-
This Week in USC History
Oct. 21, 1999 - Campus Internet filters prevent
research on sports and sex because of the word “cock”.
USC ambassador
takes job seriously
by Zeina Makky
The Gamecock
Sporting beige trousers and a white
“USC bicentennial” T-shirt, he walked
straight in my direction and offered a
firm and long handshake. 19-year-old
political science sophomore and part
of the Honors College, Ed Black is one
of the USC ambassadors and tour guides
at the Visitors’ Center.
Prospective students can visit USC
, before or after they decide to apply.
The role of the USC ambassador is,
therefore, all the more important, and
Black knows this well.
“It means a lot [to be a USC am
bassador]. I take it seriously because
I had some really negative college vis
its when I was in senior high school,
and one of my visits turned me away
from [the university concerned],” he
said.
Basically, his job, as he put it, “is
to convey how much you like USC to
prospective students.” And he sure
does. “I grew up in Columbia; I’ve at
tended football games since I was tiny...I
have grown to love USC,” he said.
“You have to get involved in ac
tivities. It helped me meet people. And
that is how I got to know about the am
bassadors,” he said.
Those are the reasons why he de
cided to apply for this position, one he
has occupied since Spring 2000 when
he was selected by other ambassadors.
USC ambassadors have to be in
terviewed before they are chosen and
then have training.
“Training is really a program that
helps new ambassadors get new
ideas. A lot of times, ambassadors go
on each others’ tours to pick up knowl
edge,” he said.
One thing he does before each tour
is look up the names of the visitors.
“If the parents and students hear
their names, it makes a difference. It
lets you know that the tour guide isn’t
doing this just because he or she has to
but rather because they honestly care
if the students are listening and want
them to come to USC,” he said.
On Monday’s tour, Black took a
small group of mostly high school stu
dents to the main areas of the campus:
the Horseshoe, the Russell House, the
Women’s Quad, etc.
He also revealed some interesting
facts about the history of the univer
sity, the rankings of some schools and
also that the Longstreet Theater was
supposedly haunted.
“It used to be a hospital during the
Civil War,” he said.
He also revealed that sometimes
community bathrooms in residence
halls can be better than individual ones.
“They are cleaned every two days,” he
said.
During the tour, he often paused
to see if anyone had questions.
He also gave tips for freshmen. Not
really being a science aficionado, he
told students which easy science elec
tives they could take.
Although he worked every day dur
ing the summer, he decided to take fall
off, but still work when the Visitors’
Center would need him, “usually once
a month,” he said.
Black takes his job seriously, even
asking me my opinion on the tour.
There was one thing he failed to an
swer: the meaning of the Tree of
Knowledge in front of the Russell
House.
I asked him if he was going to look
that up. He smiled and said, “Yes.”
The spotlight desk can he reached at
gamecockspotlight@hotinail.com.
Special to The Gamecock
Weekend Excursion, a six-member band from North Carolina, continues to progress its music. The
band has played at the House of Blues, opened for Melissa Etheridge, and made two appearances
on Dawson’s Creek.
An ‘Excursion’
to remember
b y Er in O’Neal
The Gamecock
Six musicians en route to a studio in
Greensboro, hoping to get their demo
tape on a compilation CD, stopped for
lunch at a Buiger King.
To get on the compilation CD, the
group needed a name, and their mission
was to have one by the time lunch was
over. The result? Weekend Excursion.
While their lineup has changed slight
ly since then, the name has endured,
drawing crowds throughout the Caroli
nas.
“Looking back on it, how the first
four years of the band started, we
were all in school, and we could only
play on the weekends, and so the name
kind of fit,” said Chris Groch, Weekenc
Excursion’s lead guitarist.
“It’s a part of our identity,” drummei
Cas Edmunds added. “Somebody asks
me, ‘What do you think of Weekenc
Excursion?’ It’s like, ‘What do you thin!
• of Cas?”’
