Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Quote, Unquote ‘There should be more green space, but there should also be more parking.’ Lynette Thompson, political science sophomore Monday, August 23,1999 Whc (Smccock Serving the Carolina Community since 1Q08 * Editorial Board Sara Ladenheim • Editor in Chief Kenley Yqung • Managing Editor Emily Streyer • Viewpoints Editor Brad Walters • Editorial Contributor G.W. Bush needs to admit past mistakes When the brave journalist from The Dallas Morning News broached the topic of background checks to probable presidential candidate George W. Bush, no one knew whether the rumors of past “recreational” drug use were true. While the hype surrounding the possible Republican Party nominee’s past drug use has mostly been limited to the Washington rumor mill, this single question put the issue onto the national news circuit. Although he initially chose not to answer the ques don, Bush later said he would pass any background check that would be required of any potential employee in his White House. That response put him between a rock and a hard place. Before, Bush explained that any admission of guilt or inno cence would reflect negatively on his daughters, whom he wants to protect. Before the News question, Bush countered questions regarding his past with the response, “I do not want to itemize my mistakes for my kids,” or said he would not dignify such a question with an answer. A thorough Washington Post investigation has yielded no con crete evidence pointing to Bush’s alleged drug use, but his refusal to admit or deny his own participation continues to haunt him at every press junket. Answering the question now would benefit his run for the office more than waiting until the primary season be gins. The standard of today’s candidates is to expect these types of questions regarding their pasts. In earlier political times, candi dates could expect journalists to leave personal skeletons in the closet. For Bush to have entered the race with the expectation that he could avoid the subject of what he did 30 years ago is unre alistic and naive. Unfortunately, closet-doors-open is the way a major national race is run nowadays - and locked closet doors im ply guilt. The sooner Bush realizes this, the better for him and those who support his candidacy. More can be done to help disabled nother semester has started, and handicapped access at USC is still as awkward and ineffectual as it’s always been. Hand icapped parking (much like campus parking of any kind) is getting harder to find, many of the wheelchair ramps are in disre pair and are too narrow for maneuvering, and the automatic doors on campus rarely work properly and open too slowly. Columbia, with all of its hills, dips and valleys, is a geographi cally daunting city for anyone to navigate. And now that classes are underway, handicapped access must compete with other stu dent concerns for administrative attention, even though USC’s parking lots, ramps and doorways will be more congested than ever with pedestrian traffic. USC repaved the Vulture Lot this summer to make it safer for pedestrian use, according to Director of Student Life Jerry Brewer, and that might temporarily help reduce access and congestion problems. But university officials must follow up this progress by addressing other campus access issues and showing that USC cares enough to go out of its way to provide for the safety and conve nience of its students. USC needs to improve the conditions of its handicapped-access facilities, not only for the handicapped, but also for any person who needs a helping hand. About Us 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 nine 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. The Gamecock is supported in part by student activities fees. Adoress The Gamecock The Gamecock Sara Ladenheim Will Gillaspy 1400 Greene Street Editor in Chief Online Editor Columbia, SC 29208 Kenley Young Corey Ford Offices on third floor of the Russell House. Managing Editor Asst.Viewpoints Emily Streyer Editor Student Media Area code 803 Viewpoints Editor Ann Marie Miani Advertising 777-3888 Kevin Langston Asst. Etc. Editor Classified 777-1184 Brock Vergakis Jared Kelowitz Fax 777-6482 News Editors Chris Yoder Office 777-3888 Clayton Kale Asst. Sports Editor Gamecock Area code 803 Assoc,ate News Editor Case, Williams c... , . 