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.

Serving na Community since 1Q08 ..... ... .. 1 ...... ^ WWW.GAMEC0CK.SC.EDU UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA ' Columbia, S.C. New rush procedure in second year by Mackenzie Craven Senior Writer Those who decide to rush a fraternity this year will see a little bit of a different procedure than in years past. The procedure for rush changed in fall 1998. Accord ing to Fraternity Council Treasurer James Munsey, Fra ternity Council voted on a more ‘structured rush system.’ “Now, it’s more along the lines of what the sororities do, which is to visit every single chapter so they can make *a more educated decision on which chapter’s best for them,” Munsey said. “It’s a better decision because sometimes in the past, rushees end up going to only one or two chapters. Of course, there are 16 great chapters on this campus... and they don’t fully explore all 16,” he said. Fraternity Rush started at 5:30 p.m. Sunday in the Rus sell House Ballroom. Approximately 200 rushees attend ed a brief orientation and then headed over to McBryde Quad. On Monday, the rushees will visit the different frater nities in groups of 15. They will have 15-20 minutes to talk to current members or hear speeches. On Tuesday and Wednesday, open rush will take place and rushees will be able to visit any fraternity they choose, just as they were able to in years past. Thursday, the final day of rush, is called closed rush. Rushees will go to the fraternities that have invitied them back. The rushee will recieve an invitation, by card or phone call, either on Wednesday night or sometime during the day Thursday. On Friday, which is bid day, rushees can pick up their folder from the Russell House, which will have a card from the fraternity offering them bids. Many of the rushees were freshmen, but some sopho mores and juniors were also interested. However, Fraterni ty Council Vice President Ed Bender said he believes that the rushee will benefit more from the fraternity if he joins as a freshman. “Generally, most of the new members are freshmen. They typically tend to go through rush, but also we have a good number of sophomores and even juniors,” Bender said. “Not taking away from the upperclassmen who like to rush, but I think you get the most time spent with your chap ter and you make stronger bonds going the full four years as opposed to going two or three years,” he said. Students have different reasons for wanting to msh. Some students said they’re joining the fraternity system for acad emic purposes. “I think you meet a lot of new people and it kind of makes you keep your grades up because they have a stan dard,” business freshman Drew Pierce said. Bender claims that being Greek indeed has an impact on students’ academic sucess. “Some people, unfortumately, think that Greeks tend to make worse grades then the normal student population,” Bender said. “But actually, the fraternity grade point aver age is higher than the all-male and the all-female average on campus. “Most fraternities have mandatory study halls for their new members, and we generally try to promote academic excellence among fraternities so that freshman won’t be discouraged from joining,” Bender said. In year 2002, Sigman Nu and Phi Delta Theta will be going dry, which means they won’t be allowed to have al cohol on campus or on-campus housing. “The dry fraternity means dry on-campus housing; it doesn’t mean that you can’t go off and have parties on oth-« er parts of campus,” said Rob Fealy of Phi Delta Theta “If you are under 21 you can’t drink anyway, so if really doesn’t matter.” Members of Sigma Nu would not comment on the mat ter. Black Fraternities will be having their rush at a later Rush see page 2 Sean Rayford photo editor Freshman Heyward Hardy fills out a rush application Sunday in the Russell House Ballroom lobby. Fraternity rush ends Thursday, and Bid Day is Friday. Minority program orients freshmen by Kevin Langston News Editor New to the college lifestyle, freshmen must endure a rough first few weeks at col lege. Not only do they have to adjust to liv ing away from home, but they must also find their place in this laige university. * One program has taken the initiative at USC to help freshmen through the rougher parts of their first year at college. The Mi nority Assistance Peer Program (MAPP) operates through the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, and it acts as a mentor program for freshmen. During the summer, MAPP sends out applications to freshmen giving them infor mation and a sign-up form. The students are then paired with a mentor who will be their guide throughout the course of their initial year. Ideally, the mentor is in the same ma jor as the freshman. This creates more op portunities for freshmen to learn from their mentors. Student Government Sen. Jotaka Ead dy, as a freshman, went through MAPP. “I graduated from a high school of 386 i people and was soon enrolled at a school with 26,000 people. It was a bit over whelming,” she said. She is now a mentor, and she wants to help students through the same problems she had. “I’d be stingy if I didn’t go through such a rewarding program and not give back to it,” she said. “We don’t want students to feel like a number. We want to help them find their place at this university.” MAPP helps introduce freshmen to the resources at USC, and it confronts the prob lems most freshmen will encounter. “We want to help these kids through their problems,” Eaddy said. “We want to be their guide through the good times, the bad times, when they are having trouble and when they are doing well.” * Eaddy said most mentors were once freshmen in the MAPP program. “The men tors have great relationships with their fresh men because we have been there, and we know what it was like to be where they are.” MAPP reinforces their ideals through monthly programs for their students. “Eveiy month