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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014
VOL. 116, NO. 53 • SINCE 1908
USC student named victim Coroner says Copper Beech incident apparently murdersuicide, autopsies complete Hannah Jeffrey
@HANNAHJEFFREY
Second-yea r c r i m i nolog y a nd criminal justice student Diamoney Greene was ident if ied as one of the two people found shot to death in the Copper Beech Townhouse Community. G reene wa s shot to deat h by Brandon Early, who then turned the gun on himself in the Copper Beech Tow n hou se Com mu n it y, where Greene lived. Early, 21, and Greene, 20, were found in unit 2106 Tuesday around 7 p.m. A roommate called police
Tuesday when they couldn’t get into the house because one of the bodies was blocking the front door. Both Early and Greene were found with gunshot wounds to the head and died on the scene, according to Richland County Coroner Gary Watts. According to Watts, the incident appears to have been a mu rdersuicide that happened last Saturday or Sunday at least. The autopsies w e r e c o m p l e t e d We d n e s d a y morning. Greene transferred to USC from South Carolina State Universit y, where she appears to have been a cheerleader, according to her Twitter account. MURDER-SUICIDE • 3
Kamila Melko / THE DAILY GAMECOCK
Coroner Gary Watts said the murder-suicide likely took place last Saturday or Sunday.
Same-sex marriage legal Banned, currently challenged in court
Gamecocks land No. 21 recruit Dozier
Ban struck down, appeal pending
Graphic by Brittany Wilt / THE DAILY GAMECOCK
South Carolina same-sex marriage ban struck down Courtesy of The Big Spur
Decision’s stay will last until Nov. 20 to give time for appeal Hannah Jeffrey
@HANNAHJEFFREY34
South Carolina’s ban on gay marriage was ruled unconstitutional Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel, effectively allowing gay marriages in the state after noon on Nov. 20. Gergel issued a stay on his decision through Nov. 20 to give time for an appeal from State Attorney General Alan Wilson, who announced hours after the ruling that he plans to do so. The ruling came on the case Condon v. Haley, in which same-sex couple Colleen Condon and Ann Bleckley filed suit against South Carolina in October when they were not issued a marriage license after they applied and paid the fi ling fee. Gergel ordered Charleston County
Probate Judge Irvin Condon (distantly related to Colleen Condon) to grant a marriage license to the couple after the Nov. 20 stay expires. Gergel’s ruling said the ban was unconstitutional based on the 14th Amendment’s due process and equal protection clauses. Gergel’s ruling prohibits enforcing laws or policies that “seek to prohibit the marriage of same sex couples,” interference with Condon and Bleckley’s receipt of a marriage license or the right to marry and refusal to issue the couple a marriage license. “W hile this is a victor y for the communit y, it’s important to realize that marriage equality is not the most pressing issue facing our community,” USC BGLSA President Devon Sherrell said in an email Wednesday. “So while we will be celebrating this victory, we are looking ahead to the future of the cause with optimism BAN • 5
Danny Garrison
@DANNYLGARRISON
P.J. Dozier is a four-star basketball recruit, he’s ranked 21st in the ESPN 100, he’s the son of former Gamecock hoops player Perry Dozier and the brother of Asia Dozier, a junior on Dawn Staley’s women’s team. A nd now, P.J. is a G amecock himself. Wednesday afternoon at Spring Valley High School, the class of 2015 product announced his decision to play for head coach Frank Martin a nd t he Sout h Ca rol i na men’s basketball team. DOZIER • 5
Students search campus for Bill Nye Yik Yak rumors leave students confused, holding calculators Lois Carlisle
@LOISCARLISLE
On Tuesday afternoon, reports of Bill Nye sightings popped up all over Yik Yak. They ranged from believable to not-quite-right. “Is Bill Nye really on campus?” “Is Bill Nye actually at USC and for what?” “Bill Jones.” Bill Nye is in Jones. “Bill Nye is in Caroliniana signing calculators.”
“Bill Nye just took my girl.” “Bill Nye just broke up a fight at Marble Slab.” “Bill Nye fighting against a snake and a Zeta in Marble Slab.” “Where the f--k is Bill Nye?” “H AS A N YON E ACTUA LLY SEEN BILL NYE.” But when students arrived at the Ca rol i n ia na Libra r y, t hey were disappointed. According to two staff members at the circulation desk, t hey ’d seen more st udent s t ha n Wednesday. normal for a Wedn came in,” “A bunch of students stu staff member said Graham Duncan, Dun
at Caroliniana. “They all started looking around, and finally one of them worked up the nerve to ask if [Bill Nye] was here. We had to tell them, no,” he said, clearly amused. “Bill Nye is not here.” “I had no idea,” said Mike Berry, Curator of Published Materials, who came into t he librar y af ter everything had died down. “I hate that I missed it.” Br i a n Cut h r el l , M a nu s c r ipt s cataloger, confirmed that the Yik Yak posts and t weets were not a marketing ploy to bring students i nt o t h e l i b r a r y, n o r w a s it a
promot ion for Nye’s new book . He hopes students will come back again, but next time to study at the university’s manuscripts library. “This isn’t really the library he would come to,” Duncan said with a laugh. “We’re history, not science.” It was ha rd to bel ieve t hat Nye wou ld be fou nd — sig n i ng calculators, no less — on campus given that he was just on the CBS morning news Tuesday. The chance of h i m p oppi n g up on c a mpu s Tuesday was unlikely, but students SCIENCE SC S CIE IENCE GUY • 5
Improv Smackdown Overreactors VS. Toast O “We’re all friends” — OverReactors president ent
See page 6&7
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Thursday, November 13, 2014
Editor-in-Chief HANNAH JEFFREY Managing Editor SAMANTHA LOCKWOOD Online Editor KATIE COLE Design Director BRITTANY WILT Special Sections Director KELLY VILLWOCK Special Editorial Director LOIS CARLISLE Copy Desk Chief DREW MUELLER MARY KATE GARMIRE EMILY READY Photo Editors KAMILA MELKO HANNAH CLEAVELAND News Editor NATALIE PITA The Mix Editor BELVIN OLASOV Viewpoints Editor BEN CRAWFORD Sports Editor DANNY GARRISON Copy Editors DEBBIE CLARK, CHELSEA MORRIS, GRIFFIN HOBSON, KELLY ELLIOTT, KEVIN KEATING, MADELEINE VATH, MARY HINNANT, SETH ISMAIL, RANA SOBEIH Asst. Photo Editor CODY SCOGGINS Asst. Mix Editors ARTIE BRASWELL ERIKA RYAN Mix Design Director GREY KLEIN Asst. Viewpoints Editor KATHLEEN SCHIPANO Viewpoints Design Director RACHAEL MCGAHEE Asst. Sports Editors DAVID ROBERTS TANNER ABEL Sports Design Director BIANCA CORREA Student Media Director
SARAH SCARBOROUGH Faculty Adviser DOUG FISHER Business Manager KRISTINE CAPPS Creative Director EDGAR SANTANA Production Manager DEGAN CHEEK Creative Services ASHLEY CROMPTON RANNAH DERRICK LINA LEGARE KODY KRATZER Student Advertising Manager JAKE ROSE Advertising Representatives DAVID CHEETHAM, THOMAS DIGENNARO, MICHELE DRESSLER, AMBER GR ANT, DREW HART, IAN PEACOCK, ERIN O’CONNELL, HOLLY H E AT O N , W R I G H T C L A R K S O N , JOSHUA DAVISON
The Daily Gamecock is the editorially independent student newspaper of the University of South Carolina. It is published daily during the fall and spring semesters and nine times during the summer with the exception of university holidays and exam periods. Opinions expressed in The Daily Gamecock are those of editors or author and not those of the University of South Carolina. The Board of Student Publications and Communications is the publisher of The Daily Gamecock. The Department of Student Media is the newspaper’s parent organization. The Daily Gamecock is supported in part by student activity fees. One free copy per reader. Additional copies may be purchased for $1 each from the Department of Student Media.
