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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26,2005 '“wwS IN THIS ISSUE ♦ NEWS Cease fire The Hamas leader is considering a temporary truce with Israel on the condition that the country halt military strikes against Palestinians. Page 6 ♦ VIEWPOINTS Beam wants fiscal discipline Adam Beam says that Student Government hasn’t been doing a good job of managing students’ money and too often looks to raise student fees. Page 8 ♦THE MIX * Man behind the mask The film version of ‘Phantom of the Opera’ lives up to the expectations of the famous Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. Page 10 ♦ SPORTS Gamecocks to battle ’Dores The men’s basketball team faces Vanderbilt tonight at the Colonial Center. The Gamecocks are 2-3 in conference play. Page 12 WEATHER ♦ TODAY ♦ THURS. □LI ^ High 6 5 High 50 Low 3 8 Low 2 3 FOR EXTENDED FORECAST, SEE PAGE 2. INDEX Comics and Crossword..... 11 Classifieds.14 Horoscopes.11 Letters to the Editor..8 Online Poll..8 Police Report..2 Statistics show gender imbalance among faculty By JON TURNER NEWS EDITOR Male professors at USC outnumber female professors by more than six to one, according to statistics from the 2003-2004 year compiled by the USC Office of Equal Opportunity Programs. The statistics show an obvious, if inconsistent, improvement in both salary and employment gender ratios since the study began two decades ago. However, compared to national statistics compiled by the National Center for Education Statistics, USC is lagging far behind in the total proportion of female faculty members employed. Assistant Vice Provost Sally Boyd said the university’s progress has not quite fixed its inequalities. “It’s been better in some areas of the university than others,” she said Tuesday. “It’s been better at certain times at the university than others. We can certainly see that things now are a lot different from how they were 30 years ago, but we still don’t have the number of women faculty members compared to men faculty members that we should have, and we still have some salary problems that look like they’re gender-based.” Bobby Gist, Executive Assistant for Equal Opportunity Programs, said he was sure that the number of female faculty members had risen over the years, and that USC did its best to attract women and minorities to open positions. The Equal Opportunity Programs Office’s 2000 report on affirmative recruiting outlined USC’s strategy, advocating the use of diverse search committees and advertising plans as the best way to achieve a diverse faculty and staff. “We send out letters any time there’s a search committee, letting them know women and minorities are strongly encouraged to apply for faculty positions,” Gist said. According to the EOP report, the “rule” for the multiple screenings of the employee selection process is that the selection rate of women to men should be at least 4/5. The report also recommended the university advertise any open positions in “predominantly minority or female” as well as relevant occupation-specific publications. Although there are still fewer female professors in math- and science-related fields, Gist praised their moxie. Boyd expressed a more guarded enthusiasm, calling the move toward ♦ Please see DIFFERENCES, page 3 FEMALE FACULTY MEMBERS IN 50% NON-ADMINISTRATIVE POSITIONS In 2003-04: 40 of282professors were female. 40% 84 of246associate professors were female. 92 of226assistant professors were female. These differences were especially apparent 3 0 o/ i» traditionally male fields such as the sciences. 28. 6% - ~ ~ 1983- 1988- 1993- 1998- 2003 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 CHARLIE DAVENPQRT/THE GAMECOCK The Colonial Center tonight will reward its one-millionth sports fan with SEC Tournament tickets. The Colonial Center opened in 2002. Colonial Center to reward one-millionth fan at game rs By TAYLOR SMITH STAFF WRITER One lucky fan at tonight’s US basketball game will be rushed by dozen cheerleaders and a giar gamecock, but the fun won’t stop tfijjj The Colonial Center and the US' athletic department will be surprisir the one-millionth fan at the Vanderbi game with a considerable prize packag “We expect a sizeable crowd t attend the basketball game th Wednesday, and our records indicai that we will certainly surpass the om millionth fan mark at the Colon! Center sometime before the gam begins,” Tom Paquette, the Gener. Manager for the Colonial Center, sai in a news release. The millionth fan will be greeted at the ticket turnstile by Athletic Director Z Mike McGee, Cocky and the USC a cheerleaders, but the prize package, t presented by McGee, will include j. tickets to the SEC Basketball Z Tournament, USHRA Monster Jam, g the AND 1 Streetball Live Tour, t Professional Bull Riding, Disney on Ice and Rascall Flatts. The package also 0 includes T-shirts, gift certificates and an s autographed basketball signed by Dave e Odom, USC basketball coach and 2004 SEC Coach of the Year. J “We scan tickets now, and when the e one millionth fan comes through, 1 McGee will give the prize package and 1 there will also be a jersey given that says one-millionth fan on the hack,” Abey Coker, the Colonial Center marketing manager, said. Coker said planning for the event had been going on awhile, but credit for the idea should go to the athletic department rather than the venue’s managers. “This is basically their baby,” Coker said. “They own the building, but we manage it.” The Colonial Center is the largest arena in South Carolina, and its 18,000 seats have played host to a number of sporting and musical events since its opening in fall 2002. “This is an incredible milestone to pass in such a short time. It is gratifying to see how Columbia, the Midlands, and the entire state has received the Colonial Center,” McGee in the release. The men’s basketball team’s 2-3 SEC record this season has troubled some USC students, but fans like second-year biology student Wright Culpepper keep a different mindset. “Well, I was actually considering not going to the game tomorrow night because of