Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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VUUICj UIWUUIC ‘We want to still keep Tigerburn geared towards students, but... we want to allow community people to be involved.’ Cedric Scott, president of Carolina Productions Page 7 fflic (Bamecock Serving the Carolina Community since 1Q08 Editorial Board Sara Ladenheim • Editor in Chief Kenley Young • Managing Editor Emily Streyer • Viewpoints Editor Corey Ford • Assistant Viewpoints Editor Brad Waiters • Editorial Contributor Kiki McCormick • Editorial Contributor Students urged to give blood today If you haven’t given blood yet, do it. Today, Spirit Week ends, and the annual blood drive competition with Clemson is our opportunity to start a winning streak at something. (Last year, we won for the first time in five years.) Of all the events of Spirit Week, the Carolina/Clemson Blood Battle is perhaps the most worthy. Each person who donates a sin gle pint of blood potentially saves three lives; between Clemson and USC, the 1998 blood drive collected 3,080 pints of blood. V • That’s a lot of lives saved. We know students have busy schedules, but the good it does the community is well worth the hour or so it takes to donate a pint. No matter what your blood type, your blood is needed, but those who have AB or O-negative blood should especially make their ways to the Russell House Ballroom or to the van in the Rus sell House parking lot today. No matter whether you care about football or school spirit or the rivalry with Clemson or beating another school at something, give blood today. Game could influence futures of both teams Spirit Week at USC will come to a close tonight with Tiger burn, the annual pep rally-like event sponsored by the Student Gamecock Club at which students will prepare for Saturday’s Clemson/Carolina game by ... well... burning a tiger in effigy. Considering the Gamecocks’ lackluster performance this sea son, many students might be hesitant to attend Tigerbum. USC al ready owns the longest current losing streak in the nation, with this our last chance to end that streak. The odds are impossibly stacked against us. What, after all, is the big deal? The big deal is that this game, already highly chaiged because of the historic rivalry between Clemson and Carolina, is pivotal in many ways. If Clemson wins, it’ll probably go to a bowl game. If Carolina wins, it’ll snap the streak and, in some small measure, they’ll salvage a dismal season. USC has never had a winless sea son. That’s the big deal. The big deal is that while USC can lose this game and fear no consequences, Clemson has everything to lose. If the Gamecocks should pull off an upset, they will effectively dash the Tigers’ hopes of a bowl game. That’s the big deal. The big deal is that, according to a poll on the USCsports.com Web page, nearly 70 percent of voters would rather see the Game cocks defeat Clemson on Saturday and have a losing season next year than see USC lose to Clemson and have a winning season next year. That’s how important this game is to the citizens of our city, and yes, that’s the big deal. 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 •eriods. 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 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 Submission Policy 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 ar 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 information. I HE UAMECOCK 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 Kelowrtz 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 Edita, Copy Edita, Editaial Contributa 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 LETT;S£$^ ' ;X ' " >■ ‘Bum’ column trivializes problems of homeless To the Editor The classist quips of Kevin Langston in his recent article on the homeless [column, “Columbia bums low on ser-. vice,” Nov. 8] were a concentrated assault on the homeless. His article was peppered with the derogatory categorization “bum,” a word that is insulting. In his frequent use of this label, Langston perpetuates a stereo type that makes some of us believe that all homeless people are homeless because they are lazy and refuse to do work. Moreover, Langston proceeds to sug gest that the Columbia homeless “need to buck up” because “regional competition has you looking bad when it comes to pan handling procedures.” This of course does nothing more than trivialize the situations and even lives of the numerous homeless trying to survive on the streets of Ameri ca. The only “use” for “bums,” according to Langston, is to direct him and his fi nancially comfortable friends on a “late night stroll in the big city.” Perhaps the most horrible aspect about Langston’s article is that he wrote it to be submitted the week before this week, which is dedicated to the plight of the homeless. It must also be pointed out that