www.dailygamecock.com _WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2003_ Since 1908
use to
'study
child
fitness
BY WENDY JEFFCOAT
^TilRliAMKCOCK
USC’s Norman J. Arnold School of Public Health
has received a $1.3 million grant from the National
Institutes of Health to conduct a study focusing on
the physical activity of preschool children.
The grant, funded by NIH’s National Institute
of Child Health and Human Development, will fo
~ cus on physical activity of young children in an at
tempt to explain the rising rate of obesity in
American’s youth.
Russ Pate, recipient of the grant and re
searcher in the School of Public Health, said they
hope to find out how much physical activity
preschoolers actually take part in while they are
at school.
“We know that kids of preschool age tend to be
quite active,” Pate said. “But we also know that ac
tivity levels decline steadily with increasing age,
and we strongly suspect that kids of today, of all
ages, are less active than were children of a com
parable age in previous decades.”
to He said the greatest concern now is the emer
gence of Type II diabetes in teenagers, a disease
that reflects an inability to properly process glu
cose and clear it from the blood stream. The dis
ease was once considered to be an adult disease.
“That’s a truly frightening prospect,” Pate said.
The study will take place over four years and
will involve 720 children, 3-years-old to 5-years-old
in 24 preschools across Richland and Lexington
counties.
The goal of the study is tef identify what type of
factors in preschools would increase activity in the
children attending them.
“What we’re really aiming to do in this study is
♦ GRANT, SEE PAGE 3
^--JB_i—M-I
PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK
Jeremy McGee, a second-year computer-information-systems student, credits
USC’s Incubator Program for helping his business, TwoToads.com, expand.
Incubator
helps small
business
Second-year student finds success
with Internet-filtering technology
BY KEVIN FELLNER
THE GAMECOCK
Jeremy McGee came to USC
as a successful small-business
owner, but says the university’s
Incubator Program helped his
business grow to what it is to
day.
McGee, a second-year comput
er-information-systems student,
co-founded TwoToads.com when
he was 17 years old. The company
designs, tests and markets
Internet filtering technology for
companies and individuals and
has been one of the Incubator’s 11
standard companies since McGee
enrolled at USC in 2001.
The Incubator, located on
Washington Street, supports
technology-driven companies
that are willing to interact with
USC students in return for space
and support from university re
sources.
McGee created the Web site as
a safe online environment for chil
dren with filtering technology he
helped design from his parents’
basement in Aiken.
TwoToads.com is listed as a
standard company because it al
ready existed when he came to the
university. Student companies can
also be established with the help
of the Incubator Program.
“When we first came in, it
helped from just a credibility
standpoint with investors or
customers who didn’t know
much about us or where we
came from,” McGee said. “Being
able to say we were affiliated
with the university in some sort
of official relationship was cer
tainly a good thing.”
McGee said the university typi
cally complies with his business’
requests.
“Coming into the Incubator, the
resources that have been available
to us, like professors where we get
advice from time to time, have
been a real big asset,” he said.
The program is a growing part
of what USC President Andrew
Sorensen hopes to be a national
ly renowned research universi
ty in a few years.
His emphasis is on emerging
technology and partnering the
university’s resources with
those of private businesses.
On Feb. 18, the Incubator an
nounced a collaboration with
♦ INCUBATOR, SEE PAGE 2
SURFYOURSELF
Check out McGee’s company Web site at
www.twotoads.com
‘Conference to cover
women in athletics
BY JESSICA FOSTER
TUB GAMECOCK
USC will hold its 16th annual
Women’s Studies Conference to
morrow and Friday. The event
will feature a keynote address on
the cultural impact on women’s
sports.
Catharine Stimpson, dean of
the Graduate School of Arts and
W Science at New York University,
will deliver the lecture, “In
Praise of Women and Sports:
Notes of a Feminist Fan,” at 5:30
p.m. on Thursday.
Stimpson said the United
States continues to suffer from
what she calls the Atalanta
Syndrome — named after the
legendary woman hunter and
runner in classical Greece —
which is the belief that women
might not stay the course or
should not even be in athletics
at all. Stimpson said she is con
cemed that cultural forces are
thwarting the success of Title LX
in women’s college athletics.