CONTACT INFORMATION Offices located on the third floor of Russell House EDITOR editor@dailygamecock.com NEWS news@dailygamecock.com VIEWPOINTS viewpoints@dailygamecock.com Newsroom: 777-7726
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DSS picks up wrong girl from school, brings her to foster family Monday afternoon, Dedra Shacklette discovered her daughter, Victoria, was mistakenly picked up by the Department of Social Services from her Greenville elementary school, WYFF reported. The Upstate mother discovered her daughter was missing when she picked up her two children from North Street Academy for a doctor’s appointment. A DSS caseworker was scheduled to pick up another girl at the school to take to her new foster parents, but when they saw Victoria in the office waiting, they took her instead. The school immediately contacted the foster parents by telephone, and Victoria was returned to her mother. Shacklette, in a statement, says she plans to take legal action. — Kelly Villwock, Special Sections Director
1 dead, another injured after high-speed chase in Columbia In Columbia, one person was killed and one person was injured in a crash following a high speed pursuit on Wednesday afternoon, WIS reported. Richland County Deputies said they noticed a suspicious vehicle stopped near the corner of Hazelwood Drive and Burdell Road at around 3:30 p.m. and initiated a routine stop. A recent string of burglaries in the area had police on high alert. However, the suspects sped away and came to a stop nearly six miles away after their car flipped into oncoming traffic. The driver was not wearing a seatbelt, according to Lance Cpl. David Jones, SCHP, and died at the scene. However, the passenger sustained only minor injuries and was taken to the hospital. A second passenger was apparently uninjured. The South Carolina Highway Patrol teams will continue to investigate the crash. — Lois Carlisle, Asst. News Editor
Opening statements in Hunnewell trial delivered Wednesday Opening statements were delivered Wednesday in the dual trial of two men accused of the shooting death of Kelly Hunnewell last year, WIS reported. Trenton Barnes and Lorenzo Young are accused of entering Hunnewell’s place of business, a bakery near Columbia, and murdering her. Hunnewell was a mother of four. Her body was discovered by a neighbor. Assistant Solicitor Dolly Garfield began the trial by outlining evidence against Barnes and Young, asserting that they both were equally capable of committing the crime. The defense brushed off Garfield’s assertions, claiming the lead investigator threatened Young with the death penalty. After the defense made their claim, Judge Robert Hood sent the jury out of the courtroom, and interrogated the defense himself. Court will resume Thursday. — Lois Carlisle, Asst. News Editor
CORRECTIONS If you find an error in today’s edition of The Daily Gamecock, let us know about it. Email editor@dailygamecock.com and we will print the correction in our next issue.
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Thursday, November 13, 2014
SG cabinet delivers semesterly update
MURDER-SUICIDE • Continued from 1 The Richland County Sheriff’s Department and Richland County Coroner are still investigating the incident. Juliana Lee, a leasing agent and Copper Beech resident, said the complex’s management is working i n f u l l c o o p e r at io n w it h t h e sheriff’s department and that their thoughts are with the families. “It didn’t really have anything to do with security here,” Lee said. “It was an internal situation, and the investigation is ongoing.” Copper Beech residents received a n e m a i l f r o m t he c o m p le x ’s management Wednesday around 6 p.m. notifying them of the incident. “Because t he invest igat ion is ongoing, we do not have additional information to share at this time,” the email, which was signed Copper
Beech Townhomes, said. “As details surface we will do our best to keep you informed ... Your safety is our top priority.” Un iver sit y Pre sident H a r r is Pa s t ide s rele a s e d a s t at e me nt We d n e s d a y, o f f e r i n g h i s condolences to Greene’s family. “Pat r ic ia a nd I a re deeply saddened by the tragic death of Diamoney Greene, a member of ou r Ca rol i na fa m ily,” Past ides said. “Our heartfelt prayers are w it h D i a m o n e y ’s f a m i l y a n d friends during this difficult time. A s our campus grieves t he loss of a promising young life, USC will make counseling and support services available to our Carolina community.” Copper Beech is located just over four miles from USC’s campus. DG
Cody Scoggins / THE DAILY GAMECOCK
Student Body President Lindsay Richardson handed the microphone to her cabinet to deliver the State of the Student Body address Wednesday evening.
Cabinet members deliver annual SG address, tout year’s accomplishments Lois Carlisle
@LOISCARLISLE
E a c h y e a r, t h e s t u d e nt b o d y president gathers students and faculty together to report on all major events a nd pol ic ie s enac ted by st udent government during t heir st int in office. This year, the State of the Student Body Address was delivered not by the student body president alone, but by her entire cabinet. In an effort to encourage unity and inclusion, Student Body President Lindsey Richardson elected to have each cabinet member share the work that they have done this semester, saying these were “the real people who should get the credit for these great things.” Before she passed t he baton to her “real workers on the ground,” Richardson gave an overview of how Student Government has strived to achieve its four pillars this semester, including fostering spirit, encouraging
diversity and inclusion, advocating and serving needs and to encourage leadership. Student Government held the fi rst pep rallies of the semester on campus, created Ameripalooza, adopted a safety app called RaveGuardian and created a student leadership pin (an award that will be granted next semester), among other things. Trey Byars, Secretar y of State Affairs, said his primary goal this term was “to get students involved in government,” and that the best way to do so was “to bring government to them.” This semester, the Legislative Advisory Board expanded in order to create an “informed, active electorate for this university,” according to Byars. Allie Conner, Secretary of Dining, introduced her meal swipe donation program in her address, which she modeled af ter a prog ra m at t he University of Alabama. This service w i l l a l low st udent s w it h u nused swipes to donate their extra meals to Gamecock Pantry. The Gamecock Pantry also reported t hey have not had to accept a ny donations from Harvest Hope Food STUDENT GOVERNMENT • 5
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@thegamecock
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Thursday, November 13, 2014
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Russell House THURs, nov 13 • 11A-1P
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USC International Education Week November 17 - 21, 2014 The 2014 #IEWUofSC theme is:
Heroes of The World International Education Week, a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Education, is an effort to promote and celebrate the global community at the University of South Carolina. Wednesday Nov. 12: 6-9pm ISA Dance Extravaganza Russell House Ballroom A
Tuesday Nov. 18: 1:30-3pm Cross-Cultural Card Game Maxcy Dining Room
Friday Nov. 14: 7:30-10pm An Evening of Indian Music USC School of Music Recital Hall (813 Assembly St.)
Tuesday Nov. 18: 7:30-8:30pm Academic Panel Discussion: Ebola Gambrell 153
Sunday Nov. 16: 2-4pm Ernest and Celestine, a film The Columbia Museum of Art
Thursday Nov. 20: 5-6pm Meet and Greet USC Exchange Students Maxcy Dining Room
Monday Nov. 17: 10:30-11:30am International Parade Starting on the Horseshoe and finishing on Greene St.
