The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 12, 2004, Image 1
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12,2004“S.'MI
IN THIS ISSUE
♦ NEWS
S.C. officer
dies in Iraq
Lexington highway
patrolman killed in
ambush.
Page 3
♦ VIEWPOINTS
A delicate
balancing act
Steven Van Haren says
mixing science with
religion could be tricky.
Page 4
♦THE MIX
Guitars
a-blazin’
Singer/songwriter Angie
Aparo and the Infidels
set to storm Columbia.
Page 5
-iL--->-4
“™TT—
♦ SPORTS
Set to stomp
in the Swamp
The Gamecock Sports
staff breaks down USC’s
trip to Gainesville to
take on Florida and lame
duck coach Ron Zook.
Page 8
a va i r* n
nunintn
n SATURDAY
I
High 68 High 66
Low 56 Low 40
FOR EXTENDED FORECAST, SEE PAGE 2.
INDEX
Comics and Crossword.7
Classifieds.10
Horoscopes.7
Letters to the Editor.4
Online Poll.4
Police Report.2
. *r
FILE PHOTO/THE GAMECOCK
Coach Lou Holtz stalks the sidelines during the Arkansas game last week. Holtz on Thursday denied a rumor that
he told his coaching staff he would retire after this season. USC faces Florida in Gainesville on Saturday.
■ Holtz dismisses
retirement rumors, but
fans talk up Spurrier
By JONATHAN HILLYARD
SPORTS EDITOR
The past few weeks have been littered
with speculation about the possible
retirement of USC head football coach Lou
Holtz, and rumors continue to swirl that
none other than ex-Florida head coach Steve
Spurrier would replace him.
An Olive Branch, Miss., radio show
reported Thursday on its Web site that
Holtz met with his assistant coaches to tell
them he would not return next season.
“That (report) is absolutely untrue,”
Holtz said Thursday night. “I haven’t even
addressed it with our football team. All I
want to do is focus this football team on the
University of Florida. You have to
understand what this game is all about. It’s •
about players, and they ought to have the
chance to go through this experience one
time in their life.”
♦ Please see HOLTZ, page 8
Plenty of flu
vaccine left
■ 350 of original500 injections remain
By TAYLOR SMITH
STAFF WRITER
Despite a nationwide flu shot
shortage, approximately 350
injectable doses remain on reserve
for high-risk students at the
Thomson Student Health Center.
The health center began
distributing a 500-dose shipment of
the vaccine on Monday, which was
only available to students who have
health problems such as asthma or
kidney conditions. But because of a
lack of distribution, the center
offered the shots to faculty members
and staff members on Wednesday.
“We would like to see more
students show up,” said Bill Hill,
Thomson Student Health Center
director. “I am sure that there are
more people who need it than
those 50 students that have
already come for the vaccine.”
Hill said students who are not
high risk have the option of getting
an intranasal flu mist, which helps
to treat, but not prevent, the
occasionally deadly virus.
“Sometimes people usually get
scared, and it might matter for the
minute, but when it comes down
to it, it doesn’t matter in the long
run and they blow it off,” said
Nohemi Torres, a third-year
Russian student. “I am not
concerned because I usually do get
symptoms this time of year, but
usually they are usually minor and
nothing to see a doctor about.”
Hill said he encourages high-risk
students to get a shot and for low
risk students to use the flu-mist.
“The flu-mist is more expensive
at $30 a pop, and we have about
60 remaining,” Hill said.
Since the health center opened
the distribution to faculty and
staff members, Hill said it had
seen more of the faculty members
than students.
“1 am a little surprised, because
of the shortage,” he said. “After it,
we said that we were going to do
our best to get the vaccine but
were hoping that students were
going to be more affirmative.”
With the first case of flu reported
in South Carolina on Wednesday,
he said the state is at the “front door
of flu season” and students should
take every precaution.
“Students tend to get involved
with exams and things and aren’t
worried about the future,” Hill said.
“We really encourage them to come
♦ Please see FLU, page 3
' ...zrg .
'It was a pr
| ‘ This thing should just be spinning like crazy. jam
Second-year international studies student Ben flK
Springer is joking about the myth of the ball on nop jM
of the Wayne Franklin monument on the Horseshoe.
Legend has it that the ball will spin jraO
whenever a virgin walks by. 'mSI
It won’t be spinning tonight »^||j
however, because on this night of
Oct. 9, the ball will be taken, securing
Springer and his friends into lore as ^F
one of the most famous college pranks ^B
in USC history.
CORQf It was 2 a.m. and the three students
HUTCHINS were not exactly sober.
| “When I first got on campus,
1 ENGLISH^ probably the first time 1 saw it,
STUDENT !( just immediately struck me
as, This ball should come
down,’” Springer said. “We
were over at a friend’s party one night and just as
a spur of the moment we decided to do it."
