Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Vol. 93, No. 53 Mona January 24, 2000_ ^ ina Community since 1Q08 {WWW.GAMEC0CK.SC.EDU ' . UNIVERS f S<jlJTH CAROLINA COLUMBIA, S.C.J . —. . —— Capstone plagued by stnng of thefts Residents report 6 robberies in 3 days by Angela Diamond Staff Writer A recent string of larcenies has Capstone House residents locking their doors and staying on the lookout for suspicious activity. At least six incidents of larceny were report ed between Tuesday and Friday of last week. In each incident, a wallet, watch or jewelry was stolen. Nothing else in the room was touched. “Larceny is the most prevalent crime at this institution,” said Ernie Ellis, USC director of Law Enforcement and Safety. Residents and investigators say they think the thefts were committed by the same person because of the similar manner in which they occurred. All the incidents happened in the morning, when students normally get ready for class. In some cas es, the victims were asleep. Civil engineering sophomore Tyler Prescott reported that his wallet and watch were stolen be tween 8 and 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. “What pisses me off is that I was asleep and my stuff was two feet from my head when it was tak en,” Prescott said. Marketing and finance sophomore San San Chow reported her wallet stolen Friday afternoon after coming back from class and noticing it miss ing. The wallet contained several bank and credit cards, $20, and her Social Security card. “I thought at first that I had misplaced it, un til my suite-mate told me she came home and saw my door open. That’s when I called the USC po lice,” she said. Political.science sophomore Eric Douglass re ported his Visa debit card and driver’s license stolen after the bank notified him of strange activity on his card. The thief apparently rang up $1,000 on the debit card in one day before Douglass real ized his belongings were missing. “It’s annoying. I didn’t have to lock my door last year,” Douglass said. “Everyone’s sort of on edge. A lot of people have been seeing some strange things,” he said. Other Capstone residents said an unknown per son walked into their room and immediately left after seeing the room was occupied. These inci dents happened between Tuesday and Thursday of last week. History sophomore Katy Cain was one of the students who caught a glimpse of the unknown per son. She said that sometime between 8 and 8:30 Thursday morning, an unknown male wearing a baseball cap and plaid shirt briefly opened her door and shut it. When he came back minutes later, she asked if she could help him and he said he had the wrong room. Accounting sophomore Hydrick Harden re ported a similar incident. “I"Was brushing my teeth that morning [Thurs day] and some guy just opened my door,” he said. “I thought it was my roommate, but then the guy shut the door again. By the time I looked out to see who it was, he’d already rounded the cor »» ner. The incidents have sparked reaction among die victims. “I thought some people had more integrity than that. I mean, how would they feel if someone just walked into dieir room and took their stuff?” Chow said. Prescott agreed. “I’m pissed off more than ahy thing,” he said. “Whoever took my wallet, if you could return my hunting license, I’d really ap preciate it. Just slide it under my door.” History junior Charlie Long said, “It’s a Thefts see page a2 Lecture series "continues in spring by Clayton Kale News Editor USC faculty members now have an other chance to give a lecture as if it were their last. The Last Lecture Series is continuing into the spring semester after making its debut in the fall. The series lets professors lecture on whatever subject they’re pas sionate about in a setting outside the class room. “The Last Lecture Series presents to the student body of USC a unique op -porlunity to gain a better understanding x>f the lives and beliefs of their profes sors in an informal setting,” Carolina Pro ductions Ideas and Issues Chairman Cotey Ford said. CP and the Carolina Scholars Asso ciation co-sponsor the Last Lecture Se ries. “It [the lecture series] was intended to last for more than one semester,” Ford said, “and it will keep going as long as the Ideas and Issues Commission keeps it go ing.” According to Ford, part of the lecture series’ purpose is to give students the op portunity to meet faculty members and to learn the interests they have outside of their disciplines. Ford said the series will fcalso help connect students with the cen tral purpose of a college education — the encouragement of intellectual curiosity. CSA chairwoman Sarah Jones drinks the lecture series will also help stu dents get to know their professors belter outside of the classroom. “I believe student-teacher interaction is a valuable part of the college experi ence, but many students do not have the chance to make a personal connection with their professors,” she said. According to Ford, in order to be cho sen to give a lecture in the series, a pro fessor must be nominated by a member of the CP Ideas and Issues Commission. “We take votes and tally them, and we go from that,” Ford said. I* Professors who give the lectures have tile freedom to select and speak on any subject. Ford said giving professors the freedom to speak on subjects outside of their discipline gives students a more round ed view of the professors as individuals. “The success of the series in the fall semester showed us that students are re ceptive to this exciting, informal program,” Jones said. Three lectures have been scheduled for the spring semester so far. Dr. Harry Miller, professor of media Lecture see page a2 Trustees consider Coliseum’s fate i—■——■—■— - ■■ ■- ■ ■ ..