The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 22, 1997, Page 3, Image 3
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Serving I
Editoi
Chris Dixon
Adam Snyder
Nikki LaRocque
rii _ i_ _ . o n t i
Diepname oonnenieia, i
Silver lini
AIDS clou
The silver lining jjH^irs
of the cloud just got ^HUJI
a little brighter. \
According to ah
article in Sunday's
edition of The State,
the number of newly IUrUm
diagnosed cases of P
AIDS dropped for Kesec
the first time in 16 TTlOTiey
years in 19%. solutefo i
And ifs not as if y
the rate dropped
only in the big,
educated cities or
just with one race or
gender. New AIDS cases dropped
i r i r l ?j l 1
io percent ior wnne gay or Disexuai
meii, 8 percent for Latinos and 3
percent for African Americans.
Sexual orientation aside, the
decline for whites was 13 percent,
and the rate for all Hispanics fell 5
percent, while there was no increase
for African Americans.
Even regionally, newly diagnosed
AIDS cases dropped from 12 percent
in the West to a low 1 percent in the
South.
S.C. boast;
gun reject
It's sad but HK7TI3
true?South Carolina
gets Qun
slammed a lot.
From its pol
itics to its protocol, BT|TTr
South Carolina
hasn't always got- S.C. hi
ten the best repu- som
tation. First, ~ .
there's the confed- fectlVB (Z,
erate flag issue, avei
and then, there's
politicians like
Strom Thurmond
Our education system is a joke,
under par and underfunded compared
to the rest of the nation and
our illiteracy rate is high. The Ku
Klux Klan store in Laurens also
certainly didn't help boost our image.
Sometimes, it seems South
Carolina just can't win. But, then
South Carolina citizens ? and the
rest of the country ? get a shock,
like the one The State dished out
yesterday in the Sunday edition.
South Carolina is in the top of the
nation for a very good cause. The
state ranks fourth in rejecting gun
applications.
According to the story, South
Carolina's "rejection rate of handgun
sales is almost 60 percent
higher than the national average,
Student Media Russell Hou?
Chris Dixon Susan 1
Editor in Chief photo j
Adam Snyder Donnie
Managing Editor Grnphia
Nikki LaRocque Stephanie S
Viewpoints Editor Asst. Viewpc
Rosalind Harvey Kristen Ri
News Editor Cara F
.... Asst. New
Sara Ladenheim
News Editor, Design Tori O
Asst. Phot
Marcus Amaker
Amy Shannon Brian
Features Editors On-line
Ac him Hunt Julie I
Bryan Johnston Chris
Sports Editors Casey I
Ben Pillow Jessan
Copy Desk Chief Creatlve '
The Gamecock is the student cock are those of the
newspaper of The University of South and not those of T
Carolina and is published Monday. South Carolina.
' Wednesday and Friday during the tall
and spring semesters and five times '"? p08 ot.
during the summer with the excep- tions and Communn
tion of university holidays and exam lisher of The Game
l* *'8- The Departme
Opinions expressed in The Game- dia is its parent org
MTTim'HimiiMB.
The Gamecock will try to print The Gamecock new
all letters received. Letters should be House room 333.
200-250 words and must include full The Gamecock
name, professional title or year and to edit all letter for
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personally delivered by the author to not be withheld for i
amccock I
fSC Since 1908
rial Board
, Editor in Chief
, Managing Editor
5, Viewpoints Editor
\ssistant Viewpoints Editor
ing in
id found
The doctors, nurses
and caregivers of
jt\ or AIDS patients, along
with researchers and
scientists, should
______ take the time to
smile and breathe.
h nnrt Finally, aftar 16
irin ana years of increase,
Still ab- there has been a
necessary decline, a break in
this terrible trend.
But don't take
too long with self
congratulations.lt is
time to role back the
sleeves, dish out more money and
push the rates of new AIDS cases
even further down. As students at
a Southern university, we need to
be especially carefiil, considering our
regional percentage dropped only 1
percent.
Children are the future of this
country, but we, the so-called
Generation X, are the present. The
immediate future of the U.S. cannot
be stunted by the AIDS epidemic.
We must find a cure.
