1998 Ford Escort Starting Issue

Two weeks ago I replaced my battery, yesterday I get up for work and my car won't start. I open the hood and tighten the battery clamps, and still no go. My roommate tries to Jump-start me and still nothing. I figure that its not getting a current because the positive side's clamp is rusted, so I shoot over to O'Reilly's and buy a new clamp, still no-go. Then my neighbor comes out with his battery charger, and at this point I can't even get it to turn over and try to start. He tries charging it and it says I have a bad alternator. Well I read that a jump-start should still get it to start atleast to get it somewhere to fix it. Nothing has worked and I'm puzzled, I was going to get new battery cables but when I cut the electrical tape off the positive side, the copper wire was immaculate, it looked new even, so please help me. Any ideas?