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Quote, Unquote ‘Unfortunately, we find unmarked cemeteries from time to time.’ John Leader, S.C. State Archaeologist Friday, February 2,2001 Che (5amecock Serving the Carolina Community since 1Q08 Brock Verg^kis Editor in Chief Clayton Kale Viewpoints Editor Erin O’Neal Spotlight Editor Kyle Almond Sports Editor Brad Walters Design Editor Brandon Larrabee University Editor Amanda Silva Spotlight Editor Valerie Matchette City & State Editor Martha Wright Copy Desk Chief A Closing the medical school will hurt S.C. Next fall’s first-year students could be the last medical doctors to be graduated from USC, if a state senator has his way. This past week, Sen. William Mescher, R-Berkeley, intro duced a bill to close the USC School of Medicine in Columbia, saying he’s had it in the “back of [his] mind for a number of Strange it should come to the front of his mind when state government is preparing to slash funding. And strange that, should it close, South Carolina’s only medical school (and med ical school dollars) would be in a county that’s geographically snuggled right up to Berkeley. Closing USC’s medical school, adjacent to the Dorn VA Hos pital on Gamers Ferry Road, would be a major loss to our univer sity and to our state. It’s part of the diversity of educational expe rience that looks attractive to the American Association of Universities, a group our school has been wooing for years. The USC School of Medicine has been consistent in turning out the doctors we need most, such as pediatricians and family practi tioners, about half of whom remain in or return to South Caroli na to serve medium-sized and small towns. USC also runs Rural Primary Care Centers around the state. But one of our state senators thinks it’s a good idea to scrap the statewide and national grants USC Med has earned, farm out the faculty and staff and dry up the supply of primary care physi cians who care for our state’s neediest citizens. Right now, Sen. Mescher’s bill is being evaluated by the edu cation committee. Let’s hope that’s where it’s halted. Mescher says our state can’t afford to have two medical schools. But, in truth, we can’t afford not to. Hemingway collection will help USC reputation The recent acquisition of a collection of Ernest Heming way’s works for USC’s literary collection is a landmark event. The collection, which already boasts works from F. Scott Fitzgerald, has now gained even more acclaim with the addition of the Hemingway pieces, some of which have never been seen before by the American public. Such an event means a great deal to USC on a national level, and has come at a perfect time — during the bicentennial celebration. The university owes a lot to the generosity of Edward Hallman, who donated $750,000. Hemingway, an American who was an expatriate and chroni cled his life in novels such as The Sun Also Rises, is an American literary icon. His prominence will only enhance the reputation of USC, which enthusiastically welcomes the collection. About Us The Gamecock is the student newspaper of the University of South Carolina and is published Monday, Wednesday and Friday dunng 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. Address The Gamecock 1400 Greene Street Columbia, SC 29208 Offices on third floor of the Russell House. otuoent media Area coae OUJ Advertising 777-3888 Classified 777-1184 Fax 777-6482 Office # 777-3888 Gamecock Editor in Chief University Desk City/State Desk Viewpoints Spotlight Sports Online Area code 803-777-7726 gamecockeditorOhotmail.com gamecockudeskOhotmail.com gamecockcitydeskOhotmail.com gamecockviewpointsOhotmail.com gamecockspotlightOhotmail.com gamecocksportsOhotmail.com www.dailygamecock.com Submission Poucy Letters to the editor or guest columns are welcome from all members of the Carolina community. Letters should be 250-300 words. Guest columns should be an opinion piece of about 600 words. Both must include name, phone number, professional title or year and major, if a student. Handwritten submissions must be personally delivered to Russell House room 333. E-mail submissions must include telephone number for confirmation and should be e-mailed to gamecockviewpoints©hotmail com. The Gamecock reserves the right to edit for libel, style and space. Anonymous letters will not be published Photos are required for guest columnists and can be provided by the submitter. The Gamecock Travis Lynn Sean Rayford Photo Editors Aubrey Fitzloff Ann Marie Miani Jennie Moore Katie Smith Page Designers Charles Prashaw Asst. City/State Editor Betsy Baugh Community Affairs Mackenzie Clements Jason Harmon Ashley Melton Copy Editors Snnorr Mhm Erik Collins Faculty Adviser Ellen Parsons Director of Student Media Susan King Creative Director Sean De Luna Todd Hooks Melanie Hutto Emilie Moca Martin Salisbury Creative Services Carolyn Griffin Business Manager Sarah Sims Advertising Manager Jannell Deyo Robyn Gombar Kera Khalil Denise Levereaux Nicole Russell Advertising Staff Sheriy F. Holmes Classified Manager Only two letters to the editor per student will be printed in a semester. Staff columns take priority over guest columns, unless the guest columnist offers expertise on a subject, or if the subject’s relevance is limited by time. Guest columns and letters may be submitted by e-mail to gamecockviewpointsdhotmail com. Call 777-7726 for more information. A Secrets to growing old gracefully I have