Thursday Nov. 20: 7:30-9:30pm Around The World Trivia Night Humanities Classroom 201
Monday Nov. 17: 11-2pm International Bazaar On Davis Field, beside the Russell House
Friday Nov. 21: 12-1:30pm Columbia Council for Internationals Lunch Maxcy Dining Room
Monday Nov. 17: 6:30-9:30pm My Perestoika, a film Russell House Theater
Check iss.sc.edu/iew2014 for a complete schedule of events
Facebook.com/usciss Instagram.com/usciss Event page: iss.sc.edu/IEW2014
Thursday, November 13, 2014
5
Sisterhood’s efforts recognized USC Sorority Council commended for Circle of Sisterhood fundraising Madeleine Collins
@MADDY_COLLINS37
A check for $30,000 changed hands Wednesday night in the Swearingen auditorium, as the USC chapter of Circle of Sisterhood celebrated the conclusion of their fundraising campaign to raise money for a school in an impoverished district of Nicaragua. Circle of Sisterhood founder Ginny Carroll was in attendance and applauded enthusiastically as Sorority Council was presented with the Panhellenic Excellence Award. For months, Sorority Council had worked hard to raise money. Fourth-year marketing and management student Paige Jones was initially worried about achieving the goal, but she said she still confident that it could be accomplished. “It took a lot of dedication from the committee. There’s about 25 members on the committee, and it took their passion and their hard work to make it a success,” Jones said. Jones, a member of Alpha Chi Omega, served as the president of Sorority Council and personally handed Carroll a huge check representing the money raised. Later in the evening, she and the other 25 council members accepted the College Panhellenic Excellence Award, adding USC to a list of 32 colleges nationwide to have been granted the honor. “It’s really important to me that everyone knows it’s not just Sorority Council that’s being rewarded,” Jones said. “It’s our entire community because we wouldn’t be a community without all 3,500 of us, and every individual member should feel proud and should feel a sense of this award, not just Sorority Council because it really is an entire community at work.” Outside the auditorium, a poster and a cardboard display relayed Circle of Sisterhood’s mission: to educate 100
Jessica Wood / THE DAILY GAMECOCK
South Carolina Circle chapter was one of 14 organizations to receive the Panhellenic Excellence Award. young women the world over. A large poster posed the question, “What does education mean to you?” Children’s responses included answers like, “A chance to make a difference,” “Opening new opportunities” and “Education means a better life.” Throughout the evening, Carroll spoke on the plight of young women in developing nations, emphasizing the importance of providing them with an education. “It’s amazing what they’ve accomplished, and they’re literally going to transform a small community in Nicaragua,” Carroll said. “They’re going to give them a school. That’s huge. It’s going to put that community on the map.” As part of a cultural exchange in partnership with the new school, 14 sorority members will be leaving for
Voter Turn-Out
BAN • Continued from 1 and preparedness.” Two ot her cases regarding samesex marriage were brought to the U.S. District Court last week, both
80
Percentage of Registered South Carolina Voters
Nicaragua in May, an experience Carroll touted as life-changing. “Basically, you stay with a host family, and you see what the community is like that you’re building the school in,” said second year public health student Katie Kennedy, one of the women traveling to Nicaragua. “We will volunteer in the community and see the girls who will be going to the school and meeting with their families and just kind of getting the feel of what it’s like to be a woman in their society.” After this initial success, Jones said she hopes Sorority Council will continue to raise money for Circle of Sisterhood in 2017 and 2018.
DOZIER • Continued from 1 I n t he e nd , D o z ier c ho s e t he Gamecocks over Louisville, but he also received of fers f rom college basketball powerhouses like Michigan, Georgetown and North Carolina. Dozier is the highest-ranked recruit Martin has signed in during his three-
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STUDENT GOVERNMENT • Cont. from 3
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2008
2010
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Year Graphic by Brittany Wilt / THE DAILY GAMECOCK
Gubernatorial election turnout lowest in decades Political science professors weigh in on low voter participation Natalie Pita
@NATALIEPITA
Voter t u r nout t h is yea r wa s the lowest for a general election in South Carolina in at least 40 years, with only 43.6 percent of registered voters mak ing it out to t he pol ls, accord i ng to t he spokesman of the South Carolina State Election Commission (SEC), Chris Whitmire. The previous record for lowest voter turnout was in 2006 with 45 percent of registered individuals vot i ng, accord i ng to t he SEC records. “ Tu r n o u t i s d r i v e n b y t h e candidates and issues that are on the ballot,” Whitmire said. “I think election officials recognize that we can only do so much to make voting easy and accessible, and at a certain point, with that I think you meet the law of diminishing returns.” Whitmire also added that there’s only so much the SEC can do to contribute to voter turnout. “Generally people aren’t going to vote just because we make it as easy as possible,” he said. “There’s got to be that additional motivating factor.” A c cord i ng to USC p ol it ic a l science professor Robert Oldendick, the “lack of a hot race”
contributed to the voter turnout. He said a competitive race may have attracted additional voters. “[The races] were pretty much non-compet it ive a nd people, I think, based on polling information and media stories had some idea of how it was going to end,” Oldendick said. He also sa id t hat feel i ngs of “d i st r u st i n gover n ment ” a nd t he “lack of posit ive feeling of government” that the public has been exhibiting lately kept many away from the polls. “[Distrust] is the general feeling, ratings of Congress are at their lowest,” Oldendick said. “President Barack Obama’s ratings are also very low.” Th is was exacerbated by t he ongoing impact of negat ive campaig n ads, according to Oldendick. “The reason the candidates do [negative ads] is because it has been shown that negative campaigns do work,” Oldendick said. “There’s carr y over effect that if you see three months of ads that all the candidates are getting slammed with their negative characteristics by the time you get to election day people say, ‘Why should I vote for either of these people?’” I n add it ion to t he lac k of a competitive race, Oldendick was also unable to find an issue that made people excited to vote. “ T here ju st rea l ly wa sn’t a n overriding or galvanizing issue in
because, thanks to donations, they are self-sufficient. However, they are not operating at capacit y and only provided meals to 71 students in October. T he c re at ion of of f ice hou r s for compt rol ler s i s t he ba n ner ac h ie ve me nt f ro m t he St ude nt Treasur y, under the direction of Ry a n H a r m a n . T here a re now seven compt rollers in t he of f ice M o n d a y t h r o u g h T h u r s d a y, work i ng on f u nd i ng a l locat ions for student organizations, so that the organizations can spend more, ac cord i ng to H a r m a n. St udent organizations have $90,000 left to spend before April. St udent Bod y V ice Pre sident Donnie Iorio touted the forthcoming Syl labu s A rch ive, wh ich w i l l document syllabi across all colleges at the university online. This project has been discussed at student senate meetings for the past several months. Su s t a i n abi l it y prog r a m m i ng, u nde r t he d i r e c t io n of Je s s ic a Parker, Secretary of Environmental Affairs, will introduce a new tailgate recycling program. According to Parker, students will be able to earn free football tickets after a few hours SCIENCE GUY • Continued from 1 dared to dream of meet ing t heir childhood science hero. But Nye’s booking agent Glenn Schwartz gave the fi nal word.
this campaign. The focus was on the economy or unemployment, but there really wasn’t a lot of distinction bet ween t he candidates or a hot debate on that issue,” Oldendick said. “[Gubernatorial candidate Vincent] Sheheen tried to make transparency or education an issue but, it really didn’t get any traction.” USC political science professor Todd Shaw said it was “hard to say” exactly why this election had such low interest, but he did believe it had something to do with the way candidates were portrayed. “Ca nd idate s weren’t properly presented, especially to younger kids,” he said. Oldendick said that low-income and less educated voters specifically
DG
regarding changing names on S.C. drivers’ licenses for same-sex couples in the same way heterosexual couples do. DG
year tenure in Columbia. “South Carolina wouldn’t be in the mix if I didn’t feel like they had the players and coaches,” Dozier said. “I’m definitely excited to play along with them and get this going.” DG
of handing out recycling bags to people tailgating. Jon McClar y, t he Secretar y of Multicultural Affairs, announced t hat t he u n iversit y has adopted g e nder i nt o it s d i s c r i m i n at ion protect ion polic y t his year. The st udent mu lt ic u lt u ra l af fa i r s commission has plans to create a Hispanic alumni society which they hope to have opened by the end of next semester, he said. Camila Villacreses, Secretary of Safety and Transportation, detailed t he new garnet route of fered by the Comet bus which will run on Marion, Harden, Rosewood and Garners Ferr y. The company, in part nership w it h t he u niversit y, offers a Freshman Freedom Pass which allows all university freshman to ride for free (upon the presentation of their student ID). Villacreses said the upperclassmen’s fee will decrease by $10 every month. Richardson closed the address out with a promise of “a transparent r el at io n s h ip” b et we e n St ude nt Government and the student body. “There are still problems to solve and challenges to face,” she said. DG
“No he was not [on campus],” Schwartz said in an email.
