TL20040226_001 "The Toiuerlinhti Baltimore's #1 College Paper - Published Twice-Weekly - www.thetowerlight.com JI ^r Thursday, 2/26/04 'Monologues1 provokes dialogue TU student chosen for USM position 'Sopranos' star discusses disease 'Passion'violent, disturbing epic Departments Opinion 2 News Police blotter. Sports 24 In this corner. 24 BankShots 23 Classifieds 18 Senate hopefuls vie for position Jenny Lehman The Towerlight Seven of the nine Republican candidates for U.S. Senate debated in Stephens Hall Theatre Tuesday night in an effort to win the March 2 primary and face incumbent Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski in November's election. Dorothy Corry Jennings and E.J. Pipkin, who the Baltimore Sun named Mikulski's likely rival, did not attend the debate. Although the seven candidates share party affiliation, all have varying backgrounds. Ray Bly is the owner of two businesses and a Vietnam War veteran; Earl S. Gordon is a Jamaica native who worked for the White House under Bill Clinton; James A. Kodak is an attorney and first lieutenant in the Army Reserve; Eileen Martin?nicknamed """"Cookie Baker""""?is a mother of four; John Stafford is an attorney and collected 6 percent of the electorate in the 2000 Senate Republican primary; n R. Vaughn owns a limousine company; and Gene Zarwell is a Web site developer. Before the debate, the handful of attendees wrote questions on index cards for candidates to answer. Richard Vatz, professor of mass communication and communication studies, chose the most relevant questions to ask each candidate. The first question focused on terrorism and how President Bush handled the Sept. 11 attacks. """"Everyone seems to think that this is something that just happened, but it has been going on for a long time,"""" Zarwell said. """"This is not a quick fix. Bill Clinton had the opportunity to clean it up, but he didn't take it."""" Vaughn agreed and supported Bush's actions thus far. """"In the 21st century we have experienced something that we have never experienced on our own soil before, and that is terrorism up See DEBATE, page 8 Saul Stoogenke/The Towerhght Senate hopefuls Eileen Martin (right) and James Kodak debate war in Iraq, gay marriage, and other issues in Stephens Hall Theatre Tuesday. muMs brings 'deep poetic1 message Lauren Tilley The Towerlight As 2004's Black History Month his spoken word along side Towson's own student poets Wednesday in Chesapeake Rooms II and III of the University Union. muMs played the poet on the HBO show """"OZ"""" in a role created muMs (center) performs a piece from members of Soul Shack in the Lisa Johnson/The Towerhght his album """"Strange Fruit"""" with :e Rooms Wednesday evening. especially for him. He also appeared on Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam and in Spike Lee's """"Bamboozled."""" He's been on a college tour since December, explained Liz Van Arsdale, a graduate assistant for the leadership program heading the event. She said muMs is not just a poet on TV; he also takes a personal interest in poetry. """"He's been a really big supporter of the poetry movement, and he is definitely a name that a lot of people notice,"""" Van Arsdale, an elementary education major, said. """"I'm sure that his work has a lot of influence on a lot of different artists."""" Before muMs took the stage, four student poets opened with some their own work. One student who was not scheduled also took to the stage with his own poetry. Among the students was senior English and secondary education major Rebecca Dupas. After her performance, Dupas explained what influenced her work. See POETRY, page 17 Students take views to capital Sarah Breitenbach Brian Stelter 77k? Towerlight ANNAPOLIS - In an effort to make it clear that this is """"Towson's year"""" student leaders took their message to the state capital on Monday. During TU's fifth annual Tiger Pride Day, roughly 25 students traveled to Annapolis to lobby key legislators for support of Towson and Maryland higher education. Student Government Association senators and representatives from cultural, political, social, and academic organizations attended the event, meeting in pairs with representatives and aides. During appointments students See PRIDE, page 7"