The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, June 24, 1998, Page 3, Image 3
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
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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:
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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*
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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
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ilck Photo Editor The Gamecock
ie Online Editor ^d,tor 777-3914
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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
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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.
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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