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Letter from the editor: Embrace spring in full bloom

Carolina Beekeeping looks forward to new members, new bees

USC Club Showcase

USC Dog Walking Club helps animals, brings furry faces to campus

Column: Three Rivers Greenway benefits everyone in Columbia

Behind the scenes of cock hockey: A student-run organization becoming a Friday night staple

Sierra Coalition Club creates change in community, on campus through education

Spring transfer students find community through student organizations

Fit Columbia in Five Points is making fitness fun again

World’s top pinball player aims to maintain international status

Column: Cats and squirrels are ‘surrogate pets’ to USC students

A.C. Moore Herbarium continues to educate, inspire students to connect with their inner-botanist

Cocks in the Garden seeks to educate students about plants while helping the community

Spring semester brings new growth, challenges for mock trial team

‘Best in the business’: Founders Park groundskeeping crew’s work appreciated by many

For a little baseball with a lot of fun, check out the Columbia Fireflies

Participation in intramural sports provides various benefits to students

Column: Our campus needs more public art

Columbia’s local parks offer outdoor recreation, culture, education opportunities

Horticulturalists behind USC plants continue traditions, artistic vision for campus

Cocky’s true athletic abilities hint at a future career as a track athlete

As spring returns, experts are concerned for environmental future

Finding a job or internship starts at USC’s career center

Column: On-campus jobs can be underpaid, overworked, are not for everyone

Lifelong professional soccer dream is now reality for Ryan Gareis

Asian-interest fraternity comes to USC, builds community around Asian interests

‘I’m not concerned’: Students travel for return of traditional spring break

Healthy Carolina Farmers Market supports future of sustainability in Columbia

Column: Spring cleaning provides holistic health benefits 3

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Letter from the Editor:

Embrace spring in full bloom Kailey Cota

o the right of the fountain, by the drop-off loop, there's a bush that blooms hot pink in the springtime. When I visited campus in high school, I left picturing those flowers, feeling alive after a day of exploring in the spring sunlight. That feeling is what I always think of when I picture myself at USC. It's one of walking along the Horseshoe with your face turned up to catch the sunlight, of lounging by the library, listening to the fountain and picking at pink petals, of taking time to admire the colors that bloom along with spring. It's the feeling of new life. My day-to-day life isn't quite that picturesque — I often find myself rushing to get where I need to go, being annoyed at how the heat makes me sweat on the way to class, forgetting to notice all the things that make life a little more enjoyable. It's easy to get caught up by your to-do list or by the demands of your Google Calendar, but take some time to notice what's around you. From flowers, animals and art on campus to baseball games, new transfer students and spring cleaning, there are a lot of reasons to embrace the spring in full bloom. I'm going to make an effort to spend a few minutes each day admiring the nature and the culture around me. I hope you do, too. Here's a little help to get you started.

Photo courtesy of Kailey Cota

CAROLINA BEEKEEPING LOOKS FORWARD TO NEW MEMBERS, NEW BEES Eva Flowe

ometimes bees decide they don’t like where they’re living, and unfortunately, beekeepers can’t ask them why. This past winter, one of Carolina Beekeeping Club’s beehives absconded — they left their hives. There are several reasons the bees could have flown away, according to the club members. Secretary Zackary Gann said last December the club split the hive too early. Splitting is the process of moving some of the eggs and larvae

to a different hive box, which can prevent bees from swarming. Swarming is when half the bees leave the hive. However, hives are generally not split in December because the winter weather is a concern, according to Gann. “They probably got too cold and were like, ‘we’re gonna go find somewhere else to be,’ which is kind of, you know, counterintuitive to leave your home when it gets cold outside,” Gann said.

Co-president Megan Landrum said there may not have been enough food for the bees in the surrounding area. “Which is kind of something out of our control. I mean, they did leave in winter,” Landrum said. “When it was already kind of hard for hives to survive.” Treasurer Katelyn Stroud said there was also evidence of wax moth larvae infestations in two of the hives. “Sometimes bees just don’t like the hives and they leave … leaving can be kind of difficult sometimes,” Stroud said. The club plans on getting new bees this spring, once local flora in Columbia is blooming again. Currently, the club has one hive located in Beaufort, S.C. with the club’s mentor, Danny Cannon. The new hive will be kept in Columbia, which will give the club the opportunity to raise the hive from the beginning and understand what it takes to keep a strong colony from the start. The beekeeping club members said they are not just excited for the new bees — they are hopeful for new members and events. “We have like trivia nights or bee-themed paint nights where we kind of get our members together to kind of socialize and get to know each other. I think that’s kind of a cool aspect of our club,” Stroud said.

Many of the members of the Carolina Beekeeping Club are STEM majors and environmentally minded students involved in other sustainability groups on campus, according to Landrum. Raising awareness for bees and pollination often compliments other sustainability measures, Stroud said. “I’ve also been very passionate about sustainability in the natural world since I was a young,” Landrum said. “I so I think that and beekeeping go hand in hand. You’ll find a lot of the members are also part of like Sustainable Carolina and also have environmental science, environmental studies, biology backgrounds or an interest in those things and care very deeply about sustainability.” Beekeeping is a reasonably common hobby, according to Gann, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic since it is an outdoor hobby that can be done alone. Several of the club members said they plan on keeping hives once they are out of college. Beekeeping also makes a good extracurricular for a resume, Gann said. “It’s something fun I’ve always mentioned in job interviews, especially on the engineering side of things. I feel like people get really caught up with their academics,” Gann, who is also a mechanical engineering student, said. Illustration: Sabrina Hampton 7

COLUMN:

CATS AND SQUIRRELS ARE ‘SURROGATE PETS’ TO USC STUDENTS Win hammond

ats, birds and squirrels are a few of the animals that USC students live with. The campus’ animals aren’t props for visitors to marvel at, though — they’re surrogate pets and they’re what makes campus home. Wild birds and squirrels aren’t traditional pets, but have become mainstays in students’ walk to class. The unique diet and antics of the squirrels has warranted the creation of an Instagram account with over a thousand followers. The account is run by a USC public health student who wished to remain anonymous, and compiles pictures of squirrels sitting on trash cans, eating plenty of fries and even being hunted by the resident cats — who also have their own Instagram account.

Photo: Jalen Miller Student approaches cat outside of Close-Hipp on Feb. 14, 2022.

Students walking around south campus may find these cats as the furriest residents of the C.S. Lewis house across from the Close-Hipp building: Cissy (who stays indoors) Edmund, Eustace and the very popular Figaro. On the C.S. Lewis Cats Instagram, students can view pictures of their feline friends and see good luck wishes on upcoming exams. Unfortunately, Edmund, Eustace and Figaro declined to comment about their USC experience to The Daily Gamecock. The cats like to spend most of their time outside but are fed by Father Paul Sterne of the C.S. Lewis house. The house also has a cat door so Figaro and his friends can come and go as they please. If the night is too cold, there is always a warm bed, seat or corner to greet them when they come home — though Edmund would rather be outdoors at night. A lot of students may not be aware that Eustace wasn’t the only kitten to call the C.S. Lewis Center home. Sadly, his sister, Lucy, died last year at only five months old. “We’re in the South, and so when somebody dies, people bring food. People brought treats for the remaining cats,” Sterne said. The response to Lucy’s death brought out hospitality and warmth from the late kitten’s neighbors. Students care for these cats like “surrogate pets,” as Sterne calls them. USC students are no stranger to caring for the animals on

Photo: Joey Anderson A squirrel sits outside on the bricks located outside of Russell House on Feb. 6, 2022. The Carolina campus is home to several animals including birds, squirrels and cats.

campus. Whether they’re cats or baby squirrels, USC students offer helping hands. The creator of the USC squirrels account was sent a video of an abandoned baby squirrel and then created a highlight on Instagram about what to do if you encounter an abandoned baby squirrel. “I didn’t know that baby squirrels could be abandoned. And they act a certain way if they have no parent,” the Instagram’s creator said. “So that’s a highlight on the Instagram story. Like ‘what to do when you run into a baby squirrel.’” USC students are fans of the squirrels, and plenty of them feed the squirrels Chick-fil-A and tastes of other orders from Russell House. They’re well taken care of, although, it is unclear how fast food ties into a squirrel’s diet. The wild worlds of these campus animals sometimes collide. “I get out one day from a physics lecture, and Figaro seems

to capture most of the students coming out of the physics hall with me because he is actively hunting one of the squirrels in the yard,” first-year computer engineering student Dominic Gaines said. “It was an enjoyable experience, but cats are always cats.” Seeing Figaro and Eustace interact with the squirrels on campus is a healthy reminder of campus’ diverse ecosystem. Between the old trees scattered on the Horseshoe, the bugs and rodents hunting for acorns and students picnicking, the varied life on campus is what makes USC beautiful. Campus wouldn’t be campus without the occasional sighting of Figaro warming himself on a grate, or Eustace being taunted by a squirrel high up in a tree. They’re Gamecocks, and all their weird, cute and sweet interactions cement themselves in our school spirit.

A.C. MOORE HERBARIUM CONTINUES TO EDUCATE, INSPIRE STUDENTS TO CONNECT WITH THEIR INNER-BOTANIST Matea jacobs

tudents can find more than 100,000 specimens of vascular and nonvascular plants in the A.C. Moore Herbarium in the Coker Life Sciences Building. The A.C. Moore Herbarium was established in 1907 and is the largest herbarium in South Carolina. A herbarium is a collection of dried plant specimens, usually stored away from damaging elements such as light or water. It also contains countless resources full of botanical information. "(The Herbarium), it's important for students. It's one of the few large natural history-type collections that we have on campus. I think it's sort of a direct connection with the world in which we live," Herrick Brown, curator at the A.C. Moore Herbarium said. The A.C. Moore Herbarium has numerous opportunities for students to get involved. Students can bring in plants for identification, go on one of the monthly botany walks on the Horseshoe or, if they have more time, volunteer at the herbarium. Volunteering involves entering data, sorting information or mounting specimens on sheets, among other things. Students of all backgrounds have applicable skills that can help. "In addition to just volunteering, we totally welcome visitors to come and, if you're interested in looking at orchids, for example, you could just you know pull and look at and learn about them on your own time," Amanda Harmon, 10

collections manager at the A.C Moore Herbarium, said. "If you're interested in any kind of plant and you just want to learn more, that's something that you can do too, just come and hang out." Every plant's development is different, but the spring season allows for the perfect temperature for plants to start blooming, according to Brown. "Some of the things you'll probably start seeing soon around town are going to be the state flower, which is the Yellow Jessamine," Brown said. "I've got some of my yard and I've already seen buds beginning to swell on that. Especially if it's got a southfacing aspect or something, it's going to tend to heat up a little bit more, put on a show a little bit earlier." If students are interested in plants, then an easy way to involve themselves in the botany community with no commitment is to stay paying attention to the wild plants that grow all around them, Csilla Czako, Botany Database Technician for SC DNR said. "Check out, like, sidewalk cracks. You know, areas that aren't necessarily, or areas that like, not the Horseshoe. Or like lawns are a great place. I mean, they're these tiny little flowers sometimes you can find and they're so cute," Czako said. The Herbarium is a place for botanists and botany

enthusiasts alike to connect and bond over a shared fascination of plants and the meaning behind how they grow, where they grow and — most importantly — what that means for the environment, Brown said. Any student can visit the herbarium and spend time researching plants as long as they email the employees beforehand. "I've seen (the Herbarium) spark an interest in learning more about what's growing around them. Because you know, in here we're working with dried, pressed specimens. And although you can glean a lot of information from that, it's still not as cool as actually looking at it in nature," Harmon said.

