Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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December 3, 1999 I*OAMgcocK^c<BPv:0'5%: [£$-:W- III! 3iviUniversity .o f JS o u t h Caro li na;^>J|J^ WIKS:cuuwm,$M v!,/;,X^v>>Xw!vXvX\%,!vXvX,Xv/Xv;vXvXvX-;v;vXvX,X,X<v/>;':\\';wXw;,X'Xv'Xv!-XvX\,Xv;'XvX,wXvX,Xv!v!,XwXvXvXv;v;vXv!w!vXwavXv>!vXvX'X,X,!v;vXv;vXvX^ USC student named Rhodes Scholarship finalist by Patrick Rathbun Senior Writer A USC student was nominated by the State of South Carolina Rhodes Committee to compete in the Rhodes District competition Friday and Satur day in Washington, D.C. Carolina Parler, a chemical engineering senior and South Carolina Honors College student, is one Ik of the finalists from six slates including South Car olina, North Carolina, Delaware, Maryland/Wash ington, D.C., Virginia and West Virginia. Tire Rhodes Scholarships are the oldest of the international study awards available to American students. The scholarship provides two years of study at the University of Oxford in England, with a pos sible renewal for a third year. All education costs, including matriculation, tuition, laboratory and other fees, are paid on the scholar’s behalf by Rhodes Trustees. Scholars also receive maintenance allowance to pay for term-time and vacations, as well as costs of travel to and from Oxford. Criteria for the scholarship are high academ ic achievement, integrity of character, a spirit of unselfishness, respect for others, potential for lead ership and physical vigor. Cecil Rhodes, the scholarship’s creator, said Rhodes Scholars should “esteem the perfor mance of public duties at their highest aim.” Rhodes Scholars are chosen in a three-stage process. First, candidates must be endorsed by their college or university. Committees of Selection in each of the 50 slates then nominate candidates who are interviewed by District Selection Committees in eight regions of the United States. Parler has a near-4.0 grade point average and earned the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for undergraduate research in science and engineer ing. She also received the highest awards for lead ership from both USC (Steven M. Swanger Award) and from Omicron Delta Kappa, a national soci ety for leadership, for National Leader of the Year. Parler was also selected as 1997 Homecoming Queen, 1999 USC Outstanding Wfoman of tlie Year, 1999 Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities and 1999 Outstanding USC Senior in Chemical Engineering. Parler has also performed in the USC Dance «w Company since 1995 and is an original member of the Djoliba Don West African Dance Company founded in January 1999. ' She has held leadership positions in Qri Omega Sorority, Omicron Della Kappa, Tau Beta Pi (na tional engineering honor society), Mortar Board Senior Honor Society, USC Student Government and other campus organizations. Jan Phillips, assistant director in the Office of Fellowsltips and Summer Programs, said die Rhodes nominadon is a “big deal.” To make it into the state and district compeddons is.“phenomenal,” she said. | Caroline Parley |j will be compet || ing in the I Rhodes District 1 competition i Friday and 1. Saturday in § Washington, I D.C. Library hours frustrate students by Patrick Rathbun Senior Writer Students and administrators have dif ferent views on what USC’s library hours should be. The Thomas Cooper Library will close at 2 a.m. during the weeks before and of finals. The closing lime is later than the normal midnight closing, but some students say they feel even this ex tension is not sufficient. They say the li brary should offer 24-hour access all the time. Computer engineering freshman Brandon Booker said he sees the need for the library to be open around the clock. “I think they should slay open 24 hours,” he said. “I know people that are up until 3 [a.m.] and 4 [a.m.] work ing on their papers. I’ve been in that sit uation.” Media arts sophomore Carly Roberts agreed that the library’s hours should be _i_l_ .j tAltliUlAI. “[Extension of Hie library’s hours] would really help you out,” she said. “Sometimes you can’t get to the library until late, and you need to be there after 12.” Psychology sophomore Hayes Ed munds said the extension of library hours would have a positive impact. “It’d be very beneDcial if [the library] were open 24 hours, even if it was just during exams,” she said. “During the reg ular year, [an extension of hours] might make me study more.” Thcker Taylor, head ofThomas Coop er Library’s circulation department, said 24-hour access would be “costly” and might not be a realistic need. “We don’t have people clamoring [to use the library],” she said. “We don’t see people here at late hours. If people come, then we’ll adjust our hours.” Taylor also said there are many con siderations in keeping the building open for a few extra hours, including increased security and costs. Computer labs are the "most heavily used” of tire Ubrary’s re sources, and there are a lot of consider ations for running a 24-hour computer lab, Taylor said. USC’s library hours aren’t much dif ferent from oilier universities in llie Soulh Library see page 2 I Students scurry to finish their final assignments of the fall semester -I'. •■’-'.