The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 05, 2003, Image 1
University of South Carolina WFHMPQnAV MAP PH R OHPQ VoL96.No.65
www.dailygamecock.com “Vl_ Lm \l LO L/MI, IVIMr\L»n U, Z.UUO Since 1908
___ _ _ •
.Students
could lose
HOPE aid
after cuts
* Forum held at Columbia College
discusses budget woes, possible
elimination of HOPE scholarship
BY JESSICA FOSTER
' TIIKUAMKCOCK
Columbia College sponsored
a forum Monday afternoon to dis
cuss budget cuts and the possi
ble eradication of the HOPE
Scholarship.
The panel consisted of state
Reps. Chip Huggins and Ted
Pitts, both from Lexington
County, and Linda Salane, pro
fessor and executive director of
the Leadership Institute at
Columbia College. The forum,
♦held in the Breed Leadership
Center at Columbia College, fo
cused on the future of the HOPE
Scholarship and the almost 2,000
students who currently receive
this scholarship.
The proposed cut of the schol
arship results from a loss of rev
enue from the state lottery, which
is the scholarship’s only source
of funding. The lottery generat
ed $180 million this year, down
from last year’s $259 million.
The HOPE scholarship was
designed for students who do not
qualify for the LIFE scholarship
but have the potential to succeed
in college, Salane said. The sole
requirement for the HOPE schol
arship is a 3.0 GPA, while the
LIFE scholarship requires that
the student meet two out of three
criteria: a 3.0 cumulative GPA, a
score of at least 1100 on the SAT
or ranking in the top 20 percent
♦FORUM, SEE PAGE 2
Students optimistic about new fitness center
U“l anticipate
a variety of
new
equipment
and more
space.”
CORI ALSTON
THIRD-YEAR CRIMINAL-JUSTICE STUDENT
“From what
I’ve heard,
everyone
says it’s
really nice. I
plan to go.”
ANNE DAVIDSON
FIRST-YEAR ADVERTISING STUDENT
n“l think it’s
really cool.
There’s a lot
to do there,
and it’s fun to
go because you get to
scan your hand.”
BRENT SMALL
FIRST-YEAR SPORTS-AND-ENTERTAINMENT
MANAGEMENT STUDENT
“I haven’t
been there
yet, but I
plan to go. I
hope to see
more facilities to help
students reach their
goals physically. “
AMANDA ANDERSON
SECOND-YEAR PSYCHOLOGY STUDENT
Ej
Amanda
Dorn, a
fourth-year
criminal
justice
student,
works out on
the new,
|j state-of-the
art free
3 motion
machines at
the Strom
Thurmond
Fitness and
Wellness
Center,
which
opened
Saturday.
Regular
operating
hours will
begin March
16, with the
center open
Monday
through
Friday from
6 a.m. to
midnight and
Saturday
and Sunday
from 8 a.m.
to 11 p.m.
PHOTO BY TRISH
SHADWELL/THE
GAMECOCK
Study says
simplistic
Web sites
work best
*BY ADAM BEAM
THU fSAMECuoK
Mark Thalhimer has a message
for all of the TV news stations that
want to have an interactive Web
site: Keep it simple.
The senior project director for
the Radio and Television News
Directors Foundation spoke to a
group of journalism students
Tuesday afternoon to reveal for
the first time the results of a ma
jor study on how TV news used
the Internet to cover the 2002 elec
tinns
“In putting all this together, do
it as simply as you can so you
don't need a lot of the Internet
bells and whistles in order to be
• successful," he said. “Simple is al
ways better.”
The foundation received a $2.5
million grant from Pew Charitable
Trusts to conduct the study. Ten
TV news stations from around the
country were chosen for the study
and given $70,000 each to hire
someone to run the project. The
foundation developed Internet
tools for the stations to use, such
as streaming video of debates and
live Web chats with candidates,
and then measured their effec
tiveness through Nielsen TV rat
ings, Web site traffic, focus groups
and Internet pop-up surveys.
“Each station retained com
plete editorial control, and we
studied the audience,” he said.
The study found that people 55
and older have a higher interest
in politics, but a lower knowledge
•of the Internet. In contrast, people
18 to 35 had a lower interest in pol
itics, but a higher knowledge of
the Internet.
“If there is the hardest nut to
crack, it’s the young audience,” he
said. “That’s the most difficult
thing for everybody in the news
business; newspaper, broadcast,
everybody would like to find out
how to get young people a little bit
more interested in this.”
