Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

GAME CO OK LXXIV, No. 71 University of South Carolina Wednesday 27, January, 1982 4 Copier Purcha Honest Oversig By TOM COYNE ! News Editor ?- ] Chris Vlahoplus, senior vice president of administration said an honest oversight f led to the controversy which resulted in USC being ordered by the state to nullify a purchase agreement of a $113,000 Xerox copier the university purchased without receiving bids from other companies. The confusion has arisen from a new procurement code which allows state QrYAnAiAfi - * ? ?-1 A iu puiciidbe ueius wnicn cosi more than $2,500 using a single-source method rather than the normal bidding process. Lynn Mahaffey, assistant vice president for administration said Don Pruitt, administration assistant to the printing < ^ department, determined that the depart- 9 ment needed to look for ways to better meet j the production needs. 1 "The need by departments for printing was so great they (the print shop) were 1 unable to meet the needs," Mahaffey said. She said departments had to go through i other channels to meet their printing needs. Mahaffey said she and Pruitt did a i feasibility study and determined the Xerox duplicator would be the most economical copier for the print shop. W.C. Holler, office manager for the ^ Eastman Kodak Columbia office said that * for the university to purchase a copier such as the Xerox 9500 would not be the most economical for two reasons. The first, he said, is because the type of wnrlf rlnnp at tho r?r?ir?f clinn io .. ? .. uv i?iv j/i uii auup io iiwL uaudli^ done by a duplicator. Holler said the shop i engages in long-run sort of printing which is cheaper if done by an off-set method rather than the duplicating technique used by the , Xerox copier. "The 9500 system would be much more 6 expensive in the long run for an operation < such as that (the print shop)," Holler said. The second reason, Holler said, is the expense of the copier compared to other machines on the market. Holler said Kodak, using government prices, could put two i machines in the shop for a combined cost of < Effects C By LEZLIE WALLACE Staff Writer Colleges on the campus of the University of Sc have been forced to comply with major budget spring iyez semester. All of the colleges were asked to make the Adjustments have been made in faculty, eqi # various programs. Each college had a 3 percent cut to deal with ai to turn in a list of cuts already in effect. In a< dean was asked to submit a list describing hov would handle an additional 2.19 percent cut, if tl required it. Tho O lO r*nt*/?nnl urao I ^ O 4 ^ 4 ^ a iIV/ pvi v,uiu vui woo 111 lllC Oldlt; and the university had to present to the Legisl which would go into effect with a 2.10 percent student surcharge was due to this 2.19 percent re Some of the most dramatic cuts occurred in tl Engineering. About 160 freshmen and sophomor g| "disenrolled" from the school. Most of these stuc good academic standing, according to Dean I)a\ the College of Engineering. He tried to keep informed by sending them letters and meeting 1 groups. They disenrolled the students according were making least progress toward their dej ising Incident I ht: V lahoplus < $103,502 which would double the production p potential of the Xerox model. |f Holler said in most cases government || n rtonnino clr% ttri fV* fImif/vnf UgV/U^l^O 0V Willi VUU iUWCOl UlUlICi W lllUll Id * >;: not practical in the purchasing of copiers. The cost of the machine is not usually the I best indicator in these type purchases," 1 Holler said. "Labor costs and reliability are 1 || the two most important costs. The actual 1 cost is the third thing to be taken into con- |j| sideration in the case of copiers." Holler said in the past few years Xerox has been losing in the private sector because private owners are more concerned with i.1 A meir investments. "In the last five years Xerox percentage of the market has fallen from 85 percent to 46 percent," Holler said. "In the Columbia j|| area alone Xerox copiers have been ^ replaced by other copiers at a rapid rate." One such instance is Kinko's copier which has changed from a Xerox 9400 to a Kodak. "I think the Kodak has a much better quality both in copy and in service," HQ rloon nlnifOI* nffinn uut >V\/11 Vjiurvt , lvllinv/ o U11IVC 1 IiaildgCl , said. Universal Printing and Publishing owner Bill Huntley said, "Kodak is by far the best copier on the market, over the long run Kodak just has them (Xerox) whipped." Lyn Hensel of the university legal department said, "We're still negotiating with Xerox. The machine has been unplugged and is not in use and we have asked Xerox to pick it up. We are going ahead with our plans to put the purchase out on bid." She said the bids would not be out for i .1 several uays. Holler said Kodak would definitely submit a bid. Hensel said the university should know by Friday whether Xerox will pick up the copier. Vlahoplus said if Xerox refuses to pick up the copier they will have to deal with the state. He said the confusion keyed around the lew code and the university's method for iealintJ with nnrchasps Bud % Waugh admitted it didn't seem I way to do something unfair.'' Waugh also said they took ; tuth Carolina