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.

W ©amtcock Building from page 1 will be arranged diagonally.1 Jeffcoat also said the city of Colum bia, which must approve most of the streetscaping plans, has been cooperative. The city has given conceptual approval to the projects, but Jeffcoat said final ap proval should be little more than a for mality. “It’s more or less a procedural thing,” he said. The board’s goals are set for 2005. Jef fcoat said he hoped the university would have a different feel by the conclusion of the five-year period. “I would hope that the streetscaping project would be done,” Jeffcoat said. MMBnanHBn* 7: . ;».v 3ESMHair '• “We’d have better lighting, we’d have a better campus identity.” He said the university might also have a new 500-bed residence hall. As for the Greek Village, the number of houses in that area would depend on the fraternities. “That’s all contingent on how fast the groups build their houses,” Jeffcoat said. He said four or five might be done in the next five years. The Fitness and Wellness Center is scheduled to open in January 2003. Con struction on the new arena might begin as soon as January 2001, Jeffcoat said, with the project possibly being completed by the end of 2002. The university desk can be reached at gamecockudesk@hotmail.com. I' if UlMllffillFWiMllMiriT I 'I I Ml lii' MT wr,l f I' K ilWTIiiiniWI Travis Lynn The Gamecock A sign at the Fitness and Wellness center construction site shows what the site will look like when work is completed. The center will also have two walkways connecting it to various other parts of cam pus. Those walkways are also scheduled to be completed in 2003. SLED from page 1 1998, said a state, in conjunction with lo cal governments, may use funds award ed by CITA to expand or improve crim inal justice technology efforts in 16 specified areas. “This grant will help SLED upgrade important technologies so that it can con tinue to analyze data and investigate crimes quickly and effectively,” Hollings said. "The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division does a wonderful job of pro tecting our citizens by helping our local law enforcement agencies put criminals behind bars.” SLED will use the funding to improve its current law enforcement communi cations network in order to meet the stan dards mandated by the FBI National Crime Information Center. Once the current communications network is upgraded, fingerprints and photographs can then be transmitted through the Law Enforce ment Message System, which at present only accepts written text data. All computer messages to and from South Carolina’s more than 300 criminal justice or law enforcement agencies, in cluding those received from states and federal agencies, pass though the Law En forcement Message System. SLED will also use the new grant funds to purchase sophisticated diagnos tic equipment in order to identify secu rity problems on its network and Inter net applications. In addition, the funding will be used to improve the electronic submission of judicial depositions and to coordinate support between the state ‘This grant will help SLED upgrade important tech nologies so that it can continue to analyze data and investigate crime quickly and effectively.’ Sen. Fritz Hollings D-S.C. < Judicial Department and the National In stant Check System, which runs back ground checks on prospective firearm purchasers. USC graduate English student Brad O’Brien said he hoped the improved in formation technology would help pre vent crime, but he also expressed con cern over possible invasions of privacy. “I hope the improved communica tions network that shares fingerprints and photos via computer will help law en forcement and deter criminals from com mitting crimes, but I’m also concerned about the privacy issue,” O’Brien said. “I think for more dangerous or violent criminals it would be a good idea [for them to be in the database], but not minor, non violent offenders like shoplifters. Most shoplifters are young and don’t know any better, and that could be an invasion of privacy.” The city/state desk can be reached at gamecockcitydesk@hotman.com. Big Brothers from page 1 was no special training needed to be a vol unteer. They just needed people to be good role models for the kids during the evening. Along with participating in the event, Damon said some of the volunteers take the next step and become mentors. “Some volunteers will meet a kid they really like and kind of pair up with them, while others will just do group activities,” Damon said. The extravaganza is in part designed to make the waiting list for mentors short er and help the children on the list find someone who will have agood influence on them, Damon said. “This is agood way for them to meet a mentor,” he said. “We have different events like this, but this is probably our major event of the year.” He added that not only college stu dents take part in this event, but many people from the community and some from high schools as well. Also, the Midnight Extravaganza is not the only facet of BB/BS that seeks to help children. There is an in-school program, a cultural arts program and a teen companion program that works for the prevention of teen pregnancy. The lat ter program deals with topics such as self esteem and conflict resolution. Damon said there are many other pro grams they host and all are on-going throughout the year. The city/state desk can be reached at gamecockcrtydesk@hotmail.com. Board aims to improve undergraduate programs by Brandon Larrabee The Gamecock The board of trustees has set goals for the improvement of the university’s stu dents, faculty, and athletics depart ments. However, if the university is to at tain AAU status, it will also have to improve the quality of its programs. In its list of goals for the university, all of which USC officials say are target ed toward attaining AAU status, the board set out five specific goals concerning its programs: • Provide one of the top five undergrad uate programs in the South; • Attain a dozen graduate and professional programs ranked in the top ten in the South; • Provide one of the five best business schools in the South. According to Provost Jerry Odom, whether the university provides one of