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Z? I Page 4 Power, use! will GREEN a r.i uuvsi ^uiumnisi P re-script: To all the members of student government who are going to complain to me about this: Just sink back into your ignorance, and pretend Fm talking about someone else. Fm taking valuable time to emerge from my self-induced apathy in order to speak directly to the members of student government. Fve been reading about your little escapades and power games that you're having among yourselves. Now, I don't really give a damn about any of you. But just to piss you off (a hobby of mine), Td like to point out some things that you ! paragons of self-awareness don't seem to have noticed. One. vou don't have anv sort of Dower that matters. Sure, you have neat little titles like Attorney General and President and all that happy crappy, but face the facts: If the trustees or anyone with real power really hates what you're doing, they'll just change it. And what Merjcam soma I vtf WGEfcL j uI i ! 1 JH . ^IBS WL ' . . <v^fl k; Ijjj 1 ?ulness of ? changes that you might make are extremely piddling. What sort M_ of self-respecting student group prides itself most greatly upon , ' giving us Chick-Fil-A (tasty veic though it may be)? This is stu- v dent activism in motion? Morons. ' Two, as far as I can tell, the student body doesn't really trust you. Why should we? Any one who actually campaigns for power probably shouldn't be trusted. And if by some miracle someone who gets elected isn't a power-grubber, odds are they're dumb enough to think that student government is actually enough to make a difference. The sort of brilliance we have come to expect from student government and organizations is perfectly exemplified by the loss by CP of $40,000. Let me repeat that. Never mind. You read it right the first time. That's real money these twits are spending. Our money. My money. If SG has that much money to just fling upon the flames of stupidity, how about throwing us a campus-wide ? ISRAELI SCMO I ^ MY GAS MASK... ^-rr college pre: ^ rs I BoP^'*,^?^'""/'. c.-V <l?* ? "^ ^'^Jl.' 3 ^MSK I ' ' ' '' dliSl KS? J: ' n-. v-i-llHII Wi PP jS^'-. .'^xyaBK .. ?&* :i<m HHH6'" *" " Bifc-''" "ffij '^SwiiySMB3i*"^Myi'^B IBsf JM ^ T I j^flflfP^-;. 1 Ifrfolfc | jgk\. 1 '/p' mm jmm m ip^ j m IP it ^ HI ' -m m IwCk fcinBr m m 1 jjp j^K. -? - ^ '' W^k ~m, Hft M' Viewpoints The Gamecock 5G questioned; i ele rhree, this isn't a real government. ^ ?? Election committee? Impeachment? a can't be serious. Did your mothers op you on your heads as children?" stu party? Everyone invited, everyone drinks. one gUy just by $20,000 for beer and liquor, $20,000 to bribe Thanks. They we away the police. It could work. And the secon Three, this isn't a real government. Veto? cja^ volunteer w Election committee? Impeachment? You can't er denigrate that be serious. Did your mothers drop you on your never suggest a heads as children? Or did they just feed you Work that USC vi paint chips? Mock trial is one thing. They at g0 here's my i< least get big shiny awards. But you guys are any non-voluntet just being stupid. Maybe there are some simi- organization. Tha larities to real world governments that are con- media and the vo fusing you. Corruption. Incompetence. You get using the excess r the idea. I would like to see the documents re- anyone who wish porting how much each candidate spent on the OlCHltb 1 Dorm lift theresa MARTIN 1 Guest Columnist It took me forever to fall asleep last night. I stared around my dorm room for what seemed like hours. My eyes wandered from my posters, to my pictures, then to my desk, back to my posters and so on. I could hear continuous pattering of footsteps, opening and slamming of doors and constant giggles that echoed throughout the halls. Occasionally my ears would focus on the elevator. The rumble of it, going up and down South Tower, remains steady day in and day out. These sounds have become my companions, my shelter and . even more, my home. \ I'm used to the lifestyle here. I've . \ become accustomed to turning off the TV when the microwave or phone are OT V in use for fear of blowing a fuse. Waiting for an elevator to go to and from my 5Sr^ '.1 rnnm has hernmp a nart. nf mv Hailv