> high
ion rate
7TQT3HH according to a
justice Departcontrol
ment study." Because
of the 1994
Brady Act, 21
HJHTT7TTW| states require P
AmhI background [
as finally Aecksbefowa
{ . r gun is bought,
\emingef- and out of those
Tld Clbove states, South Carboy,
olina has the
fourth highest rejection
rate.
The report also
said that 68 percent of the rejected
sales were because many of
the potential buyers were convicted
of a crime or were indicted or had
been charged with a felony. Others
had restraining orders or men
tal disabilities. It's really scary to
think that in the past, before the
Brady Act, anyone could have purchased
a gun, and happily gone
on their way. In particular, consider
people with restraining orders
against them purchasing a
gun. A bullet doesn't have to stay
200 yards away from it's intended
victim. 2,467 people were rejected
from buying guns. Of the
53,153 people who did, we can only
hope they are responsible citizens
who passed the application
process with flying colors.
i
1
9 USC Columbia, SC 29208
Meyers Ellen Parsons
Editor Interim Director
Baker of Student Media
> Editor Lee Phipps
3onnenfeld Advertising Manager
wits Editor Sherry F. Holmes
chard son Classified Ad Manager
'ellatt Carolyn Griffin
s Editors Business Manager
'Kara jim Green
o Editor Creative Director
Msh Michelle Dames
Editor Creative Services
jaker Graduate Assistant
Culp Erik Coffins
)ecker Faculty Advisor
Hager
Services ||[ilVM7iTl^!TmT?|
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VIEWP
fi
7"?~t
"It wasn
and
Troy Hambrick, 1
USC shou
Columnist
Road trips can offer a lot more
than parties and great football games.
While visiting Georgia last weekend
didn't offer me much in the line of great
football or even parties, coming on Saturday
and all, it did offer me the chance
to compare our school to others in
the region.
For the most part, they are very
similar. The people act primarily the
same. They are just as nice. Even the
dorms are about the same. Aside from
being in different states, Georgia and
USC remind me a lot of each other.
Yet, with a closer look I couldn't
help but notice one major difference
?the landscaping. (That tells you how
interesting the game was.) At Georgia,
it seems almost like having a
healthy living environment is a priority.
And, unlike USC, it is not focused
in one area, like the Horseshoe, but
rather, is widespread throughout the
campus.
Country mi
Columnist | i
It has become evident to me late- (
ly that my taste in music is not exactly
up to date with the majority of college
students. '
Whenever I drive around my ]
home town of Irmo or down in Columbia
with the windows rolled down, '
I get strange, disgusted looks (or laugh- (
ter) from all of the hip people that in- I
habit these parts. It seems that al- I
most no one around here appreciates <
country music.
I really don't understand this. It ]
was only a couple of years ago that i
country music was the cool thing to <
listen to. With the rise of Garth Brooks, (
all the teeny-boppers were driving ^
around in their dad's cars listening to
Kicks 96 and WCOS, and now all of ^
a sudden, it's Dave Matthews and Ala- .
nis Morrissette. What's the deal with
Dave Matthews, incidentally? Who 1
told that man he could sing? It was
probably the same guy who told Pamela t
Lee that she could act. 1
PINTS
f[
\
y WI' '
J w
1't because of anything we saw <
after the embarrassment of last
[JSC sophomore running back,
Id follow
No one can argue that well-man
icured grounds look better than weed
laden flower beds and a world of con
crete. But, what may be less eviden
is umv suuii a green eiivirunmen
comes from school pride and spirit
If you have ever walked througl
the Horseshoe you know what Fm talk
ing about. It's that Spring Fever/nat
ural high that makes you proud yoi
chose South Carolina instead of Har
vard. (Ha.)
So, if a "green" campus is such i
good thing, then why do we lack one'
After all, not everyone can live or
the Horseshoe. USC's dedication t<
meeting SEC standards for facilities
and campus life has the university
building at every corner. This has al
come at the expense of the quality o
care needed for our campus's grounds
At Carolina, weeds run rampani
in the new beds around the Bull Streel
Garage. Decades old oaks die on the
Horseshoe as if poisoned by the uni
versity landscapers themselves. (Hey
I would consider it after one day 01
isic good j
There are several reasons why ]
think people don't like country, but ]
will address the main one. It all has
to do with image.
