University of South Carolina Libraries
Success Coastal Carolina team better than some without fan pressure The Coastal Carolina College Chanticleers made the NCAA men's basketball playoffs Wednesday night, the first time in the school's history. Coastal Carolina is one of the branch campuses in the US C system and has about 4,300 students. Coastal has no real athletic stadium. To see Coastal basketball games, one has to sit on bleachers in the P.E. center. The University of South Carolina, on the other hand, has the 12,400 seat Carolina Coliseum and boasts one of the best-funded athletic programs in the entire country. Clemson, similarly, has a huge program in all sports, and its Littlejohn Coliseum seats 11 mn Umi/Avpr TTQP an/1 npmcnn nmhahlu unll nnt mat-A thp X X X1UTTVTV1) W U UilU vlvlHi'WIl ^IWUUIJ TT 111 ilv/l lillUW U1V NCAA playoffs. This is not meant to demean either team. USC and Clemson are both in tough basketball conferences and had difficult schedules. The point is, Coastal Carolina did more with less. Coastal has only been a Division I basketball program since 1986 and has a miniscule sports budget compared to the giants of South Carolina sports: USC and Clemson. Yet the Chanticleers are in the Big Dance. To other small schools that don't emphasize athletics, Coastal is an example of what can be done with determined effort. Rich alumni are not needed, just hard work. Even if Coastal is eliminated in the first round (a distinct probability), the Chanticleers can be proud of their undisputed mark as the best basketball team in South Carolina. Possibly the main reason Coastal won is that no one expected, or more to the point demanded, them to. The players and staff could concentrate on school and the game without worrying about not being "good enough." No Coastal fans were going to call for Coach Russ Bergman's head on a platter if he didn't take his team to the tournament. No Chant fans complained about all the money "wasted" on the team. Instead of throwing good money after bad on more recruiting, more everything, in a continuous effort to be Number One, maybe USC and Clemson (and big sports programs in general) could leam from Coastal. It is no dishonor to play hard and not succeed. Without the pressure to win at all costs (which is particularly strong among USC fans), maybe, just maybe, the Gamecocks and Tigers can have better teams. Give the players a break. THE 6REAT The Gamecock News: 777-7726 Advertising: 777-4249 Kathy Blackwell robyn Thompson Editor in Chief Managing Editor Chris Silvestri David Bowden Copy Desk Chief Viewpoint Editor lucy soto kathy heberger News Editor Carolina Life Editor Steve Johnson Renee Meyer Sports Editor Photography Editor Aaron Sheinin Tige Watts Assistant News Editor Assistant News Editor Octavia Wright Patrick Villegas Assistant Carolina Life Editor Assistant Sports Editor jennifer jablonski julie bouchillon Assistant Copy Desk Chief Assistant Photography Editor Eric Glenn Wayne Williams Darkroom Lab Technician Comics Editor Ed Bonza Erik Collins Director of Student Media Faculty Adviser Laura S. Day ray Burgos Production Manager Assistant Production Manager Renee Gibson Kyle berry Advertising Manager Assistant Advertising Manager Carolyn Griffin Business Manager Letters Policy: The Gamecock will try to print all letters received. Letters should be, at maximum, 250 to 300 words long. The writer must include full name, professional title if a USC employee or South Carolina resident, or year and major if a student. An address and phone number are required with all letters sent. The Gamecock reserves the right to edit letters for style, possible libel or in case of space limitations. The newspaper will not withhold names under any circumstance. Animal ai There is a growing movement i to protect animals from slaughter scientific experimentation. Whil good in principal, it is really a t are a few good reasons. Proper scientific experimentatio subjects. Any reputable scientist u further research on drugs and pi will help mankind. True, some rabbits die as a result, but that is Call me crazy, but I would r hundred rabbits die so that a hur avoid getting cancer. I really dor hard-core animal activists would s I am no doctor, but it doesn' Welby to realize that it takes rea to get the best data on experimer ing nonsentient tissue in experim advocated by many animal activi I I'cnc Im?C I 1 Animal testing nasty, cruel To the editor: While listening to a discussioi about animal research on WVO( this past Friday morning, I wa quite amused at a caller who iden tified himself as an internationa student at the USC School of Me dicine. To avoid him embarrass ment, I will call him