The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 18, 2002, Image 1
University of South Carolina FRinAV OfTORFR 1R 9009 - Vol.96,No.28
www.dailygamecock.com * PvI Ur\I, Vy vv lUDLlA 10( Z.\J\JZ. Since 1908
Student activity fee increases
* Board raises fee
to $66, examines
enrollment plan
BY KEVIN FELLNER
THE GAMECOCK
USC’s Board of Trustees raised
the student activity fee and dis
cussed a controversial enrollment
plan for the university at its meet
ing Thursday in the Russell House
Ballroom.
The increase, the first since
1998, raises the student activity fee
to $66 and is expected to generate
$300,000 annually. Out of every ad
ditional $20 collected, $10 will be
allocated to Carolina Productions,
$5 to Russell House maintenance,
$3 to late-night programs and $2 to
Student Government.
“The distribution in revenue
from this increase in fees will be
more in line with other SEC
schools,” board Chairman Mack
Whittle said.
The increase came during the
second meeting of the Board of
Trustees during President
Andrew Sorensen’s tenure.
At the meeting, Sorensen de
livered an enrollment manage
ment proposal that would bring
USC’s undergraduate enrollment
to 14,335 by 2007 and would lower
enrollment in graduate and pro
fessional programs from 8,174 to
8,000 by fall 2003. His tentative goal
is to have a freshman class of 3,300
with an average SAT score of 1145
and an average GP A of 3.5 in core
classes. He also wants to have 75
percent in-state students and 15
percent black students.
But Sorensen said his proposals
were just a “first cut” and that he
would present a more detailed re
port to the board at its next meeting.
The proposals have their draw
backs. The first is that lowering
freshman enrollment to 3,300 from
this year’s 3,500 would mean the
university would receive less tu
ition money. Sorensen said he
worries that scholarship money
might bear the brunt of the lost
revenue and that, with fewer
scholarships, USC might not be
able to attract large numbers of
quality students.
“If we want more highly talent
ed students, we have to offer them
increased scholarships, introduce
academic innovations and pro
grams, and we also need to man
age college enrollments within the
university,” Sorensen said.
Provost Jerry Odom praised
Sorensen for his effort to manage
USC’s enrollment and said keep
ing average class size low is vital
to the university’s academic fu
ture. Odom said USC would still
be able to provide a quality public
education to the state.
But some board members were
skeptical of Sorensen’s proposal.
Trustee James Shuford said he
was worried that the plan might
make it harder for students from
USC’s regional campuses to trans
fer to the Columbia campus for
their junior and senior years.
Sorensen said he is communicat
ing with administrators at the re
gional campuses about how those
campuses could one day become
universities for academically tal
ented students who couldn’t meet
the increasing standards at the
Columbia campus.
The president also said lower
enrollment would mitigate the de
mand overflow in campus housing.
Value-centered
management
Sorensen’s speech came after a
presentation from Sorensen,
Odom and Chief Financial Officer
Rick Kelly gave the board its first
look at how the new budgeting
♦ FEES, SEE PAGE 3
Holtz visits campus
for live call-in show
PHOTOS BY ADAM BEAM/THE GAMECOCK
Top: Lou Holtz laughs with the audience at the call-in show
Wednesday night. Above: Wearing Lou’s signed hat, David Able,
a second-year journalism student, asks him a question.
Coach answers questions from
students and callers statewide
BY MICHAEL LAFORGIA
THE GAMECOCK
Making his first appearance
on campus since “Lou on the
‘Shoe” in 1999, USC football
coach Lou Holtz came to the
Russell House Ballroom on
Wednesday night for a live tap
ing of “The Lou Holtz Call-in
Show.”
“I just love being with the
students, and I really mean
that,” Holtz said. “Youth are
the most exciting group to be
around because they have such
an exuberance and energy.”
This isn’t the first tiipe a
prominent USC coach has made
a campus visit. Last semester,
head basketball coach Dave
Odom also had a live call-in
show in the Russell House to
bolster student support.
While Holtz hasn’t been on
campus for two years, he plans
to make several more visits to
the campus.
USC officials announced at
the show that two hours will
be set aside next weekend for
Lou Holtz to sign autographs
in the Russell House. Students
who attended the broadcast
were given a card with a num
ber on it to reserve their place
in line. Others may call the
Russell House University
Union information center at
777-3196 for more information.