777 -aoi a Kristin Freestate Asst.On-Une Editor Editor gcked0sc.edu 777-3914 News gcknews0sc.edu 777-7726 “"“‘j Viewpoints gckv,ews0sc.edu 777-7181 «**el Helwig TaZ l Etc gcketc0sc.edu 777-3913 Brad Walters Sports icksports0sc.edu 777-7182 Todd Money C^,cs Copy Editor. Online www.gamecock.sc.edu 777-2833 Sports Editor Editorial Contributor Sean Ravford MacKenzie Craven Submission Policy Photo Editor David Cloninger Letters to the editor or guest columns are wel- R°b Lindsey j**J*'jP ®M^1# come from all members of the Carolina community. Encore Editor Cha »e a e Letters should be 250-300 words. Cues, columns Sen,or Water, should be an opinion piece of about 600-700 words. ^ ' Both must include name, phone number, profes- T™0^*7 MEOiA sional title or year and major, if a student. Handwritten JJJ" Par*>ns J'S . submissions must be personally delivered to Russell Sludent Medi3 Creative Services House room 333. E-mail submissions mus. include ^ phipp5 Sherry Holmes telephone number for confirmation. Advertising Manager Classified Manager The Gamecock reserves the right to edit for libel. Susan Kjng Carolyn Griffin style and space. Anonymous letters will not be pub- Creative Services Business Manager lished. Photos are required for guest columnist and can Director Erik Collins be provided by the submitter. Betsy Martin Faculty Advisor Call 777-7726 for more information. Julie Burnett College Press Exchange / wiws,\ PROPERTY . HS&&N fcDC®FE6H)RE ITHINK , YOULL APPRECIfiJE, nennyork REAUY National Issues Sex sells even unsexy things Sex. After how ever many centuries of human history, it remains the ulti mate marketing strategy for the cor porate world. And why the hell not? After all, it’s an in tegral part of the consumer world’s oldest profession. For the past half century, it’s been used to sell every thing from beer to bras to shampoo to, crvft HrinL'c Anri af. ter almost 20 years of my own history, I’ve accepted it, and I’ve even learned to love it. Calvin Klein’s attempt to sell cologne and underwear by photographing a naked girl on a swing was a stroke of sheer ad vertising genius. And if 1 thought for one minute that drinking a certain type of beer would make me appealing to the Swedish Bikini Team, I’d drink that beer. And let’s face it: The “Victoria’s Secret” periodical has become as important for some men as it has for most women. It’s as reveal ing as the swimsuit edition of Sports Illus trated, and both are equally packed with pictures of a scantily-clad Heidi Klum. There are days when I wish my life were a Pantene Pro-V commercial, or even a Lady Foot Locker commercial, a world in which I could frolic on the beaches with Jennifer Lopez, Heather Locklear and Halle Berry as they impulsively toss their gor geous locks in super-slow motion and say, “You’re worth it, baby.” But the times, they are a-changin’. Something’s been happening in the latter half of this decade. As we languidly extend our reach toward the new millennium, the ad world is spinning perilously close to the edge, out of control and drunk behind the wheel on its own hormones, with a poor ly mixed margarita of testosterone and es trogen clinched firmly between its thumb and its forefinger. That’s right. It’s not just lingerie and laeer anymore; ad folks are using sex to sell everything. You name it, they shame it. Credit card companies have pretty girls shaking their booties and carrying credit cards in their back pockets, as loud music plays; car companies have pretty girls ma neuvering sedans and station wagons around obstacle courses, as loud music plays; pota to chip companies have pretty girls shak ing their booties and banging on fake drums, as loud music plays; even long distance companies have pretty girls shaking their booties as they walk down the street, also while loud music plays. I mean, I always kind of understood that perfume was sensuous. I assumed it was a given. But food products and non perishable items have never done anything for my libido. Now, I’m sure that Visa, Volkswagen, Pringles and Sprint are sexy companies in their own ways. And if they want to use beautiful women in tight shirts and/or biki nis to sell their products, I say, “hell yeah.” But when advertisers have to use sex to sell Uncle Ben’s rice, well, it’s safe to say that things have gotten a bit ridiculous. You heard me. Rice. According to the new Uncle Ben’s commercial, even though their rice can be made in about six min utes, you can still have time for a quickie before the microwave bell goes off. Is nothing sacred? There’s nothing sexy, nothing remotely erotic at all, about old Uncle Ben and his crappy instant rice. Rice does not make me homy, baby, and noth ing the Uncle Ben’s ad team says about it can make me change my mind - not even the part'about quickies. Sex and commerce have always been bedfellows, so to speak, but the affair’s nev er been this public. It’s gotten so bad, in fact, that I have something that very