--V. .V.-.VV. V.-'V.' '' ?V- " V" V *T .'.'"T V '■ V " ’T '■ " '■ " " " » 1 '■ 1 --V " .■ '■ !■ ■ " ■ ■ ■■ '■ J’-V-'’ V OTTV-TO"! Sean Ratford photo editor Students crowd the fifth-floor computer lab In the Thomas Cooper Library during the last week of the fall semester to complete assign ments for their respective classes. Though the hours have been extended, some students would like to see the library open 24 hours. SG codes create online voting By Brandon Larrabee Staff Writer Election codes creating an online vot ing system for Student Government were passed Wednesday by student senate and are awaiting approval from USC Presi dent John Palms. The system would be on USC’s Vi sual Information Processing system at http://vip.sc.edu. Under the bill, students can vote on ly online, unless they are casting a write in ballot. “It pretty much does away with pa per voting,” said Sen. Patrick Gearman, who co-sponsored the bill. Under the bill, if a student wants to cast a write-in ballot, he or she will have to go to the SG olTice, cancel the online ballot and vote for all candidates on pa per. Gearman said Palms has to sign the bill before it becomes official. “Personally, I’m hoping he signs it over the break,” Gearman said. “Odds Senate see page 2 Closed classes causing registration problems by Charles Prashaw Staff Writer You’re just about ready to smash your computer screen, snap your keyboard in two or throw the phone across the room because it seems like every class you wanted for next semester is already closed. Don’t leel bad; you’re among some of the 15,000 USC-Columbia stu dents who registered for classes in the past three weeks but weren’t able to get the schedule they wanted. Although the registrar’s office said no major problems were reported with the registration process this semester, many students have complained that too few classes were open and the process of getting an override into a full class took too long. “We give the information to the stu dents and the colleges; it is the college that has control over how many sections are offered and how many students are allowed in a class,” registrar Barbara Blaney said. Those who received the class sched ule they wanted were likely among the first to register on Nov. 15. According to Blaney, registration ap pointment times are based on grade point average and credit hours. Clair Boatwright, director of Student Services at the College of Journalism and Mass Communications, said she doesn’t think the current system is sufficient. “We need to look at a multi-tier se lection process for getting people into classes they need,” Boatwright said. “We need a system that looks at sev eral criteria for a student to be selected for a class.” Blaney said the registration process isn’t likely to change soon. But she said die registrar’s office might look into hav ing a university-wide waiting list and al low electronic overrides on the Visual Informadon Processing Web site. And Blaney said there are other changes being considered for the VIP site. Potential additions include allowing students to request official transcripts online and allowing professors access to class rolls with names, addresses and phone numbers of students. Carolyn Jones, director of the un dergraduate division at The Darla Moore School of Business, said the business school has seen an increase in enrollment over the years, while the number of re sources has decreased. “It seems this year a lot of classes filled up very quickly,” Jones said. Darla Moore is one of USC’s schools ""Schedule see page 4 Going home for the holidays Where are you going for the holidays? More than likely, if you’re not staying in South Carolina, you’re going to one of the following states — they’re the top 10 out-of-state sources of USC students, State Number ot students Georgia N. Carolina Vroma New York Pbinsylvama New Jersey Florca . Maryland Oho Connecticut I Source USC'a Department ot Institutional Research and Planning. Fall 1998 statistics Brad Walters graphics editor Weather j: •'- ta«| , Datebook •' - §Onune Poll '' ^ Today 71 34 iATURDAY 71 40 | Money | banks on | Christmas. I Page 18 • Last Day of Classes • Stress Blowout, 6 p.m.-midnight, Blatl P.E Center • Entries for basketball intramurals ... Saturday • Hanukkah • Reading Day • Round Table Gaming Society, noon to 11:45 p.m., RH Should exams be held on Saturdays? Go to www.gamccock.sc.edu to vole in this week’s poll.