U#.- rieam CoU.Ct . 1 The Famfuaun March 22, 1999 FUNDS FROZEN, BUT STILL THE VOICE OF FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY - TALLAHASSEE, FLA. Vol. 89- No. 15 BOR ives approval Blackout for new medical program leaves RV I AMAR W SnN poised than anv other school in this svs- Editor tem," Humphries said. "... So I submit to you that with the relationships we've students !ContributingFAMU may not have won its battle to formed on the national level, w~e are better regain its law school. equipped and have a greater synergy." But in the fall of 1999, the university Humphries also told regents that FAMU in the dark will get a medical science program that deserves a medical school as much as any wsill take it one step closer to having a other school because its pharmacy school BY MERISSA GREEN FAMU gets grant medical school, if a Board of Regents pro- for a drag ambuse posal made two weeks ago gets the neces- Staff Writer research center. s~ary funding from the Legislature this ses- Page 2 sion. Parts of FAMU's campus were left in * Eddie Jackson, associate vice president the dark for one hour and 20 minutes due for university public relations, said the to a power outage Friday night. creation of the Program in Medical Buildings from the Set to Palmetto Science would allow FAMU students to Street Apartments had no power. receive their first year of medical educa- Nicole Clark, a McGuinn resident, said tion on FAMUs campus. the blackout began. around 8:40 p.m. "Next to having a medical school," "I was in my room getting ready to go *Jackson said, "being able to offer the first out when we heard a big explosion," said year of medical school on FAMU's cam- Clark, an 18-year-old industrial engineer- pus is a great beginning for FAMU." ing student. The 14 people in charge of developing Some residents inside the dormitories and the Palmetto Street Apartments used *policy for the State University System gets more funding than any other unmersit- Highlights from flashlights and candles while others wait- the Sony concert Linanimously accepted the recommenda- tyinnthe Southeast from the NationalI tion of their leader, Chancellor Adam ed outside in the starlight during the tem- Page 8 Instituteso f Health, a p owerhouse off porary blackout. H-erbert, on March 11 and 12 in FAMU's funds for medical research.D Grand Ballroom. The Leon County Civic Center at 505 'Alemberte told regents that FSU is int W. Pensacola St. experienced a jolt around Several university presidents, including t._best location i nthe state for the nextm FAMU's Frederick S. Humphries and the same time the blackout occurred, said medical school. The successo f FSU'se Shaheed Najm, shift supervisor at SFSU's Sandy D'Alemberte, asked for existing 12-month PIMS called for a n medical schools on their campuses. Tallahassee's Utility Control Center. The "Besides UF and USF, FAMvU is more electricity generated on FAMU's campus and at the Civic Center is fed from Tallahassee's electric Substation Six, he added. FAMU's electrical unit, which con- . ., e trpe nects to Tallahassees electrical system, ts header Duo waits for SGA decision recognized as Substation B. Pae "Apparently there was some malfunc- tion in Substation B (located north of the BY KIM MCCOY decision of the court, but in1the actions of new visitor's center on Wahnish Way) that aid. "Whatever caused a couple of breaker switches to e will prevail open up," Najm said. "FAMU electricians The Student Supreme Court has made a tney aeciae, t Know justice so it's just a maratter of when- and the city's electrical troubleshooters decision on the appeals filed by disquali- eventually, comes. investigated the problem and found no rea- fled winners of the March 4 runoff. The ever justice court or son me other body son for the breakers to be out." court deliberated for two days and will "Through the come," he said. "I'm not par- The electricians and troubleshooters announce its decision about the appeals it's going to or nervous." were able to close the breakers and restore today at 5 p.m. in the Senate chambers. ticularly anxious Code, rules tl.that outline the the power, he added. SGA presidential The Election eelections pro- At approximately 10:09 p.m., the lights candidates Corny cedure, calls were switched on. Less than a minute later, Minor and Derric c f(for disqualifi- the lights went out again. Finally at 10:20 Heck and sopho- dcation of can- p.m. the lights were on permanently. mcre class presiders ddidates who Cassandra James, a Palmetto South spe- tial/vice presidential don't pay cial assistant said the blackout caused a Nicole J. Reid candidates