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www.dailygamecock.com WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2003 Since 1908 - - ' ■ — ■ ... . ■■■■ ■■ ' — ■■ ■ —-—: — Research VP hunt narrows to 4 Finalists include Harris Pastides of the Arnold School of Public Health BY ASHLEE RICKARD THE GAMECOCK Only four candidates remain in the final stage of selection for USC’s new vice president for research. About 25 applicants from all over the nation sent resumes to be reviewed beginning July 1. Of those 25, “these four really stood out," said Provost Jerry Odom, chairman of the research vice president search committee. “In the end, w v. decided to in terview these first,” Odom said. He expects the position will be filled by the end of the semester. The final four are USC’s Harris Pastides, interim research vice president and dean of the Arnold School of Public Health; Jack E. Fincham, Pharmacy School dean at the University of Kansas in Lawrence; David E. Pleasure, se nior vice president for research at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; and James A. Weyhenmeyer, associate vice president for technology transfer and economic development at the Isabel lets USC test system to predict floods BY ADAM BEAM THE GAMECOCK Hurricane Isabel provided the first test for a new flood-prediction system that USC is helping to de velop, and USC officials say it fcjpassed with flying colors. ■ The project, dubbed the Carolina Coastal Ocean Observing and Prediction System, or Caro COOPS, is a joint research initia tive among USC, North Carolina Slate University and the University of North Carolina Wilmington. It’s designed to pre dict the severity of flooding from a major storm such as a hurricane. While the project was created last year with a $2.5 million grant from the National Oceanic and used extensively by the National Weather Service in North Carolina to predict flood levels. “The report that we got from National Weather Service was that they were very pleased with what we were able to provide to them,” Porter said. “Our tools were very beneficial to their plan ning process.” In August, moorings with sen- ‘ sors on them were deployed about 30 miles offshore, including one on a pier at the North Carolina and South Carolina border, one in the Charleston area, and one by Fripp Island, S. C. Porter said the sensors monitor such factors as wave heights and speeds as well as the amount of salt in the water. Porter said the project isn’t in rxuuwopiiv-l iv- 4 sociation, it wasn’t until about six weeks ago that scien tists were able to place measuring instruments off the South r*-1:_—_i. The project, dubbed Caro-COOPS, is a joint research initiative among USC and two N.C. universities. iciiutru ivj picuit/i the path of a hur ricane, only the possible flood levels. The infor mation could aid in evacuation and preparation efforts before the pf-nmn minvihUn VU1 U1111U VVUUl. When Hurricane Isabel plowed into the East Coast last week, USC researchers were sitting in their offices in Columbia, viewing data that was being sent to them in real time from the measuring in struments to a satellite on top of the Arnold School of Public Health. Dwayne Porter, one of the prin cipal investigators for the project and an assistant professor at USC’s school of public health, said the data received from Caro fcCOOPS allowed emergency work ers to know ahead of time that flooding would be minimal on the South .Carolina coast. Porter said the project’s modeling efforts were The project is working with the Charleston County Emergency Preparedness group, and Porter said Caro-COOPS plans to work with state emergency services as well as other local emergency agencies. But the system isn’t just for flood predictions. Porter said that when the seas are calm, the in struments also monitor the ocean’s health pertaining to the well-being of certain fish species that are important to the state’s fishing industry as well as recre ational fishing. The system can also monitor ♦ISABEL, SEE PAGE 2 SURFYOURSELF Read the Faculty Senate’s entire resolution at www.carocoops.org Index Comics and Crossword 12 Classifieds • 16 Horoscopes 12 Letters to the Editor 9 Online Poll g ^ Police Report 5^6 Weather TODAY THURSDAY # fe High 86 High 84 Low 58 Low 61 In This Issue ♦ NEWS Ada B. Thomas, a longtime USC adviser, has died. Page 4 ♦ VIEWPOINTS Sarah Rogers dispels myths surrounding preacher’s kids. Page 9 ♦ THE MIX October gets artsy. The S.C. State Museum celebrates area folk art. Page 10 ♦ SPORTS Tennessee has a shot of double trouble in its running game that USC will deal with Saturday. Page 13 University of Illinois in Urbana. USC’s research vice president position is a demanding job. The vice president for research over sees all research endeavors at the ■ university, which means working closely with the president and provost. Also, the vice president su pervises the USC Research Foundation and carries out strate gic research plans while keeping a close watch on the research pro jects