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1 VTrPO ONLINE POLL I 1/1/ I_JI ■ % I Should use build a new Page 5 ^ I I 1 i 1/ 1/ I I I % I i baseball stadium? Goto Wednesday September 1,2004 1U H 1 \J. J 1 U vTS^ THBfeAMECOCK EDITORIAL BOARD EDITOR Adam Beam DESIGN DIRECTOR David Stagg NEWS EDITOR Michael LaForgia THE MIX EDITOR Meg Moore COPY DESK CHIEF Gabrielle Sinclair VIEWPOINTS EDITOR Wes Wolfe SENIOR WRITER Kevin Fellner IN OUR OPINION USC admissions must aim higher After back-to-back years of record-breaking freshman class sizes, USC’s prospective class of 2008 has scaled down. It’s still large, about 3,400 students, but is a couple of hundred students less than last year’s total. USC administrators plan to scale back further, setting the goal for freshman enrollment at 3,300. At the same time, administrators plan to increase the average SAT score and average GPA of the freshman class. As a result, admis tne patns or exceuence. There is, of course, the issue of diversity. Some argue that by increasing admission standards, USC would hurt minority students because, on average, minorities don’t do as well on the SAT or have as high GPAs. But we feel this is a slap in the face of the minority community by presupposing that they cannot do as well as other students on standardized tests. However, USC should not neglect its mission to educate South Carolinians and work for the betterment of the state. For this reason USC needs to keep its system of satellite campuses so that those who can’t make it into the main cam pus, be it black or white, can still get a quality education at a USC institution. USC should increase standards while seeking to maintain its status as a flagship university. IT’S YOUR RIGHT Exercise your right to voice your opinion Create message boards at www.dailygamecock.com or send letters to the editor to gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu GAMECOCK CORRECTIONS In Monday’s News, the student advocacy initiative should have been attributed to Student Government and should not have been referred to as a bill. In Friday’s Sports, the countdown to kickoff story should have been credited to Stephen Fastenau. In Monday’s Sports, in the countdown to kickoff story, the Vanderbilt secondary should have received a Gamecock Grade of B+. The Gamecock regrets the errors. If you see an error in today’s paper, we want to know. E-mail us at gamecockopinions@gwm.5c.edu. ABOUT THE GAMECOCK EDITOR Adam Beam DESIGN DIRECTOR David Stagg COPY DESK CHIEF Gabrielle Sinclair NEWS EDITOR Michael LaForgia ASST. NEWS EDITOR Jon Turner VIEWPOINTS EDITOR Wes Wolfe THE MIX EDITOR Meg Moore SPORTS EDITOR Jonathan Hillyard ASST. SPORTS EDITOR Daniel Kerr SENIOR WRITER Kevin Fellner PHOTO EDITOR Jason Steelman SPORTS PHOTO EDITOF Katie Kirkland PAGE DESIGNERS Erin Cline, Staci Jordan, Jennifer Loj Chaz McCarthy, Jessica Nielsen COPY EDITORS Jennifer Freeman, Anna Huntley, Stevt v/an Haren, Jennifei Sitkowski Joey Wall; ONLINE EDITOR Brian Cope PUBLIC AFFAIRS Katie Miles, Jane Fielden CONTACT INFORMATION Offices on third floor of the Russell House. The Editor in Chief’s office hours are Monday and Wednesday from 3-5 p.m. Editor in Chief: gamecockeditor@gwm.sc.edu News: gamecocknews@gwm.sc.edu Viewpoints: gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu The Mix: gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu Sports: gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu Public Affairs: gamecockPR@yahoo.com Online: www.dailygamecock.com Newsroom: 777-7726; Sports: 777-7182 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 [an. Sherry F. Holmes PRODUCTION MANAGER Patrick Bergen CREATIVE SERVICES >n Burke Lauderdale, Chelsea Felder, Laura ice Gough, Joseph Dannelly, Kristen Williams ADVERTISING STAFF Robert Carli, Ryan Gorman, Caroline Love, Jesica Johnson, Katie Stephens The Gamecock is the editorially independent student newspaper of .the University of South Carolina. It 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-activity fees. une tree copy per reader. Additional copies may be purchased for $1 each * from the Department of Student Media. sions standards are going to increase as well. It’s safe to say that USC is at a crossroads: Either go the way of an elite university with high admissions standards or go the way of a public, flagship institution whose mission is to provide education to the masses. We feel USC should continue down TO PLACE AN AD The Gamecock Advertising: 777-3888 1400 Greene St. Classified: 777-1184 V Columbia, S.C. 29208 F^x: 777-6482 MIKE, A OSC'meHfOi SCHOOL GdAWfiTg ASS I SwrT CARTOON BY MARY PINCKNEY WATERS/THE GAMECOCK Tillman legacy part of dark past ■ Former S.C. senator and governor reminds us of the bad old days “The action of President Roosevelt in entertaining that n— will necessitate our killing a thousand n— in the South before they will learn their place again.” Shocking, isn’t it? Oh, I can assure you those are not my words. I should hope that the days of the mainstream media printing