DG
showed up i n lower nu mbers t han usual, to t he benef it of t he Republican party. “The impact of t he lower turnout was to the advantage of the Republican candidates,” Oldendick said. “The groups that tend to turn out less are those that tended to vote Democrat because they have less incentive ... to the extent that those groups were differentially affected.” Shaw said that, because of these results, the public shouldn’t expect many changes. “I feel like things are pretty much going to be the same,” Shaw said, “since the same party is in power.”
DG
Thursday, November 13, 2014
6
OverReactors Belvin Olasov
@BELVINOLASOV
Open improv group strives to educate, improve, improv
Improv tips and tricks Don’t say no Brunson: If you come into a scene and you’re like, ‘Hey, I have a cat in my arms’ and the other person says, ‘No, you don’t. It’s a turtle,’ then they’ve made you look stupid and it’s ruined the scene because the audience is confused … It’s very important to not deny information. Shrom: It’s weird how the people who have never done improv before, that’s just an automatic thing that people go in and do. Brunson: Because it’s easier to put down the person you’re with as a joke than it is to work with them. LeeHong: That’s something that I think happens when you’re very insecure on stage, like, ‘Oh, I don’t know what to say, maybe I’ll just bring them down with me.’
Avoid reference humor Shrom: We’ve had many, many people come through our hallowed halls and only do references– Brunson: To “Family Guy.” Shrom: Family Guy is a huge one! Brunson: When people don’t know what to do, they reference Family Guy. It’s a human condition.
Be inclusive Be physical Don’t be edgy Hall: People will often go towards, ‘I’m not really sure what I’m going to do, let me make a joke about sex, or drugs —’ Brunson: Some edgy thing. Hall: Yeah, some edgy thing. That’s really a crutch. Brunson: We had to outlaw Hitler jokes for a while. L e e H o n g : We h a d t o o u t l a w cannibalism and killing each other off just to end scenes, that is the lazy thing — but that’s from freshman year ... It’s about building a scene and making a story, it’s not about trying to be funny. So, when people rely on those things, they’re trying to be funny, and it doesn’t help for the scene … the scenes are funny when the audience connects to it.
Hannah Cleaveland / THE DAILY GAMECOCK
Rebecca Shrom leads OverReactors with four other core members, who help guide the newer members.
Establish who you are Brunson: That’s another one of the core principles, establishing who you are in a scene as soon as you come in. Having characters and people on stage that the audience can connect to, and that the characters themselves can relate to, your partner can relate to, is very important.
Make the scene, not the joke Shrom: Ask for the tea, not the laugh. Hall: Bring a pie to a scene, not a wall. Brunson: We just have a lot of different ways of saying it. Hall: Bring good things into a scene, but slowly but surely. You don’t need to bring in everything all at once, because then it’s like you have nothing else to build. LeeHong: You don’t want to add yourself when you’re not needed, so you need to have a keen sense of when a scene should end, when you feel like you can add something or when you’re like, ‘Wait, am I just doing this because I want to be on stage?’
Commit, 100 percent
OverReactors Improv is the group hug of USC’s improv comedy scene — an open organization looking to give students a look at what makes improv comedy special. It started as an all-inclusive answer to Toast, before blossoming into its own, strange entity. “There were a lot of people who auditioned for Toast for, like, two spots. And there were about 20 people there auditioning,” Connor Brunson, fourthyear public health student said. “There was definitely a need there that wasn’t being met, so we filled it.” As a result, OverReactors Improv has taken on an educational bent. “Connor, Ryan and I decided … we’re going to start our own group that’s made for people who just want to get better,” said Kat LeeHong, fourth-year media arts student. OverReactors started off as a practice group, called Jam, intended to include diverse forms of art: poetry, oration and improv. It focused into improv comedy and was eventually christened OverReactors. Inevitably, the fact that it sounds like “ovaries” came up. “I’ve been asked, ‘Is it an all-female group?’ many times,” said Rebecca Shrom, fourth-year theater and media arts student and OverReactors president. They started four years ago, and around two years ago they started actually performing, holding shows open to the public. That hasn’t dulled their all-inclusive missive. The OverReactors have open practice Tuesday and Thursday nights, and when they say open, they mean it — anyone is welcome to come, observe and — if they’re ready — participate. Between 15 and 30 people come to any given practice. They have auditions for every show, decided by the core five members. The rotating performance cast means that anyone can end up on stage, if they’re up for it. In addition to the core five, two to four more members will perform at any given show. “ T he O verReac tor s ex ist s to g ive people opportunities, because that’s why we created it,” Shrom said. One of the things that inspires the OverReactors is improv’s unpredictability — it’s a highwire act of storytelling and comedy. “Sometimes it’ll hit me two seconds before we go on stage for a show, ‘We don’t know what’s going to happen here! This could either be really great or really horrible, and we literally do not know what’s going to happen,’” Shrom said. “That’s really fun and really scary.” That’s not to say that improv is inherently stressful — in fact, in its looseness, it can be freeing. “It’s just a great way to blow off steam sometimes, because practices are at 10:30 at night, and oftentimes I’ll have the worst day ever and I’ll just be like, ‘Ugh, okay, [for] an hour I’ll act like a total idiot and people will laugh at me,” said Michael Hall, fourth-year history student. “It’s just a great ending to the day.” The O verReactors members are incredibly passionate about their craft. The unique elements in improv comedy — the running jokes, the unexpectedly deep stories, the absurdist interludes that nonetheless have to be justified — all coalesce to make an activity like no other. Though it can often be silly — as when “[Gabe Crawford, fifth year graphic design student] was dubstep, and it was the most annoying thing that ever happened to me,” according to Brunson — but at the core of every sketch is good, fundamental storytelling, and the jokes can come organically from that. “The capacity to tell stories and appreciate them is at the core of improv,” Brunson said. The OverReactors may be relatively new on the scene, but over its nearly four years of exposing countless students to what makes improv special, it has made an indelible impact. “I think that improv, regardless of whether or not you perform, is just learning how to have fun with people, developing these relationships and really figuring yourself out and helping improve your communication skills,” LeeHong said. “I’m not the same person I was several years ago when I was starting the OverReactors. I feel like we’ve all very much improved as people.” OverReactors will be holding their next show at the Benson Theatre this Friday at 11 p.m. DG
Thursday, November 13, 2014
7
Artie Braswell @TDG_ARTS
USC’s oldest improv group continues to act out, as is tradition
Toast New to Toast This fall, in one of the group’s first performances in early October, new Toast member Abi McNeely caught quite the surprise when she had to guess the word “paranoid” from a series of hints from the other members. The catch: every time the audience laughed, she was brought a marshmallow. She stuffed her clothes, tilted her neck and racked her brain doing all she could to balance the mess. Needless to say, she was decked in little chunks of white fluff by the time she figured it out. Toast is USC’s oldest improv group, c u r rent ly i n it s 14t h year, a nd wh ile plenty has changed, they still have a few traditions. Ever y year, they welcome their new inductees with a live trial in their first per for ma nce. A s i ntense or a n x iet y-
inducing as this may seem, the group vows to maintain a lighthearted spirit. “We’ll come up with a way to initiate them, but we’ll try to be nice about it,” sa id A lexa nd ra Herst ik , a t h ird-year mass communications student and Toast performer. “The babies never know what’s going to happen. They usually don’t even know that something will happen.” Ryan Stevens , a t hird-year English student, explained that the game is less about hazing and more about introducing the members to the unexpected early on. “Last year one of us was a Sharknado,” Stevens said. “Basically, the point is to keep the new members on their toes, and surprise them with what’s going on. It’s always a different ‘gotcha’ game.”
