The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 20, 1998, Page 2, Image 2

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Kurt Johnson is back with his latest installment which is sure to be interesting. Page 2 ?it(5a Serving the Carolina Com EDITORIAI Adam Snyder, i Amy Shannon, V Kurt Johnson, Assista rlntliifi good way Student Gov- ? ernment deserves a pat on the back. SG has n Now while the important thi folks in room 110 of . the Russell House IS ye faint, we beheve in giving credit where credit is due. With HiUijil collected more than positive. 1,800 articles. Nice job. SG Vice President Chris Dorsel said it is difficult to get the Senate together in the first three weeks of their term. And, as he said, it says a lot about the future of this Senate and SG as a whole. We most certainly hope so. This clothing drive says a lot about what student leaders can do if thev set their mind to it. Have a goal, organize your plan, and take it to the people. Everything SG does should follow such a pattern. If SG has bold goals, is committed to accomplishing those goals and keeps the students involved, the opportunities truly are endless. SG, remember this and carry it with you throughout the year. Then, hopefully, the days of a do-nothing SG are behind us. Although this is a positive success, there are crucial problems that need to be solved at Carolina. These tasks might be daunting, but it is up to our elected leaders to make progress for the students. Some things that need immediate'attention include: Improving the SG codes and the election codes to close all loopholes and not repeat the fiasco of Knowing: language i South Carolina r^HHrrrTTTI is becoming the favored destination The influx of of Hispanic mi- people into grants looking for Carolina k, a permanent place . to stay and work in ClijjlCUIth the U.S., according communic to a series of articles recently featured in The State. Being flue, As South Car- foreign lam .Una's.Hispanic population grows, J ^ small Hispanic towns are being formed near the cities of Aiken and Greenwood because of the availability of jobs in the meat packing industries locat ed there. Residents of Aiken and Greenwood are now coming into contact with a people who speak a different language and understand little English. Communication between them is difficult, because neither person can speak the other's native language. Hie?! " Sen inn tbe Carolina Conn The Gamecock is the student newspaper of The University c Friday dunng the fall and spring semesters and five times dunng th periods. Opinions expressed in The Gamecock are those oftheeditc The Board of Student Publications and Communications is the pui is the newspaper's parent organization. The Gamecock Adam Snyder Editor in Chief Rosalind Harve Amy Shannon Viewpoints Editor Sara Ladenheim Kurt Johnson A Can Pellatt News Editors Carrie McCulloi Jennifer Stanley Features Editor Kristin Freestai Achlm Hunt Nathan Brown Bryan Johnston Sports Editors Sea? Rayford Susan Meyers Photo Editor Tofi Q Hara Brian Rlsh Online Editor ?rfn Rawj Chris Dixon Copy Desk Chief Connie Karlckh Student Media Julie Baker Sherry F. Holm Susan Barrett Alicia Dickson Carolyn Griffin Judson Drennan Creative Services Jim Green Ellen Parsons Director of Student Media Mlchele Dames Lee Phlpps Advertising Manager Erik Collins s 1 necock munity since 1<X)8 , BOARD Editor in Chief 'iewpoints Editor nt Viewpoints Editor mm ig drive a to start this year. Most importantly, the role and tany the placement of the >nac tn Hn Elections Commis8 sion(er) need to be ar' well defined. Improving race relations. A university divided against itdrive is a self can't stand Ifwe continue to believe Start. summer will take away all race problems, then we will never move forward. This is something we all need to do. Improving student relations with SG. "Meet Your SG Day" was a nice start, but as we saw by this year's voter turnout, much more needs to be done such as finally centralizing voting in the Russell House and setting up online voting. Moving student allocations and the elections to different times. Having such potentially explosive events so close together is, as we have seen year after year, unhealthy for use: Improving SG's power. Scary thought, but SG complains it doesn't have any real power or authority. Power is not given; it is taken. SG always needs to be fighting for students and nagging the administration to make changes when necessary. Whether the changes are feasible or not, SG needs to be advocates for students, not like administrators waiting for problems i. _ II ___ ll J 1 J to go away or ior students to graauate and leave. Congratulations SG on your initial success. We will be looking for a lot more in the. fall. i second mportant rrr^?i] That's where the JHII importance of knowHispanic ing a foreign lani South guaSe>in this case Spanish, comes into causing pfay ss M Students, in high :ation. school and college, constantly complain LimHHI about taking a couple nt in a of foreign language ICIQ6 is classes to reach a basic Proficiency level in a second language. 