University of South Carolina Libraries
You can write us letters at: GCKVIEWS@SC.EDU It works. We promise. Remember to include your name and phone number Tiruwc UUll VI Senitig the Camlin EDITOR Jennifer Stanl Sara Ladehheir Rob Gioielli, Kurt Johnson, .455 Kathleen McCori Penalty? Davis lu< Poor Zola Davis. He was simply giv- HHU ing thanks to God Zola Dav after thinking he "excessive scored his second touchdown, and it i cost him and the HKmbI team big,A 15-yard This ml penalty for exces- , sive celebration was tacked on to anoth- reco.1 er penalty that drove the Gamecocks from the Ole Miss 9-yard line to their 40th, during South Carolina's game last Saturday against the Ole Miss Rebels. Davis' action was simple: he scored the touchdown, dropped tc a knee, pointed to the sky and rose. It was the same thing he did earlier in the game without the penalty, but this time that fiendish yellow flag flew from the official's pocket. Now, receiving a penalty for a Deion Sanders-ish strut and wiggly dance could be somewhat understandable, but a penalty because of kneeling and pointingexact time .57 seconds?is asinine, Davis has been doing this same touchdown celebration ritual since he was a freshman, and this is the first time he's ever been penalized for it. However, this week Bobby Gaston, director of SEC officials, said Davis would be allowed to kneel, USC shoul< with Greel Within the next rjjSBjBSm year, USC will fi- HHHJ nally begin the Oppos much-lauded Greek Univer, Housing Project. bousil And all of a sudden we are seeing major opposition to the project over am The presidents of four of USC's soror- start ities have written letters to the uni versity asking that they stop or delay the project because they cannot afford to build houses. Some sororities have been able to raise the funds, but the national chapters of other groups have decided, for one reason or another, that their priority is not houses for these sororities. The National Pan-Hellenic Council, the group that overseas most of the sororities on this campus, seem to prioritize is equity in housing between groups on each campus. But in contrast to this opposition, the university is going m the 6 ^9 Sen iiift the (.anitina ( The Gamecock Is the student newspaper of The I'nive m Friday during the hill and spring semesters and five times dur periods. (ipinions ex|>rcsscd in The Gamecock are tlvxse of [Ik Tlie Board of Student Publications and Communications is tin the newspaper's parent organization. The Gamecock Jennifer Stanley Editor in Chief Jackie Pot Sara Ladenheim Manapinp Editor Todd Mor Rob Gloielll I ieitpomls Editor Rosalind I Josh Lonon A'eus Editors Erin Reed Kurt John Kristin Freestate Features Editor Brad Walt Bryan Johnston Editorial Assistant Kenley Yt Nathan Brown Sports Editor Ruth Nettl Nlkkl Thorpe Photo Eililois Deneshla Sean Rayford Kelly Mc( Brian Rish Online Editor Man Ryan Rob Lindsey Copy Editors Kathleen Jessica Barfleld Student Media Ellen Parsons Director of Student Media Carolyn C Lee Phlpps Adiertisiny Manager Erik Colli Sherry F. Holmes (.'lassifietl Jeff Stensl ft I 5amecodt a Community since 1908 IAL BOARD 77J.-* cy, nuiiur in s^uizy n, Managing Editor Viewpoints Editor istant Viewpoints Editor nick, Editorial Writer against iicrous but "there are going to be parameis' penaltyfor ters." Well, that's ? celebration." but the damage has already been done. JiUUJH But what is with e is asinine this mle anyway? eis asinine First 0f all, there eedstobe shouldnotbea tsidered. penalty for "exces sive celebration." It shoulcTfall un1 der the "delay of game" category, i which is a mere 5-yard penalty r compared to the 15-yarder for "excessive celebration." i Still, why have this rule? i Collegiate football should drop this rule and institute a restrict1 ed celebration time. i After someone scores a touchi down, allot five to ten seconds for A ;Trw 4- AnlnV\iv?finr?o rl ) icicuiauuii. ivxuot icicui aiduiio uuii t even take that long. The NFL has no sort of crazy rule like this. So why should col; lege football players, who aren't getting a dime for playing ball and who play for the love and the fun of the game, not be able to exi press their emotions when they i do something good for their team, i Millionaire professional players I are allowed to strut their stuff all over the field. Bag the rule, i Just let the boys play the game. i proceed (housing ahead with the project. They say ition to the South Tower is an sity's Greek inadequate faciling project. ty> and new houses are what the iijyJiiUMI state an(^ alumni 'for debate is wanti we need to _ , with them, lhis building. project has been in the planning stages for over three years and $4 million has been allocated to it. These groups should have voiced their concerns when the i project was proposed. But at that time, there wasn't much protest from campus Greek organizations. They've had plenty of time to re: search how they are going to finance this. Now that the project is finally going to get under way, they raise a red flag. Ifs not fair to the groups who have been organized since the beginning. Besides, final