University of South Carolina Libraries
www.dailygamecock.com _WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2003_ Since 1908 NCAA inquiry isn’t formal, officials say Investigator is expected to visit campus again BY WENDY JEFFCOAT THE (iAMECOCK USC officials said the athletics program is not under a formal NCAA investigation but ac t knowledged that an NCAA rep resentative has been on campus to ask questions. NCAA investigator JeffHiggins came to the university the third week of December and stayed for a few days, questioning several uni versity officials. Higgins would not comment about his visit. USC Athletics Director Mike McGee said there is usually a let ter of preliminary inquiry that sig nals an investigation but that USC has not received such a letter. “We have cooperated fully,” McGee said. “Frankly, we want to know the same information that they do.” McGee said the NCAA has looked at how the athletics pro gram handles academic matters, extra athlete benefits that violate NCAA rules, benefits from boost ers and friends of USC, and high school eligibility. McGee said that the NCAA has also looked into the athletics department’s treatment of “Derek Watson, in particular.” McGee said that although the university has not talked to all the people the NCAA has, USC has not found anything that rises to the level of a serious investiga tion. “We are not running the in quiry,” he said. “They are.” McGee said he thinks the NCAA investigators will return to USC. “I don’t think they have completed all of their questions,” he said. ♦ NCAA, SEE PAGE 2 Housing adds channels to campus television BY KEITA ALSTON TIIRIIAMKCOCK Students living on campus will see 25 channels added to their cable lineup this semester, as University Housing responds to student surveys asking for more choices. Housing has signed a one-year renewable contract with Dish Network to provide cable services to students living on campus. Housing Director Gene Luna said, “I think students are going to like it, and I think even faculty are going to be able to use some of this.” The addition brings the total number of channels offered by the university to 49. Highlights of the Dish Network include Fox News, C-SPAN2, Trinity Broadcasting Network, NASA, SCI-FI, A&E, the History » . Channel, ESPNEWS, MTV2 and 10 public interest channels. The public interest channels represent offerings by other uni versity television studios and spe cial interest/education program ming such as multicultural, glob al and health issues, as well as foreign language instruction. Housing began negotiating program contracts last fall, Luna said. One partner in the contract is USC’s Distance Education and Instructional Services. Luna said they performed all of the equip ment changes and testing, along with technical support, to make the new cable lineup possible. The equipment was shipped and installed over the holiday kbreak. Luna said the satellites around the Law Center bring in the television programs, which are fed into the system that goes to the residence hall. Although Luna said the stu dents in the survey wanted to see more entertainment-oriented channels, there are also a vari ety of educational networks as well. For example, channels 48 and 56 are research-oriented channels sponsored by the University of Washington and the University of California “We think we’re responding to student’s desires for entertain ment ... but we also wanted to recognize our role in the educa tion of our students and provid ing educational support systems for our faculty and students to use together,” Luna said. Even with state budget cuts, Housing was able to negotiate contracts and add the programs while reducing the actual pro gramming costs, he said. Luna said there were several options as to where student ca ble could go in the future. The first would let students access pay-per-view programming. “Students would subscribe to it on their own, and then they would have to pay extra for it,” he said. He said the results of Housing’s first survey showed that students didn’t think it would be fair for everyone’s rent ♦ CABLE, SEE PAGE 2 PHOTO BY MORGAN FORD/THE GAMECOCK Justine Buller, a first-year student, surfs through the new channels in her Bates House room. Jones Center still closed EIMIM STAKE DEPORTS A water leak that forced the Jones Physical Science Center to close for the first two days of classes will keep the building closed for the rest of the week, USC spokesman Russ McKinney said yesterday. He said the university plans for classes to resume Tuesday. Arrangements will be made later in the semester to make up the missed classes, USC’s Web site says. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com Index Comics and Crossword 5 Classifieds 9 Horoscopes 5 Letters to the Editor 3 Online Poll _ _ __3 Police Report 2 Weather High 52 High 51 Low 23 Low 33 6 * Inside ♦ ON THE WEB Look for state, nation and world briefs at www.dailygamecock.com. ♦VIEWPOINTS Tyler Jones sets his political sights on the 2004 presidential race. Page 3 ♦ THE MIX Break bread with the whole-foods movement. You won’t find any corn syrup here. Page 4 ♦ SPORTS The Gamecocks will face Auburn tonight as they try to improve their home record. Page 7 9 mmmsmmmmummm Students gear up for day of service BY JESSICA CLANTON THE GAMECOCK With the success of last year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, organizers de cided this year to expand the event to several days. One new thing new this year is educational events for the week before the actual day of service, including the “Conversations” Round Table discussion, which is co-spon sored by the Office of Community Service and the USC chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. “This event will give stu dents the opportunity to re flect on why we are honoring Martin Luther King Jr. and think about why volunteering is so important on this day,” said Sondra Weiss, the coor dinator of the Office of Community Service Programs. The “Conversations” Round Table discussion will be held Thursday at 6 p.m. in the ODK/Mortar Room in the Russell House and will in clude discussions on race re lations and nonviolence. Other events will be held to commemorate the day such as a breakfast Friday morning in the Russell House and a Gospel Fest on Friday night featuring the gospel group Canton Spirituals of Mississippi. On Monday USC students will join in the activities, and an estimated 500 organiza tions will do community ser vice throughout the Columbia area. “The Freshmen Council, in ♦ MLK, SEE PAGE 2 if. nnnHnHnHHHHi PHOTO BY PETER GIOELLO/THE GAMECOCK Students now have more ways to shop around for books. New choices make buying books easier BY ALEXIS STRATTON THE GAMECOCK USC students are still paying high prices for textbooks, but a va riety of bookstores and online sell ers have made the spending a little easier. “It’s part of college,” said first year criminal justice student James Horm as he searched for textbooks at the Russell House Bookstore. Horm prefers the Russell House Bookstore because he thinks "it’s the most reliable” and “it’s clos est.” That does not mean he appreci ates the cost. Last semester,’’All six of (my books) were like 400 dol lars,” Horm said. “A state school should be cheaper.” Bookstores claim it is the pub lishers, not.the retailers, that are to blame for high prices. “Textbook prices are pretty set,” said Addam’s Bookstore manager Michael Oliver. “The publishers set the price; every thing revolves around that price.” Oliver explained that used books are where the bookstores come into competition. “If we find that another store is cheaper, we try to match that,” Oliver said. “One of the biggest things is just trying to get used books. The more used books can get the greater savings for stu dents.” Price is not the only difference through which campus bookstores try to set themselves apart. Although Oliver said all three bookstores on and around campus are run by larger companies (Russell House by Barnes and Noble; South Carolina Bookstore by Nebraska; Addam’s by Follett), it is through small-store business practices that these stores try to make their marks. “We try to offer all the services and convenience,” Oliver said. “We try to have a friendly staff and make the experience a posi tive experience because nobody likes to spend a lot of money on textbooks.” Russell House Bookstore Textbook Manager, Chris Jackson III, said he also under stood the students’ desires to con serve money. “Most prefer to have used books,” Jackson said. “I would rec ommend students their first two years with the general books to get used books if possible.” The Russell House Bookstore also gives back to students in the form of a scholarship fund, Jackson said. ♦ TEXTBOOKS, SEE PAGE 2 Getting More Books ForVbur Money Book Title/Author RH SC AD AM HA Biology, 6th edition w/CD/Campbell New , 1 117.00 117.00 117.00 n/a Used 87.0Q ) 87.75 87.75 90.25 88.25 imT Intermediate Accounting. 3rd ed, w/2CDs/Hartman Newl w 17.00 114.00 105.50 106.95 n/a Used 87.25 86.50 79.25 64.05 56.70 Discovering the American Past, 5th ed, Vol. 1/Wheeler NeTf ' 39.00 37.90 38.00 39.00 n/a Usetfcs 29.25 28.45 28.50 32.50 21.50 Cheaps, 2nd ed., w/CD/Valman \ JBlgfr New W 81.00 44.30 81.00 81.00 a/P Used W " 60.75 58.00 60.75 / 47.75 35.65 % m Abnormal Psychology and Modem Ufe/Carson , New 102.00 106.00 106.00 106.00 n/a Used 76.50 79.5^ 79.50 67.75 67.75 Norton Anthology of American Literature Shorter, 5th Editlon/Baym New 57.35 56.65 57.50 63:.fCW Used 43.05 42.45 43.25 46.94f’P 6.79 Calculus, 8th ed./Varberg New 90.70 100.00 96.00 .00 f n/a Used 68.05 70.50 85.00 75 33.25 Figures above -eorosent samWSDrtces from the folfowiia stores/? RH - Russell House Bookstore ^ i 4 SC - South Carokffa Bookstore ^^R|p AD - Addam's Bookstore iLu AM - www.amazon.com HA - www.half.com All prices are listed without lax included. The new Amaion.com pnces do not include shipping andfu * books include a free shipping and handling offer when totals are over $25. Half com offers pnces with sf%ppn^ andixthdlmg included, an estimated fee of $3.25 for USPS Media Mail. The Used Amaron.com books were pnced with an esira«*fl3.25 shipping and handling Although the price is represented in nearly every category, this does not ensure the stock of the item. Often when looking for used books, students encounter shortages at the bookstores. This is not isolated to one store, but can be common at all. When searching for books, students should also be aware ot availability and no! amity »nc*. GRApH|C BY SARAH MCLAUUN/THE GAMECOCK 4* I