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Tim McManus/'mV. GAMECOCK
The Maxcy Monument, above, honors USC’s first president. The marker at the
end of the Horseshoe, above right, recounts the university’s history as a whole.
Walk around Horseshoe reveals various
.. monuments, markers exploring different , .
aspects of university s two-century-long past
Tim IDcITlanus
FOR THE GAMECOCK
A stroll around USC can
. offer the casual observer many
things. Not only can you soak
up the Horseshoe’s lush
greenery and gaze at young
women with the word “cocks”
printed across the back of
their exercise shorts, but if
you know where to look, you
can soak up quite a bit of
history.
Obviously, one place to
look for history is the
historical markers — but the
markers themselves have a
history all their own.
The most common type of
historical marker on campus is
type that honors someone’s
memory. The most prominent
one of these would be the
monument to Jonathan
Maxcy, the first president of
the 'university. Completed in
the fall of 1827 by Robert
Mills — the architect behind
the Washington Monument
— Maxcy’s monument is a 9
foot granite cube pedestal, on
top of which rests an obelisk
like column supporting a
tripod (which Mill called “the
classic symbol of
immortality”) holding a
shining copper ball. The
pedestal’s sides feature
engravings — in Latin — of
Maxcy s many
accomplishments. But for
history buffs who don’t speak
Latin, there are plaques with
English translations on the
ground below.
One rather surprising
historical marker can be
found inside the South
Caroliniana Library — a
library that specializes in
information on the university
as well as the state — is an
engraving honoring Preston
Brooks, a USC graduate who
fought in the Mexican
American War and
represented South Carolina in
the U.S. Congress.
He is most famous,
however, for assaulting
Massachusetts Sen. Charles
Sumner after a speech in
which Sumner said Brooks’
uncle, South Carolina Sen.
A.P. Butler, was in love with a
“harlot” named “slavery.” Two
days later, Brooks tapped
Sumner on the shoulder, said
Sumner had “libeled” his state
and “slandered” his “white
haired old relative,” then hit
Sumner repeatedly with his
cane until it broke — after
which he continued attacking
Sumner with his bare hands.
South Carolinians sent
Brooks praises and presents —
typically new canes. Although
Republicans failed to get the
two-thirds majority vote they
needed to expel him from
Congress, he resigned shortly
thereafter.
However, less than three
months later he ran for
Congress, and South Carolina
promptly reelected him.
His memorial reads
“Gallantly has he borne
himself upon the Battle Field
and in the Chambers of the
Nation won the applause of
his constituents The State has
lost one of her most gifted and
cherished Sons.” (sic)
Henry Fulmer, manuscript
curator at the South
Caroliniana Library, said the
memorial was not
commissioned by USC, but
was donated to the library in
the 1920s from Brook’s family
after the chapel that housed
the memorial in Ninety Six,
S.C., had fallen into a state of
disrepair.
“It’s really not like the other
markers,” he said.
University Archivist
Elizabeth West, also an
employee of the library, said
the Brooks memorial “draws
people’s attention,” and
Brooks was “a really
interesting historical figure in
the state’s history.”
Another marker with quite
a bit of historical background
is one on Sumter Street at the
end of the Horseshoe. Erected
in 1938, this marker shows
changes in name of the
university from the
university’s founding in 1801
to the time the date of the
marker’s creation. Generally, it
shows that throughout the
19th century, the university
alternated between “South
Carolina College” and “The
University of South
Carolina.”
One time that it doesn’t
mention the name of the
college is when it says
“Radical control 1873-77.”
During this time, one of the
more radical phases of
reconstruction, the legislature
made segregation at the
university illegal — after
which the university closed
and reopened in 1880 as an
all-white college.
Historical markers at USC
are storytellers of the
university, but upon closer
inspection, these markers have
quite a story of their own.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc. edu
Tim McManus/'im. GAMECOCK
In addition to information about the university and the state, the
South Caroliniana Library houses a memorial to Preston Brooks.
Hello, my
name is:
Meghan
Cole,
first-year
undecided
student
Jaren Hayes
FOR THE OAMECOCK
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE
HOLIDAY AND WHY?
“Easter, because I love the
Easter egg hunts.”
WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE OF
THE SEVEN DWARVES AND
WHY?
“Dopey, because he makes me
feel better about myself.”
COKE OR PEPSI?
“Coke, because it’s classier.”
HOW MANY LICKS DOES IT
TAKE TO GET TO THE CENTER
OF A TOOTSIE ROLL POP?
“More than three like that
annoying owl from the
commercial said.
