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t The University of South Carolina VoL 98, No. 87 • Since 1908 ---MONDAY, APRIL 11, 2005 FRATERNITY APOLOGIZES •AFTER BRAWL • Kappas, Alphas deny involvement in Thursdays fight By KELLY CAVANAUGH ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR The Zeta Zeta chapter of Omega Psi Phi has apologized to the USC community for a fight last Thursday as other fraternities have sought to disassociate themselves from it. The fight in the Russell House Ballroom involved between 12 and 15 men, some swinging brown paddles as weapons, according to the USC Police Department report by officers Cynnamon Morant and Michael Wheeler. No one was taken into custody. Travis Sheffield, a fourth-year pharmacy student and Phi Beta Sigma president, said his group had acted in self defense. i reic mac me p^p^i punrayea us as starting the whole altercation, and we were just defending ourselves,” he said. Damion Robbs, a third-year criminal justice student and Omega Psi Phi member, and Arieus Alcide, the chapter’s graduate advisor, said they wanted to apologize on behalf of the chapter since much of what happened in the fight remains unknown. “For the most part we don’t know what happened, because we were in the ballroom,” Arieus said. “There were so many events afterward, we don’t know who was involved.” Robbs ran for student government vice president in this year’s election. Alcide said Omega Psi Phi’s president and USC President Andrew Sorensen would review the Russell House security camera tapes to determine the fight’s cause and the fighters’ identities. Alcide emphasized that the event had ended when the altercation took place. Robbs said the event had gotten out of hand, and that he had arrived at the same time as the police. Antavis Dennis, a fourth-year management student and Alpha Phi Alpha member, said his group was not involved. “I was not there, but the Alpha Phi Alphas and the Kappas did not have anything to do with it,” he said. Mark McLawhorn, a third-year political science student and Kappa Alpha Psi member, said he did not witness the fight, but that he knows people who did. He said some groups that had been associated with the fight were certainly not involved. “The Omevas and Sifrmas were fighting, but that has nothing to do with the Kappas and the Alphas,” he said. McLawhorn said his fraternity had been holding a poetry event that night. Omega Psi Phi took some responsibility for the fight. “We are high-caliber men,” Alcide said, “so we would like to issue a public apology to the university; President Sorensen; George Grace, president of Omega Psi Phi; the members of Omega Psi Phi; and all the fraternities and sororities on campus.” Alcide said he had asked the chapter members involved in the fight what had happened, but that they had been equally uncertain. He said he plans to interview other chapter members later this week. “The people who really know what happened don’t live in Columbia,” Alcide said. Comments on this story ? E-mail gamecockneTVs@gwm.se. edu French students visit USC as part of exchange program By JESSICA CROSS FOR THE GAMECOCK A group of foreign students arrived at »USC April 1 as part of a cultural exchange program between Columbia and St. Jean de Maurienne, France. Several USC Honors College students traveled to France during spring break to visit French students and their families. Assistant French Professor Lara Lomicka said the 3-year-old program has been a success because “students can really put into practice all that they’ve learned throughout the year.” “It’s been really motivating to the students,” she said. Most USC students who have completed the program have continued their French education. In addition, she said the French and English students almost always keep in contact after they have completed the curriculum. We are going beyond the textbook. They re learning things they wouldn’t learn in a textbook,” Lomicka said, “they’re learning from a real person.” While the French students are at USC, they will be able to participate in various cultural events. For one day, they trade the frigid Alps for Carolina sunshine and a visit to Charleston. They plan to visit the State Museum as well as more everyday locations like Krispy Kreme and Columbiana Mall. The students are given a dose of school spirit in the form of an on campus scavenger hunt, a visit to a sorority house and a football game. They also plan to learn the state dance. Themes such as education, food, family, friendships and elections are addressed during the French students’ stay at USC. Lomicka said this discussion allows the French and American students to find common ground. Pascale Pfister, the teacher accompanying the French students, said, “They were lucky because they already knew who they’d stay with.” The French and American students communicate weekly by e-mail and through a Web site, but the exchange program allows them to physically interact with each other. “I’ve learned to appreciate languages a whole lot more. It makes me want to learn more,” said Sarah Chakales, a second-year journalism student. Despite the program’s popularity among participants, exchange programs like USC’s are relatively uncommon. Lomicka said the only identical program she knew of was at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania. To view the exchange between the French and American students, see the online journal at http://www.ac grenoble.fr/heroultlrdel Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocknews@gwm.sc. edu NICK ESARES/THE GAMECOCK Members of USC’s College Republicans watch the presidential debates in 2004. S.C. College Republicans met