Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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McKissick nominated for national museum award BY JESSICA FOSTER THE IIAMECOCK USC’s McKissick Museum has been nominated for the 2003 National Award for Museum Service by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The award is given annually to six institutions based principal ly on their commitment to public service through innovative pro grams, active partnerships and overall superlative work. It was established in 1994 to emphasize the role of museums and libraries as leaders in society. Last year, three museums and three libraries were chosen from thousands across the country, said Lynn Robertson, McKissick Museum director. Robertson said that being nominated for the award was “an incredible honor.” McKissick received four nom inations this year, which high lighted the USC museum as a cen ter of teaching and research whose outreach efforts show an appreciation for local history, tra ditional culture and preservation. The museum, built in 1940, de fines in its mission statement its purpose “to serve as a general museum and to engage in educa tion, research and collections de velopment, as well as campus and public service.” Collections at McKissick in clude holdings of natural science specimens, traditional and con temporary crafts, textiles, politi cal memorabilia, art glass, mate rial culture objects, and fine and decorative arts. The museum also hosts trav eling exhibitions such as “A Portion of the People: Three Hundred Years of Southern Jewish Life.” This exhibit was a joint project of McKissick, the College of Charleston and the Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina. It is on display at Yeshiva University in New York. Robertson said in a news release that recent work with this exhibition and the expanding reach of the folk-life program through film and Internet were what placed McKissick in the running for the award. “We have consistently devel oped thoughtful, campus- and community-based programs to enrich the lives of the populace, teach tolerance of different tra ditions, give people pride in the skills passed down to them, and created space in a modem world for traditional ways,” Robertson said. “McKissick is a meaningful gateway into the university for people to see what USC is all about and how, as a university, we are dedicated to service and preservation.” This is the first time McKissick has been nominated for the National Award for Museum Service. It would be the first museum in South Carolina to receive this award. The nomination is the most re cent in a series of accomplish ments for McKissick. It also won the Vemer Award for outstanding contribution to the arts of South Carolina, the Governor’s Award for the Humanities, and a number of national'and regional awards for its exhibits and publications. The award is sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, an independent federal agency that gives federal funding to museums and libraries to im prove resources and community access. It also gives awards to public, private or nonprofit insti tutions, such as museums, li braries, archives, historical soci eties and institutions of higher ed ucation, the IMLS Web site says. The recipients of this presti gious award will be announced at the White House in the fall. Last year, first lady Laura Bush presented the awards. “We have offered 27 years of service to an amazingly diverse audience," Robertson said. “From the students who work here to get first-hand profession al museum experience and train ing to the sweetgrass basket-mak ers who can access our archives of information on their craft, we have always worked to reach out to people.” Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com From left, Jennifer Fitzgerald, Melissa Carson and Christopher Scott, graduate students in public history, prepare the “Considerable Grace” exhibit. PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE H GAMECOCK | Dining 'With friends April 12th starting at 7pm Capstone campus room $20.00 suggested ticket donation All proceeds will go to the AIDS Benefit foundation of SC. Semi-formal, RSVP to 777-0088 by 5pm on April 7th or get tickets at the door. Event sponsored by AJfA Research CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 research universities to lease property to private companies so that those companies could build research facilities and cooperate with the universities’ faculty and students for mutual benefit. These public-private partnerships would be what Sorensen has had in the center of his vision for USC since he came here last July. The pas sage of this legislation would give Sorensen the approval needed to start on construction of a proposed 5-million-square-foot research campus later this year. “This legislation is critical be cause the research universities need the assistance of the state’s business and political leadership in launching sensible reforms to make us more competitive,” Sorensen said. The legislation also says that the three universities would be able to submit competitive pro posals for bond allocations that would have to be matched com pletely with money from private sources to be eligible. Such a mea sure would reduce the universi ties’ reliance on state appropria tions, which have been decreasing for more than three straight years now, for research projects. Wilkins said he hoped the leg islation would move through committee and to the House floor as quickly as possible. RETAINING TOP FACULTY The new laws would provide for the retention of the universi ties’ top faculty members and re searchers, a goal -USC administra tors have been working toward vigorously since the onset of state budget cuts. Such solutions would include al lowing the three universities to PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK From left, MUSC President Raymond Greenberg, USC President Andrew Sorensen and Clemson President James Barker announce their plans for a research council. provide graduate