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Fied Leach goes 'solo' this Friday as he writes about something. Page 4 Hit 6a Serving the Carolina Cm EDITORIA Adam Snyder, Amy Shannon, Kurt Johnson, Assist Student go plagued wi [Editor's note: hbtttt Adam Snyder, now Editor in A year late) Chief of The governmt Gamecock, wrote f f this last year at J t this time as a col- mgmrryrrr umn. We are rerunning it as the Vote, da lead editorial to- (jet offthi iSlStfM tosmt* applies. But the choices k point remains: * vote Thursday and let our student leaders know you care and want change.] TTvon tVirmorh timo anH frrmo aonin the suggestion has come up around the newsroom, we haven't done an article about apathy on campus. Maybe that's because we are apathetic ourselves. But what could you do with this fascinating story idea? Oh, there is so much. We could dive deep into this hard-hitting issue to find out what everybody already knows. People just don't care. In passing, maybe they do. As a whim, as something to whine about, they will wonder why nothing seems to get accomplished. But that slips away as thoughts of tests, papers and how to get this weekend's supply of beer quickly take its place. So come Thursday, less than 10 percent of our student body will take the time to vote. They will go in and out of the Russell House, not bothering to take a step towards the polls. The Election Commission has made this election season run smoothly and efficiently. Polls will be at the Russell House or your respective school or college. You'll be more than likely to be there anyway, or at least can get there all day long. But you don't care. Not on Election Day at least. I heard someone say the other day that there is no point in voting because either Greeks or African Americans (and lately a combination of the two) dominate the campaign. So, in either case, close to 80 percent of the student body doesn't feel represented in the executive or legislative side of Student Government. Whose fault is that? Albeit, both factions have had increasing political prominence in student elections recently. But their Hil Hie(5ai Serving the Carolina Con, 7he Gamecock Is the student newspaper of The University Friday during the fall and sprig semesters end We times durtg t periods Options expressed ri The Gamecock ore those of the edr The Board of Student Publications and Communications is the p is the newspaper's parent organization. The Gamecock Adam Snyder Editor in Chief Rosalind Harti Amy Shannon Viewpoints Editor s i wnfirfm Kuft Jchn,ott ' Can Podatt News Editors Carrie McCulk Jennifer Stanley Features Editor Kristin Freest! Achkn Hunt Nathan Brown . INyan Johnston Sports Editors 5ean Hayfofd Susan Meyers Photo Editor Torj Q Hsra Brian Risk Online Editor frf<) Chris Dixon Copy Desk Chief Connie Karicki Student Media Julie Baker Sherry F. Htrin Susan Barrett AMda Dickson Carolyn GrifRn Judson Dtennan Creative Services _ _ Jim Green Ellen Parsons Director of Student Media Mlchde Dame Lee Ptrippa Advertising Manager ^ Co#Jnl ] mecock mmunity since 1908 L BOARD Editor in Chief Viewpoints Editor ant Viewpoints Editor vernment Ith apathy nrBHl strength lies in the fact that they r, student can get their conmt still stituents to vote. "tin, Other "indepens' dent" candidates pn have very little or iLLUHHi no constituency. All mn it. they have is every ise lazy nine out of 10 stussss 7i own. one eise represents them throughout the university. But you do care when your tuition is being increased. You do care when your club or organization gets short ended by the Finance Committee. You care when you are tired of the food Marriott is serving. You care when you miss two classes because you are looking for a parking spot. You still don't care on Election Day. You don't care at 5 p.m. Wednesdays to sit in on a senate meeting in the Russell House Theater. You don't care to call your representative to find out what he or she can do for you. And guess what? They don't care either, and they know it. I have never seen a group more deserving of the do-noth ing nickname. Absences were outrageous this session. Legislation has been nil. The call for old business brings a chuckle, and the call for new business has them rolling in the aisles. This time the fault is shared, though. Student apathy bleeds into the senate where they are unmotivated to do anything for the small portion of people who even know they exist. Some representatives are in it for resume packing while others just like the ring of an official title. What can be done? First, you can vote to show the powers that be that you are out there and you want to have a say in how your university operates. Secondly, you can follow up your vote with pressure. Ask why it has taken over a semester to decide what to DO with the Assembly Street tunnel art design much less pick up a brush and paint it. Other universities' student governments actually accomplish something. Care enough to get our representatives doing their jobs. mecock R3S9 i munity since 1908 I ot South Carolina and is published Monday, We&iesday and tie simmer with tie exception of irMersity holidays and exam tors or author and net those of The University of South Carolina ublisher of The Gamecock. The Department of Student Media All numbers area code 803 The