Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Former UNIV101 director to continue some of his duties UNIVERSITY continued from page 2A dents,” Gardner said. “It’s enabled us to learn what first year students need.” According to Gardner, students who complete the Uni * versity 101 pro gram are more likely to use more university re sources, get in volved with cam pus organizations, r speak with facul ty and make bet ter decisions deal GARDNER ing with sexual issues. Gardner will continue as executive director of the National Resource Cen ter for the Freshman Year Experience and Students in Transition, which he founded in 1986. He also developed and champions what he calls the second critical transition for college students — the Senior Year Experience. The University 101 program was started in 1972 as an effort to make peace between students and professors during Vietnam. Since then, the pro gram has become a tool for the success of students during their first year at use. More than 2,100 USC students en rolled last fall in the course, which is offered at 71 percent of all accredited colleges and universities. Ashton June Photo Editor Over the summer, signs like this one in front of the J. Welsh Humanities Building were erected on the east side of campus. Journalism dean takes leave to launch new school overseas By Brad Walters . Editor in Chief m— i The dean of USC’s College of Journalism and Mass Communi cations will go overseas for a year, leaving in October to help launch a school in the United Arab Emirates. TURK Judy VanSlyke Turk, dean of the college since 1991, will take an unpaid leave to become the found ing dean of a new communications school at the country's Zayed Univer sity. The new college, officially titled the College of Communication and Media Sciences, will offer majors in inte grated marketing communication, print journalism, broadcast journalism and interpersonal communication. t Turk leaves Oct. 1 and will return in June 2000. Provost Jerry Odom is searching for an acting dean to take Turk's place while she is gone. Turk's term as dean of the journalism school will be over in 2001, after she has completed 10 years. USC spokesman Russ McKinney said Palms will not extend Turk's contract after 2001. Get it three times a week. "Che (Bamecock. Fitness Center to rival Russell House with on-campus activities GREEK continued from page 1 The university has paid only for the purchase and development of the land and proposed sites. Non-Greek students don't have to worry about the expense of the Greek Village. Each par ticipating fraternity and sorority will deal with the expenses of the individ ual houses. Brewer estimates up to $1 million will be spent on each house, de pending on how nice each organization wants to make it. As for the existing Greek housing, Greek organizations located off cam pus will have the option to move into the McBryde Quad. The bulk of this $43 million project is going toward, the construction of the Strom Thurmond Fitness and Wellness Center. Students now are paying $25 a semester out of their tuition for the construction of the center and should start seeing work done on this site in September. By the time students re turn from Winter Break, major progress will have been made on that site. The center will be equipped with such facilities as a four-court gym, a 10-lane swimming pool, a 1,600 square foot fitness center with weights and fit ness equipment, an indoor track, a 50 foot climbing wall and more. Brewer stressed the importance of the total free recreation this fitness center will offer. He said no student will be kept from swimming because the diving team is practicing. All teams, both intramural and varsity, and academic programs will remain at Blatt P.E. Center. The fitness center probably will ri val the Russell House as the most pop ular place for students to congregate. In preparation for this, Brewer expects 500 parking spaces to open up around the fitness center. Added with the 700 expected spaces for the Greek village, the campus will have 1,200 more park ing spaces. Brewer expects some of this parking to be used for perimeter park ing. In addition to more parking, the fit ness center will be a major stop on the Shuttlecock route. Precautions al so are being taken for the expected in crease in pedestrian traffic. Brewer said the stoplights at Blossom and Assem bly streets will have to be reworked to accommodate the heavy traffic. A pedes trian crossing lane will be more defined so vehicles will be aware of the space provided for walkers. Brewer stressed the importance of people, both drivers and pedestrians, being careful on all sides. The fitness center is expected to open alongside the Greek village in fall of 2001. More GED-takers heading to college By Anjetta McQueen Associated Press WASHINGTON — When Christopher North dropped out of high school in 1983, his choice had seemed obvious: He had to bring home a paycheck to help his parents. But today, North, a 32-year-old sin gle father in Escondido, Calif., says his choice is to get a high school education and go on to college. “I know a better education means better money and a better future, but I also wanted to be a good role model for my daughter,” he said of 9-year-old Alyse. “I couldn't expect it of her if I didn’t do it myself.” North, who earned his high school equivalency diploma last year, is one of a record number of GED test-takers planning to go to college. The American Council on Educa tion, which runs the General Educa tional Development Tests, said in a re port Friday that 67.7 percent of people who took the battery of five tests in 1998 planned to use their GED diploma for further study. That figure tops the previous year’s 65.4 percent reporting college plans and is nearly double the 35.6 percent of GED test-takers 20 years ago who planned on college. “The GED is really not an endpoint; it’s only the beginning,” said Susan Robinson, vice president of the Cen ter for Adult Learning, which directs the tests and other learning programs. In 1998, slightly more adults passed the tests, with 506,000 people earn ing high school credentials in 1998, up from 481,000 in 1997. Created for soldiers returning from World War II, the 56-year-old equiva lency credential accounts for one in sev en high school diplomas awarded in the United States. The average age of a test-taker is 24 in the United States and 30 in Canada. * More than 90 percent of U.S. col leges and universities accept students who earn the credential. The number of people taking the GED to get better jobs has dropped from about 40 percent in the 1970s to 28 percent last year. “I could have blamed leaving school on a million things. Looking back, I re ally should have stayed,” said North, now a freshman education major at Cal ifornia State University, San Marcos. Use yourr dollars with sense. The Associates Student Visa®can help you manage college expenses with fewer worries. Your dollars go further with all these great benefits. \ • 3% cash back on purchases* • No annual fee • Credit line up to $2,500 To apply, call toll free 1-888-SEND-ONE *See Rebate Terms and Conditions accompanying the credit card. For more information and great discounts, visit our Web site at www.studentcreditcard.com.