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Author: Brian Fung

South Carolina students killed in beach blaze

A deadly fire in Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., killed seven and injured six, Oct. 28. The origins of the incident are still unclear.

According to The University of South Carolina's Daily Gamecock, of those who perished in the fire, six were USC students. The other student attended Clemson University.

The six students that managed to escape the blaze were rushed to Brunswick Community Hospital. After being treated, all were discharged.

According to USC Vice President for Student Affairs Dennis Pruitt, the USC students were members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and the Delta Delta Delta sorority.

"It's times like these that I am reminded of how lucky I am to live in the state of South Carolina, attend the University of South Carolina and be a part of Sigma Alpha Epsilon," said President of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Jay Laura.
-The Daily Gamecock


SIU President Poshard accused of plaglarism

President of Southern Illinois University (SIU) Glenn Poshard was accused last Wednesday of plagiarism by an anonymous source who provided the SIU newspaper, The Daily Egyptian, with copies of Poshard's doctoral dissertation.

According to The Egyptian, which conducted additional research to verify the allegations, Poshard appeared to have copied verbatim certain passages from other works without citing them.

Poshard denied that he had intentionally committed plagiarism but acknowledged that he "could have made a mistake."

The SIU Board of Trustees has pledged to discuss the issue with Poshard. The body has yet to announce whether it will take punitive measures against him.

"I take my direction from the Board of Trustees," said Poshard. "They're the ones who are appointed, and I answer directly toward them. Eventually they have to decide...if this warrants that kind of action."
- Uwire.com


Police cleared of blame in tasering of student

Florida Department of Law Enforcement officials declared last Wednesday that University of Florida police had behaved correctly when they used a Taser gun to subdue protesting student Andrew Meyer during a question-and-answer session with Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.).

The day after the incident, roughly 300 individuals staged a demonstration on campus. However, students now appear uninterested in further open protest, even despite the state government's decision.

University of Florida President Bernie Machen received a request from five students to ban the deployment of Tasers at the institution until the weapons can be proved safe.

"We've been given a seat at the negotiation table, and we'll do everything we can to negotiate peacefully," said Ben Dictor, one of the students leading the effort.
-The Independent Florida Alligator