— —-i AMY GOULDING PHOTO tDlTOR The USC Board of Trustees Is debating whether to raze the Carolina Coliseum after a new arena Is built In 2002. The Coliseum hous es offices, classrooms and Frank McGuire Arena i Lecture challenges university autonomy by Patrick Rathbun Assistant News Editor Professor Alan Charles Kors lectured Friday at USC on “The Betrayal of Liberty on America’s Cam puses.” Kors, a history professor at the University of Pennsylvania and co-author of “The Shadow University” (1998), argued that “speech codes” and “sensitivity training” on American college campuses threaten both faculty members’ and students’ freedom KORS Kors compared the present American college campus with the campus of the 1960s. “The heirs of the 1960s increasingly entrenched in power in universities have changed their motto from ‘Don’t trust anyone over 30’ to ‘Don’t trust anyone under 30,’” he said. “Most undergraduates enter universities inadequately aware of the effects of American racism, sexism and heterosexism on their psyche, their behavior, and society and the so cial victims around them.” Again, Kors spoke of the differ ence between college students in the 1960s and current students. “The children of the ’60s, in the’60s had put the question this way: What do our elders know, being the product of a wicked America? Those children of the ’60s, now elders, put the question a bit differ ently in the ’90s: What do our children possibly know, being the product of a wicked America?” Kors said the result of the university’s influence and mindset is detrimental to students’ development, “(Universities feel] the full weight of adminis trative authority must be brought to bear over stu dents’ extracurricular and private lives their speech, humor and thought in order to give politically cor rect moral enlightenment and inspiration to under graduates,” Kors said. “American students are the victims of a generational swindle of truly epic pro portions.” Kors spoke of a transition on campuses from the free-speedi movement of the ’60s to the speech codes ui me ws, iruiii ismuems j ireeuom iu miiukc pm openly in college dorms [in the 1960s to] to their outlawing of kegs of beer in the ongoing war against disinhibited young hormones [in the 1990s].” Kors said multicultural and diversity programs on American college campuses are “the enemy of authentic debate, human freedom and altruism every where; capitalistic, sexist, racist and Eurocentric, spreading ignorance, injustice, despotic power and poverty everywhere.” Kors then shared his definition of multicultural ism. “Any voices and only those voices that challenge that singular power are multicultural, that is, pro gressive enemies of the singular, dominant, demon Autonomy see page a2 ‘Universities’ agendas are purely political and are based upon group, not individual identity.’ Charles Kors history professor University of Pennsylvania Public Health gets $2.3M grant Staff Reports The Gamecock The Prevention Research Center at USC’s School of Public Health has received a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The $2.3 million grant is intended to pro mote research to improve the health of South Carolinians and strengthen public health pol icy. Among the USC projects funded by the CDC grant is one that will enable USC public health researchers, led by Dr. Barbara Ainsworth, to work with the Sumter Coun ty Health Department and area healthcare professionals and citizens to develop plans and policies that promote physical activity for the community’s residents. For the next several years, Sumter will be a laboratory community. Researchers will use Geographic Information System tech nology at USC to map the city’s environ mental features - streets, sidewalks, parks, high-traffic areas and facilities to determine areas that foster physical activity. GIS mapping will also enable researchers at USC to recommend improvements, such as better lighting or pedestrian stoplights, to increase citizens’ physical-activity levels, Ainsworth said. In addition to the GIS mapping, USC pub lic health researchers will also survey Sumter residents to leam about their physical activ ity habits and knowledge of the community’s support for exercise and physical activity. “Sumter offers us a super opportunity to work with community groups for environ mental and policy changes that ultimately could lead to a healthier community,” Ainsworth said. A recent study conducted by the school of public health found that a lack of physical activity caused 21 percent of heart disease and high blood-pressure cases, 25 percent of colon-cancer cases and 40 percent of diabetes cases. Ainsworth said it takes a lot of work for the average urban citizen to remain active. “People have to expend a lot of time and energy to get to places where they can be ac tive,” she said. “In many urban areas, people have to drive to a park that has a walking trail because they don’t have sidewalks in their own neighborhoods, or they don’t feel safe.” “You have to be extremely motivated and have the time to be physically active,” Ainsworth said. The study in Sumter will allow researchers to understand what is needed to make the community as a whole more physically ac tive. The CDC grant will also fund other US'" Prevention Research Center projects to - Grant s Weather Inside Datebook Online Poll * _ Today 43 32 Tuesday 43 31 etCetera spends a day at the zoo Page A7 MONDAY • Filing opens for SG elections • Carolina Productions, 3:30 p.m. • Fraternity Council, 4 p.m., RH 322/326 • Sorority Council, 5 p.m., i RH 322/326 Tuesday January * AAAS- 6 Pm> RH The_ O MZ • RH A. 7 p.m. RH 307 JCiW • FOCUS, 8:15 p.m., Women’s Club • S.C. Student Legisla ture, 9 p.m. Will online voting for upcoming SG electior increase voter turnou Vote at www.gamecock.sc.edu. Results will be published Friday.