The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 05, 1997, Page 4, Image 4
?
iUTe
Serving US
fhrifl Hirnn
Stephanie Sonnenfi
Editor!
Lucy Arnold, Achim Hunt, Bryan Johnsto
Jennifer Stanle
Bring cpm
with Jack,
It's one more rush. Make it
through midterms, and everyone's
outie here. Cram, run those copies,
proof that paper, and then?sunfilled
relief Ah, the blessed, blessed
sacrament of Spring Break.
Ifs as if the cities of Panama,
Miami and New Orleans take on
mythical roles. They become
glittering destinations, always
fun, always exciting, always filled:
with promise of adventure. Don't
forget alcohol. Spring Break is
filled with the promise of alcohol.
Alcohol, and illegal narcotics,
are unfortunately the biggest part
of the destination for many
students.The bottles of Jack
Daniels and Smirnoff will be
packed more gingerly than the
underwear and swimsuits.
Such non-alcohol focused
breaks, like Alternative Spring
Break, are few and far
between. While we commend those
students who will actually
accomplish more than a drunken
stupor this break, these people
are few and far between.
\\t~u : l r J
vv mie we may liuu mure
redeeming qualities in Alternative
Spring Break, that doesn't mean
we want to see our Mow students
Random ki
leads to tin
One day, a 63-year-old
grandmother was plunking change
into other people's expired parking
meters in Cincinnati. Sylvia
Stayton was performing a random
act of kindness.
The same day, Stayton was
arrested for putting money in the
meters, despite police officers
warning her she was breaking a
city ordinance.
Stayton was arrested in
October and was fined $500
Monday.
She's got money to cover the
debt?she received $350 from
supporters.
This is a sad story. Here's a
lady doing something nice for
other people and she's punished
for it. Sure, she broke an
ordinance. But, it's a ridiculous
ordinance.
In a world riddled with
homicide, pedophilia and overall
injustice, isn't it even more
disgusting to see a woman doing
something nice and getting in
trouble for it?
Of course, in a perfect world,
stuff like this wouldn't happen.
Everyone would love everyone,
Student Media Russell House
Chris Dixon News: 7,
Editor in Chief Advertising:
Stephanie FAX: 77
Sonnenfeld
Viewpoints Editor Ac him Hunt I
Karen Layne Bi7?*
Jennifer Stanley Johnston
News Editors Sports Editors *
Lucy Arnold H * Hopkins n
John Lyons Ben Pillow
Features Editors C?Py Editors
Nikki Thorpe
Photo Editor
The Gamecock is the student newspaper of the Univet
Wednesday, and Friday during the Fail and Spring semesti
| periods.
Opinions expressed in The Gamecock are those of the editc
Carolina.
The Board of Student Publications and Communications
Student Media is its patent organization.
The Gamecock will try to print all letters receivt
include full name, professional title or year and
delivered by the author to The Gamecock newsnx
reserves the right to edit all letter for style, possib
withheld for any circumstance.
>amccock
C Since 1908
Editor in Chief
eld, Viewpoints Editor
n
u ooara
n, Karen Layne, John Lyons, Ben Muldrow,
sy, Nikki Thorpe.
mon sense
Smirnoff
get busted.
Have fun. Just dont be stupid
about it. Drinking's one thing.
Drinking and then grabbing the
steering wheel and taking the
Jeep out onto the beach at 6 a.m.
is quite another. That would be
stupid. That's simply asking
authorities to arrest you.
Partying in a hotel room is
fine. Cranking the Camels to
unprecedented noise levels is not
One may as well wave a flag out
the window to notify police which
room you're staying in.
Drugs are just plain idiotic.
Just because the drinking aee in
New Orleans is 18 doesn't mean
the mayor has sent you a personal
invitation to walk down Bourbon
Street lighting a bowl.
Please people, we are in oollege.
We have to have some sort of
common sense to make it this far.
Ifs not that hard to figure out
Know the laws of the land you'll
be in. One can always safely
assume public intoxication,
disorderly conduct and illegal
narcotics are unacceptable.
Have fun, but privately and
quietly. Don't come back to school
with a court date waiting.
indness act
ae in jail
children in third world countries
would eat a McDonald's fat-free
value meal everyday, and we'd
all receive jobs paying $80,000
per year on graduation day.
Hmm. But that's not the real
world. The real world is a place
where people really hate each
other, are hungry and are broke.
