Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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The University of South Carolina „„ T t A. _ Vol. 98, No. 74 • Since 1908 ■■■ . FRIDAY, MARCH 4,2005 Thompson, Mainord charged with burglary By STEPHEN FASTENAU ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR USC head football coach Steve Spurrier was forced to suspend two more players Wednesday following sophomore Demetris Summers’ dismissal Tuesday. The suspensions came after junior defensive end Moe Thompson and freshman defensive lineman Kevin Mainord were charged Wednesday with breaking into two East Quad apartments and removing electronic equipment. Mainord was arrested Wednesday on two counts each of first-degree burglary and petit larceny. His bond hearing was set by the judge for this morning. Thompson was charged with five similar counts, including first degree burglary. His warrant will be served as soon as he is located by law enforcement, USC spokesman Russ McKinney said. Spurrier suspended both players immediately upon learning of the incident. The players are suspended indefinitely, pending i t^d joutcome of the investigation. ■ £ ”|^e will let the legal process take ’.its* Jourse and go from there,” Spufrier told reporters Thursday. t sa*d before, we can’t control ■ s'&tething these players do all the 1 t3&pf However, we can control who r|l9ys and who puts on a uniform.” Summers was suspended Tuesday for violating athletics department policy. News outlets PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK Defensive end Moe Thompson, left, and defensive tackle Kevin Mainord were suspended indefinitely following burglary charges. reported Wednesday that the suspension was the result of a second failed drug test. According to warrants, Mainord and Thompson entered the room of three female students at approximately 3:30 a.m. Feb. 23 and removed a TV and DVD player. The residents also reported $12 and various linen missing. The USC police incident report said the TV was worth $130, and the DVD player was worth $100. The residents said they were in their rooms at the time of the incident and their door was locked. The items were taken from the living room, and no sign of forced entry was found. Mainord * gave a written statement to police that said “he did plan earlier that evening to enter various residents in E. Quad and steal various items.” On the same day, between 1:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m., Mainord entered a fourth-floor apartment and removed a Toshiba TV/DVD/VCR combo valued at less than $1,000, according to warrants. In a written statement, he admitted to the crime with another co-defendant. The charges were the latest in a string of events that has cast a cloud over the football team and the newly hired Spurrier. Six football players were charged in January with the theft of video and computer equipment, as well as framed photographs from Williams-Brice Stadium. Junior Woodly Telfort and senior Brian Brownlee were charged with grand larceny. Sophomore Syvelle Newton, junior Freddie Saint-Preux, and seniors Dondrial Pinkins and Rodriques Wilson were charged with petit larceny. Newton and Saint-Preux are expected to return to the team prior to spring practice March 16. Thompson made the decision following last season to play his senior season at USC rather than declare for the NFL draft. As a junior, Thompson recorded 28 tackles and three sacks while playing in all 11 games. He is already scheduled to serve a one game suspension for his part in a brawl during a season-ending loss to Clemson in November. The 6-foot-4-inch, 265-pound Mainord is a freshman from Coalmont, Tenn. “It’s a slap in the face to our program,” Spurrier said. “They are the ones who made the decisions, and they will have to suffer the consequences. Hopefully, they will get their act together so they can transfer and continue their career somewhere else.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocknews®gwm.sc. edu DEAN DIALOGUE i i ft i i ' NICK ESARES/THE GAMECOCK Ralph White, dean of the College of Engineering and . Information Technology, works in his office in Swearingen. Engineering chief says program must expand By TAYLOR SMITH STAFF WRITER Despite signing a deal Thursday to offer signal integrity programs for USC students with one of the largest microchip manufacturers in the world, Dean Ralph White of the College of Engineering and Information Technology said the school needed to build its reputation. The “small, but excellent college” must march forward in engineering research and application, White said, to compete with Clemson University and raise South Carolina’s overall reputation. “Inside the state, most people still think of Clemson when it comes to engineering,” White said. “USC has an opportunity to raise the reputation of the state in engineering.” He said USC is behind Clemson in terms of engineering faculty numbers: Clemson has 165 and USC has 95. Although USC gained five faculty members this year, White said one of the college’s main goals is to increase its reputation and that besting Clemson is essential to that qbjective. “We need to add faculty members and become at least as big if not bigger than Clemson,” White said. “I would like to do it as soon as possible. If we are going to do it in five years then that is 15 faculty members each year.” Although White questions his school’s reputation in terms of the number of educators, he said he is proud of the outreach programs to which it plays host, like Project Lead the Way. In PLTW, White said, teachers attend summer classes in which ♦ Please see DEAN, page 3 Students seek bronzed look for vacation By KELLY CAVANAUGH ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR In the weeks leading up to spring break, USC students have sought local tanning beds in search of that coveted bronze glow. First-year visual communications student Helene Henry has been working on her tan in preparation for her spring break trip to New Orleans. She said she thinks tanning bed trips are “pretty important,” and that she tans every year primarily during March and April. “I mean, everyone wants to look good for spring Break,” Henry said. Robyn Dowling, co-owner of Sunny Daze tanning and hair salon, said she sees the “heaviest flock” of college students about a month before spring break. “If you have a base tan, then you don’t get burnt as easily,” Dowlinv said Second-year print journalism student Anna-Marie Prete said she hoped tanning early would protect her*from burning at the beach during her spring break vacation. “I’m going to be out in the sun anyway, so I’d rather have a base tan because I’ll be out there for hours and hours, not like in the tanning bed, where its only 10 minutes,” Prete said. Second-year marketing student Oxana Prohorova said she goes to the tanning bed for a base tan. “Last year at spring break I didn’t go to the tanning bed, and I laid out and got burnt,” she said. Many students who tan do so primarily for their appearance. Henry said she thinks tanning improves her overall appearance. “I don’t want to look pasty and white and nasty,” she said. “I think it just adds a little color to my face so that I don’t look dead. It adds some pink to ♦ TANNING, page 3 THIS ISSUE ♦ SPORTS What happens in Vegas? Find out what happened when a group of college students traveled west to Sin City. Page 5 ♦ SPORTS Coming up just short USC’s women’s basketball team saw its season come to an end with a loss to Ole Miss on Thursday night in Greenville. j{Qi m Page 8 INDEX Comics & Crossword..7 Classifieds.10 Horoscopes....7 Letters to the Editor..4 Online Poll..4 Police Report..2 NICK ESARES/THE GAMECOCK --.-- —.. www.dailygamecock.com -