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Quote, Unquote ‘People are starting to realize that [Latinos] can do as well, and they are opening a lot of people’s eyes.’ Edirel Susanna, president of SALA fflte (Saimock Editorial Board Sara Ladenheim • Editor in Chief Kenley Young • Managing Editor Emily Streyer • Viewpoints Editor Corey Ford • Assistant Viewpoints Editor Brad Walters • Editorial Contributor Kiki McCormick • Editorial Contributor Master Plan needs more student input hen USC first drew up its Master Plan for campus devel opment in 1993, a student committee was formed to gauge the student body’s opinion on the changes that were going to take place. Student interest at the time was minimal, though, so the plan wasn’t much changed from the administrators’ original vision. Almost eight years later, the Master Plan is creeping along, but it’s been fine-tuned so much from how it was originally drawn out that we think it’s time for administrators to once again ask students what they think about the planned changes and make adjustments as necessary. For instance, in the plans for the Strom Thurmond Fitness and Wellness Center, the powers that be seem to have forgotten that virtually all on-campus students will have to cross at the intersec tion of Blossom and Assembly streets - two of the busiest routes in Columbia - to get to the facility. Students might overwhelmingly want a safer route to the center, including a walking bridge or a tunnel. But administrators would have no way of knowing this un less they asked students. Although the current student body might not be here to watch the plan come to its fruition, we do have a unique perspective on what we’d like to see on campus that perhaps those doing much of the planning don’t have. If Facilities Planning tried to form anoth er student committee, we’d be willing to bet there would be quite a bit more interest now than there was in 1993, when the plan was only just beginning. U.N. intervention policy a bad idea Critics of the United States during the Kosovo “crisis” warned that the United States could not get involved in every scuffle that erupted within the borders of a sovereign nation. The latest skirmish, in East Timor, seems to prove the critics’ point. But here, we have no military strategists preparing to back up righteous diplomacy with serious force. The United Nations, af ter helping to create the problem in Indonesia by pushing East Timor independence on a changing Indonesian leadership, now anxiously tells the Indonesian government to take care of it. i nr> i . i .*.i • i* -i ir 111C KJCUUCLULK puuucu UUl 111 Lilt/ bpilllg UUllIlg Lilt/ IVUbUVU mess, our government did not seem to be concerned with the atrocities in Rwanda and elsewhere outside of Europe. The “crisis” of Kosovo seemed to be of such import because of an inherent Eu rocentric bias in our foreign policy. And, it would seem, we’re not running to stop the violence now that the ethnic skirmish of the moment is taking place outside Europe. The United States and U N. are making fools of themselves now; after declaring the importance of military intervention for humanitarian causes, the powerful nations of the world drag their feet in bringing the problems in East Timor to an end. The problem with the U.N.’s call for greater involvement in intra-national con flicts is that at some point, it will have to confront a conflict that has no right or wrong side. Perhaps the problem in East Timor seems clear-cut, but the U.N. will learn, eventually, that interven tion in a sovereign state’s problems is almost always resented. About Us me camecock is the student newspaper or me university ot bouth Carolina and is puDiisneo Monaay, 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. Address The Gamecock 1400 Greene Street Columbia, SC 29208 Offices on third floor of the Russell House. Student Media Area code 803 Advertising 777-3888 Classified 777-1184 Fax 777-6482 Office 777-3888 Gamecock Area code 803 Editor gcked@sc.edu 777-3914 News gcknews@sc.edu 777-7726 Viewpoints gckviews@sc.edu 777-7181 Etc. gcketc@sc.edu 777-3913 Sports gcksports@sc.edu 777-7182 Online www.gamecock.sc.edu 777-2833 SUBMBSION POUCY Letters to the editor or guest columns are welcome from all members of the Carolina community. Letters should be 250-300 words. Guest columns should be an opinion piece of about 600-700 words. Both must include name, phone number, profes sional title or year and major, if a student. Handwritten submissions must be personally delivered to Russell House room 333. E-mail submissions must include telephone number for confirmation. The Gamecock reserves the right to edit for libel, style and space. Anonymous letters will not be pub lished. Photos are required for guest columnist and can be provided by the submitter. Call 777-7726 for more inf rmation. The Gamecock Sara Ladenheim Editor in Chief Kenley Young Managing Editor Emily Streyer Viewpoints Editor Kevin Langston Brock Vergakis News Editors Clayton Kale Associate News Editor Rachel Helwig EtCetera Editor Todd Money Jared Kelowitz Sports Editor Kristin Freestate Copy Desk Chief Sean Rayford Photo Editor Rob Lindsey Encore Editor Student Media Ellen Parsons Director of Student Media Susan King Creative Director Kris Black Julia Burnett Betsy Martin Kathy Van Nostrand Creative Services Will Gillaspy Online Editor Corey Ford Asst. Viewpoints Editor John Huiett Asst. News Editor Ann Marie Miani Asst. EtCetera Editor David Cloninger Asst. Sports Editor Greg Farley Asst. Photo Editor Casey Williams Asst. Online Editor Brad Walters Graphics Editor, Copy Editor, Editorial Contributor MacKenzie