The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, June 08, 2005, Image 1
AMECOCK
nu^^apb.--- WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8, 2005 ———-* W'”8
Students discover
summer freedom
By KELLY CAVANAUGH
FOR THE GAMECOCK
This may be the first time
USC students Cecil Buddin and
Melissa Norton have been away
from home for the summer, but
“freedom” is what they both say
is the best thing about it.
Last summer, Buddin, a
fourth-year public relations
student, lived at home in
Summerville and worked for the
local school district and for his
Dads pest control company.
“I didn’t hate them,” he said,
but “they weren’t the greatest
jobs.”
This summer Buddin is
working at Jakes in Five Points
and taking classes to “catch up
with switching majors,” he said.
“I enjoy it — class wise not so
much, but working is not so
bad.”
Buddin said the best part
about living away from home is
“not having to hear your parents
all the time ... I just have the
freedom to do whatever I want,
it’s pretty much like school. It’s
the same as the school year, but
over the summer,” he said.
Melissa Norton, a third-year
elementary education student,
lives on her own and supports
♦ SUMMER, page 3
PALMETTO BOYS STATE
IAURA-JOYCE GOUGHH'HE GAMECOCK
Participants of this year’s Palmetto Boys State file off the Blatt
P.E. field after an awards ceremony Monday night.
LAURA-JOYCE GOUGH/THE GAMECOCK
Law school adapts after unsafe lead levels
By TAYLOR SMITH
STAFF WRITER
Hot water is the beginning of
the USC Law Centers problems,
as the school comes off a week of
providing bottled water after
unsafe lead levels were discovered
in its drinking fountains.
Faculty ordered the fountains
tested in December when students
complained of the taste of some
units’ water. After two rounds of
testing, two-dozen fountains were
shut down, and faculty asked that
new filters be installed on 26
additional fountains.
Although law students have
enjoyed the bottled water, the
solution may cost the school up to
a $1,000 a month.
Tom Syfert, director of the USC
Environmental Health and Safety
Program, told The Associated Press
that USC is not new to unusual
lead levels with several older
buildings on campus that include
equally aged plumbing. He said
water is imported to 10 buildings
around campus because of their age
and potential risk to faculty, staff
and students.
In adults, overexposure to lead
poison can cause brain, kidney and
red blood cell damage with more
far-reaching effects in children and
pregnant women.
Increased awareness of lead in
drinking water created a
generation of “lead-free” plumbing
in homes built after 1984, but the
Environmental Protection Agency
warns that even such plumbing can
contain as much as 8 percent lead.
Some students wonder if they
are at risk.
Adam Bedenbaugh, a fourth
year experimental psychology
student, said he feels reasonably
safe drinking campus water, but is
♦ WATER, page 3
IN THIS ISSUE —
INDEX
Comics & Crossword....8
Classifieds..12
Horoscopes..8
Online Poll..5
Police Report..3
♦ THE MIX
Backpack Rapper
USC student raps and studies his
way to music industry success.
Page 6
♦ SPORTS
USC comes up short
Gamecocks can’t finish upset bid for
sixth straight Super Regional
appearance. Full recap of Atlanta
regional inside Sports.
Page 9