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.

_ Vol. 93, No. 49 Weclne January 12, 2000 Serv ^ e Carolina Community since 1Q08 www.gamecock.sc.edu UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH Carolina * Columbia, S.C. i. USC to observe MLK Day of service by J essica Clary Staff Writer For the second year in a row, about 1,200 students are expected to volunteer their time to do service in honor of Marlin Luther King Jr. on Monday. “Everyone can be great because everyone can serve,” King once said. Last year, more than 750 faculty, staff and stu dents joined the USC Office of Community Ser vice to give back to the Columbia community. Last year, USC President John Palms said classes would be suspended on MLK Day for students to par ticipate in a day of service. “This will not be a day out; it will be a day in,” Palms said. “It will not be a day off; it will be a day on,” Organizers think this is a good opportunity for students to volunteer. Faculty and staff are en couraged to serve, as well. “We want it to be obvious this is not just a Greek thing, not just a residence hall thing, but something that any individual can show up and serve,” Benton said. The planned service events begin at 9 a.m. with registration in the Russell House second floor lob by. Volunteers will then march to Martin Luther King Park in Five Points, where they will be di vided into groups for service. Other colleges have planned events, as well. Student Government, along with the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Committee, has planned a 7:30 a.m. commemorative breakfast in the Russell House Ballroom. The Black Law Students Association is presenting a panel of speakers at 3 p.m. in the Law School Auditorium, and an MLK Gospel Unity Fest will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the Koger Center for the Arts. For more information about any of these programs, contact the USC Office of Equal Opportunity Programs at 777-3854. King himself challenged people to serve throughout his life. MLK day is a day devoted to serving in his memory. “Remembering as One, Celebrating as One, Acting as One” is the theme for this years cele bration. Tbe celebration will feature a morning address to university faculty, staff and students by U.S. Rep. James Clybum and an evening performance, Gospel Fest 2000, which features The Capital City Chorale and is free to the public. . This year,,the observance also will feature an afternoon program at the USC School of Law en titled “The State of King’s Dream in the New Mil lennium.” Clybum, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus and congressman from South Carolina’s sixth congressional district, will speak at a break fast at 7:30 in the Russell House Ballroom for the USC faculty, staff and students. Tickets are $5 and are available at the Russell House information desk weekdays from 8 a.m. un til 4 p.m. The evening program, Gospel Fest 2000, will take place at 6:30 p.m. at the Koger Center. The program will feature performances by The Capital City Chorale, The Bibleway Church Choir ~KlN5TDAY see page A3 Engineering dean job still vacant •by Denise Levereaux Staff Writer The search for a new dean for the College of Engineering and Informa tion Technology continues into the spring semester as former Dean Craig Rogers’ embezzlement case develops. The college has been without a permanent dean since Rogers left the po sition late last summer. The college appointed Joseph Gib bons interim dean, USC spokesman Jason Snyder said a committee was created to review prospective candidates through the end of llie year and make a selection as quick ly as possible. ® Bruce Dunlap of the chemistry de partment heads the committee. Rogers’ trial was originally set for mid-December, but the Montgomery, Va., court has granted a continuance until February. Rogers declined to comment on this development. After being accused in July of em bezzling money from former employer Vnpnia Polytechnic Institute, Rogers stepped down from his position as dean but remained in the College of Engi neering. Rogers has kept a position in the col * lege because, as USC spokesman Russ McKinney said in a September interview with The Slate, “[There is] no reason to do anything extraordinary.” McKinney also said Rogers planned to teach last semester, but the course was canceled because of lack of student in terest. This semester, Rogers teaches an elec tive called Adaptive Material Systems and Structures in the mechanical engi neering department of the college. He keeps all the rights and privileges of a faculty member. The State also reported that Rogers was recently involved with the college’s reaccredilalion work. As for the internal audit of the col lege requested by Rogers at the time of his indictment, no results have been re ported. The findings will be discussed at the next fiscal meeting of die board of trustees, Snyder said. The date of the meeting has not been announced. A new semester brings a new book buying season Amy Goulding Photo Eoitor Brenda Lee, left, tells junior chemical engineering major Chris Chapman the total for his books. Students often complain about high book prices and low buy-back rates at the bookstores, “tf It breaks $500, I’ll cry,” Chapman said as Lee