UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
VOL. 116, NO. 77 • SINCE 1908
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2015
Scott Dikkers Q&A
USC seeks funding for accelerated graduation
New center set to open this term
Measuring
UP
Brandon Waltz @BRANDONWALTZ
Hannah Jeffrey @HANNAHJEFFREY34
Last year, USC President Harris Pastides offered the state legislature a bargain: USC’s tuition would freeze if the university system were to receive $10.1 million in state f unding, the equ iva lent to t he prev iou s yea r’s tuition increase and benefit increases. But the so-called “tuition timeout” didn’t go as plan ned, so t his year u n i v e r s it y of f ic i a l s s k ip p e d t he bargaining and went straight for the requests. Coming in at $7 million the highest priced was annual funding for the On Your Time Graduation initiative, in which students can elect to graduate in fewer than the traditional eight semesters. “If there was one request I could make this would be the most important one,” Pastides told the state House Ways and Means committee Tuesday. By 2030, t he nu mber of Sout h Carolina students holding a Bachelor’s deg ree or h igher w i l l be 78,84 0, according to a 2013 study by the Darla Moore School of Business. But the employment demand will be arou nd 141,556, leav ing Sout h Carolina more than 70,000 educated workers short. “The one thing that we know for sure is that we will have a shortfall of baccalaureate degree holders by 2030 if we don’t move more people into college and through graduation,” Hickman said. Upon entering their first year at USC, students can now opt to take courses at an accelerated rate, taking classes in summer and winter terms, in order to graduate sooner. However, with more terms carrying more classes, the university needs more teachers. Enter: the additional $7 million a year to fund the program. “ I ’m n o t h a p p y t h a t w e h a v e less money in state appropriat ion a nd budget combi ned for st udent education that we did a decade ago,” Pastides said, adding that only Ole Miss receives less state f unding to invest in state residents’ education. Additionally, administrators asked for $3 million to fund the Honors College and almost $1.3 million to go toward the university system’s rural health care initiative. Last year’s call for a tuition freeze came after 27 consecutive years of tuition increases — the last time it stayed one rate from year to year was 1987. “ T h e t u i t i o n t i m e o u t d i d n’t work. It didn’t play well,” said Chief C o m m u n i c a t i o n s O f f i c e r We s Hickman. “This year, we opted to look at strategic priorities.” I n a session last i ng nearly fou r hours, Pastides sat alongside Provost Michael A miridis, Chief Financial Of f icer Leslie Br u nelli and Chief Operat ing Of f iicer Ed Walton to explain the ins and outs of the USC system to the committee’s Rep. Jim Merrill, R-Berkeley, the committee’s new cha i r ma n. Most of t he t i me was spent not talking about specific requests, but the importance of higher education funding and its connection to South Carolina’s economic scope. “It’s a multi-year process and a long conversation,” Hick man said. “We may not see significant changes this year, but we’re hoping for them next year or the year after.” The university is also seeking $40 million in one-t ime capital f unds, mo s t of w h ic h wou ld g o t ow a rd renovating the Law School building to house the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport and Entertainment Management.
Jeffrey Davis / THE DAILY GAMECOCK
South Carolina and LSU rank second and 10th in height in the SEC, respectively.
