dailygamecock.com UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
VOL. 116, NO. 19 • SINCE 1908
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2014
New center to open in 2015
Renderings provided by Kim McMahon
The new center includes an open, interactive floorplan infused with technology where students can interact with other students and Leadership and Service Center staff.
Service Center remodeling welcomes students in spring Natalie Pita
@NATALIEPITA
W hen you wa l k t h rough t he second floor of Russell House, you see construction, caution tape and “hard hats required” signs. However, when you walk past Einstein’s next semester, you’ll feel like you’re already inside the new Leadership and Service Center. The Campus Life Center, which w a s l a s t r e n o v a t e d a l m o s t 10 years ago, is being rebranded and completely transformed. T he C L C , w h ic h w i l l hou s e st udent gover n ment a nd ot her student organizations, is set to open spring of 2015.
T he old space consisted of offices, with a transaction counter at the front. The walls blocked all natural light and created a closed environment. But t he new 4,0 0 0 -foot space will feature an open environment, an amphitheater and glass modular walls allowing students to be able to see throughout the entire space; something they could not do in the old center. The center a lso feat u res fou r glassed-in digital conference rooms with Skype capabilities, a digital wall of computer monitors and classroom or training rooms. The digital wall will have two exterior monitors with content, and an interior monitor that students can interact with. One of the primary architectural designs is a bay window that overlooks
Greene Street, which Russell House director Kim McMahon hopes will invite people into the space. “ We st a r ted env ision i ng t h is process over two years ago. Much of it came from t he init iat ive of behalf of the university that students would have leadership experiences,” Mc Ma hon sa id. “ We k new t hat changing the physical environment of how students connect with leadership and ser v ice was as important as changing the curriculum.” McMahon hopes that the new space will also attract potential Gamecocks during university tours. University Ambassadors stop directly outside of the Leadership and Service Center, and she hopes that the students will feel apart of the new area and that this will start to set the tone for potential new students.
According to McMahon, this space is designed to be multi-functional and multi-purpose. Students can walk in and interact with staff, who will have laptops and be able to move around the center. In the long-term, McMahon hopes to have tablets and computers to use while they are in the Leadership and Service Center. “We’re trying to bring the world i nto USC t h rough t h is center,” McMahon said. “We’re building this model center so that all the experience touch the students.” This new design is also planning for any future functionality. McMahon said that plans were designed with the needs of the university two or three years down the road in mind. “Now is a g reat t ime because CENTER • 3
Study Abroad finds routes to at-risk areas Students can petition board to travel to dangerous areas Natalie Pita
@NATALIEPITA
Between Ebola in Africa, ISIS in the Middle East, confl ict in Gaza and all of the other dangers in today’s world, some countries may seem off limits for travel. But some USC students aren’t giving up. And the Study Abroad Office is committed to helping those students travel to at-risk destinations. “We have some students who think outside of the box and want to do something different than what everyone else is doing,” Rachel Hardison, associate director of the Study Abroad Office said. “They may want to go somewhere that doesn‘t have a lot of Americans or is different in some way.” Whether they want to travel for heritage or cultural reasons, professional goals or a reason related to their major, the Study Abroad Office works with students to be safe while still going on their dream trip. For example, they will help a political science student focusing on Middle Eastern politics to travel to Israel. USC defi nes destinations of risk as countries on
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the U.S. State Department’s travel warning risk list, as well as some that USC considers unsafe. This list includes countries such as Sierra Leone, Honduras, Israel, Mali, Kenya and Mexico. If a student wants to travel to a destination of risk, they need to submit a petition and schedule a meeting with Hardison. The key element of the petition is to outline why the student needs to go to that country, and why they can’t have that experience in a safer country. In order to ensure that the students are safe, the petition must also include a safety plan while they are in the country, and what they intend to do if an emergency does happen. T he St udy A broad Of f ice is look i ng for coherent, detailed petitions that will keep students safe while they are abroad. “We do have some students who are worldly and have traveled and do k now what they’re getting themselves into, and we also have people who have never traveled outside of the country,” Hardison said. W hen students submit their final petition, Hardison makes a recommendation and sends it to a committee composed of faculty and staff from different departments who makes the ultimate decision about whether the student travels. A student signs a waiver if their petition is
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approved. They are also signing a clause that states that if conditions change, USC has the right to revoke its approval. If the student does not come home, they are abroad without the support of USC and will not be enrolled at the university. The Study Abroad Office has only withdrawn its support once. While students are abroad, the Study Abroad office receives safety reports on a regular basis to ensure that conditions have not changed. In the past, USC has taken students out of Eg y pt , when revolut ions st a r ted wh ile t he individuals were abroad. Overall, Hardison believes that the current process for study abroad for destinations of risk is effective, and petitions are both approved and denied. “It’s also part of the job to do something if you see something terrible,” Hardison said. “We saw the earthquake on TV in Japan and we thought, ‘okay, who do we have in Japan?’”
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