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The University of South Carolina Friday, February 3, 2006 Vol. 99, No. 58 • Since 1908 Razing the The Carolina Plaza stands as the Carolina Inn hotel in this undated archived photograph. JWI II. • Carolina Plaza to come down Sunday, make way for new public health school Gina Uasselli STAFF WRITER he Carolina Plaza will end more than three decades of service to USC and Columbia when it is imploded at 8 a.m Sunday. Nine blocks will be blocked off to traffic and the public, but a public viewing area for the demolition will be in the Department of Transportation parking lot on the corner of Greene and Lincoln streets. Roadblocks will create a one-block safety perimeter around the Plaza, forming a square with one corner at Lincoln and Senate streets and the opposite corner at Greene and Main streets. No vehicles or people are allowed inside, said USC spokesman Russ McKinney. David Griffin, vice president of construction company D.H. Griffin, estimated the roadblocks would be lifted as early as 15 minutes after the implosion. “I would perceive all streets being open two to three hours after,” Griffin said. D.H. Griffin was hired to dismantle the former visitor center for USC. D.H. Griffin hired Demolition Dynamics to design the implosion, McKinney said. The two companies have worked on over 100 projects together. The demolition will cost just under a million dollars, said Delisa Clark, project manager. In addition, it will cbst about $250,000 to remove the building’s asbestos. Preparation for the roadblocks begins Saturday night by “bagging” all area meters. Roads will be blocked off at 7 a.m. Sunday. Cars parked in the immediate vicinity of the blast will be moved, said Steven Pettigrew, operations vice president of Demolition Dynamics. There will be a live Webcast of the implosion on the university’s Web site. The camera will start streaming at 7:45 a.m. and end at 8:15 a.m. The command post, where the three buttons will be pressed to initiate the implosion, is situated in Damon’s Grill on Senate Street. Officials from D.H. Griffin and Demolition Dynamics estimate the total time from beginning the blast through the building’s final collapse of the building to be about 15 seconds. Workers will then “start dust cleanup 5 minutes after it’s on the ground,” Griffin said. As soon as they get an “all clear,” they will tighten the perimeter of the safety zone. McKinney said the building was originally built as a hotel between 1972 and 1973. “The building has had a lot of usage by the university,” said Joe Rogers, director of Facilities Management. “The decision (to implode it) wasn’t easily arrived at.” It is the building’s unconventional construction that contributed to the final decision, McKinney said. The cost of bringing the building up to code for university purposes would be more expensive than what the building is worth, Rogers said. “We decided the best thing to do was to take it down,” Rogers said. Following the demolition, the area will be used as a lay down area for the new university construction on College and Assembly streets. “Then it’ll be a parking PLAZA • 2 Where it’s goin ’ down I ILJLJl The State House P| wMl*** Police roadblocks / checkpoints EZ3 Demolition Comm nd Center ^ hi 4, .7717 ' ' - Designated Public Viewing Area >; ^ j j p| i i T' . j I | ' j£ Best vantage points J __^aiai ii ^L - ' '■' ■ > ni i Wbertt Best Vantage pOlfltS OTC f^pTV: 5 % lllaipl mMst/m /u*t outside the ibeik points along jlilp j |||||||| J |H«1|| ii Assembly and Pendleton itreeti mmmmmm iMMUtimk -1 1 ^ | ^ "sourc^oCSoI! 75 ice Department ►Senate forgives AAAS loan Monetary misunderstandings, low revenue preventedfrat from paying step show winners Jess Davis STAFF writer The Senate Finance Committee forgave a $2,000 loan to the Association of African American Students o>n Wednesday to allow the P>rganization to pay prizes for its November step show. Committee chairman Chase Stoudenmire, a second-year history student, cast a tie-breaking vote after a long debate. “We felt it was in the best interest for all parties ihvolved for us to forgive the loan and use this as a lesson and learning experience for AAAS and all other student organizations,” Stoudenmire said. Misunderstandings about Kutside bank accounts nd how university funds can be used, combined with low revenue intake from the event, led to the organization’s inability of being able to pay the step show winners. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority won $1,000 prizes but have not received the money. The loan forgiveness from the Senate Finance Committee was a last resort for AAAS, AAAS treasurer LaTanya Johnson said at Wednesday’s meeting. Johnson, a second-year history student, pleaded her case in front of the Finance Committee and said nothing like this would happen again. She said AAAS cancelled their next step show and would have only free events from now on. Johnson cited the inexperience of the AAAS officers and low income onus • 2 Native American chief: Alaskan refuge drilling matter of \'survival’ Jackie Alexander ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR For Americans, it’s a matter of more oil or higher gas prices. For a speaker at the School of Law on Wednesday, it’s a matter of life and death. Chief Joe Linklater of the Vuntut Gwich’in First Nation spoke to USC students and the public about his perspective on drilling in the Arctic National Wddlife Refuge, or ANWR, in Alaska. Linklater said the Gwich’in, a Native American tribe inhabiting northern parts of Alaska and western Canada, have a deep relationship with the caribou that goes back thousands of years. The Gwich’in rely on the caribou as a source of food and see it as part of a fragile environmental infrastructure, Linklater said. That infrastructure is the subject of controversy in relation to a hotly contested proposal from the Bush administration to explore oil reserves in ANWR. While 2005 saw a bulk Meg Gaillard / THE GAMECOCK Chief Joe Linklater speaks Wednesday at the law school. of the fight in the energy and budget bills of the U.S. House and Senate, the potential for Congress to approve drilling is still possible. With proposed drilling in ANWR, Linklater said the Gwich’in’s culture is endangered. The mortality rate for caribou would increase, leading to the death of other animals. “If the number of caribou falls below 100,000, the numbers won’t go back up,” Linklater said. “The next to go are moose, then small fur-bearing animals and then the predators.” “We have an obligation to protect things that gives us sustenance,” Linklater said. “If we are not able to maintain a healthy lifestyle, then our culture dies.” Linklater said the United Nations has covenants that state indigenous people have the right to maintain their subsistence. “(Drilling in ANWR) is a statement from the United States that human rights aren’t important,” Linklater said. He said the younger generation of Gwich’in have become leaders in the fight to protect the area. Many have spoken in > international conventions about the issue, including a protest last September on the lawn of the U.S, Capitol. “The youth see their future in jeopardy,” Linklater said. “They are becoming more aware environmentally, politically and culturally.” Linklater said that after 10 years of drilling to reach 011 beneath the ice, the supply would last only 200 days and reduce gas prices by a penny. “We are not environmentalists as a government,” Linklater said. “We are fighting this issue for one reason and one reason only: survival.” Angela Viney, executive director of the South Carolina Wildlife Federation, said it’s important for people to learn about the area and the potential problems. “It’s important for people to hear what could happen to a very pristine area of Alaska,” Viney said. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocknews@gwm.sc. edu Viewpoints Aaron Brazier questions some students missing sarcasm all together; Chase Stoudenmire defends CP’s choice of ‘Real World’ event. A The Mix Rock 101, Rock Theory... Marty Fort opened up Columbia’s own school of rock for artists ofariv age. Sports Sign on the dotted line Twenty-six football recruits committed with letters of intent on Wednesday. £ INDEX Comics & Crossword..6 Classifieds.8 Horoscopes.6 Opinion.3 Police Report..2