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| www.dailygamecock.com _WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2004_ Since 1908
USC working to stop Sanford plan
Governor's executive budget calls
for closing 2 satellite campuses
BY KEVIN FELLNER
THU OAMECOCK
USC officials are quietly work
ing to persuade legislators to op
k pose Gov. Mafk Sanford’s plan to
P close USC satellite campuses at
Union and Salkehatchie.
Chris Plyler, vice provost and
executive dean for regional cam
puses, said the governor’s plan to
phase out the campuses’ funds
would cause both to close in less
than a year.
“I don’t see any sound reason
ing for this decision, and we are
vehemently opposed to it,” Plyler
said.
Sanford proposed the plan in
his executive budget proposal re
leased in January and supports
the closure of both two-year cam
puses by 2007. He proposes using
the estimated annual savings of
$2.9 million in state funds for other
higher education institutions.
“It’s always difficult to make a
tough decision and in essence tar
get a particular school, but the dis
advantages of not targeting and
continuing to not adequately fund
all universities make this propos
al make sense,” the governor’s
spokesman, Will Folks, said
Monday. Sanford writes in his pro
posal that duplication of programs
at public institutions and low en
rollment at the two campuses have
contributed to inefficiency in the
way higher education is struc
tured in the state.
Folks said students and em
ployees at the two campuses are
close to more than 20 other public
higher education campuses and
should be able to still stay con
nected to USC educational oppor
tunities through distance learn
ing technology.
“You shouldn’t perpetuate a
bad system simply because it
saves you a few hundred jobs here
or there,” he said. “You’re going
to create far more jobs and eco
nomic development with a more
efficient system.”
The Union campus is about 25
miles from the USC Spartanburg
campus, while the Salkehatchie
campus in Allendale is more than
40 miles from the Beaufort cam
pus.
“I think one of the problems is
that the governor only thinks of
college students as being between
17 and 22 years old, but we have
a lot of students who have fami
lies and commute and rely on
nearby campuses for their educa
tion,” said Carolyn West, associ
ate vice provost for regional cam
puses.
♦ CAMPUSES, SEE PAGE 3
SG Vice President Zachery Scott and SG President Katie Dreiling work on ideas for their lobbying plan.
Inter-university council formed
BY IRA KLEIN
TIIK fJAMKCOCK
^ Student governments from
public universities across the
state have joined to form an inter
university council to lobby the
General Assembly to stop higher
education budget cuts.
The council will represent the
interests of all state-funded two
year and four-year universities in
the state. It will also try to increase
communication among South
Carolina’s student governments.
Upset by last year's 41 percent
cut to public service funding for
higher education, student gov
ernments across the state, led
mostly by Clemson, decided it
was time to assert themselves.
Fletcher Anderson, Clemson’s
student government president,
said there were nearly 40 states
across the country that had a
statewide student government
council, and he decided it was
time for South Carolina to catch
up with the curve.
“We used North Carolina and
Georgia's inter-university coun
cils as a model to construct our
own,” Anderson said. “We al
ready go to Columbia at least
♦ GOVERNMENT, SEE PAGE 4
Treasurer candidate touts Navy, life
experiences in push for SG office
i,. w
PHOTO BY MORGAN FORD/THE GAMECOCK
SG treasurer candidate Cameron Burnette, left, with his friend
Jared Brewster, the president of Brothers of Nubian Descent.
fc-—
BY NATALIE GROUT
THE GAMECOCK
Cameron Burnette knows a
thing or two about responsibil
ity
As a nuclear mechanic in the
U.S. Navy, he managed a nucle
ar reactor that propelled a sub
marine. The reactor supplied the
craft with fresh water and air.
Burnette, a third-year polit
ical science student, is a candi
date for SG treasurer.
Originally from California,
Burnette relocated to Tennessee
when he was three months old.
His father's term in the Air Force
from 1972 to 1976 ended just be
fore Burnette was born. He at
tended school in Cleveland,
Term., and participated in student
government and soccer. He is also
an Eagle Scout.
♦ BURNETTE, SEE PAGE 3
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE CANDIDATES
What is In your CD player right
now?
Kenny Chesney
What's the last book you read?
Polk: American Presidents Series
What’s your favorite place to
eat In Columbia?
Za’s
Who is your hero?
Grandmother, “I’ve always
looked up to her and admired
how she lived her life.”
What's the best class you've
taken at USC?
Swahili 101
Sanford's budget
could limit state
tuition increases
BY KEVIN FELLNER
THE GAMECOCK
The Board of Trustees could be
limited in how much it could raise
tuition this year, if a proposal
from Gov. Mark Sanford gets ap
proval in the General Assembly.
The governor proposed in his ex
ecutive budget, released last month,
to cap tuition increases for in-state,
undergraduate students attending
public colleges or universities for
the 2004-2005 school year.
“We believe that institutions
should look to internal cost-sav
ing measures in these tight times
and not increase tuition further,”
Sanford wrote in his proposal.
Under Sanford's plan, tuition
increases would be limited to the
prior year’s increase in the Higher
Education Price Index.
USC Chief Financial Officer
Rick Kelly said the university can't
be restricted when raising tuition
because it has to have the freedom
to infuse increasing amounts of
funds to remain competitive
among its peer institutions.
♦ TUITION, SEE PAGE 3
Housing, Sodexho
change RAs’ salary,
meal plan discount
BY JULIE LEDBETTER
THE (JAMECOOK
RAs can expect a salary raise
next semester but will have to pay
more for their meal plans as USC's
food service provider and the
Housing Department have
changed RA benefits.
RAs will receive a 25 percent dis
count, down from the current 50
percent, on meal plans. To com
pensate, Housing has raised RA
stipends 20 percent. However,
Zachery Scott, Residence Hall
i ii n
Association vice president, said
housing could do more.
“Housing has no control over
what Sodexho does, but what they
can do is to take care of their RAs
with better stipends, take care of
more of their housing; and a 20
percent increase, in my opinion,
is not sufficient,” he said.
Housing Director Gene Luna
said the department is looking to
increase benefits for RAs.
“There aren't any definitive
♦ RAS, SEE PAGE 4
r urn a
rrlU IU bY JAbUlM b I ttLMAN/ I ht bAMtLUtA
RAs Jason Jones and Guillermo Vedani work at the front desk in
Capstone House.
-—---;-1
♦ BACK IN BLACK Ihree FOR MORE SEE PAGE 8
students want to black out ♦ THE WRITE STUFF USC's
the courts against Miss. State new undergraduate literary
tonight. FOR MORE SEE journal, Three Rivers Review,
PAGE 4 fires up the presses. FOR
k ♦ SEEING ROSES An online MORE SEE PAGE 9
I flower provider wants your ♦ PENCILS DOWN An
f face on its Web site. FOR assortment of online sites
MORE SEE PAGE 5 offer tips for writers. Trade
♦ LOST MEANING Curtis your pen for a mouse and
Chow explains the confusion start surfing. FOR MORE SEE
between men and women. PAGE 9
♦ OBEDIENCE LESSONS
Men’s basketball takes on
the Miss State Bulldogs
tonight. FOR MORE SEE
PAGE 12
♦ DRESSED TO THE NINES
Women’s basketball hopes to
avoid its ninth straight SEC
loss. FOR MORE SEE PAGE
12
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