semester, ; cuts for the The College of Journalism i U I - " nave ueeii in eneci an semest* ir own cuts. Scroggins. Funding for 90 perc lipment and has been eliminated. The numb reduced from 24 in the fall of id was asked Scroggins' own assistant. Most idition, each are receiving two-thirds of whal v the college have also been restricted for unc le university Funding reductions for the Ca production to three times a r Legislature, Carolina Reporter is the newsf ature a plan students as part of their practici cut. The $25 Founding for the daily 30 r duction. sponsored by the College of Joui he College of about one -third es have been Dean Harry Lightsey, Jr. of lents were in school has been forced to elim nd V/augh of from the Law Library ; three v the students remain unfilled; the secretaria with them in major administrative position h to those who small cuts have been made. grees. Dean Lightsey thinks the cuts will af ....... ... 1?S??Sllfli1 yyu'j'j'jmiiiuuuuuiiuuujuuujl?y f - . I m The Xerox 9500 has sparked a dispi agencies. The single-source procedure requires approval from the agency head President James B. Holderman, who must also submit a written justification for the use of the single-source process. The clause also states the agency head may appoint a designee to approve the single-source process. But this must also be submitted to the general services department, and the desK 'je must hold a title higher than the agency's purchasing officer, who in this cas 3 it Marion Dantzler. Tony Ellis, a materials management officer for the state Department of General Services, said he ruled on Jan. 14 the contract between USC and Xerox was invalid because he found no letter justifying the noncompeuuve purchase and the agreement was signed by Dantzler, who did not have the authority to sign the agreement. Vlahoplus said the university had every intent to comply with the law, but under the university regulations the purchasing officer is delegated the power of signing such regulations. t Cuts D :air, but said, "there is no fair but says the> more classes almost no new students this that out of 75< they needed. ] nade many cutbacks which DeanChes ?r, according to Dean Albert Sciences, sai !ent of the part-time faculty positions, si> er of graduate assistants was position hav 1981 to 14, one of which was reductions o of the assistants appointed ments. and a t they usually receive. Funds such as suppl lergraduate assistants. Requests o rolina Reporter have limited workshops ai nonth instead of four. The being denied >aper put out by journalism asanextensi im. As previoi ninute newscast on WLTR cancelled si rnalism has been reduced by periodicals. two-thirds ov the School of Law, said the Dr. Charlie inate about 150 publications and Service, acancies on the faculty will earlier repor 1 force has been cut; and a the budget c as been eliminated and other discontinuing President Jai feet the quality of the school, No decisior ppjsgrs? S < \ * is^s^f-'iJMKKk SUff Photo by LAURIE WHUND jte concerning purchasing laws for state Vlahoplus said the purchase order went through the office of Pete Denton, systems ' vice president for business affairs, and was approved by the appropriate state officer, in this case Ellis. Vlahoplus said a letter by Holderman to the general service department could *' L1 1 ' - ancvimc I lie pi uuiem dui ne leeis the state is trying to discourage the single-source procurement clause so he will no longer use the clause Ellis said the university also had the option of going to a procurement board made up of members appointed by the governor, from the General Assembly and a member from the state Budget and Control Board. If still dissatisfied the university may then move the case into the civil court system. Vlahoplus said he has already issued a directive within his department stating all purchases must go through the normal procurement source. "It may cause problems, but I'd rather live with them than go through this," Vlahoplus said. escribed / will, "have to do the best we can." He said were closed this semester than ever before and 1 ctllHpntc 1 CIA llinpn nnoKIn ?-? " ? "1 _ Uvuv.v..vu, i.yxj UIIOU1C IW gCL 111 II1C UlctSStiS Lightsey contributes this to the lack of faculty, ter Bain, of the College of Humanities and Social d as the result of the 3 percent cut, five classified i full-time faculty positions, and one part-time e been eliminated. There was a series of f part-time faculty members various departsizable reduction in general operating expenses ies, travel and fewer funds for speakers, f special funds for things like conferences and nd requests for emergency equipment are also . As a result of this Bain said they cannot "give VP pHuoatinnal rtnr\Artnnitii if i:i-~ ? ...... umiiy <1.1 WC WUUIU IlKt*. isly announced Thomas Cooper Library has ibscriptions to 1,100 general and scholarly Also, new book purchases have decreased by er the last tour years. Tyer, of the Bureau of Governmental Research said the intern programis still in effect,despite ts that this program would decrease because of :uts. Tyer said there was some discussion of \ the program due to comments made by mes Holderman, but the program was not cut. is have been made for the next fiscal year.