♦ STUDY, SEE PAGE 3
HOLD OFF ON THAT GAS MASK
Ives Townsend Lecture
rsity of South
3 March 200
_
PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK
Donald A. Henderson, director of the Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness,
gives a lecture Monday at USC called “The Darker Side of 21st Century Biology.” The talk
was part of the Townsend Lecture Series.
Adviser says nation more
prepared for bioterrorism
Federal official cites new smallpox vaccine, special
hospital rooms as improvements over a year ago
BY PAMELA HAMILTON
THE ASSOCIATED 1'HESS
COLUMBIA — The nation is
better prepared now to handle
a bioterrorism threat than a
year ago, the top adviser to the
federal Health and Human
Services secretary said Monday.
“The fact is that your gov
ernment is really doing a lot of
things, and it’s not all obvious,”
said Donald Henderson, direc
tor of the Office of Public Health
Preparedness, which was cre
ated in 2001.
So don’t panic.
“We don’t recommend that
anybody go out and get a gas
mask,” Henderson joked while
speaking at USC. “We don’t rec
ommend duct tape. I wouldn’t
get one of those bunny suits.”
In the past year, the office
has asked hospitals to be able
to accommodate 500 people in
case of a bioterrorism threat or
any other type of emergency,
Henderson said. Hospitals now
have special rooms to accom
modate people suffering from
infectious diseases.
Researchers have also devel
oped a new vaccine for small
pox that is in the final stages of
testing and soon will enter the
licensing process, Henderson
said. Smallpox and anthrax are
the two biological agents of
greatest concern, the “big go
rillas,” Henderson said.
The federal government also
is working with the biotech
companies, which would mass
produce vaccines developed by
researchers, as well as research
institutions and their schools
of public health, Henderson
said.
USC in October received a $1
million grant from the Centers
for Disease Control to develop
a bioterrorism center to edu
cate and train health care work
ers and to work with 19 other
schools in similar programs
across the country.
USC President Andrew
Sorensen serves with
Henderson on the Advisory
Council on Public Health
Preparedness.
“To me, it was reassuring
that the government is doing
more than we know about, and
more than he probably talked
about,” said Cathy Roseveare,
a 34-year-old master’s student
in USC’s Arnold School of
Public Health.
Waltzing
in denim
i
BY ALEXIS STRATTON
THE GAMECOCK
Dancers twirl in circles, sweep
ing around the edges of the room
in the Blatt P.E. Center while a
waltz resounds
within the walls.
But with music
coming from a
stereo instead of a
harpsichord and
dancers learning
their steps
dressed in jeans
and socks, this is
anything but a
typical storybook
ballroom.
Gamecock Dance Sport club.
The Gamecock Dance Sport
club is composed of USC students
interested in acquiring and devel
oping skills in ballroom dancing,
“The purpose of the
group is to expose
people to ballroom
dance in the variety of
forms of dance that
there are and to have
fun”
PAM MELTON
GAMECOCK DANCE SPORT CLUB ADVISER
including waltz, salsa, swing and
merengue. Dancers entering the
group come from different skill
levels and backgrounds, but all
work together with a common feel
ing: a love of dancing.
The group aims “to expose peo
ple to ballroom dance in the vari
ety of forms of dance that there are
and to have fun,” said Pam
Melton, the club’s adviser and ref
erence librarian at the Law
Library.
Melton, who had been ballroom
dancing for eight years before tak
ing her job at USC in 1998, has act
ed as club ad
viser and in
structor for
the past four
years.
“I was look
ing for way to
expand my
dance oppor
tunities and
to be involved
with spread
ing and get
_i . :_
lUlg 111
volved with ballroom dance,”
Melton said. “I saw that there was
a club, and I went and just sort of
♦ BALLROOM, SEE PAGE 2
Index
Comics and Crossword 9
Classifieds 12
Horoscopes__9
Letters to the Editor 6
Online Poll 6
Police Report 5
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Inside
♦ VIEWPOINTS Brook Bristow
reminisces about the Clinton
years. Page 6
♦ THE MIX Find out about Ash
Wednesday, the Hajj and the
month of Purim. Page 7
♦ SPORTS The USC women’s
basketball team will play Ole
Miss in the first round of the
SEC Tournament. Page 10
♦ SPORTS The Gamecock
baseball team beats Gardner
Webb 11-1. Page 10