close ly resembles admiration for people like Hugh Hefner and Larry Flynt, dirty old men who are nevertheless honest enough to use sex to sell only sex and nothing more. Plus, Hefner at least gets quality interviews with quality stars, and Flynt helps expose congressional perverts. Yep. I could almost admire those guys. But things are only going to get more sexually saturated. We’re lumbering to ward the very apex of the Information Age, and, through the power of the almighty In ternet, computer geeks and Web weirdos everywhere are already starting to incul cate relatively fresh advertising methods such as push technology (junk e-mail) in to the corporate advertising agenda. Pret ty soon, you’ll be getting e-mails asking you to try www.UncleBens.com - “Eat it in the afterglow.” Yes, corporate America, sex sells. And yes, consumer America, we’re buying. I, for one, am grateful for it. How else am I going to know what shampoo to use? Kenley Young is a weekly columnist. He can be reached by via The Gamecock at: gckviews@sc.edu Letters Anti-NRA column cites misleading statistics To the Editor Mr. Paul Blake’s highly biased opin ions of the NRA [“NRA offers solution to roommate problems,” Aug. 19] are un acceptable. In addition to this, Mr. Blake displays a profound lack of knowl edge of what he calls “Gun Facts”. Mr. Blake fails to realize that the Na tional Rifle Association mostly comprises good-hearted, law-abiding citizens, and is more than just an organization that fights to preserve the Constitutional right to keep and bear arms. The NRA has donated millions of dol lars and countless man hours to teach the children of our nation the important les son of dealing with firearms. The Eddie Eagle Program specifically teaches them that if they find a gun, 1) Stop! 2) Don’t touch! 3) Leave the room! 4) Go tell an adult! Mr. Blake also fails to point out that the NRA gives scholarships, as well as low interest loans, to students who are in need of financial aid. The NRA also fights many hard battles to keep violent offenders in prison If I may be so bold to ask, what has Mr. Blake done for this nation of ours? Now, on to Mr. Blake’s so-called “facts.” HiS first “fact” brings up the “43 times as likely to kill a family member than an assailant” misnomer of Dr. Arthur Kellerman. kellerman’s studies are based on reverse causation and have been proven flawed so many times that Congress slashed the budget of the Center for Disease Con trol by millions of dollars for using such fallacious data. Mr. Blake’s statement of the NRA op posing legislation to automatic weapons is --i ■ also full of holes. First of all, Mr. Blake must realize that there are already 26,000+ firearms restriction laws in this nation. Adding more redundant, useless laws is just a waste of taxpayers’ money. Mr. Blake also fails to realize that there has not been a single incident in the last 30+ years where a lawfully owned, fully automatic weapon was used in the commission of a crime. All such fully automatic weapons that were used were those smuggled in the U.S. by illegal arms dealers. The statement of NRA members hav ing guns while riding in airplanes is also quite flawed. In case Mr. Blake did not know, for a passenger to have a firearm on the plane, it must be in a locked contain er in a locked suitcase, and stored in the cargo hold area. Secondly, the only ones who are exempt from this policy are cer tain law enforcement agents, such as a U.S. Marshall. I honestly hope that Mr. Blake does not try to make any such wise cracks in an airport, as he can be arrested and detained for a significant time. Mr. Blake should do some research on this subject that he appears to know very little about, as he is relying on outdated, not to mention debunked, research and flat-out prevarications. RonaldS. Shin Chemistry and Biochemistry Graduate Student To the Editor I read Paul Blake’s column with in terest, digust and horror. If he had bothered to do any research, then he would have learned that the study that says that “people who keep guns are 43 times more likely to kill family mem bers” was not conducted in the scientific method. ♦ It has been proven scientifically that concealed, carried weapon laws reduce crime. The Second Amendment reads, “A well-regulated militia.” [sic] Now, if he talked to a Constitutional scholar, he would leant that the “militia” does not refer to the National Guard or Reserve Forces of the U.S. military, but to the gun-owning citizens. Early in American history, be fore we had a Constitution and were sim ply a confederacy of states, we also had no standing army. So the militia was called every time the government needed