Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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www.dailygamecock.com _WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2,2002__ Since 1908 University 101 professor dies His students say teacher’s death was ‘completely unexpected’ BY KIMBERLY HUNT THE UAMKCOCK University 101 professor and conservation librarian Darrick Hart, 30, died Monday morning at about 7 a.m. at Providence Hospital on Taylor Street. The cause of death was not available. Hart was admitted to Providence’s intensive care unit Sunday. “His death was completely un expected,” said Bud Walton, uni versity librarian for Processing Services. Hart taught a University 101 class to transition-year students Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8 a.m. Four other transition-year University 101 professors coun seled the class Tuesday. According to University 101 chairman Dan Berman, the class wanted to stay together at first, but the counselors thought it bet ter to put groups of students in al ready stable classes. Hart’s class was dispersed among five other classes. “It would be awkward for a new professor to come into their class,” Berman said. “This way, they are embraced by other stu dents and a professor that is bonded with that group of stu dents.” To make the transition less dis ruptive, the students chose which class and professor they wanted to join. “It was a first for all of us. There’s no manual you can read,” Berman said. The professors who counseled Hart’s students talked with each student one on one. “We are trying to do what Darrick would have wanted to, and I hope this is it,” Berman said. This was Hart’s second year teaching University 101. “He was really dedicated, sin cere, caring,” Berman said. “He always went the extra mile for people when he did not have to. We’re just devastated, in disbelief that he is not here anymore.” Hart also worked in the con servation lab mending books and protecting rare books for both the Thomas Cooper Library and the South Caroliniana Library on the Horseshoe. ♦ HART, SEE PAGE 2 * •Theft pattern emerges in mail system Uncertainties remain about how thieves get access to students’boxes BY MICHAEL LAFORGIA THE (IAMECOCK ^ A pattern of stealing and de ception is emerging at USC after two automated-teller-machine cards and one check were stolen recently from student mailboxes on campus. It is unclear how thieves have been getting access to students’ mail, which is delivered to USC twice a day during the week. Before arriving on campus in several truckloads, the mail is sorted at the federal post office on Main Street, according to a clerk in the Russell House mail room who did not want to be identified. The clerk said students might not be locking their boxes after they check their mail and are con • sequently leaving themselves vul nerable to opportunistic crimi nals. A newly issued debit card was stolen from the mailbox of first year civil engineering student Ashley Smith on Aug. 30. She re ceived a call the next day from a woman claiming to be a bank rep resentative. Smith told the police that the caller asked whether she had received her card in the mail, then asked for a personal identi fication number to access her ac count information and check the card’s status. The false representative even arranged a meeting with Smith to verify information, and provided her with fake telephone and office numbers. When Smith later checked her account balance, she found it empty. First-year concurrent student Aleta Amonson, who is in high school but takes university class es, was a victim of the same tac tics on Sept. 3. After her ATM card was stolen from her mailbox in the Russell House mailroom, Amonson told the police a man contacted her and claimed to be a bank employee. The man then got her personal identification num ber, again on the pretense of ac count verification, and Amonson said she later found her account had been cleaned out. Another student, who did not want to be identified, was the vic tim of yet another recent inci dence of mailbox larceny at the Russell House. The victim said ♦ SECURITY, SEE PAGE 4 PHOTO BY SAMANTHA HALL/THE GAMECOCK Kristie Flynn, a first-year psychology student, checks her mall. Three USC students have reported thefts from their mailboxes. Index Comics and Crossword 9 Classifieds _ 12 Horoscopes _ 9 * Letters to the Editor 6 Online Poll 6 ! Police Report 4 Weather TODAY 'T High 89 Low 67 TOMORROW High 89 Low 69 Inside ♦ NEWS Fraternities and sororities get ready for Cockfest. Page 2 ♦ THE MIX WUSC celebrates the rel^se of its first compilation with a show at New Brookland Tavern. Page 8 ♦ THE MIX USC professors present unorthodox topics in the Last Lecture Series, which begins tonight. Page 7 ♦ SPORTS The injury bug hits Gamecock football team. Page 10 \ FIVE POINTS GETS A FACE-LIFT PHOTO BY CANDI HAUGLUM/THE GAMECOCK Beautification plans are under way