Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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TVT 11 March 22, 2000 ——— - »■ ■■■ 1 ■■ - ina Community since 1Q08 v -i Senators reflect on session by Brandon Larrabee Associate News Editor Student senate did an “excellent” job de ite being slowed down by impeachment oceedings that lasted more than a month, according to senators and Student Govern ment Vice President Brandon Anderson. Senate’s term ended a week ago, and new student senators will be inaugurated at 4:30 m. today in Rutledge Chapel. Anderson, who presides over the senate’s pekly meeting, complimented the senators i an “outstanding” job. “They’ve stayed on top of their game,” Anderson said. “I think they’ve done an ex cellent job.” Anderson praised senate members for 'laving a high attendance record at the senate meetings. “The attendance was very high this year,” he said. “That shows me a lot of initiative and drive.” Sen. Jotaka Eaddy, who will be inaugu rated president, also said the senate did well. “There wasn’t as much legislation passed as there was last year,” Eaddy said. “A lot of behind-the-scenes work went on this year.” She said that work included the Acade mics Committee’s working with Computer Services toward a system of online syllabus es; the Powers and Responsibilities Com ittee’s work on “Meet Your Student Gov ment Day”; and the Finance Committee’s cellent, excellent job” on student alio I one Eaddy said the senate’s success shouldn’t be measured solely based on the amount of legislation that was passed. “You can’t really just judge that way,” she said. “You have to judge on overall ef ®fct.” Sen. Corey Ford, who will take over as vice president, said senate didn’t have as many visible accomplishments this year. “That doesn’t mean they haven’t worked on it,” he said. Judiciary Commilte Co-chairman Adam Dawkins also said senate did well, but added that some senators didn’t contribute much. “I think we’ve done a pretty good job overall,” he said. Dawkins said some senators were “re sume builders.” “1 think a lot of it [senate] was dead weight,” Dawkins said. “That was unfortu nate.” But that didn’t apply to the entire sen •h, he said. “1 think a lot of people do care,” Dawkins said. “Those are the people you saw results from.” He said some of senate’s greatest achieve ments came from its work on clean-up pro jects, such as Clean Carolina, which has a kickoff at 3:30 p.m. Thursday on Greene Street. “I think this is a campus that we should be proud of, that the student body should be proud of,” Dawkins said. Anderson, Dawkins and Ford all said the senate was slowed down by the attempted impeachment of Student Body Treasurer Fli/ abeth Fordham. Articles of impeachment, filed in October, were dismissed Nov. 9 by u sioweu us down a imle bit, but it was something that needed to be done,” An derson said. “It was our responsibility. “You can’t hold it against them [the sen ators].” Dawkins agreed. “A lot of people got caught up in that,” he said. He said it was fortunate that winter break came soon after, giving senators lime to “gel it out of our systems.” Dawkins said he didn’t want senate to be remembered for the impeachment. “I’d like to be remembered for the Senate seepages Where are the worms? Amy Goulding Photo Editor Student Government Senator-elect Chris Odom helps paint the USC Insignia on the wall of the Coliseum tunnel on Saturday. Odom and other SG members painted over decades-old designs and graffiti during the weekend. Graduate school set to update admissions School plans advancements in online service by Patrick Rathbltn Assistant News Editor USC’s graduate school is continuing to update its ad missions process. The graduate school is in the process of changing its application process to a Web-based service, which should be ready by next month, Director of Graduate Admissions Dale Moore said. The Web-based service will provide a reduction of pro cessing time and “eliminate image conversion” of appli cations sent to USC, Moore said. He said applicants’ doc uments will be scanned directly into computers, which isn’t possible with the current system, and that the quali ty of the image will be improved. He also said all applica tions will be more accessible under the new system, and the management of data will be easier. The electronic application was first realized in March 1997, Moore said, and the process has undergone signifi cant, incremental changes since then, including the addi tion of supplementary application forms and the ability for students to check the status of their applications online. The current online process sees about half of the ap plicants use the electronic system and half use the tradi tional paper application, Moore said. He said he wished that more applicants would take advance of the electronic service. “We encourage students [to use the online process],” he said. “We’d prefer all applicants apply online.” Moore said there are many advantages to utilizing the online application. It minimizes data entry, which is subject to human error, he said. Moore also said the service is simpler and more con venient than processing paper applications. “It reduces the amount of time we must spend on pro cessing applications,” he said. “I don’t see why anyone couldn’t see it as a superior system. In some respects, it has exceeded [expectations].” The graduate school’s network manager, Wayne Ear gle, also said the electronic system has had positive results. “Instantaneous action to student data is what we’ve achieved,” he said. Eaigle said the channels of