“The United States has made
huge advances in supporting
women’s sports, especially since
1972 and the passage of Title IX,
which gave women’s athletics
in higher education more mon
ey, facilities and institutional
backing,” Stimpson said.
“However, we need to get past
our Atalanta Syndrome and
make being a woman player and
woman fan part of our value
system without getting cor
rupted by believing in victory
at any price. As a result, it will
make both women and our val
ue system stronger.”
Title IX of the Educational
Amendments of 1972 to the 1964
Civil Rights Act states, “No per
son in the United States shall, on
the basis of sex, be excluded from
participation in, be denied the
♦ FOR SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
FOR WOMEN’S CONFERENCE,
SEE PAGE 2.
benefits of, or be subject to dis
crimination under any educa
tional program or activity re
ceiving federal financial assis
tance.”
Samantha Jennings, a third
year biology student and USC
softball player, said she thinks
that sports at USC are, on aver
age, gender equitable.
“The male sports get more
publicity, but they also bring in
more money, so it sort of equals
itself out,” she said. “I think pub
licity is the biggest thing.”
The conference will have two
days of lectures centering on
“Women’s Diverse Voices and
Meanings: Feminism in Culture
and Society.” The conference is
♦ CONFERENCE, SEE PAGE 2
Smokestack signals
USG’s history
BY MICHAEL LAFORGIA
THE UAMECOCK
The smokestack behind
Rutledge College will provide a
historic perspective to a planned
walkway between the Horseshoe
and the Russell House.
Charlie Jeffcoat, university ar
chitect and director of Facilities
Planning and Construction, said
the stack underwent recent reno
vations, including the addition of
a cover on its top and Federal
♦ SMOKESTACK, SEE PAGE 4
The historic
use
smokestack
will remain
despite the
plans for a
walkway,
which will
connect the
Horseshoe
and the
Russell
House. The
project is
expected to
be completed
in 12 months.
PHOTO BY JOHNNY
HAYNES/THE
GAMECOCK
Summer program aims to persuade
.potential students to stay in state
BY JESSICA CLANTON
TIIKliAMKCOCK
This summer, an estimated 400
students in grades seven through
12 will attend USC’s Carolina
Master Scholars Adventure
Series, an academic program de
signed to help recruiting for USC
and persuade talented students
to stay in state.
“I think that the earlier stu
dents can be exposed to the uni
versity the better, and we hope
that the program will be a way to
show students that learning can
be fun,” said Cynthia Steele, di
rector of summer academic pro
grams continuing education.
The program focuses on giv
ing students experience for col
lege. High-school students will re
ceive training in SAT-taking
skills and will meet with the
members of USC’s Career Center
to learn how to choose the college
that meets their needs.
“We want students to know that
if they start early and are dedicat
ed, then they will face no bound
aries, and they can find all the re
sources they will need in the state
of South Carolina,” Steele said.
They will be able to study por
tions of tlie medical field and the
ater, with USQ professors in
structing the classes and provid
ing hands-on experience.
Middle school students will be
able to study law, criminology,
printmaking, digital photogra
phy and music.
“We hope students will gain fa
miliarity with college and have a
chance to broaden their world,”
Steele said. “We intentionally
♦ ADVENTURE, SEE PAGE 3
Index
Comics and Crossword _12
Classifieds 15
Horoscopes12
Letters to the Editor 9
Online Poll 9
Police Report 4
Weather
TODAY TOMORROW
O ^
High 50 High 54
Low 39 Low 41
-
In This Issue
♦SPRING SPORTS Get a look
at the teams competing this
spring at USC. Insert
♦ THE MIX Investigate the
origins of the ubiquitous YKK
zipper company. Page 10
♦ VIEWPOINTS Shanna Reed
discusses how hard it is to face
the job market after
graduation. Page 9
♦ SPORTS Trie Gamecocks
lose to Florida 96-63 in
Gainesville. Page 13