The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 18, 2006, Image 1
The University of South Carolina Wednesday, January 18, 2006 Vol. 99, No. 51 • Since 1908
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Associate Honors College dean to step down
ft
Special to THE GAMECOCK
Douglas Williams is
stepping down in June
as an associate dean of
the S.C. Honors College.
Williams will still teach.
‘Dr. Doug to resign
in June, stay on
as geology professor
Jess Dauis
STAFF WRITER
An associate dean of the
Honors College will resign
from his position, effective
in June, but he will remain at
USC as a professor, Honors
College Dean Davis Baird
said.
Douglas Williams,
affectionately known to the
staff as Dr. Doug, has served
as an associate dean for close
to a decade but wanted a
“change of pace,” Baird said
Tuesday night.
Williams and Baird
have been discussing his
resignation since November
and reached a final decision
last week.
An internal search for a
new dean will begin this
semester, and Baird hopes to
have finalized the search by
May, he said.
Williams served as an
adviser to marine science,
geological studies, biology
and chemistry students, and
he taught courses in geology
and marine science. He
will return to the geology
department as a professor
and will likely continue to
teach honors classes, Baird
said.
“He developed a bunch
of really innovative ways of
approaching teaching, and I
hope that he will continue
to do that and provide his
expertise in that respect for
the college,” Baird said.
“The change is entirely
amicable. Being an associate
dean is a demanding job, and
he’s done it for a long time.”
Williams was also co
creator of a research
based learning initiative
with retired-Dean Peter
Sederberg, who now teaches
political science, and Stefka
Eddins. In a biography
on the Honors College
Web site, Williams said
that he “love(s) to involve
undergraduates in many of
(his) professional activities,”
including research funded
by the National Science
Foundation, and to develop
“exciting educational
opportunities for elementary
school children.”
Last year, in collaboration
with students in his “Science
of the Artie” and Polar
Science classes, Williams
created a program at
EdVenture Children’s
Museum called “Go Polar!
Cool Science in the Atretic.”
“We will continue to use
his expertise and what makes
him great,” Baird said. He
mentioned that Williams’
latest work might be used in
an upcoming undergraduate
education seminar.
Williams will not stay on
as an adviser in any formal
position.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocknews@givm. sc. edu
^ Some senators say
RHA constitution
needs updating
President Terrill Wilkins hails amendment
as 'great first step’ in re-organizing document
Gina Uasselli
•STAFF WRITER
The RHA constitution
was “antiquated” and vice
president Jonathan Ross, a
second-year political science
student, and Senator Andrew
Bullard, a third-year political
science student, decided to
do something about it.
At Wednesday’s
RHA meeting, an 11
page amendment to the
constitution was passed,
hailed by RHA President
Terrill Wilkins as “a great
first step” in updating the
•body’s rules.
“I’ve gone through and
cleaned house. We’ve
condensed some parts,”
Bullard said.
The amendments clear up
the constitution’s language
by getting rid of unnecessary
explanations and rules.
One targeted stipulation,
in Article XI, Section 3
states that the Publicity
Committee “handles all
of the general publicity
for the RHA through the
Gamecock, television,
radio, flyers and any other
medium.”
This was erased from
the constitution because “it
doesn’t give enough credit to
the publicity chair to decide
what to use,” said Ross.
It also adds sections to
include how the RHA has
been operating, specifically
the set-up of the Executive
Board and Council.
The new amendments to
the constitution states that
the Executive Board is the
President, Vice President,
Treasurer, Secretary, and
National Communication
Coordinator and that the
Executive Council is the
RHR • 5
After switch, new company
watches over USC campus
On-campus students
coming back from break
may have noticed that
• the night guards in their
buildings are wearing
different uniforms.
As of Oct. 1, 2005,
Sizemore Security Inc.
ceased to be in charge of
security for USC and was
replaced by U.S. Security
Associates.
