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Hie (5; Serving VSC i Chris Dixon, Ec Stephanie Sonnenfelc Ed Ho rial Achim Hunt, Bryan Johnston, Karen Layne, J ^ Jennifer Stanley, University in recycling up USC generates about 3,100 tons of solid waste a year. That's not a big surprise considering the number of students and faculty it supports. However, 3,100 tons of waste does not simply disappear whenever the dumpsters are emptied. What may actually end up hanging around the most are the v plastic foam products we students * use when eating take-out.More specifically, 1.5 million cups are thrown away each year. It is environmentally-minded to have the recycling program here at school that we do. However, we could take it one step further. Unlike paper, newspapers or aluminum, which are recycled here, plastic foam products are taken out with the regular trash. ^ Since the only center in the w nation that recycles these cups and boxes is located outside of South Carolina, recycling the plastic foam is not fiscally advantageous to either Marriott or USC. Shipping the products to the center is inconvenient. This is supposedly why USC does not recycle its plastic foam products. This is an irresponsible P environmental act on USC's and Marriott's part. If the "couple thousand dollars" Federal dal I good idea, According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, the Clinton administration created a computer database in 1994 with federal funds. The database contains d information on 350,000 people, including possible contributors to the Democratic Party, visitors to the White House and campaign workers. While it is entirely legal to have such a database for the government, it is not legal to turn over a partial list to the Democratic National ^ Committee, which the administration allegedly did in order to help raise donations for the president's 1996 campaign. Also, small perks to be issued to prospective donors turned into seats aboard Air Force One, invitations to watch movies in the East 1 Wing, and personal notes from Clinton himself. m | It's incredibly stupid to sidestep a law as minor as this. The Democratic Party shares a stronghold on the voting population with the Republican Party. Clinton i was also favored from the iaois Student Media Rumell House Chris Dixon News: 7' Editor in Chief Advertising Stephanie FAX: 7' Sonne afield Viewpoints Editor Achim Hunt I\ Karen Layne Bryaa ' Jennifer Stanley *ohm??m R News Editors 5Ports Ed]tors John Lyons M"pk Hopklna Kelly tyy Desk Qt,e{ j % MePherso. N**11??rpe W Features Editors Photo Ed,tOT Ben Muldrow Graphics Editor The Gamecock is ihe student newspaper of the Univei Wednesday, and Friday during the Fall and Spring semesl periods. Opinions expressed in The Gamecock are thoae of the editi Carolina. The Board of Student Publications and Communications Student Media is its parent organization IBIH The Gamecock will try to print all letters receiv include full name, professional title or year and HalilfarAri Kir fKo onmrtf /"? Ills rioma/Vlolr nasnown, reserves the right to edit all letter for style, possit withheld for any circumstance. " I a 1 imtcock Since 1906 litor in Chief L, Viewpoints Editor I Board ohn Lyons, Kelly McPherson, Ben Muldrow, Nikki Thorpe. esponsible, to students it would take to correctly ship the products to the recycling center cannot be found, then perhaps Dr. Palms could do without a new gate next semester.The money must be found somewhere. The delicacy of our environment is too serious to try and not protect simply because money is tight. As students who will be around longer than the administration, we should not mind forking over a few extra dollars to protect the nation we will be living in as adults. Unfortunately, the lack of recycling plastic loam products has been around for years, and so far no one has taken any kind of action. We seemingly cannot depend on the adults around here to help make our environment as safe as possible. Students will have to take action. We don't have to shell out big bucks to make a difference. Simply buying an Eco-mug will help, or eating in rather than taking carry-out will help reduce the number of plastic foam products thrown away. What we throw away today does not disappear tomorrow. Just because the cup you used last year is not in front of your eyes does not mean it has biodegraded. tabase: bad use beginning of the campaign to win. Why then, did someone think it necessary to use illegal means to find more campaign donators? it's all too reminiscent of Watergate. Nixon was a shoe-in, but his party made an unnecessaiy, illegal move to enhance his chances of winning the election. This one unfounded act cost Nixon his presidency. Though we do not foresee Clinton resigning for simply this one allegation, with all the other ones against him, the last thing he or the Democratic Party needs