dailygamecock.com UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Campus sustainability leaders consider success of efforts NICK SULLIVAN Arts & Culture Editor
VOL. 113, NO. 15
MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2019
SINCE 1908
FIVE POINTS
AFTER DARK
USC’s Office of Sustainability director Larry Cook spends much of his time going to meetings, reading up on sustainability and communicat ing wit h off ices across campus. At the end of the day, he said he sometimes wonders if anything is actually being done because it is hard to measure his impact. “There aren’t necessarily clear boxes to check,” Cook said. In 2018, the university sent about 4,000 tons of material to the landfill. That same year, USC came in 27th out of 31 schools in the GameDay Recycling Challenge’s diversion category, a nationwide initiative measuring the diversion rate of waste from landfills at home football games, losing to first place by a margin of about 71%. The university’s most recent Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS) report from 2016, which tracked campus sustainability efforts in a range of areas, placed USC at 15% in the food and dining category, below average for similar schools. B y t h e s e m e a s u r e m e n t s , U S C ’s sustainability has room for improvement. SEE SUSTAINABILITY PAGE 12
Capstone residents concerned about mold
SARAH EISSMANN News Writer
Following Barstool Gamecocks’ Instagram video of a mushroom growing on a ceiling tile on Capstone’s 15th floor surfacing, residents of the building said there has been a continued mold problem in the residence hall. In an email addressed to a set of concerned parents following the mushroom video, a university housing employee assured the mold problem had been dealt with and conditions in Capstone were tested and determined insusceptible for mold to grow. “There is no mold in Capstone or any of our other buildings on campus,” the email said. Students such as first-year business student and Capstone resident Sam Chierici, however, say the conditions are just right for mold to grow, as there is always a lot of condensation and they cannot control temperature with the thermostat. “If the conditions are there for mold to grow, mold’s gonna grow,” said Skylar Deichmann, a first-year sport and entertainment management student and Capstone resident. “If it’s humid, like, you k now, you take a shower in the bathroom, and then the whole suite gets super muggy.” Some students have also reported sickness they say is due to the mold. A second-year student, who lived in the Capstone House her first year and has asked to remain anonymous, said she got sick from the mold all over the 15th floor of the building. “I was somewhat sick the first semester, but I just thought it was a cold, and I went home and I got better,” she said. “I came back in January and within the first two weeks, I believe, I got pneumonia and bronchitis at the same time.” When she got bronchitis again this year, she went to the USC Health Center. She said the doctor told her it was probably because of the mold in Capstone and that many students came in with the same issues. She said she now must take an inhaler to help her breathe. Deichmann said she is fairly certain she has a mold allergy, and every time she gets into the shower, where the mold is, she starts to sneeze. SEE MOLD PAGE 2
VANESSA PURPURA // THE GAMECOCK
Three girls walk down Harden Street on a Thursday night in Five Points. Despite the cold weather, people still dressed up for a night out.
THE DAILY GAMECOCK & SGTV STAFF
L
on calzones. Sometimes both.
ike all ecosystems, Columbia’s
Although some believe this is typical
F i ve Po i nt s s ho p p i n g a nd
college nightlife behavior, members of
enter t a i n ment d ist r ic t is
the surrounding neighborhood have
complex.
voiced various concerns in recent years.
During the day, it functions as a family-
The Daily Gamecock and SGTV sent
friendly neighborhood village. At night,
31 reporters and photographers into Five
it turns into a place where many college
Points to see exactly what a typical night
students and Columbia residents can be
was like from a variety of perspectives.
found dancing in bars or dropping $100
Here’s a snapshot of what we saw.
Multimedia Package See SGTV’s coverage on how the district’s culture affects the community. bit.ly/FivePointsAfterDark
Inside Follow our night, from booze to burgers. PG 4-5
Recent alumnus completes Appalachian Trail LAURRYN THOMAS News Writer Recent USC g raduate Br ice “Keys” Janvrin completed his hike from Maine to Georgia on Nov. 1, walking more than 2,000 miles in four and a half months on the Appalachian Trail. Pa r t of t h i s t r a i l i n c lu d e d crossing four states in 24 hours. Janvrin completed the “four-state challenge” in an effort to raise money for his alma mater, Richland Northeast High School. “I wanted to do something that could actually allow me to give to others,” Janvrin said. “We actually came up with this idea of raising money as a scholarship fund for Richland Northeast.” Janvrin kept in close contact with his mom during the hike, who acted as his social media manager. Gina Janvrin kept track of fundraising totals and helped Brice Janvrin surpass his goal by raising about $2,600. “He thought he’d raised maybe
$1,000 and it would go [to] one scholarship, but now he’s thinking he might do, like, three smaller scholarships. You gotta have a lot of perseverance to do what he did, to hike 42.9 miles in 24 hours in four states, and it was pouring down rain during part of it,” Gina Janvrin said. Brice Janvrin graduated in May with his bachelor’s in international studies and environmental studies. He thought he had a job set up in Washington, D.C. after graduation, but when that fell through, Janvrin decided to pursue a dream he’d long had. “I didn’t act ually have much doubt that I was able to do it, it was just a matter of, you know, as long as I don’t get injured and stuff,” Janvrin said. “I figured I’d pretty much make it all the way to the end.” Not only did Janvrin make it to the end, but he finished a month and a half sooner than many other hikers who take on the challenge. Though he started the trail on his own, he ended up hiking with many different people, walking about 20
COURTESY OF GINA JANVRIN
Brice Janvrin poses on a mountain on the trail.
miles a day. “He was traveling with a bunch of other Southbound hikers who I’d met before, and we all started hanging together as like a trail family or a ‘tramily,’ which we called it,” trailmate Clio “Happy” Walton said. Walton and Janvrin hiked the last half of the trail mostly together, though Walton did not take on the four-state challenge. SEE APPALACHIAN PAGE 12