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Interim dean accepts spot at South Florida ■ John Skvoretz, turned down for USC Arts and Sciences dean, takes similar position By TAYLOR SMITH STAFF WRITER College of Liberal Arts interim dean John Skvoretz, a former candidate for dean of USC’s new College of Arts and Sciences, has accepted a similar job at the University of South Florida. USC passed over Skvoretz for Mary Ann Fitzpatrick, former deputy-dean of Wisconsin’s College of Letters and Science. Skvoretz will be taking the post in Tampa, Fla., on Feb. 1, a move that will put him in charge of 17,000 students, almost 10,000 more than the projected attendance of the combined college at use. “It is a career change,” Skvoretz said. “And sometimes to move up you have to move out and that is the situation I find myself in.” Skvoretz has been acting interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts since Joan Stewart left the position in the summer of 2003. Skvoretz said he was happy with the legacy he is leaving at USC and looks forward to the challenges of South Florida. “I could have probably stayed and worked with Fitzpatrick for a long time,” Skvoretz said. “But once I got a taste of that dean’s position, it is very difficult to walk away from it. It is something I enjoy doing and I feel I am reasonably good at it.” In December of 2003, the USC Board of Trustees approved the creation of the College of Arts and Sciences and with the merger began a search for a dean of the new school. Skvoretz was a candidate for the post, which will begin in January of2005, and he appeared as one of four finalists before losing to Fitzpatrick. Skvoretz accepted the South Florida job after applying at a number of public universities with similar position openings nationwide. “Knowing some of the people was a factor in choosing USF,” Skvoretz said. “The second thing was that it is a large public university and with experience I understand the challenges.” USF had a total fall 2004 attendance of 42,590 with more than a third of the school’s students attending the college he will preside over. “It is big but it is something that I am looking forward to,” Skvoretz said. “Next year it is supposed to grow to 49,000.” The challenge Skvoretz says he is looking forward to will be to help USF develop its graduate programs to obtain a berth as one of the top 50 public research universities in the nation, a goal set by the school’s administration. “I hope to move them in right direction and really can’t get there without strong graduate programs,” Skvoretz said. Skvoretz USC career started in 1975 and since then he has been a professor as well as the sociology department chairman and associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts before obtaining the interim deanship last fall. “It has been a really good almost 30 years now,” Skvoretz said. “I am going to miss it and look back on these memories at the university with fondness.” Skvoretz’s position as dean at South Florida will not start until Feb. 1, a month after Fitzpatrick takes over as dean of the USC College of Arts and Sciences. He said he didn’t want to start before the semester began because he needed some “breathing room.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocknews@givm.sc. edu Lawmakers support By JIM ABRAMS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — Unwilling to concede defeat, congressional leaders expressed hope Sunday that lawmakers could return next month to resolve a turf battle that has blocked passage of an overhaul of the nation’s intelligence agencies. President Bush pledged to work with them for passage. Congressional leaders said prospects depended on how successful Bush was in lining up support. “For us to do the bill in early December it will take significant involvement by the president and the vice president,” said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn. “It will take real focus on their part.” At a news conference after an economic summit in Chile, Bush said: “I was disappointed the bill didn’t pass. I thought it was going to pass up to the last minute.” He said he and Vice President Dick Cheney had talked with key members of the House and “it was clear I wanted the bill passed.” He did not respond directly to a question about whether opposition from Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld contributed to the deadlock. Bush noted that Congress would return for another effort in December. “Hopefully, we’ll get a bill done,” Bush said, promising to work with interested parties. “When I get home I look forward to getting it done.” During a chaotic Saturday that was intended as the final meeting of the 108th Congress, negotiators announced a compromise on the intelligence bill. Hours later, opposition from the Republican chairmen of two committees stymied the legislation, which would create a national intelligence director. Reflecting Pentagon concerns about the legislation, California Rep. Duncan Hunter of the House Armed Services warned that the bill could interfere with the military chain of command and endanger troops in the field. Wisconsin Rep. James Sensenbrenner of the House Judiciary Committee demanded that the bill deal with illegal immigration. Congress did manage to pass a 3,000 page, $388 billion spending bill that covers most nondefense and non security programs for the budget year that began Oct. 1. But there will be a delay in gening President Bush’s signature. The hang-up is because of a single line in the bill that would have given two committee chairmen and their assistants access to people’s income tax returns. The Senate approved a resolution nullifying the idea; House leaders promised to pass it Wednesday. Then, the spending bill will head to the White House. “I have no earthly idea how it got in there,” Frist Said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “But, obviously, somebody is EVAN VUCCI/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Pat Roberts, R- Kan., talks with media on Sunday in Washington. Roberts said the chances that Congress would pass the intelligence bill in December “are slim and none, and slim left town." going to know, and accountability will be carried out.” Frist referred to the bill Saturday night as the “Istook amendment,” and congressional aides said it was inserted at the request of Rep. Ernest Istook Jr., R Okla. Istook, chairman of the House Appropriations transportation subcommittee, said in a statement Sunday that the Internal Revenue Service drafted the language, which he said would not have allowed any inspections of tax returns. “Nobody’s privacy was ever jeopardized,” the statement