The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 11, 1996, Image 1

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IN THE GAMECOCK ONLINE: Guide to late nightspots, http://www.gamecock.sc.edu/mapped_out/ WEATHER . INDEX is] '/^iwrnrb RS : Friday l^p K. ?^-B IBB B' B BIB BB ^ 1 COMICS 8 | Bfl BIB II I III I 1 TB SPORTS. Low 50 j ^ ? ., d CLASSIFIEDS 12 Serving USC since 1908 ' Strange fruit PAGE 5 SG Senate debates resolution ADAM SNYDER Asst. News Editor Nearly an hour and a half of debate came down to a single vote Wednesday > evening in Student Government Senate. Student Government vice president Jamel Franklin used his power as tie breaker to pass a resolution to increase student lobbying of the state Legislature for higher education funding. Also, a task force will be established to study the university's finances. Hie South Carolina Senate currently is debating a USC budget bill for the next fiscal year. Debate continued from last week over the resolution designed to reverse the downward trend of higher education funding in South Carolina. Between 1990 and 1994, South Carolina decreased higher education funding by three percent, while Geoigia, North Carolina, Tennessee, ? Florida, and Alabama increased funding as much as 18 percent from 1992 to 1994. Concerns against the resolution stemmed from the possibility that state senators would not take students seriously if they are not completely knowledgeable about university finances. Supporters said research had been done and student leaders were knowledgeable and qualified to lobby the legislature. Journalism Sen. Graham King was most vocal in opposition to the resolution, saying it would be better suited for next session when more is known about finances. Supporters, led most vocally by Law School Sen. David Haller, said the time is now. Other senators agreed, saying nothing would be lost if lobbying started immediately. After extended debate, the number of senators dwindled to be nearly below ' quorum, but enough were present to put forth an 11-11 tie. That is when Franklin stepped in to make the deciding tiebreaking vote. In new business, a resolution passed with no debate to begin the production of a Student Government Newsletter to be distributed to students through intracampus mail. Also, some of SG President Patrick Wright's cabinet members were approved by the Senate. Positions are as follows: Melissa Cargnino - Assistant chief of staff Takita Felder - Executive assistant Dwayne White - Director of Greek Affairs Daniel Russell - Director of Multicultural Affairs Nikki LaRocque - Director of Organizational Affairs Manisha Shroff - Elections Commissioner Teddy Elgarico - Director of Student Services USC students ; and Tau Beta Several students were awarded fellowships featured in earlier in Greenbacks. ANGIE CAMPBELL Staff Writer For the first time ever, three USC students have won National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowships in the same year. Heather Agler, Donald Crankshaw and Sharon Lynn were awarded NSF fellowships for graduate study in the fields of science, mathematics or engineering. The $70,000 fellowships are awarded for three years of support, including an annual $14,400 stipend, an $8,600 costof-education allowance per year and a one-time international research travel allowance of $1,000. USC electrical engineering senior and member of the Honors College Donald Crankshaw won not only an NSF fellowship, but also won a $10,000 fellowship from the engineering honoraiy society Tau Beta Pi. He was the only student in South Carolina to win one of the 30 national fellowships given. He said he won the fellowships by organizing lots of paperwork and undergoing interviews focused largely on his research experience, graduate school plans and extra auricular activities. "Right now, Fll be doing my graduate Comer to JENNIFER SNYDER Asst. News Editor ALUSON WILLIAMS Special Projects Former Student Government President Brain Comer was unsuccessful in his attempt to get a seat on the USC Board of Trustees Wednesday. Comer would have been the first voting student member of the board. He served as a non-voting member during his term as president in 199495. Gaining a voting student member on the board was a campaign goal of several SG executive officer hopefuls. Comer ,23, is enrolled in both the Law School and the Masters ol International Business School. \ * \ H I , M : Wk h ill IlkM A> Mia luaathar uiarms tin I After a recent cold spell, tl awarded NSF Pi fellowships work at MIT," he said. "Ill be working in the material and devices area, which includes semi-conductors and superconductors. Other than that, I'm not oiitp wV*nt Til ko r)ninrr witk mv nocoarrk " NSF fellow Sharon Lynn, a biology senior and member of the Honors College, plans to do her graduate work in zoology at the University of Washington, where she hopes to study the hormones and behavior of birds. "I didn't expect to win, but I was really, really excited when I did," she said. "It's a