Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Homecoming week kicks off with 4-mile charity run ’ FiUphoto /THE (JAM EOOCK Marchers walk behind a float during last year’s Homecoming parade. • Festivities to include crooning of king, queen at Colonial Center, carnival, parade from staff reports No football game and fall break left campus a little empty last week, but there will- be no shortage of activity in the coming days as Homecoming week, dubbed “Cocktoberfest,” gets under way. Students will have the opportunity today to participate in the Gamecock Riverlink Run and Walk, an event in which the winner gets $ 14000 toward the charity of their choosing. Registration is $15 and will begin at 3 p.m. The 4-mile race begins an hour later from the pool deck at the Strom Thurmond Wellness & Fitness Center and ends with a celebration at the Kappa Kappa Gamma house in the Greek Village. Prizes will be awarded to second and third place, and a spirit award will also be handed out. The race features the, newest component of the Greenway, the Gamecock Riverlink, a 2-mile stretch from USC to a riverfront park. After the race, students can trudge up to Greene Street tp catch Carolinapalooz^, a free conpert featuring Qraham Colton Band and Ingram Hill. On Tuesday, a carnival will be held on Davis Field and the Russell House patio. Festivities will include various booths, games and entertainment. This year’s Homecoming King and Queen will be crowned at the Colonial Center Wednesday at 8, p.m. The event is one of the few that charges students for admission. Tickets are $6 in advance or $7 at the door and are available at the Russell House information desk. The annual Homecoming parade will march through campus Friday. Viewing stands will be located on Sumter Street in front of the Horseshoe. Various schools will hold alumni functions around campus Friday that include free food and entertainment. • The School of Journalism and Mass Communications’ Alumni Society will hold a reception'at 5 p.m. in the courtyard beside LeConte College, the school’s future . home. Free food and free parking in ' Home • 3 -ALA SAYS ASTHMA SUFFERERS NEED VACCINE After last years shortage of shots, health center orders 2,000 doses ^ Stephen Fastenau NEWS EDITOR •Since the American Lung Association places those with chronic lung disease at a higher risk to contract the flu virus, students with asthma should consider being among the first to get flu shots when USC receives its vaccinations later this month. The ALA this season is urging more asthma sufferers to get treatment and expects to have enough vaccination to cover them, unlike during last year’s shortages. Dr. Terry King, director of Clinical •Services at Thomson Student Health Center, said last week that the university did not expect a shortage this season after ’ ordering 2,000 vaccinations, up 300 from last year. In 2004, only 500 doses were delivered to USC. The ALA estimates that of the 13.6 million adults with asthma, -only 40 percent are immunized each year, leaving them at risk for complications, and illness resulting* from influenza infection. “We believe it is more harmful for people with asthma to avoid getting a flu shot,” James Gooden, Chair of the ALAs Southeast Region Board pf Directors, said in a statement. 1 he ALA warning comes as a result •of a study by the organization’s Asthpia Clinic Rese'arch Centers, a network of 20 facilities around the country that study the disease. The study, which included approximately 2,000 adults and ■ children suffering from asthma, concluded that flu shots were safe for those suffering from the disease. The unccine • 3 _Spur of the moment • '• KatieKirkUnJ/fWt, UAMECOCK San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker stares down his defender Wednesday at the Colonial Center in an NBA exhibition game against the Philadelphia 76ers. For full coverage of the game, see page 8. Pakistani officials increase earthquake death toll estimates Tim Tran THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BALAKOT, Pakistan — Pakistani officials predicted Sunday that many more thousands of dead would be found in earthq uake- ravaged Kashmir as heavy rains in the Himalayan region drenched homeless survivors in mud and misery. The latest estimate would raise the death toll from the magnitude-7.6 quake in the mountains of northern Pakistan and India to at least 54,000 — a jump of more than 13,000 from the official count of known dead. A spokesman for the prime minister of the region warned that the cold and wet could cause further deaths among the 2 million or so people believed to be homeless. About a fifth of the villages in the quake zone remained cut off eight days