The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 14, 1999, Page Page 4, Image 4
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Serving the Carolina
EDITORI
Sara LadenheL
?1 ?1_ !_11*
KUU uiuicm,
Kevin Langston, Ass
Emily Streyer, Assu
Jennifer Stanley, Spe
Night libi
hectic co]
In recent r-^??
months, the Divi- BHHHUL
sion of Libraries Operating
and Information Cooper\
Systems has made hour,
a lot of progress in ^ , .
its attempts to H
improve services to ,
students. The hectic
According to students k
George Teriy, vice the need
provost and divi- night Stu
sion dean, the di
vision has received
an additional $10 million to improve
facilities at the Thomas
Cooper Library.
Included will be a renovation
of the library's study areas. Also,
most ot tne liorary s electronic resources
will be completely accessible
online within the next
year. The library also has opened
a remote storage facility with room
for 1.5 million older items, such
as books and microfilm, which will
free up room for the library to acquire
newer ones.
Another option the library is
looking into is extending its hours.
For the past year, it has been
considering keeping just the main
and computer lab levels open late
at night. But according to Terry,
budget and safety considerations
are the two main reasons the library
is currently only open until
midnight.
Women a
1 *!
as puDiicii
NASA, in ef- " ^^ 77
forts to make space HHHm
safe for all human NASA wan
beings, has an- aU-femah
nounced the notion
of having an all-fe
male crew in future BBPT1T3P
missions. NASA - ,
expresses goals of women a
reaching Mars and rightfulp
creating a space Space prog]
station that can asplibli
permanently house
people, and it
wants to study the long-term effects
of space on women. Although
we find the intentions of NASA to
be commendable, we also see this
announcement as yet another publicity
stunt.
An elderly John Glenn returned
to space as a specimen for
studying the effects of space on
older people. Most saw through
this facade and took the mission
for nothing more than a public relations
frenzy for NASA. In recent
years, the importance of JNASA
missions has been more obscure
from the public eye. Television stations
have stopped cutting to live
?lt(5f
Serving tlx' Carolina C<
The Gamecock is the student newspaper of The Inkers
Friday during the fall and spring semesters and five times durin
periods. Opinions expressed in The Gamecock are those of the i
The hoard of Student PuNkations and Communkations is the
the newspaper's parenl organization
The Gamecock
Sara Ladenheim lidilor In Chief Emily Stre)
Rob Glolelll Viewpoints lidilor Kevin Lang
Kenley Young Mews lidilor Rachel Hel
Brad Walters News lidilor Clayton Ka
Brock Vergakls Sfiorts lidilor Michae| sti
Charlie Wallace Sports lidilor K ,
Erin Reed I'ealures lidilor ,,
o?k Katy Evans
Scan Rayford l%Mr> hiiln- I ^encshia (
Matt Ryan Online IMor Ashton Jur
Kristin Frccstate Copy Ikylr Chief Ann Marle
Todd Money Oyn Hdilor Jennifer St;
Rebecca Cronlcan Copy l/itlnr
Student Media
Ellen Parsons Din-dor of Jason Curr
Student Media Kathy Van!
Lee Phlpps Adts-rtisinn Manager Sherry Hoi
Susan King (.'n-aliee Din-dor Carolyn Gr
Susan Barrett Cn-aliie Sereices Erik Collin:
Daniel Brown Cn-aliix- Sereins Jeff Stensla
I
1
iamccock
i Community since 1908
AL BOARD
m, Editor in Chief
Viewpoints Editor
istant Viewpoints Editor
stant Viewpoints Editor
cial Projects Coordinator
nary aids
liege life
=^^?\ Since most of
the circulation staff
r the Thomas are students, the
library 24 recent increase in
? n dn v -the minimum wage
y already costs the li
brary $250,000.
.. And maintaining
lives college student safety
^adpromote the stack levels is
' for a late- a big concern, esdyfacility.
pecially late at
J night.
There are no 24hour
study facilities on campus.
There are study rooms in the
dorms, but anyone who has
lived on campus knows they rarely
offer an ideal study place. And
many off-campus students have
living situations that make the library
the best place to study.
College students live hectic
lives, and often the only time to
do any real studying is late at
night. A late-night library is the
best resource to a student who
needs to get work done but doesn't
need the distractions of the dorm
room.
While .we are encouraged by
the improvements the library is
maki. g, we think the expansion
of library hours should be a priority.
The additional money and
effort it would take for a late-night
library are worth it. And if students
had it, they would use it.
rew serves
ty stunt
shots of the shutIahHHH
ties lifting off into
tS to send an outer space. It hap?
crew into Pens so ?^en an^
^ without drama
' that we simply
don't take interest
, . anymore.
eservetheir So how does
lace in the NASA solve its 611ram,
but not en ratings? It sends
city tools. an all-female crew
? intoouterspace.lt
has never been
done before, and it will surely snag
several front-page headlines in
the process.
Women do deserve their role
in the advancement of the space
program, but not as an advertising
tool. An all-female crew is not
necessary. Perhaps sending more
women on a mission but with men
A1*AWT AC IITAII
Ull U1U UCYVj do VYC11.
