Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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University of South Carolina FRinAV FFRRI IARV OR OHfiR VoL96.No.64 www.dailygamecock.comrKlUAY, rLDKUMKT ZO, ZUUOSince 1908 USC looks to cut creatively Ideas include salary furlough, tuition increase BY KEVIN FELLNER THEUAMECOCK USC is finding creative ways to save money this fiscal year af ter sustaining nearly $41 million in budget cuts, the university’s chief financial officer said. Rick Kelly said the adminis tration is considering a tuition in crease, a furlough of faculty pay and even more value-centered management strategies as the uni versity tries to pull itself from the repercussions of its fourth con secutive year of losing money. He also speculated that a com plete university shutdown over spring break could temporarily save costs. For instance, turning off lights and appliances in every university building for a week would reduce the electrical bill by thousands of dollars. He said USC is experiencing the longest period of financial ad versity he has seen in his 20 years of experience in South Carolina government. “Layoffs, furloughs, tuition in creases, programs closing, shut ting programs down: I think all of those things are things that we’re at least considering right now,” he said. The House Ways and Means Committee has already reduced next year’s higher-education bud get by 9.88 percent, so Kelly and other administrators aren’t pro “I think the plan has to be a plan that gets us into the future.” RICK KELLY use CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER jecting budget increases anytime soon. “I think the plan has to be a plan that gets us into the future,” Kelly said. He said furloughing pay is a way to quickly generate revenue but isn’t a plan that works over several years. He said the university would be more likely to try it at a time when ex perts predict a budget turnaround the following year. Conversely, fie said, imple menting early-retirement pro grams for some faculty members wouldn’t return revenue quickly enough to ameliorate the severity of the current circumstances. He also called furloughs and early re tirement demoralizing for the ♦ BUDGET, SEE PAGE 3 Wellness Center ready for grand opening PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK The weight room is one of several features of the Strom Thurmond Fitness and Wellness Center, which will open to students this Saturday. The center will also include an eight-lane indoor pool, a 52-foot climbing wall and a whirlpool. For more than three decades, his low-key, low-tech public tele vision show refused to follow its louder, more animated competi tion, sticking to the format Rogers developed, presenting him as one adult in an increasingly busy world who always had time to talk . to children about their feelings and listen to them. “What a loss to the world. He talked to kids at the ages of 4 to 6 about feelings. That’s the age when they begin to realize they have an effect on their world,” said Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, an author and child development specialist. An ordained Presbyterian min ister, Rogers produced the show at Pittsburgh public television sta tion WQED beginning in 1966, go ing national two years later. The final episode, which was taped in December 2000, aired in August 2001, though PBS affiliates contin ued to broadcast old episodes. Composing his own songs for the show, Rogers opened each episode in a set made to look like a comfort able living room, singing, “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood.” ♦ ROGERS, SEE PAGE 3 Workshop provides scholarship advice BY ALLYSON BIRD THK CAMECOCK Prospective applicants for scholarships and fellowships gath ered Wednesday night in the Campus Room of Capstone House for the eighth annual Fellowships Night dinner, held by the Office of Fellowships and Scholar Programs. The event was by invitation only and gave information on na tional scholarships and fellow ships, such as the Marshall, Rhodes and Fulbright awards. USC students have won 180 na tional awards and more than $4 million for advanced academic study since 1994, when the Office of Fellowships and Scholar Programs was created. “Most colleges don’t have an of fice like this, so it’s a great student service. We want students to come to the workshops and put us to work,” said Novella Beskid, di rector of Fellowships and Scholar Programs. Last year, USC had 31 winners, or about one-third of its appli cants. ♦ SCHOLARSHIPS, SEE PAGE 3 At Job Fest, students weigh options, meet employers BY WENDY JEFFCOAT THE (iAMECOCK College students across the Midlands participated in Job Fest 2003, sponsored by the USC Career Center and held in the Carolina Coliseum on Wednesday. Companies and corporations from around the state and nation were represented to give students and recent graduates an oppor tunity to explore the job market. Heather Reyes, organizer of the event and program manager for the Career Center, said about half of the businesses represented were based in South Carolina, and many were looking for in terns who would be able to com mute from their residence on campus or in the Columbia area. “I think it allows a lot of the companies to be exposed to a lot of different types of students,” she said. Reyes said it’s also good for the students because it’s a “one-stop shop” where they can come and meet with a variety of different employers. She said there were many types of positions available. Reyes said the students who will benefit most from the Job Fest are the ones who follow up with companies they spoke with or gave their resume to at the event. She said many of the com i PHOTO BY KATIE BANNEN/THE GAMECOCK 'Tleather Reyes, a Career Center, helps Gareth Jordan, a graduate student In computer science and engineering, at the 2003 Job Fest. panies might have received hun dreds of resumes and that stu dents need to make sure they set up formal interviews. “We really try to educate stu dents about how to do that through the Career Center,” Reyes said. Her best advice for students is to use all the resources available to them when starting their job search, and a good first step is to go by the Career Center. Kim Krisle, an Albermarle Corp. representative, said she saw many students but was surprised at the number of younger college students looking into the market. “The only thing I would say that I’m a little surprised of today is the fact that we’re seeing so many people that are graduating in 2004 or 2005,” she said. “I guess it’s good that they’re testing the job market now, but for some companies like ours that are ready to hire, it’s a little dis couraging that we haven’t seen more people that have already graduated or soon to graduate.” Ashley Cockrell, a Wells Fargo Financial representative, said the company wants to hire people from the Columbia area, particu larly USC, and that the Job Fest ♦ JOB FEST, SEE PAGE 2 Mister Rogers, 74, dies A generation mourns death of famed children’s television host BY TODD SPANGLER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PITTSBURGH — A television icon who put on a zip-up cardigan and sneakers each day and gently invited millions of children to be his neighbor, Fred Rogers never wavered in the mission he con sidered his ministry: to use “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” as a way to persuade young view ers to love themselves and others. Early Thursday, Rogers died fol lowing a bout with stomach cancer at his Pittsburgh home, leaving friends, colleagues and generations of people who grew up watching him in mourning. He was 74. Index Comics and Crossword 7 Classifieds10 Horoscopes _7 Letters to the Editor_, 4 Online Poll ^ 4 Police Report 2 Weather TODAY TOMORROW & High 60 High 63 Low 39 Low 45 In This Issue ♦ ON THE WEB Read state, nation and world briefs. www.dallygamecock.com ♦ VIEWPOINTS David Stagg understands that women are the mothers of all invention. Page 4 ♦ THE MIX Discover some treasures that haven’t received much attention from the public. Page 5 ♦ SPORTS USC beats Kentucky 97-51 on Senior Night at the Carolina Center. Page 8