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Hey folks, look for more titillating and amazing columns and editorials on this very page, by some of the finest individuals alive. BcGamt Sert'iug the Carolina Community EDITORIAL BOi Jennifer Stanley, Edit Kurt Johnson, Vieupc Rob Gioelli, Assistant Vie Kathleen McCormick, El Strikes agaii rorism shot Almost immediately after our military's recent Our Military retal missile attacks in against terrorist at ?? uan- i. Eud on U.S. Embassi Afghanistan, the media and the public have ac- JIMM cused the President of ordering Despite doubts, I these attacks to citizens and intei distract us from need to beprotec his current domestic problems. But these same critics might try to remember that are r these were in retaliation for ter- live i] rorist attacks that were specifi- caus< cally focused on the U.S. Govern- viewi ment. American citizens were D killed and American property was critic destroyed. they Many find it hard to believe, othei but there are individuals and A groups all over the world who don't we t( like us very much. In some of these terec people, that dislike has grown in- senc< to outright hatred. Then there are shoe men like Osama bin Laden, who in tt is using his personal fortune to de- mac) clare war on our country. Poin In this post-Cold War society, cons threats to national security are happ not as clear cut as they were be- B fore. The president used to have a powe hot line to Moscow, so problems have could be discussed before there cour was an international incident. But targ< with groups such as bin Laden's, Ame there is no line of communication, nora no established diplomatic policy, talis To help combat a threat of this I nature, normal diplomatic means viet can't be used. Retaliation should but 1 be as swift and as decisive as pos- 1 sible. The point of these attacks in veloj Afghanistan and Sudan was not can simply the flexing of our military the e muscle, but a psychological threat are s to those who would infringe on the culti personal safety of our citizens. tJ According to the State De- the > partment, there are more than 3 ests, million U.S. citizens who reside izenf abroad. This does not include gov- ways ernment and military personnel play and only counts people in major to tl metropolitan areas. pick Counting these people, that esce, number creeps over four million, and This is a significant number of peo f|fe Bc6am0 ~ "**Q Sen ing the Carolina Community s The Gamecock is the student newspaper of The University of South Friday during the fell and spnng semesters and five times dunrig the sumn penoas. opinions expressea in me uamecoc* arc ujvsc m un cum.no u< ?u The Board of Student Publications and Communications is the publisher i is the newspaper's parent organization. The Gamecock Jennifer Stanley Editor in Chief Rob Undeey Sara Laden helm Managing Editor Jessica Barfleld Kurt Johnson Viewpoints Editor Jackie Poston Josh Lonon News Editors Todd Money Erin Reed Rosalind Harvey Kristin Freestate Features Editor Bryan Johnston Editorial Assistant Rob Gloelli Asst.Vit Nathan Brown Sports Editors Brad Walters Nlkkl Thorpe Photo Editors Kenley Young Sean Raytord Ruth Nettles Brian Rlsh Online Editor Denlsha Graham Assi Student Media Ellen Parsons Director of Erik Collins f Student Media Jeff Stensland Grac Lee Phlpps Advertising Manager Sherry F. Holmetuiassinea Ad Manager Carolyn Griffin Business Manager Jim Green Creative Director iHHBil I " I rod? since 1908 \SD or in Chief lints Editor wpoints Editor iitorial Writer ist tervs guts pie, who, although they do not reside iates within our borders, tacks still deserve our proes tection, especially from radical terrorist organizations. thh Unlike most of the world, terrorism 7.5. is not a threat we rests live with every day. ted Violence for religious or political beliefs is relatively rare in our country. But there nillions in other places that n fear of random violence bei of their religion or political 3. emocrats and Republicans ize each other constantly, but don't fire bombs at each *'s houses. s Southerners and Americans, jnd to live a somewhat shel1 existence. There isn't an ab2 of trash cans on the Horse for fear of bombs being put tern, and officers with subline guns don't patrol Five ts. In many places, these are tant reminders to what has iened and what could happen, ut as the most prosperous and irful country in the world, we i to accept the fact that our ltry and its citizens are a 3t for many different groups, rica represents arrogance, ignce and the horrors of capim to millions worldwide, ionald Reagan called the SoUnion the "Evil Empire," ;o many, we are that empire, rhis is especially true in deling countries where Amerimoney is helping to boost conomy, but American values seen as corrupting the local ire. iut no matter our stature on vorld stage, American interand especially American cit3, must be protected. In many 3, terrorists are just like the ground bully. If