Cold. Harsh. True.
But, sometimes, human nature
surprises us?such as in the case
of Sylvia Stayton.
Yet, the beauty of Stayton's
act was marred by some obscure
ordinance, probablv enacted for
some inane reason.
People are begging and
pleading with each other to be
nice. When they are, what
happens?
It's as if society has forgotten
how to be nice?how to care from
the heart, how to do something
out of kindness.
There's another option: let
people go on hating each other.
Lose more kids in freak drive-by
shootings. Prompt more wars.
Advocate hate.
Be careful though, you might
get arrested while doing it.
use Colombia, SC 29208
17-7726 Adam Synder
: 777-4249 Office Manager
7-6482 Jason JeffTers
Cartoonist
len Muldrow Melissa Sellers
Graphics Editor Online Editor
ikki la Rocque Laura Day
Lsst. Viewpoints Creative Director
eginna Green Erik Collins
Asst. News Faculty Advisor
Jessica Nash Marilyn
AsstFeatures Edwards Taylor
elf Nicholson Marketing Director
Asst. Photo
sity of South Carolina and is published on Monday,
:rs, with the exception of university holidays and exams
as or the author and not those of the University of South
is the Publisher of The Gamecock. The Department of
:d. Letters should be 200-250 words and must
major if a student. Letters must be personally
>m in Russell House room 333. The Gamecock
le libel or space limitations. Names will not be
V
YIEWJ
C SO... VjJ S
V IOU CMMO
n?t?**vn|NK #w?v?'v
wmu
She's a verj
Joyce Compt
Journalis
Get the facts first, then
I distort them as much as you
| please.**
This is the journalist's creed, according
to Mark Twain. As any novice to the field
would tell you, this is our focus; this is
what we are about, destroying other
people's reputations and careers.
I don't think this the case.
As the World's Biggest Cynic, it is
situations like these that make my job
so easy. Journalism,according to
Singletonian philosophy number 30, is
a double-edged sword that seems to cut
us to pieces with every article or column.
We are like meteorologists; they get
blamed for the weather, no matter how
beautiful it is.
People are never satisfied with it;
either it is too hot, too cold, or too windy.
Our jobs are very similar. If we don't
run articles describing the misdeeds of
our leaders, we will be looked on as
government agents performing an obvious
cover-up.
However, if we do run them, the
conspiracy theorists look on us as
headhunters who will sell our own families
up the river because "the people have a
right to know."
All over the country, our field has
been hit hard by certain unfortunate
incidences over the past year which have
License t
I iifn nin'rlnr Tnm/4-nnrr
^UM^. vaw-iij, xuuviuiig.
Inspirational. Caring. Precise.
Political.
I never knew it was possible
to turn a license tag slogan into a political
venture but David Beasley found a way.
He took his 1994 gubernatorial campaign
slogan, "Putting families first," and put
it on state auto tags.
After pressure from state
representatives and the populous, he
vetoed the proposal. Now citizens are
encouraged to let their creative juices
flow and think of ideas for the tag.
I really don't see what the big deal
is about a license tag slogan. The only
time you notice tags is if you are out of
the state and you see a car from your
native land. Of course there is car tag
bingo for those really long trips. And do
*/ 1
'
JOINTS
?6 THPCT NCIN
N set? J
OH 16AH. iri J
A BeAoTY. >/
m It
NTS (M THE EW|K?:
mi vApeg pvNisHCS
u
f good player and j
to rise to th
on, Lady Gamecocks softball head
V
ts deal wil
| SHAWN SINGLETON |
nHSHl
done wonders for our reputations.
The sordid Richard Jewell affair in j
Atlanta, the Primetime Live debacle ]
involving Food lien and these consistently i
awful tabloid news shows such Hard \
Copy and Inside Edition all contribute j
to the public's view of us as a whole. <
I cannot blame the masses for
thinking the way they do about journalists i
in these cases because they screwed up. i
At the same time, I do not understand j
how we could be called "liberal" by our
more conservative brethren out there in j
the peanut gallery. (
This goes back to what I wrote earlier
about the world never being satisfied. ]
Ifwe tried to say nothing but good things (
about the conservatives all the time,
instead of printing the truth, then the i
liberals would bitch. c
Personally, I consider myself centrist i
because even though I do blast
conservatism on a consistent basis, I do 1
not support the Brady Anti-Weapons i
Law nor do I support the President's
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, of which t
my former branch still does not adhere j
to.