assistants with health benefits using state funds and establishing grant positions funded by federal, private and sev eral other grant sources. The new laws would also re move limits for employee bonus pay from federal or other sources. Faculty members would instead get incentives for excellence with out incorporating increases in base pay and would have guide lines provided by each university. CLEMSON AND MUSC Clemson administrators have plans for an automotive engineer ing research park in Greenville, an optical-fibers center at the Clemson Research Park in Anderson County, and an advanced-materi als research project on campus. “With the introduction of this leg islation, the economic outlook for South Carolina is suddenly brighter,” Barker said. “Our three research universities generate more than $300 million in external fund ing a year, have faculty expertise re lated to every industry sector, and cover all geographic regions.” MUSC is planning a laboratory for research on developmental and childhood diseases, a neuro sciences institute, and a research incubator for start-up companies. “It is essential for our research universities to be governed under a more mission-oriented struc ture,” Greenberg said. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com Update CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 die-hard defenders who have kept British forces at bay for days. “What you’re seeing today on the battlefield in Iraq is a contin uation of prepping the battlefield for a major encounter with the Republican Guard,” said Navy Capt. Frank Thorp. Commanders refused to say when that might come, or whether the attack near Karbala represent ed the beginning of a push toward the capital. But senior American officials said the ceaseless pound ing on Saddam’s elite Republican Guard was taking its toll. “Some of them have been degraded to pret 1 ty low percentages of combat capa bility, below 50 percent in... at least two cases, and we continue to work on them,” Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the Pentagon. Despite the summons to jihad issued in Saddam’s name, British officials said two would-be suicide attackers had turned themselves in to troops in Umm Qasr. “They didn’t want to be suicide bombers any more,” said British Col. Steve Cox. “We are accommodating them.” Other British and American of ficials said there was a growing list of examples of Iraqi civilians shedding their initial reluctance to assist forces fighting Saddam’s regime. Troops worked to win the trust of Iraqis, keeping in mind that many still recall promises of lib eration in the 1991 Gulf War, only to find Saddam’s forces returned unhindered when coalition forces withdrew. Lights went on for the first time in weeks in the port city of Umm Qasr, firmly under British control. Some British forces in southern Iraq were wearin berets in pub lic, shedding theii ~*ore warlike helmets in areas deemed safe. The Pentagon lists seven POWs taken since the beginning of the war. Lynch, a supply clerk, was re ported missing nine days ago along with 11 other U.S. soldiers from the 507th Maintenance Company after an ambush near Nasiriyah. The American and British bombing was constant — large ex plosions reverberated around Baghdad — punctuated by a series of small ground engagements an a sweeping arc to the south of the capital. A Marine official said heavy bombing was carried out around Kut, southeast of Baghdad, adding that ground forces have secured an air base further to the south, at Qalat Sukkar, that could be used as a staging ground. Further to the southwest, Marines claimed to have killed at least 80 Iraqi soldiers and taken dozens of prisoners in fighting near Diwaniyah. According to re ports from the field, troops on a re connaissance mission found forti fied Iraqi positions along a line leading several miles to the city. “They were shooting from buildings, from dugout positions, from holes, from everywhere,” Cpl. Patrick Irish said of the Iraqis. Marines took no chances with prisoners, bulldozing a pit, then surrounding it with barbed wire. Before a POW was put inside, he was blindfolded and searched, one Marine pinning down his feet, an other his arms, and a third point ing an M-16 rifle at his head. In northern Iraq, U.S. special forces troops trumpeted their role in a successful joint effort with Kurdish fighters to rout Ansar al Islam militants accused of having ties to al-Qaida terrorists. One day after American forces killed at least seven civilians at a checkpoint, Iraqi officials said U.S. Apache helicopters attacked a neighborhood in the central Iraq city of Hillah, killing 33 people and injuring more than 300. The U.S. Central Command said it was investigating, but said no Apaches could have been in volved in any incident. At the Pentagon, Rumsfeld and Myers, the nation’s top uniformed officer, emphatically defended the American battle plan, which has sparked controversy. “Forces. re coming (toward Baghdad) from the north, they’re coming from the south and they’re coming from the west, and the cir cle is closing” on Saddam, Rumsfeld said. In a speech read in Saddam’s name, Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf urged Iraqis to wage a holy war against U.S.-led forces. “Strike at them, fight them. They are aggressors, evil, accursed by God, the exalted.” “It does seem very strange that he (Saddam) hasn’t appeared at this time,” said a British spokesman in London. Saddam has made no known public appearances since the night of March 19, when American mis siles hit a complex in Baghdad where he and his two sons were believed to have been sleeping. 04730 AUGUSTA ROAD LEXINGTON, SC 29073m M (803)808-1600 ^ MrrT_JM Need some extra cash for the Necessities Donate plasma and get 20 Bucks For each visit Your donation of plasma can help save lives...and get you some extra cash! Contact Serologicals for information on donating plasma. You get money, Serologicals helps save • lives. Everybody wins. 736-5888 sAJ 10 Gateway Corner Park Columbia, SC 29203 1 £kS’ i - ■ L :tl *j