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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2005 * — Williams, Preston win runoff elections • Candidates thank supporters for work during campaigns By JON TURNER NEWS EDITOR Voters elected Justin Williams, a third-year public relations student, as Student Government president on Friday in a runoff election. Tommy Preston, a second-year political- science student, was elected treasurer. Williams emerged from a dead heat to beat fourth-year public relations student Yvonne Miller by about 11 percent of the vote; Preston maintained his early lead against third-year biology student Jenna Cook. Only 15 votes had separated Miller from Williams after the first election Feb. 14 and 15. Williams more than made up the difference in the runoff, topping Miller by 232 votes. “We both received 17 percent,” Williams said. “So I knew this election, the runoff, was not about our platforms or what we were trying to do, really. It was about getting those people who voted once to vote again.” Preston was in Washington, D.C., Friday afternoon, but he learned of his victory from a campaign supporter on the scene of the announcement. “I think people here appreciated the vision I have for USC, and I think they realized I would do a good job,” he said. “I definitely have to thank all of those people who voted for me, worked for the campaign or even just stopped to ask questions.” Fourth-year nursing student and SG Elections Commissioner Stacy Rainey said the turnout for the runoff had been almost as pleasant a surprise as the regular election turnout. “For the first election 1 was very excited, that was double last year,” she said. “We were really, really pleased with those numbers.” She said the elections commission had expected fewer students to vote a second time. “Runoffs always have a lower turnout. By the end of the week a lot of people are tired of hearing about it,” she said. “When you have fewer candidates, you have fewer people getting the word out.” Williams said his first job as president-elect is to thank his supporters, but after that he plans to begin organizing a cabinet and meeting with other officials. “My staff did a great job,” he said. “I worked really hard, but it wasn’t anything I did on my own at all. So now it’s time for the hard job.” Williams said that for a few weeks he would have to work with Preston and vice president elect Ryan Holt to discuss the implementation of their platforms and reconcile any differences. “Notice, Ryan had a platform, Tommy had a platform and I had a platform. In order for Student government to run efficiently, we all need to be on the same page,” he said. Williams also pointed out his need to appoint a cabinet. “I can’t do everything by myself, and if the things in my platform are going to get done, but the main thing is that I need to appoint a cabinet,” he said. “In the next week or two, those things are going to start to be established, and once we get that established, get our team right, get everything running smooth, then we’re going to start working with students. “First of all, one thing we re ♦ Please see RESULTS, page 3 BY THE NUMBERS SG Election Results PRESIDENTIAL RUNOFF ELECTIOl Yvonne Miller 893 Justin Williams 1,125 PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY ELECTION: Steven Byrd 536 Bill Daniel 122 Randy Dargan 602 Preston Grisham 378 Ben Havird 450 Yvonne Miller 715 Neal Truslow 322 Justin Turner 336 Justin Williams 700 4 RUNOFF ELECTION, TREASURER: Jenna Cook 642 Tommy Preston 1,353 PRIMARY ELECTION. TREASURER. Jenna Cook 934 Anna Fox 818 Victoria Moore 488 Preston 1,599 (VOTE Graph* by Char McCarthy NICK ESARES/THE GAMECOCK Student Government President-elect Justin Williams, right, shakes hands with a supporter after the SG Elections Commission announced Friday Williams had won the election. He won by about 11 percent. IN THIS ISSUE ♦ THE MIX And the winner is... The Nickelodeon presents the Nick Favorite Favorite Film Marathon. Featured films include ‘Casablanca’ and ‘A Clockwork Orange.' Page 5 ♦ SPORTS The one that didn’t get away The women’s basketball team won its first SEC game Sunday, defeating Alabama, 66-57. Page 8 INDEX Comics & Crossword...7 Classifieds.10 Horoscopes..7 Letters to the Editor.....4 Online Poll..4 Police Report..2 Board of trustees meets to address building plans By TAYLOR SMITH STAFF WRITER The USC Board of Trustees convened Friday for its first meeting of the year, resulting in several changes around campus that will affect students. Approval for plans constructing a new band hall, rare book wings adjacent to the Thomas Cooper Library and several housing renovations were among the board’s most important decisions. “Every meeting will have a different emphasis, but today that emphasis was building and grounds,” said chairman of the board Herbert Adams. “Building and grounds was key, but we also refocused and had discussion of our goals, which were also very important.” Adams said the decisions reflect an emphasis on the board’s goals as well as the improvement of student and faculty life. The board signed on all 10 items up for construction approval. It approved an addition to the Thomas Cooper Library and construction of a band hall for the USC Marching Band. The board also approved the installation of elevators in several USC residence halls and the School of Medicine, and renovations to 1600 Hampton St. “The band hall has been moving