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E! GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, March 6, 2002 5 YTT7\ 11 /TTV THEY SAID IT I I 1-^ 1/1 I V DANIEL WEBSTER: “Truth is J I ■/ Mm/ m always congruous and agrees A Ifl I / with itself: every truth in the ■-■-■ -A- » —■-m m m universe agrees with all others.” ispn an* m ? r sgfg s ^ ^ Inspired by a random act of kindness, USC student starts philanthropic group BY CHARLES TOMLINSON ■•THE GAMECOCK USC student Cheryl Tory once found herself stranded in Hawaii, with no place to sleep. Unexpectedly, a benev olent stranger offered to let them stay in his home. In addition to giving her and her friend beds and a roof over their heads, the stranger stocked the refrigerator and cabinets full of food for them. “This guy took us in and hooked us up completely,” Tory said. “I asked him why he did it, and he said, ‘Because someone once did.something for me.’ ” The stranger’s generosity touched Tory. She wanted to extend this kind ness to other people, so she founded Do the Deed, a new service organization at USC. Tory, a fourth-year marketing stu dent, is the group’s first president. Do the Deed has already done three com munity service projects. For'their first project, members sold raffle tickets to students for a $100 prize. On Valentine’s Day, they brought bags full of candy to the Children’s Hospital at / Richland Memorial / Hospital. And just last week, they visited the Cooperative Ministry homeless shelter on Taylor Street, where they delivered bags stuffed with “necessities,” such as food, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant and linens. Do the Deed hasn’t fin ished at the homeless shel ter just yet. The organiza tion plans to return to Cooperative Ministry next week. “We still have bags left over,” Tory said. But once the deeds are done, mem bers have even more to give. Do the Deed also gives a poem to every person it helps. The poem encourages those who have just received help to do good deeds for others. It says good deeds don’t stop once the organization helps someone and that its purpose is more than just to lend a helping hand; it’s to encourage others to continue a cycle of good acts through the community. The poem’s conclusion summarizes Do the Deed’s mission: “Continue to pass this note down the line. Prove people have it in them to be kind. The chain goes on to fill someone else’s need. All because you, like me, decided to DO THE DEED.” among USC students. Tory said student response to the group has been incred ible. At Do the Deed’s first meeting, on Jan. 9, the group consisted of only Tory and four other students. Now, almost two months later, Do the Deed has 12 officers and 30 members. Tory was elected president, and the other four original members became officers. To keep the club running, Do the Deed holds fund-raisers. From its last fund-raiser, it.earned $900, which it used to buy the sitpplies for tfiie home less. Later, the group plans to sell doughnuts and carnations and host a game on campus similar to the old MTV show “Singled Out.” Do the Deed doesn’t rely on fund raisers alone to survive. It also request donations from local businesses. With half of the semes The group will volunteer at local nurs ing homes, play bingo with senior citi zens, walk and play with, the dogs at a local animal shelter, and pass out free hot chocolate to USC students. Do the Deed’s members also perform kind actions on an individual basis. Members’ personal good deed's, no mat ter how big or small, are recognized anonymously on Do the Deed’s Web site. One member “gave an unhappy mailman fresh-baked cookies and a Valentine’s Day card,” while another . “smiled and said hello to everyone I passed in the street.” Do the Deed’s Web site contains in formation about its upcoming events as well as good deeds already done. It also features a wish list page, where ‘ needy people can contact Do the Deed to make requests for family members, friends or even themselves. ■' Do the Deed’s Web address is http://homepage.mac.com/dothedeed. E-mail sunnidazze@aol.com for more information or to join the group. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecx)ckmixeditor@kotmail.com PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK Do the Deed members at Children’s Palmetto Hospital. WUSC Top Ten Albums FOR THE WEEK OF FEB. 28-MAR. 6 1. "DONT WORRY ABOUT ME” Joey Ramone 2. “WE RE THE ONLY FRIENDS WE HAVE” _Piebald 3. “THE GUEST” _ Phantom Planet 4. “SO IMPOSSIBLE” Dashboard Confessional 5. “COLLEGE” EP Midtown 6. “YOUR MAJESTY” Midtown 7. “ROCK MUSIC: A TRIBUTE TO WEEZER" Various Artists 8. “ATTAK” KMFDM 9. “ALL YOU CAN EAT” _ BeatCrusaders 10. “COME WITH US” Chemical Brothers LAST LECTURE SERIES Sharing their passions BY CARRIE PHILLIPS THE GAMECOCK Students tend to think professors float above their students in an in accessible cloud of academia. But professors do have interests outside the classroom that they want to share with students. The Last Lecture Series is their avenue to do just that. The series asks professors, chosen by students, to give a lecture on whatever topic they choose as if it were the last lec ture they would ever give. The Last Lecture Series was started by Jan Smoak, adviser to the Carolina Scholars Association in the Office of Fellowships and Scholar Programs. She came to USC after working at East Tennessee State University, where she insti tuted a similar program. She pro posed the idea to the Carolina Scholars Association and brought Carolina Productions on board, and the organization developed the se ries into what it is today. “It seemed like this kind of pro gram was a good fit for the students that I work with,” Smoak said. “Working with the Carolina and McNair scholars, I thought that the Last Lecture Series might be a pro gram that they would enjoy.” The series, now in its third year, uses student nominations to choose the professors and makes sure to keep diversity a priority. “This program gives students a way to see professors outside the classroom,” said Jenni Brady, Carolina Scholars Association member and series chairwoman. “It gives professors a forum to talk about things that really interest them, things that don't necessarily relate to their fields ... and it’s a good way to learn about things that you wouldn’t normally have time to take classes in.” The professors are asked to give a lecture as if it were the last h one they would ever give. ■ According to Brady, this B makes for some interesting j and entertaining talks. Robert Carlsson, from the K. economics department, told his \ audience about the impor tance of opportunity costs WKjT in everyday life, especially in our war on terrorism. Walter Liniger, a distin ♦ LECTURE, SEE PAGE 7 PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK Bn Kwame Dawes, an I associate English B professor, will speak tonight at 7 p.m. THE MTV EXPERIENCE USC students encounter MTV BY JUSTIN BAJAN THE GAMECOCK Entering its 11th season of voyeurism meets adventure, MTV’s “Road Rules” has trav eled the world under the guid ance of various clue-directed missions. In a typical past mission, members were placed in an underwater shark cage and served as a distraction for the carnivorous predators while researchers tagged the sharks for identification. The PHOTO BY CARRIE PHILLIPS The MTV hosts: Manasl Slnha and Ron Cohen missions aren’t always that outlandish, but they help col or the bond of the always-di vergent six-member cast and sometimes bring out the worst qualities of human emotion. The show started in a Winnebago that the cast drove to different landmarks. As the show evolved, so did the format; the choice of transportation shifted to a cruise ship at one point. The show also merged with “The Real World” to cre ate “The Real World/Road Rules Challenge,” a show that pitted the two programs’ former cast members against each other. Tapping the cul ture of many coun tries, including South Africa, Mexico and Morocco, the program is moving into a new realm that is less exotic, but just as eye-opening - college life. And what university is more quali fied to show MTV’s “10 Spot” au dience what college is all about than USC? Advertising in the Feb. 18 edi tion of The Gamecock, Carolina Prodtlctidns ran a non-descript audition announcement. The ad vertisement said MTV was look ing for “outgoing, adventurous students” to be hosts for an on campus special. Among those auditioning was Ron Cohen, a fourth-year advertising student. Cohen had been only slight interested in the opportunity, but his room mates convinced him to try out. He was called back an hour and a half after his tryout and told he was to meet the production crew at a hotel to record the clue for the mission. l As the face and voice of k CTV, the campus-based en K tertainment program on ^ the WRHA Channel, ^k Cohen had prior camera experience. But Cohen said MTV did things ^k a little more differ ^k ently. "They handed ^k us two pages of lines and said, i ■ 'Don't mess up. ■ but if you do. that’s OK,’ ” Cohen explained. To I compensate for this heightened sense of pro ■ ♦MTV, SEE PAGE 7