and budget. “There’s a lot of responsibili ty,” Odom said. “I can’t tell you how important this position is in all aspects of research in the university.” Currently, the university has partnerships with the Palmetto Health Alliance, Veteran Affairs Medical Center and the Greenville Hospital System. These partner ships, in addition to a doubling in funding for research during the past five years, will allow USC to move forward with new research in all areas of study while contin uing research projects. Additionally, ongoing discus sions concerning collaboration with the Medical University of South Carolina will be spearheaded by the new vice president, Odom said. Construction for a new re search campus will begin in spring 2004 and will require the in “I can’t tell you how important this position is in all aspects of research in the university.” JERRY ODOM CHAIRMAN OF THE SEARCH COMMITTEE volvement of the new vice presi dent, Odom said. Odom reassures faculty, staff and students that recent and pos sible future budget cuts will not heavily affect research endeav ors of the university because most research is funded by merit based grants, not state money. By focusing on nanotechnolo gy, clean energy, optoelectronics, water and the environment, and biomedical research, USC hopes to advance from last year’s rank ing of No. 55 into the Top 50 pub lic research universities in the country as decided by US News and World Report. “I have no doubts that it will happen,” Odom said. The last interview will be held Oct. 7. USC President Andrew Sorensen has requested that the . search committee give him the names of the top three candi dates. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com mill might 3w meaning M BY KEVIN FELLNER director of the develop | the gamecock ment company the 1H I Driving south on Huger Street only a few blocks from USC’s new Greek Village, you cross some railroad tracks and bank .. to the left where a village -v- students, of L-shaped houses ap- For three years, de 5 pears, centered by a huge, red-brick, aban- velopers have talked about the possibility “ doned textile mill to the right. of converting Olympia Mill into Built in 1899, Olympia Cotton Mill an apartment complex targeted at once embodied the classic format of a tex tile mill village. But Mike Dawson, ♦ MILLS, SEE PAGE 2 ____-______f - N FORD/THE GAMECOCK Hoteliers file complaint to block USC inn THE ASSOCIATED PRESS COLUMBIA — Local hotel own ers have filed a complaint with federal officials in an attempt to block the University of South Carolina from building a com peting facility. The complaint was filed with the General Accounting Office on behalf of the Greater Columbia Hotel and Motel Association. The complaint accuses the Justice Department’s National Advocacy Center of violating fed eral law by agreeing to a devel opment deal without going through a public bidding process. The GAO is the government’s fi nancial watchdog agency. The complaint is just the latest move by local hotel owners who say a university-run hotel would be unfair competition with their businesses. The proposed $12.5 million, 117-room hotel project is the re sult of an agreement among the USC Development Foundation, the National Advocacy Center and Columbia-based IMIC Hotels. Federal law requires agencies to have competition for contracts. But the hotel, which would house prosecutors training at the National Advocacy Center as well as USC guests, was never subject to competitive bidding, said Patricia Wittie, who represents the hotel association. U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R Lexington, also wrote a letter to the General Accounting Office questioning the legality of the agreement. USC spokesman Russ McKinney said several develop ers were asked to give proposals for the hotel. And, he said, the Development Foundation is a pri vate wing of the university and doesn’t have to follow govern ment procurement procedures. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com Machine to improve computing efficiency BY Z’ANNE COVELL ' THE GAMECOCK USC’s Computer Science and Engineering Department recent ly established a computing grid that is expected to provide a boost for USC’s research projects. Kirk Cameron, assistant pro fessor of computer science and engineering, said a computing grid is a collection of computers that is used as a single resource. The idea is that one computer has a certain amount of computa tional power, meaning it can do a certain number of calculations per second—and several of them together can do more. Cameron said a specific ma chine is not necessary to create a computational grid, but for high levels of computing performance, having a machine strictly desig nated for the purpose of grid com puting is best. “We purchased a machine that is a dedicated machine that can be used for providing a base line system for computations and that can be used also with other ma chines to form a computational grid,” Cameron said. Cameron and his colleague ♦ GRID, SEE PAGE 6