<p>hope2help - DD and I will be there on Saturday for Scholars Day. Interested to learn more about Capstone.</p>
<p>We’ll be there.</p>
<p>I’m a little irritated they are so rigid on the “only one guest per student”, we are 1000 miles away and this is really the only opportunity for both DW and I to see the place before DD has to decide. It’s not like we can easily (or cheaply!) pop down here some other time to visit. We will tag-team somehow so that only one of us is in the building at a time.</p>
<p>^Last year I remember some people bringing two parents with them.</p>
<p>At the very least, if they only let one of you ‘come’, it will probably only be for the lunch portion but you’ll both be able to go on a tour of the school, see dorms, and go through the fair or information sessions.</p>
<p>So if you’re both planning on coming despite the rule, I think you should be fine. Of course, things do change, so it might be different this year, but last year people were able to bring two parents.</p>
<p>I didn’t, simply because I pretty much handled the whole college application process on my own. My mom isn’t a college graduate and didn’t know what to look for and my dad graduated a good forty years ago, so things have changed a good bit since then.</p>
<p>I know exactly what you mean! I am hoping our son and I can tag along for at least part of the tour while my husband and daughter do the full experience. I was a little bit unpleasantly surprised when my D showed me the message about no other family members being allowed. We are making this the first part of a family vacation and I really want everyone to see where our D will most likely be next year.</p>
<p>I am going! I’m exited to make the trip up from Florida. I’m also going on the tour so it’ll be a long, but very exiting day. Go Gamecocks</p>
<p>@AUGirl, that’s about what I figured would really happen. Once the huge mob is there, I doubt they will have much control over who goes in and out.</p>
<p>Only one of us will do the lunch, I don’t mind that since it costs the school actual money to provide it.</p>
<p>Re. the irritation of some that each candidate is only allowed one guest: </p>
<p>Wait until you see how mobbed the gymnasium is for the box lunch…row upon row of contiguous tables to accommodate thousands of people. There literally would be nowhere to fit everyone if each candidate were accompanied by two guests. The policy is a reflection of the fact that USC is so generous in the number of candidates who are offered merit scholarships.</p>
<p>Our son and I attended the lunch and then about 30 minutes of the scheduled events. Then we took off on our own, and had a great day exploring the campus and Honors Residence, talking to people, and getting a real sense of USC. Once we were on our own, it would have been no problem if there had been three of us instead of two.</p>
<p>There seems to be alot of very serious crime lately very close to the campus… I check “The State” newspaper online and it seems like there is a very serious crime problem. I have mentioned this before and everyone seems to think its exaggerated however it is a problem… I hoe the school is taking some serious action…</p>
<p>I have been concerned about this as well. My son will most certainly be walking all over campus, and at times off campus - at all times of the day and night for classes, church, clubs, etc. It is very disquieting…</p>
<p>Astoria22, re. “a lot of very serious crime lately very close to campus,” can you quantify; that is, provide dates, locations and descriptions?</p>
<p>iPod taken in downtown assault, armed robbery
<a href="mailto:tflach@thestate.com">tflach@thestate.com</a>
The State E-Mail
Print
Reprint 0 comments
Text Size: tool nameclose tool goes here
Police are investigating an assault and armed robbery near the University of South Carolina late Saturday.
Two men took an iPod from the victim in the 300 block of South Main Street near the Swearingen Engineering Building after displaying a weapon and hitting the victim in the head about 10:30 p.m., police said. The victim was not injured, police said. It was not known if the victim is a student.