Illustrations: morgan funk

Cocks in the Garden seeks to educate students about plants while helping the community Patrick mcauliffe

ne student’s experiences outdoors with her grandmother sprouted a personal passion for gardening. After being unable to find a gardening-centric club on campus accessible to many students, second-year biology student Jackie Taylor started Cocks in the Garden. The club provides students at USC with an easy introduction into gardening. Cocks in the Garden offers students of any level of gardening experience the opportunity to admire and experience nature through growing plants and tending to gardens, according to the club’s page on GarnetGate. Taylor said her interest in gardening came from her grandmother, who would often spend her time identifying different plants she found in a collection of books. “I would always go with her with a different book and match different plants to the pages. So I said that was like, the main memory I have that like sparks my interest,” Taylor said. Though Taylor’s passion for gardening spanned years, the club is relatively new to campus and has only been around for several months. Taylor began the application for Cocks in the Garden in August 2021 and received approval for it about two weeks later. Cocks in the Garden operates out of the garden behind the Green Quad dormitory. The garden “began as a few student garden boxes in 2007. Since then, it has evolved into a successful student-run urban garden and agribusiness,” according to USC’s website. The garden is available for any student to use, but Taylor reserved a few of the garden beds specifically for the club. The university provided the supplies for what the gardening club needs to grow and maintain the gardens. Last semester, members were able to clear away mold that had been collected on the beds. The mold could potentially weaken the plants and inhibit growth. Taylor and the club hope to either donate what they grow to different homeless shelters and other nonprofits around Columbia or sell them at the farmer’s market on Greene Street.

Photo: Ashleigh dimler A tree marker hangs from a peach tree in the Sustainable Carolina Garden on Feb. 8, 2022. The garden has been growing at the University of South Carolina since 2007.

The club’s focus on gardening gets its members outside and more engaged with nature, according to co-Vice President and third-year accounting student Mark Steffan. In his hometown of Charleston, Steffan used to go to the beach or take a walk through parks. Though Steffan felt Columbia didn’t offer those same kinds of outdoor experiences, he said the Cocks in the Garden club allows him to go outdoors more in Columbia. Preya Simmons, co-Vice President and third-year political science student, said she has always wanted to start gardening, especially with the trend of keeping plants in your house becoming more popular. “Personally I’ve always wanted to kind of start gardening and you know, like plants, having plants,” Simmons said. Simmons said she would help her mother garden when she was home in Charleston. After joining Cocks in the Garden, she is able to also garden here in Columbia. “My mom was a big gardener. Like she takes care of like, our, our lawn in our yard at our house and stuff. So I’ve always just

been there to help her out in the yard as well,” Simmons said. Club meetings are bi-weekly, according to its GarnetGate page. Taylor can usually be found working in the garden between 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. every other Tuesday, and club members are welcome to work with her during that time for however long they are able available to help. In her spare time when she isn’t working in the garden at Green Quad, Taylor said she takes care of the plants she grows in her apartment, including beets, carrots, house vines and peace lilies. Although neither of her vice-presidents see themselves being involved in the agriculture business in the future, that hasn’t stopped Taylor from pursuing her career interests through her club. “I would love to do something in agriculture through biology, like maybe be a scientist who studies a certain plant or animal, but that’s a bit like a long goal, like just way out there in the future,” Taylor said. 11

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SPRING SEMESTER BRINGS NEW GROWTH, CHALLENGES FOR MOCK TRIAL TEAM Sydney Dunlap

Photo Courtesy of Gabby Worshek

or many students, spring brings new classes, better weather and thoughts of spring break trips. However, for USC mock trial, the spring semester brings a whole new set of challenges as it prepares to face the toughest competition of the year. The spring semester is the mock trial team's competitive season. It will compete in a simulated trial where students act as the lawyers and witnesses arguing a fictional case against some of the best teams in the nation according to mock trial president, Ben Wallace. Students are evenly spread out amongst three teams in the fall, with students of various experience levels on each. However, the three teams are "stacked" in the spring. This means that members with the highest scores from previous tournaments are placed on the A-team, the second-best are placed on the B-team and the third-best are placed on the C-team. Wallace said this system gives students a chance to learn during the first semester and then use the second semester to focus on advancing through the three eliminationstyle tournaments hosted by the American Mock Trial Association. "The spring semester is fantastic for really, I guess, stepping outside of your comfort zone and hitting really hard teams and seeing how you can prove your knowledge and role in mock trial," third-year accounting student Wallace said.

Third-year accounting student and Mock Trial President Ben Wallace speaks to the courtroom during USC’s Soda City Trials.

Regardless of which team the students are on, they all get an opportunity to face tough opponents that push them to better their skills. "So, in this semester, every single competitor is going against better — like bigger and better teams. This semester not only offers another opportunity for our competitors and members to improve their skills, but also allows them to kind of test their knowledge of mock trial against better teams," Wallace said. According to Wallce, the spring semester doesn't just encourage growth as a competitor; it also provides multiple opportunities for students to develop as a leader. Current B team captain and newly elected vice president James Bray stepped into the role after serving as a team captain for three semesters. He said he would encourage any team member wanting to improve to apply for one of the two captain roles available for each team. "I think that a lot of people end up feeling like they don't have enough experience to be a captain. And I think the way that I would encourage people is to know that where you are right now, you grow more as a captain than you would think you do," Bray, thirdyear philosophy and criminal justice student, said. "You kind of learn from teaching others as well."

Outside of executive and captain positions, Bray said there are also multiple opportunities for members to be chairs and help run events like tournaments and fundraising efforts, which provides opportunities for individual growth and help make the team the best it can be. While the spring season can get intense, faculty advisor Mark Brown said mock trial is a beneficial experience beyond just winning a spot in the coveted national tournament. "It is a wonderful learning experience, the things that they learn really help them if they're hoping to go to law school or even if they're just on the communication side, learning how to communicate, how to be persuasive," Brown said. While Wallace said he hopes to walk away this semester with a top 10 win at nationals, he said that the most important thing is knowing his teammates walked away from the season feeling better than when they started. "Apart from wanting to win, our main goal is obviously to provide a beneficial opportunity and environment for 40 kids on campus," Wallace said. "So if people leave this spring competitive semester having been successful and having really enjoyed their time competing, that's a perfect world in my mind." 13

Bicyclists participate in a group ride. USC’ Gamecock and Cycling Triathlon Club’s purpose is to promote the sport of cycling and triathlon within the university and the community of South Carolina. Photo Courtesy of TRIATHLON CLUB

An assortment of drinks sampled during Food Appreciation Club’s meeting centered around trying a unique variety of sodas including Curiosity Cola, Bob Ross brand energy drinks and many other beverages.

USC CLUB SHOWCASE Ashleigh Dimler, jalen miller & stephanie ripp

he University of South Carolina is home to a large variety of clubs that allow students to get involved with new interests, hobbies, sports and activities. From brand new clubs like Art Therapy — which is a club that had its second meeting in February 2022 — to fast-paced sports clubs like boxing club, triathlon club and the Carolina Movement Club, USC has no shortage of organizations for its students to find a place to be themselves. Whether students are into dancing, exercising or even drinking soda, USC has a community for them. Club members from each and every organization said they get a sense of community from coming to practices, meetings and events.

Participants of the Carolina Ballroom Dance Club learn the waltz during its practice on Feb. 15, 2022. Members of the club come together to learn a variety of classical dances including the tango, samba and Cha cha, holding the motto of “if you can walk, you can dance.”

Members of the Carolina Boxing Club trade shots for an advantage in the ring during a sparring practice on Feb. 18, 2022. Boxing club practices include a variety of workouts focusing around cardio, combo training and strength training.

Top Left & Right Middle: Attendees of the Carolina Production’s Cake Decorating event decorate cupcakes on Feb. 16, 2022. Carolina Production’s team hosts a variety of culture and community events including concerts, karaoke, arts and crafts and movie nights.

A member of the Carolina Movement Club practices parkour techniques at Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center on Feb. 17, 2022. The Carolina Movement Club meets meets twice a week to encourage developing skills safely.

USC students meet on the fourth floor of the Callcott building for painting and bracelet making. USC’s Art Therapy Club meets bi-weekly and hosts a variety of arts and crafts activities for its members.

Resonance A Cappella Group practices vocals in Russell House on Feb. 17, 2022. The group practices and performs a variety of pieces including a cappella versions of hit songs by Kanye West, Oliva Rodrigo and Labyrinth.

USC Dog Walking Club helps animals, brings furry faces to campus isabella paras

ome of the saddest goodbyes when leaving for college aren’t to people at all, but to our beloved pets. USC’s dog walking club, called Give a Dog a Bone, was started so students can foster a pet for a day and help the community through volunteering at a local shelter. Give a Dog a Bone specializes in helping dogs at local shelters while also mutually benefitting student volunteers through improving mental health and facilitating relationship building. Give a Dog a Bone was created in 2018 when founder Mac Chapman walked around campus with a dog and flyers promoting the organization. The club partners with Final Victory Animal Rescue to help the animals in the shelter. According to President Maddie Romanski, the club has grown monumentally since.

Romanski said the club is still recovering from the pandemic and that it is working on growing more as things open back up. The club’s plans for growth include asking other organizations to help them volunteer because they have more people joining and a need for supplies. Volunteering doesn’t only help the dogs, Romanski said. It is fulfilling and allows students to see and interact with animals again after moving to college where pets are more scarce. “Personally, freshman year I missed my dog so much. I’ve grown up with dogs, so because we lived in a dorm, it was really nice to be able to go to the shelter, pet a cat or pet a dog and spend time with them,” Romanski said. Vice President of Recruitment and Events Anaiah Kenas said this helps the dogs by getting them out of the shelter and giving them interaction.

photos: jalen miller

Members of the Give a Dog a Bone club walk dogs down Sumter St. on Feb. 18, 2022. Final Victory Animal Shelter welcomes club members and community volunteers to walk and shelter the dogs in their care.

“Isolation can be really bad for animals and being in the shelter for a really long period of time can be really unhealthy, so having people come in and just socialize them and make them feel loved … is really, really great,” Kenas said. The organization has hosted “bark sales,” which involve selling baked goods around campus to fundraise for the shelter, Kenas said. It also has held events like “Suds and Buds,” where volunteers come and bathe the dogs in the facility. Volunteer Maddi McLean said getting out and serving one’s community is rewarding, especially when it comes to helping dogs. She also said it aids in mental health. “Going to help out at Final Victory, volunteering and just being around animals I found is so relaxing for me and it just takes your mind off of it,” McLean said. McLean suggested joining the club as a way to not only get out and meet new people, but to help the dogs as well. The organization has a “foster for a day” program where students can choose a dog that they want to spend more time with and foster them for the day. Students can take the dog on walks or even back to their house to help socialize the dog and give it a good time. “I think volunteering at Final Victory is really special because you get to have a closer, kind of, connection with some of their dogs,” McLean said. “Just going and giving back and helping out always feels good to me.”