You don't need all women to
study the long-term effects of
space. A few will do nicely, and it
will prove to the people that NASA
does in fact care about the health
of its astronauts and not the profitability
of its missions.
imccock ?
immunity since 190S MMyHHMIlMMBMBjMi
;ity of South Carolina and is published Monday, Wednesday and
K the summer with the exception of university holidays and exam
editors or author and not those of Hie University of South Carolina,
publisher of The Gamecock. 11k- Department of Student Media is
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View
The Ga
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"SQJt I
Cobain Historically,
people have misplaced
their priorities, turning
pop icons into undeserving idols.
Itjs scary
KEVIN LANGSTON What^s
columnist scarier is
that you can
see similarities between the two.
If you step back, way back, and look,
you can see a close relation between religion
and rock 'n' roll. For example,
Karl Marx called religion an opiate of
the masses, and Starship said, "We built
this city on rock 'n' roll."
If you were to imagine a world without
religion, you would probably find
people desperately searching for explanation
and security from the unknown.
By the same token, a life without
rock 'n' roll would be Hell. People
wouldn't have been exposed to music's
cutting edge, and they'd be desperate
for a radical change from big
band and doo-wop.
For Jesus and Cobain, many likenesses
can be seen just through mere
appearance. Both Christ and Cobain
had long hair. Now, I'm not an expert
Foreign cul
I've come to the conclusion that things
we don't fully understand are
thought of as "cool." It also helps if
they origi
nate from a
far-off, Middle
Eastern
country or
are hunrl
rorl o nf
U1 VUO KJ X
years old.
Art, literature
and
popular
Western culKATY
EVANS ture are
columnist drawing
more from
Eastern influences these days.
The first example is mehndi. For
those of you not acquainted with the
art of mehndi, Madonna had it inscribed
all over her hands in the video for
"Frozen." The mehndi craze hit England
last year, and I'm told it's growing
in popularity here, too.
The practice of mehndi tattooing
has been performed for generations in
the Middle East, India and Pakistan.
Brides are tattooed on their hands, feet,
insides of their arms and up their shins
mnst nftpn hpfnrp thpir wpHHinp Oth
er female members of the bridal party
Sports poll done
in poor taste
To the Editor;
After reading the questions in the
1999 Gamecock Sports Cornwallis
Awards Poll, I felt compelled to respond
point
imecock
JT5
bEATH BY
smells llli
on biblical hygiene, but I would expect
Christ's hair to be quite mangled
and nappy. We've all seen pictures of
Cobain, and I seriously doubt he ever
picked up a bottle of shampoo or a brush.
Jesus wasn't too much into fashion,
as he was usually garbed in nothing
but a robe. Although this look was not
too fancy, it was the hip thing to
wear. Cobain also tapped into the realm
of fashion. He helped push the grunge
look to the fashion forefront. He wore
flannel, which was much like Christ's
loose-fitting sackcloth.
Not only did the appearances of both
Jesus and Cobain tie them together,
but their actions also generated similarities.
For example, both preached
"come as you are," although Christ didn't
make a music video to get this idea
across. Some say Cobain resurrected
rock 'n' roll with his "alternative" sound,
and Christ supposedly resurrected
Lazarus with his omnipotent power.
Cobain's act of saving rock 'n' roll is
probably more admirable than Christ's
act of saving some guy. Both Cobain
and Jesus were acclaimed for leading
a revolution against the mainstream.
Jesus popularized Christianity, and
Cobain popularized "grunge rock." Although
Christianity has had more
longevity than "grunge," both were highly
popular and have paved the way
for millions of imitators. For Cobain, it
was Eddie Vedder, and for Christ, it
was David Koresh.
Cobain and Christ are now both
revered long after their untimeley demistures
provic
can be painted, too, but it's not as intricate.
The tattoos are painted with a
henna mix and wear off as the skin renews
itself.
To people in India and Pakistan,
this time-honored tradition is a way of
life. In Europe and America, we have
taken their rituals, their culture, their
traditional ways of life and commercialized
them, thus diluting them.
Mehndi is not the only example; the
whole idea of Indian dress was revived
last spasnn in F.npland T Hnn't. know
o ?
if it was big over here, but the clothes
shop I work for in England had a lot
of dresses and skirts coming in that
were based on the sari.
Chinese symbol tattoos are also
growing in popularity, but why do so
many people like them? It's back to the
idea of buying into another culture.
Having a Chinese tattoo that means
"peace" is far more mystical than having
the actual English word tattooed
on your body.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing,
but it does take something away from
the original idea. What would people
frnm PViina cav if know Wpctorn.
ers were walking around with their
everyday words temporarily stuck on
various body parts, and what do Indians
think of Westerners wearing saris?
Letters to the editor or guest columns are
columns should lx- an opinion piece of ab<
if a student. Handwritten submissions must
numlx-r for confirmation. The Gamecock
required for guest columnist and can lx- pr
to one of your categories: Worst Impersonation
of an Athlete.
Despite our basketball's disappointing
season, that is no reason to
criticize one of the game's hardest workers
and best attitudes: Hagen Rouse.
