The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 02, 1998, Page Page 7, Image 7
Columnists Rob Gioelli and
Emily Streyer will be back
with their second installments
of columns, giving
their opinions and insights.
VLHIVLJ
Sen ing the Carolina C
EDITOR1A
Jennifer Stanley
Sara Ladenheim,
Kurt Johnson, l
Rob Gioelli, Assista
Kathleen McCormi
Business
nose intc
Collins Enter- ^<
tainment Corpo- HIHHAaUi
ration wants you Collins Ente,
to "Ban Beasleyanti-Beasley
no TrAii V*otta r\t?nU
CIO jruu nave puuably
gathered
from their bill- I
boards and radio
advertisements. There shot
What you may separation G
not have gathered and po<
is the reasoning
behind these statements.
The billboards emphasize
South Carolina's poor education
records and suggest that those
records are somehow Beasley's
fault. Our test scores have been
low for generations, and one gubernatorial
administration cannot
be expected to change that.
Collins doesn't care about the
specifics, though. Their stake in
this issue is predictable and entirely
financial: they are South
Carolina's largest distributor of
video poker machines, which
Beasley and his Republican Par
ty would like to ban.
To save their profitable business,
they are pretending to be
concerned about our state.
Whether you support video poker,
you should feel insulted that
Collins is trying to manipulate
you with their intellectually dishonest
ads.
Unfortunately, ads such as
these are not the only ways that
business interferes with politics.
Other video poker groups are
bankrolling Democratic Party camImage
is e
Image. It seems
to be important to a HHHUm
large number of peo- Leaders a
pie. It gives a revitalizec
passerby a generally
specific idea about ____________
what you may be
like or what kind
of person you may $"01
be. centerpOi
mv i
ininiung 01 ^u- supi
lumbia can easily
conjure images of
concrete and train tracks. But the
Columbia Convention and Visitors
Bureau seem to think this image
can be expanded.
A $15 million marketing plan
to help promote the area is currently
underway, according to an
article in the Aug. 19 issue of The
State.
But right now, Columbia's image,
no matter which way you
think about it, is USC.
This university is the pulse
of this town. Its 26,000 students
inundate the economy with steady
cash floods, create the "scene" at
Hp* mm
~ ''^T Serving the Carolina Com
The Gamecock is the student newspaper of The Universit
Friday during the fall and spnng semesters and five times during
periods. Opinions expressed in The Gamecock are those of the e<
The Board of Student Publications and Communications is the,
is the newspaper's parent organization.
The Gamecock
Jennifer Stanley Editor in Chief Rob Undsey
Sere Ledenhelm Managing Editor Jessica Barf1
Kurt Johnson Viewpoints Editor Jackie Posto
Josh Lonon Slews Editors Todd Money
Erin Reed Rosalind Har
Kristin Frees tate Features Editor
Bryan Johnston Editorial Assistant Rob Gloelll
Nathan Brown Sports Editor Brad Walton
Nlkkl Thorpe Photo Editors Kenley Yount
Sean Rayford Ruth Nettles
Brian Rlsh Online Editor Denlsha Gral
Student Media
Ellen Parsons Director of Erik Collins
Student Media Jeff Stenslan
Lee Phlppe Advertising Manager
Sherry F. Holmes Classified Ad
Manager
Carolyn Griffin Business Manager
Ji n Green Creative Director
1
amccocl!
'(immunity since 1908
X BOARD
f, Editor in Chief
Managing Editor
Viewpoints Editor
nt Viewpoints Editor
ick, Editorial Writer
pokes
) politics
paigns, including
that of Beasley's
rtainment, challenger Jim
billboards. Hodges. Not surprisingly,
the Democratic
Party,
which in other situations
attempts to
uia be a protect citizens from
f business their own mistakes,
litics. is supportive of
video poker.
We feel that it is
a shame that business interests
can affect the positions of politicians,
who are entrusted with
making decisions for the common
good. Perhaps we are hopelessly
idealistic, but we long for a system
in which each lawmaker votes
on each issue according to the dictates
of conscience rather than
those of his or her campaign coffers.
Many Americans are concerned-almost
obsessed-with the
separation of church and state.
They feel that the First Amendment
not only protects our right
to worship as we choose, but it also
protects the state from the interference
of matters of faith.
We should also concern ourselves
with protecting the state
from hiisin ess and other snerial
v^uituiai cvcnvo aic tuui icoj
of the university as well. And
the university seems to provide
endless community service with
groups like Carolina For Kids.
And a final tidbit that proves
USC is Columbia's image is the
fact that USC owns 40 percent
of the land in Columbia, according
to the city manager.
USC is Columbia's image. USC
is Columbia.