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'BEST IN THE BUSINESS': FOUNDERS PARK GROUNDSKEEPING CREW'S WORK APPRECIATED BY MANY Jack Veltri

hen it comes to baseball, players and coaches only make up a portion of what goes into the gameday experience. At Founders Park, the South Carolina groundskeeping crew works long hours to ensure the field remains in perfect condition. Donnie Lindler, the sport turf supervisor at Founders Park, says the process of getting the field ready begins a few days prior to game day. "You gotta mow, game mound has to be prepped, home plate has to be prepped, infield has to be dragged and watered at certain times depending on weather issues," Lindler said. "You gotta make sure bases look good — clean, white — and again it's a staff thing. I can't do it by myself ... it's a team effort." Along with Lindler, groundskeepers Justin Scurry and Maritza Martinez play an integral part in taking care of the field. Though each of them has had different experiences in the industry, they've been able to build a special bond by working as a team. "Every one of us have worked in different outlets of sports turf and to different levels that we have learned different details," Martinez said. "I wouldn't say it's the hardest part (of the job), but it's learning different ways that things can be done and then us sitting down and actually talking about who's going to win out of the three of us on how we're going to take something." For the last two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected so many people — including the groundskeeping crew. Scurry said it was "an ongoing event," which made doing their work difficult. Scurry said because they were in close quarters with players, the team “always had to get tested” as well as continue their work. "Sometimes when we had to get tested, you're not at the field, so you have to allocate enough time to where you have to go get tested and just say roundtrip — that's an hour — so that's basically an hour that you're not

able to work on the field so that takes away time," Scurry said. In 2020, the group had plans of creating a palmetto tree design in the outfield, which was meant to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of South Carolina's first College World Series championship. However, it was shelved due to the season's cancellation. While the Gamecocks were on the road in March 2021, the grounds crew went to work on "Under the Carolina Sky" and finished in time for the first home SEC series. In December 2021, the crew won the Sportsfield Management Magazine Mowing Pattern Contest with its design receiving 522 votes. Scurry said the most challenging part of the process was keeping the project a secret from the public. "My biggest fear when we were doing it, though, was that it was going to hit social media before I could even post it," Scurry said. "We just didn't want anyone to know about it."

Aerial view of Founder’s Park on March 22, 2021.

When the design caught fire on social media, the response from the fan base was overwhelmingly positive. "I'll always hear people talking about the field as I'm walking by and that's the biggest thank you for me as I just keep walking and I smile," Scurry said. "To hear people talk about how good the field looks — I don't go there and say that's something I did or something we did as a group — it's just a huge compliment and I just keep walking and keep smiling because our work is on display." Even head coach Mark Kingston showed his appreciation for the grounds crew, calling them the best in the business. "Both in terms of the quality, but also the aesthetics. We all know they won an award for that design last year headed up by Donnie, who's been here for a long time," Kingston said. "Best in the business, both at what they do. Great people, very easy to work with. Can't say enough great things about everybody that takes care of our field."

Photo Courtesy of Daniel Heidtke

For a little baseball with a lot of fun, check out the Columbia Fireflies Ellie Long

he first pitch of the Columbia Fireflies’ 2022 season will be thrown out the evening of April 8, adding to the list of sporting events Gamecock students will have the opportunity to attend this spring. The Fireflies are a Low-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals that play just a few miles from campus at Segra Park and host games from April until September. With low-cost tickets, specialty promo nights and game days where you can bring your dog, the atmosphere at Segra park is enjoyable for everyone. Director of Marketing for the Fireflies, Ashlie DeCarlo, emphasized how positive the environment at the park is. “People come to the ballpark to have fun, to escape reality,” DeCarlo said. DeCarlo said the Fireflies’ atmosphere will allow fans to enjoy their night, despite the outcome of the game. “For the Fireflies, you’re coming to see the product off the field. You’re just coming for the fun fan experience,” DeCarlo explained. The Fireflies not only promote their games to the residents of the Columbia area, but also have a partnership with USC, which allows students to easily attend games and have an off-campus activity to enjoy. As part of its Thursday After Dark program, Gamecock Entertainment has “Nights at the Fireflies,” where students can attend the games for free just by showing their CarolinaCards. Through this event, students can catch free shuttle rides from the Horseshoe to Segra Park and are then given a ticket to sit on the “Berm,” relaxed grass seating located in the outfield, where they can enjoy a fun night of baseball with fellow students and Fireflies fans. “It’s a great way to, kind of, chill out. You know, get away from all the stress of school and those kind of things,” Brad Shank, the Fireflies Team President, said. This upcoming season, on specific nights, fans will be able to enjoy new aspects of the game, as they will be to listen to either a live band perform throughout the innings

Photo courtesy of THE Columbia Fireflies The Fly Guys, a male dance group composed of front office workers for the Fireflies baseball team, dance on the field. The Fly Guys perform choreographed pieces to popular songs such as “Single Ladies” and “Call Me Maybe.”

or participate in trivia. These additional experiences make the games a good time for anyone, despite whether or not you are an actual baseball fan. Another exciting aspect at every Fireflies game a student might attend is the Fireflies’ very own “Fly Guys.” The Fly Guys are male members of the Fireflies front office staff that perform dances to popular tunes at the end of the 6th inning, as they drag the infield, at every home game. Their routine is set to songs such as “Single Ladies” and “Call Me Maybe.” They are also choreographed to match theme nights such as a “Star Wars” or a superhero routine, where costumes also could be involved. “It’s just an entertaining thing that I think fans get a kick out of and laugh at,” Shank said.

With springtime upon us, Fireflies games offer students a fun outdoor activity six out of seven nights of the week throughout the spring. Not only do students have the opportunity to attend through the university, but they also can go at their leisure to relax and enjoy a fun night out, as that is the mission of the Fireflies organization. Senior sport and entertainment management student and Gamecock Entertainment Intern, Teagan Domurat, expressed both Gamecock Entertainment’s and her own support of Fireflies games and why the games are such a great activity for students. “It’s a staple of Columbia that has nothing to do with the school and you’re getting involved with the community … so that’s like our favorite part,” Domurat said. 19

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Participation in intramural sports provides various benefits to students Nathan Baakko

ntramural sports are a staple at schools across the country and are a great way to get involved, especially in the spring semester at the University of South Carolina. Many students may find participating in intramurals to be beneficial as an escape from their school work or to meet other students. Co-sports program coordinator James Harris said that intramural sports see an increase in participation during the springtime. There are usually four to five thousand participants a semester, Harris said. Harris also said that basketball and soccer are the most played sports during the spring semester — with 150 and 120 teams respectively — each with seven to twelve students per team. Assistant director for sports programs Michael Potter said he believed that participants can learn valuable life skills from intramural sports such as sportsmanship. “There’s a civil side of learning how to be within society and operate within the rules and guidelines that exist,” Potter said. “It helps create a lot more structure in your life where if you have this game at this time, you’re then dedicating more focused energy to studying at a certain time or keeping your affairs in order.”

Opposing teams in intramural basketball compete on Court 4 in the Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center on Feb. 20, 2022.

Photos: Jalen Miller

Participants in intramural soccer compete on Field 1 of the Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center on Feb. 20, 2022. USC intramural sports includes a wide variety of sports open to USC students including soccer, basketball, spikeball and many more.

Being able to destress while having fun is an invaluable benefit Ellis Hunter, a firstyear finance and accounting student, gets from participating in intramural sports. “It’s more fun than just going out and working out by yourself,” Hunter said. “Whenever you’re able to go out there and just play basketball with some of your friends — even if you win or lose — it’s fun to just get out there and relieve some stress.” Among relieving stress, intramural sports provide other benefits to students. In the case of second-year finance student Mallik Banat, the physical and mental aspects are the main reasons he participates. “It does a lot of great things for your body and for your mental, as well,” Banat said. “For example, you know a lot of issues that may be prevalent in your mind, sports serve as a great distraction from negative thoughts.”

Banat emphasized that participating in intramural sports is an integral part of the college experience while also helping students grow socially. “It’s a great social experience,” Banat said. “You put yourself out there, and I think that’s an important aspect of college is putting yourself out there and trying new things.” Co-sports program coordinator Justin Furlough participated in intramural sports when he was a student at USC and echoed the social sentiment they hold. “Sports is very humanizing,” Furlough said. “In what we’ve seen, people kind of bond around that shared experience.” Whether it be traditional sports such as basketball and soccer or abstract activities such as climbing league or canoe battleship, intramural sports offer something to anyone wanting to get involved during the springtime. 21

COLUMN:

Our campus needs more public art Grace Brown

SC is a beautiful and vibrant campus, but lacks public art for everyone to enjoy. The university is a diverse community that could be showcased with the additions of murals and sculptures made by student or faculty artists. The university is home to two on-campus and one offcampus galleries. The McMaster Gallery has rotating exhibits and is free to the public, according to the School of Visual Art and Design webpage. The other oncampus gallery, Passage Gallery, is student-run and a space for students to show their unique creative sides by experimenting and pushing boundaries. While these galleries are great spaces to showcase art with works from on and off campus, there’s wasted potential in not creating pieces where there is heavy foot traffic every day. Public art on campus would allow students to pause their hurried walk to class and appreciate art crafted by their classmates. Russell House, Thomas Cooper Library and Greene Street are all prime campus locations for public art that waves of students pass by throughout the day. Aubrey Houle, a thirdyear dance performance and choreography student, talked about how there are not a lot of opportunities to see traditional art. “As far as student art that’s made, I don’t really 22

ever get a chance to see that. Just cause it’s not accessible in a common space, like at Russell House where it’s easy to walk past,” Houle said. If the university is not ready or capable of putting permanent art along the walls or sidewalks just yet, it can start with popup shows. This could look like allowing students and staff to display their talents on Greene Street or outside Thomas Cooper Library more consistently. Students could have tabling days specifically for art outside these locations or have a tent up for artists to sell inside like is done for the poster sale each semester. Bailey Peterson, coordinator of community programs for the School of Visual Art and Design, explained how as the university’s visual arts hub, their school takes on “an active role in promoting art on campus.” “Students can contribute to public art on campus, but need to go through necessary channels of approval,” Peterson said. Students that are interested in contributing to public art on campus can reach out to their department to understand what approval or funding is necessary, Peterson said.

Students should inform their individual schools about a need for more public art on campus. Voice your opinion on the matter and make it understood that now is a perfect opportunity to display our community’s talents and diverse range for all to enjoy. By allowing students to contribute to the art on campus, the university will start to feel like a home away from home more than ever. As a student body, we want to leave our mark and legacy here after we’ve graduated. Being a part of a student-led art project for all to enjoy is one way to accomplish that. Third-year civil engineer student Sheila Castellanos said she and some of her classmates would like to see more sculptures on campus. Some of the current statues at the university are located on and off-campus. The Cocky statue, made by alumni Robert Allison, and Richard T. Greener statue, made by sculptor Jon Hair, are both in prominent locations on campus. The more recent A’ja Wilson bronze statue outside of Colonial Life Arena was sculpted by artist Julie RotblattAmrany.