Saturday to elect Carolina’s Franklin Buchanan its new statewide leader. The assembly also voted to limit large schools’ representation. Student selected to lead S.C. College Republicans • Assembly chooses to limit states largest schools; USCs delegation reduced to 65 By TAYLOR SMITH STAFF WRITER USC and its College Republicans played host to the College Republican Confederation of South Carolina on Saturday, as a USC student was named chairman of the statewide organization. Franklin Buchanan, political director of the USC College Republicans, was named chairman of CRCSC at the annual state convention where a unanimous majority put him in charge of a 12-school delegation. “Yeah, 1 am really thrilled and honored to serve as chairman,” Buchanan said. Although he did not attend last year’s convention, Buchanan said this year’s conference went much smoother than last year’s, when the USC delegation walked out of the annual meeting. “There was big thing about delegates not being turned in on time,” Buchanan said. “But that all got worked out and for the better of USC.” In addition to electing statewide officials, the delegation adopted a measure to limit the power of South Carolina’s largest schools. With approximately 300 votes cast at the convention, a measure was passed to limit the maximum number of votes at 65, cutting USC’s delegation in half. “Between us, Presbyterian College and Converse College, we could have wiped them out,” Buchanan said. “The cap makes it fairer for larger schools and that means we won’t be able to have high majority anymore, but a cap was necessary.” USC College Republicans Chairman Breck Heidlberg had not been to the convention before this year, but noted USC’s overwhelming presence and agreed with the amendment to change voting. “I knew that the system of voting was pretty much unfair, and I didn’t like the idea of one school being dominant,” Heidlberg said. “So it was important that they were reaching a compromise that helps the confederation.” Heidlberg said delegations from other colleges seemed pleased to meet in a central location like USC and may have also been impressed by visits from USC Student Government president Justin Williams and vice-president Ryan Holt. “It is great to have support from other offices at USC. It helps student organizations as a whole,” Heidlberg said. “The members of Student Government try to support every organization that comes r~ -*s—b-i————— ■ill ■ I— ind it makes everything more unified.” In addition to appearances by USC eaders, the convention was also visited by Katon Dawson, the state Republican Party :hairman, who spoke on the importance of :he College Republican groups in S.C. Having played host to the convention ror the first time in years, Buchanan said le is pleased with the status of the USC College Republicans as a “model chapter” is well as his new post. “Franklin definitely did a good job last iemester as co-chair,” Heidlberg said. “But [ think he will do an exceedingly good job is state chairman.” 'Comments on this story? E-mail ramecocknavs@gumt.sc. edit NHJK tbAK to/ I ht UAMtUUUK USC’s College Republicans campaigned heavily for Republican candidates during the 2004 presidential and senatorial elections. THIS ISSUE ♦THE MIX Dark side of the male mind Jennifer Freeman reviews Jim Bianco's “Handsome Devil.” • Bianco will play Tuesday night at Jammin’ Java. Page 7 INDEX Comics & Crossword..9 Classifieds..72 Horoscopes..9 Letters to the Editor..6 Online Poll.....6 Police Report..2 ♦ SPORTS Building momentum The USC baseball team swept the nationally ranked LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge to rise to the top of the SEC East. Page 10 r it Graphics professor finds field experience valuable By RACHEL EDWARDS FOR THE GAMECOCK For a professor trying to instill a sense of professionalism in his students, personal experience can be an important teaching aid. USC graphic design professor Peyton Rowe says his two-term sabbatical has helped him become a better art teacher. Rowe worked as an art director for Riggs, a Columbia advertising and marketing agency. “It was a great opportunity because it’s a relatively small agency, meaning about 14 people, really creatively driven and very collaborative in their approach,” Rowe said. “It’s been a great experience for me to just talk to other designers and copywriters in a way that I don’t get to here.” Rowe, who has taught art at USC for nine years, earned a bachelor’s degree in painting and a master’s degree in design and visual communication at the University of Virginia. Rowe said she has done freelance work throughout her career as a professor but that her spring and summer break from teaching allowed her to immerse herself in the professional world full-time. She said her goal for her sabbatical was “to reconnect 100 percent with professional design activities as a way to enhance what I bring back to the classroom.” “It’s hard to balance the educational world and the professional world and give both of them 100 percent all the time,” she Ik jfc said. “I can’t pretend I’m doing it every day when three or four days I’m in the classroom.” Rowe said working at Riggs showed her where she needed to tighten up her design assignments. She also learned which new skills her students need to know and what types of projects she needed to assign to help students compete for jobs after graduation. Rowe said she had already seen some changes in her project assignments and the way she handles them during the first half of this semester compared to the time before her sabbatical. Keeping USC’s art students competitive ♦ PROFESSOR, page 4 ■ - — — www.daiLygamecock.com ■■ « — —' » "