decisions do not have to be made now. There will be plenty of spots availbale in the future. aiwrork bum .'immunity since I'MMi MMMlMilllMKftXiiBHi rsity ot South Carolina and is published Monday. Wednesday and ing the summer with the exception ot university holidays and exam . editors c* author and n<< those ot The i niversity of Sih?Ii (jrolina. r publisher ot the (iamccock The Department ot Student Media is All area codes are HO.y iton ?y editor 777-39 I i Harvey liilitu Keltilums fickctl@sc erltt Director Viewpoints 777-7726 ison Assl Vtetiptnnls lulilnr xckt ieus@sc ctln ers /IsV Mtrs Fuliturs \t.ws 777-7726 >ung 0 ncknetcsQsc alu les Unci ire lulilnr Graham Am! Failures lulilnr ''tc , ' ~-w'/ ucuetcvsc am [uire Acs! Spurts lulilnr i Asst On line lulilnr Sports 7/,-,IH2 McCormick fifth* ITnfrr H^ris&scali, Online 777-2H33 uw xcwiecnck.sc.alu Advertising 777-WHH Manager irtffin Hieiiness Maiuiyer Classified -IIH-i ns Faculty Aril tor I ax 777-6 iH2 land (iratltuM Assistant offjct. 777--MSHH * VWf fp \i Hri1 ' People are People say you can't legislate moral- s ity, but it happens all the time. ( We should not, in my opinion, be i legislating < EMILY STREYER hibits rnter- f columnist racial ^-1 marriage, ? dictates 1 that its governor must believe in God, j and outlaws the sale of liquor on Sim- ( day. t If you're reading this paper in a room \ with eight or more people, see if you ( can get everyone to raise his or her feet off the floor. You are legally having i an orgy, and violating state law. < Most reasonable people believe the s government should have no say in who ] may or may not marry whom; that religious beliefs, or the lack thereof, are \ a personal issue; and that sexual prac- I tices between two or more consenting j adults should remain between those \ people. Reasonable people also under- ^ Future's hi About eight months ago, I reached the day that every degenerate < such as myself dreams about for < their entire i ( \ uXOt Ull til f,y. ' " ^ijjjjlj ^ ^ J ^ ^ where the le- i ROB GIOIELLI gal drinking < columnist age is 18.1 1 ^ had been there study- : ing since last September, so the novel- i ty of not getting carded had worn off. \ When I returned to my native land i this August, I was looking forward to : experiencing my final entrance into 1 adult society. For three years, I have 1 been considered an adult in every legal definition of the term?eligible to i be drafted and to vote. But now, I could 1 finally sit down at a bar without risk- 1 ing jail time. < Beasley just doing | nit pupiuiai uLux^ To the editor: ( I felt compelled to write a letter to The Gamecock after reading the piece : by Rob Gioielli, "Confederate flag doesn't represent everyone." Governor Beasley was criticized by Mr. Gioielli because he "simply let the 'OINTe Mr .I?AIT 90 'r'::' S?8S9^' .'"1 ^ . - mm^m.; - ... H 1 n't really s stand that Sunday isn't a holy day for everybody, and even if it were, if God ninds drinking, that's between Him md the drinker. < So what are other people's morals loing in our law books? How does moralty become law? Obviously, the lawmakers are moral- 1 y superior to the rest of us. Looking at the ease with which the " nost powerful force in politics, gener- < tl public opinion, can be manipulat- ] id, we see the species into which we rave devolved: sheeple. ] Sheeple need protection from them- I selves. i Are people basically stupid? Let's ] suppose for a moment this is true. It ;he population consists, for the most i Dart, of people incapable of taking care 1 )f themselves, as the evidence most cer- 1 ainly suggests, then are these laws for ;he protection and good of all of soci- i ity? Well, some people are capable of ] naking decisions for themselves?so such laws would be unnecessarily re- 1 strictive for that segment of the popu- ] ation. ( But what about the rest of the popllation, which really is stupid? The 1 lest remedy would be to let them i end for themselves for a few generaions. Humans have evolved to the point ] vhere the only way to go is down, be- s icertainty < For more than two months, Fve been exercising this new freedom, and I have inly one word that can describe it: over . atcu. Maybe it's that I got my first fake [D when I was a sophomore, or that svhen I grow a beard I look like I'm in my late 40s, but buying beer is like getting a quart of milk. Now that I am a full-fledged adult, the privileges seem to be few and far between, and the responsibilities too numerous to mention. Before, I had two major concerns in my daily life: during the week it was where to study, an the weekends it was where to get aeer. Simple, easy and definitely low stress. I still worry about my grades and my social life, but in addition to that, there are my finances, my job and a multitude of other daily chores. Also, somewhere around number 42 on the list, falls the problem of what in the hell [ want to do with my life. When I moved here three years ago, it was probably the most exciting ame in my life. At last I was a free man. Mo curfew, no nagging from my mothar, no threats from my father. The Gamccoc