said. Congress had worked for three months on legislation that carries out the recommendations of the Sept. 11 commission for a director of national intelligence and a national counterterrorism center. The legislation has met resistance from Rumsfeld and other Pentagon leaders who do not want to cede control of the intelligence budget. The Pentagon now controls roughly 80 percent of the estimated $40 billion spent on intelligence each year. “It’s well-known that the secretary of defense wasn’t enthusiastic about this loss of budget authority,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” McCain said Pentagon obstruction of legislation backed by the president was “one of the more Byzantine kind of scenarios that I have observed in the years that I have been in Congress.” The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, GOP Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas, said it was a “false claim” that the bill would endanger the relationship between intelligence agencies and the military. While acknowledging opposition from the Pentagon, Roberts also said some has come from the White House “despite what the president has said.” The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Jane Harman of California, said it was unfortunate the commander in chief “couldn’t get the secretary of defense to stop his opposition, which has been ongoing for months, and which emboldened some of these House folks to dig in.” Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the Senate’s No. 2-ranked Republican, told ABC’s “This Week” there was still a “pretty good chance” of an agreement when Congress returns on Dec. 6. Without a deal, lawmakers must restart the legislative process when the 109th Congress convenes in January. The $388 billion spending bill, a compendium of nine bills that Republicans found too contentious to pass before the Nov. 2 election, was one of the leanest in years. The administration tried to confront rising budget deficits while pouring more money into defense and homeland . security. When foreign aid and defense spending are omitted, the remaining domestic programs grew by about 1 percent. Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said the spending was inadequate to meet education, health care and environmental needs. But Bush, in a statement, said the legislation met the limits he and Congress had set and “still adequately funded our domestic priorities like education, health care and veterans programs.” Hopefuls gather to audition for Civil War reality show STAFF REPORT THE ASSOCIATED PRESS GETTYSBURG, P3. — A weekend casting call for a proposed reality TV show based on the Civil War drew potential contestants hoping for the grand prize: $1 million in gold. Producer Kevin Dolan is shopping around “Sabers and Roses” and said he is hopeful of landing a network deal. Dolan owns the historic Landon House in Maryland, where real-life Confederate Gen. Jeb Stuart hosted his “Sabers and Roses” ball in 1862 before the battle of I ' Antietam. Dolan would host the show in the guise of his alter ego, “Johnny Reb.” Contestants would be divided into Yankee and Rebel teams; each contestant would take on a role and have to fulfill increasingly difficult challenges while staying in character. “I’m confident taking on big projects,” Dolan said. “I’ve had a really good response to this. People are really passionate about the Civil War, and reality TV is really hot. There is an untapped mainstream market.” Saturday’s casting call drew actors, Civil War re-enactors and those simply in it for the prize money. “I’ve never shot a gun or a cannon, so I think tliat would be awesome,” said Sarah Nance, 20, of Mount Airy, Md. Dolan would like to premiere the series on April 9, the 140th anniversary of the end of the Civil War. The series would shoot in Texas, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York, and would conclude in July in Gettysburg during the annual re-enactment there. Dolan is working on a pilot culled from 50 hours already shot in Texas. ~ “ I www.dailygamecocK.com College Republicans accused of misusing fund-raising proceeds By RYAN JAMtb THE GAMECOCK USC College Republicans are calling recent accusations brought by the College Democrats of America against the College Republicans National Committee as a “ploy by sore losers” and “blown way out of proportion.” In a news release, the College ' Democrats accused the College Republicans National Committee of participating in unethical fund-raising practices and called on them to return all contributions. According to the release, the issue at hand regards a fund-raiser the College Republican committee held for several years specifically targeting senior citizens. The Democrats charge the organization made many direct mailings that claimed runds would go to help re elect Republicans, but 83 percent of the donations were used to expand College Republican committee fund-raisers. The organization used different names to get donations and claimed to be collecting money for the Republican National Headquarters, the release said. USC College Republican leadership dismissed the charges against their parent organization. Co-chairman Franklin Buchanan called the allegations “a blind attack by some sore losers in the Democratic party.” He also said that the Democrats should be more worried about their candidate for the election in 2004 than Republican scandals. Co-chairman Randy Dargan said the fund-raiser had nothing to do with the leadership of USC College Republicans and noted that the accusations relate to events that happened 13 years ago. He called the scandal something the Democrats are “blowing way out of proportion.” The CDA release quoted the organization’s president, Grant Woodward. “It’s shameful that the College Republicans scammed seniors for their political gain. College Republicans must publicly apologize for this immoral deception and refund all questionable contributions immediately,” he said. CRNC chairman Eric Hoplin has pledged to refund donations to unhappy contributors. Comments on this stoiy? E-mail gamecockneTvs@givm.se. edu ■ VJ Continued from page 1 “I’m thinking word of mouth is definitely the way to go,” Messer said. “They are really keeping us all in the dark, and the voting is all that has to be done now.” To vote, students can go to www.mtvu.com/music/road_trip starting today and lasting until Tuesday, Dec. 7. Broadcasts of the MTVU V] search will begin today on a special episode of “The Dean’s List.” “1 am handing out fliers like crazy,” Messer said. “I feel like a politician, minus the corruption.” Comments on this story ? 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