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.

L -n the tree BY GINNY THORNTON THE GAMECOCK The USC Bicentennial Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony will be Wednesday Nov. 28, at 6 p.m, on the Horseshoe. The Office of Community Service Programs will sponsor the 47th annual event to honor community service agen cies and highlight USC’s service efforts. The many USC organizations and ad ministrative offices participating in holi day service activities through the Office of Community Service Programs will bring donations to the ceremony. USC students and staff are giving through two programs in particular: Stocking Stuffers and Winter Wishes. “We’ve had a great turnout this year,” said Laura Kelly, coordinator of the cer emony “We’re expecting about 700 stock ings, and most of them are in already.” Stocking Stuffers, sponsored by The Salvation Army, distributes stockings to individuals and organizations to fill them I for those in need with gifts and essentials for the holidays. Winter Wishes, sponsored by the Nurturing Center and Epworth Children’s Home, matches needy famUies with vol unteers who give the families holiday gifts. According to Kelly, USC groups have adopted about 20 families this year. The dean’s office of the School of Public Health adopts a family every year, accord ing to secretary Pam Pope. “This is some thing we always look forward to,” she said. Each year, members of the staff take pieces of paper with gift ideas from a tree in their office and purchase gifts for families. Community Service Coordinator Cassandra Weiss will open the 6 p.m. cer emony, which USC Homecoming King and Queen, Mark Hartney and Kacy Goebel, will emcee. Representatives from The Salvation Army, Harvest Hope Food Bank and the Nurturing Center will speak about their service programs. ■PBK "We don't just sell bikes...we ride them." 3223 Devine Street 903-234-9797 Clearance Sale Now in Progress BOHtMWn U€hRM£S 6 COLt£CThPI£S This HOLIDAY SEASON, come experience BOHEMIAN... a space to encounter the uncommon. Wondrous GIFT items from around the world... contemporary clothing and jewelry, furniture and lighting, folk art, fine crafts, wind chimes, cd towers, clocks, picture frames and candles. 2736 Devine Street» Columbia, SC 29205 * (803) 256-0629 CD REVIEW TRL Christmas delivers little worth listening to TRL CHRISTMAS Various Artists ★ out of ☆☆☆☆* BY AUBREY FOGLE THE GAMECOCK Corporate cash-ins seem more prevalent than mistletoe and bows of holly during the holiday season in today’s day and age. Everywhere one looks, a television show is having a Christmas or Hanukkah special episode and a mall is paying a guy to dress like Santa Claus so kids will expect more gifts on Christ’s 2000th birthday. Not wanti ng to be left out, MTV has joined the festivi ties by releasing its TRL Christmas album. TRL Christmas, a blatant cash-in, features some of the most recognizable names in pop and pop-rock music flexing their holiday cheer. The album includes classic holiday covers, as well as original holiday songs by such artists as *NSYNC, TLC, Weezer, LFO, Smash Mouth and Jimmy Fallon and Little T. None of the original songs are anything new stylistically for the bands, and most are instantly forgettable. The only points of interest come from the Jimmy Fallon and Trans-Siberian Orchestra tracks. Fallon brings Adam Sandler’s parody rock back with his hilarious punk track chronicling a snowball fight. The Orchestra donates one of its most beautiful and ac claimed songs, “Chrismas Canon,” which features a children’s choir and a church or chestra. These songs are definitely worth a listen, but because Trans-Siberian Orchestra already has two full-length albums and Fallon will probably make his comedy CD debut within the next year, the tracks don’t make the album worth buying. TRL Christmas was made by MTV’s cor porate heads with the idea that anyone could find something they wanted on the album. But people probably don’t want to pay twen ty dollars for two or three interesting tracks. Better leave this one to the pop kids it was intended for. HOLIDAY BRIEFS i Bicentennial Walkway bricks make great gifts Faculty and staff orders for commemorative bricks for the Horseshoe’s Bicentennial Walkway must be received by the Carolina Alumni Association by Dec. 19 to be placed in the specially designated and marked walkway. Faculty and staff don’t have to be USC alumni to order bricks, which are $100 each for alumni association members and $140 for nonmembers ($150 for joint members). Individuals can pay by check, credit card or payroll deduction. Each brick will have two lines of text, up to 14 characters per line, including spaces and punctuation. Bricks can also be purchased in honor of others or make great gifts. For more information or to order, contact Erica Gambrell at 777-4111 or ergambr@gwm.sc.edu. Jewish groups sponsor Hanukkah festivities The Jewish Family Service, Beth Shalom Synagogue and Tree of Life Congregation will sponsor its third annual Hanukkah party Sunday, Dec. 9, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Affiliated and nonaffiliated members of Columbia’s Jewish community, as well as newcomers, are welcome. The party will be in the social hall of the Beth Shalom Synagogue. The Jewish Family Service will provide homemade potato latkes as well as a hot dog dinner. Candles for menorahs will be provided. The event costs $5 for adults and $2 for children. Call Jami Goldman at 787-2023 ext. 309 to RSVP by Thursday, Dec. 6.