The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 20, 2004, Image 1
wunv.dailygamecock.com WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20,2004 “£$5
IN THIS ISSUE
♦ NEWS
Foiled, again
Get to know one of
USC’s more interesting
clubs. The fencing club
meegs twice a week
during the fall
semester.
Page 4
♦ THE MIX
Word up
The pen proves mighty
at USC's Fall Fesetival of
the Authors. Writers
Susan Vreeland, Mark
Strand and Stanley
Crouch will discuss th eir
craft.
Page 10
♦ THE MIX
Symphonic
wonders
Teenage violin virtuoso
Bella Hristova to
perform with the USC
symphony Thursday at
7:30 p.m. at the Koger
Center.
Page 10
♦ SPORTS
Cory Boyd
proves worth
Stephen Fastenau
takes a look at this
second-year,
underrated
runningback.
Page 13
WEATHER
- I ♦TUESDAY
High 82 High 75
Low 61 Low 56
FOR EXTENDED FORECAST, SEE PAGE 2.
INDEX
Comics and Crossword.1.2
Classifieds.15
Horoscopes.12
Letters to the Editor.9
Online Poll.9
Police Report.2
« f
USC solitician policies
conflict with campaigns
■ Officials warn
students, faculty that
university e-mail lists,
telephones off-limits
for political canvassing
By KEVIN FELLNER
SENIOR WRITER
With the election less than two
weeks away, students are partaking
in campaigning and partisan
messages, but USC officials warn
that USC’s solicitation policy and
rules regarding the use of state
owned resources apply to campus
campaign efforts.
Student Affairs Vice President Dennis Pruitt said students
should be aware of the policies anyway but should pay
particularly close attention when thinking about spreading a
political message.
“We’re not trying to trunk anyone’s free speech, but there
are restrictions that any public institution must follow,” Pruitt
said.
Public funds from the state are used to pay USC employees’
salaries, and therefore employees are prohibited from doing
voluntary campaign work or consulting during the business
hours for which USC is paying them. Their involvement after
hours and off campus, however, is at their discretion.
Students and employees also are not allowed to use USC
computers, telephones, e-mail lists and other technology
resources to prepare and distribute campaign information
because such infrastructure is paid for by state funds.
Smdent Life Director Jerry Brewer said USC’s solicitation
policy is clear in protecting against political activity the same
way it would commercialism. For instance, just as sales
representatives are prohibited from making transactions in
♦ Please see POLITICS, page 3
SENATE RACE
Senate
hopefuls
reiterate
platforms
By TAYLOR SMITH
STAFF WRITER
U.S. Senate candidates Inez
Tenenbaum and Jim DeMint
showed nothing new in their
debate Monday night as
Tenenbaum continued her assault
on DeMint’s Republican alliances
and DeMint reiterated
Tenenbaum’s ties to the
Democratic Party.
DeMint tried to portray
Tenenbaum as a liberal Democrat,
while Tenenbaum tried to establish
herself as an independent who
would “represent the people of
South Carolina.”
The debate, which started at 7
p.m. and was broadcast on WIS,
featured questions submitted voters
via e-mail or video feed. WIS
broadcaster David Stanton was the
moderator.
“Jim, you have been voting for
your party 99 percent of the time,
no matter the issue ... and that is
what I don’t want to be, a rubber
stamp,” she said.
For almost 10 minutes of the
debate, questions focused on the
war in Iraq, DeMint said he
supported more active forces,
increased pay, better equipment
♦ Please see DEBATE, page 4
Supporters blockade WIS
■ Students turn out to chee\
on Tenenbaum, DeMint
BY TAYLOR SMITH
Staff writer
About 250 people piled onto the Bull Street side of
the WIS building in downtown Columbia to show
support for their candidates.
The mass of people also inhibited anyone from
entering the building before the televised senatorial
debate.
“When I pulled up I was surprised,” said Randy
Dargan, co-chairman of the Young Republicans.