really good way to get the freedom from worrying about funding your research elsewhere." NSF fellow Heather Lynn Agler graduated from USC and the Honors college in December 1995 with a degree in engineering. She could not be reached for comment. "We are extremely pleased and proud of all the students who applied for these awards and those who were named winners," said Novella F. Beskid, director of Fellowships and Summer Programs. "It is an incredible accomplishment for each of the students and the institution." Two USC students also received Graduate Fellowship Honorable mention; Henry Leo Hanus, a chemical engineering graduate student, and Jennifer L. Wu, a chemical engineering senior and member of the Honors College. ses bid f< Lawmakers voted Wednesday in a joint session of the S.C. General Assembly i on the Board of Trustees of several state 1 colleges and universities. i The Board of Trustees is the { governing body of the university and votes on key issues. The General < Assembly delegates all responsibilities 1 of the university to the board. , About half of the 16 members of i USC's Board of Trustees faced the end i of their term this year. Five members i sought reelection, all of whom ran i unopposed. J The 10th circuit, the circuit that 1 Comer ran to represent, was the only position where the race was contested. ] ?t?. \ ^ ||y| I jynn Three USC students, Ben Cohei Terracio, each won the prestigious in applying for the fellowship because of its prestige. "What actually caused me to sit down and apply was the prestige of the award. I realized if I were to win that I would be one of the 250 winners in the nation," Terracio said. "People will recognize that the courses and the research I have participated in while in college were important and beneficial to my learning of science". Part of the application process I i a student taxes an evening mxe n he weather is expected to reach the i Three USC sti STEPHANIE SONNENFELD Features Editor Some say two is better than one, bat USC is blessed with three students recently selected as Goldwater Scholars. Michael Boone, Ben Cohen and Nate Terracio were three of the four USC students nominated for the scholarship. The scholarship program targets rising juniors and seniors in college who intend to pursue mathematics or science in their studies. The scholarship is monitored by the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship Foundation, which is named after the former senator. To be nominated for the scholarship, irr4- Vv/~v Kir fKft atuuciiua uiuat uc i cvuiimiciivicvi uj uiic Univeristy Faculty Committee, which consists of Dr. Ralph White (Chemical Engineering), Dr. Doug Meade (Mathematics), Dr. Michael Myrick (Chemistry), Dr. Jim Stiver (Honors College) and Dr. Sarah Woodin (Biology). Boone, a senior mechanical engineering major, who is scheduled to graduate in Spring 1997, first heard about the Goldwater program after a friend of his won last year. "I was prompted to apply for this award in order to have funding to complete my fifth year of undergraduate studies," said Boone. "Winning this award would also be something very good to add to future and fellowship applications." Like, Boone, Terracio was interested jr Board The only requirement to serve on ;he board is that the board member lave permanent residence in the area ior which he or she runs. There is no ige limit. Comer's opponent and the candidate sleeted by the General Assembly is Robert N. McLellen of Seneca McLellen 71, served as a Democrat in the House and as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. McLellen served n the Legislature for 14 years until he ivas defeated in 1991. He was appointed as state Highway Commissioner; he las retired. According The State newspaper, McLellen hoped to make a political Ba^BR v ill' MANJU SHROFF The Gamecock Ide across the Horseshoe, mid 70s this weekend. udents award ftj j mm HKg' yM*r of Trustei comeback, la McLellan ran because he has "always tc been interested in education. My wide experience in government, particularly T fiscal affairs could be put to good use. ti I felt like I had something to offer," said d] McLellan in The State article. a Comer campaigned for the support of the members of the General Assembly, n There are 170 members of the legislature C ? 46 members of the Senate and 124 k members of the House. R Wednesday, 155 lawmakers voted, le with 78 votes required to win the position, ft McLellan won 112 votes and Comer b took 43. According to Comer, several Preston Weel 'welcoming ? ERIN SHAW Staff Writer. s Everyone was clamoring for a strand ( of Becky Lewis' hair Tuesday night. That is, all the participants of ( Proatnn'e opavoncror Vinnt whn wore ' A 1VUVUU U UVU T VllgVI UVUlVj ?? llv ?? VI V sent on a mission to get a snippet of the precious co-principal's coffee. No, these residential college members are not crazy. They are excited, though, to celebrate the First Annual Preston Week. Most people are wrapping up the semester, cramming for exams and worrying about grades. Although this environment may not exactly be a haven for enthusiasm, residents of Preston are as excited as ever with their innovative ideas. They are celebrating their year as a group by sponsoring and participating in Preston Week. The week has included events for both residents and faculty associates. 