The Daily Gamecock 9/18/13

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dailygamecock.com UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA

VOL. 113, NO. 19 • SINCE 1908

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2013

H

Thad Moore

TMOORE@DAILYGAMECOCK.COM

arris Pastides had been USC’s president three weeks when the first cut came.

State funding ($)

Spencer Scott Nelson / THE DAILY GAMECOCK

Another came in October. One more in December. There were five budget cuts that year,

Years

Source: USC Budget Office

wort h $36.9 million on t he Columbia

campus. More than 23 percent in a year. South Carolina’s tax revenue was falling in 2008, and

politicians’ talk of austerity grew. USC’s cuts — real presidency. “Those were scary times,” Chief Financial Officer

Ed Walton said. “People did not know what was coming next.” To compensate, the university froze hiring, losing

Student enrollment

and rumored — formed a bleak backdrop for a budding

273 employees to retirement and other jobs. It brought in extra students: about 5,000 more in five years. It raised tuition: more than 22 percent for in-state

Source: Institutional Assessment & Compliance

Years

students and nearly a quarter for everyone else. Pastides, 59, is credited with navigating the Great Recession, improving key measures of academic quality and posturing it to improve more.

Out-of-state In-state

But stay ing af loat had consequences, and t he Five years later, USC is forced into a corner. It can’t raise tuition any more, and an already-packed campus can’t handle more students.

Tuition ($)

university will feel them for years, officials say.

USC is at a pivot point: It faces big-picture questions of what it wants to be — and what it can afford. How big should it be? How can it grow more? Whom does it serve?

Years

Source: USC Budget Office

And mostly, what’s next?

INSIDE

PASTIDES • 2

10

SPORTS

MIX

VIEWPOINTS

Women’s soccer finished its nonconference season with an undefeated record.

Recent 3-D films have been lackluster, but some directors have made use of the medium.

Editorial Board: USC needs creativity to handle the repercussions of rapid growth.

7

5

WEATHER Wednesday

Thursday

High 82° Low 59°

High 87° Low 61°


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