Gamecock ty Public Relations Coordinator Editor 777-3914 \sst\Aawpoints Editor , .... Viewpoints 777-7726 nigh Assl News Editor ito Asst Features Editor News 777-7726 Asst. Sports Editor Assl. Photo Editor Etc. 777-3913 Asst. Chfcne Editor Sports 777-7182 i) off Copy Editors Online 777-2833 MO Classified Ad^ Student Media Business Manager Advertising 777-1184 Creative Director Classifieds 777-1184 a Creative Services , Graduate Asst. Fax 777-6482 Faculty Advisor Qffce 777-3888 VlEWP The Game* [WKNYC >^P? > E? C i^AN f \S m Olympi Ah yes, that special something is ir* +V>o oil* fViaf mmoc ouoru fmir 111 vllv UU IHUl WiliVO VTV1J 1VU1 * * years, thrilling the world and allowing the dreams of many to come true. No, I'm not talking about that bit of napalm hanging in the air with another r, J possibility jggM: of an attack I which are rv i til a icar kurt JOHNSON name to Asst. viewpoints ed. pronounce You know that's an official rule: Article 3, Paragraph 5, Sentence 1 of the How to Determine Where to Hold the Olympics Handbook states, "When held in a nonAmerican city, the corresponding city, in accordance with the following rule, under which is in accordance with the current sentence, shall be as difficult to pronounce as it is for Bill Clinton to keep his pants up." Good old Remember when all the stores were closed on Sundays? Not just the malls, but grocery stores and gas stations locked up on Saturdays, not to reopen until Monday morning. Can't you remember needing pantyhose for church and never finding i 1 anvwhprp felicia BROWN ?n Sun~ L days and Columnist close early. Ain't nothin' like livin' in the Dirty South. Red dirt and tobacco growing coincide with city streets and corrupt politicians. We are a multi-faceted society. But in a world that encounters technology and social successes daily, we are considered slow, backwards, ignorant and stubborn. I believe it was in my fourth grade social studies class that I was introllii^d ;1 [il4 \ IzMz Planned Parenthood crucial part of women's choice To the editor, I'm responding to the Jan. 26 letter "Pro-lifers give choice of life to unborn baby." In the letter, Ms. Hiland said that an editorial painted "an incorrect and absolutely absurd picture of the pro-life movement." In attempting to counter this apparent injustice, she resorts to blatant untruths based on illogical reasoning, fear and anti-choice propaganda. OINT5 :ock * uyrviivii; n | NRSeSB&WSS cs all al Anyway, it's somewhere in that great country of Japan, which has brought you great products such as glow-in-the-dark condoms and microwavable moth balls. But really, the Olympics are a real special time. It's a time when the world comes together to watch their best athletes compete for bragging rights. It's also a time when us guys can use such words as "luge" and "moguls" in our pick-up lines. Examples: "Hey baby, why don't we go back to my place and practice for that twoman luge competition" or "You wouldn't mind if I nracticed mv mooul ski ing on your slopes, now would ya?" Or something to that effect. And speaking of pick-up lines, you KNOW there has got to be some hooking-up at the Olympics. I ain't lying, I am not lying. Think about it man, you've got a bunch of foreigners living in a village and then two weeks later, they all return to their respective parts of the world. Surely, the athletes go out at night to celebrate a medal or whatever and the next thing you know the Swedish bobsled team is waking up next to France's women downhill skiers and the German Hockey team is scoring with Canada's women snowi South ji duced to South Carolina Blue Laws. We were doing vocabulary definitions. Webster's defined a blue law as "1: one of numerous rigorous laws designed to regulate morals and conduct in colonial New England 2: a statute regulating work, commerce, and amusements on Sundays." All my life I have heard that Sunday is the day of rest. Not only should you not work on Sundays, but you should keep the day Holy. I guess that meant that you shouldn't do anything sinful on Sunday, but the rest of the week was open to suggestions. This was normal and right to me because everyone said that this is the way things were. The other day I was working when a revelation came to me. Isn't it funny that the people who say they are looking out for my best interest, who say they are trying to protect me from the sins I could encounter, never once asked me for my opinion. If s the old people that think they know better. Elder generations established these restrictions and we continually accept them. The Bible Belt was buckled by people living in another time. They had no way of knowing that by trying to "protect" us from the immorals of secular behavior they would actually shelter us in a glass bubble waitGame I 11 I I ll ' 3 s,udent Han dude the autho | held for any arc Many of the arguments she uses to make her case are irrelevant, hard to follow and barely worth any serious response. However, I feel compelled to counter her statements regarding Planned Parenthood. The worst among Ms. Hiland's claims is that "Planned Parenthood depicts a fetus as an indiscriminant glob of tissue in an attempt to convince women in crisis to have an abortion." I would like to know if Ms. Hiland has ever had any experience with Planned Parenthood at all. I feel