a great uncle who tells a joke: “What do you call a vegetarian with diarrhea? Salad shooter!” Rattling every one’s silverware, my great uncle slams his oversized hand on the table and lets out a nico tine-gurgling guf faw. This is during Thanksgiving din ner, and I wait for someone to slap James Battle is a third-year journalism major. Reach him at gamecockviewpoints ©hotmail.com. my Uncle Heib. No one does. Over dessert he lights a cigar, which looks more like a branch, and tells me what a fine looking woman my first cousin has become. She’s 15, but tired of poking my green peas, I look at Un cle Herb as though for the first time, see ing his tarnished gold tooth, cracked yel low fingernails and stiff nose hairs that could pick a door lock, and I realize something: my Uncle Herb is 69, and he doesn’t give a damn. About anything. Nothing. He really just doesn’t give a damn. That next week, looking for a place to park at Piggly Wiggly, I almost ran over an older couple who went to the grocery store to buy one can of minced oysters. As my car comes to a halt, the husband mumbles something through his dentures resembling “peck erhead,” and I notice, stuck in his left ear, a greasy hearing aid nestled amongst L ETTERS Night shuttle’s woes not students’ fault To the Editor In light of the recent articles and editorials about the evening shuttle service and lack of student usage, I feel I should share my own personal experience with the shuttle. I live in Maxcy, and my girlfriend lives in the Towers. Last night, she left Maxcy at about 10:10 p.m. intending to try out the shuttle service because it has a stop at the Towers. Not only did the shuttle take until 10:40 to arrive, the driver did not stop for her! The van just rolled straight through the parking lot without even slowing down. I was outside with my girlfriend at the time, as were about five other people. Why would the driver, who is supposedly discouraged about the low passenger rate, assume that none of these students wanted a lift? Perhaps if the shuttle would slow down, or maybe even stop (God forbid) at its “stops,” more students would be using it each night. MattGenald Second-year Student Policial Science major ‘I envision their lives together as man and wife ... doing 50 mph in the left lane on I 95, smoking cigarettes in the hospital and giving their grandchildren clip-on ties nine years in a row.’ several black ear hairs. To no degree do they rush to get out of my way, and watching the woman fumble for the car keys, I envision their lives together as man and wife. Doing 50 mph in the left lane on 1-95, smoking ciga rettes in the hospital and giving their grandchildren clip-on ties for Christmas nine years in a row. As sure as the government’s Social Security check, I can tell this couple is of the same ilk as my Great Uncle Herb. They don’t give a damn, either. It’s important to note, as I later dis covered, that “not giving a damn” isn’t something that happens suddenly. It’s a leisurely and often subconscious process. Often it begins after retirement, and then should really be called “I don’t know if I can be bothered.” This stage reveals itself in the form of neglecting to brush your teeth or buy new clothes. A decade or so later, the “not giving a damn” attitude can be ex hibited during conversation or meals. For example, if a person asks you to fix them a glass of Scotch and you’re only 12, or if they drop a piece of ham in their lap and pretend it’s not there, then they’re probably suffering from the onset of “not giving a damn.” Proof that “not giving a damn” has taken full pos session is shown when the person falls asleep with their mouth agape while you tell them what grade you occupy in school. When I discovered the lack of in terest older people have for pretty much everything, I felt a closeness and understanding toward senior citizens. As a young person in college, I can say that I really don’t give much of a damn either, at least in comparison to my fa ther and his friends. He wears a coat and tie to work, and I wear whatever isn’t dirty. Most of my free time is spent drink ing and talking to girls who want me to leave them alone, and Uncle Herb prob ably spends his time in much the same fashion. I can only say, after experi encing my great uncle and countless oth er elderly people, that every time I eat breakfast next to a guy with dried yolk on his chin who is laughing at the obit uaries, I think how fun it must be to tru ly not give a damn. College Press Exchange Ashcroft will be awful During his Sen ate confirma tion hearing, John Ashcroft promised as US attorney general to enforce the laws of this nation, even those with u/hi/'h ho Hie. Matt Reilly is a columnist for the Tulane University Hullabaloo. Send comments about his column to gamecockview points® hotmail.com agreed. In Ashcroft’s case, it might be good to look at what he’s done in the past before we believe what he says he’s going to do in the future. The problem is, when Ashcroft promised to carry out the duties of at torney general, he left quite a bit unsaid about exactly how he would do this. As everyone knows, the attorney general’s office has an awful lot of dis cretion regarding law enforcement. As head of the Department of Justice, it chooses which cases to prosecute on the government’s behalf, and it controls how actively to pursue certain crimes. The attorney general’s office even shapes the federal courts by recommending