When people think of country music,
the first thing they think of is a
redneck farmer leaning on his John
Deere, chewing on a piece of hay, listening
to some guy sing about his dog
sr beer or ex-wife. This is simply not
the case, but most people think lis;ening
to country automatically makes
;hem a redneck.
I'm not a redneck. Far from it, but
[ enjoy country music because it's more
;rue to life than any other form of music
I've heard. Country music is anathjma
to those who desperately wish
;o blend in with the crowd and not appear
to be a hick. Tm not trying to concert
everyone to country music. Lis;en
to whatever it is you like. But, too
nany people put country music down.
The music is easy to listen to and
he lyrics talk about real life situations
setter than any other form. The real
ife situations I refer to are love and
ove lost, brotherhood, family and hav
)
mm mrectow|
Backpack Thteves
level 2
internet Porft 6*<sks
LEVEL 3 j
8utf>s v Flashers I
LEVEL 4 I
?
?
?n film. It was because we're an SEC t
week, we took it as a matter of pride.
on the slamming victory over East Car
7 UGA land
t "USC's dedication to mee
t facilities and campus life 1
ing at every corner. Thi
1 expense of the quality o
campus's g:
i
blowing those leaves anywhere but in- e:
? to the pile I was trying to make.) oi
Here, it seems that the concern is ^
j on growth, at the price of the land- n
? scaping, whether new or old. The board w
that deals with these issues has demon|
strated it has no concept of what a well- ti
cared for campus looks like. When they ti
landscape a part of campus like the T
area between the Russell House and F
l i_i_ _ n.n oi x i *
i me jDuii oireei uarage one aay, ana ^
t the next allow a swarm of weeds to
; take it over, they are defeating the pur- ti
. pose of doing it at all. n
, I know the university enjoys wast- pi
f ing money, but can't they find a less tl
stuff, not for
[
( '
"All of a sudden, an Alanis
on in which she sang abc
sexual acts in a movie th<
hear Shania Twain or Min
such things? Of
ing a good time. If that's redneck, then th
I guess we're all rednecks. ni
I was in Myrtle Beach the other a*
day with my Grandparents at an out,
door picnic. The music was being sup- co
plied by the Shark, a rock station. All as
of a sudden, an Alanis Morrissette song D<
came on in which she sang (if you call D
it singing) about committing certain jo
sexual acts in a movie theater, rather in
graphically I might add. I was em- a*
barrassed for my Grandparents to hear
such trash. Fortunately, I don't W
think they were paying attention. Can 11
you remember when you were a kid CI
watching a movie with your parents wi
and a love scene would come on? Re- m
member how embarrassed you felt? tr
Well, that was how I felt when I heard in
p
V\ fZi\
j "Ss f\
I R
'pill
J J M
ill
?Wi TM? <?Am?cociXearn,
olina Saturday
Iscaping
ting SEC standards for
las the university builds
has all come at the
f care needed for our
rounds."
icpensive way to do it? Waste money
a making food cheaper at the Russell
[ouse or lowering parking fees, but
ot on landscaping intended to be a
eed garden.
Better yet, use the money to aclally
take care of what is planted. Ferlize
the darn things, weed the beds,
hey need to reconsider their approach,
or all the new buildings, parking lots,
ad walkways, only landscaping comined
with proper maintenance will
e this university together and
take it into the campus we can be
roud of. Georgia has accomplished
lis task and so can we.
rednecks
Morrissette song came
?ut committing certain
^ater...Would you ever
dy Mcready sing about
course not."
tat song. Would you ever hear Shaia
Twain or Mindy Mcready sing
>out such things? Of course not.
I will admit there have been some
untry songs that are a bit silly, such
i" I'm Going Through the Big T)' and
on't Mean Dallas," and "If Bubba Can
ance, I Can,Too." But the vast marity
of country songs tell a meangful
story, and most of the singers
e articulate enough to be understood.
My favorite country singer is Clay
alker. His songs are great, but what
ike most about Clay is his humility,
ay, who has muscular dystrophy, allys
takes time for the fans. The huihty
Walker shows is typical of couny
artists, and that is rare in rock or
any other form of entertainment.