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.

,fzi\MAL ./Ai . This Week In USC History A /1 AT /'"V" January 24, 1972 — Don McLean, whose song “Miss 1^1 1 iff—■ I I—® American Pie” hit No. 1, performs at The Township _/ v7V_^_ . Auditorium. Students with IDs paid $2 admission. Monday, January 24,2000 %\[l (SOfllCCOCk Page A7 Riverbanks Zoo & Botanical Garden has wide range of attractions Story and Photos by Rachel Helwig Senior Writer Just a few miles from downtown Columbia, the screeching call of lemurs, the barking of sea lions and the resonating bass of trumpet swans mingle in the afternoon sun to produce a cacophony of sounds. Here, an African plain, a tropical forest and a coral reef all exist. Tigers, monkeys, flamingos and giraffes live just * feet from one another. No, this isn’t some tropical is land paradise or Utopian habitat, but the Riverbanks Zoo & Botanical Garden. In the midst of these exotic places lie ruins from a Saluda textile factory with artifacts from an earlier time, while indigenous animals coexist with those from distant lands. It is this blend of the exotic and com mon that draws 850,000 visitors a year to the zoo. Founded in 1974, the zoo just celebrated its 25th anniversary. Instead of just growing older, though, the zoo is growing. With its recently completed botanical garden and plans for new exhibits, the face of Riverbanks is constantly evolving to fit the growing needs of the community and the environment. Zoo 2002, one of the largest renovating projects since the zoo opened, plans to add elephants, gorillas and penguins to the 2,000 animals the zoo already showcases, with all pro jects being completed and open in 2002. It’s not only the zoo’s plans for growth that are so I amazing, however; it’s also the quiet joy seen on the faces of those who view the animals often seen only in movies or on cable television’s Discovery Channel. College students visiting as part of classes or adults dragged along by the kids all have the same expres sion. “I had to go for my Anthropology 101 class,” said Heidi Vaughn, a sophomore public relations ma jor. “I hadn’t been to the zoo since I was little, but it was actually more interesting than I thought it would be.” It is this ability to entertain while educating that is the goal of Riverbanks. Marc Rapport, public rela tions manager for the zoo, said “edu-tainment” is what the zoo strives for. “When this zoo first opened, zoos were really com petitive and into more, more, different, different,” he said. “While we still value that entertainment as pect, we see the zoo as a tool for education and con servation. Conservation was almost an alien notion 20 years ago.” It is this idea of conservation that leads the zoo to participate in the American Zoological Association’s Species Survival Plans, which are designed to “main tain endangered animals in captivity, hopefully for rein troduction into the wild,” Rapport said. “Zoos are now often the final repository for the genetic viability of many animals.” The zoo also participates in breeding, reproduc tive studies and research to increase the number of en dangered species in captivity, and it hopes to one day release those animals into the wild. This idea is car ried over into horticultural research in the zoo’s botan ical gardens, which focus on studying plants that adapt well to South Carolina’s climate. Riverbanks Zoo also offers many educational pro grams, from preschool to college level, as well as River banks society programs that are intended more for adults. The zoo has begun to play host to ethnic festi vals, showcasing food and dance from a variety of cul tures not often explored in everyday life. Finally, Education Outpost volunteers can be seen with artifact-loaded pushcarts around the zoo to in corporate hands-on activities with traditional ani mal-viewing. But the most amazing part of the zoo is its ability to suspend reality, if only for an hour, and create a land scape so foreign from the interstates, strip malls and apartment complexes of downtown Columbia. Although those things are never forgotten, at the zoo they seem far away, pushed to the back of the mind and replaced with the lush vegetation of Amazon forests, the shimmering light reflecting from the Ocean Gallery tank, and the countless animals existing in peaceful cohabitation. Riveibanks Zoo & Botanical Garden HOURS: Open daily from 9 ajn. to 4 pjn., except on weekends during day light-savipg time, when gate closes at 5 p.m.. Closed on Christmas and Thanksgiving. ADMISSION PRICES: Adults: $6*25 Children 3-12: $3.75 Children 2 and under: free Group rates available. LOCATION: 500 Wildlife Parkway; off 1-126 at Greystone Boulevard Ramingos are one of the many types of animals at Riverbanks Zoo & Botanical Garden. —. ....~ ..— —1 Riverbanks Zoo has had this California Sea Lion ever since the park opened in 1974. The Keel-Billed Toucan is found from Mexico to Venezuela MUSC offers course to avoid road rage ‘People are anonymous on the road, and anonymity may make you react in a more aggressive and unbecoming manner.’ Mary Fields Medical University of South Carolina by Bruce Smith Associated Press CHARLESTON — One expects to find gra cious people, charming homes and quaint gar dens in Charleston, dubbed by one etiquette ex | n#srt as America’s most mannerly city. But then there is the road rage course. For $20 a session, the Medical University of South Carolina’s psychiatry department is of fering 12 sessions to help people deal with the anxiety and anger of driving that can lead to road rage. We’re not talking a 20-hour evacuation from Hurricane Floyd here. Just being snarled in a two-hour traffic jam caused by an all-too-com mon fender bender on the aging Cooper River bridges can feel the same as rush hour in At lanta, New York or Washington. “We are Americans and we are all stressed,” said Mary Fields, a psychiatry resident who organized the course along with Dr. Dean Schuyler. It began Thursday with four people. “The population is ever-growing and the | ^jChways don’t quite accommodate the