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/ / 11 Onlinp “m’sto say howmuch more VJIIIIIIc. Ull Extreme that is than what Jesus Is the GPS system being really received?” installed in USC’s buses a THE REV. TIMOTHY UJEWSKI waste of money? chaplain of the st. jhomas more www.dailygamecock.com. *■ near use on the graphic n li , , _ ., GIBSON S NEW MOVIE,-THE Results published on Fridays. In.Our.Opinion Student porn not Ivy League Harvard University’s proposed magazine, H Bomb, violates the principles of good taste if it portrays undergraduate students in a pornographic light. Two weeks ago, Harvard’s Committee on College Life approved the new publication that is being billed as an erotic look at campus sex. When Harvard’s student newspaper, The Crimson, published an article describing the magazine as pornographic, it drew sharp criticism from supporters of the project. While H Bomb is intended to explore sexuality on campus, the failure of its backers to define what content will be included threatens to undermine their credibility and ability for the content to be taken seriously. The magazine is modeled on Squirm, a student organization at Vassar which publishes 1,200 copies annually and brings SDeakers on sex toDics to campus. Unlike Vassar’s project, though, Harvard’s H Bomb is not in the context of a greater attempt to change people’s views on sexuality. There is a difference between artistic presentations of human nudity and pornography—as the Supreme Court said, we know it when we see it. Presenting pornography in a student publication simply to stretch the bounds of what is acceptable is uncouth, and it would be a poor choice on the part of Harvard to have a role in funding it, even though it has the right, as a private institution. Also, the magazine’s backers stated its first issue could be distributed at graduation in May. Again, this shows poor judgment on the part of the magazine, since it should be distributed to ensure it isn’t accessible to minors. Harvard should present a tasteful face to the world, instead of stooping to vulgarity. The presentation of pornography iq a college student publication simply to stretch the bounds of what is acceptable is uncouth. k Gamecock.Corrections In Monday’s News, Rachel Keisler should have been identified as the SG elections commissioner. In Monday’s News, www.vip.sc.edu was incorrectly listed. In Monday’s News, a photo of the Russell House should have been credited to Jason Steelman. In Monday’s News, The Dixie Chicks were misidentified. In Monday’s Viewpoints, Captain and Tennille was misspelled. In Monday’s The Mix, Richard Ormrod’s name was misspelled. The Gamecock regrets the errors. If you see an error in today’s paper, we want to know. E-mail us at gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu. AboutThe.Gamecock Editor in Chief Adam Beam Copy Desk Chief ^ Gabrielle Sinclair Design Director Shawn Rourk Asst. Design Director Staci Jordan News Editor Michael LaForgia Asst. News Editor Alexis Stratton Viewpoints Editor Patrick Augustine The Mix Editor Meg Moore Asst. Mix Editor Jennifer Sitowski Sports Editor Wes Wolfe Asst. Sports Editor Jonathan Hillyard Photo Editor Morgan Ford * Asst. Photo Editor Johnny Haynes Page Designers Erin Cline. Brad Senkiv Mary Pinckney Waters Chaz McCarthy Copy Editors Allyson Bird, Jennifer Freeman, Jessica Fosti Steven Van Haren Wire Editor Z’Anne Covell Online Editor James Tolbert Senior Writer rtevin Fellner CONTACT INFORMATION Offices on third floor of the Russell House. Editor in Chief: gamecockeditor@gwm.sc.edu News: gamecocknews@gwm.sc.edu Viewpoints: gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu The Mix: gamdcockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu Sports' gamecocksports@.gwm.sc.edu Public Affairs: gamecockpr@yahoo.com Online: www.dailygamecock.com Newsroom: 777-7726 Editor’s Office: 777-3914 STUDENT MEDIA Director Scott Lindenberg Faculty Adviser Erik Collins Creative Director Susan King Business Manager Carolyn Griffin Advertising Manager Sarah Scarborough Classified Manager Sherry F. Holmes Production Manager Amber Justice Creative Services Whitney Bridges, Robbie Burkett, ' Burke Lauderdale Advertising Staff Robert Carli, Kate Femino, Latoya Hines r Carolina Love, Jesica Johnson, David Weatherford Public Affairs Kimberly Dressier The Gamecock is the editorially independent student newspaper of the University of South Carolina. 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S.C. 29208 Advertising: 777-3888 ^ Classified: 777-1184 T Fax: 777-6482 STiLL NO iNreReST FRomThe AMeRICANS TRY CHANGING THe LemeRs to "W.M.D."