Langston’s column was directed toward a group that has no fomm to defend itself, a sign of the superiority complex that many people who have more comfortable lifestyles tend to adopt. The situation of the homeless in every venue of this world is a dire one; conde scending and trivializing phrases like “I want more bum for my buck” only prop agate the mindset of society that needs to be changed ever so quickly. Nirav Mehta Amnesty International Editor’s Note: That Mr. Langston’s col umn ran the week before Homeless A ware ness Week is purely coincidental. College Press Exchange Time is running out. Want to express your opinion this semester? Only four more issues of The Gamecock in 1999. i Send a letter to the editor. gckviews@sc.edu or bring to Russell House 333. Include your name, phone number, year and major. National Issues Melting pot system still good Wg rG a country of i m m i - grants. For this rea son, I can’t under stand the anti-immigrant rhetoric in the U.S. When did “immi grant” become such a bad word, any way? No American writes every has the right to close Friday. He can the doors on immi- reached via The grants. It’s like aguy Emecocfc at getting on the bus kviews@sc.edu and then telling all behind him that they can’t get on—sounds convenient to me. And that’s exactly what some Americans, probably of immigrant descent, are doing. The only Americans who could real ly say, “No more damn immigrants!” are, those forgotten people whose identity we stole and whom we classify as “Native Americans.” But even if they spoke out against immigration, which doesn’t seem to be the case, when is the last time any one listened to them? So if “Native Americans” who are entitled to halt immigration, aren’t the ones doing it, then a bull-crap flag needs to be thrown right now. And here it is! My conclusion is that any American who tries to close the doors to immigrants is either ignorant to or refuses to accept this country's history. It is these “settled Americans” that I would like to deport back to their countries of origin. Do they not realize that had past Amer icans done the same (which some did) and managed to stop immigration, they — the settled-Americans — would not be here? Pat Buchanan is a good example. Here’s an “American” running for the presiden cy who thinks “we must take an immi gration ‘time out’to mend the melting pot.” Doesn’t he realize that the key ingredient in the “melting pot” is the immigrant? Doesn’t he realize if someone would have taken this ‘time out’ some years back, he might not be an American? Doesn’t he re alize that by taking this ‘time out’ he could compromise the heart- of this country — its plurality, its freedom, its openness to those seeking to improve their lives? If Buchanan had his way, we’d turn ho mogeneous. We would stagnate and rot like many other countries in the world that refuse to accept diversity. Some people agree with Buchanan on an economic premise. They believe im migrants take away jobs. I say, “survival of the fittest.” If settled-Americans feel threat ened by unprepared immigrants who don’t speak English, than I think it says some thing about the citizens of our country. I’m not saying that all immigrants are unprepared, but we have to recognize that a majority come to the U.S. because they’re struggling in their countries. Immigrants seem to keep the Ameri can middle and lower classes on their toes. Immigrants challenge settled-Americans to try harder, when they might not other wise do so. Another point is that many ot the jobs immigrants, or “potential-Americans,” do are jobs settled-Americans wouldn’t do. From a wider economic perspective, po tential-Americans are more efficient in this economy than settled-Americans. They work harder and better for less. In no way do I condone the exploitation of immi grants, but the truth is they come with a passion to succeed that some settled-Amer icans lack. There is also the concern with crime. Until stabilized, every immigrant group has gone through this trend. The Italians, the Irish, and Russians raised the crime rate at the turn of the century, but they were al so key players in this country’s industrial revolution. This country is what it is be cause of immigrants. Immigrants have al ways worked harder because they are dri ven by the motivation to better their lives. And now some settled-Americans want to close the doors to what’s made the United States the United States. To hell with that! No American has the right to close the doors to another potential-American. Besides, we have enough to go around for everyone willing to give this country his or her best. So far, it has worked well. Why change a winning recipe? We are a country of immigrants and we should con tinue to be. Immigration is our heritage. We are a refuge for those seeking self-im provement. In the end, we profit by get ting world-class citizens.