how bad the team was playing,” Culpepper said. “But when I realized what it means to be a real fan, I didn’t really have an option, so I will be going and I look forward to getting the prize pack.” Culpepper said he thinks the switch ♦ Please see FAN, page 3 Carolina shuttles to feature USC news By ALLYSON BIRD THE GAMECOCK Starting next Wednesday, the Carolina Shuttles will be cruising to a new tune. The nearly 5,000 students who ride on the buses every day will find that their once-silent transportation will be playing a medley of university news, top 40 songs, a WUSC-featured song and advertisements. This new infotainment is called the MIX CD, which stands for music, information and extras. “It will encourage students to ride the shuttle system and promote all services we have in the core area of campus,” Deputy Parking Services Director Derrick Huggins said. Huggins said the new CDs will heighten the overall learning experience on campus by keeping students abreast of USC.news. Since the university is footing the bill for the CD, advertisements will only promote university housing, the university bookstore and Carolina Dining Services. Students can participate in monthly promotions and discounts at the dining halls and bookstore — such as 20 percent off sweatshirts — by saying they heard the advertisements on the shutdes. A group of students chosen as last semester’s Marketing Scholars came up with the idea for the MIX CD. Justin Killian, a fourth-year marketing and management student, is a member of the group that decided to complete the project now even though the class is over. “We didn’t want to just abandon it at the end of the semester,” he said. “We look for it to carry on long after our class is gone.” With USC as their client, the Marketing Scholars were instructed to create an internal branding campaign that would give USC news and events more exposure. Any leftover money ♦ Please see EQUIPPED, page 3 Social Security overhaul faces congressional critics By NEDRA PICKLER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — President Bush drew criticism from Democrats and qualms from skeptical Republicans over his politically sensitive plan to overhaul Social Security. He promised to revqal some details during next week’s State of the Union address. Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee who met privately with Bush for 45 minutes said his proposals will be closely scrutinized along with other options to shore up the nation’s retirement system. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., said Bush “understands the burden that he carries” to sell his plan to the nation and to Congress. “There has to be a sense that the public supports what we’re trying to do,” Santostm said. Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., said that Bush “knows he has the bully pulpit. He knows how laws are made. Democrats will want him to move with an open mind.” Democrats lined up in opposition to Bush’s proposals, concentrating their fire Tuesday on a suggestion from a prominent Republican lawmaker, Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., that Congress adjust Social Security benefits to take gender or race into account. “I want to work with the president to strengthen Social Security, but I hope when the president and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle say they want to act in a bipartisan way, they understand that some things are simply off the table,” said Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid. “We cannot use race or gender to determine benefits, just as we should not pursue a privatization plan that will make deep cuts in benefits and create $2 trillion in additional debt.” Thomas, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, made the suggestions recently, noting that women live longer than men as a group and whites live longer than blacks. Additionally, Senate Democrats intend to hold a forum on Friday at which witnesses will criticize Bush’s proposal for personal accounts. Officials familiar with the plan said witnesses would challenge the president’s recent statement that the program is in crisis and argue that Bush’s plan would involve large benefit cuts for future retirees. Bush’s proposals to overhaul Social Security have caused some nervousness among Republicans in Congress. Republican senators at the White House were told that Bush would provide more information about his intentions when he speaks at a closed-door retreat for GOP lawmakers Friday. Senate Finance Committee Republicans who met with Bush said that the discussion was freewheeling and that some members of the group balked at the costs involved. Bush promised to spell out many specifics in his State of the Union address, they said. “This is the beginning of a very long process,” said Sen. Olympia Snowe, R Maine. “Obviously there is a lot of speculation over what the president intends to do. We’ll have an opportunity to look at these issues in a very deliberative way, and he understands that.” Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said he is confident that Congress “will be able to follow the bold leadership of the president” and pass legislation to change the current system, but that the White House need to do more to win public support. “This body needs to engage the American people much better,” he said of the Senate. “And I would say the administration does as well.” Bush tried to get ministers and other leaders of the black community behind his agenda in an earlier private meeting that lasted more than an hour. Attendees said Bush told them his plan to add private accounts to Social Security would benefit blacks since they tend to die younger than whites and end up paying in more than they take out. Private accounts would be owned by workers and could be inherited by loved ones after death. Bush wants to let younger workers put a portion of their Social Security taxes into private investment accounts in exchange for a reduction in future guaranteed benefits. The administration says retirees or those near retirement |°:e would not have their benefits reduce^.