Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Rogers CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 One of his sweaters hangs in the Smithsonian Institution. He would talk to viewers in a slow, quiet voice about their feel ings and introduce them to other characters and guests, including cellist Yo-Yo Ma and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. Then, he would take his audience on a magical trolley ride into the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, where puppet creations — in cluding X the Owl, King Friday XIII and Daniel Striped Tiger — would interact with each other and adults. Rogers did much of the puppet work. On Thursday, staff at Family Communications Inc., which pro duced the show, brought bouquets of flowers left outside WQED and placed them on the set next to King Friday’s castle. “He was not an actor. People would ask’us, ‘What is Mr. Rogers really like?’ The thing was, he was the same,” said family spokesman David Newell, who played Mr. McFeely on the show. The show won four Emmys, plus one for lifetime achieve ment. Rogers received a Peabody Award in 1993 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in In April 2002, President Bush in vited Rogers to help launch a read ing program. When Rogers entered the room with no introduction, spontaneous applause erupted. Rogers hushed the audience, asking for 10 seconds of silence to “think about anyone who has loved you and wanted the best for you.” Rogers was bom in Latrobe, 30 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Early in his career, he was an un seen puppeteer in “The Children’s Corner,” a local show he helped start at WQED in 1954. In seven years of unscripted, live televi sion, he developed many of the puppets he used later. He studied early childhood de velopment at the University of Pittsburgh and was ordained in 1963 with a charge to continue his work with children and families through television. That same year, Rogers accepted an offer to develop “Misterogers,” his own 15-minute show, for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. He brought the show back to Pittsburgh in 1966, incorporating segments of the CBC show into a new series distributed by the Eastern Educational Network to cities including Boston, Philadelphia and Washington. In 1968, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” began distribu tion across the country through National Educational Television, which later became the Public Broadcasting Service. Through the years, Rogers dealt with topics ranging from anger and anxiety to death and di vorce. He taught children how to share and even why they shouldn’t fear taking a bath by as suring them they would never go down the drain. “Mister Rogers was the father who was available. He was the un hurried guy who always had time for the kids,” said Alan Hilfer, a child psychologist at Maimonides Medical Center in New York. Joe Negri, who played the royal handyman in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe and owner of Negri’s Music Shop, said Rogers demanded perfection, refusing to accept shoddy ad-libbing by guests who may have thought they could slack off during a kid’s show. The show’s ratings peaked from 1985-86 when about 8 percent of ali U.S. households with televi sions tuned in. By the 1999-2000 season, viewership had dropped to about 2.7 percent, or 3.6 million people. „ Bob Keeshan, who appeared on television as “Captain Kangaroo,” said he and Rogers often spoke of how children’s programming had become increasingly violent. “I don’t think it’s any secret that Fred and I were not very hap py with the way children’s televi sion had gone,” Keeshan said. “Some of the shows today are simply the vehicle to market goods, which is really sinister. Fred never did that. He had a clear interest in kids; he was concerned about them, and there was no ul terior motive,” said Bill Kelly, a professor who specializes in pop ular culture and television at Penn State University. ““O'-* -.wrr«v. v* J *1*0 make a difference. He came out of broadcasting re tirement last year to record pub lic service announcements telling parents how to help their children deal with the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. “If they see the tragedy re played on television, they might think it’s happening at that mo ment,” Rogers said. In January, Rogers served as a grand marshal of the Rose Parade with Bill Cosby and Art Linkletter. “More times than I could count I heard the people yelling, ‘Welcome to the neigh borhood, Mr. Rogers,”’ Cosby said. Off the set, Rogers swam daily, read voraciously and listened to Beethoven. His gentle manner was the butt of some comedians’ jokes. Eddie Murphy parodied him on, “Saturday Night Live” with his “Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood,” a routine Rogers found funny and affectionate. Rogers was diagnosed with cancer in December 2002 and had surgery in early January, but his health declined in the past two weeks, said Bill Isler, head of Family Communications. Funeral arrangements were in complete, but Isler said a private service for the family and a pub lic