The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 15, 2005, Image 1
The University of South Carolina Vol 98, No. 89 • Since 1908
--- FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2005 -
Newton allegedly
punches Williams
• SG president files, withdraws simple assault charge
against USC receiver, opts for ;mediation-type deal’
By JONATHAN HILLYARD
SPORTS EDITOR
Student Government President Justin
Williams and USC receiver Syvelle
cwiuii were invuivcu 111 a
scuffle at the Masonic Temple on
Gervais Street early Saturday
morning. Williams filed a simple
assault charge against Newton,
but decided Wednesday to drop
the charge, according to the
warrant division of the Columbia
Municipal Court.
Williams, a third-year public
relations student, filed an
incident report with Columbia
police officer S.E. Thomas at
1:30 a.m. Saturday. The report
said Williams claimed he
“attempted to calm down several
other people who were talking,”
and that Newton “punched him
in the left side of his face.”
According to the same report,
Williams toid police that as he
was struck, Newton said, “Yeah
bitch, that’s how we get down,”
and immediately left the scene.
Williams said he wasn’t
talking to 1 he Gamecock, but he told 1 he
Associated Press he “found a better
solution for handling that, more of a
mediation-type deal.”
The report said Williams claimed to
have been sprayed with pepper spray by an
unknown subject. Williams suffered no
visible injuries, but the report did say that
NEWTON
WILLIAMS
he had complained of non-visible injury.
Newton, a sophomore from Marlboro
County, is a two-year letterman on the
USC football team and played quarterback
last season. He was moved to receiver for
um ycai 5 apiiug pidcucc uiiuci
coach Steve Spurrier. Spurrier
told the AP that Newton will
take part in Saturday’s Garnet
and Black spring football game.
“We’re going to give him a
little benefit right now,” Spurrier
said. “But if he’s at these scenes
of scuffles and brawls too many
times, then he won’t play for us.”
Newton was unavailable for
comment.
The incident report identified
Newton as “starting receiver.”
Columbia Police Department
public information officer Skot
Garrick said he didn’t know why
that distinction was made.
On Tuesday, Newton, along
with former quarterback
Dondrial Pinkins, applied for
the state’s pretrial intervention
program in response to petit
larceny charges. The players
confessed to taking action
photographs rrom the locker room area or
Williams-Brice Stadium, according to
arrest warrants.
Williams is in his second month as SG
president. He was inaugurated March 3.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocknems@gwm.sc.edu
Sodexho earns award
for eco-friendly food
• But vegetarians say cafeterias still lack menu options
By SYDNEY SMITH
STAFF WRITER
Sodexho, USC’s campus food provider,
was awarded the 2005 Keeper of the Vision
Award for a Sustainable Future from Food
Alliance, the nation’s leading certification
organization for sustainable products.
Sustainable products, food produced in
environmentally friendly and socially
responsible ways, must meet Food
Alliance’s strict requirements, including
reduction of pesticide use, conservation of
natural resources, not using hormones and
protection of safe working conditions,
according to the Food Alliance Web site.
Sodexho’s use of fruits, vegetables,
sustainable products and locally grown
products helped the national company
earn the award. Sodexho includes
sustainable products in about 12 campuses
nationwide, with plans to include more
universities in the future. While USC’s
dining does not offer sustainable products,
locally grown produce from the State
Farmers Market is available.
But despite Sodexho’s attempts to
provide more natural meal options
through the incorporation of locally
grown produce and sustainable products,
some vegetarian students do not think
Dining Services is going far enough in
meeting their needs.
First-year English student Kat Heavner
decided to become a vegetarian this past
Thanksgiving for several reasons, including
health and animal rights, she said.
Heavner said she has not had much
luck finding meals at USC dining that fit
her diet, and that mealtime choices are
cheese pizza, pasta, salad and grilled
cheese, which gets old.
“I’m not picky about what kind of
cheese I eat, but I know a lot of vegetarians
that won’t eat most kinds of cheese. It’s
cheaper to use animal fat and stomach
lining to harden cheese than vegetable oils,
so most cheese has animal product in it,”
Heavner said. “Even the veggie entrde in
the GMP has cheese in it most days. Also,
they usually just make one entree a day, so
I sometimes have to eat the same thing for
lunch and dinner.”
In response to the growing requests for
more options for vegetarian eating,
Sodexho spokeswoman Bonnie Gordon
said the company would like for students
to voice their interests by submitting
recipes. Filling out comment cards,
available in dining facilities, as well
attending Food Committee meetings,
which are advertised around campus, are
easy options for students to get involved in
campus food options, Gordon said.
♦ SODEXHO, page 4
U.S. marshals apprehend
more than 10,000 fugitives
By MARK SHERMAN
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — More than 10,000
fugitives, many wanted for violent crimes,
were rounded up over the past week in a
coordinated nationwide effort led by U.S.
marshals, law enforcement officials
announced Thursday.
Officers from 960 federal, state and
local law enforcement agencies took part
in the search, which coincided with
Crime Victims Rights Week. The
dragnet caught 10,340 people, some of
whom had two or more outstanding
arrest warrants.
