The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 16, 2002, Page 2, Image 2
Hodges unveils plan for spending lottery funds
Plan includes
$135.8 million
for scholarships
BY KEVIN FELLNER AND
BRANDON UARRABEE
THE OAMBCCCK
LrOttery revenues would be de
voted to'scholarships, endowed
chairs and school buses under
Gov. Jim Hodges’ plan.
Hodges included the blueprint for
how to spend the lottery’s projected
$210 million in revenues in his 2002
2003 budget, released last week.
The plan comes out with less
than a year left until South
Carolinians go to the polls to vote
in this year’s gubernatorial elec
tion. After finally seeing the cen
terpiece of his 1998 campaign be
come a reality, Hodges will wait to
see whether the lottery’s effects
convince voters he has achieved
his goal to “focus like a laser beam
on improving our schools.”
Under the governor’s proposal,
$135.8 million would be used for
scholarships, which were the
main benefit Hodges and other lot
tery supporters used in support of
the lottery during the 2000 refer
endum campaign.
“The people of South Carolina
voted in favor of a lottery as a
means of reducing the cost of
. * >
higher education in South
Carolina,” Hodges writes. “South
Carolinians should not be dis
couraged from pursuing higher
education due to unaffordable tu
ition rates.”
The funds include $61 million
to provide free tuition for all South
Carolina residents in two-year in
stitutions of higher learning.
“The world economy in which
we compete requires that we move
from a K-12 to a K-14 education
system,” Hodges writes.
An additional $53.1 million
would go toward enhancing the
state’s two major scholarship
funds and create a third. Under
the plan, LIFE scholarships would
increase from $3,000 to free tuition
plus $300. Hodges said the maxi
mum benefit from the plan could
come to $5,000. The plan would al
locate $4.1 million to create a new
scholarship for entering freshmen
who have B averages but don’t
qualify for LIFE. An additional $4
million would be used to raise the
Palmetto Scholarship awards to
$7,000.
Those plans are modeled after
Georgia’s state lottery, according
to Hodges spokeswoman Cortney
Owings.
“The Georgia lottery has been
a tremendous success at creating
more education opportunities for
Georgia’s residents,” she said.
V
Owings said South Carolina’s
size wouldn’t keep the state from
raising enough money to run a
Georgia-styled program.
“No state is too small to find
ways to make higher education
more accessible to more of its citi
zens,” She said.
Hodges would also increase
needs-based grants and tuition
grants by a total of $16 million.
And the governor suggests us
ing $40 million for endowed chairs
at the state’s research universities.
“It is gaining widespread sup
port,” Owings said. “It’s an initia
tive that will strengthen our uni
versities, while providing a major
incentive for attracting high-tech,
y
well-paying-businesses.”
USC Provost Jerry Odom said
the lottery doesn’t change the uni
versity’s vision for the future of
scholarships. .
“The first thing to look at is that
the Legislature has still not acted
on how the lottery money will be
spent,” Odom said. “We are cer
tainly waiting to see what hap
pens.”
Hodges would also spend $5 mil
lion on teacher training.
The plan devotes $1 million of
unclaimed prizes to programs to
help gambling addicts and $10 mil
lion to school buses.
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Watson
Athletics official:
Decision *difficult’
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
student athlete it is disappoint
ing,” he said. “We will have to
move on; however, when you have
to make a decision such as this it
can be very difficult.”
Watson and 22-year-old Antwan
Andre Galloway of Pendleton
were sitting in the front seat of a
1975 four-door gold Chevrolet
when detectives spotted Watson
filling the shell of a cigar with a
substance from a small clear plas
tic bag, according to Lt. Mike
flamHroll
According to Gambrell, as the
detectives approached the car,
Watson tried to hide the bag on his
side and later on the front floor
board. The bag weighed 8.5 grams
and field-tested positive as mari
juana. Another bag weighing 2.4
grams was found on Galloway.
The third passenger in the back
seat was released without charge.
According to USC spokesman
Russ McKinney, Watson will have
to appear before the Office of
Student Judicial Affairs and could
face expulsion, the Associated
. Press reported Tuesday.