“(The Young Democrats) came out big in
Charleston, and they had a lot of paid staff out
there.”
Dargan said the Young Republicans had planned
on rallying for the event but had not planned on an
** organized contention from Democrats.
“Ours was planned, but we didn’t let (the College
Republicans) know until two nights before hand,”
Dargan said. “And obviously (the Democrats) had
something planned, too.”
The group started gathering at about 4:45 p.m.
with banners and signs supporting DeMint, but the
Democratic supporters had arrived at about 3 p.m.,
Young Democrat member Anna Fox said.
“The Democrats had received word that the
Republicans were coming out in numbers,” Fox said.
“When I got there, all four corners of the street were
blocked.”
Fox said the congestion arose because of cheering
and counter-cheering that was leading to small
♦ Please see RALLY, page 4
Republican
Jim DeMint
and
Democrat
Inez
Tenenbaum
prepare
before their
televisede
debate on
Monday.
NICK
ESARES/THE
GAMECOCK
Organizations
must add clause
to stay official
By JULIA SELLERS
THE GAMECOCK
Campus student organizations must
adopt a sexual orientation clause to their
constitutions before Oct. 27 or they will
no longer be classified as official campus
organizations.
The clause indicates compliance with
a change made more than a year ago in
USC’s affirmative action statement, said
Jerry Brewer, student life director.
“If there were a problem, this is a
definitive answer, and it will prevent
future problems,” Brewer said.
The changes in USC policy in Article
II, Sections I and II were made during the
summer. The changes state:
“Membership ... shall not be limited to
persons based on their race, color,
religion, sex, national origin, age,
disability or veteran status. It is policy of
the university that an individual’s sexual
orientation be treated in the same
manner.”
Because the revisions address that
sexual orientation be “treated in the same
manner” as race and color, the changes
could pose problems to some
organisations’ beliefs. But Brewer said the
office did not know of any problems any
organization is having with complying
with the changes.
“We did discuss (the revisions), but
♦ Please see CLAUSE, page 3
f
Panel discusses struggle
for black identity in U.S.
By THOMAS CHANDLER
THE GAMECOCK
The black American’s sometimes
confusing struggle for cultural identity
formed the focus of Tuesday evening’s
panel hosted by the Association of
African-American Students in the
Russell House Theater.
Students Shaundra Cunningham,
president of USC’s NAACP, and
fourth-year African-American studies
Jamel Middleton teamed with faculty
members to answer the association’s
and students’ questions about whether
American culture has influenced the
African culture of blacks or if it’s been
the other way around.
Christina Smith, chairwoman of the
Cultural Awareness Committee, said
the forum stemmed from class
discussion with political |cience and
African-American studies professor and
panelist Todd Shaw. Smith presented
the first question to the panel regarding
the advantages or disadvantages of
using the labels “African-Americans” or
“blacks.” The panelists’ opinions for
each question varied considerably.
“Our goal is not to come up with
cookie cutter answers but to bring forth
questions and allow people to
formulate their own opinions,” Smith
said.
The speakers quickly illuminated
deeper interpretations for the labels
such as the negative symbolism of
“black,” the fact that “black”
inadvertently displaces lighter-skinned
people of African heritage and the
explicit cultural ties of including the
word “African.” Chris Leary, a
professor of African-American studies
and a Baptist minister, tossed ou^both
in favor of “negro” for its African
origin. Panelists then considered the
duality described by W.E.B. DuBois
and how African-Americans should
retain the culture from a remote
homeland while “conforming to a
society not for us.”
Middleton showed distress over this
issue.
“Sometimes I feel like we’re ghosts
stuck in between,” he said.
Leary and Shaw took more
progressive views, suggesting that each
culture can add to the other, and the
shifting of naturally dynamic cultural
definitions of “American” or
“blackness” should not be cause for
concern.
Personal investment played the
most significant part of finding cultural
♦ Please see PANEL, page 3
k