The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 28, 2001, Image 1
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Cuts threaten USC’s reputation
BY ADAM BEAM
TIIK UAMRCOCK
USC could be faced with a $17
million budget cut at the end of the
year, a fact Provost Jerry Odom
says could ruin the reputation of
the university and significantly
damage both the graduate and un
dergraduate programs.
“I think It Is going to be very se
rious with respect to what's going
to happen with a $17 million cut In
the university,” Odom said. "What
we are doing will affect everybody.
There is nothing held sacred."
At the second of three public fo
rums given by the Strategic Direct
ives and Initiatives Committee,
Odom said revenues are down "con
siderably" at the state level and the
university has been warned of a year
end budget cut of as much as 10 per
cent Odom wouldn’t comment on the
likelihood of these cuts happening.
“I don't know how to respond to
that," Odom said. “It's uncertain at
this point.”
Odom was concerned about
how a cut of this magnitude would
affect the university. "The visibil
ity and reputation of this univer
sity and all that it has aspired to
over the last 10 years under Presi
dent Palms' tenure — we can prob
ably see that just going away," he
said.
One consequence of the 10 per
cent cut could be the elimination
of programs deemed too costly for
the university.
"It's a real bad choice, but I
think they are going to have to
♦ BUDGET, SEE PAGE 2
Timeline 'f->
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I
SIZEMORE SECURITY FIRINGS
Tameka Johnson works the desk at Bates House at 1:35 a.m. Tuesday. Johnson
was not one of the Sizemore guards who were fired, photo by josh skidmore
SIZEMORE
WAKES UP
Sizemorefires
six, institutes
stricter policies
BY JESSICA FOY
T1IK UAMKCOGX
Since an article about sleep
ing security guards was pub
lished in The Gamecock on Sept.
10, some changes have taken
place in Sizemore Security In
ter-national Inc., USC's on-cam
pus security company.
Sizemore Security President
Preston Sizemore Sr. estimat
ed five guards have lost their
Jobs since the article. Housing
and Student Development Di
rector Gene Luna confirmed
that six have been fired. He also
said the company has institut
ed stricter sign-in and sign-out
policies for the guards to follow.
“We are exploring other op
tions with university Law En
forcement and Safety,” Luna
said. He said the university
had already been talking with
Sizemore Security about con
cerns with some guards.
"Sleeping on the jobs is a ter
minating offense,” he said.
"The employees that were
sleeping have been removed
from the payroll because that
is very serious. The college
does not receive the service
they were contracted for, but it
also put Sizemore's reputation
on the line. We want to correct
this problem, and we're doing
everything we can.”
Preston Sizemore Jr., vice
president of Sizemore Security,
said he didn’t know about the
problem until the newspaper
ran the story. "We were not hap
py with what was in the article.
We had done some things to
tighten down our operation, but
we felt those things were needed
anyway, We were in the process
of making changes anyway.”
Actions Sizemore has taken
include hiring additional peo
ple, changing the site supervi
sor and making management
changes. The younger Sizemore
said the security guards are
now monitored more closely be
tween 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.
When asked whether he
knew why the security guards
were sleeping, the younger
Sizemore explained the guards
had just come from a 10-day
long, 24-hour coverage period
during which the security com
pany manned the residence
halls for the first 10 days halls
were open. During this time,
both the full- and part-time
workers were expected to put
in extra hours in order to al
ways keep someone at the
desks.
When students first move
back into the dorms and during
holidays, such procedure is stan
♦ SIZEMORE, SEE PAGE 2
Bush calls for guards
on commercial flights
BY CHRISTOPHER NEWTON
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - Governors
moved to call up National Guard
troops to protect airports in re
sponse to President Bush’s re
quest Thursday, even while
awaiting details on what he wants
them to do. Bush introduced steps
to throw a federal security blan
ket over commercial aviation and
declared, “We will not surrender
our freedom to travel.”
Sixteen days after hijackers
crashed airliners into the World
Trade Center, the Pentagon and
the Pennsylvania countryside,
Bush said the government would
take charge of airport security
and expand the use of federal air
marshals on commercial flights.
The plan stopped short of having
federal workers perform all air
port security work.
Bush predicted flying will
again become a way of life in
America. The president spoke
to 6,000 airline workers at
Chicago’s O’Hare Airport,
where jets from American Air
lines and United Airlines — the
carriers hijacked by terrorists
Sept. 11 — were parked nose to
nose with an American flag be
tween them. “We’re not only
united, we’re determined,” he
said.
But the U.S. Conference of
Mayors said Bush’s plan doesn’t
go far enough and should include
federalizing airport security
workers. “We want a federal
force that is equal or even better
than the ones they have in Israel
and Germany and France,” said
Tom Cochran, the conference’s
executive director.
He said of the airlines, “We be
lieve they have failed us and we
don’t have faith, and we do not
♦ BUSH, SEE PAGE 3
President George W. Bush speaks to a crowd gathered at
O'Hare International, photo by daleguldan/krt campus
Students park at Burger King
Cramped lots
force commuting
students to park
at closed site
BY JON DANFORTH
THE OAMECOGK
The former "Home of the Whop
per," Burger King now caters to
commuting students, Thirty or
more cars can be found at any one
time between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. at
the once-popular fast food restau
rant next to the Horseshoe.
Other hot spots for student park
ing are the abandoned Hardee's on
the corner of Assembly and Blos
som streets and the muddy, aban
doned strips of land past the Coli
seum, but the risk of being towed
there is greater.
"I park wherever I can find a
space, I try to park at Burger
King,” said Jim Dvorsak, a first
year Hotel, Restaurant and
Tourism Management student.
About garage spaces, Dvorsak said,
"$160 a semester is ridiculous."
Many students can't afford
what breaks down to $40 a month
to park In the garages, the most
expensive parking on campus.
Students can pay $20 to park In
other campus lots, but spaces are
hard to find. Some students re
member garages being forced to
close at various times during the
first few weeks of the semester be
cause passes had been oversold.
Signs remain at the Hardee's
and the Burger King locations
warning against Illegal parking
and threatening towing as a con
sequence. Posts have been erected
with a steel rope between them at
Burger King to thwart would-be
parkers, but they don’t last long.
The owner of many of the closed
Burger Kings in the Columbia
area, James Hinton, couldn't be
reached for comment.
The owner of several abandoned
warehouses bordering Gadsden
Street behind the Coliseum lots N1
and N2 also couldn't be reached for
comment. Because some of these
lots tow tars, students should con
tact the owner and request per
♦ BURGER KING, SEE PAGE 3
Some students park at the now-abandoned Burger King
next to the Horseshoe to save money, photo by jon danforth
USG’S PAST
October 1,1918
University officials reported 86
students were stricken in the
deadly influenza pandemic.
WEATHER
fc. A A k A A
Today
Sunny,
77/53
Tomorrow
Sunny,
74/51
INSIDE TODAY’S ISSUE
Fall Out comes to
Columbia Saturday
Incubu9 will headline the
annual concert. ♦ PAGE 6
< Gamecocks to
take on Alabama
USC looks to improve to 4-0 on
Saturday. ♦ PAGE 8
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