Craven Charlie Wallace Philip Burt Senior Writers Lee Phipps Advertising Manager Sherry Holmes Classified Manager Carolyn Griffin Business Manager Erik Collins Faculty Adviser Jonathan Dunagin Graduate Assistant College Press Exchange •w rSO.AL, x \NHM4 t' ,YOUR &< W&NDICAPP^ DONT A^C. Society Issues Pop in need of a renaissance or one .. hazy, in discernible moment in that nebulous period of time known as the early‘90s, alternative mu sic roamed the 1 earth. It stretched Kentey Young its arms toward * writes every the sky, wildly Monday. He can beat its chest | be reached via and, with a pri- j The Gamecock at mal scream, be- gckviews@sc.edu gan feeding on * ”4 wv . -V ' the carcasses of Motley Crue, Poison and Skid Row (and choking on the hair spray). At one time, it was a welcome de parture from the corporate excess, the shal low music, the mindless, two-hour guitar solos — a return to the honesty, the Dy lan-esque, in popular songwriting. But alternative rock has long been something of a misnomer. That is, once the public caught on and alternative rock bands became popular, there was a great and wide spread shift in the concept of popular mu sic itself. Alternative bands, through no re al fault of their own, became less the “alternative” and more a part of the very mainstream they had struggled to avoid. The truth is, bands sell out once they leave the garage. And because of the al ternative revolution, or rather in spite of it, the alternative juggernaut collapsed be neath the weight of its own self-impor tance. “Fame is Such a Burden” became the anthem for self-righteous lead singers everywhere. They couldn’t understand that fame is as much a gift as it is a responsi bility. While Eddie Vedder “suffered” to lead his rock-star lifestyle, so did the music. And the waters began to rise in the old Mainstream, spilling over the banks of the mighty Billboard Top 40 River and even tually engulfing all the stragglers, all the alternatives. Before Kurt Cobain and his angst ar rived on the scene to teach stoners and burnouts how easy it is to play power chords (foigive me, Father, for I have just spoken heresy), some bands could actually play their instruments and play them well. Un fortunately, Nirvana and their rip-offs be gan a disturbing trend — music that re quired a great deal of honesty, but very little talent. The wretched state of popular music today is the result of many confounding variables, so it’s unfair to place the blame squarely on the shoulders of Cobain and his disciples. Record companies, for one, have turned the process of band-signing into a one-night stand for instant gratification. They sign a horrid (but honest) band, finance their al bum, release a few singles and then fail to promote the band’s sophomore effort, kick ing them to the curb without so much as cab fare for the ride home. Wham-bam, thank you, ma’am. As consumers, the public, too, must share the responsibility for expecting so little and demanding even less from their rock gods. Standards have fallen, and pop ular music has turned into a vast and mis erable wasteland that Americans have helped to create and continue to support. These days, I wince whenever I hear Casey Kasem’s voice because it means that I’m in for three or four hours of mind numbing, prosaic music by bands that cut their teeth on “Nevermind” and Alice in Chains tablature. And that’s only if I’m lucky. Today, the real transgressors are the people selling the most records. If the Pop Doctor were to administer a sonic enema, the following “artists” would be purged in a comprehensive stool sample of horrible, horrible music. •Angry, untalented white males who try to rap and call it songwriting: Kid Rock, Eminem, Korn, Limp Bizkit and any other tone-deaf moron wearing a backward baseball cap. •Angry, untalented black males who “sample” other people’s music and call it songwriting: Puff Daddy, Mase, Jay-Z, Will Smith and every rapper who’s sampled the sample from The Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight.” • Happy, untalented, multicultural boy bands who lip-sync incredibly pedestrian music that they didn’t even write and call themselves “artists”: The Backstreet Boys, N’SYNC, the remnants of New Kids on the Block and any vocal group that’s performed a song Kenneth “Babyface” Ed monds wrote. In a world where popular music has become little more than a hackneyed cliche, these are the worst offenders. They’re guilty ■ of brainwashing the populace by catering and contributing to the lower expectations for pop music. They’re guilty, and they don’t even know it. They actually believe that their “mu sic” is clever and inventive and that they’re vital to the survival of the music indus try, even though what they do takes less talent than turning on an amplifier. But I’d like to think this century will close with its own pop renaissance, a mas sive and ritualistic cleansing of corporate radio and of the Billboard charts — a re birth into a more progressive era for pop ular music. It’s a much more pleasing vi sion of the future than the alternative, in which “Bawitdaba,” “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” and “I did it all for the nookie!” become pop music battle cries. Letters Safe Ride costs too much, serves too few To the Editor I am deeply troubled by Sens. Payne and Fletcher’s cavalier attitude toward the economic, social and legal problems that a “completely different” Safe Ride pro gram creates. This latest proposal raises the same questions as all of the previous pro posals. Three-quarters of the students at USC do not need a Safe Ride program. Why are minors too intoxicated to dri