Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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SHOWCASE CAROLINA PHOTO BY COREY DAVIS/THE GAMECOCK Physics and astronomy graduate students lay a child on a bed of nails as part of Showcase Carolina, which took place Saturday on the Horseshoe. Groups set up booths at the event to answer current and prospective students’ questions. BY JESSICA FOY THE HAMECOllK Amy Haulik, a high school se nior from Alpharetta, Ga., spent last Saturday on the USC Horseshoe. Haulik came to Showcase Carolina with her parents, Cindy and Tom, and her younger sister, Sara. Despite rainy weather, the an nual event saw an overall high turnout among members of the USC community and prospective students. Denise Wellman, Visitor Center director, said she thinks Showcase Carolina is a great way to show students the university’s positive aspects. She said research has shown that a campus visit is the most important factor in a stu dent’s decision about where to go to college. Wellman said she was pleased with Saturday’s turnout, which she thinks is higher than previ ous years’. She also said the Visitor Center has been busier this spring than ever. Wellman attributes this extra attention first to a “well-organized and strategic recruiting process,” but also to the na tional publicity the Athletics Department has created. Each year, high school stu dents who have shown interest in the university are invited to attend Showcase Carolina, where many USC groups have booths to answer questions. Katy Renfroe, a student am bassador at the Visitor Center who gave campus tours Saturday, thinks taking a cam pus tour is an excellent way for students to get to know the school. “It gives them a real feel for it,” Renfroe said. “They get to see what it’s like hands on. They get more of a feel from a student perspective than a pro fessor telling you something in an appointment.” Housing Administration Director Gretchen Koehler, who answered questions at the Housing booth, said she thinks it’s not only the visiting students who benefit from Showcase Carolina, but all of USC. “I think it’s a great event for the entire community,” she said. “There are so many different things that the university is do ing within each of its individual departments or colleges. Even for the folks who work here, it’s a great way for them to see what other departments are doing and really showcase, or highlight, some of the best things that are going on.” Prospective students were able to use computers with wire less Internet connections to ap ply for housing online at the Housing booth. Koehler thinks walking through the process with someone froVn Housing is helpful for the students. Hotel, restaurant and tourism • management student Caroline Smith was promoting her school Saturday. ♦SHOWCASE, SEE PAGE 2 Show and tell for big kids USC Showcase gives prospective students different perspective Arafat says Israel must withdraw troops first BY BARRY SCHWEID THE ASSOCIATED PRESS RAMALLAH, WEST BANK - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat rebuffed Secretary of State Colin Powell’s demand Sunday for a halt to violence, saying Israel first must withdraw its troops from the West Bank. Powell, shuttling back to Israel for a meeting in Tel Aviv, then pressed Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for a complete pullback, a U.S. official said. Sharon renewed his proposal for an international peace con ference among Israel and Arab states including Saudi Arabia, Syria and Lebanon and the Palestinians, but not Yasser Arafat. Sharon said the United States would lead the conference, and “I imagine that within a short time a conference of this sort will con vene to debate the diplomatic ♦MIDEAST, SEE PAGE 3 Everybody loves Lou PHOTO BY AARON HARK/THE GAMECOCK USC head coach Lou Holtz and quarterback Corey Jenkins share a laugh prior to the start of Saturday’s spring football game. USC’s first-team offense and defense dominated its reserves 78-6. «► Groups seek homophobia awareness Week’s events meant to foster acceptance, understanding BY GINNYTHORNTON THE GAMECOCK * Leaders from two organiza tions hope that, by next week, USC will have a greater idea of what it means to be accepting of others. Creators of this week’s homo phobia awareness events have made education the purpose of this first-ever event, cosponsored by the League of Alternative Minorities and the USC chapter of the Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Association. LAM President Rod Scott-Padilla said the week’s purpose is to get people “to understand that there is homophobia.” According to BGLA President Jeff Crews, “This awareness week is the collaboration of several dif ferent organizations, and it’s for everyone, not just our organiza tions.” BGLA and LAM members have been working together to plan the week’s events. BGLA is a student organiza tion, but LAM isn’t officially affil iated with the university. Scott Padilla said both organizations have come together well to plan the week. “We’re all for the same goal: to gain acceptance within the com munity as a whole,” said the third year international studies stu dent. “In other parts of the nation, at universities in the North and the West, there are similar events to educate communities about issues that gays and lesbians face,” he ♦WEEK, SEE PAGE 2 use BATEMAN. TEAM PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK Bateman team member Karin Peters talks to a fellow student during the Contlki Choose Your Own Adventure Travel Day. Public relations team makes championship Two USC teams make nation’s top 10; one to go to Hawaii in May BY KEVIN FELLNER THE (iAMECOOK A USC public relations cam paign team is preparing this week for a May trip to a national championship competition in Hawaii, where it will present its campaign as one of three finalist teams. Both five-member groups of the USC Bateman Team finished in the top 10 among 60 teams in a re cent national competition. The USC Bateman Team com prises two teams that each pre pare public relations campaigns for competition. The competition is sponsored by Contiki Holidays, a travel agency specializing in travel for 18- to 35-year-olds. Both teams generated ideas about arrang ing travel for a target audience. One of those teams, the Palmetto Communications group, finished in the top three and will travel to compete with finalists from the University of Georgia and Loyola University. The team’s faculty adviser, Jeffrey Ranta, said he had the op portunity to work with two groups of “stellar students.” “We hope this trip gives us the opportunity to let us clarify which team is No. 1,” he said. Jennie Moore, captain of the Palmetto Communications group, said she thinks her team’s accom plishments give the College of Journalism and Mass Commun ications a good reputation. Moore, a fourth-year advertising student, said working with a group of such motivated people made her time with the team especially reward ing. “This is as close to real-world experience as you can get while in college,” she said. The Palmetto Communications group mostly focused on event planning in its campaign. The group organized USC International Travel Day in conjunction with the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sports Management and other stu dent organizations. According to Moore, the group was mainly in charge of coordinating the events and is suing news releases as well as designing the campaign for the e'vent’s specific audience: USC students. Fourth-year public relations student and group member Shaun Yates said his group’s work and re sults set a standard for USC. This is the first year a USC team has fin ished in the nation’s top three. ♦BATEMAN, SEE PAGE 3 — TODAY’S WEATHER: Isolated thunderstorms. High 83, Low 64. TOMORROW’S WEATHER: Isolated thunderstorms. High 84, Low 66.