is another broken law. This allegation was simple and easy to avoid. It doesn't take a lot effort to make sure the database is used for official government purposes. It's legally acceptable for the government to keep a register for official government purposes. However, using the database for a citizen's private use is pointless and stupid. IJSC Columbia, SC 29208 77-7726 Adam Syuder : 777-4249 Office Manager r7-6482 Jasoa JelTepg Cartoonist Bdd La Rocqoe Melissa Sellers isst. Viewpoints Online Editor egiaaa Greea Laura Day Asst News Creative Director Jemiea Nash Kim Goldea AsstFeatures Asst. Advertising efTNieholsoa Manager AssL Photo Erik Co 11 las Faculty Advisor rsity of South Carolina and is published on Monday, en, with the exception of university holidays and exams an or the author and not those of the University of South is the Publisher of The Gamecock, The Department of ed. Letters should be 200-250 words and must major if a student. Letters must be personally om in Russell House room 333. The Gamecock >le libel or space limitations. Names will not be yjEWF S1GNE PHILADELPHIA DAILY NE\ Philadelphia USA (< LSU is a weird Eddie F< Childhood The most playful, carefree creatures in the world are those under ten years old and college kids. OK, as I write this I have a paper to write, pages to read, and poems to analyze, so maybe "carefree" isn't the best word choice. But we don't have mortgage yet, our daddies may still do our taxes for us, and there's always a free meal waiting back home. Hence, the justification for the word carefree. The great things about childhood seem to resurface the first time you step onto campus Take a peep hito certain student rooms and you're transported back to the nursery. Ah, the fetishes of childhood. Winnie the Pooh, assorted Disney characters, and happy little animals spot the walls and sheets of some feminine rooms. Marvel Comics characters, Transformers, and whatever else was popular with boys in the '80s also park themselves in some guys' rooms. Everything you wanted to do as aaVI n IT fA J_JUUIY??10 1U If you've ever read this column before, you're probably looking at it now and thinking that I'm fixin' to start whining and complaining about something or another. I guess you're thinking the cynical comments are going to start in the very next paragraph. Well, prepare to enter new territory. I'm turning over a new leaf. From now on, I am going to battle the cynicism and sorrow in the world by only saying good things. My mama always said that if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. Or was it just don't say anything at all? Actually, at heart, I really am an optimist, and I want the world to be the chirpy, beautiful place it appears to be in Disney movies (not that Disney movie where the little deer's mom gets killed by hunters, or the one where the voluptuous babe is lusted after by a priest, or the one where the evil lion kills off his brother and leaves his nephew fatherless?well, scratch that part about Disney movies). So here, to soothe your heart and lighten your day, are my Top Five Things You Hate, But Ought To Love. 5. Parking meters. I used to hate parking meters. I think I may have mentioned my feelings about the 'PINTS <vs \EGAUZ'N& < E MEpicAJ-USf 1 ?F MAK'JU/WA . 1 ' (.( team. If the mooi they're 1 n l, n Jg,crj \raiueuuuiv uas^cLuaii v^uai T fetishes, ti iMkki La Koq ne "~j 1 a kid but couldn't because of the big, bad parental unit can come true at college. (Just mind the police. They take "big" and "bad" to new 1 dimensions.) Eat dessert first, not after dinner. Don't do laundry for at least two weeks. Keep your room messy, messy, messy. Use your "outdoor voice" indoors while you scream insults at your very aggravating next-door neighbor. Drop water balloons out of your second-story window. Have a shaving cream fight in the hallway. Play with matches. Go to bed when you want to. College students are allowed to act as immature as we want. It's article something or other in the Constitution. We overdose on stress, (hello midterms!) and the antidote is complete immaturity. It keeps us hum rioting and setting the Russell House ablaze. If the water fights and burping and short-sheeting your roommate's bed has grown old, and a good dose r the 'good Lacy Arnold I y possible uses of those little parking g tickets for inserting into the crevices a of various public officials. But no longer. It has been pointed t out to me that parking would be r even worse at USC if it weren't for t parking meters. This is true. Instead t of parking with reckless abandon, g you now have to calculate the value of your coinage before rushing off t to class. This is good for your math c skills. \ And anyway, aren't the lovely \ shades of red, blue and green like food for the soul? t 4. Campus food. If you ever eat e in a campus dining location, you're s bound to hear a