Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Sorensen CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 dent so quickly. Sorensen has said that he wants to be accessi ble to students and that dining to gether is one such opportunity. Sorensen has said he plans to make such meetings a regular event, most likely about once a month. “Students will have an op portunity to tell me how I can im prove my coaching,” Sorensen quipped. During his tenure at the University of Alabama, Sorensen also made appearances at events held by various student groups, including some fraternity parties, though he says he doesn’t drop in unannounced. “If I am invited and my schedule permits, I will stop by,” Sorensen said. He says the same goes for all student or ganizations. While meeting with students and faculty has been a top priori ty, Sorensen has also outlined an ambitious vision for USC’s future which includes, among other things, teaching standards. “I take teaching very seriously. We must do everything to improve the quality of teaching,” Sorensen said. He hopes tosee continued advances like those that have earned USC a reputation as a lead ing academic institution in re search and also strives to increase the quality of teaching and main tain technological standards. Sorensen believes these are vi tal in providing consistent, qual ity education, especially consid ering the unprecedented size of the incoming freshman- class. “The board of trustees and I are discussing what is the optimal size of the entering class,” Sorensen said. “We must decide what our goals are [for class size]. If the goal is at the current level, we need to build more residence halls.” When asked about the recent tuition increases, Sorensen ex plained he was “already making efforts to save money” and that he thought “other departments would follow my example.” Sorensen reduced his staff by three positions, which has saved about $300,000 and, in just his first week as president, made changes that should save the uni versity a total of $500,000 per year. In regards to a hiring freeze, however, Sorensen made a clear distinction. While he says, “We don’t need as many administra tors,” Sorensen is aware that the same cuts should not be as forth coming toward educators and re searchers. “I’ve authorized the hiring of many additional faculty members and added a number of adjunct members to meet the new class size,” Sorensen said. Sorensen feels the USC com munity can be made tighter and hopes to strengthen the ties be tween the various branches of USC. “There are eight campuses that comprise the University of South Carolina, not just one,” Sorenson commented. In further efforts to save mon ey, Sorensen endorsed the idea of closing the faculty club on the horseshoe. “I am confident in the School of Hospitality operating the faculty club and making it open to all members of the cam pus community and Columbia community.” The faculty club did in tact close on July 3, due par tially to the cost of operation. if the first few weeks of Sorensen’s tenure are any indica tion of the changes in store for the university down the road, then USC students should have much to look forward to in academic and student life, as well as athletics. Sorensen gave his prediction for the upcoming football season and, like most students, he expects suc cess. “We’re going to a bowl game, and we’ll win a substantial num ber of games on our schedule.” The new president w;ll also be visible for at least one home game. Sorensen said he will be playing trumpet in a quintet at Williams Brice Stadium for the Georgia game on Sept. 14. **Chris Foy contributed to this report Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com Track CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 the baseball team’s 3-1 victory over North Carolina. They re ceived a long ovation from the Gamecock faithful, and the fans took to the field to con gratulate the team. Among the first to show their appreciation was the USC baseball team, and Head Coach Ray Tanner thought his squad was in spired by the track teams’ suc cess. “We kept up with how the track teams were doing in Baton Rouge, and when we heard the news Saturday night that the women had won the national title... it just made me so proud to be a part of the ath letics department at South Carolina,” Tanner said. Coach Frye looked around Sarge Frye Field and summed up the emotional meet and homecoming: “This whole thing has been a little surreal until now... I think it has just hit home that we won the na tional title.” Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com TRACK PACTS • This is the school’s first ever NCAA title in any event. • The women’s track team was ranked number one in preseason polls. • The team ran a time of 3 minutes, 26.46 seconds to break its own collegiate and NCAA Championship records in the 1600-meter re lay. • Lisa Barber ran a per sonal best at 50.87 seconds to finish as the runner-up in the 400m • Lashinda Demus won the 400m hurdles the day before capturing the national cham pionship • Tiffany Ross was eighth in the 100 hurdles at 13.57. It was a first-time appearance for Ross in the 100 hurdles, with Ross as the NCAA run ner-up on Friday in the 400 hurdles at 55.22. Tuition CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 fecting quality.” USC students are understand ably concerned by having to pay more. Liberal Arts junior Ryan Hodge, who pays out-of-state tu ition, echoed the sentiments of many of his classmates. Like many students, he wonders about the necessity of such dras tic tuition increases when so many building projects are going on throughout campus, such as the new arena and physical edu cation center. “Is that the only way they can maintain facilities?” Hodge said. “It seems like they’re doing all right if they’re building all this.” In conjunction with budget cuts, the university also is deal ing with the drastic influx of new students. The university wil once again turn to local hotels t< house students who are unabli to find an available space to livi on campus. Last year, almost 8( students were placed in thi Holiday Inn on Assembly Stree because there were not enougl spaces on campus to house then despite the almost 100 upper classmen who pulled out of theij housing contract at the univer sity’s request. Nearly 300 students are ex pected to be placed in hotels thii year. Other local hotels that ari expected to participate ar< Clarion Townhouse and thi Adams Mark. Palms cited USC’s recent sue cesses in athletics to explain thi recent increase in the number o applicants to the university. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com FACTBOX: MEET THE PRESIDENT This summer, Sorensen has... • Met with students for lunch in the first of what will be many opportunities for students to express their concerns to the president; > • Started off campaign to save money by reducing staff by three positions; • Worked with the USC Board of Trustees to determine the ideal size for future freshmen classes; • Closed down Faculty Club in its present form; advocated having the School of Hospitality, Retail. & Sport Management step in to run the club; • Met with Columbia Mayor Bob Coble, preservationists and neighborhood groups to discuss the future plans for the his torical buildings located near the advocacy center; and • Outlined a three-part vision for how best to move USC into the future: 1. Research - To continue to make advances in re search and maintain USC’s reputation as a prominent research institution; 2. Teaching - To continue to improve the quality of education offered at USC and keep up with current advances in technology; and 3. Outreach - To improve the relationship between USC and the city of Columbia and encourage the university to reach out to the community. E Early Bird Special " 9a$22P50 One Months Semester Special Tan all semester PLUS receive FREE bottle of lotion and FREE eyewear. $ lays Monday thru Saturday 9am - 9pm Sunday 11am - 5pm 254-6008 Corner of BlossomS Santee Behind Groucho's