The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 27, 2004, Image 1
www.dailygamecock.com _MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27,2004_ Since 1908
Pharmacy merger gains early approval
By KEVIN FELLNER
THE GAMECOCK
A Board of Trustees committee voted
to give preliminary approval Friday to
create the South Carolina College of
Pharmacy, a merger of USC’s and
MUSC’s pharmacy schools that has been
the source of controversy and excitement
for about a year.
Board of Trustees Vice Chairman
Herbert Adams had speculated that the
board might reject the merger because of
accreditation issues and if the power
between universities was unbalanced. But
Friday’s proposal would allow both
universities to maintain its own
accreditation until the statewide initiative
is fully implemented.
“We have tried as trustees to hear all
sides of this issue,” Adams said. “A lot of
misunderstandings have come about ....
I want to make clear to you that I
wholeheartedly support this proposal.”
USC pharmacy student John Pugh,
who in April helped lead a protest of 300
students and faculty members at the State
House against any merger, was also
satisfiecftwith the decision.
“The original timetable for a merger
just seemed a bit too fast,” said Pugh,
who has met with USC President
Andrew Sorensen and Vice President for
Research Harris Pastides several times
since April.
Pugh said he thought the dual
accreditation clause was the most
important part of the proposal.
“There are many things in this
proposal that we valued,” Pugh said.
“The university administration
recognized that and has done an excellent
job in working to address our concerns.”
Sorensen and others made clear
Friday that no student or faculty member
would be forced to relocate to Charleston
under the new proposal.
“First of all, that was never the plan,”
said Pastides, referring to the relocation
of students. “And we’ve now rejected that
idea entirely.”
Pharmacy School dean Farid Sadik
said he is glad the administration has
committed to keeping the presence of
pharmacy education and graduate
training at USC. “Allowing students to
choose which campus to have their
pharmacy education is vital,” he said.
An April merger recommendation
report had stated uncertainty among
faculty members and students over
whether the USC College of Pharmacy
would be relocated to the Charleston
campus at the Medical University of
South Carolina.
Many pharmacy students and faculty
members originally questioned the
administration’s motives for the merger
and wanted to know if students would be
forced to relocate to Charleston for
graduate training, or if the school might
be slowly phased out altogether in favor
of a primary Charleston campus. The
merger recommendation report said the
plan of a dual campus system would be
implemented “for the time being,”
causing uncertainty about long-term
plans.
♦ Please see MERGER, page 3
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GRAPHIC BY JASON STEELMAN/THE GAMECOCK
TROPICAL STORM JEANNE
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' FILE PHOTOS/THE GAMECOCK
Students brave recent rainy weather white walking on campus. WLTX meteorologist Todd Santos says Tropical Storm Jeanne could drop as
much as 5 inches of rain on Columbia today. He recommends students wear raincoats instead of using umbrellas because of the wind.
Bic pen
mightier
than bike
U-locks
By LaDONNA BEEKER
THE GAMECOCK
One of the most highly
recommended bicycle locks for high
crime areas can be unlocked without a
key in five seconds.
A Seattle man released a video
demonstration of how easily a
Kryptonite Evolution 2000 U-lock can
be opened. He removed the bottom pan
of a BIC pen, placed it inside the lock,
twisted the pen and opened the
“unbeatable” U-lock.
Bicyclists and security officials,
including USC campus security director
Ernie Ellis, have recommended the U
lock for its reliability. Ellis said he had
never encountered any problems with the
U-lock he purchased for his son’s bicycle.
“The size of the Bic
pen is just perfect for
the lock.”
DEREK EVERLING
CYCLE CENTER MANAGER
“I am very surprised because it has
been a very trusted device,” Ellis said.
He said he didn’t know exactly how the
Bic pen was being used to open the lock
or if any locks had been picked on
campus.
Cycle Center manager Derek
Everling said it took him about five
minutes to open one of the Kryptonite
U-locks sold in his store. Everling said
once the pen is taken apart, it was not
hard to get it into the lock.
“The size of the Bic pen is just perfect
for the lock,” Everling said. The
Kryptonite Evolution 2000 bicycle and
motorcycle locks were made to have the
same type of keyed lock as another
Evolution 2000 or New York series lock.
Everling said he wondered about “what
other things on the planet can you do
with a Bic pen,” and how many other
devices use the tubular cylinder lock.
Kryptonite has offered free product
exchanges to all owners of tubular cylinder
locks bought from its company, giving
owners the chance to trade out for more
tamper-resistant versions. The exchanges
are expected to begin in October when
updated products become available.
