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VOL. 103, NO. 104 ● SINCE 1908
Rice brings fashion to USC ‘Project Runway’ star advises students to pursue dreams, ignore others’ judgemental opinions Taylor Cheney
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THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2010
Men’s Basketball Senior night ends sadly for the Gamecocks who fell 79-70 to Alabama.
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STAFF WRITER
Infamously known as the fashion villain of Bravo’s second season of “Project Runway,” Santino Rice was all laughter when he came to speak to students Wednesday night in the Russell House Ballroom. A native of Saint Charles, Mo., which he refers to as a “Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn location,” Rice always had a bigger agenda for his future. “I read Italian Vogue, I sewed dresses for my girlfriends, I made outfits for my mother’s Barbie collection,” he said. Rice said his diversity has made him the designer he is today. Growing up homosexual with a half African-American mother and half Italian mother, he believes that “feeling different was an amazing education.” “My intent is to be honest and nothing offends me,” he said. “I grade myself and if I’m happy with it, that’s all that matters. I don’t let other people’s opinions get in my way.” At 17, Rice moved to Los Angeles and enrolled in the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. Although he knew he always wanted to be a designer, he said school helped him organize his thoughts and learn the business aspect of fashion. However, it was not until after being a fashion designer for 15 years that his friends suggested being a contestant on “Project Runway.” “I knew it was a risky move, but after I watched the fi rst season, I fell in love with it,” he said. While he was on the show, he said he gave the producers a lot to work with. “I did not edit myself at all. I was happy, I was sad, I was crying, I showed them everything.” Although the show aired six years ago and has run in 47 countries, Rice said if he did not do “Project Runway,” he would have done something else.
Richard Pierce / THE DAILY GAMECOCK
Rice, contestant in “Project Runway,” discusses his inspiration for design. “I could never imagine the work I do would inspire the work of others,” he said. “That’s why I love to speak at colleges.” Now with a new television show in the works, Rice said he still has not come close to fi nishing yet. “Now I can balance between the worlds of fashion and television, but I’m so far from making it,” he said. Carolina Productions’ Special Programs Coordinator Sarah Jordan Santino ● 2
SENATE
Senate reverses budget decision Mix Tape: Oscar Nom As the Oscars draw ever nearer we at the Mix have our eyes on a few specific aspects of this year’s Academy Awards.
SG grants Judicial Council $5000 for events, overturning previous ruling with debate Josh Dawsey
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
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Economically Speaking Both companies and families are a collection of people, but each should be held to higher standards Peter regarding bailout. Schaeffing
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Mix
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Tennis Check out our coverage of th e wo m e n’s te n n i s victory over the USF Bulls Wednesday.
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USC’s St udent Senate reversed it s original decision to deny funding for a Carolina Judicial Council retreat and gave the organization $5,000 Wednesday night during its last meeting of the session. The extra $5,000 was part of a larger financial bill Wednesday night that passed the Senate almost unanimously. But some senators disagreed with the reversal. Most of the $5,000 will be spent on food and a large banquet on campus, and some said spending such a large sum of money in wake of recent budget cuts is inefficient. Recently, spending around $4,000 for a Freshman Council retreat was hotly debated by members of the Senate, who said the costs for an out-of-town trip were exorbitant. “But t hat was spend i ng money on ourselves,” Sen. Matt Ungar said. “This is an organization that does fantastic work for the University and they deserve the funding to hold their retreat. It’s our job to help them.” Leaders say the three-day retreat provides necessary training to the 70 or so students who run the organization. The banquet is typically attended by USC President Harris Pastides and other dignitaries. The extra $5,000 gave the council $9,400 in f unding for the upcoming quarter. That’s almost twice as much as any other organization received on campus. Many other organizations lost funding once again this quarter. “They are getting the same amount of money for their food and banquet as everyone else is getting just for all their costs,” Sen. Andrew Grazcyk said. “I just couldn’t agree with that.” The debate over the bill brought angry reactions from SG Vice President Alex Stroman. Stroman ruled a motion for CJC President Bri Nathan to answer questions out of order, citing time constraints. After the meeting, senators lambasted Stroman, saying his personal life shouldn’t dictate the length of a senate meeting. “The fact Alex ruled it out of order when he shouldn’t have should hurt CJC,” Sen. Anna Hecksher said. “He had some place he had to be at 6 p.m. so he cut Senate short so he could leave. I believe it was in the detriment of the Senate.” President Pro Tem Matt Ungar said he would have been happy to step in for Stroman.