for a long time, and we will replace it with classrooms and lab space,” Adams said. In other business, the board approved a name change in the College of Nursing from a Doctor of Nursing to a Doctor of Nursing Practice, which Adams said was done to “facilitate recruitment . and advisement activities.” In the Intercollegiate Activities Committee meeting, athletic director Mike McGee gave a report that informed the board of a fine being ^ JL levied against USC by the SEC, which cited conduct by USC fans after the Gamecocks’ recent win over Kentucky. “They knew that what they were going to do was not appropriate,” McGee said in his report. The report was well-received by the committee, with the exception of board member Michael Mungo, who recommended stiffer punishments and possible expulsion for students who violate the rules. “There is no penalty to the students, and we need to adopt a very outspoken policy now,” Mungo said in the meeting. “So they want to run out on the court. Then fine, you can’t come to school next semester.” The next USC Board of Trustees meeting is scheduled for March 17 at 11:30 a.m. in the Campus Room at the Capstone House. Comments on this story ? E-mail gamecocknews@gwm.sc.edu Dance Marathon nets record sum By SYDNEY SMITH STAFF WRITER More than 300 students raised $86,921.82 for charity by participating in Dance Marathon on Friday and Saturday, and organizers are expecting even more donations in the mail. At least 90 percent of the funds raised will be donated to Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital in Columbia, with the remaining donations reserved for funding next year’s Dance Marathon. Dance Marathon 2005 bested previous years’ Dance Marathons, involving nearly 300 participants and bringing in nearly $3,000 more in donations than in 2004. Two hundred sixty of the 301 registered dancers attended, as well as the 30 members of the Dance Marathon executive committee, volunteers and morale leaders. Overall director Josh Black said participation and donations have increased at USC each year. This is USC’s seventh Dance Marathon. “This was the best dance marathon ever,” Black said. “Morale was awesome, the dancers were awesome. It was an amazing event.” Black, a fifth-year biology student, has been involved with Dance Marathon all five years with the exception of his third year abroad. He was first involved dancing as a Freshman Council member, and last year he was in charge of recruitment. Dance Marathon registration began at 5:30 p.m. Friday. At 7 p.m., dancers ran into the gym and started the 24-hour fund-raiser. Throughout the night, leaders taught a 15-minute dance that dancers learned by the end of the marathon. Music was provided by a DJ as well as live bands like McFly, an ‘80s-style cover band that often plays at Delaney’s in Five Points. Dancers also played games and watched * ml Sunday Night Alive perform. Each group was assigned an hour to entertain the dancers. Second-year advertising student Katie Fitz has been a part of the event for two years. The first year she participated, she volunteered as a dancer. This year she was put in charge of her own creatively themed dance group, the “Wacky Waldos.” Sometimes all the dancing tires students out. “It’s really refreshing to change clothes every once and while,” Fitz said. Though she was still tired Sunday night, Fitz said she didn’t regret her involvement in a good cause. “When you see the family come in with these beautiful children and they’re smiling,” the direct impact of the dancers’ efforts is obvious, she said. Comments tm this story? E-mail gamecockneTVs@givm.se. edit * DEAN DIALOGUE NICK ESARES/THE GAMECOCK Patricia Moody, dean of the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sports Management, examines proposals for the school’s new building. The HRSM college is under the Coliseum. Moody says college needs new identity By TAYLOR SMITH STAFF WRITER Continually suffering the effects of academic claustrophobia underneath the Carolina Coliseum, the College of’Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management has big plans for the future. Dean Patricia Moody can remember when she came to USC in 1982, a transition period that saw a very different HRSM school. “The college has made some dramatic changes since then, and it is not even the same place,” Moody said. “The college now bears little resemblance to the one then.” Space continues to be a concern of university administrators and students as it was 20 years ago. Today, the college shares its space underneath the Coliseum with the College of Mass ♦ Please see HRSM, page 3 Study says high schools teach sub-par economics By LIZ SKELLY THE GAMECOCK South Carolina high-school students averaged a failing grade in a recent economic literacy survey, confirming the suspicions of some economists. The 2004 Survey of Economic Literacy, sponsored by the South Carolina attorney general’s office, the South Carolina Council on Economic Education and Merrill Lynch tested high-school students’ basic knowledge of the U.S economy and important economic terms covered by South Carolina academic standards. Representing the full range of the South Carolina poverty index, the survey drew from 529 students in 10 high schools. The average score between schools was 53 percent. Individual schools’ scores ranged from 38 percent to 61 percent correct. Even the best ♦ Pleas&see LACKING, page 3 ..-.. .I ■ www.daiLygamecock.com - ■ —. ..—