..., I Honing education’s future Michael Porter, a competitive ness expert from Cambridge, Massachusetts came to our state in December to unveil his Monitor Group’s strategic recommenda tions for South Carolina’s econo my. One of the things that caught my attention diming Porter’s visit uroc V»ic ronoot. ed reference to the fact that schools in our state’s college and university system are “try ing to be every thing to every body.” According to Porter, the result has been far too much MARK SANFORD Governor of South Carolina waste and duplication in the sys tem and nowhere near enough fo cus on core missions that coin cide with our economic develop ment efforts as a state. Porter’s recommendations for our state’s higher education efforts, which I would second, include targeting our research capital in areas of emerging eco nomic growth and building up our state’s existing economic “clusters” — while looking out for opportunities to grow new clusters. Clusters are all about focus — specifically, multiple private businesses focusing resources in a specific industry to gain a com petitive advantage. Whether it’s automotive-, forestry- or tourism related, that means targeting re sources. I think that same princi ple ought to apply to the dollars we put into higher education. Unfortunately, politics — not a coherent statewide strategy — has often been the driving force in decisions relating to higher ed. As a result, we currently have 33 colleges and universities operat ing 79 different campus locations, an unusually large number of state-supported schools given our state’s small population. And as for focus, does South Carolina really need seven com munications programs? Or two state-supported medical schools? Or six drama programs? Or 11 psychology programs? These examples are a big part of the total cost of higher educa tion in South Carolina — which is currently at 110 percent the na tional average compared to 86 percent for Georgia and 82 per cent for North Carolina, both states that have governing boards overseeing their schools. Just last year, South Carolina saw tuition jump 25 percent at Winthrop, 19 percent at Clemson and Coastal Carolina, 15 percent at USC and by varying degrees at almost ev ery other state-supported school. Earlier this winter, the bud get and control board voted to add a satellite campus to Coastal Carolina University. I objected to that decision, not because I faulted the folks who wanted it, but because it wasn’t part of any coherent statewide strategy. Similarly, I don’t begrudge peo ple in Beaufort who supported moving USC’s satellite campus there from a two-year to a four year school, but that move wasn’t part of a coherent statewide strategy either. So how do we change the system? I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t have a monopoly on the an swer. I’ve always felt that we need a governing board that charts a clear course for higher education in our state — one that’s driven by core needs and the resources we have available to address them. Some would call this a board of regents, others would call it a strengthened Commission on Higher Education. Whatever form it takes, we need to more effi ciently and strategically spend higher education dollars, and this administration is committed to making sure that’s what happens. You’ll see a lot more of our di rection on higher education in both our upcoming executive budget and the next legislative session. Again, I’m not claiming to have all the answers on this issue, and I’m more than willing to listen to any suggestion that’s out there. Our only goal is to make sure that as we move for ward, folks are at least consid ering all of the options on the table — as well as the budget re alities that have brought us to where we are in the process. m.Your.upmion Downloading has unforseen costs I get a little frustrated read ing Lauren Adams’ recent col umn (“Music piracy good for lis teners,” Monday) from a tech nical standpoint, considering all the crap I get to hear students moan about on a regular basis. Yes, I believe in file sharing, but I don’t believe in it the way so many college students have taken it out of context. When you download music, you are taxing the resources of many people. I am all for sharing, but Adams makes a mistake by say ing “I can’t afford to pay $20 for a 16 track CD,” which was pre ceded with “I’ll go to a concert and pay $40 for a T-shirt, and $12 for a glass of tap water.” Sounds a little misleading if you ask me. So even after wasting that $52 on a concert, you can’t afford a full CD? Why not use a legiti mate service to download your music — Apple iTunes or Napster 2.0, for example. I hate to say it, but bootleg ging these days will cost you a little more than $16 bucks if you’re the average techno-illit erate college student. Telling students that piracy is a good “wr y thing is a very unintelligent thing to do. You might be down loading nothing more than John Tesh’s greatest hits, but sorry, you get caught, you’re going to get a cease-and-desist followed by a subpoena. There’s an old saying to this — “If you dance to the music, be prepared to pay the fiddler.” PATRICK BLAKE THIRD-YEAR ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING STUDENT Liberals two-faced over gay marriage Just a week ago San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom gave the green light for marriage licenses to be is sued to gays. Proposition 22 in California states that marriage is only between a man and a woman. Gavin Newsom completely disregards the law in violating Proposition 22. What makes the matter worse is the hypocrisy on the part of liberals and liberal organizations such as the People for the American Way and the ACLU. When Roy Moore broke the law