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Are boys better than girls at geography? by Dietrich Epperson The Gamecock A recent study concluded that boys generally perform better than girls in geography, but two USC' professors disagree with that conclusion and have their own interpretation of the supposed geographical gender gap. 1 During the 12-year history of the National Geography Bee competition, only two finalists have been girls. This low number seems to point to a nationwide problem, some experts fear. According to an article in The New York Times, of the 5 million students who participated in state geography bees, 77 percent of the winners were boys. The study found it’s not just in competitions that girls perform poorer than males in geography. The 1990 National Assessment of Education Progress reported that girls score significantly low er on geography tests than boys. According to the national education project “Finding A Way,” this discrepancy carries over to the professional world. “Finding A Way” states that women are signif icantly underrepresented in the profession of ge ography. The National Geographic Society, which spon sors the geography bees, was concerned enough to commission a study regarding this geography gen der gap. This study was conducted by professors Lynn Liben-and Roger Downs from Penn State Univer sity. Their findings were interesting and controver sial. Liben and Downs concluded that the biggest factor was a difference in “spatial skills” between boys and girls. They say boys tend to have higher “mental rotation skills” than gifls. These skills enable them to mentally rotate or reverse visible images faster than females. This skill is important in studying maps, which is crucial in preparing for and succeeding in the Geography Bee. Two USC professors don’t agree with this ex planation. Psychology professor Gary Allen concedes that boys are better at mental image rotation. Howev er, he rejects the notion that “spatial skills” are nec essary for success in the Geography Bee. He sees tire Bee as requiring old-fashioned mem orization. “The questions are fact-driven, and do not have explicit spatial content,” Allen said. Geography professor Robert Lloyd agrees with Allen. He views the problem as not related to in nate ability, but having to do with “interest in the subject.” He said that, at an earlier age, boys simply seem •^K to be more interested in geography than girls. “Women are much more involved in the field of geography at the collegiate level. At USC, en rollment in the geography graduate program is di vided fifty-fifty between male and female students,” Lloyd said. Lloyd pointed to other signs of female excel lence in geography. Nationwide, 38 percent of ge ography doctorate recipients in 1999 were women. This number reflects a 7 percent increase in the last two years. “Women are actively involved in the academ ic and professional spheres of geography, but in terest has not filtered down to girls in the K-12 grades,” said Lloyd. Both Allen and Lloyd cite two possible reasons why girls don’t do well in the Geography Bee. First, studies show that boys “explore further from home than girls, and are more active in their environment.” These patterns may foster an interest in knowl edge of other places. Second, boys are often “more motivated to com pete and win than are girls.” Allen and Lloyd view these factors as having more to do with societal issues than issues of spa tial skills or cognitive abilities. The university desk can be reached at gamecockudesk@hotmail.com. Prayer from page 1 hind the ACLU’s position that “a public school of the government should not sponsor, mandate or or ganize any religion or prayer,” she said taking pre game prayer before college games to task in the courts could turn out to be a fruitless effort. This is primarily because attendance at secondary schools is mandatory, she said, while college at tendance is voluntary. “Most people would believe children are more impressionable than adults,” Neil said. “As adults, we don’t have to participate.” While the ACLU hasn’t ruled out challenging college pre-game prayer in the courts, Neil said the civil liberties organization would have to approach any legalities with extreme care. “It’s something we will look at, but we will al so take into consideration how the Supreme Court has ruled in the past,” Neil said. “There has not been a clear precedent set.” Assistant Athletics Director Kerry Tharp said the prayers have become a part of USC tradition. “I think it’s something we have done at USC for a long, long time,” Tharp said. “It’s just something we have made ... a part of our pre-game format for a football game.” As far as a court challenge by a group like the ACLU, Tharp said the department wasn’t concerned. “That’s not something that we have concerned ourselves with,” he said, adding that, to Iris knowl edge, the department has not yet sought legal coun sel on the matter. The Athletics Department plans to continue the ritual “as long as we play the game,” Tharp said. “A pre-game prayer before our football game is something that is important to us as an athletics pro gram.” The university desk can be reached at gamecockudesk@hotmail.com. USC student dies; memorial planned by Brandon Larrabee The Gamecock A USC student who inexplicably became ill the first day of classes has died. Bruce “Smith” King, a resident of Preston