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The Gam IBaffeotk Serving USC Since 1908 Wendy Hudson, Editor in Chief Matt Pruitt, Viewpoints Editor Editorial Board . % Lucy Arnold, Jamie Clark, Erin Galloway, Stephanie Sonnenfeld, Allison Williams, Larry Williams, Ryan Wilson Back to school Reaffirm objectives before classes begin Once again, the University of South Carolina opens its arms to those pursuing degrees of higher learning. Freshmen and new students will be thrust headlong into a new realm of possibilities, each with their own indeterminate path ahead of them. Returning students will find their academic home to be a new place as well. The beginning of this school year marks the inception of the Residential College, the transformation of Capstone to a co-ed residence hall, the trial run of a new payment system, a change in the dates of the academic year, additions to Williams-Brice stadium, as well as many other changes still in the making. Some aspects of life at USC will remain the same. Long lines at registration, the exorbitant prices at the Grand Marketplace, and the proliferation of little yellow trophies which students receive compliments of the university parking patrol are the all-too-familiar comforts of home. The beginning of a new academic year provides students with many opportunities. One of the most important among these may be the chance to reaffirm our objectives in attending college. Students can use this time to remind themselves of their academic goals and the value of their education. Some may find it necessary to reconsider, or revise, their chosen path and start a new educational directive. Others may establish higher criteria for themselves while shedding behaviors that may inhibit their upward climb. j In short, this is a time for taking a deep breath, and taking a step back, before braving the road ahead. Ultimately, the academic path one chooses, and the success one derives from that path, is an individual decision. Use this time wisely. And have fun. Professor prepares ' for life in Preston as students move in H work together for common ends # BECKY should also live together in a colfsg* ^ 1j| LEWIS legial setting. The connotation of W m Guest Columnist "college" rests strongly upon sharMI ing - a sharing of space, a sharing Hi???i^J of food, a sharing of ideas, a shar - irirr rvf lifo Recently, I was greeted by a . teasing colleague in Cooper Li- University colleges also recogbrary with the query, "HowYe the nized that communities combinkids Mom7" ing people of different ages and He was referring to my hus- experience need differentiated band's and my new positions as spaces. Thus, residential colleges principal and co-principal of Pre- have included a senior common ston College. Even in fun, it is dis- room controlled by faculty memconcerting to have friends and ac- bers, and a junior common room quaintances treat our decision to controlled by student members, leave a cozy home to lie with 240 latter days, the age of gradustudents as though they are chil- ate study has seen the introduction, and we, parents. tion of the middle common room So as we begin our experiment for graduate student members, in Preston College, I want to ex- However, everyone comes together plain our positions as principal at specific times - during meals, and co-principal of Preston. When receptions, seminars, and parties adults live with younger students, - to share in the communal life, we tend to assume that the adults Kevin and I see ourselves as function as house parents. Espe- enthusiastic participants in Precially for those of us who attend- ston charged with tailoring traed college in the sixties, when dor- ditions of the residential college mitories were ruled by house par- to fit our campus. We have both ents. And, many are familiar with contributed to residential college the depiction of a house mother life elsewhere and our two chilliving with college students in the dren have thrived in residential television series "A Different colleges more recently. We hope World." to share our experience and our The concept is that of university ideas with our fellow residents in officials acting loco parentis (as creating spaces and initiatives replacement parents) to keep close conducive to mixing people of all watch upon students and to give ages and levels of experience in moral guidance whether sought pursuit of common interests. In or not. the vision for Preston, all of us In Preston, the enunciators and have a stake in re-inventing the enforcers of university rules, as 0id meaning of "college" to bring in all university student residences, humanity and graciousness into will be our Residential Life Staff, a university grown too big to proconsisting of residential hall di- vide the feeling of community, rector and five resident advisors. Kevin and I see ourselves in a Kevin and I go into Preston to ex- complex role of participants, neperiment with on older concept of gotiators, facilitators, and listen- , college. erg ag student residents and facEarly European universities ult associates come together to adapted the tradition of monas- CTeate the best possible local yer. tones ^ housing their students ^ rf a ie^deam c^ge. We see and ^tytogeteto fomacom- oureelves heiping to bridge the resprehensive res.dent^mmua,- ^ ^ the academic ^ ty. ine taeu ? We ^ ^ to parents l^nfficock E^S?