This North Carolinian sextet, whicl
also includes bassist Danny.Donovan
rhythm guitarist Jeff Foxworth, vocal
ist Sam Fisher and Michael Ferry on vi
ofin, has been progressing quite nicely
since the band’s inception six and a half
years ago. With three performances at
the House of Blues, appearing as the
opening act for a Melissa Etheridge con
cert and two musical appearances on the
television show, Dawson’s Creek, un
der their belts, the sky seems the limit
for this group of friends.
•“It seems like every year we’re that
much farther, taking another step to an
other level. We’re playing more shows,
we’re playing better shows. So it’s been
a constant Progression,” Donovan said.
, Some say their sound resembles that
EXCURSIOlT see rage 8
Special to The Gamecock
Blueground Undergrass, an Atlanta-based band, provides a mixture of bluegrass, blues, country, folk, swing, jass and rock music. The slide guitarist, Mark Van Allen,
described the band’s music as “hick-hop.”
Hick-hop band gives new sounds
by James B attle
The Gamecock
If you read the name Blueground
Undergrass and then have to stop and
read the name Blueground Undeigrass
again, you’re not alone.
And as the name suggests, this is
not an ordinary group of mountain boys
singing about old dogs and whiskey.
Instead, this Atlanta-based group
sounds as if they put Widespread Pan
ic, Marshal Tucker, Bela Fleck and
Ralph Stanley in a blender.
Often, their songs start as tradi
tional bluegrass and end in electric gui
tar solos.
The instruments of the band in
clude a banjo, pedal steel, fiddle, elec
ric and acoustic guitar, bass, mandolin,
Dobro and drums.
The lead singer and binjo player,
Jeff Mosier, brought the band togeth
er with his brother Johnny playing gui
tar. Together, Jeff looks like a chub
by Elvis Costello and Johnny, a smaller
Stone Cold Steve Austin.
When I asked Mark Vim Allen, the ■
slide guitarist, about the band mem
bers, he said, “Each guy brings his own
musical tastes. Johnny prefers more
traditional music while Kyle Spark,
the bassist, brings a more funk sound.”
When I asked Mark about his own
tastes, he said, “Man, I dig it all.” Mark
met the Mosier brothers while per
forming at Six Flags, and the bassist
and drummer went to Berklee together
before finally joining the band.
The band’s leader, Jeff Mosier or
the “Reverend,” has been playing blue
grass well over 20 years and is also
an accomplished playwright and actor.
Recently, his play, “The New
Old Time Christmas Gathering,”
premiered at the Art Station in Stone
Mountain, Ga., breaking all attendance
records.
Jeff considers his major influence
to be Col. Bruce Hampton, though he
admits other influences have been
Charles Sawtelle, Miles Davis and Tony
Rice.
Beyond Blueground Undergrass
(BGUG), Jeff has played with
Phish’s bluegrass coach, Widespread
Panic and the Allman Brothers.
He also plays in a traditional blue
grass band with his brother called Good
Medicine.
According to the band’s Web site
(www.bluegroundundergrass.com),
BGUG provides a smooth mixture of
bluegrass, blues, country, folk, swing,
jazz and rock, but when I asked
Mark about the group’s unique sound,
he described it as “hick-hop. You know,
instead of hip, hick.”
And after hearing their show, it’s
a fair description.
Usually, the songs lasted over 15
minutes and wandered through acoustic
and electric music.
Two instruments that don’t see the
inside of the Elbow Room too often,
the slide guitar mid upright bass, added
to the band’s unique sound.
One of Blueground’s best features
is the crowd can actually understand
the lead singer, and in a sea of hard
rock and rap, this is a noticeable and
refreshing difference.
Another difference is the band took
no breaks between songs, but kept a
steady flow of music until the show’s
end. Blueground has a surprisingly
strong following for a group that start
ed only three years ago.
Taking in Blueground’s good mu
sic and the crowd’s enthusiasm, it was
a great show.