rang up his books. “ Flag talk dominates first day of session by Leigh Strope AND Jim Davenport Associated Press The Confederate flag seemed to be every where, not just atop the Siatehouse dome, as South Carolina’s Legislature returned to work Tuesday. Those who want to keep it flying, some dressed in Confederate garb, waved it out side and wandered through the Statehouse handing out fliers supporting the banner. Flag opponents lobbied lawmakers and held news conferences, and billboards popped up around Columbia that said, “Keep the flag. Dump Wilkins,” as in Republican House Speaker David Wilkins of Greenville. There are other important and potentially divisive issues legislators face this year, es pecially competing education packages from Republicans and Democrats and a GOP push for more tax cuts. But 'with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People now pro moting an economic boycott of the state un til the flag is lowered, the rhetoric and emotions on that issue could make this ses sion, which ends in early June, one of the most contentious in recent memory. The flag has flown above the Slatehouse since 1962. Five years ago, legislators rebuffed Flag see page A3 Online competitors challenge bookstores by Charles Prashaw Senior Writer One of the worst things about college is spending hun dreds of dollars each semester for textbooks, only to sell them back for fractions of the original cost. As a new se mester begins, more students are shopping the Internet for big savings on textbooks. As the popularity of shopping online for textbooks grows, many still prefer the traditional way of getting textbooks on campus. “I usually use Addams because they tend to be cheaper. I went to ecampus.com and they didn’t have anything I need ed,” said Anthony So, a computer science freshman. Other concerns students have with buying books online include using a credit card over the Internet, waiting for the books to come in the mail, and the hassle of returning a wrongly ordered book. However, some online textbook companies have start ed to do well. Efollett.com, the No. 1 online textbook store, was started last year and already has partnerships with more than 800 schools nationwide. Addam’s University Bookstore has a partnership with efollett.com in which students can order textbooks online and pick them up at Addam s. At the end of the semester, students can sell the books back to efollett.com through Ad dam’s. Efollett.com and varsitybooks.com are some of the few online textbook companies that offer a search for textbooks using the university name, course name, course number and section number to help students find books more easily. Oth er online textbook companies such as ecampus.com and big words.com offer searches for books only through the title, author and ISBN. “Everybody feels the effect of e-business, but [on campus bookstores] are better because sometimes the on line stores don’t have the book you need,” said Mike McLauchlin, Director of Operation for Russell House Book store. “There has to be something to say about physically walk ing into a store and buying the books you need,” he said. Varsitybooks.com provides information on books for about 300 schools. The No. 2 online textbook store, varsi tybooks.com plans to foige even more partnerships with col leges this year. Among other emerging online textbook companies is Bookstore see page A2 Comparing the bookstores The Gamecock went to all area bookstores and several of their biggest online competitors to compare prices. Here’s what we found: Addam’s Bookstore $31.75n $33.25u $50.00n $43.00u Russell House Bookstore no info $33.00u $49.75n $40.65u S.C. Bookstore $31.60n $31.95u $35.95u $42.00u ecampus.com no info no info $42.49n $55.82u bigwords.com $25.58u $29.96u $35.96u $39.37u efollett.com no info $33.20u $47.95n $43.00n varsitybooks.com no info $39.95n $47.45n $50.70n n-new book, u-used book Brad Walters The Gamecock Weather Inside Datebook Online Poll Today 60 38 Thursday 79 45 use women’s basketball falls Page B1 Wednesday • Poster sale, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., RH Ballroom C • Student Senate, 5 p.m., RH Theater • University Ambas sadors, 8 p.m.. Visitor Center t Thursday • Poster sale, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., RH Ballroom C • NAACP, 6 p.m. •SALA, 7:30 p.m. • Basketball challenge begins * Will men’s basketball make it to a postseason tournament? 2) ■^Vote at www.gamecock.sc.edu. Results will be published Friday. he said. Cindy Benton, director of leadership service programs for the Department of Student Life, said there’s an entire day’s schedule put together. “It’s a way for students to show they care for the greater community, really care about giving back and giving to others,” she said. Some of the community organizations partic ipating in the day of service are The Salvation Army, Epworth Children’s Home, Habitat for Humanity and the S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice. Volunteers will be divided into groups and sent to these and other service organizations. Erin Foster, a student organizer for the day of service, said: “Students should challenge them selves and each other to come out and volunteer. It’s such a good opportunity for such a good cause.”