Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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_Vol. 93, No, 89 Weanestiay April 26, 2000 ina Community since 1Q08 ' * .1.1). ffMIP »ww»WW^WWi|l|l«W» 111.11IU. LU HI - Ul 11. JJI -111 WWW.GAMECOCK.SC.EDU UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA COLUMBIA, Kidnapping attempts reported in USC area By Phil Watson Staff Writer A man in the Shandon area has been try ing to lure children into his car over the last couple of weeks. The children’s ages range from 8 to 17.. One oflhe 3 reported incidents involved several children walking near the Carolina Gardens apartment complex April 17. The man tried to talk the children into taking a ride from him. A 14-year-oIdgirl also reported that a man in a maroon car exposed himself to her on Wilmont Avenue on April 6. Many families of graduate students live in the Shandon area. The children in these areas have been warned about strangers and suspicious activities. According to USC Law Enforcement Di 1 rector Ernie Ellis, the suspect drives a late model red or maroon 4-door sedan. USCPD is very concerned about these reports, Ellis said. “We are very intently continuing the in vestigation,” Ellis said. “I would encourage all people on campus, especially females, to be observant for this vehicle and anyone fitting this description and to please call the police if they see it.” All the reported incidents occurred near campus in the Shandon area. The only on campus incident involved a minor being ap proached in front of the Carolina Gardens. The Columbia Police department and the USCPD are working on the investigation, El KlDNAPPINQ SEE page A5 : Committee searches for vice provost of USC research by Charles Prashaw Senior Writer Yet another search committee is trying to fill a position at USC. This search com mittee is seeking to fill the position of vice provost of research, which has been vacant since April 1999. The search for a vice provost of research * will continue into the summer, according to Provost Jerry Odom. Also, according to Odom, the search committee has made suf ficient progress and there is a serious offer pending for die position. The name of the per son with the pending offer wasn’t released. But Odom did release a list of people already interviewed for the position: Will Harris, former executive director of Bios phere 2; Da Hsuan Feng, general manager of Science Applications International Corp.; Dan Walzh from Wayne State University; and Bill Appleton, executive vice president of Lock!teed Martin Eneigy Research Corp. have all been interviewed for the position. The search committee for someone to permanently fill the position is being headed by the dean of the College of Science and ' Mathematics, Gerald Crawley. Crawley and the other members of the search com mittee have been directly appointed by Odom. Search committees for interim deans are usu ally elected by faculty and staff. The position, which coordinates all re search for the university, is a major factor in whether the university will be allowed to join the Association of American Universities. Along with coordinating research at USC, the position entails lobbying for grants and slate Vice provost in p^l as Vandals make a statement Amy Goulding Photo Editor Graffiti covers some of the university designs Student Government painted on the walls of the Coliseum tunneL SG members had painted over decades-old designs and years-old graffiti earlier this month. Coliseum tunnel renovations met with vandalism by Kelly Haggerty Assistant News Editor It took only one week from the time Stu dent Government members added the finishing touches to the renovations of the Coliseum tun nel to the time one or more graffiti artists left their fluorescent pink mark. The vandal or vandals scratched off a portion of the paint in the center of one outline of South Carolina and painted an X across the state. The. vandal or vandils also wrote, ‘“WE JUST DON’T LIKE RETARDED POLITICIANS’” and “FIRE RAVENEL.” The vandalism refers to a quote Sen. Arthur Ravenel, R-Charleston, said earlier this year at a pro-flag rally. He called the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People the National Association for the Ad vancement of Retarded People. Ravenel has since apologized to retarded people, but not the NAACP. SG outgoing Special Projects Director Tim othy Clardy said he wished people would find other venues to express their political opinions. He also said he doubted students were the cul prits. “I don’t think students would do this. I think they take great pride in what we’ve done to make the university look better,” Clardy said. SG outgoing Freshman Council Adviser Duke Taylor was “disheartened” to see the graffiti, but said he was glad it “didn’t have a negative tone about the university.” Taylor first noticed the graffiti on his way to class Tuesday morning. He said no one could be sure when the