University of South Carolina Libraries
We have a week off! We'll see you again in the second summer session, on July 8. Wednesday, June 24,1998 Hie (581 Scninif the Carolina Com EDITORIAI Rosalind Harvey, Kiki McCormick, Marcus Amaker, Five Points ] Gervais face We have just started recovering from the recent development along Gervais Street. For | BE two long years our Get it over u frolro fV\rnnrrk fkn L? V11/1U7 VlAlUUgll UlU Vista brought frustration. Everyday, new lanes were halfheartedly designated with orange cones. The drive was made even less pleasant by the constant cacophony of machinery blasting apart concrete and the stench of tar. We never knew if we'd make it through the makeshift street, so we avoided Gervais altogether. And when it was all over, what did we get? Sure, it's a little nicer, and it will be great when the trees grow big and shade our drive. But can a pretty nice outcome justify the horrendous years of inconvenience caused by redevelopment? Simply put: is it worth it? This question is particularly important now, as it looks as though we are going to be subjected to a repeat of the Gervais fiasco. This time, though, it will be on what we college kids consider our home turf: Five Points. Plans are in the works for a landscaping project in Five Points along Harden Street. The intentions are good: narrowing lanes to make the street safer for pedestrians, and beautifying the street with what they call "large scale" trees in the medians. Naturally, we applaud any efforts to make the streets safer. Anyone who has braved crossing Harden Street at night knows that -Aj ~ ?? ? Hi Hrc(w Sen inn the Carolina Con The Gamecock is the student newspaper of The Universii Friday during the fall and spring semesters and eight times du exam periods. Opinions expressed in The Gamecock are those < Carolina The fioarJ of Student Publications and Communication: Media is the newspaper 's parent organization. The Gamecock Rosalind Harvey Editor in Chief Amy McCorrr Klkl McCormlck Viewpoints Editor Rebecca IVN Jennifer Stanley News Editor Sarah Gantra Marcus Amaker Features Editors JertnUer Stanley Bryan Johnston Sports Editor Student Media Ellen Parsons Director of Carolyn Grift, Student Media Jlm Lee Phlpps Advertising Manager coHi^ Skerry f. Holmes Classified Ad Manager Vr Mick munHy since 1908 . BOARD , Editor in Chief Viewpoints Editor plans recall lift snarls rtmhh] it's a perilous proposition; drunk college lutification stu(jents and poorly it of Gervais designed streets are [Q2HHII no^ a mi*- And nth ASAP as of a few years ago, ' laws against "jaywalking," (crossing the street in places other than designated intersections) are now being enforced, despite the fact that it seems safer to cross in the middle of the street. So, Harden does need to be safer for pedestrians. We are afraid that it will be harder to get to our beloved watering holes and shops. We hope the AA?n^mi/il-inn *4 Artnr*'4- IrnArv mil* I'UiiSbi utbiun uucou 1/ accp uui favorite venues from carrying on business as usual. Even now, we sometimes leave Five Points in frustration because we can't reach our destination due to traffic problems or finding parking. How much worse will it be during construction, or even when the project is finished when the streets are slimmed down? Will we even try to get into the Elbow Room? Will we give up on Harpers because we dread the traffic? We are not looking forward to the inconveniences we will face. Therefore, we have a request to make of the powers that be in this development: get it over with. Please don't subject us to the twoyear mess of Gervais. If these plans take a long time to complete, the possible improvements simply aren't worth it to us, the patrons upon which Five Points businesses rely. mccock RS3) i mumtv since 190S atMilHMiiMaiM y of South Carolina ana is published Monday, Wednesday and ring the summer with the exception of university holidays and if the editors or author and not those of The University of South s is the publisher of The Gamecock. The Department of Student All numbers area code 803 ilck Photo Editor The Gamecock ie Online Editor ^d,tor 777-3914 Viewpoints 777-7726 id! Copy Editors Ngws 777-7726 Etc. 777-3913 Sports 777-7182 On-line 777-2833 In Business Manager Student Media Creative Director Advertising 7771184 Classifieds 777-1184 Faculty Advisor fgx 777-6482 Office 777-3888 " ; -C~? CW7Dr^TT Lj W 1 