1 Senior Trevor Spencer said the j purpose of Preston Week is to "do something festive and show what we're made of. We have a lot of pride in this. ( year." Spencer, co-chair for the Garden Committee of Preston, has helped sell ( Preston Week T-shirts to raise money , for the committee. Spencer thinks the week showcases the college to the rest of USC and future contributing , members. Preston Week was originally 1 scheduled to last only one day, but residents wanted to make it even longer, 1 according to Kevin Lewis, who is co- ; principal of the college with his wife, Becky. The day was designated to commemorate the day William Preston left the college in the 1850s as result of the student uprisings and food fights. Kevin Lewis is dedicated to promoting his predecessor's values, including furthering student commitment to an academic environment. William Preston once led Goldwater I r TYSON PETTIQREW The Gamecock ' n, left, Michael Boone and Nate 1 Goldwater fellowship. requires applicants to describe reserch \ performed in mathematical or scientific \, fields. Cohen, a computer c science/matematics sophomore, devoted c this part of the application to describing v his reserach in applied mathematics at. j USC through the National Science j Foundation's Experimental Program ? to Stimulate Competitive Research. Cohen began working in this c program after his junior year in high _ ssseat iwmakers who committed their votes ) Comer voted for McLellan. "I don't know where that came from, hat was my fruit Being a student and ying to stay abreast of my studies, I id not follow up the commitments with letter," Comer said. However, Comer said that he did ot think that a resolution sent by the FSC College Republicans to GOP iwmakers affected the vote. College epublicans called Comer "a campus iftist" who in 1994 supported Democrats ir elected office and criticized Republican udget philosophies, according to an COMER page 3 c celebrates ifmnsnhere' 5aid the object of the association was the pursuit of learning." This week celebrates the welcoming atmosphere )f Preston ? an academic and social realm. The week began with the Bon Voyage Banquet Monday. At the dinner, Preston residents reflected on the first year of the college. Highlights of the banquet included a "State of the College Address" by Kevin and Becky Lewis and a performance by the Preston Players, the college's performance p-oup. Other Preston Week events included Tuesday's scavenger hunt and subsequent water balloon fight. Last night's main event was the first Preston Lecture, in which students learned the history of William Preston. Patrick Scott gave the lecture, which was centerpiece of the week's events, according to Kevin and Becky Lewis. Tonight, residents and faculty associates will gather for a cookout at 5:30 behind Preston. The night will be capped off by events like Jello Wrestling, Crisco Twister and Capture the Flag. Tomorrow, students will gather in the front of Preston for a 4 p.m. concert starring Big Daddy Sweet Foot. Resident musician Elizabeth Allen will be opening for the band at 3:30 p.m.. "Preston Week sort of rounds out the year," Spencer said. "We've really become a close-knit family. We're showing pride in who we are." At the close of Preston Week, Kevin Lewis looks toward the future of the college. He hopes future residents will live out William Preston's words ? there "cannot be a more important or honorable occupation than to instruct the rising generation." fellowships ichool, which lead to his present work n programming and computer graphical nodeling for Dr. Robert Sharpley and )r. Robert Cannon. Cohen's work with computers can *p nnnliprl tn PvprvtViincr frnm nammograms to targeting for military ets. Terracio's research consisted of pending a summer at Lawrence Berkely National Laboratory in Berkely, California. He worked with Dr. Mina Bissell and studied molecular biology ind breast cancer reserach. Boone's Goldwater proposal was ased on reserach with Professor Michael V. Sutton, his faculty mentor at the ^ASA Langley Research Center in rlampton, Virginia. "My work involves the experimental 3tudy of crack growth in 2024-T3 aluminum, an aluminum alloy jommonly used in commercial aircrafts. [ have begun to investigate how a crack propagates cm a nacroscopic level under i combination of tension and shear oading," said Boone. The Goldwater scholarship stipend overs the last two years of a student's nllege tuition. Other USC students vho have won this award are Robyn Celly and Jennifer Wu in 1995, Daniel )orsel in 1994, Terry Dixon in 1993 ind Anil Swami in 1990. The competition is stiff, because inly 250 students across the nation win AWARD page 3