Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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_ _News_ Rush from page A1 “We’ve got to experience everything else, without the pressures of a soror ity,” Berry said. “It’s up to the individual though; it was better for nle to wait, but every body’s different.” While plenty of students are rush ing, some girls think that they’d be miss ing out on too much their first week on campus if they were rushing. Journalism freshman Cathy Moore said she’s had too much fun this week to be sad she didn’t rush. “This has been the best week of my life,” she said. The sorority girls aren’t allowed to go out, and they’re missing out big time. Fm not sorry at all I didn’t rush.” Business freshman Andrea Parrot is rushing and said she’s glad she’s do ing so, even if she doesn’t join a soror ity. “I think it’s a great idea to have rush so soon because you meet so many people from the start,” freshman business major Parrot “It’s definitely good because 1 you meet so many people of all 19 ages.” Girls who wanted to rush had to decide before they arrived on campus whether they were going to rush. The deadline for the applica nt tion and $30 application fee was I Aug 6. Rho Chi had to start their ■ commitment to rush long before “We had to disaffiliate [from J| our sorority] and couldn’t tell girls I who we are over the summer,” grif Miller said. “We can’t talk to our sisters dj or any other sorority women until Bid Day.” Rho Chi Erika Miller, a mar 1|. keting junior, said having rush so H| early in the year will help keep girls I from hearing stereotypes about the I sororities. “You come in with a fresh face I and mind,” Miller said. “The only drawback is that people aren’t sure if they want to do it.” Rho Chi members said they hope that all rushees will benefit from their experience. “After bid day and classes start, they’ll recognize each other’s faces,” Miller said. Sorority rush ends Sunday, the same day fraternity rush starts. « L___ Meghan Parker and Andrea Parrott take a break from rush on Tuesday at Williams-Brice Stadium. The two were eating lunch at The Zone during their break. Sorority rush ends Sunday with bid day. Services from page A1 happen, Computer Services has to be assured that more students will be using the data jack connection. More than 1,600 students signed up for data jack activation on the VIP Web site during the summer; 50 per cent of those students requested help. More than 2,000 computers are hooked up to GRIN. And the number of students bringing their computers to campus is on the rise. In August 1997, 800 students brought computers to USC. In August 1998, 2,800 students brought computers. Based on those statistics, Yarbrough is predicting that by next year, enough students will be using computers on campus for Computer Services to make the financial com mitment. So far, Yarbrough said he believes that about 4,000 students might have computers this .year. Six thousand data connections are avail able on campus. USC Maintenance has also tried to help ease the move-in process for dorm residents. For the first time, students were issued cards whefi they checked in. The card advertised the number 777 FIXX, which students can call 24 hours a day to report maintenance requests. " “Before we can get students’ attention to focus on their academics and take part in some academic offer ings in the residence halls, we’ve got to make them comfortable first,” said Gene Luna, director of housing and judicial programs. “The first thing we have to focus on is to make sure their home at Carolina is comfortable and things work properly and that they are not distracted by facility concerns.” “There are 45 mechanics on staff at USC. Even so, it will take us liter ally two to three weeks to fully respond to all the work orders we got with the yellow card system,” Luna said. “The cards system is a new sys tem, he said. “The cards allowed you to actu ally look at your room while you were doing your room condition reports and indicate what you think is wrong, verify what we had already detected, if anything, in your room. “Then, you fill that out on a yel low card, and that way we get all the data in, prioritize and then dispatch maintenance staff.” Resident advisers, custodians and maintenance staff inspect the room before students move into the resi dence halls. Luna said the challenge lies in the summer camps and conferences that USC sponsors all summer. Some of the buildings are being used continuously. But mistakes can slip through the cracks, and some problems arenft noticed until students arrive in the ---- fall. Luna said he believes a major problem for students is when entire systems aren’t working. Luna said the maintenance staff strives to have all problems fixed within a 72-hour peri od. But there are instances of deferred maintenance, which take longer to fix. Deferred maintenance is when a problem simply shifts from one room to another. Most commonly, this problem arrives with heating or cooling prob lems. One room will be too cool and the other too warm, and the problem will shift back and forth between the rooms. Another challenge, Luna said, is that fixing one problem leads to another problem, and after that prob lem is fixed, another arises. “Over a period of 30 and 60 days, students will perhaps in that building get the idea that we aren’t fixing that problem,” he said. “They have so many points of control and functionality that fixing one just leads to another and leads you to another.” But Luna has a solution to that problem. “What we are intending to do is to identify those major systems, develop a plan to systematically bring those back up to standards, and in some cases replacing entire systems and in other cases replacing aspects of systems,” he said. 1 Get turned on. I Get turned on. _ —__ ~ tomorrow 8/20 in Concert i RH Ballroom • 8 pm f $3 USC students $5 Gen. Public Tickets or* sale NOW at th (