such garbage are behind us for good. So whose words are they, you might ask? Well, if you have had the chance to learn much South Carolina history, you might have heard of him. His name is “Pitchfork” Ben Tillman, and his statue stands prominently in front of the State House on Gervais Street. At the time of the quotation above, “Pitchfork” Ben was representing South Carolina in the U.S. Senate. What on earth would have prompted such a response from a U.S. Senator? Well, it seems that then-President Theodore Roosevelt had committed an unpardonable sin: He had dined with Booker T. Washington in the White House on the evening of October 16, 1901. He didn’t appoint him to his cabinet or make him an ambassador. No, despite his talent, his color would not permit that. But according to “Pitchfork” Ben, not only should Washington’s color block his ability to serve his country’s government, it should block his way into JUSTIN r,hc President’s SIMMONS l7™mas FOURTH-YEAR It’s not that cr'iVvJ-fA1' this attitude SCIENCE STUDENT surprises me. It’s an attitude that we find all throughout the post-reconstruction South. What really shocks me is that a leader, a person with whom was entrusted decision-making ability, would not only express such hatred, but also such intended violence against some of the people that he was charged with representing. Some of you might think that I am just taking one quote out of context. I mean, we all make mistakes, right? Of course, 1 can see where you might think that, especially if you have visited Tillman’s life-size statue on the State House grounds. It lauds him as a “patriot” and “statesman.” And it sums up his populist attitude in a very flattering way: “Loving them, he was the friend and leader of the common people. He taught them their political power and made possible for the education of their sons and daughters.” I can assure you that access to these political empowerment seminars was not granted to blacks, especially if they were conducted on the President’s dining room table. And something tells me that “Pitchfork” Ben Tillman is not on the short list of people responsible for the creation of institutions of higher learning for African Americans, and if he is, it was simply to ensure that they know “then place.” Some might still ask if it could be that I am just highlighting one blip on the radar screen. As much as I wish that were the case, it is not. Here’s Tillman again professing his love for some of the “common people” he championed: “We have done our level best. We have scratched our heads to find out how we could eliminate every last one of them. We stuffed ballot boxes. We shot them. We are not ashamed of it.” Oh, my mistake. That was Tillman on African-Americans, not the “common people” he loved so dearly. Until we can agree that men like Tillman were not only governors and senators, but racists as well, we will be subject to the famous quote about history: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” IN YOUR OPINION Iraqi citizens living in terror after war I have seldom seen so sickening a case of Bush-worship as Ryan Holt's Monday column, "President's war-time legislation is justified." 1 almost expected Mr. Holt to be overcome with the vapors just speaking of Mr. Bush's Godliness, decency (at least to rich supporters), and rugged outdoor life. He probably eats a well balanced diet, too. But leaving aside for the moment the fart that these are ridiculous reasons to support a candidate, Mr. Holt makes an egregiously wrong statement in his column. He writes, "while the naysayers continue to lambaste the Bush administration, more than 25 million people are living in freedom." 1 assume he is referring to the population of Iraq. They are not living in freedom — they are living in terror. Their homes and businesses are destroyed by American bombs and by fighting. Thousands of them have died, again at the hands of our army. Their infrastructure is in tatters, their economy is non-existent, and they live in fear of being killed in insurgent bombings or being taken by the United States to another Abu Ghraib, where they will be held summarily without trial. But hey — they may be starving and missing half their family thanks to Uncle Sam, but they can still start an opposition newspaper. Mr. Bush's Iraq war has cost this nation over $150 billion and 973 American lives, to date. It has helped recruit legions of terrorists, destabilize oil prices, and, as Mr. Holt points out, discovered a dozen stale shells full of pre-first Gulf War mustard gas. This was not a good idea. It was idiotic, arrogant, American pseudo imperialism of the worst sort. ‘ ROGER KEANE Third-year music student Bush tax cuts have advanced economy I am writing in response to Patrick Augustine’s opinion piece, “Bush out of touch with economy” in the Monday edition. While Mr. Augustine is correct in noting that a few economic indicators are yielding low numbers, he fails to grasp the larger picture of the state of our economy. The economy is advancing at a very positive rate under the president. 