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The University of South Carolina Monday, February 20, 2006 Vol. 99, No. 65 ® Since 1908 - * Setzler snags treasurer position after runoff Justin Chapura / THE GAMECOCK Treasurer-elect Brad Setzler, left, is congratulated by ^ Student Sen. Tyler Ray on Friday at the election finale. First-year student defeats Guest to round out Student Government executive council Justin Chapura NEWS EDITOR First-year philosophy student Brad Setzler won an improbable victory in the Student Government treasurer’s race Friday over heavily favored third-year math and education student Jennifer Guest. Setzler received 54 percent of votes cast for treasurer between Thursday and Friday, coming in with 696 votes. Guest trailed by only 98 votes with 46 percent of the vote. Guest had a clear lead going into the runoff stage, winning 46 percent of the 3,292 votes cast for treasurer in the first round of elections Monday and Tuesday. Setzler narrowly nudged out second-year math student Steve Smith to proceed into the runoff, Smith trailing 25 percent of votes to Setzler’s 28. The two were separated by only 83 votes. A runoff election was called because Guest lacked the required 51 percent of votes cast required by the Elections Commission to be considered the victor. A considerably smaller crowd had gathered Friday afternoon to hear the results of the election, which was expected after it was learned that 2,000 less students voted in the second round. At the calling of Setzler’s’ name, several in Guest’s camp looked stunned while a few astonished gasps and cheers erupted from where Setzler sat in the Russell House’s third-floor lobby. “This is incredible. It’s a dream come true,” Setzler said. The treasurer-elect looked visibly shaken while his campaign staff and friends took their turns giving him congratulations. “I guess it came down to who was willing to work the hardest for it,” Setzler said when he learned of his slim winning margin. “I think this (election) makes it possible to put my policies in place. It’ll take a lot of work and a lot of cooperation from a lot of people, but I think they’ll be realized soon enough,” Setzler said. After ducking into a side hall to make some phone calls, Guest emerged and said she will continue to work on expanding the use of the CarolinaCard outside of the treasurer’s seat. “I’m not going to make a promise I won’t follow through on,” Guest said. “I’m still going to work on my CarolinaCard (initiative).” Guest hinted at possibly RUnOPP • 6 Sherman marches on capital once again I _ Re-enactors fire cannons at State House grounds during day of recognition GmaUasselli •STAFF WRITER A re-enactment of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman’s 1865 cannon attack on the South Carolina State House and other targets took place at approximately 9 a.m. Saturday. The Greater Columbia Civil War Alliance fired about 12 rounds in three shots, two of which were fired by people who won an essay contest sponsored in part by The State newspaper. standing on tne west ^oiumDia side of the Gervais Street bridge, Joel Neely, 49, of Lexington, and John W. Wilkes, 45, of Columbia, fired the first two shots to commemorate the 141st anniversary of Sherman’s march through Columbia at the end of the Civil War. The third and largest shot of the morning was saved for Bobby Horton, mayor of West Columbia. ^ Dan Paterson of the ^Greater ^Columbia Civil War Alliance said the shots were aimed at three targets: the Saluda Mill, the State House and a hospital formed by citizens of Columbia behind the State House. General Sherman (played by Danny Gregory) made an appearance on horseback and gave the orders to fire the cannon. When Sherman was firing at the city he was “trying to get out anyone left in the city,” Paterson said. “After one hour of doing that, they went into the city,” he said. ^ The Greater Columbia Civil ^War Alliance does anywhere from 50 to 70 re-enactments a year, SHCRfllRn • 5 BUZZ KILI> Some peoples’ hangovers worse because free pour means less booze for the buck Schuyler Kropf THE POST AND COURIER CHARLESTON — You’d be hard-pressed to tell weekend drinker Daniel Harbeson that | the switch to free-pour liquor has helped the imbibing consumer. j During the era of the minibottle, Harbeson ' said his bar tab was much cheaper. A round J; of celebratory Jager bombs split four ways : cost him about $10. 1: But for him to make the same toast today, each member of his crew has to buy an individual Jager bomb, he said, sending their collective tab upward of $20. 5 “The value isn’t what it used to be,” Harbeson lamented last week. . ft Six weeks after free-pour became legal in j South Carolina, the drinking public is facing DRIFIK • 1 CLEMSON NEWSPAPER TO AUCTION FIREARMS Tiger Town Observer to give away AK-47 for gun awareness Morgan Harris THE GAMECOCK The Tiger Town Observer, a conservative student newspaper at Clemson University, is holding a drawing for an AK-47 semi automatic rifle from Feb. 27 until March 2. It’s being held to celebrate the Second Amendment and to increase gun safety awareness. The drawing is open to anyone 18 or older with no criminal record. Anyone within the community is welcome to participate. The AK-47, a Romanian semi automatic worth up to $300, is first prize along with “The Bias Against Guns” by John Lott, a box of ammunition and four hours of gun training with a professional. Second prize is a .22 Magnum Marlin rifle, a box of ammunition and “The Seven Myths of Gun Control” by Richard Poe. The National Rifle Association is also assisting The Tiger Town Observer in their drawing. “They have donated everything from bumper stickers, water bottles, membership applications 6uns • 6 Law dean candidate says money crucial for school’s success Rosemarie Cox THE GAMECOCK The USC School of Law’s problems all seem to revolve around the need for one thing: more money. Many consider the most law school’s pressing concerns to be the need for more scholarship money and a higher national ranking, hiring additional staff and raising money for the new law building. Walter F. “Jack” Pratt Jr., a candidate for dean of the law school, visited campus last week to discuss how he plans to fix these problems. Pratt, like the other candidates, said he believes money would help resolve these issues. Pratt’s plan to raise this needed cash is to ask for it. Like David Shipley and Jim Chen, the other two dean candidates, Pratt looks to improve relationships with the alumni, the law school’s main source of money. “You gO to alumni first because those are the natural constituencies,” Pratt said. “They need to be prepared to hear people start asking them, and one of the ways to do that is to improve communication with alumni so that they feel in more contact with the school.” He also mentioned that an option might be expanding the range of donators to people unassociated with the university who might be interested in giving money to a worthy institution. Many students are concerned with their school’s continuing decline on the U.S. News & World Report ranking of law schools, on which USC is 90th. An increase in scholarship money Dcnn • s Viewpoints Jacob Davis encourages students to get interested in Student Government; Valene Sims celebrates random acts of kindness in today’s world. ; The Mix Operation: Update After a long wait, Microsoft is due to release its newest operating system, Vista, in Lite 2006. Sports Sweeps USC’s baseball team takes three against Radford over the weekend at Sarge Frye Field. i Index Comics & Crossword.... 10 Classifieds.13 Horoscopes.10 Opinion.7 Police Report..2 • k