Thankfully, the board of trustees announced in February that it plans to build statues of the three Black students who desegregated USC in 1963. These statues are all courtesy of established sculptors, but statues made by students would allow the current art students to leave a lasting mark on campus. These current pieces are just the beginning for USC adding more public art. “(There) doesn’t have to be a meaning to art sometimes.” Castellanos said. “It can represent a society, it’s current state, or it can represent a person — how they’re thinking, what they want. It’s just very liberating.” Art can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. As a form of creative expression, the possibilities are endless and having more art gives the USC student body another way to come together and celebrate our beautiful campus. Illustration: Hannah Flint

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COLUMN:

Three Rivers Greenway benefits everyone in Columbia Bridget Frame

he Three Rivers Greenway project is beneficial to every aspect of Columbia’s development. These types of ecobased developments are worth being invested in and promoted, as they provide economic, social and environmental benefits to Columbia. The most recent developments are connecting the Saluda

Riverwalk, a trail along the Saluda River, to the Riverfront Park trail that sits along the Congaree River and Columbia Canal. This means that two major scenic nature trails by our local rivers are being joined to create a longer, more expansive one. The new developments will double the total distance of river trails in the area. $6 million in funding has been implemented to connect the Saluda River and the Riverfront via a bridge across

the Broad River, according to Howard Duvall, city councilman and member of The River Alliance board. “People know that these trails are interesting. They’re a long so that they can do long bike rides or long hikes.” Duvall said. The River Alliance is a non-profit organization that works to connect the rivers within Columbia and prioritizes accessibility and preservation of the natural ecosystem. The board has been developing this Saluda River connection since 2003. These connecting pedestrian trails create an opportunity to give both Columbia residents and tourists the ability to walk around the natural scenery and explore the city all on one trail. “I think that will be what I call the

lynchpin of the greenways from the City of Columbia — to get the link over the Broad River so people can come and stay in the Vista,” Duvall said. Not only do trails benefit nature preservation within urban environments, they also benefit the local economy. According to the American Hiking Society, outdoor recreation creates 6.5 million American jobs and pumps $730 billion into the U.S. economy, which is such an economic impact that 1 in 20 employed Americans work with the outdoor recreation industry in one way or another. The development of the Three Rivers Greenway will stimulate the economy and bring financial benefits to local Columbia businesses while also creating employment opportunities. One major goal of this project is to draw in visitors and commerce to Columbia businesses. Even industries that don’t seem to be connected to the pathways will benefit from its further development. “One of the impacts will be on the hotels and we’ve got new hotels opening up almost every month,” Duvall said. One of the goals of this development is to bring more visitors and activity to the Columbia area. The hotels and other local businesses will hopefully be seeing a rise in new customers with the tourism draw of the Greenway. The Three Rivers Greenway currently has about 12.5 miles of pathway, and its ability to connect riverwalks brings a specific intrigue for hikers, cyclists and even casual nature lovers. It serves as one more reason to plan a trip to

Columbia and enhances the scenic natural landscape, preserving its beauty while making it accessible for the population to enjoy. The environmental advantages of the Three Rivers Greenway are important as well. The Greenway can offer benefits in combatting climate change effects in Columbia. Kirsten Dow, Carolina Trustees professor in the department of geography and the lead investigator of the Carolinas Integrated Sciences and Assessments, said the greenway is pivotal to mitigating floods in Columbia. “The trees in greenways are very important for regulating floodwaters and for slowing speed of stormwater runoff across the landscape. So they can be very good in helping us mitigate potentially heavier rainfall. And having a good tree canopy is also important for offsetting urban heat island effects,” Dow said. Urban heat islands raise the temperatures in cities and can make heat waves worse during the warm seasons. “Urban heat islands are caused because so many of the surfaces we build with — asphalt and concrete and stone — are very good at absorbing heat and re-radiating that heat out,” Dow said. “So they artificially warm parts of the environment and shading those areas with a strong, a good tree canopy and having trees providing evapotranspiration and cooling in that way makes a hot city much more livable.” Developments like the greenway are an important part of connecting our community to the natural landscape. They foster that connection by giving all Columbia residents

a chance to appreciate the river and the natural beauty of the urban environment; it affects everyone. “Everybody who is in — who has a vested interest in this — students to business to residents. I mean, there are so many people who can get involved,” Becca Smith, executive director of Sustainable Midlands, said. Sustainable Midlands is a nonprofit organization based in promoting sustainable living and development within the Midlands region. Advocating for the progress and development of the greenway will help to move the process along. If the city council knows there is a strong interest in the community for finalizing the greenway, it will motivate them to allocate more funds to the process. The student body can make waves and individual action can make a big difference. Thinking globally while acting locally is a key to solving our environmental problems within our cities, according to Smith. We can show that we are invested in our local environment. Illustration: Sydnie Tramontina

BEHIND THE SCENES OF COCK HOCKEY:

A student-run organization becoming a Friday night staple Nick Lorensen

hen someone from the North thinks about sports in the South, the first collegiate sport that usually comes to their mind is football. But on the University of South Carolina's campus, a club sport has quickly become a pregame phenomenon for all weekend activities. That is the South Carolina Club Hockey team, also known as cock hockey. The players on the ice aren't the only ones who make it happen — there are many people behind the scenes who make it one of the most fun student life activities. “It really has become a part of, I would say, campus life,” third-year public address announcer Luc LaPointe said. “Now it's become, 'Okay, Friday's, you tryna make it out to the Plex now and watch our boys play?'" Hockey has been a part of LaPointe’s life for as long as he can remember. Growing up a Boston Bruins fan, he watched a lot of broadcasts on NESN, listening to Jack Edwards, the longtime play-by-play announcer for the team. When he steps behind the microphone, he uses the energy that Edwards portrayed as motivation. The role of the public address announcer is more than just announcing what is happening on the ice, but to get the crowd excited. “He just brings this energy to the game that just, it spreads. And it just makes you just so excited about hockey,” LaPointe said. “I want people to be as excited about the game as I am.” LaPointe is also the DJ for cock hockey, so in intermissions, he keeps the crowd alive. In his spare time, LaPointe is a member of Sigma Psi Mu, a sport and entertainment business fraternity at the university. He isn’t the only person behind the scenes of cock hockey that is a member though, as manager and thirdyear sport and entertainment management student, Lauren Barth, is as well.

While rushing the fraternity in the spring of 2020 and members asked her what she wanted to do in the future, she always said she wanted to work in hockey. This ultimately led her to Teegan Vangellow, the then-manager of the club. Over the next year, the two become close. “I did an interview with her, which almost felt silly because we already knew so much about our experiences together,” Barth said. “Eventually, she officially gave me the offer.” Barth’s role as the team manager accounts for nearly everything under the sun, she said. Throughout the week, she is communicating with the other team's staff to make sure everything is ready for game day. On game days, she is usually one of the first at the rink. Barth's roles range from getting both the rink and her own staff set up, to doing paperwork, making sure fans are controlled, prepping for the special events and more. “It’s fun work and it's absolutely worth it, especially for a team that's getting so big at school,” Barth said. She also works closely with her own staff of players, many of whom have behind-the-scenes roles. Junior goalie Liam Gormley has been the team's social media director since the beginning of the season. Social media is not a new thing to Gormley on the University of South Carolina campus, as he works for Barstool UofSC. He said he carried aspects of that role into this one and that is a big reason why the Instagram page has more than 7,300 followers. While there are graphic designers and photographers working alongside him, he's the one who puts it out to the audience. “It’s awesome,” Gormley said. “It’s something I never imagined when I decided to go to school here.”

liam Gormley, Social media director

luc lapointe, announcer and DJ

Lauren Barth, team manager Photos courtesy of Liam Gormley, luc lapoint & lauren barth 26

LIVE THE RETREAT

Lifestyle

COLUMBIA’S LOCAL PARKS OFFER OUTDOOR RECREATION, CULTURE, EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES lauren leibman

lthough living in Columbia presents many opportunities to experience city life, the area is also in close proximity to numerous parks and outdoor spaces. The result is what Dayna Cantelmi, the communication specialist for Experience Columbia SC calls “a city meets nature vibe.” Here are some local areas students can visit when they’re looking for the skyline to fall away into natural landscapes, or to just see some green.

Greenview park

Experience Columbia SC describes the Greenview Park as a multi-sport complex and community center that provides an abundance of indoor and outdoor amenities. Visitors can utilize the park’s outdoor swimming pool, tennis courts, ball fields, walking trail and picnic shelter. Indoor amenities include a game room, ceramics room, fitness room and a gymnasium.

martin luther king jr. park Situated within the Five Points business district, Martin Luther King Jr. Park is both a memorial for the Civil Rights leader and a community center where visitors can gather to enjoy grassy areas and amenities. The Columbia Parks and Recreation website notes that opportunities for athletics include baseball fields, basketball courts and an exercise room at the community center. It also mentions that visitors can soak up the history and significance of the park with a visit to the Stone of Hope, which is a dedication to Dr. King located within the park.

saluda shoals park According to the Saluda Shoals Park website, the “premier, natural, environmentally sensitive riverfront park” lies along the Saluda River and offers a combination of educational and recreational amenities. Saluda Shoals offers kayak, canoe and tube rentals, as well as 10 miles of trails for walking and biking and picnic shelters. 28

In addition to these opportunities for outdoor recreation, the park maintains a focus on environmental consciousness and community outreach. Lead ranger Smith Harden said the park has a wide variety of programs for all ages that focus on arts, environmental education and getting people outdoors. Harden said the park’s programs and camps have encouraged youth to learn about the importance of the ecosystem and to appreciate the environment. “Just to see that interaction, to see them understand ... it’s fun just to see them explore, and the light switch kinda turn on like ‘you know, I’m not scared of the outdoors,’” Harden said.

congaree national park Cantelmi said that Columbia is lucky to have Congaree, as it is South Carolina’s only national park. It is also one of the most biodiverse forests in the nation and is home to flourishing natural habitats that visitors can enjoy on hiking trails, in canoes, at campsites or from fishing spots. The park’s floodplain forest has one of the highest tree canopies in the world and boasts the largest number of champion trees in North America, according to the National Park Foundation website. The park provides 10 different trails. Other park attractions occasionally include free guided walks like the Nature Discovery Walk and nighttime Owl Prowl. Park visitors may also be lucky enough to witness a naturally occurring attraction; a light show performed by a rare phenomenon of fireflies that synchronize their lights. Cantelmi fondly described her own experience with the fireflies at Congaree National Park. “It’s just really cool how their blinks are in unison, and it’s so dark out there and you kind of don’t expect them to blink as rapidly as they do. It’s almost like a strobe. It’s just a really cool experience, and then again, to see something like that for free, It’s really neat,” Cantelmi said.

seven oaks park Located on the aptly named Leisure Lane, Seven Oaks Park serves its community by providing opportunities for people of all ages to enjoy its indoor and outdoor amenities. According to Seven Oaks Park director Andrea Harris, these amenities include youth athletic programs, a senior center, a walking track, a fitness center and a frisbee golf course. “It’s basically the needs of the community in a recreational setting,” Harris said. The park also includes wooded areas and paved trails where visitors can walk their dogs or stroll with friends. Harris explained that although their outdoor space is not a deep nature setting, it is a quiet place where many people come to relax and enjoy the outdoors. The park also holds seasonal events, such as its spring market and yard sales. Harris said the park also offers college students unique work opportunities. Students interested in sports management or recreation hospitality are invited to participate in one of the park’s internships or volunteer programs or to pursue seasonal employment at the park.

finlay park Park-goers may also be interested in Finlay Park, which the Columbia Parks and Recreation website calls “an oasis in the heart of downtown.” The park offers playgrounds, a lake, waterfalls, a fountain, green space and what the Experience Columbia website marks as one of the most photographed views in downtown Columbia. The park initially fell into disuse at the outbreak of the Civil War, but was reopened in 1990 and renamed Finlay Park in 1992 after former Columbia governor Kirkman Finlay. The park has hosted events like The Summer Concert Series, Mayfest and Columbia Kids Day, and it provides the amenities and scenery for an outing nearby Main Street.