Not all rules are for breaking Ma ny comedians take dark t u r ns to muster laughs from an audience. And with the great uncertainty of improv, there’s a sense that touchy issues could surface. But Toast has cautions laid for approaching such topics. “If you’re going to take a topical issue or something that is risqué, you always go on the side of the people who are being hurt or oppressed. Never make fun of people, unless t hey’re in power,” Stevens said. “That’s just good-natured humor. You go after the big guy.” After all, improv is a conversation, not a showcase. Thus, it’s impor t a nt t hat everyone present is on the same page to avoid “going blue.”
“We try to always play to our intelligence and the audience’s intelligence, so we don’t have to cheap shot,” Herstik said. Aside from the bawdy humor, there are other surefi re, red-flag topics that will have the audience sitting, waiting around for the next joke. Toast members know to pick the subject matter that provides welcoming laughs rather than inside jokes. “References aren’t the strongest humor,” Stevens said. “Anything can make a good scene, but it has to be about two people’s relationships. If you build a scene only on something that certain people are going to get, then you’re leaving someone in your audience cold and if you leave just one person cold then you’ve messed up.” Hannah Cleaveland / THE DAILY GAMECOCK
Vic Whitten, the president of Toast, is as dedicated to improv comedy as the rest of the Toast gang and practices consistently.
Making it up as you go Traditional themes include a “sex y” Toast perfor mance and a dress-up n ight for bot h audience and performers. Other than that, Toast is rather flexible in how they approach each show. Work ing wit h t he same crew in uncertain situations on a regular basis, you begin to develop a sense of how what goes on outside Toast affects the energy of each show and each rehearsal. Vic W hitten, a fourth-year public health student, doesn’t see this energy as superfluous; rather, it’s essential to the process. “One of my favorite things about improvising is that whatever day you’ve had, you bring that to the table,” she said. “All our members come in, whatever they’ve experienced that day, that dictates how they’re going to perform that night.
I think we learn a lot about how we deal with our own stressors by expressing that on stage.” Herstik finds that picking up on these cues is fundamental to enjoying oneself on stage. By learning to read your fellow performers, you’re committing to the process. “A big part of improv is trust. It’s scary walking out on to the stage not knowing what’s going to happen,” she said. “You have to trust the other person that walks on stage with you. They’re going to have your back onstage and you have to trust that it will be a good scene or at least die trying.” Despite the support of trust, nervousness for that sort of thing will be inevitable for some. After all, nearly anything could happen onstage.
But it’s important not to confuse the butterfl ies for leeches. “Most of the people in Toast adopt a ‘use it’ attitude. If you’re nervous, that’s fi ne. Don’t deny that you’re being nervous,” Stevens said. “If you trust the person in your scene then you know it’s going to work well because there’s no plan. You can’t feign a plan that isn’t there.” Andrew Freix, a second-year computer science student, looks to the extensive repetition as an assurance that everything (or at least most things) will go over well. “Even though we don’t know what the scene is going to be, we know that we’ve done this enough where it’ll be something good,” he said.
Rivalry? (No.) Tradition? (A tad.) A s it i s , t h e t w o b i g i m p r o v g roups on campus are Toast and OverReactors Improv. But this page isn’t all that they share. Actually, OverReactors Improv was born of Toast in some kind of slimy improv meiosis. Stevens founded the OverReactors w it h K at L eeHong a nd C on nor Brunson after not getting into Toast his freshman year, though he would later audition again and join Toast. “ We t hought ‘ We love Toa st , t hey’re awesome,’ but t here’s one playground and it’s full, so let’s just build another playground,” Stevens said. Despite the links between the two, each group uses different playground equ ipment . T hey have d if ferent
formats. Toast is more long-form comedy, according to Whitten, while the OverReactors are short-form. But the boundaries are not exactly rigid. Stevens describes Toast as a “rotating cast,” claiming that there are even performances where the two get together, mixing and matching lineups. “The point that all we want — both Toast and OverReactors — is to do improv and entertain people,” Stevens said. Toast only has one theater major r ight now, but it used to consist overwhelmingly of theater majors. From 14 years ago to today, the big constant in it all has been Benson Theater. “Benson was a space which they
felt they could go and play in. In a big theater you will always have to reserve space,” Whitten said. “Benson is a place for freeform, experimental things.” Today’s group looks to the aging theater’s former improvisers as muses and inspiration. Whitten, one of the senior members of the group, has seen the mix of changing faces and steady traditions. “Former Toast members serve as a huge reference point,” she said. “We still play the games they’ve created.” B e yond t he t he at er, t here’s a certain qualit y to t he t radit ional Toast routine that induces both a nose on the grindstone and a loose, comfortable affect. “We come in roughly five to 10
minutes late. We do a warm-up — mostly an energ y thing — and we usually do a long form,” W hitten said. “On a show-week, we rehearse every single night, doing the games that we want to play. It’s pretty much what we want to do and what we need to work on.” A l l t h at wo r k c o m e s b a c k t o that one crucial element in a good improvised performance: trust. “Bu ild i ng t r ust comes f rom working in a tight space a few nights a week,” W hitten said, “and being with your best friends who make you a funnier person.”. Toast’s next and last show of the semester will run Dec. 5 at Benson theater at 11 p.m. DG
Thursday, November 13, 2014
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In wake of tragedy, Yik Yak misinforms ISSUE USC student’s death sparked untrue rumors. OUR STANCE When it comes to news, turn to the professionals. When the murder of Diamoney Greene started to appear on social media sites, Yik Yak was set ablaze with all kinds of misinformation. Unverified, half-truthful reports mounted to new and dangerous heights. A murder-suicide that took place days before it was discovered was talked about as if it was an immediate threat to the student population. Th is is what happens what happens when the rumor mill doesn’t have all the facts yet — it distorts, it mystifies and it doesn’t leave a nyone more i nfor med afterwards. Don’t get us wrong, this kind of hyper-fast communication which Yik Yak promotes can be funny. It can start the types of rumors that gather a whole swarth of people down to the South Caroliniana Library on the Horseshoe to see Bill Nye. But both cases — one serious,
one not — boil down to a simple message: Yik Yak and fast-moving Twitter “reporting” accounts do not necessarily transmit reliable information. If you don’t know who is behind a post or Yak, you can’t be sure of the intent behind or quality of the information you’re given. If you
“The number of people upvoting one version of a story might give it an misleading impression of truth.” want to be sure, you go to your reliable news sources. We ’r e s u r e m o s t p e o p l e understand this to some extent. But if that’s the case, why did so many people show up to get a handshake from their favorite childhood Science Guy? W hy do so many people, caught in the excitement of a vague, threatening news story, give these wildest kind of rumors a second look?