by displaying the 10 Commandments in the rotunda of the Alabama courthouse, liber al organizations and liberals de manded that he be punished, and even arrested. Now that Gavin Newsom has broken the law in San Francisco, these same liberal groups and persons who were crying foul about Moore are completely silent about the San Francisco fi asco. Their silence makes appar ent their hypocrisy. The afore mentioned fact is nothing more than blatant, partisan duplicity. These same liberal people and liberal organizations should be crying foul since Gavin Newsom has broken the law. However, by their refusal to do so, they have shown their bias and bigotry to conservatives by only condemn ing the issues they are against while condoning the issues they support. RAYMOND COBLE KOIIRTH-YKAH POLITICALSCIKNCK iSTUUKNT Submission Policy Letters to the editor should be less than 300 words and include name, phone number, professional title or year and major, if a student. E-mail letters to gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu. Letters will be edited for space, possible libel and style. Anonymous letters will not be published. Call the newsroom at 777 7726 for more information. r* Holding opinions can be tolerant Modern society has taken tol erance too far. I’m not referring to the avoidance of making poten tially offensive statements — such behavior is expected of civilized people. I’m referring to our soci etal trend to characterize active disagreement as intolerance. It seems as though it has become im possible to say anything defini tively without the Anti-Intolerance Crusaders descending to adminis ter their wrath in the form of “tol ~ erance educa I-1 uon. Many of these Crusaders base * their arguments on the notion of “open-minded ness,” and de fend it with reli gious fervor. Regrettably, in their zeal, they have dis I_I CURTIS CHOW Third-year political science student torted the true meaning of open-mindedness. To have an open mind is to use your own innate ability to discern for yourself what is true and what is not: It means to listen to other people’s opinions and then eval uate and make your own decision as to what is right or wrong. Much to my chagrin, society has spuriously equated open-mind edness to “Listen, believe and ac cept lest you be labeled a close minded, intolerant ogre.” I can’t even begin to recall all of the instances where I’ve been unreasonably labeled as “close minded” or “intolerant” just for rejecting ideology that is incon sistent with my own beliefs. Open-mindedness means that I am willing to listen and objec tively discern for myself whether something is right or wrong. If I find it to be wrong, then that is NOT called close-mindedness; • rather if ic nalloH “Hoi io\/ir»o something to be wrong.” Furthermore, by the very defi nition of “truth,” all conflicting things are false. If someone holds a view that is diametrically opposed to my own (which I believe to be true) by the very definition of truth, I believe his view to be false. This also is not called close-mind edness nor intolerance, but rather “believing something to be true.” There is nothing wrong with believing that people with con flicting beliefs are incorrect. Much of the negative connotation associated with doing so assumes that hatred will follow. If I reject the ideology, it does not necessi tate hatred toward the people I disagree with. I can find their be liefs to be ridiculous, morally wrong, and personally abhorrent without hating the person hold ing the offending beliefs. Just be cause I reject the ideology does not mean I reject the person. Being clear about what you be lieve to be true and false in the face of opposing viewpoints is some thing to be commended in today’s society. Moreover, it is not justifi able grounds for those of you who hawk around for excuses to raise a stink to get offended and go off on “you’re close-minded/intolerant” name-calling tangents. This is the epitome of hypocrisy: to have the audacity to label someone as in tolerant in a derisive manner, just because he thinks you’re wrong. T T1 A •_A.I.. : A • _ Al A a: uiiiiuaicij, xl 10 lxxc nil lx Intolerance Crusaders — those who are so quick to assert the uni versal truth of all beliefs — who also assign a negative label to those who disagree with their assertion. I can state with impunity that I think that they are absolutely wrong, and this contention is at the very least consistent Whereas I am selectively “intolerant” of those I disagree with, they are truly intol erant of my “intolerance.” iWinriers.and.Sinners LIBYA Tired of playing the aloof loner, gives up nuke program to rejoin world community. BRIAN WILSON Decides to release “SMiLE" 37 years after it was recorded; mentally disturbed surfers delighted. AL HURRA Washington-sponsored channel plans to win Arab support by playing dubbed i episodes of “ER” in the Middle East. II * * 1 GARY BARNETT University of Colorado football coach awarded paid vacation after saying raped kicker played like a girl. GREEK OLYMPICS Way behind schedule for 2004 games after baking baklava instead. RALPH NADER Dethrones Dennis Kucinich as the least electable candidate in the 2004 presidential race. 9 ff