Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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\ University of South Carolina FRIHAV l\/l A R^l—I R OHOA Vol.97,No.73 www.dailygamecock.com ' r\iL/Mlj IVIrAlXv^l I f Z.UUt’ , Since 1908 Business might slow over break As USC students leave town, some stores expect a decrease in sales ^ BY NICOLE JOHNSON THE GAMECOCK Businesses in Five Points will see a slight decline in sales while students are on spring break, but some store owners say their busi ness won’t be affected. For some shops, owners and managers said college students make up at least 40 percent of their business. With students away for the break, they expect less profit for that week. Nick Matt, owner of Sub Pub on Greene Street, said his restaurant relies heavily on students. “Whenever the students are not here, major business in the Five Points area drops,” Matt said. His restaurant does not get much fam ily business, and he estimated a - 50-percent drop in business for that week. Salty’s Surf Shop Manager Paul Goff said he also notices a decline in business with college students during vacations. But he said he’s not too worried about it. “When the college kids are away on spring break, that is when the high school kids come in and pick up the slack,” Goff said. But college students do make up most of the nighttime business in Five Points. Sharky’s manager Kelly LaFreniere said she thinks students make up at least three fourths of the bar’s business. Andy’s Deli owner Andy Shlon and Delaney’s Music Pub and Eatery general manager Scott Brewer said their restaurants would decline in business with col lege students for the week of spring break, but they would see another crowd dining in. Brewer said he expects the 30 to-35 crowd at Delaney’s during ♦ BUSINESS, SEE PAGE 3 PHOTO BY JASON STEELMAN/THE GAMECOCK Kirk Jacobsen, a fourth-year criminal justice student, works the cash register at the Pita Pit in Five Points. Local YWCA reflects on 90 years of service BY NATALIE GROUT THE GAMECOCK The YWCA of the Midlands cel ebrated its 90th anniversary Thursday at its new location at 1510 Barnwell St. Ann Lichliter, YWCA program director, said USC students have played an important part in YWCA programs in Columbia. “It was a great experience. I re ally felt like I helped people” said Lauren Harper, a second-year ad vertising student who has been in volved with the YMCA/YWCA. Lichliter said it was positive for students to participate in the or ganization and stressed its bene fits for USC and the community. Many USC students have had YWCA internships. Social work and education stu dents have volunteered at the new facility to complete service ^ hours. The YWCA has served the s—- i 1 ---- Columbia area since 1914. With March being Women’s History Month, the YWCA’s an niversary is more meaningful. Lichliter said the organization’s goal is to be “a leader for positive change in the 21st century” by working with others to empower women and eliminate racism. “We’re excited about our new location because we’ll be able to offer programs on site. We are also beginning a healthy lifestyle pro gram and offering aerobic and yoga classes,” Lichliter said. The Women’s Resources pro gram helps educate women in ca reer fields and gives them life skills. The Eureka program is a girls’ empowerment plan that teaches leadership to young adults between the ages of 9 and 16. A great way for USC students to participate with the YWCA is through the Family and Camp ♦ YWCA, SEE PAGE 3 You are here PHOTO BY MORGAN FORD/THE GAMECOCK A map of USC was installed Thursday on Greene Street. SG paid for it with a surplus from student activity fees. USC holds nanotech conference BY WILLIAM FRIERSON THE GAMECOCK USC is making scientific his tory by playing host to an inter "disciplinary conference in which some of the nation’s top scien tists and professors are dis cussing the future of nanotech nology. The conference, “Imaging and Imagining Nanoscience and Engineering,” began Tuesday and will last through Sunday. The conference is the first as sembly of its kind at any uni versity in the world said David Baird, a professor of philosophy at USC and one of the organizers of the conference. Nanotechnology, a science still in its developing stage, is the study of manipulating atoms and molecules to create new ways of making and utilizing technology. These innovations could pave the way for even smaller electronic devices and materials. Some pos sibilities range from improve ments to sunscreen and non-stain pants to implantable body cell phones. However, it is too early to be-certain what heights nan otechnology can reach. The conference is not just for scientists. As written in the’ Nanoscience and Technology Studies Consortium mission statement, the purpose of the fo rum is “to define and elucidate the fundamental, philosophical, ethical, legal, political and soci etal issues that the development of nano-science and -technology produce,” To fulfill this require ment, professors of a variety of subjects like English, philosophy and art as well as representatives of various institutions from all over the country will meet to pre sent and explore different theo ries and visualizations of nan ' otechnology. Mass communica tors want to look at new ways of transmitting information. Artists are eager to discover new forms of portraying images. Philosophers are interested in