It ’s a quest ion concer n i ng degrees of certainty. No one — if anyone — places full confidence i n t he hea r say t hat ’s put on Yik Yak, but the sheer volume of cont radict ing informat ion leaves any potential topic open to doubt. The number of people upvoting one version of a story (which sometimes reaches into the hundreds) might give it a misleading impression of truth. We’re not trying to criticize social media. These apps and websites ser ve t heir or ig i nal purposes as spaces which foster com mu n ic at ion , a nony mou s or ot her w ise. Tw it ter is easy to use and if you’re a reputable journalistic organization trying to get the real news out there, it’s great ways of letting people know the facts almost as soon as you do. But, as far as nailing down the details, you’d have a hard time confirming anything that you find in the Yik-Yak tide-rush of different bits of half-truths, sex jokes and outright lies. W hen it comes to what you need to know, it’s worth it to look to the people who are paid to ensure that every word you get is factual. Look to the news.
State’s same-sex marriage ruling will not end Kathleen Schipano Second-year print journalism student
People concerned must band together Today was history. Today all the cynical conversation we had about our bigoted state gave way to justice and it was ruled that South Carolina’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. I was shocked to wake up and read the news. I thought for sure I would hear news of this sort years and years from now when I was picking up some hypothetical children from school. I made the rounds: a Facebook post with the link to the news
story, a tweet, a text to mom and friends about ‘someday’ finally arriving. The day goes on. News about the Copper Beech killing, lunch of chicken fingers, some math homework, some online shopping and a weird feeling that nothing was different. Of course, so much is different. W hile the wedding receptions decked out w it h excel lent barbecue and southern charm under the palmetto moon are still months to come, the wheels have been set in motion for true marriage equality. A U.S. district judge’s ruling holds more clout than the petty hate propagated by Governor Haley and the like. As I perused the various articles and updates on the developments, it ’s H a le y ’s c o m me nt m ade in October in regards to gay marriage that leaves me unsettled. “T h is ad m i n ist rat ion w il l continue to uphold the will of the people,” she said. I fear that, despite the clarity
of one judge a nd g row i ng numbers nationwide, the people still possess a will to hate and discriminate against a group of people. Bigotry and ignorance aren’t self-aware. That’s why they hang around so long. Hate will not wash away easily with the ruling of a judge. It must be endured. We must hear the idiotic appeals and read the tacky bumper stickers. The appeals will come. People will fight and thump their bibles on the backs of happy couples. Ridiculous arguments about the definition of marriage will spill out over the population. Like a cat without claws, they will paw helplessly at the legs of change like their out of date ideals will influence anyone. But I know in my heart that we can endure, bisexual, gay, lesbian, transsexual and ally alike. We can do it because we have each other, for better or worse, for richer or poorer.
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Remember cultural history, despite horrors Chance to reflect worth trudging through past injustices I spent last weekend touring Washington, D.C. and was inundated by the superabundant national pride and plethoric memorialization to a degree I haven’t experienced since visiting Rome. There are my riad points of comparison bet ween t he t wo capitals: t he marble, t he memor y a nd t he looker s- on g i rd i ng t he famed monuments — monuments which one nonetheless experiences with the intimacy of a personal recollect ion or a t rip to see grandparents. This is not surprising, because we were reared in t he context of t he stories t hese effigies echo and we forge our values as citizens of nation and world in light of the unknown soldiers, the gravitas of Lincoln, the dream of King, and the selfsame eye to the golden haze of memory which influenced the actions of our forbearers so palpably. In my own reading and rambling I have encountered confl icting reactions to the grand memorialization of the national past. Some see it as a form of propaganda or nationalistic myth-making. Lincoln, for example, was not the only or even the most important agent of unity standing astride the chasm of civil war. Memorializing a single narrative reduces lived complex it y and imposes a decept ive linearity the readiest side effect of which is a sense of national exclusivism. At the very least there is an eye-roll toward the sentimentality with which the histories are admired or a look-askance at the moral shortcoming of the enshrined individuals. Suc h skept ic ism is i mp or t a nt a nd not without merit. However, the repudiation of the sublimity of cultural memory as ignorant, tendent ious or propaga ndist ic cheat s t he critic out of a distinctly human, almost poetic pleasure. Consider the epics of the ancient Greeks and Romans and their refractions in the arts from Hellenistic Greece to the Renaissance. Few deny the troubling chapters of these tales, be it the treatment of women or the subjugation of slavery or the obsolete religiosity grounded in sacrifice. But few deny their worthiness as art and memor y worth preser ving and discussing. They, too, were produced in patronage systems and served political interests, and any serious scholar of these monuments needs to consider that in a discourse on them. Perhaps we ought to take the stance of a scholar when admiring and reflecting on the idealized objects of our cultural memory. Be circumspect, but preserve the polychromy of emancipation, the tragedy of war and the elegy of death. If poetry is, as Robert Frost wrote, what is lost in translation, then let us translate carefully yet without lamenting the grace notes of our own improvisational narratives. — Del Maticic, fifth-year classics student
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Reflection on slaying of fellow student Ben Crawford Second-year English and Russian student Death shouldn’t be reduced to abstract concept, lest the person also be reduced A fter I heard about the murder of secondyear criminology and criminal justice student Diamoney Greene, I thought about the ways you could talk about death on college campuses. You could talk about the march of headlines (shooting after shooting after shooting,) which
makes death seem almost normal. Or maybe say t hat deat h is like a pair of headlights ref lected in a rearview mirror: it’s always closer than it appears. Or even touch on a lighter note: seeing the death of someone near us, of someone we knew (or could have known) should spur us to seize the day. Eat, drink, be merry. Find a purpose and live for it. All that stuff. But, after some thought, none of these floaty and wholly conceptual ideas seemed like right way to think about the death of a fellow Gamecock. They don’t reflect the fact that a pair of eyes is shut to the universe forever. That every day since the Greene’s death might have been the day she smiled at you across the street, had she lived. Or opened the door for you. Or helped you on your feet after slipping and falling in Russell House. Every day could have been the day that Green changed your life. I don’t know if this is the right way to talk about death. No subject, except love, has been
abstracted into pithy phrases as much as death. What’s needed here is a few facts to tie us back down to the real. Right now, there are two parents without a daughter. An empty seat in a class. One less set of hands to put up a Christmas tree. I never knew her. I don’t feel the chest-void that accompanies the death of a friend or family member. But I don’t need to. It doesn’t make her absence from the people she loved any less true. The only bit of the Talmud I remember from my Jewish upbringing goes something like this: “whoever destroys a single soul destroys the whole world.” The day after a fellow Gamecock died, I heard the low hum of human conversation as I walked through campus, each person completely sure that death is distant and patient and slow. It is as if they didn’t know how easily a world was destroyed this week.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
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HOROSCOPES
Aries Fo c u s o n a s u b j e c t you love, and breakthroughs are possible. An unpleasant su r pr ise cou ld ar ise, especially if you rush. Keep quiet. Don’t talk back to authority. Plug a leak. Don’t be afraid, or impetuous ... go slow and steady.
Taurus K e ep c o s t s dow n at home. Love could seem intense ... work together a nd keep you r foc u s for great results. Talk to your part ner. Play by t he r ules. H idden obstacles provoke accidents, so go slow and watch out.
Gemini Don’t get intimidated by strong competition. Abu nda nce, due to you r ow n t h r if t, is yours. Don’t squabble. Finish what you started. Temporar y confusion c a n b ef udd le , s o b e careful. Advance with caution. Know that you are loved.