IF YOU COULD HAVE DINNER
WITH ONE PERSON, DEAD OR
ALIVE, WHO WOULD IT BE
AND WHY?
“Derek Jeter, because he’s got
good game.”
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE
SPORT?
“Beer pong, because it’s the
only thing I can beat my
brother at.”
IF YOU COULD BE ANY
ANIMAL, WHAT WOULD YOU
BE AND WHY?
“A koala bear, because they are
cute and cuddly.”
IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY
SUPER POWER, WHAT
WOULD IT BE?
“To fly, because the price of gas
is so outrageous.”
IF YOU COULD TEACH ANY
CLASS AT CAROLINA, WHAT
WOULD IT BE?
‘“Family Guy’ Analysis 101.”
WHAT DO YOU WANT
EVERYONE THAT IS READING
THIS TO KNOW ABOUT YOU?
“I’m single and ready to mingle.
Facebook me.”
Rejection Hotline offers new way to say ‘no thanks’
Business student’s company aids heartbreak
by giving out fake digits to would-be suitors
dime dlendelsnhn
KRT CAMPUS
It’s an age-old mating ritual,
not unlike a courtship
ceremony you might see on the
Discovery Channel.
The male species puffs out his
chest, struts over to the female,
fumbles through some
conversation, perhaps buys her
an appletini, and, if all goes well,
scores her cell-phone number.
After the respectable three
days have passed (remember the
movie “Swingers”?), the male
calls the female. But if she has
given him the number 407
970-8278, he is in for a
surprise.
“You’ve reached the Rejection
Hotline!” a cheerful voice says. “
... Unfortunately, the person
who gave you this number did
not want you to have their real
number.” Then the voice rattles
off a host of possible reasons for
the rejection — arrogance, body
odor, a “psycho-stalker vibe.”
The man behind the voice,
Jeff Goldblatt, originated the
Rejection Hotline four years
ago. He was at an Atlanta bar
and observed a man flirting
with an uninterested woman,
, who ultimately told the man to
get away from her.
Even the man’s friends were
laughing at him. There had to
be a less humiliating way of
rejecting someone, Goldblatt
figured. So he recorded a
Rejection Hotline message, first
as a joke, but then word spread.
Today, about 1.6 million callers
dial thfe number each month,
seriously, “we like to think it’s a
public service,” Goldblatt said.
(By “we,” Goldblatt is referring
to himself and his unpaid
interns.)
He said the line is a service to
Goldblatt
said. Local
numbers
are available
for about
30 cities.
Goldblatt,
an MBA
“We like to think (the
Rejection Hotline) is
a public service.”
JEFF GOLDBLATT
Rejection Hotline creator
both sides,
particularly
the reject,
who saves
face instead
of enduring
a public
rejection.
student at tmory University,
also runs rejectionhotline.com,
a site that makes a profit
through advertisements,
, sponsorships and products for
sale such as Rejection Hotline
underwear.
Goldblatt estimates that 98
percent of callers dial for fun.
As for those who take it
Receiving the number could
be crushing, said Elayne Savage,
author of “Don’t Take it
Personally! The Art of Dealing
with Rejection.”
“You don’t know someone’s
history, and you don’t know
how they may have been hurt in
the past,” Savage says. “You
don’t know what kind of
r
www.dailygamecock.com
reaction someone might have.”
She adds that the hotline
could dredge up painful
memories, perhaps childhood
traumas.
“There are classier ways to do
a decline,” Savage says.
John Fuhrman, author of
“Reject Me — I Love It!: 21
Secrets for Turning Rejection
into Direction,” recommends
offering a reason for rejecting
someone. Constructive
criticism, if you will.
You could tell a person
“What I’m really looking for is
X, and you are not that.”
There’s always. “It’s not you,
• » »
its me.
But when faced with a
particularly obnoxious person,
Fuhrman doesn’t rule out a
direct “You know what? It is
)>
you.
r
“There is definitely a need for
it (the hotline),” says Fuhrman,
who is known in some circles as
“Mr. Rejection.” “If you’ve got
someone you can’t shake off,
absolutely, use the number.”
Allison Cox has done so
several times.
Cox, a bartender at Universal
Orlando’s CityWalk, once was
pursued by a man wearing a
shirt that read “Hi. You’ll Do.”
Charming.
He wouldn’t take the hint, so
she gave him the number.
“I thought f would never see
him again,” Cox says.
She thought wrong. He came
to the bar again and told her
that giving the rejection
number was really mean. It hurt
his feelings.
And then he asked for her
number again.
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