the positive and negative effects of nanotechnology in society. “We’re just trying to make it better,” Baird said. ♦ CONFERENCE, SEE PAGE 3 4 7 Surf Yourself Kick Forvua/d - f . •Me.. For more details, visit www.cla.sc.edu/cpecs/nlrt/ events/conf04/index.html. USC courting scholarship donors BY ADAM BEAM TIIECAMEGOCK Alice Howie’s dream is to own the Chesterfield Lumber Co. in Darlington. To do that, she commutes 40 minutes one way, four days a week to,attend classes at USC’s business school. When she’s not in class, she raises her 2-year-old daughter, Catherine Teal, works as a full-time supervisor at Chesterfield Lumber and spends time with her husband, Bryan, who works at a Dixie Cup plant for Georgia Pacific. But despite all that, at 22, Howie is still not independent. Yes, she pays bills and buys gro ceries, but Howie lives and dies by scholarships. “When I say that every single one of them helps, they do,” she said. “Day care gets more expen sive every year.” Her iatner and ms cousm own the lumber company, which pro duces 90 million board feet a year. It’s becoming harder and harder for smaller lumber companies to stay open, and Howie is banking on a USC education to prepare her to lead the company. Along with 92 other students at USC, Howie benefits from the Abney Foundation Scholarship, one of the few needs-based schol arships USC offers. It doesn’t look for 4.0 GPAs or loads of extracur ricular activities. It simply looks for those who need the most help. “Everybody wants the bright est and the best, but this world is not run by 4.0 folks. It takes peo ple at all levels,” said Carl Edwards, executive director of The Abney Foundation. The foundation gave $1.2 mil lion to USC in 1986 to establish the scholarship, worth $750 a year. The scholarship has grown to $1,000 a year since then. With a total endowment of $21.9 mil lion, the foundation provides scholarships at 12 colleges and universities in South Carolina. Clemson has the largest allot ment with $2.4 million. USC in vested its share of the money and uses the interest to pay out schol arships every year. But when the economy took a turn for the worse, so did the principal investment. Colleges and universities started to send out letters saying there wouldn’t be as much to go around. “We absolutely have more re quests than we have money,” Edwards said. At USC, the money didn t stop, it just stopped growing. Russ Meekins, chief financial officer for the University Foundation, said from 2001 to 2003 USC had to rely on its reserves to even pay the scholarship. This past year, the foundation saw a 30-percent return, which USC hopes to use to re-build its reserves. But that doesn’t stop USC from seeking more money. A couple of weeks ago, Edwards was invited to USC president Andrew Sorensen’s house to meet Abney Scholars like Howie and hear their stories. Well-dressed stu dents mingled with some of USC’s elite while eating beef wraps and spinach dip. It was the first of what USC hopes will be many such events, attempting to woo donors to give more money for student scholar ships. According to Howie, there are plenty of students who would take advantage of them. “I know tons of people with full-time jobs who would love to come back to school, and they can’t afford it,” she said. “I took that for granted the first time I went to schbol.” Sorensen said the overwhelm ing majority of scholarships are merit-based because colleges want to get the most talented stu dents. As a result, he said, you could be the child of a multimil lionaire and get a scholarship the same amount as a child from a poorer family. Sorensen said whenever he goes around asking for money, he always makes a pitch for schol arships based on financial need. But the university is restricted uy me wisnes ui the donors, who usually require some sort of merit-based scholarship. Most of the stu dents who re ceive the schol arship at USC also receive the merit-based LIFE scholar ship, which is funded by the South Carolina Education Lottery. “It’s terribly important for us to do both schol arships,” Sorensen said. Chris Cubelo, a second-year marine biology student, receives the LIFE schol arship, but it wasn’t enough to cover all of his tuition. In a sin gle parent home—his parents di vorced when he was 10—Cubelo said his mother didn’t want him going into debt to pay off his ed ucation. As a result, she was pay ing $2,000 a year out of her pocket. But that was before Cubelo got the $1,000 Abney scholarship. He said this allowed him to convince his mom to take out a smaller loan to pay for school. “She probably wouldn’t have been able to p^y all four years at that rate, so it’s fortunate that I got the Abney scholarship,” he said. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocknews@gwm.sc.edu PHOTO BY JASON STEELMAN/THE GAMECOCK Kerry Johnson, a second-year student, talks with Carl Edwards of the Abney Foundation. nside cR out state, nation and IR MORE SEE PAGE 2 sree USC students put up for auction online. must reform in light of recent scandals at CU. FOR MORE SEE PAGE 4 ♦AsnUBi JIM Students rework their wardrobes for warmer weather. FOR MORE SEE PAGE 5 +MMNGEOHB1 Men's basketball ends regular season at Tennessee. FOR MORE SEE PAGE 8 Index Comics and Crossword7 Classified_ 10 Horoscopes_ 7 Letters to the Editor 4 Online Poll 4 Police Report 2 Entertainment News_ 2 USC Calendar 2 Visit us online at www.dailygamecock.com