Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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siat mi .w ,mmmmhbbi^b * * — s— ~ — in aar S/>fria/»THE (JAMECOCK Maj. Josslyn Aberle, a U.S. Army public affairs officer, pses with the late Peter Jennings. Aberle is a second-year graduate student at USC. Frontline News USC graduate student recounts experience in Iraq war Jess Davis STAFF WRITER When she met Saddam Hussein, he had just been captured. His hair was long and disheveled, he badly needed a shave and he was hurling insults at her too obscene to print. “He wasn’t very pleased to see a female wearing pants, with a weapon and in charge,” said Maj. Josslyn Aberle, an active duty public affairs officer yrr\\-/j wiui uic vj.o. y\imy anu a second-year graduate student in mass communications at USC, recalling her meeting with the deposed Iraqi leader. At the time, Aberle was the spokeswoman and 1'AU tor iask rorce ironhorse, a combination of the 4th Infantry Division and additional support units totaling more than 33,000 soldiers. Her task force entered Iraq in March 2003 and fought their way to Tikrit, where they set up headquarters. Soldiers in her task force were spread out throughout the “Sunni Triangle,” a large region of northern Iraq known as the seat of Saddams power. Though in the months leading up to his capture there had been many close calls, it wasn’t until Dec. 13,2003, at around 8 p.m., that a group of soldiers found Hussein in what amounted to a glorified hole in the ground, outside of his hideout in a small town called Ad Dwar, about 12 kilometers south of Tikrit. Located in the courtyard next to a “ramshackle farmhouse with a three-sided mud hut,” was Hussein’s underground “bunker” — a bricked-in hole about 6 feet high, 7 feet long and 8 feet wide. Aberle wasn’t expecting Hussein to be captured that day; she knew soldiers were searching for him but because they didn’t capture him until evening, she was ready for her first shower in three days and T II atunt icoL. lnaitau, ant aptni mint than 72 hours without sleep, first verifying that the man they had captured was Hussein, then handling the media frenzy that erupted after news broke of his capture. She first met Hussein while photographing him the day after his capture. Soldiers were checking to make sure he didn’t get a concussion from bumping his head as he climbed out of his hiding place and cleaning him up. When she showed a group of Iraqi citizens pictures of the captured former dictator at a news conference in Baghdad, wild cheers broke out. As the media members stationed in Iraq traveled to Tikrit after the news conference in Baghdad, Aberle handled about 250 news organizations and thousands of media queries. When the press visited the site where Hussein was captured, “every single Special to THE GAMECOCK Aberle crouches over the hole from which allied forces pulled Saddam Hussein. Aberle coordinated media coverage during the capture. one of them had to get in that hole,” Aberle said. “And some of them wouldn’t get out — they just wanted to stay in that hole. Finally I had to say they could have 30 seconds in there before some of my soldiers would physically pull them out,” she said. • Eventually, some of the frenzy died down and it was back to business as usual for her division. In RBGRLE • 3 Choked up Juan fiWTHK (1AMEC0CK USC coach Steve Spurrier talks to reporters following the Gameco^s’ 30-22 upset win^igainst at wiuiams-Brice Stadium._ Campus Wellness offers session to help students stop smoking Katie Bech FOR THE GAMECOCK Campus Wellness will play host to a “Quit Tips” session Thursday to give students information on how to successfully stop smoking. The presentation, which begins at 8 p.m., falls on the day of the Great American Smokeout, an annual American Cancer Society event that encourages smokers to go without cigarettes for the day in hopes they will kick the habit for good. Campus Wellness will also be in the Russell House today and Wednesday to accept students’ cigarettes and smokeless tobacco in exchange for bags filled with smoking cessation aids. Tables will be locked in the first- and second-floor lobbies of the Russell House and will operate from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The “Quit Tips” lecture and the cigarette trade-off are part of Campus Wellness’ yearlong campaign for tobacco prevention called “Kick Butts.” Kim Lewis, associate director of Health and Wellness Programs, said people begin to see health improvements soon after they give up cigarettes. “The great thing about quitting smoking (now) is that many of the things that go awry when you start (smoking) fix themselves,” Lewis said. Quitting smoking even for only one day decreases carbon monoxide levels in blood, lowers the chance of heart attack and increases oxygen levels in blood, according to the American Cancer Society. For college students, however, quitting might be especially difficult. Cigarettes are readily available from other students, and many college-age smokers identify themselves as “social smokers,” meaning that they smoke only in group situations. “It is hard for some smokers to think about the lifestyle change (that will happen when they stop smoking),” Lewis said. “If they primarily smoke when they drink, then they will have to change that behavior.” Lewis said that though students often pledge to stop smoking before they go home for the Thanksgiving or winter break, it is important to “factor in stressful times” when planning a quit date. “Planning is an important part of the process,” Lewis said. “Often, holidays are a difficult (ueuness • a CAROLINA, CLEMSON WAGE ICE CREAM BATTLE Jachie Alexander ' FOR THE GAMECOCK The USC and Clemson rivalry knows no bounds, as a full-out ice cream war adds to the gridiron grudge match. Marble Slab Creamery kicks off its Carolina-Clemson ice cream competition today with a specialized flavor for each school. The Gamecock flavor features a sweet cream base with strawberry and fudge mix-ins. The Tiger flavor similarly has a sweet cream base with Oreo and caramel mix-ins. Each flavor will be sold at regular price with $1 from each sale being donated to charity. The entire price will be donated if purchased by a football player, cheerleader and coaching staff. Second-year sports entertainment management student Ross Allen, Russell House Marble Slab manager, said it’s sopiething fun for the company. “We want to do something fun for our employees and do something good for the community at the same time,” Allen said. Marble Slab chose a local chapter of Harvest Hooe Food Bank to receive the donations. “With it being around Thanksgiving and with Katrina, everyone needs help,” Allen said. “Now is one of the biggest times of , the year.” USC students can buy their flavor at Russell House, Gervais Street and Woodhill Mall locations. The locations will keep a running total of how much each flavor sells until Saturday. Students are already divided on flavors. First-year business student Mark Cassidy said he doesn’t think “they should even have the Clemson flavor.” “I’d buy the strawberries and fudge flavor because it’s the Carolina flavor and it just sounds better,” said Katy Porter, a first-year English student. First-year business student Matthew Lukovich said he thinks the flavor “should be raspberry and fudge.” Even employees have decided their preferred flavor. “I would think the strawberries and fudge would be the best combination,” Allen said. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocknews@gwm.sc.edu INSIDE Viewpoints Tim McManus releases the results of his eco-mugpopularity study; Jacob Davis criticizes government solutions to recent riots in France. 4 The Mix Foxy browser One of the most-used internet browsers, Mozilla’s Firefox is well known to college students. 5 Sports Web exclusive mA The Gamecock hoops team show cased its skills in an exhibition. Visit dailygamecock.com for more.