Please don't call me a "bleeding heart" i
liberal because even they get a bit wacky t
at times. Maybe it's those channeling t
ag slogan:
| ADAM SNYDER |
]
you really tninK trie cope care what saymg
is on your car as they are jotting down (
your number for speeding.
But I guess my first two points are ;
really why tags and slogans are so (
important. It is one small way a state
can extend itself well beyond its borders. .
To people in far-off states, a tag is the i
only thing some may know about your i
home state.
Rus, they give awards far those things.
Ironically, a tag which does not even ]
sport the true Carolina wren, won an i
award. And this year the palmetto tree
looks more like a palm tree to avoid it
looking like an atomic bomb exploding.
Something that costs too much money
r
I
'ou expect very gi
e occasion.
I coach on Ail-American senior '
th more t
crystals and the '60s anti-war music.
Also, there is another contingent that
feels that they have been vilified by the
press. These are our fellow Southerners.
With all the fun stuff that has been
going on here, why shouldn't they be
ridiculed? If anyone can find something
positive in this part of the country that
is beneficial to any and every group of
people here, please inform me of it so I
can stop this grievous injustice.
I cannot truly speak for my fellow
writers, so I speak solely for myself in
this case. There are a great deal of bullies
in our business, including myself.
I write opinions based on what I have
gone through in that 21-year struggle
called life.
However, just like a features writer,
[ must have the facts before I write my
)pinions or else they will not hold water.
I have to study just as much
nfbrmation as anyone else to write those
:ool columns that the people love so
nuch.
Facts are an important part of our
business, no matter how tasteless and
lgly they are.
Without them, we get into huge
rouble and we will probably find ourselves
obless.
The truth isn't always pretty and if s
id to us to make sure the Deople get the
ruth, the whole truth, and nothing but
he truth, with a catchy spin, of course.
s aren't f
to design (anything for a tag is too much)
and is made by inmates can actually win
an award amazes me. And the fact that
metal and paint placed under a bumper
and next to an exhaust pipe can be
considered aesthetically pleasing.
A slogan adds the final touch to the
ambiance of the tag. And South Carolina
deserves a great slogan.
So, here are some of my suggestions.
After today's release of these ideas, I
may just pass them along to the "slogan
committee tor their perusal. 1 encourage
you to send in your ideas too.
In response to the ongoing Confederate
battle flag controversy, the state tag
shouldn't be without Civil War slogans.
Instead of North Carolina's "First in
Flight," S.C. should adopt "First in Civil
War" as the slogan. Or, following the
lead of Texan's proclamation "Remember
I
WiPL. -
I /A
HA\//N<5 TO MAK6
10U& C.O-VJORVOEJ
?
4
~~^1
I
\'
u>
IS
ood players
Trinity Johnson
linn fn n4-n
nail lai/io
Even though last week was not a good
week for us, I hope the readers out there
realize how hard our jobs are.
The editors go through personal wars
against themselves every day over what
is printable and what is not.
What do the people have a right to
know about? What or who should be left
alone?
Our daily situation is a "damned if
you do and damned if you don't."
There will always be someone who
will disagree with what we say or write.
However, our right to speech must not
be suppressed, according to Voltaire.
In closing, I challenge our detractors
to take a walk in our shoes for once to
see just how hard it is to do what we do.
I would also like to challenge my
fellow writers to be more responsible
with their stories to keep incidences like
the aforementioned ones from happening
again.
Just because we are protected by the
First Amendment does not give us a
license to ignore the facts.
As for me, I choose to live by the words
of those great street philosophers, The
Roots, by "never doing what they do,"
and writing in my own personal style.
This keeps me out of too much trouUe.
ree P.R.
the Alamo," it should read "Remember
Fort Sumter." "Holding on to Yesterday"
would be catchy, but maybe the state
should get right to the point with "Keep
It Flying" blazing across the tag*s top.
It could read "SRS: We Bring TwoHeaded
Things to life." BMW has added i
more than economic development to the
state, so a "BMW Is Our International
Culture" slogan would be in order.
The High Country, Midlands and
Low Country seem to never want to end
their rivalries despite the benefits
cooperation could bring. For this, the
slogan should read "Three Regions, No
Reason."
All of these slogans. I believe, would
be great for the state tag. But the best
slogan would be a take off of Beastey^
"Putting Families First" slogan?"Beasley: Putting
Me First."
. 1