But in an interview with The
Gamecock, Scott Lewis, director of
student judicial affairs, said fed
eral law prevented him from com
menting on the possibility of
Watson appearing for a hearing.
Watson has two options should
he appear for a hearing. He could
settle the matter with administra
tors in an informal manner or go
beforeCarolina Student Judicial
Council for a formal hearing.
Lewis said that 99 percent of the
time students choose not to go be
fore the student judiciary com
mittee buf added that this year
they are on pace to break the
record for most cases heard, a fact
that pleases Lewis.
“I like it when students can
solve problems among them
selves,” he said.
Lewis said if Watson appears
for an administrative hearing, pri
or violations would be taken into
consideration before a decision
was made.
Watson came to USC as the
state’s top prospect in 1999. In his
three seasons as USC’s starting
running back, he has rushed for
2,078 yards on 437 carries and 16
touchdowns. Watson led the SEC
in all purpose yards in 2000. with
1,066, but passed up on the NFL
draft to return for his junior year,
which ended in a disappointing
618 yards rushing with five touch
downs.
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Budgeting
Hourly tuition rate
could decrease
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
pare notes on the implementa
tion process.
The SDI Committee also rec
ommends student academic
fees be charged on a credit hour
basis, while keeping in mind
the student’s state residency
and academic fees. The reason
ing behind such change would
be to ensure a more accurate
distribution of fees to academic
units.
Right now, full-time students
must take a minimum of 12
hours.' Part-time students pay
$187 per credit hour, while full
time students pay a set tuition
rate of $1,982.
If broken down on an hourly
basis, part-time students are
paying more per hour than full
time students. Under the new
system, students would pay
based on an hourly rate.
“We want to keep the revenue
neutral to the university,” said
Bill Bragdon, budget director.
“In other words, we don’t want
to charge the students any more,
and we don’t want the university
to lose money either.”
While Bragdon said that noth
ing has been decided yet, he said
that one scenario would be to
lower the hourly tuition rate to
$165, so that 12 hours of credit
would be closer to the full-time
payment of $1,982.
“If everyone were to start
paying the hourly rate, that
hourly rate may be less because
we wouldn’t want to punish a
full-time student and ask them
to pay more money just because
of a change,” Bragdon said.
USC president John Palms
stressed that VCM is not similar
to the “every tub on its own bot
IUI11 UUUgCllllg 111CIIIUU, WIIC1C
the academic units are cut loose
in a sink-or-swim situation
without any association to the
performance of other units.
Many private institutions use
this method, but Palms said it
would not work at USC.
“In a major public institution,
that is a little more difficult to
do, and the adaptation of this
‘tub on its own bottom’ is called
Value Centered Management,”
said Palms. “This gives more re
sponsibility to the institution,
holds it more accountable, but
also gives it more autonomy as
far as creativity and entrepre
neurship and innovation.”
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Sanford
Wants to shrink
state government
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
per capita personal income is
$5,500 lower than the national
average and that South Carolina
is in the top 16 states for highest
income taxes.
According to Sanford, the
new plan would build credibili
ty in the state’s economy by
eliminating the wealth gap be
tween South Carolina and its
neighbors.
“If we don’t get our tax policy
right in South Carolina, we will
continue to lag behind our peer
group in the Southeast,” he said.
According to Sanford, the
overall proposal shows his de
sire to reduce the size of the
state’s government.
“The number one part of this
tax plan talks about the need to
limit government,” he said.
The plan calls for money that
normally would have been allo
cated to the government to be al
located to the individual,
Sanford said. He also said his
plan factors in population in
creases and inflation.
Sanford said the four key as
pects of his political platform are
The candidates
for governor
Sanford isn’t the only one
running for governor. Here
are the major-party
candidates for the office:
Republicans
Lt. Gov Bob Peeler
Attorney General Charlie
Condon _
Lawyer Ken Wingate
State Sen. Bill Branton
Secretary of State Jim Miles
Rebekah Sutherland
Democrats
Gov. Jim Hodges
restructuring government, re
forming education, building ac
countability in government and
preserving the quality of life in
South Carolina. He said his tax
plan is the First step in restruc
turing the state’s government.
Sanford was a U.S.
Congressman for six years and
is a native of Sullivan’s Island.
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