memorial would be scheduled soon. Rogers is survived by his wife, Joanne, a concert pianist; two sons; and two grandsons. Budget CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 university conjmunity. Administrators have been publicly speculating a tuition increase for at least the past two months. The timing and sever ity of that increase is unclear. “I think what the decision you have to make is if you are willing to live with a higher debt,” Kelly said. He said the trend nationally is toward higher tuition and having stu dents accept higher debts upon graduation. Kelly said the largest fresh man class in school history that entered last fall helped bring in more revenue. USC President Andrew Sorensen is proposing an enrollment-management plan to reduce the incoming freshman class size next year from the current 3,500 to 3,300, which would still be larger than this year’s graduating class. So, the university would be increasing its student body and, thus, the amount earned from tuition. Kelly called last year’s re port of the Strategic Directives and Initiatives Committee a “guiding document” for future budget decisions. He said many of the recommendations would be taken under consideration incoming years. Budget Director Bill Bragdon agreed with Kelly that USC is experiencing its worst budget situation in decades. “In 2000-2001, we were look ing at getting a pretty good de crease there until the governor (Jim Hodges) vetoed the budget bill and replaced our funds,” he said about the early part of the fiscal downturn. Kelly also noted that Sorensen and others are pro moting other means of fund raising, such as from private sources. He said one of the biggest motivators for the uni versity right now is the num ber of research grants that have been announced in recent months and the prospective revenue that research could bring to the university. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com Scholarships CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 1995 Truman Scholar and USC Honors College alumnus Steven Burritt was the keynote speaker Wednesday night. He was intro duced by Shelley Smith, chair of the Truman Committee at USC. “Steven, rumor has it you showed up to inquire about scholarships because your moth er pushed you into it,” Smith said. Burritt agreed, adding that once he began the application process, he learned a lot about himself and had plenty of help along the way. “My application, honestly, was a masterpiece,” he said. “But it didn’t start that well. I got my first draft back, and it looked like an animal sacrifice had taken place on it.” Shelby Hapeshis, public-rela tions intern for the Fellowships Office, said the advising com mittee “proofs applications a mil lion times and holds mock inter views if the application process includes interviews.” V Burritt said the practice in terviews were more intense than his actual Truman interview. Students generally apply for scholarships and fellowships when professors nominate them after receiving forms from the Being awarded such a schol arship or fellowship is presti gious for the university as well as the recipient. Burritt said a life-sized picture of him stood in the Visitor Center for a year and a half, much to his dismay. unice oi Fellowships and Scholar Programs, but a few programs ac cept direct appli cations. Burritt said that applying for the scholarship helped him to fi ure out his goals. “Every applicant is a winner. I couldn’t do this if every applicant didn’t learn more about himself in the process.” NOVELLA BESKID DIRECTOR OF FELLOWSHIPS AND SCHOLAR PROGRAMS tsesKia said she does her job because this process helps stu dents learn more about themselves. “Every applicant is a winner. I “I was not one of those people who knew what I’d want to do with my life in the next five years,” he said. “But just because you’re focused doesn’t mean you’re locked into a path either.” Katie Spurrier, a third-year mathematics student and 2002 Goldwater Scholar, said that ap plying for her scholarship prompted her current project. “The process of applying got me researching math models for the spread of infectious dis eases,” she said. i couldn’t do this if every applicant didn’t learn more about himself in the process,” Beskid said. According to Burritt, appli- ■ cants generally share outstand ing qualities. He described them - as “people who have a real drive to succeed, who aren’t satisfied with small victories, who are so - ambitious about it that they real- « ly do want to change the world. ” J Comments on this story?E-mail tamemckudesk@hotmail.com □ i Enjoy a campus atmosphere without the dorm! Includes: • State of the Art Fitness Center • Swimming Pools • Multi Station Computer Lab • Tennis Courts | •Fax & Modem Station • Catering to Students linked to USC Campus • Lounge Area •Study Area • On-site 24 hour •Two On-Site Laundry Facilities maintenance ny y y y y y ** * <r j* % % V % ♦ V 4 if _: ft / YOU CAM GET FRESH HERE/ fRESHLY JU/CED CARROT JU/CE, GREAT ORGANfC PRODUCE, MADE PROM SCRATCH BfSCUfTS AND MUPPfNS, PLUS A WHOLE LOT MORE PROM THE del/. 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