Horticulturalists behind USC plants continue traditions, artistic vision for campus Richie Holmberg

n the garden next to Lieber College, Donita Harris cuts back a dying plumbago plant. Harris, USC’s assistant horticulturist, points out that the plant typically does well in this part of campus because of the heat from the brick and underground steam pipes. The January snow had done the plant in. Harris is part of the two-person horticulture team, along with USC horticulturist Charlie Ryan. Horticulturists are experts in plants and garden management. They care for the plants around the Horseshoe, the President’s Greenhouse and the large USC smokestack. Ryan and Harris get to choose what ultimately springs out of the ground: This year it is traditional flowers like daffodils and the exotic foliage of the Bed of Nails. Their work contributes to the sights and smells that mark springtime on campus. This small team is tasked with what Harris calls fine-gardening. They are allowed to have an artistic vision in the gardens, but this vision comes with the responsibility of caring for historic perennials. “I think that the first sign of spring is the daffodils,” Harris said. Ryan — who retired in February with 40 years of experience, after 20 at the university — said that around 1,000 new flowering bulbs have been planted this spring. This is down from the two-to-three thousand bulbs that have been planted in past years. He cited a smaller budget as a restricting factor. The horticulture team used to oversee all flower beds on campus, but now with only two full-time employees, the university has subcontracted out this work to keep costs down. Flowering trees are an important part of the spring

flowers that make up campus, particularly when the horticulture team is unable to plant as many bulbs as they bloom year after year. “Right out front (by Colloquium), there’s a about a 15 to 20 foot Buckeye tree. It’s got this big red flower. Absolutely, that’s got to be one of my favorites on campus,” Kevin Curtis, the university arborist, said. The buckeye tree marks the start of Curtis’ favorite path on campus. He said the path around Gibbes’ Green (the circle between McKissick Museum and Capstone) provides a cascading effect of trees and bushes blooming. Blooming plants give off unique scents, perfuming the surrounding area. “(Next to the Visitor Center) there is probably the biggest fragrant tea olive in Columbia, and it blooms two to three times a year,” Curtis said. “And when you walk through back there when it’s blooming, not only is it like 40 feet tall and full of blooms, but the smell ... it smells like your grandma’s bathroom.” The sweet scent is familiar as it has been used in soaps and perfumes. Curtis said it always makes him react when he smells it. Ryan said the scent of the tea olive mixes with those of the magnolias, gardenias and roses to perfume the campus. Roses are the quintessential example of fragrant flowers. In the rose garden by Lieber college, Ryan and Harris maintain rose bushes that are over 20 years old. One of these is the “very dark red, very fragrant” Mister Lincoln rose. “We’ll cut it back and we put glue on the cuts,” Ryan said. “You see this is glue from last year. If you don’t, there’s a bore that will go in there and hollow out the stem, lay an egg and come back out.” Pests and disease can disrupt wellentrenched rose bushes, but special knowledge is required to maintain the roses. Every cut the horticulturists make is a decision that impacts the life and production of the plant. “We don’t want anything to be commercialized,” Harris said. “We want it to be unique and eye-catching. It makes people stop and appreciate plants if they’re a little bit different.”

Interim First-Lady Patricia Moore-Pastides particularly enjoys an exotic plant that sits near the front gates of the Horseshoe. “Mrs. Pastides’ favorite plant ... she calls them the tractor seat plant. They have the big round leaf, they’re at the front of the Horseshoe,” Ryan said. This is just one tropicallooking plant that calls USC home. Watch out for Bed of Nails, a relative of the tomato that features its namesake spiky leaves along with orange ping pong ballsized fruits. “(Bed of Nails) is from the Caribbean area and they take the fruit — it’s full of sweet juice, but it’s also packed with 1,000 seeds,” Ryan said. “So, they squeeze the juice and they ferment it and make a cheap wine out of it.” Edible plants make up a nice portion of campus. A labeled herb garden is next to Russell House and edible plants are often used as ornamental. “Anywhere there’s edible things, we encourage people to (pick some),” Ryan said. Ryan said his department will bring herbs from around campus to the Healthy Carolina farmers market, including rosemary and bay leaves. Fruit trees are also scattered across campus. “(My arborist) made loquat cobbler and he said it was better than peach cobbler,” Curtis said. “Thing about loquats is if your stomach’s not used to them, start slowly or it works just like ex-lax.” Curtis said student involvement could help the university plant and maintain fruit trees. “I’ve always had a vision of integrating fruits into the landscape,” Curtis said. “But it’s hard to get people to help you maintain that. Especially students because y’all leave.” Illustrations: Sydnie Tramontina 29

COCKY'S TRUE ATHLETIC ABILITIES HINT AT A FUTURE CAREER AS A TRACK ATHLETE Dylan Ortuno

amecock students and fans are used to seeing the university mascot, Cocky, cheer on teams at athletic events. However, if the roles were reversed, what sport would Cocky play? USC professors April South, an expert in animal and veterinary sciences, and Dr. Gerald Brasington, a human anatomy professor, considered Cocky’s anthropomorphic build through the lens of athletics. They said his combination of human and rooster qualities would make him best suited to compete as a sprinter or jumper. Cocky’s relatively hollow bones and bird-like stamina would likely hold him back from longer lasting, contact intensive sports according to the professors. Dr. Brasington and South agreed that Cocky would be better off in quicker sports where he could focus on performing at a high level for a short amount of time. “I think he’d be a track and field expert at short distances and events where he’s meeting to jump,” South said. South said Cocky would have an advantage over his human competitors because of his feathers. She said Cocky’s human-sized body would likely make it so that he couldn’t fly with his wings — similar to a dinosaur with wings or short arms — but he would be able propel himself forward to run faster. Beyond propelling himself further, Cocky should see some other advantages with his flightless wings. “He’d be able to glide,” Dr. Brasington said. “The advantages would be glide, the disadvantages would be drag.” Cocky might have a hard time strictly running, or not using his wings to lift himself, because of the drag. However, Dr. Brasington said if Cocky does flap his wings to his advantage for a quick boost, his advanced breast muscles should make him very agile and quick when he runs. Using this, it’s apparent that Cocky would be a great sprinter when he uses his wings to give him a boost. He could similarly achieve lengthy long jumps with his gliding ability. Outside of a potential role with the track and field team, Cocky’s unusual anthropomorphic build also opens a number of other sports opportunities. “There could be leg up under there that you’re not seeing,” South said — referring to the bottom half of Cocky’s costume. “So rugby, lacrosse, football — you’re opening up the whole world of sports, almost.”

South said that not only could Cocky’s thighs help for physically tough sports, but that they — combined with the claw on the back of his foot — could help him in combat sports. She said that the spur on his foot would likely make him a very difficult opponent in wrestling. Additionally, she noted that the aggressive nature of roosters when enraged would make Cocky a formidable foe in any sort of combat. Dr. Brasington provided more insight regarding Cocky’s technical advantages as a rooster-human hybrid. “Since he has a bird-like feature, of course, the main interest for most people that are looking at any kind of chicken-type thing would be the breasts,” Dr. Brasington said. “I would imagine that proportionally his breasts would be gigantic muscular-wise.” Cocky’s large chest muscles would give him advantages in sports like tennis or baseball where swinging and throwing motions are the main movement. As for the lower half of Cocky’s body, Dr. Brasington said his legs would likely be able to get very low as roosters tend to be flexible enough to almost hide their legs to sit low on the ground. Thus, he could have the ability to duck under a defense and slip by easily as a running back in football. Despite all of these advantages Cocky gains from his rooster qualities, he would in turn experience a few disadvantages because of his enlarged state. “My first concern is that he’s top heavy,” Dr. Brasington said. “If he were to block for the football team, it might not be quite so easy to use that to his advantage.” Overall, Cocky’s anthropomorphic body should provide more benefits than detriments to his athletic career, they said. Regardless of this natural talent, he would still have to work hard to earn a spot on South Carolina’s track team. “We compete in a very competitive league, and what these athletes do to compete at that high level takes a lot of preparation and training,” track and field assistant coach Kevin Brown said. “We would have to train him and prepare him to see how well he could perform.” While expectations for Cocky as a track athlete would be high, Brown said he’s sure the team would be excited to welcome him in because of the enthusiasm he’d bring.

Illustration: Zoe Kennedy 31

AS SPRING RETURNS, EXPERTS ARE CONCERNED FOR ENVIRONMENTAL FUTURE Emmy ribero

pring is here, and everything is ready to bloom again. Plants will blossom and animals and insects will return, but with the exponentially changing climate and human impact on the environment, the future may not look comforting. While experts don’t expect at-risk plant and animal species to fade out this spring, they said they are concerned for their wellbeing from this point forward. Nathan Senner, an assistant professor in the department of biological science, said the earth is warming and there are very few areas that the human race hasn’t inhabited. Widespread human habitation is becoming an increasing cause for extinction — making humans the driving force for these plummeting populations. “I think the big point is that climate change is a huge problem, but it is just one of the many, many, many things that humans are changing about the world,” Senner said. “If you’re already dealing with habitat loss and lots of disturbance ... and then you put climate change on top of it, that’s when it becomes too much.” While global warming caused by emissions of greenhouse gases is affecting species, Senner believes that human habitation is currently pushing it to go extinct at a much faster pace. “Human-caused habitat loss is still the predominant driver of extinction with overexploitation in terms of overfishing or overhunting, then being the second one, and climate change is, in a way, sort of the cherry on top,” Senner said. While the majority of the problem will likely not show itself this spring, global warming is still making an increasing impact on plants and animals, according to Claudia Benitez-Nelson, Associate Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences. With the interconnectedness of the environment, slight increases in temperature can make a big impact. An example of this would be the dwindling numbers of pollinators. “They’re not pollinating as much, they’re not being as successful, could be for a variety of reasons, climate really seems to be involved in that — in terms of getting too hot. Not with the plants blooming at different times and just life cycles not being in sync,” Benitez-Nelson said. Carol Boggs, a professor in biological sciences, said there are two ways that a species may adapt to changing climates. One being plastic responses, observable physical changes which can happen

at a quicker pace, and the other being evolutionary changes — which are part of genetic makeup. Benitez-Nelson also said most plants and animals will be here this spring, but not many will be able to adapt to their changing environment as climate change is only getting worse. It depends on the species, but some of them are able to adapt by relocating. As the climate gets warmer, some species will not be able to withstand the heat, so moving locations is a possibility for them, Boggs said. “Things are evolving and changing and all of these different plants and animals are being stressed. And was it gonna happen this spring? I don’t know. But I can tell you in 10 springs. Yeah, they’re all gone,” Benitez-Nelson said. Senner said this global problem needs individual participation. “I do think that one thing that we are really starting to see is the value of very local scale efforts to improve the quality of habitats, and that can start in your backyard,” Senner said. “Certainly, voting with the conscience in mind for biodiversity issues and climate changerelated issues is also another way.” Boggs also said the average person could do more to help the environment. “Pay attention to your own carbon footprint, it’s a relatively minor thing. But nonetheless, it has a small impact. Push for climate, carbon footprint reduction on the part of corporations or on the part of municipalities or states,” Boggs said. Individual efforts by monitoring how much one consumes is a good place to start with helping the climate. Additionally, advocacy and educating people can go a lot further. “Make your voice heard. Talk about it, talk about it with your friends, talk about it with people who aren’t your friends, right? Talk about it outside your group. And have that conversation, don’t be confrontational, but be more informational and provide resources,” Benitez-Nelson said. Benitez-Nelson said she has great faith in the students she is teaching. The fight for climate justice is just beginning. She thinks the generation of students right now will be the ones to clean up the mess of past generations. “Let’s invest in you to help us figure it out. And I don’t mean invest in you in 20 years. No, no, let’s invest in you now,” Benitez-Nelson said.

SIERRA COALITION CLUB CREATES CHANGE IN COMMUNITY, ON CAMPUS THROUGH EDUCATION Cassie honeycutt

group of college students from USC shuffle into a classroom filled with students from the halls of Pine Ridge Middle School. These Pine Ridge middle schoolers will join the other classrooms that have learned from The Sierra Student Coalition, the USC-wearing college students and group of environmental activists, who are there to share with the middle-schoolers their love of the Earth. The Sierra Student Coalition is a student-based club from USC that says it promotes advocacy, education and engagement around environmental and justice topics. It is a subsidiary of a national organization called the Sierra Club that has multiple branches in the state of South Carolina.

This past semester members of the Coalition have partnered with Pine Ridge Middle School to develop a community garden and act as role models for the students. “You don’t get to work with middle schoolers that much, especially ones who come from all sorts of cultural backgrounds and socioeconomic backgrounds,” said Dalton Fulcher, the president of the Sierra Student Coalition and a fourth-year business student. “The goal is to primarily act as ambassadors for staying with school and going to college.” The group also started a community garden — an idea that originated from the former president and alumnus, Louis Rubino.

photo courtesy of penny delaney cothran

Former mayor Stephen K. Benjamin speaks to the press after signing a resolution to move the city of Columbia to 100% renewable energy.