IMCOClt ?ill
y of South Carolina and is published Monday. Wednesday and
the summer with the excepbon of university holidays and exam
Utors or author and not those of The University of South Carolina,
publisher of The Gamecock. The Department of Student Media
All area codes are 803
Copy Editors fd(t0, 777-3914
eld n
Viewpoints 777-7726
vey Public Relations News 777-7726
Director
Asst.Viewpoints Editor ?'c- 777-3913
i Asst. News Editors
t Sports 777-7182
Encore Editor ? ,,,
. . . Online 777-2833
)?m Asst. Features Editor
Faculty Advisor Student Media
id Graduate Assistant Advertising 777-3888
Classified 777-1184
Fax 777-6482
Office 777-3888
VWi
fmmw
wk|tt
jr^cmos
i feu ww
interests.
There should be real, radical
campaign finance laws that address
this concern. We need a separation
of business and government.
Maybe then, we could trust
the motives of political advertising.
verything
places such as Five
IwSHHfli Points and the
re trying to Vista, and keep
:ity s image. ^is place on its
toes, catering to
specific needs.
And with sport...
ing events, Coilct
be the lumbia is the focal
int of their point of a majori
Oort. ty of the state by
viewers and visitors
Saturday afternoons
during the fall with
Gamecock home football games.
The spring is not much different
with the basketball team.
PiiHiifol mronf O Ova
Student be
I want to take this chance to welcome ]
you all back, and I hope that every- t
one is excited about starting a new >
year! The
KIM PICKEWSON "S
Government
is a great
place to begin your involvement. One
of the easiest ways is to become a member
of a University Committee. The committees
are comprised of students, faculty
and staff, and they deal with such
issues as parking, safety and dining, If
Internet acc
Only connect," wrote E.M. Forster i
in "Howard's End." ]
We're connecting, all right, but like- <
ly in a way <
I of which <
Forster
would dis- \
approve. \
We're connecting
via j
communieating
anonymous- {
KIKI McCORMICK many of us
columnist think we en
joy it. '
I'm not sure why. I guess it's easier
to connect with people we'll never (
meet. Their distance makes them safe.
They can never hurt us, never chal- '
lenge us because we can always log
off and never hear from them again. ^
(And we certainly don't have to worry <
that they'll run off with our umbrellas, !
resulting in unpleasant face-to-face en- <
counters.)
At any rate, I've finally gotten some <
data to back up my general displeasure ]
with our latest collective fetish. The 1
New York Times reports that a study 1
at Carnegie Mellon University has 1
shown that Internet use makes peo- ]
pie more depressed and lonely. 1
Yes, it's actually causal. Pre-exist- |
ing depression did not increase the j
amount ui tune spent un me internet. j
Column not jour- !
nalistic, humorous
To the editor:
I am disappointed to see that Jane ,
Frederick has turned her campaign for
Congress into what a good campaign
should never be-a character assassi- j
nation. At her recent press conference, j
Frederick stated that Congressman
Floyd Spence is out of touch with the (
needs of his constituents. She claims ]
>OINT
WWwVi
pWiWTOS> 1
m- SfWJH. ?
Iff? "
/ ,f I
nrHctsxftl
7/^ffl
>dy presic
^ou have ideas or concerns that relate
? any of these, this would be the nest
vay to make your voice heard.
In addition to our efforts on camius,
Student Government is also tryng
to create an avenue for student's
voices to be heard outside of our University.
We will be holding a voter regstration
drive on Greene Street on Sepember
29 and 30. If you are a resident
>f the state of South Carolina, please
:ome by so that you will be able to vote
n the state elections this year. As the
uture leaders of this state, we need
x) exercise our right to vote.
Student Government is also workng
on several other projects in September.
One of these is serving as the
lost for the SEC Student Government
Conference. Student representatives
rom each of the twelve schools, will
convene on the USC campus in order
jo discuss issues that face our institutions.
We are honored to have been choess
loses t<
\ccording to the story, "(the subjects)
reported a decline in interaction with
amily members and a reduction in their
circles of friends that directly corresponded
to the amount of time they
spent on-line."
Maiy Pipher, author of "The ShelJS.V
of Each Other Rebuilding Our Families,"
could have predicted the results
)f the Carnegie Mellon study. She warns
:hat we are living in an "electronic village."
That is, many of us are living in a
-vorld in which media, such as TV and
die Internet, have severely reduced ties
vith real people and thus, with the
real world. This is particularly true of
children who have been "babysat" by
television. She quotes Bill Moyers: "Our
children are being raised by appliances."
There are at least two major problems
with living in an electronic village:
L) it does not help maintain real social
ties, and is probably detrimental to that
mdeavor, and 2) the actual village itself
reprograms our thought processes
in an unhelpful fashion.