Wll The Gamecock Old movi< Steven Yates Columnist Now that you're back from James Cameron's magnificent Titanic," take a voyage of a different sort. Go to the video rental outlet of your choice and take home a copy of "Contact," the movie based on the novel by the late Carl Sagan, Cornell University astronomer. This film was panned by several reviewers and mostly ignored by moviegoers. I cannot figure out why. "Contact" is science fiction ~ but don't expect fleets of spaceships or photon torpedoes or strange-looking aliens. This movie is as much about inner space as outer space. It speaks to the human condition as it addresses the mystery of our place in the universe and manages to be one of the most engaging, moving and thought-provoking films in years. The plot: Dr. Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster) is a brilliant young radio astronomer. Flashbacks to her childhood to develop her central character ' * 1 11 1 1 * __! trail: a naraneaaea scienunc-empincal view of the world. She is obsessed, however, with the idea of discovering we are not alone in the universe. Her scientist-mentor, the cynical David Drumlin (Tom Skerritt) thinks this a waste of time - until Elbe and her associates record a signal from an apparently advanced intelligence at the nearby star Vega and decode it. The signal contains instructions on how to build a device that would STTS ' IWKIVWC "B40EWIH Pg&f A 'ernst mm EgNffatm- [JH[ ^ hiking MpM ut c i spawns i enable an Earthling to visit their world. The first machine is sabotaged by a religious fanatic, and David Drumlin is killed in the disaster. Lurking in the background, however, is eccentric billionaire S. R. TT 11 / T_ 1 TT L\ L ? 1 ] nauaen ujuiui nun; wiiu imu unginally funded Ellie's project. He has built a second machineand wants her to pilot it. The results are very interesting. Ellie seems to take a dazzling journey through a kind of theoretical portal cosmologists call a wormhole. The effects recall "2001: A Space Odyssey," minus Stanley Kubrik's cerebral tendencies. I won't say what she encounters at the other end, that would spoil it, except that it changes her life. But now her scientific point of view is at odds with her experience. She can't "I tried to appeal it, and if was urned down. I-was told to come back in January." USCfullback Jacob Busb Page 3 I N^kycn I allege press EXCHANGE lew ideas cies run up against something they can't explain. At the same time, the bombing of the first machine embodies a clear and forceful message. Though there are flashes of humor in the scenes rlpnirtintr nsendnsripntific nuts who claim to have ridden UFOs to Vega, the message comes loud and clear: even if science doesn't get the last word in human life, religious fanaticism is dangerous and destructive. Too many other issues are touched on in this film for a single oped. One is worth noting. Ellie was not on board the machine that got destroyed because her scientific view left God out of the equation, and she was honest about it. David Drumlin shared her unbelief but was willing to lie to get what he wanted. Later, he tells a betrayed Ellie, "I wish the world was a place where fair was the bottom line, where idealism such as yours was rewarded and not taken advantageof. Unfortunately, we don't live in that world." Her reply is classic:"Funny, I've always believed the world is what we make of it." If you haven't seen "Contact," I wholeheartedly recommend it. The acting is top-flight, and while this isn't a special-effects driven movie, what effects there are are truly staggering. I recommend it even if you' detest science fiction. It will give youj a lot to think about. "Contact" is a long movie, over two hours. But it| will be two of the best hours you spend this week. prove she went anywhere! The TV cameras pointed at her craft recorded nothing! Contact stirs up many questions about the place of faith in a culture built around science and technology. It uses Elbe's on-going exchange with author, one-time lover and technology critic Palmer Joss (Matthew McConaughey) over whether God* exists. As important as science is, is there a spiritual dimension to life that can't be proven or defined or tpsfprl nr miantifipH? Manv of our greatest philosophers have thought so. Ellie's experience symbolizes this dimension as well as poignantly illustrating the cognitive dissonance it creates when our scientific tenden