When an organization called Communities in Schools, a nonprofit organization that works within public schools to help at-risk students stay in school, reached out to one of Fulcher’s professors. The professor shared it with the class, the coalition decided the garden was the perfect match. “We had simultaneously gotten a grant from the Sierra Club that we were looking to put towards a community garden. And both of those happened at the exact same time,” Rubino said. “I think they circulated it through the school ... and basically we were like ‘oh, this would be a great place to put our funds.’” Since the coalition was created in 2019, it worked with Student Government to create legislation regarding the school selling off subsidiary business interests. The legislation explained what the divestment was and aided the university to investigate what the school’s fossil fuels were in terms of the Educational Foundation. The legislation got passed and the university president at the time, Robert Caslen, sent a letter over to the Educational Foundation asking for an investigation to occur. Rubino and Fulcher’s efforts have not gone unnoticed around the Columbia community, according to Penny Delaney Cothran. Delaney Cothran holds many titles, such as the Organizing Representative For Ready for 100 and the group’s connection between the university and the city of Columbia.

“I have done very little but sit back and marvel at Dalton and the crew and how amazingly quick they got themselves organized and got going on the things they wished to see happen on their campus,” Delaney Cothran said. Delaney Cothran — much like the coalition — said she is always advocating and looking for new ways to make the city of Columbia a more energyefficient place. A South Carolina native, she encourages citizens to think more about the environment and energy. “I would just encourage everyone to think about where they get their energy from and who controls the levers of power behind that wall socket that you plug your computer into every day,” Delaney Cothran said. Fulcher and other club members are constantlyworking on sharing their passion for the environment and implementing new legislation with Student Government and the university. But with the majority of the club graduating and only consisting of 20 people, they are looking for students that share those same values and want to continue the club’s work. The organization wants to develop interest among younger students in the university who are really keen on taking on tough problems and leadership roles. “The idea is that we offer actually like enriching and meaningful experiences, that students can look at and grow from, or take inspiration from and go in a different direction,” Fulcher said. 33

Spring transfer students find community through student organizations Alex Blumenthal

ith the start of each semester, USC welcomes transfer students from all across the country who begin to create their own Carolina community. Spring transfer students are unique since they enter the university mid-year and don’t have the opportunity to experience the fall semester festivities. The Office of Undergraduate Admissions considers a transfer student to be any applicant who has attended another regionally accredited postsecondary institution and has attempted one or more college classes. “I feel like I’ve been able to get involved. I’m going to go compete with (Future Health Professionals) next month,” thirdyear public health student Sarah Burr said. Burr, a Columbia native, was the president of her school's chapter of the group in high school and said she knew that she wanted to get involved with it at USC. She transferred to USC this spring from Jacksonville University (JU) in Florida. “It’s definitely a lot different. It’s very fast-paced. There is always something going on,” Burr said. “Where one day on campus at JU, I might not see anybody on campus. It’s super quiet, but here there’s always something going on.” Leah Hicks, a second-year social work student, came to USC from USC-Lancaster and connected with the university through her job at the Riverbanks Zoo & Garden. There she has made friends that also go to USC in addition to student organizations such as Shandon College. “I’ve gotten plugged in with a church group, Shandon College,” Hicks said. “That’s like the one way I feel plugged in because that’s how I’m meeting the most people.”

In addition to joining organizations that interest them, transfer students are also able to connect with the Association of Transfer Students (ATS) on campus. “The Association of Transfer students is here to support transfer students socially, academically and emotionally,” Averi Goodwin, president of the Association of Transfer Students and a third-year nursing major, said. “It’s for transfer students by transfer students.” Goodwin transferred to USC during fall 2020 and became the president of ATS at the beginning of the spring 2022 semester. “It was really relatable and it’s really nice to talk to people who are dealing with the same things,” Goodwin said. Burr has also gotten involved with ATS and said she has been able to connect with fellow transfer students that have similar majors and interests. She recently attended an event hosted by ATS and has plans to be more involved with the organization as the semester progresses. "It was super awkward at first, but by the end, we were all just laughing and having a good time and we have more plans after that," Burr said. "That was nice to be able to get involved in that too." ATS hosts many different events throughout the semester such as campus tours and activities that allow for transfer students to have a space to meet. “As a transfer student, it’s just hard to really put yourself out there again,” Goodwin said. “I want to share that ATS is a safe and welcoming space.” Students interested in joining ATS can follow its Instagram @uofsc_ats.

“As a transfer student, it’s just hard to really put yourself out there again. I want to share that ATS is a safe and welcoming space.” -Averi Goodwin, president of the Association of Transfer Students

“It’s definitely a lot different. (USC)’s very fast-paced. There is always something going on.” -Sarah Burr, third-year public health student

Finding a job or internship starts at USC's career center Sydney Dunlap

SC’s career studio is on level five of the Thomas Cooper Library, hidden in the furthest corner. It is here, backed by a neon green wall, that the career center and its staff give students a fresh start. “I just think that whenever I’m in this space, I feel motivated to look towards the future,” said career studio peer educator and third-year marketing student Deanna Costar. “It’s a place where we say, ‘Okay, it didn’t work last time. We’re gonna figure it out this time.’” The career center operates as a one-stop-shop for students who are looking to make their way into the working world. While they are known for helping with resumes, the career coaches and career studio peer educators also provide support ranging from career exploration to interview practice and help applying to graduate school. It is a popular spot during the spring when many students are

looking for help finding future jobs and internships and the team at the career center has a few suggestions to help win that dream position.

1. Start early “The thing that’s always going to be most important is making sure that I’m doing favors for future me by not letting anything become an emergency,” the Associate Director of Career Development, Holly Johnson, said. Johnson said that students should start searching for internships even if they’re not ready to start the job yet.

2. Utilize Handshake and the career center toolbox Handshake is a platform for college students to explore jobs and other opportunities and is one of USC’s most versatile, but often underutilized tools.

Photo: Sydney Dunlap Ph.D. student Zo Sediqi directs students during the Health and Wellness job fair hosted by the USC Career Center on Feb. 2, 2022. 36

Senior Associate Director for career development and experimental education, Mark Anthony said USC was one of the first 100 colleges to sign onto Handshake in 2016. Since then, USC has seen approximately 3,000 jobs and internships being posted to the site each year and this number continues to grow. Anthony said the goal is to make job searching accessible for all students. “LinkedIn looks backwards, we’re looking forwards,” Anthony said, referencing a Forbes article comparing Handshake and LinkedIn. “I’m trying to help you because college students don’t have necessarily the social capital, the connections, the experience right now to connect with people like LinkedIn offers, and so, this is a way to try to help people make those connections and move forward.” One way that Anthony said students can make these connections is by spending time building a strong profile. Handshake’s algorithm uses students’ profiles to match them with opportunities that fit their experiences and interests. This gives all students a chance to get ahead by connecting with a wide variety of employers as soon as they join the site. Employees at the career center also encourage students to use Handshake to discover unique jobs titles and set alerts on new job and internship postings from employers they are interested in working for in the future, so they can be one of the first to apply.

Besides Handshake, several tools are available through the career center’s success toolkit. These include Big Interview, a virtual practice interview experience that uses artificial intelligence to give students interview tips, and Mentorship Hub, a network that connects students with USC alumni who can provide advice and support in the job search.

3. Meet with a career coach “If you want to increase your personal wealth, you would go to a financial advisor. We have career coaches here who can help you with figuring out where you’re at, where you want to be, what’s the plan,” Anthony said. Career counseling is available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and is open for scheduled appointments or walkin appointments. They can be completed online or in-person and are run by career center staff dedicated to being empathetic and helpful in every step of the process. “You put your blood, sweat and tears into your resumes and your cover letters. And there’s a lot of emotionally charged feelings behind it, right? Because this is how we get jobs,” Costar said. “If you’re going to start tearing it apart, you got to kind of establish that I’m doing this out of love for you, right? I’m doing this out of a desire to watch you succeed and to watch you thrive.” No matter where a student is in their job search, the career center is one place to start. Students can schedule an appointment and find all of the career center’s resources and tools on its website.

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ON-CAMPUS JOBS CAN BE UNDERPAID, OVERWORKED, ARE NOT FOR EVERYONE julia goulet

hile working on campus as a student at USC can be good for those who are passionate about their work, the university doesn’t pay its student workers enough and expects too much from RMs and TAs. USC has plenty of jobs available to students in need of work: From being a Resident Mentor (RM) and helping first-year students navigate their first experiences at college, to working as a Teaching Assistant (TA) and teaching students in need of academic help, there are many things that might interest all different kinds of students. Working as a student can also be very convenient, especially for first-year students with oncampus jobs since they don’t have to travel far to work. But despite the benefits, there are a lot of drawbacks. The number one issue is salary. The university can improve the state of its on-campus jobs by thinking more of its students in terms of pay and creating a working environment that is not overwhelming and stressful. Working during the school year is a necessity for some college students. Especially with increasing tuition and all the fees, a student has throughout the semester, like textbooks and general living expenses. The university pay rate for students is lacking. A fourthyear psychology major, former resident mentor, who asked to remain anonymous says the compensation does not represent the work they do.

This reaches across all fields of the university. Maclane Hull, a graduate assistant and teaching assistant in the history department, was up-front with his lack of pay. “I’ll be honest with what I make, I get paid $15,000, I think $15,500 for two semesters of work; which means we’re not paid over the summer, we’re not paid during winter break. We have to find additional work,” Hull said. Another problem that Hull brought up is that the students who need this job cannot survive off these wages. They aren’t getting enough hours since hours are limited for student workers. Hull, who is also a steering committee member for The United Campus Workers (UCW), said the group’s current campaign is on wages. UCW’s goal is to help provide a voice for higher education workers. “We’re trying to get a $15 minimum wage established and rise graduate student stipends by 15 percent,” Hull said. Along with the lack of pay, there is often an overload of work for many workers, especially in the RM department. Anonymous former RM, who took her job very seriously, said she was overworked. “I feel like that it was a pretty full workload ... I would have students who needed me on nights that I wasn’t on duty, and you know they needed me, and they were like a borderline crisis. So I would be up talking to them until midnight.”

Photo Courtesy of Keliah Bonneau Members of the University Ambassadors team walk together on the Horseshoe. University Ambassadors help prospective students learn more about being a USC student.

Fourth-year finance and economics student and former RM, Terra Ryder, said she had a similar experience. “For housing as an RM, it was overwhelming. Like, I had 40 students, freshman as well as some students who had learning disabilities, and so I was having to take care of them every day, be an RM on duty every week, sit at desks for a building that wasn’t even my own,” Ryder said. Campus jobs are not for everyone, it is a lot of work and they are hard. For RM’s, you could be up all hours of the night helping a student in need. For TA’s, you’re working well over the amount of time you’re supposed to be working with class discussions, grading papers and even things like writing tests, according to Hull.