Residential College, died at 12:30 p.m. Thurs day. King had been in a coma at Baptist Medical Center since Aug. 24. He had become ill due to a heart condition. The exact cause of King’s illness is still un The university desk can be reached at gamecockudesk@hotmail.com. known, though doctors ruled rut drug use and contagious diseases, according to King’s yT Friends and university JgKjL spokesman Jason Snyder. A memorial service will * re held at 3 p.m. today at Rut- ■ ' ~; ledge Chapel. Police make three drug arrests by John Bailey The Gamecock Columbia City Police made three arrests Wednesday and Thursday on two crack-cocaine busts on Greene and Pendleton streets. Two subjects were arrested at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday on charges of possession with intent to distribute at 2200 Pendleton St. They were within a half-mile of Lyon Street Elementary School. Donald Jerome Whitmore handed the re sponding officer a black container that contained about .5 grams and field-tested positive for co caine. Whitmore said that the second subject hand ed the container to him to hold. The second subject, a minor, was also arrested. A day later, and only blocks away, officers ar rested another man after he dropped an off-white colored rock (weighing approximately .2 grams, and field tested positive for cocaine) after speak ing with a responding officer. The responding of ficer received information that a black male wear ing a white sweater and blue jeans was in the area looking for drugs. The subject, Charles G. Walthall, was then arrested and transported to Richland County Detention Center. -—-1 * Check out Viewpoints in Wat (5amecod?. Three times a week. USCPD investigates disappearance of VCRs by Charles Prashaw The Gamecock The USCPD is currently investi gating the disappearance of about 20 VCRs that have somehow disappeared from USC classrooms over the past week. Officers said there are no suspects at this time, and there is no way to know if the crimes are connected. All the crimes were reported by officials at the USC Distance Education Pro gram and Instructional Support, who discovered the missing equipment. University spokesman Jason Sny der confirmed that USCPD was con ducting a complete investigation into the matter and that he was uninformed about any further developments in the case. Snyder said that Director of Law Enforcement Ernie Ellis had more in formation about the case. Ellis was unavailable for comment on the matter. The possible crime spree started on Thursday, Aug. 31 with two dark gray Zenith VCRs that were discov ered missing from rooms 231 and 232 of McMaster College. USC employ ee Robert Lyon reported that almost $200 worth of VCR equipment was stolen from the classrooms. The next day, Craig O’Dell, an em ployee with distance education, re ported that around 5 p.m. 14 VCRs were missing from various colleges. The missing VCRs were: four from Gambrell Hall, one from room 235 of the Law Center, one from room 101 of Hamilton College, five from the business school, three from Physical Science Building and one from the School of Public Health. In all, police estimate a total of al i most $2,000 worth of classroom VCRs are missing. In most of the cases, the VCRs were located in rooms that were un secured, and it is believed that some one simply walked out of the class rooms carrying the VCRs. It’s still unclear whether there are additional VCRs are missing from oth er colleges around campus. All the VCRs were stolen from carts that had TVs with them; a police investigator wouldn’t comment of why someone would leave the more valu able TVs and just take the VCRs. There are nearly 150 such combi nation of TVs and VCRs on campus that were added to various classroom since last spring in a new program, ac cording to Steven Adams, manager of class technology and distance educa tion. Adams said all the missing VCRs were part of that program and were of the same make and model. “We felt it would have been of great benefit for students and teachers to have TV and VCRs readily available in the classroom,” Adams said. “We are very eager to take steps to protect the security of these units and get to the bottom of what is going on.” Adams said it’s highly unusual for this many VCRs to be missing, and that, during all of last semester, the university only reported two stolen VCRs from classrooms. For now, police are keeping qui et on whether they believe the person or persons involved in the case are stu dents, non-students or employees of use. The city/state desk can be reached at gamecockcitydesk@hotmail.coia 1 i Zhl 0amccort will have a recruitment meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 13 in Russell House room 333. Positions available: News reporters, sports reporters, photographers, cartoonists, copy editors and graphic artists. When your socks stand at attention, it's time On to go to... O Corner of Assembly & Whaley_252-0005 teeKx an "It s seel te be 3A imUlM iiABi&S” Attention Freshmen Sr Sophomores: • develop leadership skills ■ meet student leaders • and university administrators • HAVE FUN _ ~Applications are available at Campus Activities Center of the RHUU and are due today by 5:00 p.m~ Questions? Call 777-6688 Office of Leadership Programs • Department of Student life • Diuision of Student 6 Alumni Seruices . i • * Women helping women it's a bout... 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