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Quote, Unquote ‘The rumors of the school losing its accreditation are just that — rumors.’ Rodney Roenfeldt, Darla Moore School of Business interim dean Wk (5amecock Serving the Carolina Community since 1Q08 Editorial Board Kenley Young • Editor in Chief Brad Walters • Managing Editor Brock Vergakis • Viewpoints Editor Peter Johnson • Assistant Viewpoints Editor Emily Streyer • Editorial Contributor Admissions process must be changed Cor USC to become one of the leading institutions of higher learning in the nation, many steps must be taken. The first one is a simple one. The application for admission to USC must be changed. The admissions application primarily relies on only two things - SAT score and GPA. The best universities have far more detailed applications that include letters of recommendation, essays, num ber of advanced placement classes at high school attended, ex tracurricular activities, awards received and leadership positions. All of these things are included in other schools’ applications to determine the potential for success of a particular applicant. At USC, none of this is taken into consideration. This leaves our ad missions office to perform a decision process that relies on num bers and geography. This is something a computer could do. Even with a University 101 program designed to achieve higher freshman retention rates, Carolina only retains four out of five stu dents who come here their first year. More prestigious institutions who use a more rigorous application have retention rates reaching upward of 95 percent. This is because they pick more qualified ap plicants and can do so because they know more about them than we do. Numbers rarely tell the whole story about a student, and we rely much too heavily on them. By changing the application for admission, USC will find bet ter- qualified students with a greater chance of succeeding. Classes are crowded enough as it is without having to waste space on stu dents who can’t make it in college and who will only damage USC’s already less-than-stellar academic reputation. The best students want to go to the best schools. When students compare our application with those of the universities of Virginia, North Carolina or Michigan, it’s crystal clear whose admission standards are more rigorous and whose degrees are more valuable. PETA right to pull beer/milk comparison People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals on Thursday pulled an ad campaign that champions beer over milk, after critics claimed that it promoted underage drinking. According to The Associated Press, the "Got Beer?" campaign alleges that factory farms mistreat milk cows and their calves "and that the fat and cholesterol in milk make drinking beer look good by comparison." Mothers Against Drunk Driving opposed the cam paign, apparently concerned that the campaign unwittingly pro motes underage drinking. We applaud PETA for dropping the ads, not only because it ap pears to glorify alcohol consumption, but also because its statistics are misleading. Whole milk, while fattening, contains all kinds of essential nutrients. And nonfat milk is always an option for con sumers who watch their weight. While a campaign called "Got Beer?" certainly is an eye-grab ber and directs attention to PETA’s cause, it also tends to misrepre sent the facts about alcohol and to gloss over the dangers inherent in irresponsible consumption. A B 0 U T U ‘S The Gamecock is the student newspaper of The University of South Carolina and is published Monday, Wednesday and Friday during the fall and spring semesters and nine times during the summer with the exception of university holidays and exam periods. Opinions expressed in The Gamecock are those of the editors or author and not those of The University of South Carolina. The Board of Student Publications and Communications is the publisher of The Gamecock. The Department of Student Media is the newspaper's parent organization. The Gamecock is supported in part by student activities fees. ._ The Gamecock Adorers The Gamecock , £"» G«'ldi"« 1400 Greene Street I TS,?. IT? £?■? Columbia, SC 29208 ®rad Wal,e?,. ^ Managing Editor Will Gillaspy Offices on third floor of the Russell House. Brock Vergakis Online Edita Stuoewt Media Area code 803 Viewpoints Editor Peter Johnson Advertising 777-3888 cla7,on Kaie Ass< Viewpoints Editor Classified 777-1184 News Editor Kelly Haggerty pax 777-6482 Brandon Larrabee Patrick Rathbun Office 777-3888 Associate News Editor Asst. News Editors Rebecca Cronican MacKenzie Craven GAMECOCK Area code 803 Ann Marie Miani Asst. EtCetera Editor Editor gckeddsc.edu 777-3914 EtCetera Editors Elizabeth Rod News gcknewsdsc.edu 777-7726 David Cloninger Asst. Sports Editor Viewpoints gckviewsdsc.edu 777-7181 Shannon Rooke Rob Fleming Etc. gcketcdsc.edu 777-3913 Sports Editors Asst. Encore Editor Encorelgamecockencoredhotmail.com 777-3913 Kristin Freestate Charles Prashaw Sports gcksportsdsc.edu 777-7182 Copy Desk Chief Shawn Singleton Online www.gamecock.sc.edu 777-2833 Renee Oligny Charlie Wallace Kevin Langston Emily Streyer Letters to the editor of guest columns are welcome fncore fd,fo, Editorial Contributor from all members of the Carolina community. Letters Snjoerr Media should be 250-300 words. Guest columns should be an i u cm -,m j. Ellen Parsons Business Manager opinion piece of about 600-700 words. D/«ctar Sherry Holme. Both must include name, phone number, profes- Susan King Classified Manager sional title or