Before you consider seeking a job on-campus, make sure you know what you will get paid and what your expectations are so you can evaluate if the job is a good fit for you. Fourth-year biology major and University Ambassador Simran Paintlia said you have to have the passion to work a job on campus, because it’s not easy. “I would recommend this position for someone that is passionate about the University of South Carolina and willing to spend a good amount of time being a University Ambassador, because it does come with a lot of responsibilities,” Paintlia said. The UCW is hard at work, fighting for the pay rise and helping upper education campus workers find their voice. Read more about UCW and join the fight for a higher minimum wage. 37

Lifelong professional soccer dream is now reality for Ryan Gareis Griffin Goodwyn

itting in anxious silence, former Gamecock women’s soccer forward Ryan Gareis awaited the moment that would change her life: hearing her name called on draft night. After three to four hours, Gareis received a phone call from Houston, and it was then that her lifetime goal had turned into reality. Gareis said her childhood dream was fulfilled when she was selected by the Houston Dash with the 44th pick of the 2022 NWSL Draft on Dec. 18, 2021. “When I got that (call), the amount of joy and excitement that came over me was undescribable,” Gareis, a senior, said. Gareis’ dream of playing professional soccer began when her parents signed her up to play the sport at a young age, she said. “They signed me up for almost everything, and soccer is the one that I just stuck with and that I fell in love with,” Gareis said. As her skills and desire to play college soccer began to grow, Gareis said she ultimately decided to continue her athletic career at South Carolina because of the welcoming environment the soccer program had to offer. “When I first visited South Carolina, they advertised the program as a family-based environment,” Gareis said. “And obviously, that sounds really nice, but when I got there, I got to see that in its full effect, and I think that’s what made it so much more enjoyable.” Since then, Gareis has become not just a starter and standout player on the field, but a valuable leader for the women’s soccer program, head coach Shelley Smith said. “She’s always been such a wonderful person to work with and a pleasure to have around and a great teammate,” Shelley Smith said. “(She’s) a really important part of our program because you want players like that, that dedicate themselves to the game, but also to the team.” Smith said she is impressed with how Gareis was able to develop her game — something that will help her in her career. “She really did a good job to get stronger physically, especially over this past year, and 38

photo courtesy of south carolina athletics | graphic: Ellis page

that helped her have a great senior season and give herself a chance to play at the pro level,” Smith said. Gareis has spent much of the winter training individually and scrimmaging against professional men’s players in preparation for her rookie season. “With my hopes of my name getting called, this past offseason and winter break, I really worked on the individual things that I feel like I needed to improve going into the professional game,” Gareis said. “They’re just a lot more tactically-skilled. They work faster on the ball. They’re strong.” Those efforts, along with the countless hours she spent over the years honing her craft, were eventually rewarded with her draft selection. “When my name was called, my family went crazy and one of my best friends

who was watching it,” Gareis said. “We all just started screaming and jumping up and down. It was really fun.” The head coach and assistant coach said they are proud of how far she has come. “She has a Pied Piper personality that Houston will benefit from, not only because she’s going to be a good player for them and will work hard to improve for them, but her in the community for Houston or any pro club will return dividends to them because that’s just the kind of person that she is,” Jamie Smith, the assistant coach, said. Gareis said she hopes to take full advantage of this opportunity and to one day become a leader for the Houston Dash. “Now that I’m so excited about it, and now that it is my reality, I hope to take it as long as I possibly can,” Gareis said.

ASIAN-INTEREST FRATERNITY COMES TO USC, BUILDS COMMUNITY AROUND ASIAN INTEREST

Addison hinkle

wo years ago, a group of men had a goal to bring a fraternity centered around Asian interest to USC’s campus. With the help of Pi Alpha Phi alumni from Clemson University, the group finally started to fill out the paperwork to try and establish a colony at USC. After their hard work, the first Asian-interest fraternity has been brought to campus. Pi Alpha Phi was founded in 1929 at the University of California Berkley but was brought to USC’s campus in October 2021. There are currently seven brothers in the Pi Alpha Phi fraternity, but they are looking to expand and get more brothers from a variety of different backgrounds. Pi Alpha Phi President, Matthew Yoon, said he has formed a natural connection with the other brothers. “I just think that although we didn’t know each other at first, we all had like similar goals, similar visions for how we wanted to establish ourselves, establish the Asian community on our campus,” Yoon, a third-year international business and economics student, said. “In the span of one semester, they went from strangers to people that I genuinely consider family, like brothers.” Pi Alpha Phi hosted a fraternity reveal last semester. A Pi Alpha Phi alumni from UNC-Chapel Hill helped them create a play that explained who the fraternity was. “It was centered around one of the Netflix series, Squid Games. So we incorporated that into something that’s more modern,” said Ethan Pham, the Vice President of Pi Alpha Phi. “We had a whole entire skit, some dances and things like that. So it was a lot more fun. It definitely shook off a lot of nerves.” The Russell House Ballroom fit over 200 people for the reveal. “It was probably one of the best experiences I’ve had in college,” Yoon said. “One thing for me was that I’ve always heard

that Asian Greek life in the Carolinas, in the Southeast in general, is very connected.” Multicultural organizations from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, the University of Georgia and Clemson University also came to witness the reveal. Pi Alpha Phi alumni flew in from Texas and other brothers FaceTimed from New York to celebrate. “Asian fraternities and sororities are really starting a movement in these past five years, I would say. We’ve definitely had such a big upswing in the amount of people participating in Asian Greek life in the southeast, and so, being able to see that in person was really cool,” Yoon said. Within its first month as a fraternity, Pi Alpha Phi contributed to the Toys for Tots drive — which was started by the Marine Corps — by collecting toys and money. With one brother in the Marine Corps, the brothers contributed about 40 volunteer hours as a fraternity and said they hope to continue working with Toys for Tots annually. “The fact that we were able to just go straight into trying to find a good cause and trying to help the community, it speaks a lot towards how dedicated we are and how we want to change the stigma surrounding Greek life in general,” Yoon said. “It’s not just social events, but we do a lot of philanthropy, we do a lot of fundraising.” This semester, Pi Alpha Phi is planning to impact the community more. The brothers set up a ramen fundraiser on Greene Street on Feb. 9 and have also partnered with the Filipino American Student Association to host a March Madness tournament at the Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center. “We just are mainly focused on helping the Asian community get exposed to the community — spreading awareness, doing more activities, surrounding that area of interest,” Pham said.

illustration: sydney lako 40

#CLOUD9

Fit Columbia in Five Points is making fitness fun again Camryn dixon

it Columbia is a hidden gem among the many venues that fill Five Points — it’s a yoga studio that ensures you leave feeling better than when you came in. With the overwhelming stress that the school semester brings upon students, it serves as a getaway from it all. The idea to create Fit Columbia started a decade ago with owner Angela Sellers. As a former strength and conditioning coach at Hammond School, Sellers has a background in athletic training. She said she opened her first gym in an unlikely place — the basement of one of her client’s husband’s office buildings. Ten years later, her studio is located in the heart of Five Points. Sellers said her mission in creating Fit Columbia is to foster play and longevity. With a studio full of energetic and professional staff, they have created an environment where clients can get in touch with their fun side and let loose. “As we grow up, we forget we can play,” studio manager and lead instructor Kiley Prevatte said. “We just create a lot of playtime, lots of giggles, lots of feel-good moments.” Fit Columbia specializes in yoga, offering a variety of different classes for all ages. A few client favorites include aerial yoga, traditional mat yoga, stretch therapy and personal training. According to Sellers, the studio will see six-year-old kids’ birthday parties doing yoga, and then you turn around and see someone who is 80-years-old. Sellers said Prevatte was once a client at Fit Columbia. She said she first came to the studio when she was a full-time student at the University of South Carolina. Prevatte fell in love with the classes which led her to eventually start teaching her own. Every semester, the studio has two to four interns from the university, and they are part of what makes the experience so special in Sellers’ eyes.

“I started with the aerial here,” Prevatte said. “I really love teaching that because I love helping other people find that confidence or that empowerment in their body when they walk out of my class.” Despite the studio being fitness-oriented, the goal for the classes is for clients to feel refreshed, not exhausted. Sellers and the staff aim to make fitness fun and educate clients on their bodies. “Why would we have somebody do so many lunges they can’t walk when they leave the studio?” Sellers said. “The goal is when they leave the studio they feel so good, they understand their bodies better, they’re more confident. And then later on that day they’re outside playing with their grandkids.” One unique feature is that payment is tailored and varies based on customer needs. Sellers said she created Fit Columbia to not be a financial burden, but instead a place where everyone is able to experience what the studio has to offer. Since COVID-19, Sellers said the studio has been able to maintain its growth while keeping everyone safe. The pandemic forced them to move into a larger location in Five Points. Sellers said the former space was about 1,000 square feet and only one room. Now in the current location, they upgraded to almost double the space to allow for a more COVID-19 conscious environment. If students or other potential clients are interested, they are encouraged to book a free consultation via the Fit Columbia website or by phone. They offer college night classes and private group sessions for athletic teams, sororities, academic clubs or even just a group of friends. Student discounts are also available. “We’re like a family,” said private trainer Nancy Goffi. “I’m a personal trainer, but sometimes a therapist, sometimes a friend.”

Group participates in aerial yoga at Fit Columbia on College St. Fit Columbia is an award-winning studio that offers fitness training and yoga.

Photo Courtesy of Kiley Prevatte

WORLD’S TOP PINBALL PLAYER AIMS TO MAINTAIN INTERNATIONAL STATUS Bailey brown

t a defining moment of his pinball career, Raymond Davidson was in the final round of the 2017 Pinball World Championship tournament in Denmark. He was playing against his mentor. Usually, there are only seven games. But now, Davidson faced Cayle George, his mentor, in the ninth game to break the tie for World Champion. Before Davidson knew it, he won the tournament and became the number one pinball player in the world. Davidson, now 29 years old, has been the number one player ever since. He now maintains his top status by playing in tournaments at Columbia’s Bang Back Pinball Lounge. Davidson and many other nationally ranked players were present at the Strikes Tournament at Bang Back Pinball Lounge in Five Points in January 2022. Davidson won the Strikes Tournament, earning him IFPA points and a trophy in the shape of South Carolina. Before Davidson was ranked No. 1 against the world’s 88,000 other players, his pinball career started in his grandparents’ house. His grandparents had a 1976 Gottlieb Pioneer, one of the last electro-mechanical pinball machines, he said. Davidson’s father taught him how to play it. He then got into modern pinball games, playing the machines at restaurants. Compared to his father’s 1976 Gottlieb, a modern pinball game machine is not the same. It has a light-emitting diode, or LED,

playfield lighting and embedded liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors and backboards. As he went and played at these restaurants, Davidson said he learned that you could win free games on the pinball machine as prizes, which encouraged him to play better. “I was like, ‘Oh, I can play this over and over again if I get good enough,’ so I just kept gravitating towards them and playing them more and more,” Davidson said. In 2008, he began his competitive pinball career at the Northwest Pinball Championships. He qualified and earned a cash prize. But when he competed in the Northwest the next year, he won nothing. This stuck with him and became a motivating factor for the next stage in his career, he said. The loss hooked Davidson and fueled the fire for him to work harder. He said that because of this, he did well at most of the tournaments he participated in after. “It motivated me to get better,” Davidson said. At his first tournament, Davidson met George, a fellow pinball competitor nationally ranked third in the world. At the registration table, George helped him sign up for the International Flipper Pinball Association. As their friendship grew, George invited Davidson to his house and began to teach him the trade of being a competitive pinball player. At George’s house, Davidson was able to enjoy his beautiful collection of games. “He taught me a lot of pinball from a strategic, competitive stance,” Davidson said.

Photo: jalen miller

Closeup of the pinball machine on Feb. 20, 2022. Bang Back Pinball Lounge contains a variety of pop culture themed pinball machines bringing an old-school arcade vibe to the Columbia Five Points area.

Davidson currently creates videos on YouTube and on Twitch, and though he does not personally mentor, he regularly gives advice to future pinball players. For Davidson to keep his top rank, he must continue to grow his IFPA points, which determines your placement in the ranking system. Due to the presence of Davidson and other highly ranked players, the points possible to earn at the Bang Back tournament have increased. The Bang Back Pinball Lounge opened a year and a half ago, and it has held many tournaments since. However, this tournament was the first high stakes pinball event in the state of South Carolina. Fred Richardson, the owner of Bang Back expects to hold bigger tournaments in the future.

