dailygamecock.com UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
FRIDAY, APRIL 18, 2014
VOL. 114, NO. 59 • SINCE 1908
USC experiments with crowd funding for research projects USC offers dollar-for-dollar matching for online donations Thad Moore
TMOORE@DAILYGAMECOCK.COM
Williams-Brice vandalized again Twitter photo by Joe Connolly
Coach Joe Connolly said the vandals forgot to paint a fifth finger, referencing the Gamecocks’ win streak over Clemson.
Stadium marked with paw exactly 1 year after similar incident Thad Moore
TMOORE@DAILYGAMECOCK.COM
Someone painted an orange tiger paw on the field at Williams-Brice Stadium early Wednesday morning, police say, a year to the day after another paw was spray painted onto the turf. Joe Connolly, the Gamecocks’ strength and conditioning coach, tweeted a photo of the tiger
paw, which was painted with four toes by the 10-yard line. “They forgot the fi fth fi nger!” Connolly said on Twitter, a reference to South Carolina’s fiveyear win streak over Clemson. Capt. Eric Grabski, a spokesman for the USC Division of Law Enforcement and Safety, said police were still investigating the vandalism. A police report says an unidentified person painted the paw around 2 a.m. Wednesday. A year earlier to the day, on April 16, 2013,
Jennifer Pournelle doubts if crowd funding will replace traditional grants as a way of paying for research, but she’s glad it’s an option. Pournelle, a research assistant professor in the Environment and Sustainability Program, this week became the fi rst USC professor to use crowd funding to pay for research. She ra ised $ 4,0 0 0 f rom 43 people on experiment.com — a website that amounts to the Kickstarter of research — in a campaign that ended Wednesday. And USC will match that money dollar-fordollar, said Prakash Nagarkatti, USC’s vice president for research. Nagarkatti thinks USC might be the only university offering matching funds for the website. So far, USC has only posted two or three projects to the website, but it’s vetting more that will be on the site soon, he said. Pournelle and Nagarkatti both said they don’t think crowd funding will become a primary source of research money. Nagarkatti said he expects USC will spend about $50,000 to match ex periment.com donat ions; by comparison, the university brought in $220 million of grants last year. But crowd f unding has proven to be a powerful idea. Kickstarter, where people fund creative projects in return for gifts, has raised about $1.1 billion since it launched in 2009. “We don’t know how much interest there’s going to be in the coming years,” Nagarkatti said. “Maybe all these sites become wellknown. ... Things could change.” For now, Nagarkatti said, the website is helpful when faculty or students are kicking arou nd a n u nt radit ional idea — say, a n innovative smartphone app — or need to supplement grants they already have, because that money is tightly regulated. Those kinds of needs, he said, wouldn’t be funded otherwise. “It’s no strings attached, or you specify the strings,” Pournelle said. A nd, Pournelle said, it’s good for when researchers need a small sum of money — and fast. A month ago, she needed a few thousand dollars to buy a pair of plane tickets to Iraq, where she and her colleagues will meet with oil executives and vie for $2.5 million more. They plan to study if wastewater from oil drilling can
VANDALISM • 2 FUNDING • 2
Don Fowler looks forward after halfcentury at USC After 50 years of teaching, most professors would be ready to take a long vacation. But Don Fowler had a very different reaction to being honored for his 50th year of teaching in a lecture given by Kathleen Hall Jamieson Thursday night. “I’m embarrassed,” Fowler said. “It’s much ado about nothing, as Shakespeare said.” Fowler previously served as the chairman of the state Democratic Party and Democratic National Committee. He has taught courses about politics and mass media since 1964, bringing prominent national political leaders and journalists to campus. When it comes to his legacy, Fowler gave a simple answer: “My students are my legacy, that’s it.” After teaching for such a long time, Fowler said it is impossible to pick one favorite memory. “I remember my students who were always nice and kind. And I remember the excitement of seeing people learn,” Fowler said. “It’s all been a pleasant experience.” Fowler said the next step is to look forward, rather than focusing on the past. “It’s a goal; it’s a landmark,” Fowler said. “It’s one I have looked forward to, and the fact that it’s here now is one that I’ll just put behind me and look toward the future.” — Compiled by Natalie Pita, Assistant News Editor
Leah Grubb / THE DAILY GAMECOCK
More than 300 students were honored at the annual University Awards Day on the Horseshoe Thursday afternoon. The awards included the Steven N. Swanger Leadership Award and the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award.
Baseball hopes to snap losing streak against Auburn SEE PAGE 8