-4249 sfe Student Media Russell House-USO Columbia, SC 29208 [SSsSm'Sa Wendy Hudson Lucy Arnold Martha Hotop Laura Day Editor in Chief Stephanie Tina Morgan Creative Director Matt Pruitt Sonnenfeld Asst. News Jeff A. Breaux Viewpoints Editor Features Editors Ben Pillow Art Director Chris Winston Larry Williams CAhris Dixon Gregory Perez Copy Desk Chief n ? Wilson n Features Design Editor Erin Galloway Sports Editors Robbie Meeks Christopher Wood Allison Williams Jamie Clark Jason Asst. Advertising Manager News Editors Photo Editor I Ja^"i?Jers ErikCoUins Keith Boudreaux W>mst Faculty Advtsor Circulation Manager . . Letters Policy The Gamecock is the student newspaper of the University or _ r;,, . ... j South Carolina and is published daily during the fall and . T W,U ,r> lo print all letters received spring semesters, with the exception of university holidays Letlers should be 200-250 words and must include full and exam periods. name, professional title or year and major if a student. Opinions expressed in The Gamecock are those of the editors Letters must be personally delivered by the author to or author and not those of the University of South Carolina. The Gamecock newsroom in Russell House room 333. The Board of Student Publications and Communications is fianv*w-ir ? r? the publisher of The Gamecock. The Department of Student noxsihi ... 'erves t,1e n8ht ,0 ecllt le,ters f?r Media is its parent organization. sty"' P? _ le llbel or space limitations. Names will not be withheld under any circumstances. -viewBKn ffl aUOTEyHHUOTE 'It took me ten minutes. It's the least an Seni Summer vaci Vacation. Let's take a look at this word. A quick peek into Thomas Cooper Library's mammoth, medieval-looking dictionary will yield roughly forty varied definitions of this term so oft associated with summer. The vast majority of these indicate that a vacation is a time of respite or rest, an intermission, a break, a time for leisure and enjoyment. Ah, yes. Summer vacation. Sleeping late every day. Rising only in order to bask in the afternoon sun, followed by several hours of swimming, then possibly a nap, or maybe a meal that "?? fnr wnn witVi lmrincr VinnHs Thf>n wao picpaicu 11/1 juu fvivia ? on to the night life, which ends only when you deem fit since your days are obligation free, and of course you can sleep late again tomorrow. Right. I think I remember something like this. It had to be about seven or eight years ago, but I do seem to recall some period in my life during which the term "vacation" applied to my summer activities. However, those days are long gone. Either the dictionary is way behind the times, or this word that college students use to describe the three month gap between the last class in May and the first one in August is somewhat of a Beardman retui It's a bit strange coming back to school once you've been around Carolina for a while. Now that I'm an official senior, entitled to all rights and privileges associated with that status (which means I get to register for classes ten minutes before everyone else and I have to hide my wallet from the alumni club). I've noticed some odd aspects of returning for that last year of studying. First, it seems everyone I know around campus seems to want me gone. I've already been asked about 3,076 times why I'm back around campus after I've been graduated. Now, maybe the beard makes me look old, but I'm not any i-"U4-Vt.^v a^ mtr fnllmir cQninrc T nlsn UlUCJL i/llctil tile 1 cot U1 I11JT IVIIV tt dvmaw* A M?ww have only been here four years, rather than taking the six- or eight-year plan like many people I know. I would say my overwhelming maturity confuses people if I did, in fact, possess overwhelming maturity, but I don't, so I won't. Anyway, for the record, no, I haven't been here twenty years, and I'm not supposed to be out making myself a responsible member of society yet. I'm still qualified to sit around my campus apartment in my boxer shorts, sipping Kool-Aid and watching Gamecock Cable. And speaking of Gamecock Cable, wouldn't you know we'd get great cable stations the year I'm leaving. Of course, if we'd had the Comedy PVionnpl t.hp nast few vears. I never would have left the apartment. Instead, I'd be vegetating on the couch in a small but disgusting pool of my own dribble, staring at the wacky antics (I don't normally use the words "wacky" or "antics," but I decided to pull them out because my thesaurus is still packed up.) of "Monty Python's Flying Circus," "Mystery Science Theater 3000" and "The Kids in the Hall." I believe we also got the Cartoon Network, which offers special showings of old '70s cartoons such as "The Super Globetrotters." Yep, you haven't lived until you've seen an animated Meadowlark Lemon pull a James Bondesque assortment