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EhT5 Serving USC i Chris Dixon, Ec Stephanie Sonnenfeld Editorial Lucy Arnold, Achim Hunt, Bryan Johnston, Ki % NikkiTl Responsible _ belongs to n Ifs not a situation anyone would want to be in, no matter what one's sex or race. No one wants to have to say ?Tve been raped" or Tve been charged with rape." Rape is a sensitive issue. Except for the extreme extremists, most everyone would agree that rape is wrong. But after that, opinions differ and are as heated as those dealing with the flnnfprlornfa floor raniem b, .. j abortion or the separation of ] ^ Church and State. Some people believe rape 1 is everything except for both the sober woman and sober 1 man, in a committed < relationship, who consent i before and during sex. j Teenagers are educated i about date rape. ] Others say rape is only | ^ rape when the perpetrator is a stranger using a weapon i and attacks in a dark alley in some big city. 1 These differences in ] opinion garner not only i emotional debates, but make < it difficult for a woman to i decide whether or not to i t Improving looks like a % Ifs no lie that high school t education in South Carolina could stand for some improvements. Everything from overall graduation rates ^ to SAT participation could ^ stand to be better. We as citizens know that and it seems finally the state legislature knows this. S Currently, there is a bill in ? the legislature that contains c numerous improvements to ( the high school curriculum, t Lawmakers want to up the number of credits required 1 to graduate from the current c _ 20 to a total of 24. Students t ^ would be required to take more math and science i courses, in addition to having ] Student Media Russell House ^ Chris Dixon News: 77 Editor in Chief Advertising: Stephanie FAX: 77 Sonnenfeld Viewpoints Editor Achlm Hunt E Karen Layne Brymn Jennifer Stanley Johnston News Editors Sports Editors ^ Lucy Arnold Mark Hopkins nt Features Editor CoPY Desk Chief Nikkl Thorpe ' Photo Editor The Gamecock is the student newspaper of the Univei Wednesday, and Friday during the Fall and Spring semesti Opinions expressed in The Gamecock are those of the editc Carolina. The Board of Student Publications and Communications Student Media is its parent organization hibdsq The Gamecock will try to print all letters receivi include full name, professional title or year and delivered by the author to The Gamecock newsro reserves the right to edit all letter for style, posstt withheld for any circumstance. % imecock nncc 1908 litor in Chief I, Viewpoints Editor Board aren Layne, Ben Muldrow, Jennifer Stanley, iorpe. % fw HAltA IUI rajiu tales, too prosecute, and if she does, to prove a rape really occurred. To help define the legal term of rape, several laws dealing with and defining rape are on the books in South Carolina. Many find these laws favorable to rape victims; others see them as i__ _ _ _x i 1 coo extreme ana giving unaue weight to an alleged victim's word. No matter what one's opinions are, it is imperative, particularly for males, that people be familiar with what legally can be held against them. In order to help young men be familiar with the rape laws af South Carolina, Capstone is offering a seminar on rape. Hopefully, many male USC students will walk away blowing what can and cannot get them in trouble. When in doubt, don't do it. You can look, but you cant touch. Abstinence is the best protector against STDs, HIV and pregnancy, but people aften forget to mention it's also the best protection against rape charges. education i priority he opportunity to take classes such as introductory computer science. Part of the reason this bill s gaining support is because t is introducing a strong, solid ipproach to preparing students for higher education. According to The State, South Carolina SAT scores ire getting better, but still >nly 37 percent of all South Carolina students are taking he SAT. Nikki Setzler, one of the sill's supporters, said more :lasses in more subjects lead jo higher SAT scores. That's true. But more mpartantly, a better education ;eads to a better mind. use Colombia, SC 29208 7-7726 Jeff Nicholson 7774249 Asst. Photo 7-6482 Sender Office Manager, (en Muldrow Jason Jeffers Graphics Editor Cartoonist kklLaRocqne Melissa Sellers isst Viewpoints Online Editor eginin Green Laora Day Asst. News Creative Director lesslca Nash Erik Collins AsstFeatures Faculty Advisor sity of South Carolina and is published on Monday, en, with the exception of university holidays and exams in 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 YIEWI ] ma * 8 4 C\ * ._u j If there's an opei Republicai Now that Bob Dole has appeared on David Letterman and Saturday Night Live and has enjoyed popularity from his various commercial spots, suddenly everyone is talking about ?i c. i.1 i. r?_u rv_i~ ? 11UW iUIUiy Li let L UUU JLfUlC 1?. I seem to remember these same people criticizing everything about him from his age to his shoes. Now he's hilarious. Well, how can I blame anyone for this turn-around opinion? He was old and stodgy-acting. It's only now that ifs too late for anything to matter that Bob Dole is letting that Bob Dole humor out of the bag. So I can only surmise that back in November Dole was playing to lose. After all, why the "face of death" speeches and stilted behavior? Now we know he can be funny. I suppose the Republicans could have been thinking that Bill Clinton would make such a fool of himself over the next four years that a Democrat wouldn't have a chance Love Bug shou j??n ii a umc uweu in uie ptusu oumc H^Sfl live for the moment. And I some look to the future. And who better to look to the future but scientists and engineers. It is their ingenuity that brought us telephones, televisions and computers. But society pushed most technological feats forward. Would we have a wheel if society had not needed it and demanded it? Would we have boats if some curious explorer wasn't determined to see other shores? And would we have guns and other weapons if we didn't need to kill to win a war? \ These advancements show the power and destruction technology can induce upon a society. For every positive reason me can set forth for expanding technology, there is a negative reason to counter it. And that's why I am