Chris Wuchenich,
deputy director of Law
Enforcement and Safety
said the switch occurred
because Sizemore’s contract
•had expired.
U.S. Security Associates
• is one of the five largest
uniformed security officer
providers in the United
States, according to a
company spokesman.
UbL joins companies
like UPS, Wal-Mart, Sony,
Fed-Ex and U.S. Steel in
employing the security
agency.
Andrew Fink of Flousing
and Residential Services
said that while the housing
department and other
campus departments
use the security, “Law
Enforcement and Safety is
in charge of the contracts
with the companies.”
Wuchenich said that
while Law Enforcement
and Safety hire the
companies he does “not
have any knowledge of or
involvement in the hiring
of individual guards by the
contract company.”
— Gina Vasselli
THE TOPPER SITE
I\tck Lsares / Inti UAMfcUXih
Al Goodyear, research professor for the USC instituce of Archaelogy and Anthropology, holds an artifact from the
Topper site, an archaeological dig in Allendale that could prove humans lived in North America before the Ice Age.
Students could be part of groundbreaking archaeological dig
Jess Dauis
STAFF WRITER
USC students have an opportunity
in May to be a part of an ongoing,
groundbreaking archaeological dig
in Allendale, S.C., where they can
uncover artifacts that could prove
humans lived in North America before
the last Ice Age.
The dig in Allendale, dubbed the
“Topper site,” has caused a stir in the
archaeological world, with artifacts
that seem to dispel previous ideas that
humans belonging to a culture group
called Clovis were the first to populate
North America. Clovis artifacts have
been dated back 13,000 years, but a
2004 finding at the Topper site was
radiocarbon dated to 50,000 years, Dr.
Albert Goodyear said.
Goodyear, a professor at USC’s South
Carolina Institute of Archaeology and
Anthropology, said that archaeologists
are split about the findings, with
some still skeptical and some coming
around.
“Clovis stood for 50 years as the
earliest accepted cultural evidence for
humans in the hemisphere, and it’s been
slow to die, but Topper is contributing
to that,” Goodyear said.
He was skeptical himself when he
first discovered pre-Clovis artifacts
during a 1998 excavation, but found
the proof to be indisputable.
“It’s the best thing that ever
happened to me,” he said. “It’s been
a roller coaster ride ever since (the
original discovery).”
Excavations since that discovery
have included volunteers from all
walks of life during the annual 5-week
dig. Students, lawyers, homemakers
and schoolteachers have all spent time
at the Topper site, working alongside
archaeologists in a dig that Goodyear
said “could rewrite history.”
For a fee of $416 a week, anyone can
camp out at the Allendale site. The fee
includes a $350 gift to the university,
lunch and dinner for a week, nightly
lectures and discussion about the site
and access to the campsite’s facilities,
which include hot showers, bathrooms
and a kitchen. Volunteers bring their
own tents, sleeping bags and excitement
about archaeology.
Third-year anthropology student
Erika Heimbrook heard about the
Topper site when she was still in high
school, but couldn’t volunteer until
after her first year at USC because of
an age restriction. She volunteered for
the past two years and will return in
May as a site supervisor.
“I love it,” Heimbrook said of the
work. “For me, I love the thrill of
discovery. It’s an amazing discovery and
the people (who work at the Topper
site) are amazing.”
It was her work at the Topper site that
helped Heimbrook decide she wanted
to concentrate on PaleoAmerican
studies, the study of who first populated
North America and when.
TOPPER • 1
Viewpoints
Brandt Boidypraises
Martin Luther King
Jr. and his everlasting
" message; Liz White says
breaking up really isn’t
thkt hard to do. v
The Mix
Taking a bite out
of the market
Apple computers begins
2006 with a
brand new line that
uses Intel processors.
Sports
Fresh faces WA
Steve Spurrier and §
the Gamecocks %
played host to ■
22 recruits this
weekend.
INDEX
Columns.8
Comics & Crossword.....11
Classifieds.14
Horoscopes.11
Police Report..2