Cancer Po s t p one e x p a n s ion and travel. Don’t talk about f inances if you c a n a v o i d it . Q u i e t productivity allows you to keep your eye on a speeding ball. Finish a n old job. T h i n k it t h rough to t he end. Collaboration can get romantic.
truth gets revealed. You
Leo Postpone a discussion. Fa m i l y c o me s f i r s t . Avoid reckless spending. Your strength is qu ite at t rac t ive. Don’t get stopped by pa st f a i lu re s . L e a r n from them. Walk away from pushy salespeople. Make plans but don’t act on them yet.
Virgo Post pone a roma nt ic conversat ion u nt il you’ve t hought over what you want to say. A ssess you r posit ion carefully. Pay attention to t he mood, and let intuition guide. Light candles, add soft music and fragrant f lowers. Express feelings wordlessly.
Libra D o n’t t a k e of f o n a lark quite yet. Accept a challenge, it pays well. If you must go, allow extra t ime for travel. T h i n k q u i c k l y, b u t move slowly to avoid accidents. Acknowledge the limits, and keep to them. Rest.
Scorpio M issteps cou ld d rop t he cake, so walk c a r e f u l l y. D o n’t gamble, take big risks or experiment with the dinner you’re ser ving guests. Discipline and c reat iv it y c a n b oo st your career now. The
are beloved.
Sagittarius I mpor ta nt associates come to an agreement. It cou ld get chaot ic. Avoid a touchy subject. Make plans before you m a ke me s se s. Spend you r money on you r home and family, but not excessively. Your goal gets achieved.
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The Newsroom We’ll be there! dailygamecock.com/blog/newsroom
Capricorn A new theor y doesn’t work as well in practice. Fr i e n d s o f f e r g o o d advice. Old and young share high ideals. Dispel nervous energy through exercise. Blow off chores and follow your heart for a while. Clean up later.
Aquarius Curb the desire to rush forward. Associates put t heir money into t he pot. Are there strings attached? Choose your d i r e c t io n c a r e f u l l y. Keep promises already made. Tally results. A romantic moment could catch you by surprise.
Pisces D u t y c a l l s . Wo r k produces u nforeseen benef it s. Don’t spend on f r ivol it ies. Watch out for hidden da ngers. Develop a good habit. Eat well, and nurt ure strength and endurance. Keep the faith. Sacrifice or s u r r e nd e r i n g w o r k s
11/13/14
1 2 3 4
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11/13/14
ACROSS 1 Cotton swabs 6 “Rush Hour” co-star Jackie 10 Installs, as carpeting 14 Figure out, as a bill 15 Promote extravagantly 16 All over again 17 TV-top antenna 19 Enthusiastic hand-raiser’s cry 20 Canonized mlle. 21 Iowa crop 22 Like pant legs 24 Adjust the pitch of, as a guitar string 26 Pickling liquid 27 Hightail it 30 Airhead 32 Corrida showman 35 Stud farm stud 36 Sharp bends in fairways 38 Reedy marsh plant 43 Where resented comments stick, metaphorically 45 Concert memento 46 Craps loser 51 The “E” in FEMA: Abbr. 52 Circle dances 53 Mr. Bill’s nemesis, in “Saturday Night Live” skits 56 Unwilling (to) 58 “Pants on fire” fellow 59 __ Vegas 62 Man-to-man defense alternative 63 Snug-collared top 66 “This weighs __!” 67 Hint 68 Atlanta university 69 David Wright’s team 70 Ranch employee 71 Vetoes DOWN 1 Fiscal-yr. fourths 2 Right on the nose 3 “Could __ Magic”: Barry Manilow hit 4 Place for drafts and darts
5 Cinnamon or cloves 6 Rosy-cheeked angel 7 Cape Cod fishing port 8 Mo. for fools? 9 Monster’s loch 10 Hollywood’s Hedy 11 Iron-poor blood condition 12 Sana’a native 13 Homeland of Saab and Volvo 18 Moppet 23 __ Field: Brooklyn Dodgers’ home 24 Barn dance dance 25 Songwriter Clapton 27 Busy co. on Mother’s Day 28 Lav in London 29 Unit of work 31 “Dang!” 33 Schoolyard playtime 34 Fairy tale baddie 37 Utters 39 Van Gogh’s brother 40 Zero in 41 Ill temper
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42 Photocopier tray size: Abbr. 44 Like an efficiently managed business 46 Exclamation from Gomer Pyle 47 Dissenting ballot 48 “Am too!” reply 49 Actresses Black and Allen 50 Befitted 54 Guy’s partner 55 Eco-friendly 57 Make an engraving
59 Tenth of 13 popes 60 Farm fraction 61 “The __ the limit!” 64 Suffix with “form” 65 Abbr. for people with only two names
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Gamecocks battle Clemson in NCAA tourney Brennan Doherty @TDG_SPORTS
W hen the South Carolina women’s soccer team gathered on Monday to watch the NCAA Tournament selection show, the team was overjoyed when they had been awarded a national seed for just the third time in program history. Moments later the No. 3 seed Gamecocks (13-53, 5-3-3 SEC) saw their first round opponent pop up on the screen: Clemson. Mixed emotions ensued. W hile most of the players are viewing the upcoming matchup with the Tigers as a chance to avenge a 1-0 loss to their rival from early September, Head Coach Shelley Smith knows how tough of a game it will be. For starters, all Sout h Carolina-Clemson women’s soccer games are physical ones, but with the two teams dueling with each other in a win or go home scenario, physical and mental toughness will be crucial. Senior defender Andie Romness described the September game against Clemson as a “bloodbath” and “kind of dirty.” Ranked No. 18, South Carolina is the only three seed who will have to face a nationally ranked team in the first round. W h ile fellow t hree seeds West Virg in ia, Kentucky and Texas Tech face unranked opponents like Georgetown, SIUE and Prairie View A&M, Clemson enters Friday’s game ranked No. 22 and the Tigers went 6-1-1 in their final eight ACC matches after starting off ACC play with two losses. Smith isn’t necessarily surprised that her team
drew Clemson because of the NCAA’s tendency to make geographically-based decisions for first round matchups, but she does think that it’s unfortunate that her team has to face such a tough team in just the first round. “Well, I thought being a seeded team, you shouldn’t face that tough of an opponent in the first round,” Smith said. “But, we know how the NCAA works. Sometimes it’s not equitable.” Like Clemson, the Gamecocks started off conference play with two losses, but South Carolina has just one loss in its last seven matches, and that defeat came against No. 7 Texas A&M in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament last Friday. South Carolina’s 1-0 loss to Clemson early in the season was a defensive minded game as senior Gamecock goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo and sophomore Clemson goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan combined to save nine shots. Smith is expecting another defensive battle since Sheridan and D’Angelo have both been stout in net all season. Sheridan ranks 15th nationally with just 0.60 goals surrendered per game while D’Angelo ranks 17th, giving up only .61 scores per contest. “She’s [Sheridan] an excellent goalkeeper,” Smith said. “You’re not going to get an easy goal. Same thing with Sabrina.” The Gamecocks are going to need some form Jeffrey Davis / THE DAILY GAMECOCK of scoring and perhaps sophomore Sophie Groff Senior Andie Romness called the Gamecocks’ 1-0 and freshman Savannah McCaskill can take that regular season loss against Clemson a “bloodbath.” responsibility since they lead the team with six another big crowd Friday at 6 p.m. and five goals respectively. “Last time we played Clemson, they packed the Smith believes the game will be the most stands all around the goals and fences, so I think competitive first round game across the country. When South Carolina and Clemson met at Stone anything less than that would be a little sad.” Stadium in September, a program-record 5,855 DG fans were in attendance and Romness is expecting
Millard helps men’s soccer advance Sophomore Koty Millard played hero once again as he scored with 13 seconds remaining to give the Gamecock men’s soccer team a 2-1 win over No. 18 Kentucky in the Conference-USA tournament. South Carolina (9-9) as the No. 7 seed in the tourney beat second-seeded Kentucky by way of a second-half comeback. Down 1-0 at halftime senior Mahamoudou Kaba tied the game 1-1 in the 52nd minute. Millard, who scored the game-winner against Clemson in double overtime earlier in the season, helped the Gamecocks redeem themselves for a 4-3 double overtime loss against Kentucky in their regular season matchup. South Carolina will face third-seeded UAB at 4:30 p.m. on Friday in the semifinals. —Tanner Abel, Asst. Sports Editor
The good news ahead of the matchup is the return of sophomore linebacker Skai Moore. The team’s second-leading tackler and the leader of the Gamecocks defense, Moore was sidelined against the Volunteers with an ankle injury. Florida still has a little more than an outside shot at the SEC East title, but that’s been out of the question for a while for South Carolina. But w it h a b ow l g a me s t i l l a possibility and a number of jobs on the line, the Gamecocks can’t afford a flop against the Gators. “You can never give up,” Brown said. “We have three games left to play, and those are opportunities to go out there and get better.”
