Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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/ lhe South r g ^WptlS ' j o//^^ South Carolina's best college newspaper. Wednesday Volume LXX , No. 52 University of South Carolina, Columbia S.C. Feb.-4.19Q1 Legislate By Teresa K. Weaver News Editor A state representative "adamantly opposed" to recent actions by the Commission on Higher Education is taking steps to eliminate that statewide supervisory board. Calling the Commission a "superfluous board," Rep. Ernest Nunnery, D-Chester, said separate state college and university boards were better equipped to represent their own interests before the Legislature. ON JAN. 28, Nunnery asked the Legislative Audit Council to decide if the commission is necessary. In a letter, he asked the watchdog group to examine the need for the board. iU a n/xaiM aII /\ (irt/4 Alii if n AAr> millinery iuiu tut; tuuiicn uc w<imcu iu nuu uui n v.m>idinating higher education programs could be handled better by another method. "Every tax dollar should be put to maximum possible use, and where unnecessary overlap and duplications of functions exist, they should be eliminated," Nunnery wrote. "THIS REQUEST is made in the spirit of promoting the best interest of higher education in South Carolina," the legislator wrote. He also asked the council to determine whether the commission had overstepped its authority by asking USC to shut down certain two-year degree programs. The only contact Nunnery has had with the commission ! , ~ |BB? B ?; * Tb||111? & ^3S>?| fi 8s9^^H9RXftP$PlB JJ^fflBSHf > ./ g f^x "'- jj 1 Greene Street has been blocked off from 9 through Friday for a long time, but the university permanently this spring. (Photo by Chip Lowell) 1 U11III?1 S?I11|JHJ music lounge, s By Donald B. Weatherbeo Assistant News Editor The music listening lounge on third floor Kussell House an the sound studio adjacent to the lounge were constructe improperly, according to a former USC Technical Servicc employee. Skippy Beach, former work study student employed b Technical Services, said unnecessary mistakes were made i planning and building the rooms because management di not follow the designs Beach submitted before he le A WMIIIVWI UV* ? Beach said he planned a wired system for the music loung which would have increased performance quality. "THE WIRELESS system tL y have now is intended f< classrooms. There's a low ceiling on the volume level, yc can i lurn ine voiume or u uisiurus, oeacn saiu. Another fault in the system, according to Beach, is thi certain seats can only receive one channel. The antenna f< the wireless system is built around the wall of the room, ar a wireless headphone will not work correctly if it's too cloj to the antenna. Beach said, while the wireless seats in the middle of tl room receive eight channels, the seats that border the wal i >r oppose since making the audit request was from someone in the office asking for a copy of the letter, he said. "I'VE QUESTIONED the role and function of the commission for a long time," Nunnery said. "But the problems began to come home a lot more last year when I served on the House Ways and Means Committee." mi _ A 1. If _f _ 1 1 L ~ J ine commission acis on oenan 01 an siaie-supponeu colleges and universities, presenting budgets to the Ways and Means Committee. After receiving state school budgets, Ways and Means subcommittees hear from each institution concerning individual budgets. "The commission is really just a superfluous board that meets prior to the meat of the actual situation," Nunnery said. "Each board is a lot more capable of telling about problems and financial needs of their school." REFERRING TO the commission as a "monster," Nunnery said, "The people supposedly being served by the commission are getting lost in the cracks without any attention really being given to the students. "Philosophically, I disagree with the whole concept of an umbrella organization like the commission, ultimately it's going to show that we don't need that board, particularly :n i times of things such as the 7 percent personnel cut," he said. F m/n Sa'riiE t'NIVEKSITY has be< nH M am A supplemental report irom and Associates said, "Greene a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday closed between Sumter and P wants to close the street undue hardshiPto through tra the street would be an ir toward the reduction of traf yee criticizes studio set-ups are wired and receive only one channel. | "IT NEEI) not have been that limited if they did it right in ^ the first place. A major blunder was choosing that wireless oyijiV/iii, litavu oaiu. Beach also drew plans for a soundproof recording studio and control room, but his designs were ignored, he said. 11 Beach said his designs were not used in the construction of 5* the rooms because his former boss, Technical Services Manager Harry Bousbourelis, discriminated against him. 'e "I LEFT, because I was almost forced to leave," Beach said. "Harry had decided I was somewhat of a threat. I knew )r more about the equipment and its use than he did. I posed a )U threat to his job security." Beach said after he left he offered to come back twice to provide free supervision over construction of the rooms, but Bousbourelis never accepted his offer. 1(j Bousbourelis denies discriminating against Beach and says Beach left because he found a better job at the Quarter Moon. The Technical Services manager said he never received Beach's offer to help in construction and if he had, Is see Music, page 4 None of the state schools supervised by the commission have resnonded to Nunnerv's actions and ho said ho hasn't contacted them for an opinion. "I PURPOSEFULLY haven't contacted them so I wouldr: t be putting them on the spot," Nunnery said. "If my idea;don't work out, they would be biting the hand that feeds them." Nunnery's letter is on the agenda for consideration at 'his month's meeting of the Legislative Audit Council, but the reDresentative is considering taking stronger and more immediate steps to eliminate the commission. "I may not wait for the audit," Nunnery said. "There is an excellent chance I'll be taking a bill before the House proposing the elimination of the commission effective July <f this year." ELIMINATION OF the commission would mean a saving: of about $3 million, Nunnery said. Support from his colleagues in the legislature has been very strong so far. Nunnery said. The fourth-term lawmaker said he will probably make a decision this week on whether to draft a bill to take before the House. ints permanent Street closing area and the serious peciesiriari-auio conflicts would be eliminated. The benefits of request to this actl0n would assume greater imiring toi the porta nee as the university expands into the * Street, ac- areas south of Greene and Blossom president for streets very critical AT THE TIME of these recom la position of mendations, IJSC's enrollment was 5.31H .vill submit a Since that time, enrollment has increased to jring. If the more than 20,000. rp will ho no Pnlumhin trnffir enyinepr Mike Cribb ummer," he said results of a study he did on the closing of Greene Street last year were given to the ?n seeking to city Council. "I didn't recommend one way eet in front of or ^le 0ther I just told them the effects," 20 years. In Cribbsaid. ilumbia City "Some changes might be m^eded on i a pian ior Pendleton and Blossom streets but it shouldn't have that great an effect. PenGreene Street dleton might have to be widened in the tween Sumter future," he said. Lild become a east to tie CITY COUNCILMAN \\ illiam Ouzts said ? Points com- *he mayor's council met with USC President reet and also -James B. Holderman to discuss tinon to the im- proposal. "The next step after that will be public hearings to get their opinion on thi Wilbur Smith matter. Within the next four to five months Street can be everything should be in place," he said, ickens without In November 1977, City Council al'ow^d ffic Closing of USC to close the street on weekdays bet nportant step ween 9 a.m. and 4p.m due lo the heav. fic hrough he flow of pedestrian traffic. J 4MH I *^^8U m WUSC-FM station manager Ron Marsh relaxes while listening to music in the new music lounge on the third floor of Russell House. (Photo by Chip Lowell)