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We'll have a column from i Oiientin if wp mn finH himl Call us if you know where he is 777-7726. Wednesday, June 10,1998 I Serving the Carolina C EDITORL Rosalind Harve Kiki McCormick Marcus Amake There are reasons ri urn you vote in i-mmm yesterday's pri- HHU4 maries? If not, are There are you planning to vote people use on November 3? We ^ hope you are nodding HHHhb "yes" to one or both of these questions. tWe know it's hard, especially for those whose precincts are miles Q\i7Q\7 Ruf rlnn'f fnrrrof fRof irmi nor? Uftujt i^uv UUll b 1UI gut bilUb JUU tCUi vote with an absentee ballot. Make sure to plan ahead if you choose that option, though. Richland County's Voter Registration recommends that you request a ballot by October 1st in order to get your vote in on time; call your county's office early this fall to ensure that youll have your ballot when you need it. Of course, there are obstacles other than distance that keep college students from voting. Some are simply apathetic. Others think their vote doesn't really count, a notion we reject as rather silly fatalism. Some races are closer than you think; your vote could truly help your candidate to be elected. When a candidate you helped elect makes policies that you believe in, you will be glad you made yourself heard. And if that same candidate does something with which do not approve, you have a legitimate reason to call in and complain. There is yet another reason that people don't vote, a reason that is difficult to address, because it 1 V d jmecocR (immunity since 1908 VL BOARD y, Editor in Chief , Viewpoints Editor r, Features Editor : few good lot to vote While this problem has innumerable many excuses causes, we think for not voting. part of the issue starts with the fact QQUfillHi that we are bomcan help make barded with adver!P pncier tisements for candi% ' dates. That isn't a problem until you consider the fact that many of those ads don't include information about the candidates, unless you call party association and possibly a slogan information. Our roadsides are littered with yr*/-} iirVtif-n on/^ Klnn oirmo fkof iuu, vvuxif^ uxiu uxut oxgxxo uxat encourage us to vote for a candidate without offering us any good reason. The candidates hope that we, the voters, will recognize their names on the ballots and therefore vote them into office. Isn't it scary people might vote based on name recognition alone? We fear that this tactic might work; candidates obviously believe it does or they wouldn't invest in the signs. Ideally, each citizen would come to the voting booth armed with pertinent information about the candidates, so he or she can make ??a liiiuiiiicu uctiaiuiis. tic nave tu take the initiative to learn about them on our own, but our research needs to be facilitated by the candidates themselves. Candidates should use the money they pour into tacky roadside signs on more meaningful tools. They could invest in literature that explains their positions in detail. Then, voting will be based on something more than name recognition. uccurs iui so many ainerent reasons. It can be characterized as a general disgust with the system. m the? Setting the Carolina Cot The Gamecock is the student newspaper of The Umvers Friday dunng the fall and spnr% semesters and five times dunng periods. Opinions expressed in The Gamecock are those of thee The Board of Student Publications and Communications is the is the newspaper s parent organization. The Gamecock Rosalind Harvey Editor in Chief Bryan Johnsi Klkl McCormlck Viewpoints Editor Amy McCorr Jennifer Stanley News Editor Rebecca VWi Marcus Amaker Features Editors Sarah Garlba Susan Meyer, Jeer*, Stanle, Student Media Ellen Parsons Director of Carolyn Grift Student Media Jlm QrM|) Lee PWpps Advertising Manager ?rjk Cullini Sherry F. Holmes Classified Ad Manager imecoch ESSl nmunily since 1908 HHilKMMM ity of South Carolina and is published Monday, Wednesday and ' the summer with the exception of university holidays and exam ditors or author and not those of The University of South Carolina, publisher of The Gamecock. The Department of Student Media All numbers area code 803 ion Sports Editor The Gamecock nick Photo Editor Edltor 777-3914 Viewpoints 777-7726 fte (Mine Editor News 777-7726 Ml Copy Editors Etc. 777-3913 t Sports 777-7182 On-line 777-2833 In Business Manager Student Media Creative Director Advertising 777-1184 r i* i j Classifieds 777-1184 Faculty Advisor ^ 777-6482 Office 777-3888 ? ?? ; ? " ' IEWPOI] The Gamecock 1 *** IWW , tuvtepe 1 SFEfcPINO ??? % iwbush I kschp?L ?C7ME. //, V /J I I j" " "A " *?\Y" . m. Lommnis This weekend at my grandmother's beach house, I saw an old picture of myself from the eighties. I can't pinpoint exactly how old I was, but TJ kiki McCORMICK J7nonlr. r wvuu uvviv I ' lace and twenty or so jelly bracelets. I mention this not to reminisce about the tackiest decade to date, but to illustrate the sort of travesty that occurs when I try to be trendy. In recent years, I've paid very little attention to fashion trends. I don't read women's magazines or watch TV, so I'm pretty much out of the loop wnere iasnion is concerned. i only notice that which is "in" if, say, every girl on campus seems to be wearing a certain item. Such was the case with the chunky high heeled black shoes that seem to be so popular right now. I never would have bought a pair if I hadn't experienced a rare rv t/ttI r^\ IN 1 j n Sf I RDNt ^ jSf WKT10 * oeT'^ar, j 5F V > Jii SBfcWiE: < it eschew! moment of insecurity, coupled with an even rarer full checking account. These two oddities occurred at the same moment, when l round m my mailbox both my tax return and an invitation to my ex-boyfriend's wedding. Never mind that Fve been married for nearly two years. The idea of an old boyfriend being officially taken is still weird. This, after all, is the guy who begged me to run away with him up until the day before my own wedding; the guy who tried to make me promise to marry him if my marriage didn't work out. I had to wonder, who is this fabulous girl who could make him forget about me? Is she prettier than me? Nicer than me? Smarter? Somehow, I came to the conclusion that she must just have better fashion sense. So, after depositing my tax return, I went shopping. I bought a few dresses, tops, a bathing suit and a pair of the aforementioned chunky high heeled black shoes. Then, I planned a trip to the beach (where my ex had moved, supposedly to withdraw from life and become a hermit, after I married). I was going to meet this girl, and I was not going to do it in cutoffs and my favorite pair of sandals, which are not in fact a pair, but are leftovers "I'd like to think this would be an introduction to the real world." Dr. John Safko, professor of self-pgced astronomy course Page 3 3Ti^^ college press EXCHANGE s fashion from two similarly styled pairs that have each lost a member. It was on my way to the restaurant to meet my ex and his fiance fV*of- T tumn^ mv onlrln Tt Vinrf if tiiui/ x vuxuuu uij aiuu^. it iiui t, ib really hurt, but I met the fiance anyway (she was prettier than me and nicer too). I was just fine until I turned my ankle again. Yes, that's right, I put the shoes back on after injuring myself the first time. Oh, well, at least my ex was amused. My poor husband wasn't amused, though, after four hours in a Florence hospital with a whining wife and our antsy baby. We had tried to makfe it home to Columbia, but the pain got so bad that I was displaying mannerisms that, according to my husband, I hadn't shown since giving birth. Six x-rays later, the doctors couldn't find any broken bones, so I was sent home with a pair of crutches and an Ace Danaage. l leit a little guilty, having wasted so much of my husband's time for what was diagnosed as a bruised foot. I didn't go home with a cast to show for this experience, but I sure got a good lesson: it is, in fact, better to feel good than to look good. I am determined that this experience will remain my last foray into fashion consciousness. Unless, of course, jelly bracelets come back in style.