fire power. This milita consisted of gun-own ing males. It is from that that the term “well-regulated militia” comes. Mr. Blake states that foreign cities have much lower crime rates. There are three reasons why their crime rates (in mur der) are lower. One: American culture is about vio lence. That is not so in Europe. Two: The police in every Western Eu ropean state have the right to enter any dwelling and search any vehicle, or detain any person that might be criminally active. Three: Most of Europe has mandato ry military service. This means that the population is more disciplined and more schooled in the following of laws, orders and regulations. America has a spirit of rebellion. It is what made us free, and it is what has kept us that way. Mr. Blake’s ignorant, simply not tnte and absolutely undefendable com ments, suggestions and statements have forever smeared The Gamecock with his reputation. Shame on him for trying to destroy what makes us free. Thomas Ebyl Criminal Justice Freshman Global Issues Humans pests in own ways Wear it! Wear it! Wear it!” These were my words as I smashed a bold cockroach into a pestilent pate. The sheer au dacity of that cockroach! It flew . , right into the TV . DtPresso screen, recovered and then crawled 's a biweekly around on top of columnist. He the television. can be reached With an eye on via The the bug and anoth- Gamecock at: er on the tube, my gckviews@sc.edu hands blindly groped for a proper smashing utensil. Af ter grasping socks, a fork, my coffee mug and the remote control, I finally got my paws on a shoe. Slowly rising to my feet so as not to alarm the precocious insect, I made my way to the set. The little bugger managed to give a good run, but it was sole smear in the end. As the harsh judgment of my shoe came down like the gavel of a Texan judge, I thought to myself, “If the shoe fits...” and then let forth my “wear it!” chant. When the buglust was through, I wiped the goo off with a paper towel. While wiping, I tried to figure out exactly what made me react so zealously at the sight of the bug. I came to a revelation, one so amazing that I smiled with titilla tion: I know what sharks are thinking. Imagine it - you’re swimming to your kitchen: the beach. You aren’t ex actly sure what you’d like. Maybe a seal would do, or perhaps fish. Maybe, if you’re lucky, you’ll run into that arthritic dolphin you’ve heard about. Instead, you get there and find the place swarming with disgusting little creatures with more digits than any sea creature has a right to have. At the sight of you, they all scurry away to places you can’t reach. You leave, disgusted. After all, even if there is any food around, they’ve probably be fouled it. With the beach option eliminated, you decide to go out to eat. Heading for the open waters of the ocean, you keep an eye out for something that interests you. Unfortunately, the sea is teeming with floating nests today. They leave a trail of oily filth, polluting the water you breathe. The water is fouled, and you no tice that they’re dumping trash and ani mal parts, as well. Living space that once was prime becomes unbearable with the pests’ filth. Even worse, they’re overrun ning your kind. Why is this happening? You’re bigger, faster, stronger and have other superiorities such as electromagnet ic sensory organs and immunity to can cer. This doesn’t matter, though, because they’re increasing at a greater rate and are getting the better of sharks everywhere. The shark you mated with last week was dragged into one of their floating nests and tossed back out frnless and slowly bleeding to death. It’s a hopeless struggle. In despair, you bite the first swimming primate you see, filling the water (and your mouth) with its rank blood. It’s a fu tile gesture because there is no way you could wipe them all out. You just have to face the fact that, one day, they’ll scut tle over your corpse without a care. With the pesticidal act finished and the unsavory cleanup nearing completion, my head dizzied. Not only did I come to know what goes through the heads of sharks, but I also saw that I was no differ ent from that pulp being wiped from the bottom of my shoe. I’m a buzzing little animal - pest to many, companion and consort to some, consumer of the spoils of the Earth. We all are. My idea isn’t a new one; it’s not profound, and I must admit that it’s a bit silly. It is, however, a good thought to cycle through your head when you find yourself futilely raising your arm in anger at any passing arthro pods. I-1 Think your opinion needs to be heard? Send us a guest column. Call 777-7726 or come by Russell House 333 for more information.