He consistently gave everything of himself
both on and off the court. As a team
captain, Hagen was continuously
QUC
"W(
of 1
Sai
f
WE WlLI
=? PEKS/S
UNTIL \a
^^JPRESTA/i
;e the Hoi
"Cobain's act of savii
probably more admi
act of saving some g
es. Both died before their primes, and
many say neither man was allowed to
live up to his full potential.
Cobain lives on in the hearts of all
fans who cheered on the rebellious fury
of the genre he helped start. Christ lives
on in the Bible, several churches and
places of worship. The apostles and
teachers of Christianity have helped to
spread the word of Christ throughout
history, and this has helped to establish
Christ's teachings as somewhat
of a legacy. Dave Grohl, former drummer
for Nirvana and current singer for
The Foo Fighters, is a makeshift
apostle for Cobain's cause, bringing the
same type of rock Cobain would have
liked to millions of fans.
Both Jesus and Cobain have had
songs written about them. Several
hymns celebrate the teachings of Christ,
while groups like R.E.M. and For Squirrels
wrote songs about Cobain.
Furthermore, live performances will
immortalize Cobain and Christ. Fans
were shewn a deeper side to Cobain
when Nirvana's "Unplugged" show aired
on MTV. This removed Cobain from the
depths of obscurity and allowed fans to
see his true worth. Similarly, who could
ever forget Christ's sermon on Mount
le fashional
"The point I'm trying
anything from far a\
our own culture is 'c
The point I'm trying to make is that
anything from far away that is unlike
our own culture is "cool." Art and culture
from Oriental countries are very
"in vogue" at the moment, and this, I
think, is due to the likes of celebrities,
such as Madonna.
Eastern culture seems to be viewed
by Westerners as a way to look cool. I'm
not saying that some people are not genuinely
interested in Eastern culture,
but a lot of people, especially in England,
seem to be stealing pieces of culture
and misusing them.
Of course, I'm not immune to the
whole craze. The other day, I bought
some temporary tattoos of Chinese symbols.
Each one means something different,
such as "friend," "peace" or "love,"
but how do I know what they really
mean? They might be genuine symbols,
but the point is, "Who's to know?"
I could be walking around with some
complete gobbledygook on my shoulder
blade, but I'll never know unless I take
welcome from all members of the Carolina com
out 600-700 words. Both must include name, pho
lx' personally delivered to Russell House room
reserves the right to edit for libel, style and sp;
ovided by the submitter.Call 777-7726 for more it
praised publicly for his attitude, work
ethic and leadership by coach Eddie
Fogler. In case you were wondering, it
is quite an honor for your teammates
to elect a junior as a captain on a team
with five seniors.
Given the self-centered nature of
many college athletes today, it is in my
opinion we need more players like Ha
)TE, UNQUOTE
* must remember that for all
their possibilities, computers
aren't God."
muel DuBois Cook, educator
and civil rights activist
Wednesday, April 14,1999
^1 i ? o
u? |
h 1
J = |
ly Spirit
ag rock 'n' roll is
irable than Christ's
uy."
Sinai? That basically defined him as
the Messiah for the human race. Sure,
he didn't have the luxury of state-ofthe-art
sound equipment to project his
voice, and he couldn't get his sermon
made into a successful album, but he
did well with what he had.
Finally, Cobain and Jesus are good
marketing tools. With the growing popularity
of "What Would Jesus Do?"
bracelets and merchandise, Jesus has
become as profitable as Michael Jordan.
Cobain, on the other hand, has
graced the cover of many magazines
and the fronts of many shirts. He has
been celebrated more after his death
than he was in life, as is the case with
Christ.
Realizing that you can easily compare
Jesus with Cobain helps explain
how we place too much importance on
trivial accomplishments. Sure, Cobain
made rock 'n' roll fun again, but who
cares? Rock 'n' roll is more or less selfsufficient.
Religion, on the other hand,
needs leaders to push it to the masses.
Mentioning Cobain and Jesus in the
same breath already gives Cobain too
much credit than he deserves. But it is
still funny to imagine there being a resemblance
between the two.
)le crazes
I to make is that
ray that is unlike
ool.'"
the time to go to the library and find a
book on Chinese writing. But my point
is, if it looks good, who cares what it
means?
Eastern culture is not the only thing
we look up to. Art and literature also
provide good examples of how we bow
to things painted or written hundreds
of years ago. There's a big Shakespeare
revival at the moment, what with
"Shakespeare in Love," "Hamlet" and
"Romeo and Juliet."
So why do we look with awe upon
things we don't understand? Maybe
we're fed up with the commercialized
society we live in and the superficiality
of it all. Maybe we reach out to the
cultures of far-off countries in the hope
that we'll find enlightenment.
I think it's a positive thing when
people want to find out more about other
cultures, about history, literature
and art. But do we do it just because
we think it's cool?
munity. Letters should be 250-300 words. Guest
me number, professional title or year and major,
333- E-mail submissions must include telephone
ice. Names will never Ix* withheld. Photos are
gen Rouse. Until you put your heart into
a team for four years, I suggest your
writers stick with subjects on which
their ignorance isn't so profound!
Shelly Hogan
Political Science Senior