for Five Points. The plans include new medians, a few new parking spaces, possibly a fountain, better sidewalks and more intimate lighting. Columbia aims to improve the look of Five Points area BY KRISTEN MOORE THE GAMECOCK Five Points will undergo a major construction project that will replace an outdated sewer system and give the popular col lege night spot an improved look. “Just like the city did with Gervais Street and other parts of the city, we want to add big ger and better sidewalks, more trees, better pavement and just spruce it up a bit,” said David Brandes, site utility section manager for Wilbur Smith Associates, the contracting com pany in charge of the project. “It’s not too dissimilar of what was done to Sumter Street.” Other beautification plans still under discussion include adding landscaped medians to Harden Street, a few parking spaces, benches and possibly a fountain, as well as replacing tall light posts with smaller, more intimate lighting to take away some of the harsh glare. Brandes said most of Five Points’ infrastructure is fairly ♦ FIVE POINTS, SEE PAGE 5 “I think if Five Points needs anything, it needs to be more eye-pleasing. It could definitely use some redecorating.” TRACEY ROONEY FIRST-YEAR BIOLOGY STUDENT Tires slashed around campus BY ALLYSON BIRD THE GAMECOCK What began with one student discovering a slashed car tire on College Street Saturday morning ended with area police depart ments responding to 50 calls of slashed tires. The USC Police Department re sponded to 28 tire-slashing re ports, along with the Columbia Police Department’s 16 to 20 re ports. The Richland County Sheriffs Office reported two inci dents, one on Sept. 25 and the oth er on Sept. 28. The rest of the dam age is thought to have occurred early Saturday morning around 2a.m. * Eric Trimble, a second-year business student, had two tires slashed on his Plymouth, which he parked on College Street Friday after midnight. “There’s nothing we can do about it,” Trimble said. “People are going to be stupid, but I hope whoever did it gets caught.” There were no suspects as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Ernie Ellis, director of USC Law Enforcement and Safety. The Columbia Police Department would not comment on the inci dents, but Lt. Mike Johnson did say “there is an active investiga tion in progress.” In the meantime, “we have beefed-up patrols, and we have a liaison with the USC Police,” Johnson said. Jonathan Tucker, a second year marine science student, does not feel any less secure after hav ing a tire slashed on his Jeep, which was parked in the Capstone lot. “It was just somebody being dumb,” he said. But according to Carolyn Howard, 47, of Columbia, more police action is necessary. Her Mazda had one tire punctured af ter her son, first-year math stu dent Damien Howard, parked her car across from Capstone on Friday night. Saturday morning, Carolyn Howard called her hus band to help change tires for oth er victims. “The police just didn’t seem re ♦ TIRES, SEE PAGE 5 Sorensen ready for fund-raising efforts BY KEVIN FELLNER THE GAMECOCK Andrew Sorensen enjoys fund raising. He’s successful at it. It’s a challenge he takes personally. It’s no surprise that, after hav ing worked on capital campaigns at several large universities, Sorensen is ready for his first big private fund-raising effort as USC’s presi dent. “We can’t sit by and watch the state of South Carolina con tinue to give us decre ments in funding, while the cost of oper ating the uni versity keeps rising,” he said. After the success of USC’s last campaign, the landmark Bicentennial Campaign that boosted USC’s endowment to an all-time high $302 million, Sorensen is ready to orchestrate a monumental effort. He project ed this month a September 2003 proposal for the campaign. But a series of other events must precede that campaign. First, Sorensen must name a new vice president for advancement, a position that would incorporate development initiatives and uni versity-government relations into one office. A search commit tee is already finding qualified people to recommend to Sorensen. After the new vice president was in place, USC would have to hire a private consulting firm to do a feasibility study on the uni versity’s needs and how realistic each need is. Once the study was complete, the Board of Trustees in conjunction with the ♦ FUND-RAISING, SEE PAGE 5 Endowments and Tuition See how USC compares with the University of Florida, the University of North Carolina and the University of Virginia in terms of endowments and tuition. Endowments Resident undergraduate tuition as of June 30, 1996 as of June 30, 2002 Fall 1996 Fall 2002 C o = $2 billion - op $1.75 billion - $1.5 billion ■ $1.25 billion - $1 billion - $750 million - $500 million - $250 million - Source: University Web sites. National Association of College and University Business Officers GRAPHIC BY KATIE SMITH/THE GAMECOCK