Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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USC looks to carve niche in colonial black history I By Brad Walters Editor in Chief USC has hired three new faculty members specializing in colonial African-American history, a topic of growing interest among historians and history aficionados. Patrick Maney, chairman of USC’s history department, said USC is a school where studying African American history and culture is rele vant. “South Carolina was the port of entry for more African slaves than anywhere else, and, as a result, the colony and then state of South Carolina had a majority African American population for a significant period of time,” Maney said. “Tbday, African Americans continue to make' up more than 30 percent of the state.” The three new African-American historians include Daniel Littlefield, Valinda Littlefield (his wife), and Bobby Donaldson. Daniel Littlefield is a specialist in colonial American and African American history. He had taught at the University of Blinois at Urbana Champaign since 1988. He has done extensive research on slavery in colo nial South Carolina, and he earned his doctoral degree from John Hopkins University. Valinda Littlefield's work on the study of black women schoolteachers in the rural South from the 19th cen tury through the 1950s has shown that these women played key roles in shaping Southern communities. She also taught at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana before coming to USC. Donaldson's research is on the emergence of a group of Southern black educators and intellectuals in the turn of the century south who sig nificantly foreshadowed the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. Donaldson, who holds advanced degrees from Emory University, taught there as an instructor before coming to USC. Teens get taste of college life during summer research at USC “It’s been fun getting used to college life, even though I’m still in high school.” Shevon Williams Rising senior, Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics Staff Reports The Gamecock Instead of spending time splashing in the water this summer, some of the state’s top teenagers spent their sum mer making a splash in water research at USC. Tve known for a while that one day I want to become a researcher, but working in the lab has helped me strengthen that decision,” said Ashley Jones, a rising senior at Rock Hill High School. The 16-year-old worked this summer in USC’s department of civil and environmental engineering with professors and graduate stu dents, studying ways to control pH levels to clean up groundwater conta mination. Jones is one of nine students from South Carolina high schools and the S.C. Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics who spent six weeks at the university working with various research teams at USC’s Center for Water Research and Policy. The center is searching for innovative ways to solve problems associated with groundwater pollution and other water-related problems. She von Williams, a rising senior at the Governor’s School, developed a three dimensional computer model so the public can see how groundwater cont amination is being cleaned up at the Savannah River Site. “This has really helped me under stand what I'll do in college and what research is all about,” says Williams. “It’s been fun getting used to college life, even though I'm still in high school.” The internship program mutually benefits the students and the univer sity, said John Shafer, director of USC’s Earth Sciences and Resources Institute. “It’s an opportunity for the univer sity to reach out to South Carolina’s talented and bright high school stu dents and show them some of the research areas at the university,” said Shafer, coordinator of the internship program. “On the other hand, it allows students to get valuable research experience and live on cam pus.” At the end of the internship, stu dents made a 15-minute presenta tions about their research before fac ulty, family and friends. “I’m excited to give an animated presentation using PowerPoint,” said Williams, who would like to one day combine a career using her back ground in computer programming and environmental science. Other interns’ research projects included human interference with wetlands, use of miniature sensors to monitor water quality and the use of vegetated landfill covers. I your checkbook, is decidedly uncool. But with a Student Checking Account at NBSC, you get a Visa® CheckCard that looks like a credit card, but works like a check, since the amount you spend comes right out of your checking account. So anyplace that takes Visa® will take your “check,” so to speak. And you can also use your card to make unlimited withdrawals and deposits at any NBSC ATM, including the one right next to campus at 1311 Pendleton Street. $ So stop by and open a Student Checking Account today. It’s absolutely the coolest way to spend money. ‘J< The National Bank of South Carolina % MKMRKR FDK: || 1311 Pendleton Street Telephone 256-6304 || I I Greg Farley The Gamecock Poodle, the lead singer of Hit and Run, sings and plays guitar Saturday during the “Ten Bands for $10” show at Elbow Room in Five Points. Read The Gamecock every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It costs nothing and you stay informed. What more can one ask for? ■Che Gamecock. Take our word. Students in Texas capital face steepest rents in U.S. College Press Exchange AUSTIN, Texas - Think it’s hard to find a cheap place in Columbia? Try living in Austin, Ttexas. No-vacancy signs are posted on just about every apartment building there, leaving students with few off campus living options. The Texas capital’s booming econ omy is drawing a flood of newcomers to the area, giving the city one of the tightest apartment markets in the nation. More than 97 percent of the area’s 87,574 units are full, according to Capitol Market Research, an Austin-based real estate market research firm. Even if students found a place to live, there’s not much chance they could afford it. Rent has jumped 21 percent in the last five years. In some of the city’s most upscale neighbor hoods, rent can be as high as $2,500 a month, more than a mortgage pay ment for a $350,000 house - and that doesn’t include a down payment. Rent hit an average of $880 for a 1,000-square-foot unit during the second quarter, up $20 over the past three months. Many complexes have waiting lists of two or three months, and peo ple are showing up at rental offices with check in hand, signing leases for apartment sights unseen. Austin is behind Washington. D.C. and South Florida as the most expensive rental market in the South, but what makes it different is the speed with which it has risen to the top. Many Austin natives are finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with the cost of living there. “If the issue goes unaddressed, we will lose the Austin we have loved,” said Kerry Tate, president of a local advertising and public relations agency who is spearheading efforts to create affordable housing. “In its place will be a city that is home to only the rich who can afford the high er cost of living and the poor who can not afford to escape it.”