the top five undergraduate programs in the region goes back to the quality of fac ulty and students. “In my mind, everything depends on the quality of the faculty and the qual ity of the students,” Odom said. Other board goals include raising the average SAT score of students to 1175 and hiring four more faculty members who are members of their National Acad emies, a kind of hall of fame among col lege professors nationwide. Another goal the university has concerning faculty is raising external research funding to $ 175 million. “We must understand that research and teaching go hand in hand,” Odom said. As for the ranking of USC’s graduate and professional programs, that also falls to the quality of students and faculty, Odom said. “It’s the same thing,” Odom said. According to Odom, a study being conducted by his office might find that the university is close to achieving its goal of having a dozen of its graduate programs among the top ten in the South. “I think we’re very close to attaining that goal,” Odom said. He pointed to the university’s Mas ter of International Business program, which is currently ranked No. 2 by U.S. News and Wbrld Report. The program has been ranked either first or second in the nation for ten consecutive years. The business school’s masters pro grams might be some of those targeted for the improvements, according to Robert Markland, the business school’s associate dean for academic affairs. That goal ties into the other goal related to the business school: getting the entire school ranked among the top five in the South. “If we were one of the top five [in the South], we’d be in the top ten [graduate programs],” Markland said. Markland said that, to get ranked in the top five, the school would need more resources in order to draw the kind of fac ulty and students necessary to make the goal. “It’s possible, but it’s going to require resources to do it,” he said. The business school is currently work ing on placement - whether students get a job after school and where they go. That, Markland said, is one of the key reasons students, and particularly graduate stu dents, go to a certain school. Funding appears to be an issue with many of the university’s goals. Odom said many of the goals come down to money. USC President John Palms and Odom 1 have led a push for more money for the university, particularly from the state leg islature. That body currently gives USC about 70 percent of what the legislature’s own formula says the university needs every year. “I’m not trying to whine, but if you go through these things, you’ll find that a lot of these things depend on money,” Odom said. “And we’ve just got to have it.” The university’s goals are achievable, Odom said. “Some of them are going to be very difficult,” he said. “It’s always good to have goals to shoot for and that’s exactly what we’ve got.” 1 The university desk can be reached at gamecockudesk@hotmail.com. Goals also focus on library, information technology by Brandon Larrabee The Gamecock While many of the university’s goals appear to be tied into a need for more funding, there appears to be no problem in resources for the university’s library, which is already ranked among the top 50 nationwide. The goals recently set by the board of trustees focus on maintaining that rank ing. “We have consistently put a lot of money into the library every year,” Odom I said. Odom said the library was an impor tant component of the university. “Everybody uses it,” Odom said. “It’s vital for the intellectual life of the cam pus.” The university should be able to main tain the library’s current ranking with the funds it now devotes to the library, ac cording to Geoige Terry, vice provost and dean for library and information systems. “Current handing is adequate,” Terry said. ‘To raise in the ratings would require additional funds.” Indeed, the library, ranked 36th in terms of its size and 47th in overall quality, already appears to be AAU qual ity. “We are ranked above a number of AAU schools in terms of their li braries,” Terry said. As for USC’s use of information tech nology, the university is looking at the is sue as part of its SACS reaccredidation self-study, being conducted in order to prepare USC for its once-every-decade reaccredidation inspection. The board hopes to earn a top five ranking among public universities in the South in information technology and in struction. Odom said William Hogue, USC’s new chief information officer and vice president for information technology, is working on a strategic plan for the uni versity. “I’d say that that’s where we are right now,” Odom said. The university desk can be reached at gamecockudesk@hotmail.com. g What a difference the train makes! ^ ---— 5 Enjoy the comfort and convenience of traveling with Amtrak® this holiday season. Student Advantage9 Members save 15%* on rail fares to over 500 destinations all year long, including the holidays. To join Student Advantage, call 1-877-2JOIN-SA or visit studentadvantage.com. For Amtrak® information and reservations, call 1-800-USA-RAIL or visit www.amtrak.com. •Not valid on peak weekday Metroliner* or Acela Express” Trains and Canadian portions of trains operated jointly by Amtrak and VIA Rail Canada, or on connecting services via non-Amtrak carriers. If you are not a Student Advantage Member, enjoy a one time savings of 10% when you present this coupon and your valid student I.D. It be purchased between November , 2000 through January 31, 2001. must be surrendered at the time of purchase, elect trains only — Not valid on unreserved NEC service, rress? Acela' Regional, Auto Train? Canadian portion of joint XX) & 8000 series Thruway Services, multi-ride fare plans and any motions. Offer non-refundable after payment is made. Valid for reping Car upon payment of full application accommodation ons may apply. Amtrak is a registered service mark of the National sration. ss your GDS for complete details; G/PRO/STH/P1-P8; Sabre; ich coupon to auditor's coupon; If electronically reporting, attach navel Agents and Amtrak Ticketing Agents please return the itomer Segmentation, 10 G Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. oooo 080 o, Mention Code: H080 1, 2000 and December 18, 2000, for travel from Name: c (