undecided about * these new confounded automobiles. JOINTS . I LOOrtiv an* Both ivcofipoi $r*oe sao^s L . fewiHiM? STA *UC? SAM6 -7* k To W( Hl6KTn Sk "iweer PR?AM jH)\ ey?M woRsfc m ftucfc PiOmtrj H UK S 1M? t R /HAfclCYN '( PL /-?af) He UKC Wttl fA^ ' tf?TriM< lpM0 Y?A*4, // \ \ wha 6? * / | \ To ?uV< ' 4 >a that students wo be Peggy Dinette, USC Mar ) is address t | LUCY ARNOLD | against Perot, much less a Republican contender, in 2000. Or it has been suggested that Bob Dole and his campaign managers really thought that old and crotchety would win it, and Dole is only now trying to look like he'd make a decent First Man. (Not a bad plan, I'll be voting for Elizabeth when she runs.) I don't know what the deal was. But despite Dole's loss and despite the all-too-apparent problems with the Republican party, I do know this: The Republican party is the party of the future, the only possible political outlet for youth. Immediately this glares in your, ears?youth equivalent with the Republican party? What of Dole, Kemp and the old white men running the party? Well, actually they are old and they wont be running the party much longer. Here is an opportunity for young people to become a part of the leadership and make the party what Id join Jetsons i | ADAM SIVYPER | Oh, people have been talking about solar cars reducing the use of fossil fuels for years. But now they (the National Automated Highway System Consortium) may have gone a bit too far. Imagine driving along, anywhere from 60 to 100 mph, while doing anything from talking on the phone, working on your laptop, or even making love. Your hands would be free to do anything else because Herbie would be driving itself. This brings all new meaning to "Look _ v _ JI . >? n i ma, no nanas. aensors on your car ana along the side of the highway relay messages back and forth to keep the Love Bug on the right track. But your car wouldn't have a mind of its own and you wouldn't be in control either. The Pentium system could keep cars moving along smoothly at high speeds and only a half car length apart Acoording I ) c I IVWWLYM i TAVcO SPlTTl^6 66 g #wfuc"uJ u:o'A* j \*fiJC/ J rtt 1 l&e 6665; | i Fp.tetf MOMWS [1 5 KlPP(? Pcft* 11 >Hi p, pircmtio mAftu-iN ut<?S rf \/*?P6ri $ -y , nioowj? 'p* I j AAAfUW mtr'SO*' 1 .ytltV gAcK fo *.?. fOLf W?tH HOCflff ??4r 6 nlil lip niiawAfiiAil i ?uia ifv *** m it. keting and Media Relations T> :he issues o it has the potential to be. After all, the ultimate premise of the Republican party is simply less government. All of the anti-abortion and religious right dogma floating about is not intrinsic to the party. Do we, young people, have such opportunities in the Democratic party? Firmly entrenched in the leadership of the party are the baby boomers. And they show no evidence of moving over. These flower children and activists of the '60s have become the status quo setters of today. They are no longer interested in change, they are only interested in seeing how large thev can bloat the bureaucracy and milk the deficit. They are not doing our country any good. They don't want to balance the budget, as they'll practically tell you (this will be trouble in our future, not theirs). They care about the environment, but only until the big corporations cough up enough cash to smother these naturalistic instincts. And yeah, they are open-minded. Unless you're southern, or uneducated, or poor, or anything n their mode of to the article in USA Today, fuel efficiency could increase by 13 percent and accidents could be reduced by 50 to 80 percent. The system could divert traffic in the case of an accident. It will even indicate when you are approaching your exit. The advantages are a more efficient liao mf mir nlroci/tv rn7Prr?mu;rlo^ martwavia Commute times would be diminished and therefore less people would be killed by irate, and wacky, motorists. Money could be saved on mass transit as well as building more roads. So welcome to the world of George Jetson. No, we won't be flying in 2002, when the plan is expected to be implemented, but we will be moving to another level of transportation. Now even the futuristic-looking monorail will look like old news. But as with all new technology, the automated automobile won't be reality without a fight. Few like change, and not many will like the idea of giving up the power and freedom driving gives us. Yeah, we might MAtfSONt tPk w% ranmpn wnnlfl f our time other than a money-grubber. And the fact of the matter is the Democrats have done nothing to forward the causes of any minorities. African Americans in particular are still being financially oppressed by the blessing liberals ironically call welfare. We still don't have many women in Congress, and as for sexual harassment, well, let's just say that the Democrats haven't helped (although some of them may have contributed). No, I won't sit here and tell you that the Republicans have done something to change things. They are just as much to blame for these things. The difference is that in the Republican party, we have our opportunity to make things right and to turn the political system into what it should be. I can promise you that as long as there is any possibility of power available to the Democratic baby honmers. thev will nttemnt to stink around and control us. You want a voice? Stop screaming at the party with its ears covered. transportation get to work a little faster with a little less grief but we will still have the same lack of control. It will frustrate us beyond belief to have one of the most powerful tools we own at our fingertips but be unable tell it what to do. Our wings will be clipped and the fun of driving will be no more. We will pass others only when the computer decides it is time to do so. We will be just another byte of information for some remote sensor to process. We won't even be able to have the excitement of out-witting a cop in his speed-trap rrntv%n WT a o nn uint 11 n lr o a aP game, ? c aicjusi iiun.3 ui a niaiu ui cars, with our individuality lost in the monotony of a constant speed. Even the little things will be gone. In 20 years, our children will have no idea what Tut the pedal to the metal' means. A society that has defined itself by the car it drives and the way it drives them will be lost. But hey, that's progress.