Stroman said he was sure the legislation would pass and didn’t think the questioning was necessary. He confirmed he had a prior obligation but said he would have ruled the motion out of order regardless. “The Senate wanted to wax philosophically and question organizations who do good stuff on campus,” Stroman said. “They deserve the funding. They got the funding. And it’s fully in my rights as vice president to rule something out of order.” Had the bill not passed Wednesday night, it would have been dead this session and would have been debated by the next Senate in late March, according to Sen. Ben Bullock. After Senate Clerk Zach Lamb left the meeting for class, SG President Meredith Ross took the podium to call the last roll call vote of the session. Ross started in SG four years ago as a Freshman Council member. She then moved on to Senate before serving as SG Vice President and now as SG President. “I’d just like to say I’ve never done this before,” Ross said, bringing a laugh from the chamber. Du ring her f inal repor t to t he organization, she encouraged them to keep up the fight and hold strong even in the midst of challenges. Ross said it was one of the best senates in school history and left the organization with a Swedish proverb. “On calm seas, all ships have great captains,” she read. Comments on this story? E-mail sagcknew@mailbox.sc.edu
Jeremy Aaron / THE DAILY GAMECOCK
SG Vice President Alex Stroman presides over his last Senate session Wednesday.
Rogelio V. Solis / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Former Ole Miss mascot Colonel Reb’ stands among fans at a 2009 football game versus Mississippi State in Starkville.
Rebels begin searching for mascot replacement Students, alumni influence decision Jonathan Battaglia
ASSITANT NEWS EDITOR
W hen t he G amecock s b e a t N o .4 - r a n k e d O l e Miss last football season , t here was no mascot on the sidelines to cheer the Reb el s on. I n f ac t , t he Universit y of Mississippi has not had a mascot on the field since 2003. C o l o n e l R e b ’, t h e school’s previous mascot, is a white-haired elderly man who favors an a ntebel lu m pla nt at ion ow ner. The u n iversit y ’s ad m i n ist r at ion dec ided seven years ago to rid itself of the controversial mascot, which had sparked anger among alumni and donors. But la st mont h, t he s t u d e nt b o d y v o t e d t o begin t he search for Colonel Reb’s replacement and will begin the process of selecting a new mascot this month. Colonel Reb’ will not be an option. B r i a n Fe r g u s o n , t h e Alumni Chairman for the Colonel Reb’ Foundation, sa id t he vote was not conducted in a fair manner. In the vote, students were given a choice to have a mascot or remain without one. “I think if they did a poll between Colonel Reb’ and any other mascot, he would get about 80 to 85 percent
of the vote,” said Ferguson, a 20 07 a lu m nu s of t he University of Mississippi. “O u r problem is t hat the voice of the students should be heard, but the ad m i n i s t r at ion do e s n’t want to here that.” Fer g u s o n s a id t he a d m i n i s t r at io n , le d b y universit y President Dan Jones, has broken a promise of not get t i ng i nvolved i n sc ho ol spi r it-related matters. “The norm now is being lied to by administration,” Ferguson said. “There are a lot of upset people because t he ad m i n ist rat ion say s t hey won’t touch school spirit issues and they do.” I n Novemb er, t he Associated Student Body at Ole M iss voted to discourage football fans from chanting “the South will rise again” during the si ng i ng of “From Di x ie with Love.” Ole Miss will no longer sells merchandise depicting Colonel Reb’. Cortez Moss, the A SB’s d i re c tor of communications, said the mascot has caused a stirup because of the school’s history. “I t hink given t he histor y of our universit y it’s bound to cause some controversy,” said Moss, a second-year public policy and secondar y education student at Ole Miss. “We have over 14,000 students Ole Miss ● 3