Its the latest in a series of recent robberies on and near the campus</p>
<p>Read more here: [iPod</a> taken in downtown assault, armed robbery - Crime & Courts - TheState.com](<a href=“http://www.thestate.com/2012/04/01/2217522/ipod-taken-in-downtown-assault.html#storylink=cpy]iPod”>http://www.thestate.com/2012/04/01/2217522/ipod-taken-in-downtown-assault.html#storylink=cpy)</p>
<p>I will admit that it seems to have been worse lately, but in almost every case, the person has been walking alone at night somewhere other than the middle of campus. Swearingen is really on the outskirts of campus and everything else I’ve heard about has been away from the main parts of campus.</p>
<p>It’s really just not smart to walk alone at night.</p>
<p>agree… should step up patrol and nail the slugs, you need Rudy Guiliani down there he would wrap that up in 3 months…</p>
<p>There seems to be a theme them behind all three of these robberies - ipods.</p>
<p>Campus robberies give students pause
By R. DARREN PRICE - <a href="mailto:dprice@thestate.com">dprice@thestate.com</a>
By R. DARREN PRICE The State E-Mail
Print
Reprint 0 comments
Text Size: tool nameclose tool goes here
VIEW MAP of call boxes, police stations, and bus routes on and near the USC campus, at the bottom of the page
Three people have been robbed at gunpoint around the USC campus in the past six weeks, and it has some students worrying about safety.
Its definitely a concern, said Maurice Lanier, a senior. Especially for some of the freshmen and female students. </p>
<p>FILE PHOTO: Prospective students leave Gambrel Hall during their tour of the USC campus. The Capstone House dormitory is in the background.
- TIM DOMINICK /<a href="mailto:tdominick@thestate.com">tdominick@thestate.com</a> </p>
<p>survey: When do you feel safe on campus?</p>
<p>Always
Never
Only during the daytime
Only when walking with friends
Other</p>
<p>Your vote has been counted, thank you for voting. Today’s news video
Late Saturday, two men pointed a gun at man walking by the Swearingen Engineering Building in the 300 block of Main Street. The men hit him in the head, took his iPod and left in a red Honda Accord.
Maggie Gladstone, a freshman, was out walking with friends that night when the university sent out a text message on the Carolina Alert notification system warning students of the robbery. She and her friends dont like walking at night to begin with, and knowing a crime had just occurred nearby spooked them.
We were running behind trees every time cars passed by, she said.
And on March 15, a student was also robbed at gunpoint in the 1900 block of Pendleton Street, just east of Capstone and Columbia halls. In that incident, men in a black car pulled up next to the student and asked for change for a $10 bill. When the student said no, the passenger pulled out a gun and the man took his iPod.
Three men and one juvenile have been charged in that incident, and were both linked to an armed robbery March 24 in nearby Five Points. Columbia Police are still looking for a fifth suspect in both incidents, department spokeswoman Jennifer Timmons said.
Another female student walking at Whaley and Pickens streets was robbed at gunpoint Feb. 29. A man stole her iPad before running away. There were two other armed robberies on campus during the fall semester.
Because of the incidents, USC Police have dispatched extra officers to patrol the campus, according to a statement released this week. The university will continue to provide information to the community, the statement said, and will continue to assist in looking for suspects in the three robberies.
In each incident, students could have done things to help protect themselves from becoming victims, according to Columbia Police crime prevention officer Scott Stover. He said that students should avoid walking alone at night. If students have to walk alone after dark, they should stay alert by ditching the ear buds.
Criminals look for an easy target, he said. Youre not going to be as alert as you could be with headphones on.
Students make for easy targets for would-be criminals, he said, because they usually arent paying attention and might be carrying nice phones, electronics, jewelry or bags that they could sell. Students can protect themselves by making common-sense judgments and staying alert.
Dont get that false sense of security even though USC PD and CPD do a great job patrolling around the area, he said.
Amelia Lewis, a junior, and Liz Kenney, a sophomore, both said that the recent robberies havent changed the way they get around after dark. But thats probably because theyve always stayed alert.
Its the same as everywhere else, Lewis said. But you have to be aware.
