Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

E-MAIL!_ QUOTE, UNQUOTE 3, IS_ Take out all your frustra- T “When I look at life a tions and misgivings on us. ' J what I’m supposed t V tp\y/po \ttq wanllonamelhed GCKVIEWS@SC.EDU y JL V_^/ L 1 A Vj RyUM Guerra’ Page 10A < The Gamecock Friday, August 13, me Gamecock Serving the Carolina Community since 1908 EDITORIAL BOARD Brad Walters, Editor in Chief Kevin Langston, Viewpoints Editor Emily Streyer, Features Editor Kenley Young, Copy Desk Chief New specialty housing an idea worth trying The jury’s still out on the specialty housing taking effect this fall. For years, student athletes, Honors students, international students and Preston Residential College students have been able to live together based on their common interests. This year, special housing is offered to first year pre-med and first-year engineering students. The proponents for specialty housing, no matter what its nature, always say the same thing: It’s beneficial for students to live with students who have the same interests. It seems particularly relevant in these cases: engineering is one of the hardest majors, and the numerous lab sciences of the pre-med core make welcome the extra support from others going through it, especially in the first year. On the other hand, critics say students in the same major don’t need to live with each other to meet; they’re taking the same classes, especially in the first year. Many students, such as those who come out of Maxcy (the Honors freshman housing), say that when they stopped living in specialty housing, (hey realized ho\fr isolated they had become. They knew only students like themselves because most of their time was spent in the dorm or in class; they didn’t meet people outside their specialty housing group. The pre-med and engineering students especially are at risk for their majors becoming their lives; because of the demanding coursework, they frequently have less time for extracirricular activities, and classes and dorm life soon take up all their time. Specialty housing, however, is springing up across the country, and we think the idea is certainly worth a try. A caveat, however, to those who have chosen the pre-med or engineering housing: Get involved on campus; join a student organization or an intramural athletic team. Even those most dedicated to their fields will bum out without a breath of non-engineering or non-pre-med air. The newpre-med and first-year engineering specialty housing. It could help out in the initial years, but don’t let your course bum you out. ‘live on the edge’ a good rule for parking 1998-1999 was the year of the lost parking space, and it might get worse this year before it gets better. With that in mind, The Gamecock recommends getting used to parking your car on the campus perimeter, for on campus and commuting students alike, unless you have reserved a space in one of USC’s six parking garages. Last year, USC lost more than 400 parking spaces, mostly to make room for construction of the South Quadrangle dormitory and the Strom Thurmond Health and Wellness Center. And with USC’s master plan for campus development calling for a I06S of metered parking spaces near Russell House in the next couple of years to make room for more green space, the best way to avoid headaches this year is to park away from the main campus. The time it takes to walk or take the Shuttlecock to class is comparable to the time it would take to find a proximate space during the day. The cheapest parking on campus, which also happens to be the most likely place to find an available space, is near Bates House and the Carolina Coliseum. Getting a permit to park there costs $20, a meager sum when compared to the $160 to park in a garage. Anything closer to campus will typically be swallowed by those who take 8 a.m. classes (those of you with a sunrise commute, take heart). Sometime this school year, the university is supposed to buy the old BellSouth Building; the purchase will add hundreds ot new spaces, but they 11 be even farther away thorn campus than ever. So go ahead and revolve your campus commute around the fact that perimeter parking is the way of the future at USC. It’s human nature for most of us to want to park as close to where we’re going as possible, but if the campus is to become more pleasing to the eye, it means the parking has to go. Students have complained about parking problems on large urban campuses across the counhy for decades, and history has taught us that complaining about this problem will do little good. Realize instead that, in an urban city, parking is always going to be an inconvenience — whether to your pocketbook or your time, or possibly both — and get used to doing a lot of walking. Uie0amecock Scoring lhc> Carolina Community since 190N The Gamecock is the student newspaper of The University of South Carolina and is published Monday, Wednesday and Friday during the fall and spring semesters and eight times during the summer with the exception of university holidays and exam periods. Opinions expressed in The Gamecock are those of the editors or author and not those of The University of South Carolina. The Board of Student Publications and Communications is the publisher of The Gamecock. The Department of Student Media is the newspaper's parent organization. I =□ The Gamecock Brad Walters EdUor in Chief Todd Money Sfxtrts Editor Clayton Kale News Editor Jeff Romlg Sjxjrts Editor Kevin Langston Vieujmints Editor Kenley Young Copy /k’sk Chief Emily Streyer Features Editor Ashton June Photo Editor Student Media Ellen Parsons Director of Kris Black Creative Services Student Media Sherry Holmes Classified Manager Lee Phipps Adtxrlisin/t Manager Carolyn Griffin Easiness Manager Susan King Creatin' Director Erik Collins Eacuity Advisor I "• I All area codes are 803 Editor 777-3914 RckcttQsc.etlu Viewpoints 777-7726 lickrkw'sQsc.vdu News 777-7726 f>iktn'us@sc.cdn Etc. 777-7726 fickt'lcdsc .