Wendell d fines. fiasco. says students' Marvin Wilmoth fi Presidential "We received reports of looting and res- voice was taken and Catarah candidate idents smoking marijuana," said James, a away. Hampshire were dis- c KK h a I i d 19-year-old business administration stu- qualified the day Page 10 1Johnson and dent. after defeating their nrunning mate But there were no criminal activities opponents. J Jamak Ali reported officially to FAMU police, "To be fair to File Photo vwere also dis- according to Sandra Floyd, senior police everyone involved, INDEX qualified for communication operator. There were six we looked at every Today Minor will get an answer to the appeal he March 5. rnot paying officers dispatched across campus, said angle," said Chief placed after his disqualification on fines. They Andrew Miley, FAMUPD corporal who News ............ 1 Justice John Carter f appeal their fines as wwell. was stationed across from on Friday. "We examined the situation plan to Classifieds...5 y' As a result of these disqiqualifications, DiamondlMcGuinn. carefully." presidential candidate Core y Alston and Jennifer Sherard, a junior chemical engi- Lifestyles......8 He said he did not want to talk about the vice presidential candi idate Kell) neering student, was alone in her apart- specifics Sports..........6 of the cases or decisions. Browning were named thee winners on ment when the lights went out. Minor and Heck, who won the runoff by March 5 despite the results oof the popular "I was afraid,' said Sherard, a resident 108 votes, were disqualified for not paying vote. of Phase III. "I lit all the candles in the a fine questions and they said the electoral commission Alston said he has faith iiin the student house and then I went outside. When I saw LForsuggestions concerning didn't notify them about. They appealed judicial system. other people outside, I felt better and then I the lk~i please call 599- electoral commission's decision on "The only role I'll have on nMonday is to called a friend to come pick me up." 3158 or stop by Tucker March 5 . Hall Roomn 309. "I feel confident, not necessarily in the Please see COURT/3 Please see Blackout/ 3 News 2 The Famuan/March 22, 1999 Center will focus on minority drug abuse BNeWsBRIEFS BY ALESHA DIXON toward hiring administration and faculty agreed that the center will be beneficial. Staff Writer and purchasing equipment for the research "We hope to conduct research on com- LOCAL/STATE center. Henry Lewis III, dean of the mon drugs such as crack cocaine, marijua- The new FAMU Drug Abuse Research College of Pharmacy and project director na, heroin and misuse of prescription Center is expected to be fully operational of the center, said a well-qualified special- drugs," she says. "Our main focus is Florida Senate completes plan by July. it 'ill run the center, staffed by a team of [drugs'] prevalence in minority groups in Tallahassee-The state Senate completed The center will be used five other research particular." The studies will help FAMU its final budget for $48.8 billion on to study the effects of drug scientists. work with the community and law enforce- Thursday. The budget includes a 3.3 per- abuse among minorities. "We've found ment officials to combat high incidents of cent increase in social service and 5.9 per- The National Institute of that there is a greater drug abuse, Bryant said. cent in education spending. but a small Drug Abuse awarded drug abuse potential Bryant stressed that this is not a treat- increase in tax cuts. A 10 percent tuition FAMU with a six-year $2.5 among African ment center. increase is being planned for next year's million grant on Jan. 1, American communi- "This is a starting point," she said. "We ,tudent influx of students. which will go toward the ties," Lewis said. hope to make this a nucleus for research to establishment of the new "'Our goal is to help stop addiction." research center. find measures to treat Karam Soliman, Ph.D., co-project direc- The grant was awarded and detoxify drug tor of the Drug Abuse Research Center, NATIONAL hased on a competitive pro- abusers, especially agrees. users of crack "We hope to help people with drug posal and may make FAMU L.EWIS more visible when applying cocaine." abuse problems ... we want to find a drug Nation of Islam leader's illness unknown for other grants in the future. Crack cocaine is a processed, crystal- to treat people with addictions," Soliman Chicago-Muslim leaders have announced "This (grant) allows the opportunity to lized "rock" form of cocaine, which, when said. that the Nation of Islam's leader, Louis expand research on drug development ..