safe in saying that the majority of us who have received health care services of any kind there would argue that she clearly has not. I "Some pec this probl ^ chairman Wet PTOEftfiftg pSH m UGLY CIRCU5 HAJTOt tf $ WW asm W?1* ll I GC bout 'sc "...the Olympics are a r time when the world watch their athletes c< rights. It's also a time \ such words as 'luge our pick-u boarders! It has hook-up written all over it. You know, all those figure skaters are pretty hot, and not to mention (I'm really not joking here) the Russian's Women's Hockey team. Yes, the Olympics are more than all that, however. It's about these people's dreams to be the best (and then losing their medal for tokin' weed and then getting it back again), it's about new countries trying to break through as Winter Olympic super-powers (such as Kenya's one-man Olympic team finishing 28th out of 28 in the biathlon) and introducing new sports to the worldwide forum (who cannot get riled up and excited over that great slide and brush game of Curling?). The Olympics are also a time when we get to see a different part of the world each night on our television and list not c "You can't buy beer fro on Sunday, interraci: illegal and the gove periodically vote on v should have the ing to tempt fate and have our way with the world. We don t know better because we don't know any other way. We were brought up with these foundations. What else are we supposed to do? If s no wonder that South Carolina is the state that fights over subjects like video poker, flying the Confederate flag over the State House, strip joints in certain zones, giving condoms out to teenagers and sex education classes in public schools. You can't buy beer from a convenience store on Sundays, interracial marriages are still illegal and the government still has to periodically vote on whether or not blacks should have the right to vote. I even read somewhere that participating in oral sex in South Carolina is illegal. cock will try to print all letters received. Utters should be 250-300 won 1 written letters must be personally delivered by the author to The Gamt r'j telephone number. The Gamecock reserves the right to edit all letter vmstance must add that Planned Parenthood's scope of services include annual gynecological exams, cancer screenings, self-breast examination training and birth control education and provision, the best way to prevent the need for abortions in the first place. Planned Parenthood is not only bound by law, but also compelled by its own ethics and standards to provide complete information to all patients. Women seeking abortion services receive frank explanations of the procedure. They are presented with the options of both parenthood and adoption, and resources to help with either are )ple think that if we ignore em, then it will go away." Mike Moore, of student services committee Jnesday, February 18, 1998 i - <$mtml) i allege press EXCHANGE oring' eal special time. It's a I comes together to )mpete for bragging vhen us guys can use and 'moguls' in p lines." make fun of it for being so different. Like the Japanese have a soft drink named (I'm not making this up) "Sweat." Of course it means something different in Japanese, but still, I'm sure xl. . T? 1*1 1 * 1 i.1 me JMignsn-speaiung peupie over mere are having a hard time holding their lunches down. Yes, it may have seemed I ragged V on the Olympics, but really, I love them. 9 It's great to see all these neato sports that I in no way could ever get in. Also, it's fun to just sit there, get into the event, and cheer for the United States (even though the only people who can hear me are my disgruntled next-door neighbors). I guess, when you think about it, what the Olympics boil down to is trying to score...ah, that is, make the score. Q uttin' it m a convenience store al marriages are still :rnment still has to ^ whether or not blacks : right to vote." Ass-backwards, that is what I think. Isn't it nhennmenal that other states are trying to solve issues like poverty and drug abuse and we are fighting over whether or not there should be a poker machine in the local Amoco station? If I am not mature enough to ^ control myself and my personal habits, w then I am the one who will have to suffer the consequences. It is not up to the government to protect me from myself. Don't we want a public of responsible adults that know how to conduct themselves and want to be accountable for their mistakes? Look at our alternative model. I cannot think of one person in my generation who is thankful for the protection the law is trying to give us. Isn't it time to abol- ^ ish some of the foolishness engraved in our foundations? Shouldn't we update the books? Is and must include lull name, professional t>0e or year and major if seock newsroom in Russell House room 33a Email letters must inlor style, possible libel or space limitations. Names will not be wrtfion hand. They are each counseled, not coerced, about their choice. Planned Parenthood supports women who make the very difficult and personal decision to terminate a pregnancy. But it's both incorrect and insensitive to promote the myth that the very complex issue of abortion is taken lightly by either service providers or by those of us who are pro-choice. Kirsten Havig ^ Graduate student, Social Work