1 Now the reasoning behind taking these classes becomes clear. Those students who go on to become fluent will have better job offers from employers seeking employees that are bilingual. That's not to say that the new i j i l i >j l n im er residents snouian i learn rmgiisn because they absolutely must if they plan to stay in the U.S. But in order for them to learn, someone who speaks their language needs to be there to teach them and help them adjust to life in U.S. rock KB nunity since I'JOM ) t South Carolina and is published Monday, Wednesday and e summer with the exception of university holidays and exam vs or author and not those of The University of South Carolina. Wisher of The Gamecock. The Department of Student Media All numbers area code 803 The Gamecock y Public Relations Coordinator Editor 777-3914 sst. Viewpoints Editor Viewpoints 777-7726 jgh Asst. News Editor to Asst. Features Editor News 777-7726 Asst. Sports Editor Asst. Photo Editor Etc. 777-3913 Asst. Online Editor Sports 777-7182 off Copy Editors Online 777-2833 m Classified Ad m.hi. Manager Student Madla Business Manager Advertising 777-1184 Creative Director Classifieds 777-1184 i Creative Services _ ,.7C.0, Graduate Asst. Fax 777-6482 Faculty Advisor office 777-3888 VewP' The Gamecocl mrs I M ^jj Scant d] The Christmas Catholics (who al- c so appear on Easter) paraded C down the aisle in their beach bunny best: spaghetti straps on o tight knit tops, skirts cropped just un- t " der chins of butt cheeks. Like large e chunky shoes com- ^ iki McCORMICK im.. ,W3S s spotted. s Columnist And this 1' was Easter, t: Imagine what ifs like on ordinary Sun- fi days. b So I sat there on Easter, contem- v plating dress codes. I thought, "I want t: to raise a specter of respect for the p House of the Lord. I'd like to institute e - a rule that all who come to worship r nV?r?ll tirnnt* txrUnf ?TA iicia^ />oll tf/?V?1llY?Vt aiinn wcai wiiau wc mcu \aj vau uiuxui y Job in ta bob EVATT I 1 ? f Guest Columnist ! r Ah, summer break is almost here! ^ The drudgery of exams and paper-writing will annoy us no * more. Soon, there'll be nothing but trips v to the beach, sunbathing and pure re- 8 laxation for maybe three of you. The * rest of us will have to get a job. (Blood-curdling shriek) 1 Oh, don't be such a weenie. Summer jobs really aren't that bad. You 8 get paid, right? c Plus, they offer valuable life ex- 8 perience. Namely, you get advance 8 knowledge of the fact that having to c work for a living can really suck. Al- 1 so, how else will you learn how long t Chicken McNuggets take to cook? I'm not sure how that knowledge will ever v help you, but hey, it helps to be prepared. s Don't get me wrong, not all jobs are j simply boring, irritating, tiring and 1 low-paying. If you want a job that's all r that dIus random and unreliable, eo to'a temp agency. There, your destiny 1 will be completely in their hands, as * r Europeans should not take full blame To the editor: I really admire Kurt Johnson's spirit and his appreciation of a civilization alien to his own, although a little too alien according to his column. I'm not saying Kurt has it all wrong. Many American Indian tribes had an incredible sense of community and respect for all living things. Collectively, however, Indians were not peace-loving, politically correct environmentalists. In many cases it was not what Kurt calls "the perfect way ( V OTMT< vyii i _L c k ress dis lothes," so as to show our respect to xod and one another. "Well wear our nicest clothes, have ur hair done, and the jewelry that is he physical proof of the prosperity we njoy as followers of Chri..." Oh, wait, that doesn't sound right, ioes it? Jesus doesn't want us to show off ur wealth. So why is it that, tradiionally, we have worn "nice" (read "extensive") clothing to church? Maybe he people in blue jeans have got it ight after all. Still, the casual clothes don't seem [uite kosher. Sometimes, they are ven distractingly revealing. Luckily, I've got a solution. In chools, uniforms are becoming popuar, because they keep kids from geting distracted from their studies by ishion concerns. Surely this should e an even greater concern in church, /hen we are trying to (in some sense) ranscend the physical world through rayer. How can we pray when our ye is caught by the glitter of diamond ings, (or in the case of the gentlemen /orshipers, the curves of some hussy's mpon fe hey stick you in exciting new places or upwards of three days. Don't wory, they'll have another assignment for rou in a few months. Of course, if you want to temp at a actory, you'll stay there longer. That's /hat a friend of mine told me while hp was wnrlrincr at a mmnutfir rhin actory last summer. Her job didn't ound all that bad, so I decided to give t a try. I went to the temp agency she used ind told them I wanted to work at the omputer chip factory. They asked me i bunch of computer chip questions, tnd I gave them a bunch of computerhip answers. I seemed to make a good mpression on them, and they told me hat they'd assign me within the week. Needless to say, they put me to vork in the tampon factory. No, I'm not making that up. Hey, omebody's got to make those things! 