JIJIIIJ. year and major If i elude the author's ssue fade away." Mr. Gioielli felt that < jov. Beasley did this because of an out:ry from voters. I agree with that completely. It has been my understanding that )ur elected officials are supposed to do vhat we as citizens wish. We, as citizens, are the government. I am no genius, but it doesn't take ane to figure out that if the majority of the voters want the flag flying, he should * "The c budget Jim ^ cand ' X : tupid, but a "Well, some people are cz decisions for themselvesbe unnecessarily restrict! r?f tbp nnmilatinn " V/A V?XMVJ.V/AJL? ;ause even the stupid people are re- tell producing. be But perhaps giving people the opportunity and incentive to use their jju brains will move the species forward njQ again, and those who can't keep up won't ^ bold the rest of us back anymore. Before this line of logic gets even more dangerously fascist, I must ask whether it is true that most people are basically stupid. That's what the people in charge ing seem to think. Of course, the next question is, who col put the people in charge in charge? mc This, perhaps, should answer the first question, but I still don't think peo- g0 pie are basically stupid, contrary to grg averwhelming evidence. ^ I think people are basically slack, which is why technology has advanced in as far as it has. m People are intelligent when they bave to be. People look out for them- Co selves all the time?the first sign of in- or i object of co "If I succeed, I'll have to i r ti ^1 _ % _ i lor ail iney ve given me. . myself to blame...but soo nothing to fall back on." I realize now that even though I was technically away from home, I was still ide very dependent on my parents. They to paid all my bills and bailed me out of bei severe credit card debt. I was always all asking them for advice, because I want- ro< ed to know what they thought I should do. ha But now, seven months away ac from complete independence, there is to a voice of doubt in the back of my mind I a that grows louder and louder every day. tie After May 1,1 am completely in control no of my own destiny. And along with total freedom comes total responsibility, bil If I succeed, I'll have to thank my th< parents for all they've given me. If I fail, gu I have only myself to blame. Of course ab it's not that melodramatic, but soon de there will be nothing to fall back on. sci k will try to print all letters. Letters should be 250-300 words and must i student Hand written letters must be personally delivered by the autl telephone number. The Gamecock reserves the right to edit all letter f do all in his power to keep it that way. toe If a majority of the voters didn't iss want it this way, he wouldn't have no backed off the issue in the first place, oli rm 1 1 _1 1 mere nas never Deen a law passea in South Carolina that everyone agreed sit on. "si Not everyone will agree if a lot- w? tery is brought to our state, and not everybody wants the Confederate [flag] flying over the State House. ost is not significant in a of four-and-a-half billion dollars." [ Hodges, gubernatorial idate, on his student loan repayment plan ^ o v ^ z a m \ UtWT ict like it ipable of making -so such laws would ve for that segment 0 ligence: what do I have to do to still alive tomorrow? And, a fact which I find redeems the man species, we come up with ingeius ways to get around rules we don't e. I believe that people are intelligent, t over the millennia of civilization, ; incentive to think has been slowly pped away?possibly due to thinkfs threat to most organized religions. Our law books are on the verge of lapse from the powerful parasite of irality. Laws should tell us how far we may before we begin stepping on othi; they should not tell us how to act ien we're not even there yet. People a democracy get whatever governmt they deserve. Think about it. mments welcome at The Gamecock esstreyer@mindspring. com ncern thank my parents [f I fail, I have only n there will be I have to say that as much as the ;a scares me, it excites me, too. I want get out and see what I can do. I've en in school for most of life. Can I re[y learn anything more in a class3m? Hopefully by the time Dr. Palms nds me that degree, 111 at least have lecent job lined up. I have the chance do whatever I want with my life, and im thankful for all the opportuniis and advantages I've had up until w. In my hands I hold the responsiity for my own success, but I also hold e responsibility for my own failure. I occ fViaf'o o/Viat mflkps mp nprvmis out my current transition to full inpendence. How do I know I won't rew it up? Include full name, phone number, professional title or s hor to the Russell House room 333. E-mail letters must Inor style, libel or space. Names will never be withheld. The point is this: When Gov. Beasley )k an "unpopular stance" on the flag ue, it was unpopular because that is t what the majority of South Carnians wanted. When Gov. Beasley changed his po;ion on the flag issue, he was not a Dineless, vote-mongering coward," he is doing his job as our elected official. * Curtis Hutto Business Freshman *