we have a social program, an academic program and a community ser vice program,” said Kristin Richardson, team leader of MAPP. Included in community service programs Freshmen see page 2 The Horseshoe erupts with the spirit of sisterhood. Sean Rayford photo editor Sorororrty members embrace Sunday on the Horseshoe as Bid Day ceremonies come to a close. This festivity ended a week of rush for nearly 500 girls. Carolina Productions Basic Training Week Paving of worn lots raises issues of green space by Clayton Kale Associate News Editor The parking lots outside Thomas Cooper Library and Russell House have been repaved for safety reasons, despite their impending destruction in the next couple of years. The lots, which eventually will be turned into green space to beautify the campus, were in bad condition before the repaving. “It was difficult and hazardous to walk or drive across the parking lots,” said Jerry Brewer, director of student life. “It’ll be two or three years before they [the parking lots] are turned into green space, so we’ll get two or three years of good use out of them.” Brewer said the lots are being replaced with green space not only to beautify the campus, but also because the lots are dangerous. “The lots don’t really meet the demands of parking,” Brewer said. “More people drive around the lots looking for parking, which can be hazardous to pedestrians.” The intended removal of the lots is part of USC’s plan to relocate most of its parking spaces to the perimeter of campus. The Shuttlecock will be expanded to transport stu dents to places in the campus core where parking won’t be available. But Brewer said that project is “on the back burn er” while another green space project is being worked on. Political science sophomore Lynette Thompson agrees with the decision to repave the parking lots. “There should be more green spaces, but there should be more parking too. I can never find a parking space. There are too many students and not enough parking,” Thompson said. The university is working to create Preston Green, a green space that Brewer said will be a part of campus “much like the Horseshoe.” The Preston Green project is still in its planning stages because of unforeseen delays, according to the Di rector of Facilities Management Charles Jeffcoat. Jeffcoat said the Russell House and library green space project also has been delayed because of budget matters. Green Space see page 2 Carolina Productions entertains students during welcome week Hypnotist dazzles students at free show in Russell House by Philip Burt Senior Writer One student danced with a broom. Another stu dent beat on his chest like Tarzan. Still another tried to use his shoe as an oxygen mask. All this and more happened this past Wednesday night as hypnotist Michael Anthony returned to USC to entertain more than 500 students in the Russell House Ballroom. Anthony came back to USC for the third straight year, and each year he has drawn a larger crowd. The event, sponsored by Carolina Productions, was part of Welcome Back Week. Anthony started off the show with some card tricks. Then, he asked for 30 volunteers from the audience to be hypnotized. Soon, he narrowed it down to 10 or 15, keeping on stage those on whom the hypnosis was working successfully. According to CP President Cedric Scott, Antho ny changed his show around from the previous ones by making the hypnotized students do more on stage. “He added a couple of things to his show, which some people were not expecting, and he changed it for the better,” Scott said. Some of his additions included making students on stage participate in a dance contest and having a stu dent speak Chinese. Anthony also included some tricks as in previous years, which included convincing a studenuhat the number six was nonexistent. Anthony said it’s up to the student being hypno HYPNOTIST see page 2 Carolina Productions scores big with Jump, Little Children by Mackenzie Craven Senior Writer Hundreds of raucous students and fans were packed into the Russell House Ballroom on Friday night to see a performance by Jump, Little Children, a popular re gional band. Carolina Productions sponsored the concert to conclude its Basic Training Week. CP members Karen Jones and Ashley Albright planned and organized the event. “Carolina Productions wanted a large event to con clude Basic Training Week,” Jones said.”We wanted to keep it on campus for the freshman and the people on campus to give them an alternative instead of go ing off campus for entertainment.” Students weren’t the only ones at the concert. Some drove from as far away as Spartanburg, Raleigh, N.C.. Charleston, S.C., and Alabama to see the show. The concert was sold out of 800 tickets before its 8 p.m. start. The enthusiastic crowd participated throughout the concert with trademark moves such as jumping to the song “Dancing Virginia” and shaking their car keys to “Anybody.” Meanwhile, lead singer and guitarist Jay Clifford blew bubbles on stage and into the audi ence. One audience member said that Jump, Little Chil dren. has “a style that transcends category.” “They are true to their roots and proud of them, but, at the same time, they’re not afraid to expand in to new things, and that’s what makes them so inter esting and good,” Jeanette Earley said HRTA junior. The band has been based in Charleston since the Jump see page 2 Weather Inside Datebook Online Poll Today 91 69 Tuesday 87 71 r efCetera looks into online shopping. Page 8 Today •The Gamecock news meeting, 4:00 p.m., RH 333 •Poster Sale, 9 a.m., Rus sell House Patio •Carolina Productions, 3:30 p.m., Sec ond Floor Russel! House A □Tuesday •Poster Sale, 9 a.m., Rus sell House Patio •Association of African American Students, 6 p.m., Russell House Theater •Residence Hall Association, 7 p.m., Russell House 307 | || /}TS? \ How wil1 the Gamecocks II wl7 1 do this season? ^ Go to www.ganiecock.sc.edu to vote in this week’s poll. > V.