♦ Please see U-LOCK, page 3
Students in for wet walk
By JUSTIN CHAPURA
THE GAMECOCK
About the only thing Columbia
residents can expect when Tropical
Storm Jeanne hits Columbia today is
ankle-deep water — which means USC
students will have a wet day of walking
to classes.
WLTX meteorologist Todd Santos
said Jeanne would dump up to 5 inches
of water in parts of the Midlands today
and should be out of South Carolina by
Tuesday morning. Jeanne was
downgraded to a tropical storm after it
made landfall in central Florida Saturday
night.
Santos warned students planning to
walk to class today that putting on an
extra shirt wouldn’t be enough to stay
dry.
“This is tropical rain, which means it
will be coming down much heavier than
normal rain,” Santos said. “Don’t expect
to stay dry in a sweatshirt. A raincoat is
more appropriate than an umbrella,
because of the wind.”
Despite the heavy winds that come
with tropical storms, students have been
braving them by buying umbrellas en
masse. Cheslie Fowler, a systems
manager at the SC Bookstore, said the
stores has nearly sold out of umbrellas.
“We are down to about two dozen
umbrellas out of a stock of around one to
two hundred. We have been selling them
much faster than we expected.”
Fowler said the bookstore expected to
stay open through the storms.
Second-year journalism student Katie
Beck said trying to stay dry during a
tropical storm is futile.
“I have to go to the Coliseum for my
classes, and it’s so far away from
everything else that you can’t help but
get wet,” she said.
Beck said the shuttles offer little help
on rainy days.
“Even though we have GPS systems
now, the shuttles are still ineffective.
Now they can just tell me how late I will
be,” Beck said.
Third-year theatre student Patrick
Williams said he doesn’t expect too
much trouble from the storm.
“I just wear my rain jacket and bear
it. I’m not worried about it affecting me
too much, other than branches falling
from the trees in my yard,” Williams
said.
Santos still urged students to be wary
of tornado activity that might be
spawned from the storm.
“Stay in tune to weather updates as
far as watches and warnings for
tornadoes,” Santos said. “With Frances,
we had one of the largest tornado
outbreaks in the state.” Tornado watches
have been issued for several counties in
eastern Georgia right up to the South
Carolina border.
Five storms have affected South
Carolina this season, with Tropical
Storm Gaston and Hurricane Charley
making landfall in the state. Remnants
of storms Bonnie, Frances and Ivan came
through the state, bringing heavy rain,
strong winds and a record number of
tornadoes.
Continents on this story? E-mail
ga7necockne1vs@gwy1.sc. edu
NOAA.ORG
A satellite image of Tropical Storm Jeanne moving toward South
Carolina. Jeanne should be out of the area by Tuesday.
Florida reeling from fourth storm in 6 weeks
By DEBORAH HASTINGS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HUTCHINSON ISLAND, Fla.
— Jeanne, Florida’s fourth hurricane
in six weeks, piled on destruction in
already ravaged areas Sunday, slicing
across the state with howling wind that
rocketed debris from earlier storms and
torrents of rain that turned streets into
rivers.
At least six people died in the
storm, which was a cruel rerun for
__ 1
many still trying to recover from earlier
hurricanes. Jeanne came ashore in the
same area hit three weeks ago by
Hurricane Frances and was headed for
the Panhandle, where 7JJ,000 homes
and businesses remained without
power because of Hurricane Ivan 10
days earlier.
The storm peeled the roofs off
buildings, toppled light poles,
destroyed a deserted community center
in Jensen Beach and flooded some
bridges from the mainland to the
_ »
Atlantic coast’s barrier islands. More
than 1.1 million homes and businesses
were without power.
“The last three weeks have been
horrific,” said Joe Stawara, owner of a
Vero Beach mobile home park where
about half the 232 trailers were
damaged. “And just when we start to
turn the corner, this happens.”
Until this weekend, no state had
suffered a four-hurricane pounding in
♦ Please see JEANNE, page 3
tj
IN THIS ISSUE
♦ NEWS
"Earthquakes
could mean
explosions
Scientists worry Mt.
Saint Helens’ tremors
could forecast disaster.
Page 3
♦ VIEWPOINTS
Haitians in
need of help
Mark McLawhorn
discusses the plight of
Haitians in the wake of
Hurricane Jeanne.
Page 4
-
♦ THE MIX
Bare your soul
^to strangers
Blogs have gone from
tech junkie territory to
mainstream media tool.
Lindsay Flowers
investigates the
evolution of online
journals.
Page 6
w
♦ SPORTS
USC breaks
Trojan’s luck
The Gamecock sports
staff presents an in
depth look at Carolina's
victory over the Troy
Trojans.
Page 12
WEATHER
♦ TODAY | ♦ TUES.
Hjgh 76 High 83
Low 70 Low 64
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
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