'nl proud to say that I was involved n the manufacture of that valuable esource. Okay, I'm exaggerating my job a ittle. You know those little coupons hat you find in the middle of packs of naxi-pads? TheGi | ] II] a elude at he/d for any if life." Some tribes were violently aggressive: raiding, pillaging, and murlering were not uncommon. The Apache and the Inca might fit this secind, less appealing description. The Cherokee were great environmentalsts with an incredible respect for naure, yet it was not uncommon for an ndian tribe to cause a local extinction, larming the biodiversity of their region. There is much we can learn from he Indians, but it is important to keep n mind, that no civilization is flawess. No one has discovered the perfect vay of life. Like Kurt, I have the Ten Indian Commandments poster in my dorm t "We ^ Ch, 2 I GUESS. <ftou WEAtt>TWE.V PIAMTONEUTQ5 HIM </7 I WEu-,n i. VV THt KE5P Vv I THING- T J N^}?Tf i-ji| a tracts v "So I sat ther contemplating dres 'I want to raise a spec House of t] upper thigh) and all that they stand for? I think cotton robes will work well in Mass. We can have a variety of (muted) colors, I don't mind, but no flashy prints. And we'll wear sandals. No more pinchy toes to make us curse when we are supposed to be praying. And while we're on the subject of simplifying our surroundings, Fm tired of feeling guilty going to church in palacial digs. I go to St. Peter's, which is very beautiful; stained glass, statuaiy, and gilded accessories. It's pretty, but I find myself wondering how many people could be fed from the proceeds of a world-class garage sale. I sometimes think I might prefer a nice humble mud hut. ictory nol "You know tho; that you find in tl of maxi-pads? Wei For eight h Well, I put them there. For eight hours a day. I believe I managed to reach new heights of boredom. You think your history professor is dull? Try standing in one place doing the same motion for hours and hours on end. I could feel my brain cells dying off one by one. I started daydreaming to save my sanity. Then my brain started producing tampon-related songs to stave off the boredom. Unfortunately, due to federal regulations I can't print it here, but my favorite one was sung to the tune of "The Candy Man" from Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Still, life in the "plug plant" (the workers' affectionate name for the imecock will try to print all letters received. Letters should be 250-300 wo. land written letters must be personally delivered by the author to The Garr ithor's telephone number. The Gamecock reserves the right to edit all lette circumstance. room. I love that poster, and I hope I xtri 11 litr/a m\7 lifa fVlQ \XTQ\T if C110TTO cfc Will liVU 111 J" HIV/ VilV W UJ XV UUggVOUO. Maybe it would be a good idea for Kurt to reexamine the third commandment: Show great respect for your fellow beings. His oversimplification of the American Indian removal seems a bit disrespectful to Europeans and Indians alike. I'm not sure anything can be gained by saying that "Europeans brought over their guns and religion and corrupted the perfect way of living." That seems very dualistic, and dualism never did anybody any good. Oppression is not original to Europeans. Every civilization that I know should jump at the chance ^ o help these children." arlotte Mullins, external hair of Dance Marathon Monday, April 20, 1998 ^ I J ^ is OMS-tBUE. DtJO. g f ?=??? i 1^ollege press EXCHANGE J| worship e on Easter, s codes. I thought, ^ ter of respect for the lie Lord.'" But we run into a difficult question here. Do beautiful man-made things a) facilitate our climb towards that from which all beauty springs, or b) do they tether us to the earth? I've been arguing the latter, but I'm willing to compromise. So here's what we should do. WeH continue churching in the buildings we've always used, and we'll wear the aforementioned cotton robes. The difference is this: A church building is constructed with the purpose of giving glory to God. An outfit, however, is put together to glorify the person who ^ is wearing it. And there is some thing about that that doesn't seem entirely ... well. Christian. t all bad ?e little coupons ^ le middle of packs I, I put them there, ours a day." place) wasn't too bad. Ninety-five percent of the workers there were, for some unknown reason, middle-aged women, and they all loved me. They kept baking me cookies and things. d Plus, I got to take home all the tampons I could use! I became VERY popular with my girlfriends that summer. All in all, it was a decent job. So you see, working in the summer isn't that bad. True, it eats into your bowling time, but how else are you going to pay for beer? Plus, you'll be performing a valuable service to society. Who are you going to rely on when someone needs to get things done? ? "The tampon maaaaan.... "The tampon man can." rds ana must include full name, professional title or year and major if lecock newsroom in Russell House room 333. E-mail letters must in* for style, possible libel or space limitations. Names will not be withof has done something horrendous to somebody. Kurt, rather than pointing your finger, you should "dedicate your efforts to the greater good" (Commandment eight). ^ Not to sound like a meany pants, I am really impressed with Kurt's "back-to-nature" attitude. Not many people would be willing to give up all the modern "amenities" for a life that is possibly "the way it is supposed to be." I hope more people will follow your most noble example, but next time kid, get your facts straight. Nell Varn Freshman v