Richardson explained how he created the tournament that attracted top rank players like Davidson. “In order for them (pinball competitors) to come and visit, I have to make it worth their time,” Richardson stated. The tournament included four competitions, one each day. Prizes like pinball playfields and backgrounds were given out, as well as points for the International Flipper Pinball Association (IFPA). At the tournament, Davidson beat Steven Bowden, who is currently ranked 30th internationally and works for American Pinball Inc. Bowden expressed his belief that players of any level can join pinball tournaments. “You don’t have to be good ... good games are made for multiple levels of players,” Bowden stated. 43

‘I’m not concerned’: Students travel for return of traditional spring break Caleb bozard & max White

pring break is back this semester after it was canceled last year because of COVID-19, and students said they were glad to have a whole week off again. The Daily Gamecock asked students if they planned to travel during this year’s spring break and if the continued presence of COVID-19 and its variants would be a concern. Many students said they planned trips for the break. Some said the virus was not a serious concern at all for their spring break plans. Meghan Reynolds, a thirdyear biological sciences student, said she has had COVID-19 twice and is no longer worried about the virus. “I’m not concerned,” Reynolds said. “I think, if I die, I die.” First-year nursing student Shelby Mauldin said she was less concerned about catching COVID-19 while she traveled than she would have been last year because of how many of her friends have contracted the virus. “If I do get it, I know what I’m going to do and my plan of quarantine and everything, so I’m not that stressed about it,” Mauldin said. Many students, like secondyear nursing student and hospital worker Jordyn Hughes, said they planned to continue to try and limit the spread of the virus while they traveled, whether by wearing masks or socially distancing. “I’m trying to get to the point where yes, being safe but also returning to some form of normalcy,” Hughes said. Many students said their vaccination status and tendency to follow COVID-19 44

protocols made them feel more comfortable traveling. “I’m not too worried. I mean, I’m fully vaccinated with the booster, and I’m young and fit, go to the gym, so I’m not too worried about it. But just don’t be stupid, like, go to a club with no mask or something like that,” Garret Bolton, a first-year sports and entertainment management student, said. However, not all students shared this sentiment. Latoria Johnson, a third-year public health student, said she planned to take a train to New Orleans during spring break. However, the last time she took the train, she caught COVID-19, so she plans to be more careful this time around. “I am kind of worried,” Johnson said. “I think the best thing I can do to avoid touching stuff is probably try to be a little more sanitary.” Some students said while they still traveled, COVID-19 concerns often made them think twice about where they went. “That’s one of the reasons I didn’t plan to go out of the country, because I knew I could take a COVID test, and there’s always a chance that I can test positive,” Quinn Murray, a second-year retailing student, said. Several students said they were worried about COVID-19 infections increasing as students returned to campus after the break. “I live with people who are immunocompromised, so it’s like, I want to still take your health into consideration, even though other people wouldn’t,” Shamaria Young, a third-year psychology pre-med student, said.

Young said she is concerned about going to in-person classes in the days after spring break. “As a public health major, I just have to think about the spread. As much fun as I’d like to have as my last year on spring break, I have to be cognizant of the fact that I could bring back COVID and one of it’s thousands of varieties — at this point — back to campus and that could end up being detrimental for commencement and everything else that’s supposed to happen after spring break,” fourth-year public health student Reylan Cook said. Students said they were excited for a traditional spring break to return partly because a full week off makes it easier to travel than the scattered mental health days provided throughout the spring 2021 semester. “It’s nice that I have an extended period of time to go visit my family cause — what just one or two days sporadically — I can’t go home because I’m from out of state,” first-year pre-business student Morgan Fisher said. Students also said they thought a full week was more effective for students to destress from the workload of the spring semester. “My professors still assigned stuff that was kind of like due that week, so I still had to do homework on those days, but I feel like spring break will be just a good break. I can take my mind off things,” Alex Karp, a fourth-year public health student, said. illustrations: julia lako

Healthy Carolina Farmer’s Market supports future of sustainability in Columbia hannah ballantyne

he Healthy Carolina Farmers Market aims to promote a more sustainable and healthy way of living, while also giving back to the community and local vendors. The market is a regular event that provides options for students to buy healthy produce, shop local businesses and support environmental-friendly agriculture is available at this pop-up market of local vendors on Greene Street. The vendors range from farmers, agricultural chefs or people creating their own business from the local area. Students can buy produce and handmade products, while also learning about healthy recipes and initiatives taken to promote sustainability around campus from these vendors. The market is held on Greene Street from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekly on Tuesdays during the fall and springtime. It returned for the spring on March 15. The market has grown substantially over the past decade by reaching out to more local vendors, including those that hand-make different crafts. The market also features efforts made by the Carolina Food Company to promote healthier food in dining halls. Every component of the market is checked to ensure that it meets the guidelines of being sourced locally regionally or grown in South Carolina. Peyton Mosher, graduate assistant for Healthy Carolina, takes charge in organizing and setting up the vendors at the market. Although she only started this position in the fall of 2021, Mosher has reached out to vendors

around the city and said she has formed connections with them. “Whenever I go to Soda City, (vendors) are always asking me about my life and checking in, so I’ve kind of become like a little family, since I’m from out of state,” Mosher said. “But honestly, they’ve been amazing.” The vendors have created their own culture in Columbia, with some attending the same local markets and others, like The Veggie Patch, having been involved with the Healthy Carolina Farmers Market for a decade. “Most of them kind of know each other and they bring other vendors each week,” Mosher said. “So it’s kind of nice to get to have new vendors brought in just with them.” Although the market’s vendors have had to adjust to university’s guidelines in regards to packaging food separately and social distancing, this past fall gave back to not only the vendors but also back to the city’s economy. Over $22,000 from the market went back into the local economy during the fall season of 2021, all from local businesses and vendors striving for a cleaner and healthier environment. Since 2010, more vendors have begun participating. Cooking classes from University Health Services have made an appearance and a nutritionist with healthy recipes was also available to talk to at the market in the past. Mosher said she hopes to get some of those services picked up and running after COVID-19 regulations became a bit looser, with rules now allowing food to be served to students on site. She said she also plans on handing out reusable grocery bags and working with the South Carolina Department of Agriculture in the future. The Healthy Carolina Farmers Market also reached out to local businesses that sell different goods and handmade items. Susan Frederick is a vendor and the owner of Susan’s Succulents and Cacti. She started selling her own succulents in 2018. She said she has enjoyed gardening and landscaping since she was a little girl. Frederick discussed the variety of plants and vegetables she had grown up and had experience with.

“My dad started me with gardening, and I always had a big garden,” Frederick said. She said she started upcycling coffee cups from Goodwill to use as pots for her succulents. “I use vases and just anything that will hold the dirt, you can use. So that just keeps stuff out of the landfill,” Frederick said. Frederick sells a variety of succulents and cacti, all in different patterned pots, and also sells at Soda City on Saturdays in Columbia. Succulents are low maintenance and only need water every few weeks. They’re perfect for students that want something simple to spruce up their dorm or apartment, she said. “I love it,” Frederick said. “I enjoy being with the students. They love succulents and cactuses.” Frederick said she plans on expanding her collection and wants to start selling some bigger plants. Frederick is just one of many people who are working to be more green. There are vendors that grow all of their own produce, make their own soap and reinforce the trend of reduce, reuse and recycling, like January Remingtonn, who offers a dollar off on your next candle if you return the previous candle jar back. Partnering with the Carolina Food Company also gives students a chance to discuss healthy initiatives and taste sustainable recipes that are locally sourced. The Carolina Food Company also contributes to creating a more sustainable environment. At their table, they pass out healthy recipes cards and share their progress within different projects around campus according to Scott Warner, the sustainability manager for Carolina Food Company. Warner is appreciative of being able to highlight these sustainable practices at the market for students, and also around campus by sourcing locally and reducing waste in the dining halls. “For us, it’s a great opportunity to showcase, you know, what we’re doing from a sustainability perspective on campus,” Warner said. “And so we use the market as a platform to share those initiatives with students.” illustrations: Joshua burkhead

COLUMN:

SPRING CLEANING PROVIDES HOLISTIC HEALTH BENEFITS Christina Ceniccola

ecluttering your living space helps refresh your brain and body for the new season. The concept of spring cleaning is well-known in our society. Like flowers, the desire to clean blooms more passionately in the spring than any other season. But the benefits of spring cleaning go beyond participating in this custom. At the shift of a new season, it’s imperative to stay in touch with your physical and mental health by investigating your surrounding environments. During the cold winter months, it’s easy to let the dust pile up. Neglecting smaller habits such as wiping down windowsills or vacuuming carpeted space can accumulate to an extent that is harmful to your health. As if seasonal allergies aren’t enough, experts report that internal polluted environments can provoke negative reactions up to five times more intense than outdoor polluted environments. Air quality is a major health determinant in indoor environments and keeping your space clean helps keep your lungs healthy.

Some indoor pollutants include dust, pet dander, mildew and pollen. These particles can induce several allergy-like symptoms, but more importantly, they’ve been linked to the development of respiratory illness and asthma. However, spring cleaning isn't just good for your physical health: Our living environments and our mental health are connected. “Our external environments tend to reflect our internal environments,” USC’s Mindfulness and Resilience Program Coordinator LaQuana Sheppard said. For example, feelings of stress or anxiety can lead to decreased motivation for simple tasks like washing dishes after dinner. Consequently, living environments that become too messy can create a hostile mental atmosphere where it’s hard to find a place to start. Decluttering your environment can free your mind after being trapped in the cycle of disorder. "The more open space that you have, the more clarity and you have in your foundation," Sheppard said.

Not only does the mind feel more at ease, but open space creates more opportunities. As college students, most of us are living in relatively small dorms or apartments. Clearing your space of useless items can optimize storage and create a more comfortable place for your mind to rest. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exemplified the importance of keeping a clean living space. For many, home and school environments have merged. With more options for remote classes, home serves as a learning space now more than ever. “Especially with online classes, there’s no way I can sit there and listen to my class when the table is dirty and there’s cups and stuff everywhere,” fourth-year finance student Jarrett Henderson said. Tidying up could improve your ability to focus and ultimately ease the adjustment to taking classes at home. Spring cleaning can also benefit your emotional wellbeing. Getting rid of old things and creating a cleaner living environment can provoke strong feelings of accomplishment and productivity. Whenever the brain recognizes a task as complete, a neurotransmitter known as dopamine is released. Dopamine is the reason behind feelings of accomplishment after checking an item of the to-do list and is responsible for feelings of productivity. When the brain is rewarded for wiping down the countertop, mopping the floor won’t seem as demanding because your brain is expecting a positive feeling after completion.

A vacuum cleaning the carpet in an apartment. Using a vacuum with a HEPA filter has increased health benefits.

Donating items to someone in need can also boost your emotional well-being, since doing good for others is another activity that sparks joy and induces the release of dopamine in the brain. Regardless of these benefits, learning to live and clean on your own can be challenging for college students. Developing positive habits during this critical period is important, but in a survey of nearly 100 students at USC, over 60 percent reported not having a spring-cleaning routine. Some students may have never learned how to properly deepclean their living space, while others may feel intimidated by the magnitude of starting a regimen. If you’re feeling this way, it might be more effective to break down your tasks into smaller portions. Accomplishing goals in small portions can be more enjoyable and sustainable over the long term. Sheppard recommended focusing on the most immediate task first. Checking one item off at a time is the key to establishing healthy and rewarding habits. If you’re looking to adopt a spring cleaning plan on a budget, consider making affordable swaps for expensive cleaning products. Fourth-year advertising student and selfproclaimed cleaning fanatic Claire Bryant recommended a homemade mixture to replace commercial products. "Baking soda, vinegar and just like a basic Dawn dish soap, warm water. That can clean just about anything,” Bryant said. This spring, create a living environment in which your brain and body can simultaneously flourish. Clean up.

Photo Illustration: Jerry Bowen 47

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