'Unemployment is at 5.5 percent, the same rate it was at when Bill Clinton ran for reelection in 1996. Unemployment is down in 49 states. The GDP growth is at 4.8 percent, the best in 20 years. Real after-tax incomes have increased 10 percent, consumer confidence is at a two year high, homeownership is at an all time high of 69.2 percent, and minority homeownership is at 51 percent, a new record. Monday, the Commerce Department released personal spending numbers showing an increase of 0.8 percent. Considering that the stock market began its decline 'into recession during September of 2000, before Rush took office, combined with the technology bubble burst, corporate scandals, and the terrorist attacks of September 11th, the American economy is doing incredibly well. The tax cuts have stimulated the economy. While there is still work to be done, George W. Bush has shown that he is capable of managing the economy and putting it on the fast track to success. BRAD LEAKE First-year political science student 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. Anonymous letters will not be published. Call the newsroom at 777 7726 for more information. Education can work through incentives ■ Fla. school board’s decision runs counter to sensible judgement Viva Los Doughnuts! Palm Beach, Fla. Krispy Kreme franchises have developed a new academic incentive for children: Kids nin grades K-6 can receive one free doughnut for every A they receive on their report card, limit six. It is a simple reward system that a business offered KRI^TPN to enconwge GILMORE S,rhgJ THIRD-YEAR study habits. THEATRE The school STUDENT , , board is, naturally, incensed. inese days aDout zu percent ot kids are overweight. In response, the government has decided to mandate a modification of what schoolchildren eat by giving them healthier options at lunch. Palm Beach County schools have received a $1.4 million grant to pioneer change — they have removed French fries from their hot menu and replaced fatty, starchy items with meal-sized salads and fresh fruit. Soda dispensers have been replaced with vending machines containing bottled water, shelf-safe milk and healthy snack items. They’ve done a great deal to improve the quality of food they provide to their students, and for that I applaud them. But they stepped over the line when they publicly whined about Krispy Kreme’s offering free doughnuts to children in light of their nutritional overhaul. In its ire, the school board has made a number of ignorant-sounding, ungrateful comments to the press and to Krispy Kreme itself. These children have been boxed into a strict diet of indigestible plant matter and watered-down dairy products. Yet according to the school board, six doughnuts will ruin every effort to help them lose weight: Candy rewards generate lifelong positive associations with sweets, and sweet equals fat. They didn t ask Krispy Kreme to offer free doughnuts, just like customers don’t ask bank tellers to put Saf-T-Pops in receipt envelopes when they have lads in the car. Krispy Kreme, Pizza Hut, Baskin-Robbins, General Mills and every other business offering scholarships, classroom materials and even free food do so of their own accord. And they do it to keep their customers happy. It isn’t the school’s problem or even business to decide who can give what. Because of our nation’s low-carb diet fad, pastry shops and bakeries have received a series of painful blows to profits and general self-image. Krispy Kreme in particular has taken a hit; it was making good headway into an enormous expansion program when tragedy struck in the form of “Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution.” Now shunned for that same sweet, yeasty scent that used to lure customers in, franchises nationwide are being forced into bankruptcy. What then? 1 hope other business owners in that area will take heed: Don’t offer to support the schools. Don’t contribute to the community — They don’t want it. It would bring me a sense of closure to see that school district on its knees, burned out from wrapping paper fund-raisers, typing on Apple lies because they had to sell their iMacs to afford chalk, begging anyone for some form of monetary contribution. Maybe then they would learn that only an idiot rejects generosity. Maybe then they would learn not to mess with my doughnuts. WINNERS AND SINNERS FOOTBALL USC takes the field against Vandy for the first game of the 2004 season on Saturday. S0N0C0 S.C .-based company makes AARP’s list of best employers. MOORE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Retains No. 1 spot with the best undergraduate international business program. TROPICAL STORM GASTON Heavy rains cause flooding and deaths from South Carolina to Virginia. PARKING SERVICES Is it too much to ask to have one open spot behind the Coliseum at 9:30 a.m.? WILLIAMSBURG, VA. Local registrar refuses to allow William 8c Mary students to register to vote, calling $orms “temporary addresses.” ,