you stand up iem, they think twice about ing on you again. But acquiand they will attack you again again. [OCR maa Dice I'MJH AiHaMiMAiMajliilp i Carolina and is published Monday. Wednesday and ier with the exception of university holidays and exam ithor and not those of The University of South Carolina, if The Gamecock. The Department of Student Media All area codes are 803 Copy Editors Ed(f0, 777-3914 Viewpoints 777-7726 Public Relations News 777-7726 Director iwpoints Editor ^tc- 777-3913 Asst. News Editor Sports 777-7182 Encore Editor . Online 777-2833 Features Editor 'acuity Advisor Student Media luate Assistant Advertising 777-3888 Classified 777-1184 Fax 777-6482 Office 777-3888 HjsTr u flWTP-Li Mormoi In a time when the president i ting more action than Ron my, U.S. Embassies are being 1 up 1 -' than ,C| the" f St OIK KURT JOHNSON of u? columnist strug on ol more tiple" issues. Polygamy. Yes, polygamy. The act of h one or more wives and/or husb It is a major problem throuj this great country of ours, but n in that great salty state of Utah, is the onlv state where polygamy ally considered a problem. Well, it recessed for a while people forgot there was a state Utah. Everybody thought ther just a Great Salt Lake in its pla But then, all of a sudden the Jazz were playing the Bulls in th< Today's 1 WILLIAM FOLKS columnist When the Bill of Right enacted in 1791, the fr of our Constitution pr< thought they'd succeeded in < lishing a viable counterbalance flaws of the government. The free press was to be a vigilant mechanism for our sociel fense and self-correction, and wa ly guaranteed as such in the Amendment. It was to be our i ment. "The press was to serve th erned, not the governors," Supreme Court Justice Black ir " The government's power to cen press was abolished so that th< rnmoin fnrQUflr iroo fn PPn YVUUiU l&lllUUi 1U1VV Vi. UVV vu vvu government." Today, members of the mass still bear this objective respons not to the president, or to the mt of Congress, but to you and I, an Americans. Yet, never before in the 22 history of this nation has the ] Estate, composed of all journ strayed so far from this ideal. Ne fore have the self-serving agei Presidents, politicians, lawyers; businessmen so recklessly int< with the functioning of a fair a press. XTPOINI fj Of OT if yc ns take fun s get- Championship Finals, and we realized J ere- that, "hey, there's a place called Utah!" blown That's when this problem of nore polygamy was revived. The problem the can be traced back some hundred years dent, ago, when a guy named Joseph Smith year decided he wanted to start a new relibug gion that involved chickens and ear send wax. r o r 1 d However, this was not considered lother "kosher" in the organized states at J Age the time, so he traveled west and foundi a r 1 y ed Utah and the Mormon religion. n z e Here's an interesting tidbit: there some were not cars at the time, so he rode a 1 a r e bicycle out to this new land. That's why gling some Mormons today ride bikes now t h e r, instead of drive cars?they are paying "mul- homage to that long, dirty bike ride to the "promise land." Anyway, he found out there were aving no chickens in this new land and he ands. didn't have enough ear wax to fulfill his ghout master plan, so for whatever reason, he concocted the idea of polygamy, which j mean> really, why on Earth would r 1S re" you want more than one spouse? Yes, I can see the whole male "menage-atrois" fantasies come into focus, but after the amazing sexual things you could 6 was do to each other, some which you Cx j. , thought to be mere theory, what's the 5 NBA use^ ^er ^at' ^'s no The reason newly-recognized Utah has had a resurgence in this problem nedia losing; 3 The American mind, once genuinely respected and honestly approached, is now utterly and irreverently dismissed as being incompetent. From ,s w a s trustworthy, well-informed citizens, we amers have swiftly and shamefully been re ^KoKlxr ? i . i i , . i i _ duced to hapless targets, voluntary vicestab tims of fraudulent claims and blatant to the misrepresentations perpetrated by our "media culture." living, Far from serving its Constitutiontys de- duty as our watchdog, the mass mes wise- dia of today seems more focused on fighti First iug for the intruders table scraps, nstru- Sound fatalistic? Consider the following excerpt from John F. Kennedy gov- Jr.'s May 1998 George editorial: wrote "The proliferation of media means 11971. that power has shifted away from electsor the ed representatives to unelected comi press mentators," Kennedy writes, "yet regsor the ular folks have no option to address that change other than just tuning out." media Tuning out? ibility; The "unelected commentators" jmbers would never allow for that sort of ind to all dividualistic defiance. Alternatively, they offer "Popgate 1998," a made-for2-year television sex scandal starring our PresFourth ident, Bill Clinton, and a 21-year-old alists, White House intern named