(•(In Sports 777-7182 XcksjxrtsQsc.idu Online 777-2833 Advertising 777-3888 Classified 777-118-1 lax 777-6482 Office 777-3888 college press exchange Woodstock riots strike fear for upcoming Y2K “It’s this absurdity, this highly illogical act, that fuels my fears for the highly anticipated year 2000.” Many people have begun to wonder what to expect of this shining new millennium that is rapidly approaching. The arrival of the “00” heralds the beginning of something unknown, something special and something dangerous. And with the constant coverage of the Y2K problem and the religious predictions that call for the end of the world (but haven’t they done that every New Year?), there is a definite reason for the fear and wonderment that accompanies this fateful date. However, a rather disturbing event recently has taken place that has brought to my attention an appalling reality that could take place on New Year’s Eve. For those of you wondering what it is I’m talking about, it’s nothing other than the recently resurrected Woodstock festival. And I’m not going to bring up the commercial fakeness that has now scarred this once historic pop culture achievement — that’s a whole other column. What completely shocked and disturbed me was the rampant destruction and chaos that began as the show winded down late into the evening. People began to set fires, raid venders and steal whatever they could, causing mass destruction to the area and people that surrounded them. It made absolutely no sense at all! No reason was valid enough to cause this insanity. I believe the reason given by most concertgoers was the high cost of food and beverages. Food and beverages! You mean to tell me you paid more than $100 for a concert ticket in which most of the artists played for free, and you didn’t expect to pay inflated prices for food? It’s pretty much a safe bet that no matter what the cost of a ticket is, the food and drinks available at this event are going to be more costly in contrast to what you paid for the ticket. This is easily seen whenever you go to the movies, a sporting event and especially concerts. It’s something you’ve got to be prepared for. These people aren’t in it to provide to the masses. If you want it, you’re gonna have to pay for it. ‘Nufif said. So rioting for this reason is absolutely preposterous. It’s this absurdity, this highly illogical act, that fuels my fears for the highly anticipated year 2000. If people can find something this trivial as reason enough to riot, losing all signs of human civility and decency, just imagine all the fears and insecurities the shadow of 2000 could cause. It’s an extremely scary scenario, one that everyone needs to think about sooner than when you’re half passed out at 11:58 p.m. December 31. Remember that this is more than just an excuse to get drunk and party. This is and will be a major mark in the history books. What we do on this night will have consequences that will resound for many years to come. Do we want it to say that we could find nothing better to do during our first night in a new century than cause mass destruction and hysteria? Or do we want to have a , celebration of the fantastic possibility, of life in this great country. Le>t’smot make this New Year a sad reminder of the numerous faults that mankind has, but a sign of the many achievements we’ve accomplished. The year 2000 is definitely something to think about with a sense of awe and excitement But don’t let this excitement cause us to forget that this is really just a small day in the grand scheme of things. And while I have no idea what is going to happen at 11:59.59 p.m., Tm looking forward to the incredible opportunites that await all of us in this new century. P.S. — Be sure to take some Tylenol with you. I get the feeling we’re all going to need it. L Students should shop around for books “I’ll be happy to give money to USC’s scholarship programs when I graduate, but now’s not the right time.” As an interdisciplinary major, I dread buying books every semester. I’ve developed a morbid - curiosity as to just how much they want this time for a brand spanking new-edition of a lab science text. But buyback EMILY STREYER co^nist_ Even though the sales clerks are usually nice, I can’t help feeling that Fm secretly being laughed at: “Ha! Your brand-new organic chemistry lab manual, the one that just came out in the third edition, costing $75, is now worth $25!” Huh? What happened to 50 percent? It seems that University Bookstore has a rule: They don’t give you the full buyback price ($38.25 in my case) in the summer. (That’s right, it would be worth more if I waited for it to be a semester older.) The reason, according to a manager, is that University Bookstore places its orders for summer and fall books at the same time, so when you sell back a book at the end of summer, it might not need it by that time. (Never mind that summer books are sold in summer, after spring buyback — you would expect the pool to stay constant or even be depleted, as in the case of my organic chemistry lecture text, which I’m keeping.) I realize that any store has to be wary of ordering stock it can’t sell. Maybe it’s just my bad luck, but I keep thinking of the number of times University Bookstore, in particular, has not had the book I needed — as often as not, generally. I’m not knocking the book buyback system. I’ve attended a school with virtually no organized buyback in place; USC students are fortunate to have something organized and guaranteed, and the alternative is selling our own books. Selling books yourself creates a mutually beneficial deal — you get more than the bookstore would pay, the next student pays less than the bookstore would ask — but this is a pain. The extra dollars we forgo through the bookstores’ buyback systems are for the convenience of not having to do it ourselves. But after snatching my lab text back from the counter (and an hour later getting my book’s worth elsewhere), I wondered once again, as I have several times during my undergraduate years here, why is it again that I was in University Bookstore? Because it’s in my head as the “main” bookstore. You have to look around to realize that you have other options. (Isn’t there a lesson here?) As a freshman, I didn’t immediately realize that three other bookstores were in the immediate vicinity, and it wasn’t until even later that I realized that the economics of geographic proximity, in this case, didn’t mean that all the bookstores sold the same book for the same price University Bookstore, in the Russell House, occupies prime real estate and receives special USC advertising; for example, it’s the only bookstore listed in the USC telephone directory under “Bookstore” — Addam’s, S.C. and Carolina’s Bookstores all had to take out ads in the yellow-page section. Tbe reason for these special considerations is because an undisclosed percentage of sales is returned to USC for use of scholarships. A good cause in many ways, certainly, but I wonder a little bit about just hoy good an idea getting students, already strapped for cash, to pay for other students’ tuition, really is. Many students pay for books themselves. As a scholarship recipient myself, I realize how important others’ generosity has been to my education, but, at the same time, when I throw down $200 for books for one course, it doesn’t make me feel warm inside to know that I’m helping to pay the way for another student. Fll be happy to give money to USC’s scholarship programs when I graduate and find a job, but now’s not the right time. What’s the lesson here? Simple: Know what you’re paying for, y011 niight decide to shop around. Viewpoints welcomes everyone back to campus. Want to get your opinion out this fall? Write a letter to the editor!