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_News 'And I named her Elizabeth' Editor’s note-. The Gamecock has in vited several members ofSTudent Gov ernment to “interview” themselves as a means of introduction to the student body on a less formal level, told in third person narrative. This is the second of a series of columns by the members themselves. by Elizabeth Fordham SG Treasurer It will be 22 years ago Dec. 31,1999, when my daughter first came into my life. It is hard to believe, but what a trip it has been to see her grow in so many different ways. To some, she’s your average 21 , year-old, probably seen in Five Points on occasion and always seen at the li brary, I’m sure. But to me, she is some thing so much more. I must admit that there was a point when I didn’t want her to go to USC. Coming irom the small town ot Beaufort and having gone to a small pri vate school, in my eyes she wasn’t go ing to be able to adapt to such a vast uni versity. But what a mistake I made in as suming that, because she has certainly proved me wrong. Elizabeth is what some might call a strong-willed type of person, and I couldn ’t say it better my self. If there’s something she wants to accomplish, she’ll do it. She has the de sire to see good in all, but doesn’t let reality get overlooked. Her heart is tender, and her faith is strong, not only in herself, but in oth ers, too. College has brought about many challenges in her life, but they - haven’t changed her motivation to con quer whatever life throws at her. Don’t get me wrong; although she might seem like she has had it easy, she has had her fair share of ups and downs. I was diagnosed with muscular sclero sis when she was 9, and being a Daddy’s girl has made it hard on her. So who is this girl you might think you know? You might see her in class with her Tri Delta letters on. You might catch this movie buff at the latest movie. You will see her working hard in the Student Gov ernment treasurer’s office You will def initely find her playing with her new puppy or with her favorite overalls on, listening to the Dixie Chicks. You can see her campaigning for r _J Elizabeth Dole, siding behind a boat, writing her favorite poems, or you might see her just hanging out with her friends. No matter what, she isn’t just any girl. With her aspirations for law school and her delight in serving people, I don’t think it would be too far-fetched to say that she reminds me of myself. After all, I’m an attorney who enjoys the po litical arena, as well. If it weren’t for her wonderful fam ily and self-perseverance, she wouldn’t be where she is today. Political parties would split SG by Laura DeWitt Staff Writer Whether you think of yourself as a Democrat or a Republican, Student Gov ernment’s duty is to represent you. But with all the competition and partic ipation that political parties incite in peo ple, some students question why Student Government candidates aren't party-ori ented. would be more likely to vote for a candidate if I knew he or she repre sented my party,” business sophomore Will Schwartz said. Business sophomore Christy Dickhans agreed. “I've never even met my senators, and the only re al officers I know of are [Student Body President] Malik [Husser] and [Vice Pres ident] Brandon [Anderson] because they're president and V.P.,” she said. “But if I knew the person I was voting for had the same political beliefs, I'd actually feel more connected to SG.” Husser said he believes that the main reason SG has never been affiliated with political parties is because it would “cause separation.” He also believes that SG's purpose is to help unify students and bring them together in the manner that best benefits the university as a whole. “The reason I think that SG doesn't and should not deal with political par ties is it defeats the purpose of the ideal university and the student body presi dent position,” Husser said. “It would cause separation of needs and issues that are relevant to the whole student body, whereas the student body president should have all student issues in mind.” Melis sa Fletcher, co-chairman of the SG Sen ate's Student Services Committee, and Leigh Ann Travers, Senate president pro tern, agree with Husser. “SG is a way we improve the uni versity,” Fletcher said. “You should be representing the student body, not a par ty. It would be splitting the university more.” Travers added, “I don't think or ganized parties have anything to do with SG. Affiliating with political parties would discriminate against other stu dents.” However, Husser said he feels that having a party system might get students more involved with Student Govern ment arid increase voter turnout. He said that if candidates did represent a certain party, it could increase interest. “Controversy always increases in terest, and students would want to know what the new drama is in SG,” Husser said Nursing sophomore Kristen Crookes thinks that political parties would defi nitely help SG candidates. “I'm really surprised that SG candi dates don’t run “party” campaigns,"’’Crookes said “I would think they'd get a lot more support by way of votes and money if students could iden tify with them better.” Wfoody Carothers, SG's adviser, does n't think political affiliation would help potential candidates. “I don't think anyone would be elected if they were af filiated,” he said Carothers referred to the SG con stitution, which states that SG acts as an “official representative of the universi ty.” “The purpose of SG is to represent the students, not a party,” Carothers said While Husser believes that having a party system in SG might increase in terest, he agrees with Carothers. "In college, instead of having an oppo nent, you have a colleague who's will ing to promote your ideas as well as his own," Husser said. Husser added that if there were opponents, personal attacks, which he said are the basis of most cam paigns in the political world would start to become more important than the re al issues. "Definitely having [political] parties would prepare one for an outside polit ical career, but who wants to deal with the chaotic, back-stabbing political game before they have to?" Husser said Tally-Ho from page 1 He said his fraternity has not com mitted monetarily to Tally-Ho, though it has been in contact with Seawell. Seawell hopes to keep the Tally-Ho tradition strong, even though the Sea well family is responsible for cutting space in the Tally-Ho lot when they moved their catering business. He said he doesn’t want to see the fraternities go. “I enjoy the Greeks. They are re spectful, and it is a tradition that they tailgate here,” Seawell said. To compensate for the loss of the fraternities, however, he added “a busi ness fraternity” and other student orga nizations to his roster this year. Public relations senior Ellen Smoak said, “No one’s going to go. That’s not the point of Tally-Ho to just mingle with the organizations. I’d rather walk around the stadium to different lots than suffer in the Tally-Ho lot.” “It’s going to be bad,” she said. Seawell is glad other student orga nizations are involved in Tally-Ho this year, but doesn’t want other universities to get preference for space at Tally-Ho. “I’ve allowed other universities in the past to rent out spaces, but I want to keep Tally-Ho USC-oriented. This is their [USC students] parking lot, and they are our first priority,” Seawell said. This year’s average home game will host about half the number of tents (eight to 10) at Tally-Ho than last year’s Uni versity of Georgia-USC game, played at USC, which hosted 17 tents. There were 10 to 12 tents per game last year, which means Seawell al lowed at least five non-USC Greek and non-Greek tents from the visiting uni versity to tailgate there for the Georgia game. Despite the loss of so many Greeks, other fraternity members still see Tally Ho as their home and remain loyal par ticipants to the Carolina heritage that is Tally-Ho. Tau Kappa Epsilon is staying put. “Other guys left because they were looking for a change, something bigger, but Gary [Seawell] has always been noth ing but helpful. The Greeks should not be segregated. That’s why we [Tau Kap SEAWELL see page 4 CAREER OPPORTUNITIES IN: • Management - • Sales • Purchasing • Operations • Finance • Logistics Ferguson has doubled in size every five years since our begin ning in 1953. Today we're the largest U.S. distributor of plumbing products, third in industrial pipe, valves and fit tings, fifth in heating and cooling products - and we're still growing. 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