Monica sver be- Lewinsky. idas of For almost eight months now, the Vurr Tim Pnccorf'c F.loannr .Tnhn A1IU Wig X 1111 liUOOWVU, UJVUUUi vy AAA v u j ? v?.?? irfered McLaughlin's, and Pat Buchanan's of nd free the world have hijacked our airwaves with some of the shoddiest, most rep I ZH 3 j j | | t] k I I.iikI \^,yon H plv?K* numlxi c ' si e... " Hi" ~ V -' Sli^hg out of pc "I mean, really, whi want more than om see the whole male tasies come into foe amazing sexual thir what's the use?.Afte is they have made a few laws saying you can't have more than one spouse you can't involve family members in the concept of incest, and you can't use chickens in ear wax rituals. So one might think this would kil the whole Mormon religion, but a fev feisty Mormons said, "Hell no!" The) were going to be rebels and have 1? wives and make their 15-year-old daughter marry her uncle. But you know, I think the state was doing these guys a favor. I mean, I've heard people complain and complair about having one spouse. But having two? Husband: "Honeys, I'm home!" Wife 1: "Darling, my bike brok< down today, and I'm pregnant with ou: seventh child." Wife 2: "Darling, I accidentally on-purpose spent $750 on shoes today oh, and I'm pregnant with our fiftl child." sight of ori "Far from serving i as our watchdog, tl today seems more for the intruders ta rehensibly self-indulgent "reporting the world has ever seen. With each of the four major nei works supporting their exploits, thes "journalists" have wielded absolute on niscience over a situation they kno1 nothing about. They have turned whs was essentially a legitimate investigt tion into a failed Arkansas land de? into the biggest, most disgustin spectacle of the decade. Insight has bee replaced by speculation and we ha\ breatnea in every secona 01 tne a< bauchery. The Fourth Estate is our only r< maining agent to combat governmei infidelity, and we as citizens must tal real responsibility for it's failings an real action to bring it back into fine. The one freedom the press is not gua anteed by the First Amendment the freedom to forsake the public serves, that is, if we allow it to do s President Clinton, if he indeed brol the law, should be impeached. Log cally, it's quite simple. He lied ar iec< x'k will iry to print all letters received, letters six hi Id lx* 2^) VX) won Liters must lx* personally delivered by the author to lite tiamecock iJl w Hie (ijmecock reserves tlx* right to edit all letter lor style. possible lilx "Post-tenure review means that a tenured professor is no longer guaranteed a job for life." ason Snyder, Media Relations '.\\\-^^^l^^S^L^^!9^nrAft- Vyyf a^rrr.y.v.v.-.. .vrjjj^^KM i V.V.." .'.'.'.'.'."imT.'.".. ."..'.'. /.v.v.v,.v.v.v.v. 1 " ' | * ' * - ? < ? . '.'.r/.'rtV.'.'.'.'.'.'.vr^.v.v .v.v.y.'.v.y.v.'.v.v. ' g|yfA?fM^ llr J college press EXCHANGE ilygamy f on Earth would you e spouse? Yes, I can 'menage-a-trois' fan:us, but after the igs you could do..., r that, it's no fun." [ Wife 3: "Darling, I got fired from my , job, caught the bathroom on fire, acci! dentally threw your golf clubs in the trash can, drank the rest of your beer, and got pregnant by your boss, which ' will be our third kid." Husband (crumbles to the floor and [ starts helliously crying): "Calgone, take 1 me away!" See, the real problem with polygamy is that those who involve themselves ' in it, will go insane. Also, they take up available women that other single, T non-polygamical guys might have a shot at. I don't want some guy having 20 i wives when I'm struggling just to get r one. Yo, I'm into religious freedom and all that jazz, but when it interferes with - my love life, then something has got to , be done. I mean, come on man, everyi body's got to have a fair chance. I'm really a nice guy, really. 1 J t ^ /-* I -4 aH I n gmai lucais ts Constitutional duty le mass media of focused on fighting ible scraps." f should be punished, and it shouldn't make one iota of difference whether 70 or even 100 percent of us think he's "doie ing a good job". The sins of President Clinton are ^ merely a media playground, and the t more sinister and substantial evils lie j in how we have followed the whole a process, or, rather, how we have been n led. e Maybe one day in our near future i- a new press corps will emerge, one comprised of ethical, moral, and responsible journalists who will reclaim the profession's lost respectability. Maybe then :e the American people can reinvest their ^ trust in the Fourth Estate as a respectable profession, not as the bitterlg ly vindictive industry it has become, jj. Until that day, the concept of an ac 0 countable mass media serving me /\merce ican citizenry with fairness and integrity ^i- is dead. id It is up to each of us to revive it. lis and must include lull name, professional title or year and major if a student, srixim in Russell Mouse room l^fnail letters must include tlx* autlww's I or space limitations Names will not lx* withlx'kl for any circumstance