year and major, if a student. Handwritten Creative Director Erik Collins submissions must be personally delivered to Russell Kris Black Faculty Adviser House room 333. E-mail submissions must include Julie Burnett Jonathan Dunagin telephone number for confirmation. Todd Hooks *?UatJ A™stant The Gamecock reserves the right to edit for libel, ^ k i * . . „ . ’ Kathy Van Nostrand Gina McKelvey style and space. Anonymous letters will nu be pub- Creative Services Melissa Millen lished. Photos are required for guest columnist and can Kenton Watt Brantley Roper be provided by the submitter. Advertising Manager Nicole Russell Call 777-7726 for more infomation. Carolyn Griffin Advertising Staff % The Washington Post "HOW MUCH OF THIS FREE SPEECH CAM WE RAISE FOR THE REST OF THE CAMRAKSH?" -fSk FINANCE RER)f?H _ WAITING FOR I.ATE RETOgjS. Living on campus simple, convenient Keep life sim ple. Live on cam pus. Why do I men tion this, the oft used catch phrase for the USC De partment of Hous ing? As cheesy as the motto might sound, it’s also a very simple and practical way of making the same ex act point I’ll be making in this 800 word column. I’ve lived on campus for three of the best years of my life, and I’ll be back next year to finish my college career on campus, as well. At the risk of sounding too much like a brochure, I give you just a few of the reasons why you should consider living on campus: • Despite opinion to the contrary, living on campus doesn’t necessarily cost more than living off campus. In fact, un less you live in a dump off campus with three or more roommates, you’ll proba bly end up paying more when you throw in the power bill, cable bill, water bill and other bills many off-campus units make you pay. Even if living on campus does end up costing you a little bit more, the other benefits make it well worth the extra cost. • On-campus dorms provide all the fur niture you need, and most of it’s relative ly new. Moving day is enough of a hassle without having to worry about lugging a desk, a bed, a couch, a dresser and every thing else. If you’re like me, you won’t have enough money on hand to be able to buy decent furniture until after you’re graduated, anyway. Sure, you could drive around Rosewood and see if anyone’s thrown away any good furniture, but who really wants a couch they picked up off someone’s curb? • it you re on campus, you re proba bly safer - at least compared to some of the other places you could be living. De spite the flack our campus sometimes gets for not being as safe as it could be, I guar antee you it’s safer than living in Five Points, North Main or Olympia. And where else are you going to find security guards man ning the entrances to your building at night, even if they are only awake half the time? • Even the safer, student-laden off-cam pus dwellings have their problems. Clay, our esteemed news editor, was the vic tim of an unwelcome pipe break in his Whaley’s Mill apartment. Now, his loft and everything he had stored in it is a murky brown color. Ironically enough, he has n’t had any hot water in the shower for months. Sara, our “editor Emeritus,” told me she had to move from Whaley’s be cause of the smell. And some residents of University Commons have complained about too-stringent rules limiting the num ber of people allowed in your apartment during a party. Of course, these things hap pen on campus, too, but my point is that moving off campus won’t necessarily end all your maintenance prooiems or grant you complete freedom. • Living on campus is part of the whole “college experience.” You’ll have the rest of your life to live off campus, and people who live off campus are typically less in volved than those who stay on campus. Sure, on-campus housing isn’t the most spacious in the world (unless, of course, you live in one of those huge three-bed room behemoths in Woodrow, like the one in which Kenley, our editor, resides) - but that’s all part of the experience, too. The only people who really have a right to com plain about space are those who live in the Freshman Centers - but if you ’re reading this, you probably won’t live in one of those next year. • Students who live on campus don’t have to worry about the morning or evening commute and the hell that goes along with it. At first, I didn’t believe you could lit erally roll out of bed and into class by living on campus, as the housing brochures say, but I actually almost did that one se mester when my morning class was right across the hall from my dorm room. Liv ing within walking distance of your classes has other benefits. If it ever snows again and USC lacks the presence of mind to cancel classes until 30 minutes before they’re supposed to start, you won’t have to make a long drive only to get to class and find out it’s been canceled when your professor doesn’t show. • Living on campus builds character. You’ll never see roaches that size again. (Just kidding. As many of you know, the roaches go away once the pest people come irvand spray.) Living in the same building or on the same hall with others will teach you to be more accepting of differ ences in people. I’ve had three different roommates in my three years on campus, and living with each of them has taught me to be more tolerant in some way, shape or form. Lots of people live off campus-slight ly more than half our students - and many of them are probably quite happy where they are. But if you’re like me and like life to be as convenient as possible for as long as possible, living on campus is the only way