Brittany Walter has always been interested in death. “Actually, it goes beyond interest and fascination,” says or said the USC doctoral student. “I’ve always had an understanding of death.

“It started when I was in seventh grade,” she explains. “I read mostly forensic crime novels, like ‘Death du Jour,’ ‘Break No Bones’ and ‘Bones to Ashes.’ I would say that I was definitely an oddball in middle school.”

By the time she entered college, there was no question that the Florida native would major in anthropology and focus her studies on the secrets of human remains. Her curiosity led to conducting undergraduate research in a medical examiner’s office, where she compared cranial shapes and thicknesses.

She remembers the first time she saw an autopsy. “The smell is like no other,” she said. “It’s sharp, pungent and sweet all at the same time. And you instinctively know it’s a dead person and not an animal, even without seeing the body.”

As a graduate student at the University of Central Florida, Brittany conducted further research, this time utilizing global positioning systems and ground penetrating radar for mapping and locating body parts. She also had the opportunity to work a very high profile crime case.

“My advisor was the forensic recovery expert during the Casey Anthony trail,” Brittany said. “We assisted the medical examiner, and he testified at the trial.”

Currently working toward a Ph.D. in anthropology at USC, Brittany has refocused her area of specialization, moving away from crime scenes to ancient burial sites and causes of death. Her research has taken her to an early Egyptian cemetery and an ancient Mediterranean gravesite in which King Midas is believed to have been buried. There she analyzed ancient skeletal remains to diagnose breast cancer and other deadly diseases.

She’s working closely with USC professor Sharon Dewitte, a biological anthropologist. Dewitte investigates the mortality patterns, demographics and health consequences of medieval plague in Europe, including the Black Death of 1347-1351. What’s more, Brittany teaches in the anthropology’s osteology (bone) lab and is a Presidential Doctoral Fellow.

“Bones are full of information,” she said. “You can tell age and sex. You can tell ancestry. You can tell whether a person was right-handed or left-handed. Bones can reveal certain diseases and how a person might have died.”

By digging through the medical mysteries of the past, Brittany is not only discovering new and fascinating information from history, she is uncovering the diagnostic tools of tomorrow that may some day help solve some of our most challenging health problems.

The feel of the ball as it leaves her hands, the familiar spin of its flight and the swish as it goes through the net have been a part of Shelbretta “Brett” Ball’s life since she was five. The 5-foot 8-inch sophomore guard inherited her passion for the game from two aunts who played collegiate, international and professional basketball.

“Growing up, I was surrounded by basketball,” Brett says. “I saw my aunts play major college ball, play as members of Olympic teams and play professionally. They experienced so much through basketball. I wanted to do it, too.”

During those formative years, Brett developed a never-give-up attitude and an overwhelming desire to succeed. She trained endlessly and perfected her signature “in and out” move. Recruited by numerous schools, the Mississippi native selected USC in order to play under head coach Dawn Staley and to major in criminal justice and journalism.

However, soon after arriving in Columbia Brett was ruled medically ineligible to play. “It was a devastating blow,” she recalls. And for several months being around the game was painful. “It cut me like a knife just to walk into the gym.”

But Brett didn’t back down. Relying on the same fortitude she used to face down superior opponents, Brett discovered a new game — a new way to contribute to the team. “It was hard to figure out my role,” Brett says. “But with advice from Coach Staley, I’ve found my place on the team.”

Now, armed with a video camera, Brett produces “Ballin’ with Brett,” a video blog providing Carolina fans with behind-the-scenes access to the team. The blogs document the women’s team from practice sessions and postgame interviews to study hall and travel.

With her basketball career on hold for now, it’s no mystery how she stays on top of her game. Brett lives by the motto: “Its not how you start the game that counts. It’s how you finish.”

SEC Beast, the team that won USC’s intramural basketball championship this year, had a simple strategy — get the ball to Serge Afeli.

Serge is a 6-foot-9-inch former Kansas State basketball player who played under then-assistant coach Frank Martin. He’s also a former member of the Ivory Coast national team and developed a love for the game by watching the NBA back when “everybody wanted to ‘Be like Mike,’” he said.

The 1992 U.S. Olympic “dream team” really sparked his hoops interest with its all-star lineup of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley and Larry Bird.

But there’s a lot more to Serge than basketball savvy. His passion for science and unforgettable mentors have also shaped Serge’s life. The fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in the S.C. College of Pharmacy came to USC in 2009 to pursue a doctorate in pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences.

He’s focusing his doctoral research on receptors in the human bladder with a goal of finding new drug targets for treatment of overactive bladder, a disease that affects 34 million in the United States alone. With USC pharmacy professor Georgi Petkov and others, Serge has published findings in the Journal of Urology and the American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology.

And though Serge is playing in a different arena now, he’s still lighting up the court. And smart money says he’ll find a slam-dunk cure for bladder ailments.

Stone Stadium can be a battlefield: slide tackles, shoves, attacks and counterattacks. You might think that wouldn’t appeal to someone like Kevin Stam, who’s practiced nonviolence all his life. But Kevin’s a top competitor, a defender for the USC men’s soccer team, and doesn’t see it that way at all. Almost since he kicked his first soccer ball at age 4, Kevin Stam has loved the sport, especially the camaraderie of team play and the competitiveness of the game.

A junior, Stam found something else to love while walking on the campus’ historic Horseshoe his first year. “I was an undeclared major, but I knew what I wanted to do: international peace building,” he said. “One day I saw the College of Social Work sign on the Horseshoe and decided to take a couple of social work electives. I loved it, and declared it as a major.”

What Stam likes so much about social work is its parallels to peace building and conflict resolution. “The core values of social work integrate with peace building: integrity, social justice, the dignity and worth of people and so on,” he said.

Stam credits his family and upbringing in the Mennonite Church, renowned for its pacifist teachings, with fostering his interest in peace building and conflict resolution.

“My parents promoted the ideas of nonviolence, of community, of affection and accepting other people’s cultures,” he said. “The way they disciplined us, the way they talked to us, they set that foundation, and it seemed like the best way to live your life.”

“I was an undeclared major, but I knew what I wanted to do: international peace building. But USC doesn’t have that as a major,” he said. “One day I saw the College of Social Work sign on the Horseshoe and decided to take a couple of social work electives. I loved it, and declared it as a major.”

For Stam, there’s no disconnect between playing collegiate soccer — a virtual turf war — and being an advocate for peace building.

“Competition is paramount to sports,” he said. “I’m not trying to make your life worse by trying to win; there’s going to be a winner and a loser in every game. The goal is to keep my composure, to continue to try to play well even when my team is losing. When we’re playing well together as a team, that brings me peace.”

Stam, a member of the Honors College, has conducted undergraduate research on conflict resolution, surveying fellow social work undergrads about their views on conflict.

“What I wanted to find out is whether they view conflict constructively or destructively. It was alarming to me that 50 percent saw it as a negative thing,” he said. “Conflict is a good thing. We don’t want to avoid it, but we want to prevent victimization and other poor outcomes of conflict. The goal isn’t conflict prevention but transformation.”

After he graduates, Stam hopes to pursue a graduate program in peace building at Eastern Mennonite University. In the meantime, he’ll continue his role as the heart of the USC defense and pursuing his studies in social work.

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