of secret weapons out oi his Volkswagon-sized Afro. There have been lots of changes around campus over the summer. I've noticed some prettj awful-looking signs marking the buildings around campus. Of course, the Residential College is al most finished, except some of the students there said phone service wasn't up a couple of days ago ITS Thursday, August 24, 1995 JIPMENTj /s fount of time I've spent in the Coliseum. My f in, got my schedule and walked out" or Shondia Lowery on the new fee payment systei ition isn't real ^ an MATT PRUITT fai Viewpoints Editor coi misnomer. mi Fm not quite sure what the appropriate term -gj is for this period of academic limbo, but I can't SQ imagine that the typical college student's activities are aptly described by the "v-word." Most of ^ us have the ever-stimulating summer job, wnicn, js for those who don't have internships falls into en one of three categories: clerical ("File this, then ^h get me some coffee"), service ("Hey, frantic server boy, where's my coffee?"), and manual labor fn ("Dig a 30 foot trench in that rock hard ground th while I stand here and drink my coffee"). m And if menial labor isn't enough reason to stop in using the aforementioned term, then here's the to kicker: after nine months of total independence, 01 you're back under the safe and comfortable wing Oi (and watchful eye) of mom and dad! Planning on at one of those little "stress releasers" with your ca friends that usually last until four in the morn- al ing and only end when you no longer recognize ns to senior year G CHRIS MULDROW ^ d The parking lot at the Coliseum has been replaced P1 by a hulking practice facility. The Big Bird is still S( closed (sigh). Some of the changes have been nice. We got ^ new refrigerators and stoves, endearing the Hous- y ing Department to me for at least 10 minutes. Al- i* so, in a stroke of sheer genius and outstanding y f>*DQ Ponoio uioro nffiprpH in tVip Colise- y piailllllig, JLA A V|/OiO ff VAV ? um during registration. Whoever thought of the w free drink idea deserves a hug, a raise and a big wet sloppy kiss. y I've also noticed some changes in how I got s ready for school this year. I remember the freshman year when I bought sheets, blankets, a bath- n room supply holding container, towels, crates, n luggage, CD holders, carpet, hangers, clothes, more clothes, power strips, more crates, bulk pack- v ages of soap, an iron, an ironing board, a 9-iron E (actually, no, scratch that...I don't play golf) and 0 assorted other elements of destruction guaran- 3 teed to fill my and my parents' cars. Wal-Mart in [ S1GNE ^ PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS PhJadelphia USA 13 Financial aid was applied; I just walked m ly vacation ybody in the room? Not with the one o'clock rfew back in full effect and you leaving for the nily reunion at 6 a.m. Friday. Thus, back to the original question. What do : call this 3 month gap that for a short time drius to pray for class to begin. I've debated; I asidered "hell," but "Summer hell" sounds too - "* " i a an iich like a bad metal concert, summer puuiment" almost fits, almost like the summer is me sort of retribution for all those classes ipped, but it also carries the implication that e strife is imposed by a higher authority, which generally not true of the masochistic summer iployee. I'm left with only one option: rewrite e dictionary. So, without further ado: Vacation : a colorful euphemism often used describe the almost unbearable circumstances at college students endure during the three onth gap between classes known as summer, lposed by the older generation in an attempt deny recognition of our subjugation and break ir human will (see also: Doublespeak, George rwell, 1984); marked in the south by temperures ranging from 150-175 degrees Fahrenheit, .using many students to liken the period to apocyptic tales of hell on earth. with detergent reenville opened a Chris Muldrow School Suply Wing after I spent all that money. You know what I bought at Wal-Mart this ear? Two giant vinyl-covered hooks (97 cents) nd a jumbo-size bottle of detergent (three bucks). Because of the humid Columbia climate, I've etermined, anything you bring to school will exand approximately 1.57 times between the time :hool starts and the time school ends. This expanded luggage will, therefore, no longer t in the vehicle you plan to drive home, causing du to leave things such as trash cans and ironig boards in your room in hopes that maybe this ear they won't totally clean the rooms out and ou'll be able to convince next year's residents le leftover goods are yours. Well, I'm chomping on the bit, ready for this ear to get started so I can write about assorted illy things. If I unintentionally offend you this year, relember ? it was a joke. Laugh it off. Don't hunt ae down and attempt to kill me. Please. Oh, and by the way, if you readers see any uniersity or city rules that are totally inane, drop ae a note in Matt Pruitt's box at the Gamecock r in the GBQ office, and I'll see if I can write ibout it. The Beardman's back... " >