More than 130 of those arrested were
wanted for murder, another 550 were
sought on rape or sexual assault charges,
and more than 600 had outstanding arrest
warrants for armed robbery, officials said.
4 >
Among those captured were 150 gang
members and 100 unregistered sex
offenders, Attorney General Alberto
Gonzales said at a news conference
announcing the results of “Operation
Falcon.”
Among those arrested was Eddie Kelly,
24, wanted by Dallas police for allegedly
shooting a man five times after leaving a
drug house on Feb. 13, and Marcel
Baldwin, 21, of Atlanta, who was found
beneath a trap door in his kitchen. He was
wanted on charges of assault and sexual
offense against a child.
Gonzales said more than 70 percent of
those arrested had prior arrests for violent
crimes.
“We know from history — and from
the bitter experiences of far too many
♦ FUGITIVES, pag« 4
PHOTOS BY NICK ESARES & JON TURNER/THE GAMECOCK
"Brother" John Duncan, top, a visiting preacher from Georgia, harangued
students outside Preston College and the Russell House, Thursday afternoon.
Anna-Marie Prete, left, a third-year print journalism student, sits in silent protest.
RHA Senate mulls
joint SG meetings
By JESSICA CROSS
FOR THE GAMECOCK
A controversial amendment
to the Residence Hall
Association’s constitution that
would permit the RHA Senate
to consider holding joint
sessions with Student
Government’s Senate was
among the topics of Tuesday’s
RHA meeting.
The senators also discussed
the possibility of a trial
membership to an online
music provider for USC.
The joint-sessions
amendment was proposed by
Bates House President Allen
Klump, a first-year political
science student. He said the
goal of the amendment was to
incorporate communication
between RHA and SG.
“I believe that joint
session’s purpose is to show
consensus among the student
body on certain important
issues as well as strength in the
working relationship between
RHA and Student
Government,” Klump said.
RHA President Adam Hark,
a fourth-year history student,
opposed the amendment.
There is no real danger in
the legislation, Hark said,
because the proposal did not
pass. Although Hark said he
does not believe it will pass, he
admitted that it was a step
toward joint sessions of RHA
and SG.
While the proposal was not
accepted, Patrick Walsh did
make a motion to set the issue
to the side to be dealt with
later.
“I was ultimately against it
because of the way the
amendment was written,”
Walsh said. He said he is in
favor of the concept of joint
sessions and knows of
successful joint sessions at
other major schools like the
University of Tennessee.
Maxcy Sen. Jonathan Ross
brought up the possibility of
USC’s trial membership to an
online music provider. If
passed, the proposal would
have given USC residents a
one-year trial membership to
♦ RHA, page 4
IN THIS ISSUE
♦ THE MIX
Pictures worth
a thousand words
USC Advanced Photography
Two class gives 11 art students
a chance to share their work in
an exhibit titled, “Trace,
Remnant, Vestige,” showcasing
digital photography and
traditional silver prints. The
exhibit opens at 6 p.m. tonight
at the Bus Stop Gallery with a
reception.
> www.dailygamecock.com -
PREACHERS
DENOUNCE
STUDENTS
• Unauthorized event
sparks campus criticism
By JON TURNER
\rrurc CHITAD
Several fundamentalist Christians
visited USC on Thursday afternoon,
railing against gays, Catholics, sex,
alcohol, cigarettes and “atheist |
university professors.”
Before long, they had built a
congregation of about 50 students,
informing them “that burning fire
down in your bosom is sin.”
“Brother” John Duncan initially
addressed students from the Greene
Street sidewalk, near Preston College.
When USC police asked him to leave,
he stepped into the street, off USC
property. Duncan said he was a regular
preacher at the University of Georgia,
where “they have freedom of speech.”
Police eventually moved him to the
Russell House Patio.
“OK, everyone, I’m going to the
free-speech area, now,” he announced,
to cheers.
According ro vjoc. policy ror
visiting speakers, “the campus is open
to free discussion” amid “conditions
consistent with the scholarly nature of
an academic community.”
However, USC’s discrimination
policy expressly forbids racial harassment
that “creates an intimidating, hostile or
offensive” environment.
Second-year print journalism
student Charlotte Taylor said Duncan
began harassing her on the street.
“He just started screaming at us and
told us the pope is going to hell, and he
blasphemed the Madonna, which is
really offensive,” she said. Several
students said they were horrified when he
declared the pope was burning in hell.
Matt Callis, associate pastor at the
Shack, said he was dismayed by the
scene.
“I don’t know what he represents,
but that’s definitely not Christianity,”
he said.
Callis said he hoped USC students
♦ PREACHER, page 4
CATCHER ON THE FLY
NICK ESARES/THE GAMECOCK
Receiver Sidney Rice, foreground, goes up for a catch as
safety Ko Simpson trails behind. SEE PAGE 10 FOR MORE
TODAY
HIGH: 65
LOW; 39
___
INDEX
Comics & Crossword..9
Classifieds.12
Horoscopes.9
Letters to the Editor..6
Online Poll..6
Police Report..2