Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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unmv.dailygamecock.com WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9,2005_ Since 1908 IN THIS ISSUE ♦ NEWS Abbas, Sharon ^agree to end hostilities Palestinian, Israeli leadership to focus on compromise, despite local skepticism. Israelis say unity depends on an end to bombing attacks. Page 6 ♦ VIEWPOINTS Enter the Mediocre Guy Curtis Chow introduces USC ladies to the newest superhero, ) whose powers include brisk walking, throwing stuff and the power of heart. Page 9 ♦THE MIX Catch the wave Patrick Augustine previews Rogue Wave's visit to The New Brookland Tavern tonight. Page 10 ♦ SPORTS Heatin’ up The Gamecock Sports staff previews the baseball team’s 2005 pitching rotation. Page 13 weather * TODAY I ♦ THUR. High 6 3 j High 5 8 Low 4 5 Low 2 8 FOR EXTENDED FORECAST, see PAGE 2. INDEX Comics & CrOSsw°rd..12 Classifieds.. Horoscopes..12 Letters to the £^,t0K.. Online Poll...j9 Police Report..2 USC student battles leukemia By JON TURNER NEWS EDITOR Third-year psychology student Caroline Terry might be dying. Sometime in late October, Terry got sick. Her family figured she was just worn out by midterms and sorority events, but her back began to ache all the time, and gradually the soreness spread through her entire body. Her strength dwindled until she could no longer lift a drinking glass or a paperback book. Running out of options at Lexington Medical Center, Terry went to see a specialist at Emory, who drew her bone marrow for testing. The test itself was the worst pain she could imagine, wracking her from the inside out. But when she was told she had developed acute myelogenous leukemia, just a month after her 20th birthday, she thought she was going to die. She cried. Within the week, Terry was undergoing chemotherapy to prevent the disease from disseminating further. The chemo made her sick, and her thick brown hair, which once hung midway down her back, thinned out strand by strand. She couldn’t walk by herself. She couldn’t feed herself. She lost weight. “You’re horribly nauseated for almost every minute of every day for at least two weeks after the treatment,” she said. “It makes your skin really dry, so you have to put on a lot of lotion. It makes everything taste awful, so even if you do try to eat something, it tastes so bad that most of the time you can’t.” Though she and her doctors managed to beat the disease back into remission on their first attempt, there was only so much chemotherapy could accomplish. The leukemia was in her bones. Terry needs new stem cells. She needs a donor. Terry has been told that the odds of even a direct relative matching her type are one in four. The chance of a stranger matching her is infinitesimal, one in 20,000, but she says she’s more confident of her recovery now than when she was first diagnosed. “I’m more optimistic as I learn more about it. The more you learn, you know, things could get better,” she said. Terry came home from the hospital Friday for the first time in months, but she said things were still “not what you’d call normal.” She has a private bathroom. The ♦ Please see LEUKEMIA, page 4 MARDI GRAS MADNESS NORA ELKIN/THE GAMECOCK Patrons of Group Therapy celebrate Mardi Gras in Five Points. The party was spilling into the streets Tuesday night. DZs band together to aid ailing sister By JON TURNER NEWS EDITOR Delta Zeta sorority members are coming to the aid of a sister with leukemia, planning a bone marrow testing drive to find a potentially lifesaving match. When third-year psychology student Caroline Terry was diagnosed with leukemia a month after her 20th birthday, her friends and family were shocked. Third-year English student and DZ member Amber Cheek said the sorority would do whatever it takes to help Terry recover. She and other members have planned a bone marrow testing drive for Feb. 22, undeterred by the improbability of its success. The chances of any individual matching Terry are about one in 20,000. “If we don’t find a match,” Cheek said. “We’re just going to try to go to other chapters in state, and other chapters, and just gradually expand until we find one, I guess.” Unfortunately, the National Marrow Donor Program doesn’t test just anyone. In return for the testing, it mandates that for every white donor entered in the registry, there must be one minority donor. Fourth-year cardiovascular technology student and DZ member Christie Woodham emphasized the need for non-white students to get tested, but she pointed out that even if a volunteer was ineligible to donate to Terry, the information might still come in useful on the national database. “They’ll keep your bone marrow in that database, and they’ll contact you if you match anybody in the database,” she said. During the drive, DZ members will be collecting donations for Terry’s family, which was forced to rent an apartment in Atlanta while Terry was undergoing chemotherapy. The drive will be held on Greene Street from 1 to 7 p.m. • Please see MARROW, page 4 VP debate addresses new issues By TAYLOR SMITH STAFF WHITER Student Government vice presidential candidates debated in front of the Russell House Tuesday to highlight platform differences and educate constituents. Third-year criminal justice student Damion Robbs and second-year political science student Ryan Holt debated the issues that distinguished them and the common passions that bound them. Second-year business student Justin Young was unable to attend because of his questionable status as a candidate. Damion Robbs Although Robbs emphasized his friendship with and similar political views to opposing candidate Holt, he was quick to point out the differences between his mission and his opponent’s. One such difference is his self ♦ Please see SG, page 5 Financial aid office holds educational workshop NICK ESARES/THE GAMECOCK Antonio Coqper, left, a third-year psychology student, and Danielle Rymer; a financial aid counselor, fill out forms at the financial aid workshop Tuesday. By LIZ SKELLY THE GAMECOCK The Office of Student Financial Aid & Scholarships is holding an open house through Friday, assisting students in filing their FAFSA and helping to answer questions about scholarship and financial aid opportunities. The open house began earlier this week, and students are taking advantage of the opportunity to ask questions. Third-year psychology student Ryan Roberts used the open house to learn more about summer school and the 2005-06 FAFSA. Roberts said he hadn’t heard about any particular outreach the office was promoting, but was planning on coming by to ask a few questions. “I noticed there was a sign on the door that said, ‘Financial aid open house this week,’” he said. Graduate school hopeful Sandra Hughes said she had heard about the open house and had planned to come by to learn more about financial aid opportunities for graduate students. “I wanted to know what type of loans I am going to be qualified for and how much money will be available to me,” Hughes said. Hughes also said the financial aid counselors gave her information about opportunities of which she was not aware. “I may be back tomorrow,” she said. Hughes and Roberts had good things to say about the counselors working with students to iron out financial concerns. “They were very helpful and informative, and they answered all of my questions as well as I needed them answered,” Roberts said. But while some students have had time to go by the financial aid office, others have not, because of time constraints or lack of interest. Third-year criminal justice student LaToya Barmore said she simply does not have time to go by and talk with people at the financial aid office. “I can’t fit it into my schedule because I have to work most of the time I’m not in class,” she said. Barmore acknowledged that the open house is I y ♦ Please see WORKSHOP, page 7