to live. -----5 Brad Walters is a journalism junior and managing editor. He can be reached at: gamecock viewpoints® hotmail.com Off-campus living liberating, beneficial Allow me to ask you a hypothet ical question: Would you ever marry a person without ever having met them? Of course not, un less you’re in one of those “made-for television” scenar ios where you fell in love with the acci dent victim whose body cast conceals their looks. The point is, you want to know what you’re getting into. You want to know what the rest of your life will be like. You don’t jump into these things, right? So, with that as a foundational argu ment, why would you dream of not living off campus until you’re graduated. Would you not see the obvious benefits of know ing how life is in the “independent” realm before having to completely go it alone? Now, I don’t have exact numbers, but I have always heard that a laige percent of college graduates go back hon* after be ing graduated. I happen to think this is be cause they receive an initial shell shock when the load of responsibility is dumped on them all at once. The solution: Run home to mom and dad and get your bear ings. How convenient. You could take the easy and irrespon sible way out, or you could take it upon yourself to experience independence and responsibility while being a student. This is perhaps the most hectic and busy time of your life, and to stack on the chores of paying bills and rent is a valuable lesson, and a builder of character. The toughest part about college life is time management. The courses are reasonable, if you’re ma ture about it, but you have to practice self discipline to get through it successfully. It makes sense to leant the importance of paying bills and rent on time when you’re so bent on doing everything in an orga nized fashion. It also helps to build your credit as long as you bounce no checks and miss no payments. Having established cred it is very important when you are out in the “real world” trying to get a car, a place to live and a credit card. If you don’t get a credit card while in college (when they are practically begging you to take one), you’ll have some difficulty. If the practical reasons don’t work for you, here are some rather shallow bene fits to living off campus. These aren’t the only reasons, but I am sure you can re late to them. First of all, you’re more likely to get your own room when you live off cam pus. You might share a room to split rent, but the rooms are usually laiger. With hav ing your own room comes the convenience of doing whatever you want to the room. The issue of privacy is very important. I cannot tell you how liberating it is to walk into your apartment and shut yourself in your own room. You’re free to do what ever you want without having your room mate sitting five feet from you. Now, this obviously doesn’t apply to apaitment-style residence halls, but there are more reasons to choose off-campus living. If you’re tired of having those pesky resident advisers being your parents away from home, move off campus. I promise you they will not come knocking on your door at 3 a.m. if you’re being too loud. The only problem is that it might be the police, but if they show up, you’re probably asking for it. So, you also have the liberty and the assurance that if you want to blast your music at 11:30 p.m., your RA won’t write you up. You see, the whole residence hall discipline system is thrown out when you move off campus. You won’t get referred to the Residence Hall Director. Again, the only people who would come knocking on your door are the police or your landlord, but (again) you’d probably deserve it. If you ve lived in a residence nail, you’ve had the floor mate (or in some cas es the roommate) who was a little freaky. He might practice Kung Fu at 4 a.m., or he might smell a little funny or he might even pee on the floor. Either way, you can easily avoid this problem if you live off campus. You tend to cut down on the “freak factor” when you live off campus. In most cases, you’ll move off campus with some one you know and trust, so you’re room mate problem should be nonexistent. I haven’t met a student who lived in a residence hall that has never been woken up by a late-night fire alarm. Climbing out of bed and walking down the stairs is a per fect way to be pulled from your slumVr. You stand there waiting for the fire Jl partment to show up, and you curse the idiot who pulled the alarm as a prank. \^fell, this is not a problem off campus either. If you hear a fire or smoke alarm, you should pay attention to it, because chances are you won’t have morons playing any pranks. There is another aspect to living off campus that is really intangible. I can’t re ally explain it, but there is a feeling you get when you walk into “your” apartment or “your” house. It is yours (or more yours than was a dorm room). The experience is very liberating and beneficial. You can have people guests at “your'’ apartment or house without having to sign them in. You’ll nev er have to show your key at the door nor have your bags searched. You’re as close to the real world as you can be while still in college. So, when the day comes that you finally leave this establishment of high er education behind, you will be as as possible for the great beyond. -,— -i--1 Kevin Langston is a 'journalism junior and encore editor. He can be reached at: gamecock viewpoints® hotmail.com Send your 200-250 word letters to gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com. , ' V . • 1 \__>>_