DEFENSE • Continued from 12 make plays.” While Harris is a unique challenge in and of himself, the Florida rushing attack in no way stops wit h him. Running backs Matt Jones and Kelvin Taylor have rushed for a combined 1,150 yards this season. And according to South Carolina secondary coach Grady Brown, it will be a group effort containing Florida’s stable of runners. “[ T he seconda r y] needs to be involved versus the run,” he said. “We need to tackle those backs. They’ll do some things to get the ball on the edge.”
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Women’s soccer lost regular season matchup 1-0 to Tigers
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Offense looks to explode past Gator defense Top-25 offense has not resulted in Gamecock wins Tanner Abel
@TABELABEL
Jeffrey Davis / THE DAILY GAMECOCK
Sophomore wideout Pharoh Cooper is second in the SEC with 786 receiving yards.
It’s hard to put it any other way besides that it’s been a strange season for the South Carolina offense. A unit that is among the top-25 in the nation in total yards (479.6 per game, 24th), passing yards (294.6 per game, 19th) and points (35.9 per game, T-23rd), and that is one of head coach Steve Spurrier’s best offenses ever somehow has been part of five losses in nine games. It’s fair to say the defense has a lot to do with those losses, but the Gamecock offense had chances to put games away several times this year and couldn’t capitalize. Against Missouri, the Gamecocks took the foot off the gas pedal to close out the game and lost 21-20 because of a late Tiger score. South Carolina decided to abandon the running game with a late lead against Kentucky and ended up losing the game in regulation through a deflected interception for a touchdown. Two weeks ago against Tennessee, redshirt senior quarterback Dylan Thompson and company could not get a first down to run the clock out and prevent a Volunteer game-tying scoring drive. After the defense allowed a field goal in overtime, the offensive line allowed two straight sacks after looking strong before that. It resulted in a long field goal attempt that never came close. Offensive line coach Shawn Elliott couldn’t figure out what went wrong for his group in that final period. “God, I wish I could tell you,” he said. “I mean those (plays) looked like a different unit going out there. I thought to myself ‘Am I watching a movie? I hadn’t seen them run around the edge all night.’” For the most part, the line has done a good job protecting Thompson this season, only allowing 18 sacks thus far. And it’s allowed Thompson to throw for 2,588 passing yards, which ranks second in the SEC and 19th in the nation. He is also tied for second in the conference with 22 touchdown passes. However, he is tied for the league lead with 10 interceptions as well, which has hurt the team in the
fourth quarter at times. Besides the finish at Kentucky, he almost led the Gamecocks to a touchdown against Auburn and a lead, but an interception instead gave the Tigers momentum to score in their final possession. Spurrier said he would like to have a few playcalls back this season. If he could do it over, there would probably be more running plays in that overtime. Redshirt junior tailback Brandon Wilds said specifically he hopes South Carolina runs the ball more against Florida. The new star of the show in the Gamecock offense is sophomore wide receiver Pharoh Cooper. But the term “wide receiver” is used loosely because Cooper can do pretty much anything. Besides his school record of 233 receiving yards against Tennessee, he caught two touchdowns, ran for another one and threw for a score to Wilds. Cooper may see Florida’s sophomore cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III covering him, which could prove for a tough day. Hargreaves will be playing on Sundays, as he is a potential future first-round draft pick in the NFL. He leads the Gators with 10 pass breakups with two interceptions to go along with it. Florida head coach Will Muschamp said with how explosive Cooper and the Gamecock offense can be, it will be the toughest game of the season for the Gator defense. Cooper leads South Carolina in catches (51), receiving yards (786) and touchdowns (eight). He’s second in the SEC in receiving yards and said he expected to make plays this season but not attain such a high level of success. Still, he just hopes his efforts can start helping the Gamecocks win again. “We have a whole bunch of offensive numbers in the top categories, but all them numbers that we have, we still can’t win games,” Cooper said. “So, all that really goes out the window if you can’t win games.” The offensive gameplan seems simple enough to say, but a tall order to accomplish. It also may show how much faith South Carolina has in its defense. “Hopefully, we can go into the game and score every drive,” Wilds said. “That’s basically the goal, so if we go in and score every drive we shouldn’t have a problem.” DG
Defense hopes to surprise Florida
Jeffrey Davis / THE DAILY GAMECOCK
After missing the Tennessee game two weeks ago with an ankle injury, second-leading tackler and sophomore linebacker Skai Moore, center, will return this week.
Gamecocks prepare to face dual-threat Gator quarterback Harris Danny Garrison
@DANNYLGARRISON
Between mid-September and midOctober, if the Florida Gators weren’t the laughing stock of the SEC, nobody was. Then came the move that could have saved Florida head coach Will Muschamp’s job and the Gators’ season in one fell swoop, when redshirt junior quarterback Jeff Driskel was benched in favor of true freshman Treon Harris.
Si nce H a r r is took over a head of Florida’s clash with Georgia, the Gators have won back-to-back games, including an upset win over the thenNo. 11 Bulldogs. Florida has scored 72 points in the first two games of the Treon Harris era, and while the Gators’ offensive stock is skyrocketing, South Carolina’s defense is trending in the exact opposite direction. The Gamecocks rank 108 out of 125 FBS teams in total defense, and they’re showing no signs of improvement. “I don’t t hink nobody saw t his coming,” redshirt sophomore Chris Moody said. Within South Carolina’s abysmal
year overall on defense have been a number of first-year starters hosting coming out parties at the Gamecocks’ expense. W hat Texas A& M quarterback Kenny Hill started in game one, Tennessee’s Josh Dobbs continued in South Carolina’s latest fourth-quarter collapse. In their fi rst-career starts, the two combined for 1,073 yards of offense. But unlike Hill and Dobbs, Harris has the luxury of two starts under his belt before taking on the Gamecocks. “[Harris] is a quarterback that can run — I think he had a couple rushing TDs against Vandy — and he’s a good passer too,” head coach Steve Spurrier
said. “We’re getting these teams with, sometimes, a new quarterback. But it seems like their best quarterback when they face us.” Dual-threat quarterbacks like Hill and Dobbs are kryptonite to the South Carolina defense. The Gamecocks are experts at losing contain and blowing open-field tackles. The scariest part for South Carolina: Harris could prove to be the best it’s seen so far. “I think he’s more athletic, so it’s going to be hard,” Moody said. “You’ve got to keep him in the pocket, which is easier said than done. He’s going to DEFENSE • 11