after the tremor turned villages scattered across lush mountainsides into death traps, and the bad weather over Kashmir halted aid flights by helicopters. Government officials in Islamabad said early Sunday that 39,422 people were confirmed killed in all of Pakistan — at least 26,422 dead in the Pakistani portion of Kashmir and another 13,000 in North West Frontier Province. But later Sunday a spokesman for the state government chief in the Pakistani portion of Kashmir said the death toll in that region alone is believed to be “not less than 40,000.” This would mean the quake killed more than 53,000 in all of Pakistan. With another 1,350 deaths reported in India’s part of Kashmir, that brings QUAKE • 3 Iraqi constitution. closer to passage as Sunni Arabs fail to derail vote Lee Heath THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq’s landmark constitution seemed assured of passage Sunday after initial results showed minority Sunni Arabs had fallen short in an effort to veto it at the polls. The apparent acceptance was a major step in the attempt to establish a democratic government that could lead to the withdrawal of U.S. troops. Opponents failed to secure the necessary two-thirds “no” vote in any three of Iraqi’s 18 provinces, according to counts that local officials provided to The Associated Press. In the crucial central provinces with mixed ethnic and religious populations, enough r>l l -wr l i • i vJillllCd dUU 1\U1US VULCU IU ol^llllC UIC Sunni bid to reject the constitution. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani issued a decree setting Dec. 15 for Iraqis to vote again, this time to elect a new parliament. If the constitution indeed passed, the first full-term parliament since Saddam Husseins fall in 2003 will install a new government by Dec. 31. If the charter has failed, the parliament will be temporary, tasked with drawing up a new draft on which to vote. But the outcome could further divide the nation, with many Sunnis fearing the new decentralized government will deprive them of their fair share in the country’s vast oil wealth. Large numbers of Sunnis voted “no,” and some of their leaders were already rejecting the apparent result. While a strong Sunni turnout in Saturday’s referendum suggested a desire among many to participate in Iraq’s new political system, there were fears that anger at being ruled under a constitution they oppose could push some into supporting the Sunni-led insurgency. “If the constitution was passed, the attacks will definitely rise against the occupation forces, and the security IRAQ • 3 Duke scholar free from Armenian prison, concentrates on work The Associated Press ^ DURHAM, N.C. — A Duke University scholar is back at work on his doctoral dissertation after spending two months in an Armenian prison this summer on what he believes was a trumped-up charge. Yektan Turkyilmaz was detained when he tried to leave that country with antique books, a violation of Armenian law. But the Turkish citizen thinks it was his research* that really got him into trouble. The two countries have a historically hostile relationship, and Turkyilmaz’s dissertation addresses it. __T & “I never thought that they would, like, you know, detain me. I thought it was something silly,” he told The News & Observer of Raleigh. Turkyilmaz, 33, has been to Armenia five times, the first in 2002. He returned in April to work for two months. The avid book collector also bought more than 100 used books and pamphlets in Yerevan, the Armenian capital, something he has done in the past with no problem. This time, however, it caused a big one. As Turkyilmaz waited to pass through an airport security checkpoint on June 17, a strange man spoke to him in f- & broken English. Turkyilmaz had been speaking Armenian. “I realized that something was up,” he recalled. His passport was stamped, but then he was surrounded by more than half a dozen agents from the National Security Service who told Turkyilmaz to empty his pockets and confiscated his luggage. Thiey disregarded his explanation that he was a scholar and meticulously began logging the titles of the 88 books he had in his bags — sometimes with Turkyilmaz’s help in translating those that were written in old Armenian. STUDCnT • 3 www. dailwamecock. com INSIDE Viewpoints Tim McManus reveals USC’sgrand money-making scheme; Jacob Davis delivers his perspective on the progress being made toward insti tuting democracy in Iraq. 4 The Mix Leading the way Apple’s newest iPod innovation is video viewing. Prices will range from $299 to $399. 5 Sports Exhibitionists The Philadelphia 76ers defeated the San Antonio Spurs Wednesday in an NBA preseason bout in Carolina’s Colonial Center. 0