incident occuned. He also said it wouldn’t officially be reported to the USC Po lice Department. Director of Law Enforcement and Safety Ernie Ellis verified that no one had reported the incident. “We have nothing, but I will have somebody take a look at it and see what we can find out,” Ellis said. Taylor said he believed in “cutting to the chase” and having SG fix the problem without getting the police involved. “If it’s vandalized five times, we’re going to be there five times to fix it. It took them five minutes to mess it up, and it will take us five min utes to cleanup,” Taylor said. Both Taylor and Clardy said that SG tenta tively plans to clean up the tunnel this afternoon using leftover paint given to SG and bought by the university paint shop when SG started ren ovating the tunnel March 18. Assistant Director for Facilities Management Gerald Goings, who works with the paint shop, said the graffiti would most probably not clean off, and he said he would go ahead and paint over it as soon as possible so “it doesn’t promote more Graffiti see page as With Honors In our final installment of the Comparing Carolina series, The Gamecock compares honors colleges at five regional universities and IISC by Brandon Larrabee Associate News Editor It might be easier to get into USC’s Honors College than some of the Southeast’s other universities, but it’s not as easy to get out. USC standards to be “competitive” for admissions are not as liigh as some of the oilier five other schools — Ciem son, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia and UNC — looked at as part of a survey by The Gamecock. However, USC’s Honors College expects more from its students than many of the schools surveyed, particularly in the number of hours required to graduate with honors. USC has higher admissions standards than Clemson or Tennessee. Florida and Georgia had more stringent standards, while the top 200 students are allowed into UNC’s program from the university’s already prestigious freshmen. However, USC requires the highest number of honors hours for graduation. A student at USC’s Honors College must complete 45 hours of classes, Clemson students must complete 14; nine honors courses are required by Georgia, Comparino Carolina see page as File Photo A USC Honors College student looks on In an honors level class. Admittance into the USC Honors College Is weighted heavily on GPA and SAT scores. This graphic is based on information that is the last of The Gamecock’s seven-part series comparing USC to other high-profile southeastern institutions. The series has included comparisons of student life, park ing, crime, tuition, dining and housing. Specialty housing available Admission requirements: Sliding scale of GPAs and SAT scores Graduation requirements: 3.4 GPA; “A’ or “B" in 14 hrs. of honors courses; thesis Specialty housing available Admission requirements: By invitation; 1410 average SAT score for 3.98 GPA Graduation requirements: 3.3 GPA; 9 honors classes and 3 grad courses; thesis No specialty housing available Admission requirements: N/A; 200 admitted per year Graduation requirements: Senior thesis after 3.2 GPA by end of junior year Specialty housing available Admission requirements: 1350 SAT; 3.8 GPA as calculated by school Graduation requirements: Determined by college | No specialty housing available Admission requirements: 3.5 GPA, 1210 SAT Graduation requirements: 3.5 GPA Specialty housing available Admission requirements: 3.5 weighted GPA; 1300 SAT makes student competitive Graduation requirements: 3.3 GPA; 45 hours of honors work; thesis Wellness Center bids exceed budget by $10 million The Associated Press Bids $ 10 million higher than expected have forced University of South Caroli na officials to change plans fora wellness center. “The bids were way in excess of what we were led to believe would be the range,” trustees Chairman William Hub bard said Monday. Trustees agreed to add $6.3 million to the $33 million budget. “We have tried to use less-expensive materials. We will pul the infrastructure in. We just won’t finish certain parts of it,” Hubbard said. The number of skylights and the va riety of building materials are being re duced, Project Manager Jerry Brewer said. In addition, one gymnasium and one swimming pool will not be completed when the building opens, he said. The construction schedule also is be ing stretched to avoid paying overtime. The building originally was supposed to open next year, but now will not be ready before the end of 2002 or the be ginning of 2003, Brewer said. A second round of bids is due July 14, and construction could begin as ear ly as August. Weather Inside Datebook Summer Gamecock Today 64 47 Thursday 73 52 j Encore! I presents their greatest hits j Page 8 Wednesday • Stress Blowout, 6 p.m. to midnight, Blatt P.E. Center d Thursday • Reading Day I Look for The Gamecocks first summer issue May 31. Good luck on all your exams. 1 9