to the White House nominees for federal judge ships. Though Ashcroft never really got into any of these issues during his confirmation hearing, he does have a record (as senator, governor and attorney general of Missouri) of actions and public comments that can give us some hints as to what the at torney general’s office will look like un der his watch. In 1998, Ashcroft commended the Southern Partisan magazine for its heritage of “setting the record straight” about the history of the Old South. The Southern Partisan is infamous for its racist editors and pro-Confederate revisions of history, most notably that slavery was good for the slaves and Abraham Lincoln was a tyrant who deserved to be assassinated. Everyone has a slip of the tongue every now and then, so it’s not certain that Sen. Ashcroft’s thoughtless comments necessarily mean he would create a racially hostile department. Maybe he didn’t mean what he said But he did give a commencement speech at Bob Jones University. In 1980, the state of Missouri was found liable for allowing school segregation and was ordered to take significant measures to integrate its school system. Ashcroft, who was Missouri’s attorney general at the time, decried the ruling as “tyrannical” and appealed the decision until 1984. When it became clear that the schools of Missouri would be integrated, Ashcroft called the proposed desegregation plan “an outrage against human decency.” When asked about this during his confirmation hearing last week, Ashcroft lied, saying Missouri hadn’t been found guilty of any wrongdoing in the desegregation case. Taking all this into account, it seems safe to say that the defense of civil rights won’t be a high priority in Ashcroft’s Department of Justice. Television provides unlikely inspiration Other than Late Night with Conan O’Brien and The Simpsons, TV is crap. The com mercials, the shows and the ideas forced on us insult our intelli gence — well, most of us, anyway. But after watching some TV the other dav. PhD Watson is a second-year journalism major. Reach him at gamecockviewpoints ehotmail.com. I realized we can find inspiration in the most unlikely places in the vast waste land called TV. While flipping through 32 channels of unadulterated mule waste, I stopped on Howard Stem’s show. I admit, it’s hard to change the channel when Howard is interviewing a pom star who had sex with more than 500 men. At first, I didn’t think too highly of her. But after I listened to her, I realized she could be an inspiration to millions (some of whom haven’t even slept with her). She had a goal. That goal was to have sex with as many men as die could in one day. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for her. She probably had to prepare herself for it mentally and physically. I realized that if I applied myself to my education the way she applied herself to dirty sex, I could have a 4.0. All I need is the perseverance and discipline she had. Her filthy sexcapade made me realize that with a little ambition and visualization, there’s no limit to what I can accomplish in my life. I was disappointed when the in-depth interview with her had to end for a commercial break. But the commercial for the Girls Gone Wild video was almost as inspirational. It made me realize that with a little aim in life ... well, OK, there’s no joke I can make about how a bunch of drunken girls at spring break flashing strangers with camcorders can push you to improve yourself. But if it’s any consolation, the girls were nmttv hnt The commercial after it was good too. It was for the Best of Backyard Wrestling video. You’ve probably seen this if you don’t have an ounce of dig nity and you watch The Howard Stem Show. This video showcases teenage boys breaking their best friends’ faces with folding chain. There’s nothing more entertaining than watching a shirtless moron hit another shirtless moron with a two-by four that has a nail sticking out of it. It could be considered inspirational, unless you’re a violent sociopath who needs a little visual inspiration to start a cross-country killing spree. Then there’s MTV — the embodiment of America’s stupidity. I must confess that The Real World in spires me — it inspires me to end my own existence in this world. Sometimes I wonder how I can live in a world the cast of The Real World calk home. This show makes me ashamed to be human. It wouldn’t be that bad if the cast was from France or something. Then I could just laugh it off by saying, “How about those Frenchmen; they’re a crazy bunch, aren’t they?” But sadly, these spoiled malcontents are from the same country I’m from. Even more distressing is the fact that these people are my age and many of them are also in college. The fact that I’m so closely linked to these people economically and socially shames me. Sadly, this show actually does inspire some people. You know who you are. Just the fact that the show is called The Real World makes me angry. Maybe 1 m not living in tne real world, because I don’t get to live in a big house in New Orleans for free. Sometimes I think about what it would be like if I were on The Real World. I’d probably become known by every one in the country as “that redneck jackass from South Carolina.” I’m cool with that, though. Next time you’re watching MTV, or any channel, keep an eye out for unlikely inspiration, good or bad. You might be surprised at just how much wisdom The Backstreet Boys have to convey.