David Roberts @DAVIDJAYROBERTS
Two of South Carolina’s offensive deficiencies were exposed Saturday afternoon by No. 1 Kentucky. First — as anyone who watches t he games could tell you — t he Gamecocks have had a tough time knocking down shots recently. South Carolina shot an ice cold 22.6 percent from the field against the Wildcats, which is the second-lowest offensive output by a major conference team this season. In November, Kentucky held then-No. 5 Kansas to a 19.6 field goal percentage — the lowest mark by a major conference team — in a 72-40 victory. The Gamecocks found Kentucky’s defense in the post uncompromising and were only able to muster 14 poi nt s i n t he pa i nt. Because of their lack of success in the post, the Gamecocks were forced to take several low-percentage shots, many of which they missed. Against LSU Wednesday, South
The Onion editor tells all | Page 4
Carolina will likely encounter that the same style of play. L i k e K e n t u c k y, L S U h a s a collection of freakishly tall athletes, including fou r players over t he 6-foot-10-inch mark. In fact, the Tigers are the second-tallest team in t he Sout heastern Conference behind only Ole Miss. Centers Darcy Malone and Elbert Robinson III, who are 7-foot and 7-foot-1-inch respectively, anchor an LSU team whose average player is just a shade under six-foot-six. During head coach Frank Martin’s tenu re at Sout h Ca rol i na, he’s faced tall teams like Kentucky and LSU and has seen success in some instances. “You know, the problem with LSU is we’ve played their height before. And, going into the Kentucky game, we had played teams who had height,” Martin said. “But, we’ve played teams that had big front lines. We took some good shots [against Kentucky],
The new Leadership and Service Center is set to open this semester designed to engage students just steps away from Einstein Bros. Bagels on t he second f loor of Russell House. An official opening date has yet to be determined, but hastiness wasn’t the goal for Kim McMahon, Director of Campus Life and the Russell House University Union. “What’s been important to me and this project the whole time is that we open when we’re ready,” McMahon said about the official opening date. Student Government executive officers — who made the move to the Blatt Physical Education Center last year — will return to the Leadership and Service Center, j o i n i n g c a m p u s c o m m u n it y student engagement programs, according to McMahon. The back of the Center houses the Student Government executive suite and also contains open areas that Student Government can use to engage the student body. The center is set up to give students plenty of space to work, use Wi-Fi and set up shop in one of the many new seats at one of the various screens. The center’s many walls and glass doors are multifunctional, s e r v i n g a s w r it i n g s u r f a c e s students can use grease markers on. Staff off ices are nonexistent in the traditional sense of the word. Rather, the entire center is an office. Desks sit adjacent to collaborative areas, so students can readily access the center’s staff. One of t he center’s la rgest rooms is what McMahon calls “The Lawn,” a room with a wallsized bay window that overlooks Greene Street. The room’s seating is movable, so it can constantly be transformed for different needs. In the back of the room, there are cushioned steps that lead up to an amphitheater-type space. “We’re connecting Gamecocks out,” McMahon said, “but we’re also bringing the world in.”
SeeBASKETBALLPAGE2
Job fairs draw job-seeking students Madeleine Collins @MADDY_COLLINS37
Tuesday, the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center was crowded with USC students and employers for the Spring Career Fest. Students dressed in business attire and clutched copies of their resumes as they waited in line to meet potential employers. Upstairs, students mingled at the Science Engineering and Technology Fair, while others networked at the Career Fest downstairs. Though the focus was different for each, both fairs gave students the chance to make connections and apply for jobs and internships. “A job fair is about opportunities that the employers are going to fill,” Halasz A career fair is more information focused, where students can learn about an employer,” Halasz said. Bishop Shipman, for one, went to the fair last year and came out with an internship. This year, he was on the hunt for a full-time job. “It’s nice to look at other companies around the area and see what other job opportunities are out there,” the fourthyear mechanical engineering student said. Thomas Halasz, director of the Career Center, explained that the S.E.T Fair and Career Fest are great opportunities for students to get in contact with employers. “We encourage students to begin coming to the job fairs as freshmen,” Halasz said. “While most freshmen do not get an internship, they become familiar with the process of the job fair.” Erin Ryan, a first-year international business and
Heidi Stone / THE DAILY GAMECOCK
Student networked and mingled at Tuesday’s job fairs. management student, did just that. In preparation, Ryan worked on her resume and handshake in her business classes. “I thought it was going to be really overwhelming,” she said, “but it’s organized nicely and you can go in and talk to the people you want to talk to.” Both fairs have expectations: if students come to a job fair already knowing that the employer has a position they wants to fill, they should be more informed of the company’s background. That way, Halasz said, there’s a better chance of impressing employers and getting an interview. “[The students] make connections. They may meet a recruiter who will literally come back year after year, and many of them do,” he said. “A student makes a connection the first year and makes it again the next year, and ultimately it pays off with that internship or full time job.”