MARCH MADNESS
dailygamecock.com
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2017
SPORTS EDITOR’S BRACKET PICKS PAGE 14
VOL. 109, NO. 18 ● SINCE 1908
SG INAUGURATION Momentum trio, Senate take oath at Rutledge
Simeon Roberts / THE DAILY GAMECOCK
Columnist talks progress, stagnation in SJMC address Gray Phillips
@LANA_DEL_GRAY
Thom Barnes / THE DAILY GAMECOCK
With Wednesday’s swearing-in ceremony, USC’s 109th student senate is now in session.
Thom Barnes
@SOMETHOMBARNES
As the USC community says goodbye to its c u r rent ad m i n ist rat ion under Michael Parks, it is receiving a batch of fresh new faces in the world of student politics. A f ter t he St udent G o v e r n m e nt e le c t io n s i n Febr u a r y, t he new administrat ion of f icially took of f ice w it h a n i naug u rat ion c e r e m o n y We d n e s d a y at 4 p.m. Follow ing t he inauguration, Ross Lordo is student body president, Da n i G ood reau is v ice p r e s id e nt a n d M e r r it t Francis is treasurer. These individuals were working together on the Moment u m c a mpa ig n during their election wins
back in February, meaning t he ent i re exec ut ive branch will be cohesive and working towards the same goals. The Momentum c a mpa ig n , a t ic ket put toget her by t he current administration, strives to build new traditions here at USC such as Cockstock, while also conserving old traditions such as Spurs and Struts. They also plan to implement a new system of digital CarolinaCards on top of the physical cards students already have and st udent-access charging stations in sports facilities such as the football and basketball stadium. Lastly, they plan to immediately begin advocating for the con st r uc t ion of a new, state-of-t he-art st udent
union. Along with the executive branch, the new members of the 50-seat student body senate have been sworn in as well. This will be USC’s 109th student body senate. Follow ing t he inauguration, the c u r rent senate went to t heir cha mbers, ma ny of t hem for t he f irst t ime, a nd bega n vot ing on conf i r mat ions a nd delegates. T he s e ne w me m b e r s of t he senate are goi ng i n hopi ng to m a ke t he campus better. “One of the things I look forward to accomplishing is t hat ever y g roup and every organization have a seat at the table and their voice s a re hea rd,” sa id N ic k Ho ok s , w ho w a s
appointed t he chairman of the multicultural affairs committee following the election. One new member wants to make some changes to already existing systems. “I wou ld like to push more initiatives for loyalty points for fi ne arts events,” said Levi Walker, a newly elec ted senator for t he school of music. A ma i n foc u s for t he year is funding. “I hope to review some of the budgets that are going to be proposed this year, and help the school execute responsible fiscal policy,” sa id Nicholas Pol la k , a newly elected senator for the Darla Moore School of Business and a member of SEESWEARINGINPAGE4
MyCarolina panel talks PTSD, recovery Grace McKenna
@THEGAMECOCK
The My Carolina A lumni A ssociat ion tack led a dif f icult issue facing our m ilitar y and a l l s u f ferer s of t r au m a Wed nesday, host i ng it s P T SD: Sh at t er i n g t he Perc ept ion p a nel. T he panel included both male and female veterans living w it h P T SD, or Po s t Traumatic Stress Disorder, a nd a i me d t o p r o mot e awareness of its impact. The veterans took t ime to talk about t heir personal experiences with P T SD, some out l i n i ng their individual traumas, a nd s o m e c ho o s i n g t o fo c u s on ad vo c ac y a nd e d u c at io n . O ne of t he vets, Dan Nevins, chose to integrate his story into his profession after he was
Simeon Roberts / THE DAILY GAMECOCK
Gathered veterans addressed the affects of post-traumatic stress disorder Wednesday. i nju red i n I raq. Today, Nevins is a motivational speaker who helps other
veterans like himself heal f rom t heir physical and emotional wounds.
W h i le t he p a nel i s t s’ SEEPTSDPAGE4
SEE PAGE 11 FOR
SOUNDING BOARD
STUDENTS’ OPINIONS ON ALCOHOL USE AND MISUSE
New York Times econom ics colu m n ist Dav id Leon ha rdt del ivered t h is yea r’s Ba ldw i n Business and Financial Journalism lecture, “The Great Stagnation: How It Created President Trump,” Tuesday at 7 p.m. “This year, because of President Trump and that being the big thing that everyone’s talking about, it made a lot of sense to focus on that,” said Andrea Tanner, the director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications. Leonhardt focused his lecture on the American idea of progress and the portion of Americans, roughly a third of the population, whose families have not experienced it i n recent gener at ion s. W hen analyzing this group of people it becomes clear that the rate of progress in living standards in America have slowed dramatically. While the economy has become larger, families’ wealth has become smaller due to increased economic inequality. The lecture addressed how the frustrations of Americans with these factors partially led to Trump’s surprising victory in the presidential election and how a combination of solutions could possibly change America’s situation. K e l l e y A n n e K e n n e d y, a fourth-year economics student, attended the lecture after seeing it announced in the Honors College weekly newsletter. “I’m worried about the future and interested in what’s going to happen in this administration, and so I wanted to hear from someone who is more knowledgeable than me,” Kennedy said. “I thought it was a ver y nice sy mpat het ic portrait of people who have supported Trump and made for an audience that they were expecting to not have a lot of Trump supporters. I think that it was a good gesture at unit y,” Kennedy said. Leonhardt enjoys sharing his knowledge of business journalism with students and was willing to share advice on entering the field of journalism. He stressed t he increased importance on expertise in a world where knowledge is easily accessible to the public through the internet. “W hatever it is you basically want to have covered it enough and researched it enough and studied it enough that you know stuff that your readers don’t,” Leonhardt said. He said that this focus combined with practical skills is the key to remaining marketable regardless of how business models may change. He said the most important advice was given to him by Mark Morris, t he former managing editor at Business Week Magazine. “There’s nothing more important than doing work that is public; it’s not just for your teachers, it’s not just for your friends, it’s public in some way,” he said. The annual lecture series is a part of the Baldwin Business and Financial Journalism Endowment, which is given by Kennet h W. Baldwin Jr. a 1949 graduate of the USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications in 1949 who went on to have a successful career at Landmark Communications in SEELEONHARDTPAGE4