scheduling. I'm used to wearing shower shoes when I bathe and I couldn't imagine not having them. These simple annoyances, silly and routine, make life imperfect. You find ?? EXCHANGE yQurself shnply moving out of the way fmr!: *?? Bp- ~ PRT|1 ? mm ^wmuAww ^wwcijil solution { ctions. Perhaps the basic rule of the stu it whoever spends the most maining ney wins will hold up, just like er school the real world. and incre But perhaps I am being too g0 native, too cynical. I'm going to tiong?Pri k on the sunny side of student . , . rernment. I see two positives. ? First, I really enjoy the free ff I score each year on election As I v r. I took two dozen donuts off What abo promising to vote for him. the voice re tasty. Sucker. the poor s id positive is serious. I appre- are gone? ork in any form. I would nev- to speak v ; which is done. And I would wjth lett i plan that would hurt the ^g s^.u(j slunteers do. i j . jpt iea. Cut all school funding for ,, ... 6. wewanti :r organization or non-major , t would leave us with student or 1 ' limteer organizations. Then, men^ hie ooney, offer to pay all dues for resi es to join (and work for) any ernment'i , Impeach 3 feels lik vhen you are in the shower and some- i )ne flushes the toilet because you know t fouH get burned. The elevator soon be- c :omes a shared bond that only the top loor girls can relate to. a When coming home and listening a ? stories about boys, good pasta, and J10210 is simply enough, you feel lucky t md maybe even blessed. Because you ind yourself defending South Tower 1 ifter you've been complaining about it, c md because you know that with all its s laws there are hidden charms. t We all know well miss it. Well miss r ;he appliances that constantly break c md well actually miss the community aathroom that keeps us so very close, e Fhese are the memories well have; some a jood and funny, others sad and disap- r pointing. The interesting people that \ ve've come to know by mere accident r vill scatter, and we'll find ourselves pulling images of them into our a ninds and remembering. I As I laid there, as all these thoughts i "an through my head, I vowed to try a md let some of the simple things touch ne, not just in passing. I vowed to let v ny schedule become messy and to rip I lp my "to do" list from time to time, f When things go unfinished, 111 accept c Monday, March 30,1998 )roposed dent volunteer organizations. The remoney could be used for various othneeds, like extending library hours lasing security. lere does that leave other organizavately funded. Sell candy like you did :hool. Sell blood. Do a bikini car wash, t ask me for anything, vrite, I can hear the uproar arising, ut the voice of the people? What about of the students? Who will speak for tudents once our beloved mouthpieces Well, brace yourself. We're gonna have ip for ourselves. We can flood the school ers and e-mail. We can go back to ent activism. What happened to good it agitation? If there is something that >adly enough, we can organize and ask t we don't need the student governrarchy to do it for us. Let them pad ames some other way. Student gov3 last act should be dismantling itself, 'em all. e home t and move on. At least I know that his imperfect lifestyle is mine, and I'm :ontent. Ill try to be grateful for the gossip ind wicked laughs that lull me to sleep it night and wake me in the mornings. Inrl T'U friz for tVio lifo of mo to malrP JlXXV* A tJ. VI J l\/i WiV iiiV W* iliv W muuv hese feelings last. I know that IH soon settle down. I enow I can't stay peeled back in wonler forever. Fm not deep enough to see lymbolism behind every corner. I know hat soon enough I'll go back to wor ying about my hair and what's going in Friday night. But last night as I laid there, my syes wandered around this small room, ind the sounds of South Tower brought ne comfort. I felt happy just where I vas, in my ordinary life with my ordilary problems. Maybe the things we take in vain ire actually preparing us in small ways, daybe Fve gained experiences in this nfamous dorm that I wouldn't have mywhere else. And maybe, as I drifted to sleep, I vas happy. Anyway, who knows. I do mow that last night I rested peaceully, in my own life, that feels so orlinary but for now is enough.