They both learned about campus safety in their semester-long freshman orientation class, University 101, and try to make sure they dont go out at night alone. They said the university does a fair amount to make sure they dont have to walk home alone, providing shuttles and late-night buses, and giving them plenty of ways to get help if they are ever victims in crime by using the dozens of call boxes around campus.
Laniers iPhone has been buzzing with text message alerts from the universitys Carolina Alert system since late January, when police were investigating firebombings around campus. He said hes gotten alerts for crime on campus before, but he cant remember a semester where more alerts had to be sent out.
Im a senior, and its the first year Ive been texted this much, he said.
Carolina Alert blasts out emails, texts, tweets and Facebook posts whenever there is an emergency on campus, according to the university website. Typically, the university will send out alerts when there is an immediate threat or risk on campus or if there is need to notify the public of an incident that has already been contained. This year, there have been nine Carolina Alerts listed for crimes, five of which relate to the robberies the last few months.
Lanier said he doesnt feel unsafe on campus, and appreciates that the university gets information out quickly when incidents occur. But he said hed like to see more done to prevent crimes from happening.
I like that were being informed, he said. But I dont hear a lot about getting the crimes solved. </p>
<p>Read more here: [Campus</a> robberies give students pause - Crime & Courts - TheState.com](<a href=“http://www.thestate.com/2012/04/05/2221639/campus-robberies-have-students.html#storylink=cpy]Campus”>http://www.thestate.com/2012/04/05/2221639/campus-robberies-have-students.html#storylink=cpy)</p>
<p>We’re from Miami and Orlando…the Columbia crime scene is not exactly big-time.</p>
<p>If this were NYU, would Astoria22 have posted 9,000 pages of Manhattan crime reports? :-)</p>
<p>Exactly Meadowbrook! I understand the concern, but growing up in Miami, moving to Orlando and dealing with Casey Anthony, Trayvon Martin, and every other crazy crime you can imagine in this city 24/7, I guess I’m immune to the ipod hold-ups and other “typical” stuff that happens in just about every decent-size city out there.</p>
<p>Thank you, StoneMagic. Astoria22 keeps focusing on the numerator, which is the number of crime reports. The numerator does not have much relevance unless it is coupled with the denominator, which is the population of USC, as well as of the surrounding area. I do not know how many people live in the surrounding area, but it must be quite a few. I do know that there are 30,000 students at USC, and that’s a whole lot of people!</p>
<p>If you take the numerator and divide by the denominator, then you are beginning to have something meaningful. But, you’re not quite there, because of short-term statistical anomalies and the need to delineate among the different types of crime. What you really have to do is calculate the crime rates, by type of crime, over a significant period of time. Such statistics exist for USC proper, through 2010, per the following:</p>
<p>“The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of campus security policy and campus crimes statistics act (Clery Act) was originally passed (as federal law) in 1990 as part of the Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act. It has been amended several times since 1990. It requires all institutions of higher education, which receive federal financial assistance, to produce an annual security and fire safety report which is distributed to all current students and employees and a summary of which is available to all prospective students and employees.”</p>
<p>The link to the most recent report available, the 2011 report for the calendar year 2010, can be reviewed per the following link:</p>
<p><a href=“Law Enforcement and Safety - Law Enforcement and Safety | University of South Carolina”>Law Enforcement and Safety - Law Enforcement and Safety | University of South Carolina;
<p>Towards the bottom are the statistics by category of crime, from 2007 through 2010. Across these four years, there is very little in the way of serious on-campus crime (murder, manslaughter, sex offenses, robbery, and the like). The only potentially significant increase I see is motor vehicle theft in 2010, although the increase could easily be an anomaly (such as the 31% decline in burglaries in 2009 vs. 2008, and then the 28% increase in 2010 vs. 2009). Review the data and draw your own conclusions, but it looks like a pretty dull place to me…in a good way :-)</p>
<p>Good info and point well taken… I dont get offended easily as discussed once before…i appreciate all input in helping to evaluate… Thats the beauty of this site… So thanks</p>