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„ _ VIEWPOINTS __ TH#%AMECOCK , EDITORIAL BOARD Editor \ STEVEN VAN HAREN News Editor \ JUSTIN CHAPURA Assistant News Editor \ JACKIE ALEXANDER The Mix Editor ALEXIS ARNONE Design Director chas McCarthy Sports Editor STEPHEN FASTENAU Viewpoints Editor BRINDY McNAIR Assistant Viewpoints Editor AARON BRAZIER IN OUR OPINION Irresponsible reporting inflamed mine tragedy Some went to sleep Jan. 3 believing 12 miners had survived the Sago mine collapse in West Virginia. Only one death was reported — tragic, but seemingly a small price to pay for finding a dozen souls alive. But early Jan. 4, it was revealed only one miner had survived — and barely. Twelve families’ joy turned to sorrow. It was a disturbing miscommunication — one that never should have happened and one that never should limrp cnrpo rl t-h mil rrVi out the world. In an age of 2 4-hour news coverage, stories are sometimes spewed out at lightning speed. Some sports writers for The Associated Press, for example, are required to have a game recap suitable for print 20 minutes after the final buzzer. * I f- looTrAO n 1 Af room for error — a scary thought given that deadline reporting requires more stringent fact-checking than usual. And 24-hour news outlets are always on deadline. In a society increasingly connected to media sources, competition is stiff to deliver news the quickest. Seconds matter. One cannot blame the miners’ families or W.Va. Gov. Joe Manchin, who heard the news on site. It was reporters who dropped the ball when, instead of verifying the emotional testimony of people understandably invested in hearing good news, they grabbed such gripping testimony and flung it across the Internet who need to be blamea. To their credit, most headlines said something like “Miners’ families: ‘They’re alive.’” That the families said they were alive was accurate, but the intense coverage of the story lumped that testimony in with fact. All we heard was “they’re alive, they’re alive!” Reporters must check their sources’ sources, especially when discussing life and death. Readers, while not nearly as invested as the miners’ families, still felt their hopes expire because news outlets didn’t do their most important homework. Reporters must check their sources’ sources, especially when discussing life and death. IT’S VOUR RIGHT Voice your opinion on message' boards at umnv.dailygamecock.com or send letters to the editor at gamecockopinions@gumi.sc.edu CORRECTIONS If you see an error in today’s paper, we want to know about it. E-mail us at gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu ABOUT THE GAMECOCK Editor STEVEN VAN HAREN Design Director chas McCarthy News Editor JUSTIN CHAfURA Assistant News Editor JACKIE ALEXANDER Viewpoints Editor BRINDY McNAIR Assistant Viewpoints Editor AARON BRAZIER The Mix Editor ALEXIS ARNONE Assistant Mix Editor KRISTEN TRUESDALE Sports Editor STEPHEN FASTENAU Assistant Sports Editor ALEX RILEY Photo Editor NICK ESARES Assistant Photo Editor JUAN BLAS Page Designers MIKE CONWAY, KATE FENWICK, MEGAN SINCLAIR StaffWriters AJ. BEMBRY, JESS DAVIS, TIM McMANUS, MARJORIE RIDDLE, GINA VASSELLI Copy Editors KATIE THOMPSON, JAMISON TINSLEY, LIZ WHITE i STUDENT MEDIA Director scon LINDENBERG Faculty Adviser ERIK COLLINS Creative Director SUSAN KING Business Manager CAROLYN GRIFFIN Advertising Manager SARAH SCARBOROUGH Classifieds Manager SHERRY F. HOLMES Production Manager C. NEIL scon I CONTACT INFORMATION Offices located on the thirdfloor of the Russell House Editor’s office hours are from 2-3 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays Editor: 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 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 <?/THE GAMECOCK. The Department of Student Media is the newspaper’s parent organization. THE GAMECOCK is supported in part by student-activity fees. One free copy per reader. Additional copies may be purchased for $1 each from the Department of Student Media. Courtesy KRT Campus Break down those hidden emotional walls Openness can lead to personal fulfillment, better communication At the beginning of a new year and a new semester, everyone formulates their list of resolutions, which will probably be forgotten by February. So let’s start the new year off right and forget those hopeless resolutions spch as dieting or being a better person. Just face the facts and get honest with yourself, your friends and, most of all, get honest with the opposite sex. At the end of last semester, we opened the sexual dialogue. If we are completely truthful with each other, we can continue that two-way monologue with complete ease and accept that most of our sexual tensions arise from frivolous miscommunications we like to call “white lies.” We’ve all done it. That is, lied to our boyfriend, girlfriend, crush or even our friend-with-benefits. It seems that after the new year and after that wonderful midnight kiss while half-drunk from the bubbly champagne, relationships become like the open bottle left on U2 the counter WHITE f11 nI?,ht c , long. I he print flzz 15 out journalism and now with student the new pace of another year and another semester we get to the bitter part. It is time to be honest. Maybe it’s because we’re already thinking about how the next year of our life is going to unfold, or maybe it’s because Wal-Mart puts up Valentine’s decorations on Jan. 1, but there is that question: “Where is this going?” and eventually “Should I tell him/her?” Now I’m not perfect, and we all have our dirty little secrets that sometimes we should keep to maintain that mysteriousness, but when you ask, “Where’s this going?’’ .tell the truth. Maybe it is a little scary facing the fact that he/she cannot handle that “truth talk.” This is true. But if you ever really want to consider “where’s this going?” with seriousness and devotion, you have to be willing to be truthful. People like to use the excuse, “I didn’t tell you because I love you, and I knew it would hurt you.” But let’s tell it like it is. That little “glitch” that you forgot to mention was because you didn’t want to admit something. That is not love. If the new year is good for anything, it’s perfect for letting go of whatever you held in last year. Take it from a person that spent the past semester pining over someone; it is always better to get it out there than spend your over-analyzing time wondering what would have happened. The woulda, coulda, shouldas kill the new-year spirit. Maybe you’re cheating on someone you claim to love, or maybe you have more skeletons in your closet than you admit to, but running away only makes the tale-tale heart beat stronger. Whatever is going on inside, let it out. After all, it might be cliche and a little irritating, but honesty is the best policy. TV network creating injustice for viewers Drama manipulates statistics to deceive audiences, get ratings Ah, ABC. Land where housewives are desperate, Dennis Miller once broadcast football games and that chick from “Thelma and Louise” is president. Now they serve up their latest midseason gem, “Injustice.” As the show begins, a somber voice informs us that more than 10,000 of our fellow Americans have been wrongly imprisoned by the American justice system. Yes, all across the fruited plain, our innocent brothers and sisters are rotting away in astonishing numbers. American gulag! Luckily for lovers of freedom everywhere, we have the National Justice Project, a group of young, hotshot lawyers with snappy clothes and even snappier one-liners. To watch this crap you’d think the fruit of American society was behind bars. I’m not sure where ABC gets its numbers aboutall these innocent martyrs, but I have an idea. I guess JACOB OflUIS they could Third- have gotten year print them from journalism Bill Burkett student or employed some psychic help. However, most likely, they are drawing on state and federal justice department figures and are simply parroting the number of cases overturned on appeal. In this case the numbers simply become only a bad joke. Obviously this number would include the thousands of cases that are thrown out because of technicalities, Johnnie Cochran (God rest his innocent, blood-smeared soul), the Ninth Circuit Court of appeals, etc. I’ll bet you a mouthwatering Saturday hangover breakfast at the GMP that you don’t know anyone who has been “wrongly convicted” of anything. Furthermore, I’ll bet you that same breakfast you yourself or someone you know has gotten off scot free or that you commit numerous “soft crimes” on a regular basis without getting caught. The fact is, most people who are in jail are honest to goodness criminals who needed to be separated from society. They aren’t misunderstood or in need of help, they want you to '“understand” you should give up your wallet or they’ll “help” you find a nice ditch to take a nap in. Of course, these are the same people who don’t understand the relationship between building more prisons and the dropping crime rate. The only guy who was perfect hasn’t been around for 2,000 years, so there are going to be mistakes, but when it comes to the American justice system, the scales are definitely tipped to mercy. As far as I’m concerned, there are only three ways to spend tax payer money when it comes to the justice system: more walls, more bars and more guards. Winners & Sinners Who says cheaters like Lush-ous Ted Kennedy Pete Rose can’t prosper? uses senate judiciary He’s reportedly getting committee hearing more than $1 million to display his senile per autograph session. paranoia of the United States government. Restaurant's 1 Yankee appeal strikes me out with channel Students might not like New York-style pizzeria tuning in to Evil Empire Being the first week of spring semester, I could get cliche and discuss the horrors i of my holiday or maybe a " light rant about the stress □ of returning to class, but I thought it would be more interesting to place some focus UHHIIUI elsewhere. BOIDV My column Fourth-year this week elementary brings me education to a new student Five Points establishment. I was there Monday 0 afternoon for lunch and, according to employees, this was their third day of business. Because of this, I will try to take it easy. The major problem with the place was its lack of appeal and atmosphere. It carried a wannabe sports bar effect, instead of the intended casual-urban pizza establishment. When you immediately enter, you can’t help but notice the five large flat screen televisions. Now any other time this could possibly 0 be a selling point, but when you’re dealing with a place this small, the fiye huge flat screens are just ridiculous. One side is bombarded with fnlnmr<<\nx urUilo If completely bare. If you’re going to spend the money on these massive TVs, why in the hell would you only put them on one wall? Additionally, all five of these massive screens were tuned into the YES network, the new Yankee Entertainment Station. . , Most of us in Turner South f ' land aren’t used to watching the YES network because it’s not offered regularly here. But there’s a reason for that — nobody cares about New York Yankee news (not to mention it’s the last thing I wanna hear about loudly while I’m eating). The channel was literally displaying two New York radio hosts live in their studio doing their talk radio show. Talk radio is boring enough, why would I wanna watch it? No, I do not find it interesting that Derek Jeter has switched from Colgate to Crest! i I In retrospect, I owe this * place some positive feedback. The staff members I talked to were excentionallv nice and helpful. Also, with only three days under their belt, it seemed the cash register broke, so they diligently totaled my order by calculator. Also, and a rather important fact, the food was pretty good. I think most people will find the flat screens so obnoxious that they won’t be back, unless of course they’re dying to hear from Derek Jeter about his' | new cavity prevention plan. Submission policy Letters to the editor should be less than 300 words and include name, phone number, profes sional title or year and major, if a student. E-mail letters to game cockopinions@gwm.sc.edu. Let ters will be edited. Anonymous letters will not be published. Call the newsroom at 777-7726 for more information.