University of South Carolina Scholar Commons October 2008 10-21-2008 The aiD ly Gamecock, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2008 University of South Carolina, Office oftude S nt Media Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/gamecock_2008_oct Recommended Citation University of South Carolina, Office of Student Media, "The aiD ly Gamecock, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2008" (2008). October. 9. https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/gamecock_2008_oct/9 This Newspaper is brought to you by the 2008 at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in October by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Mix Sports Andrés Díaz joins Gamecocks lose to the USC Symphony UNC in their fi rst tonight. See page 5 meet. See page 8 dailygamecock.com UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2008 VOL. 102, NO. 49 ● SINCE 1908 Student section too crowded JEEP program assists With non-students youth in gaining skills in designated seats, South Carolina program helps kids enter work safety concerns arise force, learn social values Josh Dawsey Chris Cox STAFF WRITER STAFF WRITER Following a relatively A local youth enrichment program is making strides normal Carolina gameday in the Midlands by helping young teens progress as that included tailgating with members of society and employees in the work force. friends, Noelle Ransom tried The Juveniles Experiencing Excellence Program, or to enter Williams-Brice JEEP for short , was created a little less than three years Stadium Saturday night, only ago in a few select areas, but it now stretches statewide to be turned away. through 19 counties due to the program’s dramatic “We just went in the success. normal student section way. JEEP is funded by the state of South Carolina in They had all the cops and it partnership with the Department of Juvenile Justice. was roped off,” the fourth- According to the mission statement, JEEP’s goal year nursing student said. is “to help at-risk youth with special emotional “We were able to get in where and/or behavioral needs” and to “improve their the seats were, but when we Alan Tauber / THE DAILY GAMECOCK overall functioning at school, at home, and in their went to sit down, they had all The student section at the LSU game reached capacity causing frustrations for all involved. communities.” the sections roped out. We Sarah Ryan, a third-year criminal justice student, ended up leaving. It sucked department is in charge of said allowing more people have security. said she began working with the program last January that we couldn’t go into the event facilities management, into the game would have “At the fi rst two entrances, and that she has noticed a major improvement in the game and had to watch it on which controls who enters been a safety hazard. I saw people waving tickets, attitudes of its students. television.” the student section, Edwards “The north end zone got but the cops disregarded the “I feel like I have reached several of the kids that I’ve Ransom was one of dozens said. so crowded that it wasn’t tickets,” Patel said. “Even taught,” Ryan said. “It’s very satisfying to know that of students that said they had Jeff Davis , the associate possible for people to move when I could get in the you were able to change the lives of a few students, problems getting into the athletic director in charge around safely,” Brewer said. game, I was getting squished even if it is just one or two. I can tell that this semester, game Saturday. of event management, was “We had to restrict access trying to get in. People were the determination of the students is greater because USC officials said the not available for comment to two portals under the pushing me into the rail. It of their willingness to successfully complete our problem is the number of Monday. scoreboard, and we roped off was crazy.” program.” non-students populating the Edwards said the ticket the end zone area and didn’t Should students desire Ryan said many of her students experience change student section. system wasn’t to blame. let people in for a certain a guaranteed spot in the and progress from the very beginning, as students are Anna Edwards, the According to Edwards, period of time.” student section, they should encouraged to sign up for the program if they feel they university’s director of the university offered Meera Patel, a first-year arrive earlier, Edwards said. are troubled young adults in need of guidance. student services, said many approximately 10,000 tickets business student, said she “Students that wait until “They can be recommended by anybody who people sit in the section who for the game, but only arrived at the game near the last minute to get into the believes that they are an at-risk child, but kids can also aren’t actually students. 8,850 tickets were actually the end of the first quarter. game are the ones that maybe sign up on their own to do it as long as they believe that “People are familiar scanned, meaning 11 percent She was told by cops to try don’t get in,” Edwards said. it is a program that they need,” Ryan said. “Almost all with the student section if of students who didn’t cancel another entrance. At the “It’s really best to get there of the kids this semester have signed up on their own.” they are an alum or if they their tickets never went into other entrance, she was told earlier.” With many of the program’s students being rough have friends in the student the game. by cops again to move to around the edges, the job of its coordinator becomes section,” Edwards said. Jerry Brewer , the associate another entrance. Finally, she Comments on this story? E-mail that much more complicated. The university athletics vice president for student life, found an entrance that didn’t [email protected] “It can be kind of diffi cult sometimes, but we also try to get one-on-one time with each of them and fi nd out what’s going on in their personal lives,” Ryan said. “The more we can relate with them, the more they trust us, which helps us teach them what they need to Program to attract Greek sports fans know.” What separates JEEP from the rest of the pack is the Gamecock Challenge rewards top program’s hands-on approach to allowing students to learn about how life is in the proverbial “real world.” organizations with money, prizes While the program is in a classroom environment Monday through Wednesday, the students use Thursday through Sunday to complete their 80-hour Liz Segrist NEWS EDITOR internship, where they earn a designated $6.55 per hour. “We get them an internship at a job somewhere in Social fraternities and sororities in the the community and we work with a lot of different Greek community now have the chance to organizations,” Ryan said. compete for prizes such as check written to Students use their classroom time to learn the the philanthropy of their choice, simply by appropriate way to function in their respective jobs, attending certain USC athletic events. which in turns helps them in their everyday lives. Ben Tackett , a fourth-year business “We get them in the classroom and teach them the management and marketing student and a building blocks of getting and keeping a job, the right USC Athletics Department intern, came and wrong way to interview and job etiquette,” Ryan up with the Gamecock Challenge, a new said. “What they learn ends up translating over to their program beginning Thursday. personal lives and how they act in society.” “I’m a Sigma Chi, and I thought it’d be The students remain active even when in the a good way to get the Greek community Jamie Pescatore/ THE DAILY GAMECOCK classroom as hands-on exercises help prepare them for together and show that we are as supportive The USC Athletic Department encourages the Greek community to support athletics. the jobs they carry during the semester. of athletics just like everyone else,” Tackett “We really try and focus on what the kids are going said. to get points. out there for all the basketball games. [He’s] to enjoy but also what they’re going to learn the most Courtney Sergeant, a third-year “At the end of the year, we’ll tally it up putting a lot of focus on the students,” from,” Ryan said. “We try to avoid sitting them at a marketing student, is one of the marketing and it’ll be based on percentages because Tackett said. desk and doing nothing but book work.” interns for USC Athletics working to launch each sorority and fraternity has a different Tackett said they wanted to expand Ryan said that while the program has helped its the Gamecock Challenge. number of members,” she said. student attention to all types of sports. students grow as employees in the work force, it has “We’re trying to get more students Whichever Greek organization has the “We wanted to get some more attention also helped them create a more positive path in their interested in the games,” Sergeant said. highest percentage come April will get for the smaller sports who don’t get a lot of lives. “Basically, it’s to increase participation for $1,000 donated to the philanthropy of attention, such as volleyball and soccer,” he “Students’ improvement in JEEP can range games.” their choice, a cookout with USC Men’s said.