Mr. R. Mr. R snidely intimated tha since insects and bacteria wer also lifeforms, they should be gi ven rights according to the anima rights ethic. At present, there is n way of telling yet whether or nc insects or bacteria are sender beings. We do know, however, that a mammals, and probably all verte brates, feel pain and pleasure i ways very similar to us. Therefor< 1 it is ridiculous to argue about th possible rights of cockroache; etc., when we have not even e> tended consideration to anima species very close to our own. Furthermore, animal rightists ai not so. naive as to think that con puter simulations alone can or wi replace animal research. Enormoi medical progress has been mad using in vitro (test tube) researcl clinical research and epidemiologi studies in conjunction wit computers. A on/^K ac iho icAlofin nutullvv/o) outsit uj u1v/ iowiuuvj of the AIDS virus, the discovery ( penicillin, and the development ( X-rays, anti-depressant and ant psychotic drugs, have all bee made without the use of animal The list goes on, but space proh bits me from mentioning them. Finally, it is sad, but insightfu commentary on the Medics School when its students sa; "Animal research is just as impo tant as breathing." To whom? Pe< pie who are sadists or making m< ney from the exploitation of an mals, perhaps, but not to me n< the hundreds of thousands of an mal rights advocates in th country. It scares me to think that such the mentality of our future docto and/or researchers. Thus, my ai vice to Mr. R and other medic; students of his ilk, as well as th faculty who teach such twiste thoughts: take some long course on compassion, ethics and mor; responsibility. Obviously, all th; "pragmatism" has calloused yoi souls. As for me, I would rather follow in the footsteps of great men lik Leonardo da Vinci, Ghandi an ntivktc iiaaH Ks l^JL T IkJI/kJ JL 1VVVI n this country for food and ^ppKk e this sounds D/ iad idea. Here w * ?n requires test ^#p ises animals to rocedures that I If hamsters and , , ^ . loo damn bad. won ' work 33 eff,c,en ather have a functioning respiratory nan being can "W systems makes a 1 it think some than a lumP ?ftis iay this. Some animal activisi t take Marcus bunch of evil old me 1, live animals coats, giggling as the] ital drugs. Us- into a tiny little electr ents (which is use the rack), ists) obviously I think people who TO THE EDITO r Albert Schweitzer who passion> ately declared that a species willing to be "saved" through vivisection would not be worth saving. Patricia McKnight Elementary education freshman \ U.S. still has ;; role as leader To the editor: The war in the Persian Gulf at I long last resounded with the bells e of victory ringing for the coalition h forces headed by the USA. the d causes of the gulf war, although 0 detrimental in one way to the envi)l ronment and the innocent civilians II of the countries involved, scored no doubt positive political results H for the coalition member-states, ' and most of all for the USA. n The impeccable strategic and tactical skills of Gen. Schwarze kopf, the excellent negotiating talent combined with the firmness of moral purpose of Dick Cheney and d the unwavering stand of Colin Powell in coordinating the multie national forces of the coalition . . . that was proof not only 11 of technical superiority, but also IS enhanced the political justification If _ C .L' ui uus war. I1* Once again, the USA reinstated 'c its position as a leading world h power, scoring a political victory that will most certainly assure ,n George Bush's re-election for a second term in office. With this political gain at hand, there is yet i- another crucial step to be taken in n the hereafter of the war ? this is s. the time of George Bush's unique i- chance to set the pillars of the New World Order. il? It is important to re-establish ne*1 gotiations with the old powers in Europe and possibly some of the r_ Arab allies in the Persian Gulf in > order to embark on this new and grandiose venture at the end of the i" 20th Century, the New World Or 3r der, as a step toward security and cooperation in the world, is Katerina Kaloyanova Journalism graduate student is d- Former leader I robbed USC d .s To the editor: il I would like to say congratulait tions to Aaron Sheinin for his colir umn on James Holderman. Excuse the cliche, but you hit the money n right on the nose. I find it utterly e ridiculous that I pay well over d $4,000 a year for school and for I to eat mor in order to S? and heart dis WID BOWDEN traying them is an insult tc As for mc hope you get nivore. Thos ger eat meat itiy. A lab rat with fully simple. Why , digestive and circulat- mouths if th setter model of a human