Pipher feels the first issue is one
if reciprocity~or the lack thereof. She
points out that, while we "know" celebrities
better than we know our neighbors
these days, "Tom Hanks won't scoop
the snow off your driveway when you
tiave the flu." Yet, we watch Hanks on
'Oprah" instead of inviting our neighi
e? \vrn i;u? ??t
uuiauvei iui tea. vvcicciimc we vcgui
these connections with people whose
faces we see plastered about, so we don't
The (i.irrx
w J I I 9 J > Hand
phone ruimlxr
hat the fact that he surrounds himself
vith the likes of beauty queens, cheereaders
and football heroes is proof.
However, in her attempt to discredit
Congressman Spence, she has discriminated
against anyone who has ever
vorn a crown, a cheerleading skirt or
i football jersey.
In my eyes, Congressman Spence
is the epitome of a true southern gencleman.
The presence of beauty queens,
cheerleaders and football heroes at his
campaign rallies, parades and other political
functionsiend to this image. In
"Li
you
Stior
r0?\ 1
^ 1
lent discus:
"Along with all of the
events we have piano
for this year is to mal
South Carolina a bett<
sen to serve as the host, so that they
too can get a taste of true Carolina pride.
Another popular program that Student
Government sponsors is blockseating
for the USC football games. Any
group of ten or more students is invited
to blockseat for any home football
game. Lastly, Freshman Council is now
being selected through an application
and represent the Class of 2002, and
participate in the day to day activities
in Student Government.
Along with all of the programs and
events we have planned, our main goal
ouch with r<
"That is, many of us ;
in which media, such
Internet, have severe
real people and...witl
invest in building relationships with
our families and communities.
The second problem is the reason
Pipher calls our country the United
States of Advertising. Advertising is
necessary to finance the media we consume,
so we get it aplenty. The point of
any advertisement is to convince us of
two things: first, that there is some hole
in nnr livp<5 fhnt nppris fillincr anH ?pp
ond, that a certain product will fit that
hole nicely. We've bought that message,
and it has (there's no better way to put
this) screwed us up.
It makes us think that we are the
center of the universe, because it makes
us think in terms of satisfying our most
inconsequential wants. Only the
strongest minds resist such messages
when heard constantly, every day. It's
conditioning, as in "Brave New World,"
but even more pervasive, and it has
changed our priorities and values as a
culture. Very few reject the message
and find a definition for themselves outside
of their own consumption habits.
I know that scares me, and I hope it disturbs
you as well.
xxxk will try k> print all letters received letters shoukl lx- 2SO-.*m words and
iters must lx- personally delivered l>y the author to llx- (iameaxk newsroom
llx' ( iameux k reserves tlx* right to edit all letter lor style, possilrle libel or sp
this day and age, we have seen beauty
queens go on to become spokespersons
for many important issues, such
as the former Miss America who has
spoken out about being a victim of incest.
From my own experience, I have
seen cheerleaders and football players
who take active leadership roles
both on and off the field. So I must ask
Jane Frederick, "Why are you labeling
these people as one dimensional characters?"
It is time to ^et back to the real issues.
A congressman, like all political
ving off campus, this helps
see what types of organizats
are available to students."
Leah Pennington,
junior :
1 "I ~
\ |
NWW !
m?. 5
z
ses plans
programs and
ted, our main goal
ke the University of
sr place."
for this year is to make the University
of South Carolina a better place. In order
to accomplish this, we must have
input from everyone including faculty,
staff, and students. We must not only
voice our concerns, but we must take
action if our ideas are to be put into motion.
I would like to encourage everyone
to use Student Government as a
means of getting involved and making
a difference on your campus. Please
feel free to come by Student Government
anytime, we are located on the
first floor of the Russell House.
sal world
are living in a world
l as TV and the
ly reduced ties with
1 the real world."
A slightly related idea of Pipher's
could be applied to correct this problem.
She emphasizes the importance of
enemies; that is, when there is a known
enemy threatening survival, people forget
petty concerns and work together
to fight that threat.
Families only start getting angsty
over shallower issues "in times of plen-'
ty and relative security." Right now,
we're feeling pretty secure, so we don't
worry about what is happening to our
society of electronic villagers.
I think we should identify the effects
of the above-mentioned (and other)
media as the enemy and fight it with
weapons that will help make our true
connections stronger.
These weapons include evenings
spent playing board games with loved
ones, reading to children, walks through
parks and anything else that can encourage
real conversation and bonding
among real human beings. Use them,
and we'll win a war for the ownership
of our minds, our allegiances, and our
time.
must include lull name, professional title <>r war and major if a student
in Kuvsell lkxi.se room 533 K-mail k-tters must include the author's tek*ace
limitations Names will ma Ix- withheld for any circumstance
figures, should serve people from all
walks of life. This includes beauty
queens, cheerleaders and football heroes
as well. This campaign should not
be centered on a character debate,
rather, it should focus on which candidate
is best suited to carry out the job
of a true representative.
Tiffany M. Burkett
Wofford Student
West Columbia resident
4