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For more information, please contact [email protected]. dailygamecock.com UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2012 VOL. 108, NO. 34 ● SINCE 1908 USC prepares for federal cuts Carolina Cab sees University spends $280k USC spent $260,000. now, he asks them “to make increased ridership for national lobbying In recent years, the face of strategic cuts, rather than basic, that lobbying has also changed, across-the-board cuts,” he said. High demand leaves some Thad Moore according to Steven Beckham, Regardless, he expects that [email protected] the university’s director of departments throughout the students without ride home federal relations. government will see smaller USC slashed its spending on As politicians and the public budgets, and that will affect Kathryn Kranjc lobbying the federal government focus increasingly on shrinking USC. [email protected] during the Great Recession , but the federal budget, Beckham “I think everyone’s going to The Carolina Cab program may be a step up since 2009 those levels have and the Podesta Group, a have to be prepared for cuts in from the rarely-used Cocky’s Caravan service, more than doubled, according high-profi le Washington, D.C. their areas,” Beckham said. “It’s but Student Government is now faced with to recent fi lings with the Senate lobbying firm that USC hired going to be a shared pain kind of the challenge of how to accommodate all the Offi ce of Public Records. in 2010, have worked less to thing, but what you try to do is students wanting to use their free cab rides on The university spent $280,000 advocate for specifi c initiatives to make the case for fi nancial aid weekends. in 2011 to lobby Congress and and more to maintain research for students. That is our future In the three-week period from Jan. 12 federal agencies, which was and fi nancial aid funding. ... Second is basic research. You through Jan. 29, 1,250 students used the according to those records, a Beckham and other hope that you’re doing things Carolina Cab, already nearly double the jump from $130,000 in 2009. lobbyists used to encourage in promising areas, which the amount that Cocky’s Caravan received during That increase brought spending representatives to include the entire Spring 2010 semester, according to closer to its 2007 level, when earmarks for university projects; LOBBYING ● 2 Student Body President-elect Kenny Tracy. Tracy, who served as secretary of SG’s safety and transportation committee last year, said he was glad to see a positive response from student riders. “It’s good that all students are seeing the benefits of this program, not just Student Government,” Tracy said. Capt. Eric Grabski of USC’s Department of Law and Safety, said this increase in ridership is also good news for public safety. “If there’s safe transportation to get back to a residence hall on campus, the likelihood of being a victim of any other type of crime, especially a robbery, dramatically goes down,” Grabski said. However, the cab system may not be large enough for all the students who want to use it. Only two cabs are in circulation from the 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. Three are available from 11 p.m. to 12 p.m. and fi ve are available from 12 a.m. to 3 a.m., the time frame in which most Five Points bars close. Lines of students begin forming on the sidewalks after midnight, and snake around the Five Points fountain as students wait for a ride home before the cab service closes for the night. No twister, no text Tracy said this has resulted in some students being unable to get a safe ride home because of high demand right at the end of the cabs’ Brian Almond / THE DAILY GAMECOCK This weekend’s severe weather left only puddles on USC’s campus, while tornadoes left greater damage in nearby counties. running time. SG has yet to put forth any ideas on how to reduce wait times for a cab, but Tracy said that would be an issue for this year’s Tornadoes touch down in Lexington County, destroyed, but thankfully nobody was injured,” said agenda. Vicki Graf, a weekend meteorologist at WRDW-TV Carolina Alert sends no notifi cation “Since we’re still a fairly new program, we of Augusta, Ga. “The0 tornado was about 100 yards II-20-2 just have to figure out what works for us,” Amanda Coyne wide with a path of about 8 miles. There were several [email protected] Tracy said. damage reports all across the area and not just from the Some cab users say timeliness is only one of tornado, but from severe winds as well.” Two tornadoes touched down within a 50-mile the organizational issues with the Carolina Cab If a tornado of the same severity had hit closer radius of Columbia Friday afternoon amid violent service. Third-year anthropology and women’s to campus, the impact could have been significant, thunderstorms that downed trees and soaked students. and gender studies student Aaron Guest has according to Graf. While Carolina Alert tweeted warnings about the been a regular patron of the Carolina Cab since “If this tornado on Friday had moved through storm, USC’s emergency notifi cation system issued no it started running last year and says that the Columbia, it could haveCarolina been moreAlert destructive than it email or text message warnings about the tornadoes, Perimeter level of service has been comparatively subpar was,” Graf said. one of which was rated an EF-2, with winds topping out for students. Guest said he and his friends spent Bocchino stated that the Emergency Management at 130 mph. The twister winded its way across Pelion, 15 minutes walking around Five Points trying Department has designated a perimeter around USC S.C., less than 23 miles from Columbia in neighboring II-26 to get their name on the list for a cab and 10 that is used-2 to warn subscribers to CarolinaTornado Alert of Lexington County. 6 minutes waiting for a ride. He estimates he any type of emergency. The perimeterWarning encompasses Area the While the storms were severe, the tornadoes in the could have easily walked back to his apartment areas around the medical school, facilities at the USC area did not directly threaten USC’s Columbia campus, in the same amount of time. He was also miffed medical park and past Williams-Brice Stadium. and thus required no warning, according to Cpl. Vinny when a cab driver charged him $1.25 extra to Bocchino of the Emergency Management Department Austin Price / THE DAILY GAMECOCK drive him to Aspyre, which is within the free of USC’s Division of Law Enforcement and Safety. The designated perimeter around USC warranting service’s 5-mile radius. “Richland County and Lexington County are very an emergency alert encompasses areas around the “The constant rudeness of the taxi large, and some parts are more prone to tornadoes medical school and past Williams-Brice stadium. drivers and coordinators of Carolina Cab and tornado warnings than the campus is,” Bocchino for the company running it are completely said. “We only issue tornado warnings that affect the unbecoming of a business,” Guest said. “They While Richland and Lexington counties both lack campus.” need to realize that we [students] are paying tornado siren systems, USC has its own; the cock crow While the tornado’s damage was not as severe as the customers. We just pay through our activity that heard at 12:10 each Friday is its weekly test. November twister that killed three in York County, the fees. It’s a good service; I think there needs to “We’d use those [sirens] in the event of a tornado storm did cause some destruction. be more university involvement, like someone warning. They would say ‘tornado warning, tornado “There was some damage from the tornado; a mobile actually from the university should be out there home was destroyed, there were two houses that were ALERT ● 3 to organize it.” The Carolina Cab is run through Checker Yellow Cab Company. Since September, the service has cost SG $750 per night to run, a Freshman linebacker arrested in burglary $500 increase from the original price during its trial period in order to commission more cabs. The service is supported by the same portion South Carolina freshman linebacker John Angelo According to Timmons, it was of the student activity fee that ran Cocky’s Watley was arrested on charges of grand larceny, reported to the police department Caravan, about $2 per student. Guest said he credit card theft and second-degree burglary that the occupants were asleep at would happily continue to pay that amount for Sunday, according to Columbia Police Department the time and woke up to fi nd the a semester of free cab rides, but he still feels spokeswoman Jennifer Timmons. He is currently suspect inside. The offi cers arrested that the current service leaves plenty of room being held at the Alvin S.