No one knew what was going to happen
when they climbed the monument. How heavy
was tnis pan? was it even possiDie to remove itr
Would they get caught red handed?
Alcohol was there to assure them, and with
the skyscrapers of downtown Columbia shining
behind them, the students mounted the Maxcy
monument with a hammer and a pair of pliers
and took down the brass ball. At 2:30 a.m.,
the night before USC would lose to Ole
Miss, and with only the 100-year-old trees
as their silent witnesses, Springer and his
friends had no idea of the impact they
were about to have on their university.
After a 31-28 loss to Ole Miss, USC spent
the following day in a dismal hangover, a
feeling one can only understand after having
lived in Columbia and seeing the empty
♦ Please see MAXCY, page 3
Student
hit by car
on campus
M Officials say woman
suffered minor injuries
By IRA M. KLEIN
THE GAMECOCK
A car struck a USC student as she
crossed a street in front of the Carolina
Coliseum Thursday morning, and the
woman was transported to Richland
Memorial Hospital with minor injuries.
Columbia police responded to a call at
about 11 a.m. that a pedestrian had been
injured in the vicinity of Devine and Park
streets. Columbia Police Department
V
spokesperson Skot Garrick said medical
workers and Columbia police arrived on the
scene to discover that a woman had been
♦ Please see ACCIDENT, page 3
WINDSOR COWART/THE GAMECOCK
i Heavy, wreckless traffic was
i responsible for Thursday
morning’s accident at Park
j and Blossom streets.
V
Officials to examine
security of mailboxes
m OLUCICMS LUKt
issue with possible
weakness in system
By JON TURNER
ASST. NEWS EDITOR
Two years after a string of mailbox
break-ins, students are raising more
questions about the security of their
mail at the USC Post Office.
Third-year electronic journalism
student Evan Walsh said he cracks the
lock to his mailbox when he forgets his
combination.
“I always know you can start left,
and then right, and then left,” he said.
“It’s just a matter of taking your dial
very slowly, and just making sure it’s
real quiet and listening and feeling for
the clicks.”
That’s all there is to it.
“They’re very evident when they
do occur. You can hear them, and you
just work that way until you hear the
third click, and then you turn it back,
and 98 percent of the time it opens,”
Walsh said.
He said the technique came pretty
naturally to him.
“As I did my combination, I
realized, ‘Wow, this is a lot of noise,’
and I just use it to remember
whenever I forget my combination,”
There has been at least one
reported theft at the USC Post Office
this year, and Walsh said it wouldn’t
be too difficult for someone to break
into other boxes using his method.
“Just by the ease I’ve had with
mine, without knowing my number,
I’m sure that if all the mailboxes are
rigged the same that it would be quite
easy,” he said. “Not that I would, but
it would probably be pretty easy to
open almost anybody’s mailbox.”
Fourth-year computer engineering
student Krystal Washington said she
doubted the locks would be so easy to
break, but she had other concerns.
“You have to get the first number
right before the second clicks, but if
somebody’s standing next to you, of
course, when you open a box you can
see the numbers right inside,” she said.
“I’m not too concerned about it. I’m
more concerned about the people
working here.”
USC Business Affairs Director
Helen Zeigler said she had heard
nothing about security problems with
mailboxes.
“If that’s the case, we need to
replace those boxes,” she said.
Zeigler said she spoke to USC mail
system manager William Copeland.
“He seemed genuinely surprised,”
♦ Please see MAIL, page 3
A cappella ensemble
to compete in N.C.
By JUSTIN CHAPURA
‘ THE GAMECOCK
Cocktails, USC’s female a cappella
group, will head to Raleigh, N.C., for
the Sojam A Cappella festival’s
collegiate competition Friday.
Evelyn Wong, a second-year an
studio student, sings bass for the
group. She said that among many
things, competition is stressful.
“We go through weeks getting the
vocal parts right, doing choreography,
and just working on the songs. When
we get on stage, we put our all into it,”
Wong said.
Second-year pharmacy student and
alto Tammy Kim said the group
practices three times a week. The group
goes into the event with a boost of
confidence picked up from their third
place finish last week in the divisional
competition of the International
Championship of Collegiate A
Cappella, held at Clemson University.
¥
Cocktails will advance to the regional
semi-finals to be held at the College of
William & Mary in April.
“We were incredibly surprised that
we placed third at ICCA, let alone be
allowed to compete,” Wong said. She
explained that in order to compete,
groups must send in audition tapes of
their performance.
Cocktails will compete with
Tigeroar and Take Note, two a
cappella groups from Clemson that
did not compete last week. Both
Clemson groups have existed since the
mid-1990s and have put out at least
three CDs each. Tigeroar went on a •
fall tour through California this year
while Take Note has performed at
several locations in New York City,
with a planned visit to London in
December.
Despite Cocktails’ relative infancy,
the women say they are confident in a
♦ Please see COCKTAILS, page 3
v