few choice words s from students regarding the quality t of the culinary delights offered for v their consumption. Sometimes, these responses are r expressed by uncouth gagging noises c or vomiting gestures. Because these i activities seem to give pleasure to i surrounding diners, I will not r condemn them. c However, there are many good things to say about campus food, a For one thing, it is much more c difficult to overeat. If you choke p down only one bite of each dish, you're probably greatly reducing s your caloric intake. Also, consider how appreciative g f a a m A rs out, they're toi e not. jh on USC's upcoming game ag? ) rends bacl of childhood is still needed, then go see the mecca movie of kids, Star Wars. It seems a new crop of kids is invading our Star Wars turf. The trilogy is experiencing a digital comeback. Seems like all the paraphernalia is, too. Micro renditions of Han, Leia, and Luke we donated to garage sales after puberty are worth mucho money now. At least enough to buy dinner at the GIMP for a week. New versions of the toys are coming out fast and disappearing off the shelves, pseudo-Tickle Me Elmo style. Hundreds of thousands of parents must have taken their kids to see one or more of the Star Wars trilogy movies during our formative years. That's the only explanation to this craze, this thing called the anniversary edition of the trilogy. What is it about Star Wars that has college-aged kids gripped? Why the excitement over the re-release of a movie some of us weren't around to see on the big screen? Star Wars was released in 1977, and sorry, but things' in rou are of your mama's good gravy i vhen you finally go home. (And inything that makes my mama's [ravy more palatable is GREATLY ippreciated by me.) 3. Traffic. By traffic, I am referring o the crazy drivers who attempt to un down poor, late college kids rying to get their lazy butts across he street even though the light is freen. The benefit of this experience is hat one day, when you get a little Ider, you'll remember that DONT VALK means don't walk, and you von't get run over. 2. E-mail. If you ever use e-mail, hen you experience problems with t-mail. The system's down, the ys tern's up. The server's down, the erver's up. It's a little easier just 0 call. And it's slightly faster to vrite a letter. But this is really good in the long un. Because, as you sit there waiting m the system to fix itself (or telling t to something else itself), you're earning a valuable virtue that is lormally included in the college urriculum. That's right, I'm talking about 1 little thing called patience. Your omputer's making you a better >erson. Now, let's do a little work on that wearing, sailor. 1. Going to class. I know, it's generally a drag, wh,at with all those /^VfauTX lgh. If it's not, linst LSU. : in vogue as a person under the age of one year old, I decided not to go see it, then. But oh, I shall this Friday. So will a lot of USC students. The fascination with Star Wars has a lot to do with that whole childhood thing. Star Wars takes us right back to the good, old days on the playground when you were Princess Lei a, Jay Hazleton was Darth Vadar, nnrl vnn hnrl fo RT7M Kofnro Vio caught you. I'm hoping not too many males will identify with being Princess Leia. But I digress. Star Wars was something fun and important to this iffy, not quite generation X generation. To actually have the movies comingback out is a resurgence of blissful childhood few would pass up experiencing. But, of course, using your outdoor voice is a lot cheaper than going to the movies. One bad thing about being on your own?Mom doesn't pay for your social life anymore. life is easy other college-related activities that rank much higher on the old priority list. And I am certainly not downplaying the importance of sex, drugs and rock n' roll. But you can gain some valuable skills hum attending class. For one thing, and this one's going to provide some payoff when you get to the 1 1 1 "i i i workplace, you learn to sieep upngnt with your eyes open and your pencil moving. Your future boss is going to be veiy impressed with your work ethic even as you catch a few Z's. Going to class has the added advantage of providing you with any assignments you might be expected to turn in. I know assignments could be a separate category, but 111 be brief. Assignments are great because after you drink beer and throw up all night long eveiy night for a week and you're starting to think you need a little rest, but you don't want anybody to think that you're not a beer-drinking fool, you can just say, "Gee guys, I'm sorry, but I really need to get that paper written tonight." Nice save! I hope little flowers are blooming in your hearts and you feel inspired to run out and make the world a better place for you and me. Pick up some litter, teach a child to read, watch a televised trial. Peace, man