for the
organization's first
official meeting
Tuesday.
Page 3
♦VIEWPOINTS
The beauty of
a waiting room
Curtis Chow makes his
return to Viewpoints and
voices why the waiting
room is almost as good
as what you’re waiting for
— and don’t screw up
the magazines.
Page 5
I
♦THE MIX
Throwback to
the ’90s
Take a trip back in time
to the days of grunge
rock and slap bracelets.
Page 5
♦ SPORTS
Gamecocks
face toughest
test yet
Previews of USC's
showdown with UGA.
Page 9
WEATHER
♦ TODAY I ♦ SAT.
, LjJ
Low 68 Low 65
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
USC rejects joint-use baseball field
■ Sorensen proposes
building USC-owned
park at Colonial Center
By JONATHAN HILLYARD
THE GAMECOCK
USC will build its own baseball stadium
instead of a joint-use stadium with the city
that would have also housed the Capital City
Bombers, a single A minor league baseball
team whose stadium is located on Assembly
Street.
The stadium will be on USC land next to
the 18,000-seat Colonial Center. It will hold
6,500 for baseball games and up to 8,000
people for concerts.
Columbia Mayor Bob Coble said he
“would have loved to have seen a downtown
joint-use stadium, but the funds simply
weren’t there for the city to finance such a
project.”
While the stadium will not be shared
among baseball programs, Sorensen’s
proposal did leave an option open that would
allow outdoor concerts and other such events
to be held at the stadium, presenting an
amphitheater type feel.
The stadium will cost $10 million without
an amphitheater and will be paid for by tax
exempt athletic department revenue bonds.
The price jumps to $12 million with the
amphitheater, at which points additional
funds would have to be provided by the city.
A construction date has not been set.
USC President Andrew Sorensen sent a
recommendation to the USC Board of
Trustees Thursday stating why the joint-use
stadium was not in the best interest of the
baseball program. Athletics Director Mike
McGee said schedule issues would have
♦ Please see STADIUM, page 3
POSSIBLE SITES
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION 8Y DAVID STAGG/THE GAMECOCK
Andrew Kittick, USC sports information director in charge of baseball, said officials
are considering multiple sites around the Colonial Center for the new baseball
stadium, including two parking lots off Greene Street,
Police seek Blatt intruder
■ Two reports of
peeping Tom spur
investigation
By MICHAEL LaFORGIA
THE GAMECOCK
While USC police are investigating
several reports of a peeping Tom in the
women’s locker room of the Blatt P.E.
Center, Campus Recreation officials
have posted no warnings and made no
announcements about possible risks
there.
Employees working at the Blatt
Thursday night said thejr supervisors
have told them not to talk to anyone
about the incidents, which have been
occurring for nearly two weeks,
according to USC police reports. Jerry
Brewer, director of Student Life, said
Campus Recreation officials might
have issued that order to aid
investigators.
Herbert Camp, director of Campus
Recreation, would not comment
Thursday night.
In an Aug. 25 report, USC Police
Officer Marcus Denard took a
statement from a woman claiming a
bald man between the ages of 20 and
22 walked in on her while she was
showering at the Blatt. Another victim,
a geology doctoral student speaking
under the condition of anonymity, said
she opened her eyes after rinsing
shampoo from her hair Tuesday
morning to find a man peering at her
over the shower curtain. An
investigation into the incidents is
ongoing, said Maj. Eric Grabski of the
USCPD.
Rumors circulated Wednesday
afternoon that police had caught the
♦ Please see BLATT, page 4
PHOTO BY KATIE KIRKLAND/THE GAMECOCK
The women’s locker room in the Blatt P.E. Center has been the scene of at least two peeping Tom
incidents over the past two weeks. Campus Recreation officials have not posted any warnings.
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Sorensen answers
tuition questions
■ USC president
addresses students’
financial concerns
By THOMAS CHANDLER
THE GAMECOCK
USC President Andrew Sorensen
said any implications of a political
motive behind reducing tuition
supplements for graduate assistants
in the College of Pharmacy were
“preposterous.”
Sorensen made the statement at
a question and answer session for
graduate students sponsored by the
Graduate Student Association.
Neither Sorensen nor Harris
Pastides, vice president for research
and the Division of Health
Sciences, knew of the last minute
decision to cut graduate assistants’
tuition supplement in half, a
decision that was later reversed,
according to Graduate Student
Association President Kevin
Simmonds.
The graduate assistant tuition
controversy was only one item
discussed by the four person
panel, made up of Provost Mark
Becker and Graduate School
Interim Dean Christine Ebert.
Most questions dealt with USC
budget cuts and the cost of health
insurance for graduate students.
Pastides cited donations by the
Schools of Public Health and
Education- to counter poor state
subsidies and make a cheap, co
payment plan possible. Sorensen
emphasized that state appropriations
are down $65 million since his
initiation. The reduction in funds has
spurred consolidation in several
departments, such as the upcoming
merger of the Colleges of Science and
Mathematics and Liberal Arts, but has
♦ Please see Q&A, page 3
A new
waiver
system
requires all
use
graduate
students to
have some
form of
health
insurance.
EMILY
SAVEN/THE
GAMECOCK
USC requires
health insurance
By MARJORIE RIDDLE
THE GAMECOCK
For the first time in its history, USC is requiring graduate
students to have some form of health insurance because of a new
hard waiver system.
The system calls for a graduate student to either purchase the
University-provided healthcare plan or obtain and turn in a
waiver from Student Health Services, proving comparable or
♦ Please see PHARMACY, page 3
fr? V
Senate
adopts
hazing
measure
By JACOB DAVIS
THE GAMECOCK
The student senate unanimously
passed a bill Wednesday
encouraging student organizations
to adhere to the Carolinian Creed
and refrain from hazing.
The bill, introduced by Senator
Ryan Holt, was also supported by
the Student Life Office, the
Fraternity and Sorority councils,
which have already discourage
hazing.
The bill points to the significant
role student organizations play in
enriching campus life and retaining
students, and it encourages them to
be guided by the Carolinian Creed.
The Creed “encourages all
students to respect the dignity of
all persons and to demonstrate
concern for others, their feelings
and their need for conditions
which support their work and
development.”
The bill broadly defines hazing
as causing “mental anxiety, mental
fatigue, and human degradation, or
public embarrassment.” The Bill
ended by condemning any student
organizations that demean or
degrade their members or
prospective members, and called
on every member of the university
community to report misconduct
to the Office of Student Life.
There are dozens of student
organizations on campus at USC,
including sixteen recognized
fraternities and eleven recognized
sororities. The bill was passed at
the request of the University
administration.
“A major University effort is
being undertaken regarding hazing
and other inappropriate behavior
in student organizations this fall,”
said Jerry Brewer, USC Director of
Student Life. The senate resolution
is a part of this effort, as was the
passing of a similar resolution by
the sorority and fraternity council
several weeks ago. The bill
authorizes Student Government
President Zachery Scott to make a
presentation to the Board of
Trustees saying that student
government is working with the
office of Greek life to make sure,
Scott said, that “the few instances
of hazing that occur on campus are
punished.”
Student Government Vice
President Yvonne Miller said she
supported the bill. “I think the
passing of SBL (04) 022 was a
wonderful thing. It is announcing
to the Carolinian community that
Student Government is in no way
supporting hazing or acts that
could be interpreted that way. It
gives me great pride to be a part of
a body that recognizes the need to
take a stand and remind students of
the real reasons to get involved in
student life. No student should be
harmed or think that they have the
♦ Please see HAZING, page 4