primates? I i ;sue. mix. to nAftroii ooiantioto no n "Animal ri Lo pwiuaj ijV'iv/iiLioio do a * -j >n in blood-stained lab ous phrases y strap another hamster corpse." By i ic chair (or maybe they ing around o wheel, let th are making experiments then, beef is R what? An Excalibur figurine to Bill Cosby for speaking at the 1986 commencement? Well, I was at that commencement to see my brother graduate from law school, and I don't think Cosby's 15 to 20 minute speech was worth a $3,000 gift. And what about this trip to'Hawaii for three weeks with his entire family? It is the biggest joke in the world; however, the joke is really on us ? the students. If we do riot stand up and do something, like having the university press charges, then we have failed as students. We need to press the issue in order to not have this kind of thing happen again. Maybe (we should) have a better way of Checks and Balances at this USC. We pay so much money to USC, and for what? ? I ask again. Certainly not for a president that cares about the students. It is a shame our money is being pissed away in the wind. Stephanie Moskos Retailing/Fashion merchandising junior Soldier writes about support To the editor: I am very glad to hear that so many students are strongly expressing and debating their views on the war in the Persian Gulf. Some have taken the time to write me and express their views. I would like to reply en masse to the Carolina student body. (This letter was written Feb. 7, but was only received Wednesday, ed.) I am glad that so many of you value peace so highly. If the whole world felt and acted like you, we would not need armies. But that's not the case, at least not yet. Our lives would be greatly different if Americans had not formed armies and fought for our independence from the British. History tells us that many people attempted many political and peaceful ways before we went to war against King George III. Life in the second half of the 20th Century could have been very different if the U.S. had not gone to war against the Axis powers in World War II. If you want to maintain your peace-at-all-costs viewpoint, then consider for a nio. ment what life would be like under rule by Nazi Germany. Many Americans were strongly opposed to war and wanted to remain isolated from it. I am not saying Iraq is an exact copy of / e meat ive human lives from AIDS, cancer ease deserve to be applauded. Poras sadists who like to hurt animals > them and their noble profession. >rons who say "meat is murder," I ; eaten by a tiger or other large car e who would have humans no lonare going against nature, plain and r do humans have canines in their ey didn't evolve from meat-eating don't see lions eating granola trail ights." That is one of those ridicullike "limited war" or "lifeless my book, when animals start walkn their hind legs and inventing the em have freedom of speech. Until good food. Nazi Germany, I am saying that after all other peaceful attempts to solve an international dispute or crisis have failed, then war is sometimes the only alternative. Have . we done all we can do peacefully to restore the legitimate Kuwaiti government to power? I say yes, we have. Can we allow a dictator like Saddam Hussein to continue his international terrorism? No, we can't. I also understand that this is a debatable topic and since we live in America, we are entitled to our own opinion. In support of my opinion, I note these facts: 1. After months of the embargo and weeks of war, there is still plenty of food for sale in the streets of Baghdad as reported by the news media allowed to broadcast from Iraq. 2. Hussein has repeatedly claimed that Kuwait is now a province of Iraq. The Iraqi government does not even refer to Kuwait as Kuwait any more. They have given it their own name. 3. Hussein has repeatedly called for world-wide terrorism. 4. Iraq has repeatedly attempted to bring Israel into the war and escalate the conflict 5. The barbaric treatment of coalition POWs by the Iraqi armed forces. 6. Iraq went to war less than two years after Hussein came to power and has been at war with at least one of his neighbors constantly for the past 10 years. 7. The dumping of oil by Iraq in the Persian Gulf. We are now at war, and that means men and women will be killed. Let us remember what President Lincoln said to the public about the soldiers that died in the , battle of Gettysburg: "The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us ? that from these honored dead we take increased devo nun iu uic cau^c iui which uicy gave the last full measure of devotion ? that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth' " Jim Knight Operation Desert Shield