With announcer Charlie
McAlexander, “the voice of the
♦ HOLTZ, SEE PAGE 3
Family shows,
sports planned
for new arena
BY ADAM BEAM
THE GAMEQOCK
Elmo, a monster truck and a
fire-juggling clown were all on
hand Thursday morning to an
nounce the upcoming events for
the new Carolina Center.
University officials said
Gamecock basketball will make
up 25 percent of the 130 or so
events to be held at the arena, so
there will be room for a variety of
family shows and concerts.
Before the highly publicized
Bruce Springsteen concert Dec. 9,
the arena’s first show will be Nov.
26, when World Wrestling
Entertainment will come tape a
show to be broadcast later on UPN.
“We really want something for
everybody,” said Tom Paquette,
general manager of the Carolina
Center. “We’ve got a wide array
there, and we’re going to try to do
the same with concerts.”
The second concert to come to
the new arena will be Dec. 14,
when Christian recording artist
Michael W. Smith will bring his
“Christmastime” show, featuring
Point of Grace and Kara.
The Carolina Center will com
pete with Greenville’s Bi-Lo
Center, the North Charleston
Coliseum and the Charlotte
Coliseum to be what USC
Athletics Director Mike McGee
calls “the premier sports and en
tertainment facility in South
Carolina.”
Paquette said: “I think all
buildings in a media market com
pete against each other. Shows
aren’t going to play eight or nine
shows in each area.”
Paquette said the Carolina
Center has an advantage because
people are more likely to come to
a newer venue.
“New buildings tend to do very
well,” he said. “I think new facili
ties definitely have an advantage
as far as getting shows because
it’s all about selling tickets.”
While the USC Athletics
Department is the new arena’s pri
mary operator, the Philadelphia
based sports and entertainment
firm Global Spectrum will manage
the center, boosting its chances of
getting top-rated acts and sporting
events.
Although the new arena is
opening too late to feature NBA
and NHL preseason games,
Paquette said Columbia residents
should expect to see either the
NHL’s Philadelphia Fliers or the
NBA’s Philadelphia Seventy
Sixers to come down next year for
preseason games. Global
♦ CENTER, SEE PAGE 3
Carolina Center’s Calendar of Events
Nov. 26 WWE Smackdown
- Jan. 5 Champions on Ice
Dec. 5-8
Sesame Street Live -
1-2-3 Imagine
Michael W.
Ringling Brothers and Bamum
& Bailey Circus
Feb. 7-9
Monster Jam
^ Feb. 21-22
IFMA Motorcross
March 16 —
' Lipizzaoer
Stallions
March 27-30
Disney on ice
a
Index
Comics and Crossword 8
Classifieds 10
Horoscopes 8
Letters to the Editor 5
Online Poll
Police Report 4
Weather
TODAY
High 71
Low 48
TOMORROW
High 77
Low 55
Inside
♦ NEWS White House reacts to
news that North Korea has
nuclear weapons. Page 2
♦ VIEWPOINTS Rob Seal
discusses the history and
evolution of Halloween. Page 5
♦ THE MIX Tony-award winning
play “Proof will make its
Columbia debut Friday night.
Page 6
♦ THE MIX Don’t tell Dick wins
USC’s Battle of the Bands.
Page 6
Account of sniper a fake, police say
Witness’s details
about Va. killer
don’t hold up
under scrutiny
BY STEPHEN MANNING
TIIK ASSOCIATED PRESS
ROCKVILLE, MD. — A witness
who described the Washington
sniper, his assault rifle and his
cream-colored van gave police a
phony story, investigators said
Thursday in a setback that casts
doubt on much of what the public
thought it knew about the roving
killer.
Prosecutors said the witness
could face charges. His name was
not immediately released.
Fairfax County police Lt. Amy
Lubas said the inaccurate ac
count was exposed by checking it
against that of other witnesses to
Monday night’s killing of an FBI
cyberterrorism analyst in a
crowded Virginia parking lot out
side a Home Depot. It was the
only shooting so far that people
actually saw.
Asked whether the witness
might have intentionally misled
investigators, Montgomery
County Police Chief Charles
Moose, who is heading the in
vestigation, said simply, “Yes.”
Investigators had showed a
certain optimism after the latest
attack seemed to yield the best
details yet about the killer. But
that gave way to anger Thursday.
Moose said there was no cre
dence to the witness’ description
of the cream-colored van with a
burned-out rear taillight. And
while Moose did not give the wit
ness’ exact description of the
shooter, he chastised reporters
for running reports that vari
ously described the gunman as
dark-skinned, olive-skinned,
Middle Eastern or Hispanic.
♦ SNIPER, SEE PAGE 2