Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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UThis day in USC history SECTION Aug. 21,1989 — College of Journalism and Mass Communations students began to use computers and graphic B^B design programs to draw picture, graphs, charts and line art for B^^ journalism classes. B B -- *' Friday, August 17,2001 Gorillas in our midst Riverbanks Zoo showcases four new gorillas Cby Mackenzie Clements The Gamecock rom toddlers perched on their parents’ shoul ders to retirees craning for a look, people crowd ed to see four gorillas lazily scratching their stomachs and wiggling their toes. Meanwhile, from within their glassed-in quarters, the apes watched the humans. Last week’s sneak preview for Riverbanks Zoo so ciety members was the first time the zoo’s newest in habitants - a gorilla troop consisting of three females and one male - had faced an audience there. The ex Riverbanks Zoo PRICE: $7.25 for adults, $4.75 for children 3 to 12, free for children 2 and younger. HOURS: Riverbanks admission gates are open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visitors may remain in the park until 5 p.m. On weekends during Daylight Saving Time, the admission gate closes at 5 p.m. and the park closes at 6 p.m. DIRECTIONS: off 1-126 at Grey stone Boulevard in Columbia WEB SITE: www.riverbanks.org hibit opened to the public Saturday. The gorillas are on loan from Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo for three to five years while Lincoln Park’s great ape facility is being renovated. The gorillas, all of which were bom in captivity, handled the 19-hour road trip from Chicago well and seemed content in their new surroundings. Judging from the crowds that gathered Tuesday and Wednesday, the gorillas are sure to be the 27-year-old zoo’s star attraction. Nearly 10,000 people attended the sneak preview, Riverbanks officials estimated. “They’re absolutely amazing in the way they move and the qualities that they have - which seemingly are a lot of human qualities - and how tranquil that they are,” said Richard Roth of Columbia, who brought three friends with him. He called the exhibit “very well put together and obviously very natural.” The exhibit covers about three-fourths of an acre, including a hilly outdoor habitat lushly landscaped with banana trees and other foliage. The gorillas also have an air-conditioned indoor area outfitted with ropes for climbing and wooden posts where they lounge non chalantly. Kwan, a 12-year-old male bom at the N.C. Zoo, is the leader of the group. So far, he’s been the one to explore the outdoor habitat the most, said Riverbanks Executive Director Satch Krantz. At first, Kwan would rip banana leaves off the trees. Now, zoo officials say, he simply pulls whole trees up by their roots. After a late-aftemoon shower earlier this week, he sat regally in front of the habitat’s viewing area, munching on a stalk. Finished, he rolled on his back, emitted a big yawn, then ambled over the hill to the apes’ indoor quarters. Kwan is hard to miss. Nearly twice as large as the females, he has a gray saddle on his back that is the mark of mature males. The females - Kumba, Kowali, and Bulera - all are on human birth control. Because the lowland gorillas, native to West Africa, are an endangered species, their breeding in the United States is monitored closely and controlled by a national group of veterinarians and oth er experts. At 31, Kumba is the oldest in the troop and is one of the first captive-bom gorillas in the world. She and the other two females were bom at Lincoln Park Zoo. She is the mother of Kowali, a chubby, shy 23-year old. Bulera, a 12-year-old, was the last to join the group, and she has yet to form a strong bond with the other females. “People are mesmerized by them,” Krantz said. “They are so much like us, their facial expressions and behavior. I think we are all baffled about something that makes us wonder about ourselves.” The gorillas are the only animals at Riverbanks with names. All of the other zoo animals at are known on ly by their species. “We would prefer for our visitors to relate to an in dividual animal as an elephant, as a gorilla, as a tiger, Gorillas see page B7 Photos by Ann Marie Miani/The Gamecock Kwan is the largest and only male ape in the new Riverbanks Zoo gorilla exhibit. The three remaining apes, all females, are on human birth control — because the lowland gorilla is an endangered species, gorilla breeding in the United States is closely monitored by a group of veternarians and other experts. Museum exhibit merges art with fire by Ann Marie M i a n i The Gamecock the Columbia Museum of Art is on fire. “Burn: Artists Play with Fire,” is one of the newest 1 exhibits at the museum. “Bum” showcases artists who use fire, smoke, ash and flame to create contemporary pieces of art. The artists use these fire elements with many different media, such as conceptual art, video, painting, sculpture, photography and photo documentation. “It’s a show of contemporary art, and there are 25 different arts,” said Ellen Woodoff, director of marketing and Communications. The artists merge together traditional and non-traditional materials and processes to create some fasinating pieces of art. The resulting collection is varied and unique, from Ana Mendieta’s haunting photos that silhouette her body in ash and flame to the ominous charred Exhibit see rage B6 The Columbia Museum of Art MUSEUM HOURS: ■ Tuesday-Satunday, 10 ajn-5 pm ■ Sunday 1-5 p.m. ADMISSION: ■ Adults $5, seniors $4, students $2 ■ Free first Saturday of every month and to children 5 and younger LOCATION: Comer of Main and Hampton streets WEB SITE: www.colmusart.org P Look Inside Are you new to the Columbia area or just don’t know where to go to have lunch, dinner, a few drinks or to pick up a few trinkets for your room? Check out our special guide to the best of Five Points. Courtesy of The Columbia Museum of art TOP: Thomas Kettner, Jr.’s Dante’s Inferno: Suicides, 1982. It was created using a magnifying glass and sun on paper. LEFT: A still from Leslie Lerner’s video “My Life in France: A House on Fire.” ABOVE: Willie Cole used an iron to scorch a canvas in his work “Shield Field.”