ve? Why should USC assist them in break ing the law? Also, why should our tuition money go to pay for an intoxicated stu dent’s guest to come home with them? What happens if the guest gets hurt on the bus? What happens if the guest does some thing bad to our beloved Safe Rider? What about off-campus students who like to go to the Vista? Where is the money going to come from? Taking the senators’ low num bers, it’s going to cost $3,200 to run the shuttle from the beginning of October to the beginning of exams. That amount far exceeds the budget allocations of most student organizations for an entire year, much less one part of one semester. Instead of throwing that money away, ho’* about distributing the money to or ganizations that can use it to create pro grams that would benefit the entire uni versity? USC, like most colleges and uni versities, has enough trouble with students and excessive alcohol consumption with out taking actions that will only further the problem. The whole student body should not have to fund a bus route of four to six city blocks for students who want to go drinking. Instead of pushing Safe Ride, how about supporting oiganizations like GAMMA, which promote legal and re sponsible drinking behaviors? Instead of setting up a babysitter, Stu dent Government should be promoting designated driver programs. Our student leadership should recognize its responsi bility to the entire student body and not just certain segments of it. Brian Gambrell Law Student Jfe Washington Post •GEE, YOU GUYS, I DON'T KNOW IF IT BE EDUCATED ENOUGH TO FLY THAT THING WHEN I GROW Uf' fftcrblocJc u oh vacation) Distributed by CREA TORS S YRDICA 7E IRC 5777 West Century BM.. Suite 700, lets Angeles. CA 9004! State Issues Poker not S.C/s only problem Gov. Hodges .• ™ is leaving the fate of the $2.5 billion video poker indus try up to the vot ers next Novem ber. 1 don’t even know why it is called an industry; they don't pro . , writes every oltier duce anvthing for 3 the people of the Monday. He can state of South Car- reached via olina. They just rip The Gamecock at people off, and gckviews®sc .edu this is called enter tainment. I’d rather actually flush my dollar bills down the toilet to watch them swirl around like a resisting floating turd, refusing to drown. Now that is fun-filled freedom. Maybe Hodges is on to something. 1 mean, if Reps. Graham, Spence, Sanford and Bob Inglis can make decisions in our name, such as passing the HR 3734 wel fare overhaul bill that has helped deny aid to those who need it most, why can’t we make some decisions right at the vot ing booth? Here are some ideas on other poten tial referendums that we could vote on next November: 1. That flag controversy could finally be put to rest. The NAACP’s tourism of South Carolina would finally be over, and the tourists could come to Columbia by the thousands again. 2. Every South Carolina congression al representative except for Clyboume voted for the Denial of Benefits to Immi grants bill, and thank goodness! Those pesky South Carolina migrant workers who get paid exorbitant amounts of mon ey to work in fields have been taking all our good jobs. We white boys didn’t kill the Indians for nothing. Wait a second! If politicians have a problem with immigra tion, they should make changes on the policy level and not punish and deny rights to people who are here already. 3. How many times have you tried to buy beer on Saturday night and have been told it was after midnight? Where is my Busch Light lobbyist? It is time for us to vote for the sale of alcohol on Sundays because I am tired of repeatedly getting on the back of the wine line at church. 4. Remember Attorney General Con don's Hate Crimes bill that excluded women and homosexuals? Now, we can have one on the ballot that excludes Condon, Jim Gordon and Bob Inglis. 5. Elimination of meter maids: These people can get a minimum-wage job that doesn’t involve harassing people. Be sides, the only famous meter maid was the one who caught Son of Sam. And of course, Lovely Rita, Meter Maid. But that is it. Watch out for the newest meter maid on campus - he’s a balding white guy who wears short shorts and cheap sunglasses, and he acts like he is protect mg ildiiuiidi ^ccuiiiy. vne imgui ue roi.; 7. Voting to force all convicted felons of rape and child molestation to listen to the new LFO song repeatedly could solve the South Carolina over-crowded prison problem. Then dress the remain ing felons up in Abercrombie and Fitch, feed them Chinese food and put them in front of the firing squad, along with the producers of that song and all the people who like it. The referendum is just Hodges’ tak ing the easy way out so he doesn’t have to actually take a firm stand on the issue. Even so, I think Hodges did the right thing, leaving video poker up to the vot ers. I think that, collectively, we would make more sound decisions than that of our current representation. I just don’t understand whether gam bling is legal or illegal. Lotto is OK, but not in South Carolina; video poker is OK in South Carolina only, and betting on when Strom Thurmond is going to kick the bucket is not OK anywhere but in New Jersey. There needs to be some sort of consistency in national policy. 1 am willing to bet my old pair of ice skates and mittens that South Carolina politi cians will continue to ignore the real is sues of South Carolina and let special in terest groups control the focus of their campaigns. So if you are tired of driving across state lines for a Fuchsia Puppy Light Dry Ice Genny Cream Ale on Sun days, write your representatives and tell them what they should be concerned about.