communication are opened with the system and that students have flexibility and con venience in applying to the school through the system. Whiter Edgar, a history professor and graduate direc tor in the department of history, said the application process has been much improved by going online. “It has made the application process easier,” he said. “[It’s a] neater, cleaner process.” Physics and astronomy graduate director Milind Puro hit also said the electronic system is more efficient than the paper process. “[with the paper admissions process] Moving all that paper around certainly takes a lot of time,” he said. “For most of the [graduate] students, it’s a positive thing.” Robert Markland, associate dean and graduate direc tor at the Darla Moore School of Business, agreed that the progression of the electronic system has. been positive. “We think it’s a big improvement,” he said. “I think it’s something that’s moving along nicely.” Lynn Zoch, a public relations professor and master’s director for the College of Journalism and Mass Com munications, said the service is improving in spite of its initial problems. “Initially, [the electronic system] affected us very neg atively,” she said. “We lost so many students for fall. Even tually, it’s going to be a really good thing.” Moore said only two negative incidents were report ed to him by the journalism school. “I can only think of two instances,” he said. “I’m not suggesting there aren’t some that haven’t been brought " Applications sa page 2 To serve and protect * For the next six weeks, The Gamecock will explore how USC compares with other state-supported schools in the immediate region. This week, we look at crime and safety. by Clayton Kalb News Editor Incidents of violent crimes and property crimes per 1,000 students are among the lowest at USC compared with five other regional state-supported schools, accord ing to a Gamecock study of 1998 crime statistics and po lice departments at these schools. Every college and university in the United States that participates in any federal student-aid program is required by federal law to report crime statistics annually. This law was passed to ensure that college applicants have access to the amount of crime a college or university has had in the past. Three years of crime statistics must be publicly dis closed under the 1990 Campus Security Act, according to Security on Campus Inc. Under the law, each college or university must report the three years of crime statistics by Oct. 1 every year. The statistics are broken down into 10 required categories. Comparing) Carolina see page 2 The USC Police Department has Its headquarters at Wheat and Main streets. The USCPO first gained accreditation In 1996, which lasted three years. The depart ment is up for and expects to receive reaccreditation sometime this month. All statistics below are from 1998. Crimes included in tabulating statistics do not include crimes reported to city police or crimes known only to campus administrators. -- 16,526 students - 12,336 in surrounding city Violent crimes/1,000 students: 0.79 Property crimes/1,000 students: 16.8 No. of police officers: 29 p—————i 29,404 students - 89,361 in surrounding city Violent crimes/1,000 students: 0.57 Property crimes/1,000 students: 19.6 No. of police officers: 67 24,123 students I- 42,865 in surrounding city Violent crimes/1,000 students: 0.33 Property crimes/1,000 students: 19.9 No. of police officers: 30 :•:X'-•'X'':V'' '': x'::" 39,863 students - 92,648 in surrounding city Violent crimes/1,000 students: 0.63 Property crimes/1,000 students: 27.2 No. of police officers: 87 25,517 students - 165,540 in surrounding city Violent crimes/1,000 students: 0.43 Property crimes/1,000 students: 23.0 No. of police officers: 46 25,489 students - 110,840 in surrounding city Violent crimes/1,000 students: 0.27 Property crimes/1,000 students: 17.0 No. of police officers: 59 Srao Waiters The Gamecock Black cat causes racial allegations by Phil Watson Staff Writer The USC Police Department was called in to handle a misunder standing Thursday that led to allega tions of racism. Dave Johnston, a former Navy Seal and Vietnam veteran, has been rescu ing stray animals on campus for the past five years. He sets up traps to catch stray dogs and cats. At around 10:30 a.m. Thursday, an unidentified female USC student saw one of the traps with a cat inside near Bates West and con tacted the USCPD. Shortly after the USCPD arrived, Johnston returned to the scene. He said the student was verbally hostile toward him. Johnston said the girl, who was black, turned the situation into a racial issue because the cat in the trap was black. “She wanted to know why I had the right to take freedom away from this black cat,” he said. “It was a black lady that confronted me, and bless my heart, I don’t want to cause a distur bance that would cause the adminis tration to take a policy that says I can’t do this anymore.” Johnston wouldn’t comment on what racial remarks were made by the student, but he did say he thought she wouldn’t have been as upset if the cat in the trap weren’t black. Several USC students who wit Cat SEEPAGES Today 72 48 Thursday 71 47 Encore! talks about the virtues of Sex (Mob) Encore! Wednesday • SG Inauguration, 4:30 p.m., Rutledge Chapel • Clothesline Project on display, Greene Street. Thursday • TOAST Awards • NAACP, 6 p.m. •SALA, 7:30 p.m. • Clothesline Project on display, Greene Street. 9 I Are salaries for USC employees equitable across the departments? y Vote at www.ga/necock.sc.edu. Results will be published Friday.