number ^Pcars. It’s especially a problem in this area where there are so many waterways with bridges,” she said. She recalled seeing two sport utility vehi cles racing to get ahead of each other during rush hour recently. “People are anonymous on the road, and anonymity may make you re act in a more aggressive and unbecoming man ner,” she said. There are some mean streets out there, even around Charleston, which last year was again declared the most polite city in the nation by etiquette expert Marjabelle Young Stuart. One lobbying group released a report last year that said South Carolina leads the nation in highway deaths caused by “aggressivedriving,” things like speeding, tailgating, failing to yield, weaving in and out of traffic and passing on the right. Although some transportation groups ques tioned the numbers, the Surface Transportation Policy Project said there were slightly more than 15 highway deaths in the state related to ag gressive driving for every 100,000 residents in 1996. Add the rush to make appointments to the stress from crowded roads and traffic jams, and drivers can come unwound, Ms. Fields said. In Alabama last year, a woman driver shot another after they jostled in heavy rush hour traffic for four miles. One of the women was trying to get to school to pick up her daughter from an after-school program for children with cerebral palsy. Although most drivers are reluctant to ac knowledge a problem, some do seek counsel ing. MUSC’s program was oiganized after a man sought help and there was nowhere to refer him, Ms. Fields said. In New Jersey, a hypnotherapist began ad vertising road rage therapy after he couldn’t find anyone to help him with his own traffic-relat ed problems. For $70 an hour he now listens as motorists vent their frustrations. But it’s impossible to get all drivers into counseling, said Dr. Leon James, a psychologist at the University of Hawaii, who goes by the name of Dr. Driving on a Web site devoted to helping with road rage. There are 177 million licensed drivers in the nation and all are susceptible to road rage, he said. “All drivers are challenged emotionally. When you are challenged emotionally, because it’s a high risk situation, its almost inevitable, if you don’t train yourself, you will experience road rage,” James said. What he suggests are quality driving circles — groups of friends, workers, family or neigh bors helping each other improve driving skills. Drivers can keep a log book after they take a trip, writing down their observations and how they handled driving situations. Until you can see your behavior, you can’t modify it, James said. And because children learn driving behav ior from thousands of hours spent riding in cars with their parents, he doesn’t see road rage dis appearing. “Every generation is trained by the previ ous generation and aggressive driving tenden cies are ingrained,” he said. Campus Notes Honor society plans first spring meeting The National Society of Collegiate Scholars will hold its first meeting of this semester at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Gres sette Room on the third floor of Harper College. Call Ian at 544-0962 for more information. Stanley South will have book signing The Institute for Southern Studies and The Happy Bookseller will be sponsor ing a book signing for Stanley South, the atithor of “Historical Archaeology in Wa chovia,” from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at The Happy Bookseller on Forest Drive. Institute presents millennium lecture The Institute for Southern Studies will be sponsoring a lecture, “Regional Iden tity at the Millennium,” by James C. Cobb at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Belk Au ditorium in the B\ Building. Women’s Studies sponsors lecture Women’s Studies will sponsor a lecture, “The Disembodied Woman: How the In ternet Changes Pornography,” by Dr. Ina Roy at 3:30 p.m. Thursday in Gambrell Hall, Room 152. For more information, • call 777-4007. Council features speaker on Russia The World Affairs Council Distinguished Speaker Series Luncheon presents “Rus sia After Yeltsin,” featuring Dr. Gordon Smith, author of “State-building in Rus sia: The Yeltsin Legacy and the Chal lenge for the Future.” The luncheon will be at 12:30 p.m. Thursday at the Capital City Club. Cost is $20 for WAC mem bers and $25 for nonmembers. For more information, call 252-2197. Ringling Bros, bring circus to Coliseum The circus is coming to the Coliseum from Friday through Sunday. Tickets are avail able at the Carolina Coliseum Box Office, Capital Tickets Outlets or by phone, at 251-2222. Women in Law will hold annual 5K race The Women in Law organization at the University of South Carolina School of Law is sponsoring its annual Race Judica ta 5K Walk and Fun Run on Saturday. For more information call Evonne Bennett at 551-0973. Counseling center offers workshops The Counseling and Human Develop ment Center will offer the following groups if enough people are interested: Drop-in Meditation, Interpersonal Rela tions Group, LH and ADHD Support Group, and Thesis Support Group. For more information, call 777-5223. AAAS recruits for spring membership The Association of African-American Students is offering prospective members the opportunity to win a Super Bowl Party. For more information, call 777 5061. Habitat for Humanity has interest meeting Students interested in participating in Habi tat for Humanity can go to the meeting at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in RH Room 304. Dating program will come to campus Carolina Productions will sponsor a pro gram called Creative Dating at 8 p.m. Feb. 9 in the Russell House. The pro gram will help you find new ways to meet others, learn creative dating skills and improve their communication skills. Nationally known “Dating Doctor” David Coleman will host the pregram. The event is free. For more information, call 777-7130. ■ CORRECTIONS The Gamecock strives to report the facts correctly and responsibly. If you come across any inaccuracies in our reportage, please let us know.