Their two albums include Barn
yard Don Juan and Live at Variety Play
house.
Their next album, Live at Fox The
atre, should be coming out in the next
couple months.
The band will be playing in
Asheville on Oct. 26 at the Music Zone
and in Spartanburg on Dec. 15 or 16
at the Magnolia State Pub.
The spotlight desl^ can be reached at
gamecockspotfight@hotmail.com.
What’s
. Happening
Wednesday, Oct. 18
ELBOW ROOM, Fathead, 10 p.m., 18+, -
$5 Cover
DELANEY’S, Joel Rush
UNCLE LOUIE’S, LaToya and Greg
VISTA AFTER FIVE, Edgewise, 6:30
p.m., All Ages, No Cover
MACS ON MAIN, Blues and Jazz Show
case with Skipp Pearson
RAFTER’S, Kenny Floyd Unplugged
MONTERREY JACK’S, Lee Barbour
Quintet
NEW BROOKLAND TAVERN,
Mandible, 10 p.m., 18+, $4 Cover
JAMMIN’ JAVA, Robert Gardiner Quar
tet
DECISIONS, Muddy Quarters
DIANNE’S ON DEVINE, Ross Holmes
FTJBAR, Hip Hop Night
GOLD RUSH, Acoustic open mic with
Rick David
NONNAH’S, Pianist Drake Reily
ROADRUNNERS, Tony Mojo
ZA’S, Island Close By
ART BAR, Coup
WINGS & ALE, Toyko Joe
Thursday, Oct. 19
ELBOWROOM, Melt-Banana, 10 p.m.,
18+, $8 Cover
DELANEY’S, Peter Ledbetter
ART BAR, The Motion Rotation with
WUSC DJ Eric Hess’s Deep
House/Trance Show
NEW BROOKLAND TAVERN, Skil
let, 10:30,18+, $4 Cover
NONNAH’S, Bill Wingate and Tony
Moore
KOGERCENlEK, Deborah \bight, 7:30
p.m., All Ages, Students $7 Admission
SUNDANCE GRILL, Muddy Quarters
O’CHARLEY’S, Johnny Fecco, 5-8 p.m.
SANDRA’S CORNER POCKET, Blues
Band with Jay Edmonds
CRACKER JACKS, Acoustic Jam with
Rene Russell
Friday, Oct 20
DELANEY’S, Peter Ledbetter
ELBOW ROOM, Jump Little Children,
10pm, 18+, SlOCover
ART BAR, Dance and Serious Craziness
NEW BROOKLAND TAVERN, 351
Cleveland, 10:30pm, 18+, $4 Cover
HUNTER-GATHERER, Suck, 11:30
p.m., $2 Cover
SUNDANCE GRILL, Edgewise, 10 p.m.,
21+, No Cover
HEMINGWAY’S, The Whatever Band,
9:30 p.m., 21+, $2 Cover
FUBAR, Blake, 10 p.m., 21+, $5 Cover
DECISIONS, No Stage Fright Karaoke,
9 p.m., 21+, No Cover
Saturday, Oct 21
DELANEY’S, Buddy Ray and Frank Smo
ka
ELBOW ROOM, Jump Little Children,
10 p.m., 18+, $10 Cover
ART BAR, Dance and Serious Craziness
NEW BROOKLAND TAVERN, Erec
torset, 10:30 p.m., 18+, $4 Cover
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR MEMO
RIAL PARK, Little Ed and the Blues Im
perials, Guitar Shorty, Tab Bennoit, Roy
Book, Binder, Rosie Ledet, Buddy Ray
and Frank Smoka, Moon Legacy Duo,
Free Admission from 12 p.m.-10 p.m.
SUNDANCE GRILL, Redsky, 10 p.m,
21+, No Cover
HEMINGWAY’S, Sourwood Honey,
9:30 p.m., 21+, $5 Cover
FTJBAR, 454, 10 p.m., 21+, $5 Cover