The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 13, 2006, Page 6, Image 6
Iran rules out Russian enrichment proposal
draws harsh criticism from Moscow officials
Dli Abba/1 Daremi
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran on
Sunday ruled out a proposal
to conduct uranium
enrichment on Russian
territory, drawing a harsh
rebuke from a lawmaker
in Moscow who said the
move destroyed the only
chance for a compromise in
the standoff over Tehran’s
suspect nuclear program.
The announcement came
as the permanent members
of the U.N: Security
Council — the United
States, Russia, China,
Britain and France — were
to meet this week to discuss
a draft statement aimed at
increasing the pressure on
Iran to resolve questions
about its nuclear activities
amid heightened fears they
are aimed at developing
atomic weapons.
Moscow has sought to
persuade Iran to move
its enrichment program
to Russian territory,
which would allow closer
international monitoring.
Iran said previously that
basic agreement had been
reached on the plan but
details were never worked
out.
“The Russian proposal
is not on our agenda
anymore,” Foreign Ministry
spokesman Hamid Reza
Asefi said. “Circumstances
have changed. We have to
wait and see how things go
with the five veto-holding
countries (on the council).”
Asefi’s comments to
reporters effectively mean
the Russian proposal is
dead the nuclear watchdog
International Atomic
Energy Agency referred
Iran to the council, which
could impose political and
economic sanctions.
The Security Council has
been considering how to
deal with the standoff and
gain more compliance with
Tehran, including demands
-that it abandon uranium
enrichment.
In Moscow, Konstantin
Kosachev, the head of
international affairs
committee of the lower
house of parliament, said
Iran’s decision meant
the end of chances for a
compromise on the issue,
according to Russian news
reports.
Kosachev also warned
Tehran that its refusal
to^ continue talks on
the Russian offer could
“radicalize” the Security
Council’s debate, the
Interfax and RIA Novosti
news agencies said.
Iranian Foreign Minister
Manouchehr Mottaki,
meanwhile, said Tehran
had no intention to use
oil as a weapon in its
confrontation with the
West over its nuclear
program, contradicting a
statement a day earlier by
Interior Minister Mostafa
Pourmohammadi.
“The Islamic Republic
of Iran is determined to
continue to provide Asia
with the oil it needs as a
reliable and effective source
of energy and will not
use oil as a foreign policy
instrument,” Mottaki said at
a conference on energy and
security issues in Tehran.
Iran is the No. 2 producer
in the Organization of
Petroleum Exporting
Countries after Saudi
Arabia. It also has partial
control of the narrow
Straits of Hormuz, a key
route for most of the
crude oil shipped from the
Persian Gulf nations to
world markets.
Meg Gaillard/ THE GAMECOCK
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Students from the Harmony School of Columbia visit the Kolb site, an archaeological
excavation in Mechanicsville in Darlington County. USC students have participated at
the site since it opened in 1997. Visitors can talk to archaeologists and help dig.
DIG • CODTinUCDFROmi
me.”
Students are not the
only ones able to learn at
the Kolb site alongside
professional archaeologists
— ordinary people from
Darlington County and
around South Carolina come
to the site to walk around,
talk to archaeologists and
students about the work
they are doing, and help
the excavation by sifting
through dirt for artifacts.
“I don’t think I’ve worked
on a project*where multiple
classes of people realize they
have a common ancestry,”
said JaColeman Hutto, a
professional archaeologist
who has been working
on the Kolb Site for nine
years. “The preservation of
the past helps to establish
growth and development
of the community, which in
turn allows the individual to
develop and find themselves
inside of the community.
That is why the Kolb site
is important to Darlington
county and the state of
South Carolina.”
The site was discovered
and recorded by local
citizen Chip Helms in
1973. In 1997, the South
Carolina Department of
Natural Resources Heritage
Trust Program began
investigations. Chris Judge,
HTP archaeologist and
adjunct USC professor, co
directs the excavation with
archaeologist Carl Steen.
Work at the Kolb site is
scheduled to continue for
the next eight years with
the help of students and
volunteers.
The first week of the
two-week excavation begins
during spring break each
year. Experience is not
necessary to participate.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocknews@gwm. sc. edu
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security check for guns,
knives and fishing poles,
visitors may stop at the
information desk for maps
and to check coats. They
then walk through a narrow
passageway lined with
two tanks of jacks, fish
perpetually swimming to
the right leading visitors to
what they’ve been waiting
to see.
Many guests clog the
entrance, standing in a
stupor and marveling at the
sheer size of the atrium,
which is almost as cavernous
as the aquarium itself.
Clam-like structures
hang from the ceiling and
fish project onto the floor.
Plasma televisions show
scenes and animals from
inside the aquarium.
Many visitors opt to
see the aquarium’s main
attraction first: the whale
sharks of the Ocean
Voyager, the largest indoor
fish exhibit in the United
States. Measuring 263 feet
long, 126 feet wide and
33 feet deep, the exhibit
contains 6.1 million gallons
of water.
Various spherical viewing
windows line the path but
are usually blocked by small
children standing in front
of them while parents take
pictures.
A tunnel makes visitors
feel like divers as golden
trevally and hammerhead
sharks swim above and
beside them.
One visitor remarked that
the tunnel was “dizzying.”
“You keep turning around
and around but never catch
everything,” she said.
After this small taste it
is on to the main show,
the second-largest viewing
window in the world.
Visitors gather in a collective
gasp at the first glimpse of
it. Plan to spend plenty of
time in front of it, staring
at it much like a comatose
teenager at a video game
screen and listening to the
drone of a park attendee
and the shrieks of at least
four school groups.
Sitting on the ground
directly in front of the
window gives visitors an idea
of the size of the animals
within. Lucky visitors can
watch the whale sharks
being fed or a hammerhead
eating a stingray.
Other exhibits feature
many intriguing animals to
touch, including shrimp,
horseshoe crabs, anemone
and stingrays. Although
intimidating, even the
most squeamish and timid
of visitors should find it a
pleasant experience.
Food is not scarce in
the area with many visitors
opting to eat at Cafe
Aquaria for $6.95 salads and
sandwiches comparable to
U$C’s Grand Marketplace.
Those planning to eat across
the street at Centennial
Olympic Park, be warned:
the aquarium requires
visitors to return no later
than 30 minutes after
exiting. That’s 30 minutes
to leave, eat and re-enter
the park. No small feat.
A trip for two to the
Georgia Aquarium will run
upwards of $60.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocknews@gwm.sc. edu
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