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Quote, Unquote ‘I feel very fortunate to leave here [Indiana] with a win tonight.’ Susan Walvius, USC Women's Basketball coach Monday, November 29,1999 . ra ■ship nn up i •••<•■ .• • ; .., Wk 0amecock 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 Walters • Editorial Contributor Kiki McCormick • Editorial Contributor Statistics on campus safety misleading According to an article in Sunday’s The State, an analysis of crime statistics compiled by the State Law Enforcement Di vision shows violent crimes (including murders, rapes, rob beries and aggravated assaults) are low on college campuses. While this news is encouraging, some subtle holes exist in the numbers provided by SLED. First of all, the crime statistics they compiled include numbers only from campus police departments. If something were to happen to a USC student on Greene Street between Five Points and campus, for example, it wouldn’t be in cluded in campus police statistics because that area is in the juris diction of city police. And on a campus surrounded by a city Co lumbia’s size, the risk of something like this happening is greater than in other, smaller “college towns.” 50 wnue it s sate to assume tnat campuses tnemseives are sate, once students venture away from campus, the stakes are a little higher. - Another problem with SLED’s figures is that they don’t Take into account the fact that most rapes are never reported to police. One rape was reported to USC police in 1998, but it’s likely that many others occurred but were never reported. SLED’s numbers aren’t too surprising, considering that college campuses typically don’t contain populations of potentially violent people. But it’s also true that alcohol and drug use — traditionally high on most campuses — tends to lead to violence. While we hope that violence on college campuses remains low, we don’t find SLED’s numbers as reassuring as it does. The usual precautions for students still apply: Stay alert, watch what you (and the people around you) drink, walk in groups and call for a police escort if anything seems unusual. Don’t be the one out of a hundred in a crime statistics report. U.S. not liable for risks of illegal immigration High-ranking United Nations officials are once again pointing a finger at the United States, claiming that a policy that strengthens security along the southern California border has forced illegal immigrants to risk their lives to avoid the patrol. Migrant-rights advocates say the policy, Operation Gatekeeper, has resulted in about 455 immigrant deaths since its inception five years ago. Further, they claim that statistics show that the policy hasn’t led to a substantial decrease in illegal immigration. Operation Gatekeeper is intended as a deterrent to breaking the law. While it’s unfortunate that so many immigrants have perished in their attempts to leave Mexico, the U.N. must acknowledge that these people are engaging in illegal activity, which usually carries 1___ » J V.U1 The idea that the U.S. should be held responsible for the safety of people who attempt to immigrate illegally is ludicrous. Without restrictive immigration policies, the border regions could become disorderly, unsafe and violent. Instead of placing blame on the U.S., perhaps the U.N. should examine ways to prevent illegal im migration. Surely the U.N. doesn’t expect the U.S. to fling open its bor ders to all who wish to enter unchecked; the tab for such policy surely would leave less room in the budget for the payment of U.N. dues or the financing of its military actions. 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. 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 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 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 information. I ME 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 Kelowitz Sports Editor Kristin Frecstate 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 > m.wwK towns NOVI VKMTT UE TO US. — Let t e r s ‘Anime’ article highlights new world of cartoons To the Editor On behalf of Heroes and Dragons, thank you for your mention of us in Friday’s ar ticle, “Anime in mainstream, still a mys tery to Americans.” Not only do we sell manga, but we also have a wide selection of anime on video, T-shirts, and tons of other merchandise, both from the main stream and from the not-so-mainstream. We also have lots of other stuff like toys and comics and much more, but you’d have to see it all since there’s more than I can possibly describe in this letter. Thank you for not only mentioning us, but a very big thanks for letting more people know what is out there, that not all cartoons are Bugs Bunny or Rugrats, nor are they all for kids. Also, a big BIG thanks for men tioning the fact that there’s a lot more out there than just SailorMoon, DragonBall Z, and Pokemon — that’s just a tiny piece of the icebeig! If you don’t like the “main stream” stuff, there’s still a whole world of anime out there, so don’t give up on it! Trescha Miller Criminal Justice Sophomore Creed Week coverage slim, events questionable To the Editor In a letter to the editor published Nov. 12, Scott Persons [“’Birdcage’article failed to represent performers”] calls The Game cock to task for having supposedly “sim ply condemned” the people who partici pated in the cross-dressing “Birdcage” event in its Nov. 1 issue [“USC Creed Week be gins with ‘Birdcage’”]. In reality, the arti cle was free of editorializing, and Mr. Per sons gave not a single example of what he considered to be a condemnation. I would like to ask just what the rele vance of a cross-dressing show is to the Carolinian Creed. Is there any substantive difference in nature between such shows and the old-time minstrel shows in which Caucasian performers put on blackface and burlesqued the behavior and appearance of African-Americans? The events depicted in the Nov. 1 article suggest a similar burlesque by the female impersonators who put on the show, reinforcing negative stereotypes about women. Was there any promotion of positive images of women? Neither the article nor Mr. Persons’ letter hints at any such thing. If The Gamecock is to be faulted for anything, it is for the meagemess of cov erage of other events that took place during Carolinian Creed Week. Besides the “Birdcage” article and the bare cal endar of events in the Nov. 1 issue, I could find nothing except for the brief summaries of upcoming events in the Nov. 3 issue and an article about the forum on the Con federate flag on Nov. 5. Peter J. Nyikos Mathematics Professor To the Editor This letter is in response to an article in the Nov. 8 issue, “USC professors col laborate on art exhibit.” This letter ex presses both my thoughts and opinions re garding the article as well as those of the Residence Hall Association. The purpose of this letter is to share with everyone why I felt this program deserved more cover age than it was allotted. This letter also serves to recognize those who spent their time and money to bring such a great program to USC. Brent Scarpo’s program, “Journey to a Hate-Free Millennium,” was in my opin ion the largest event of Creed Week, fea turing a national speaker and having more than 300 students in attendance. After read ing the above article, which “quasi-cov ered” the story, I would never have known the program had occurred if not for be ing there myself. The article quotes Brent Scarpo a few times, but gives very little information about the program itself and makes no mention of it happening in the Russell House Ballroom just nights before. Besides not covering the story very well, the part of the article dealing with Brent Scarpo came only after the article had start ed about something completely different. It was as if two separate articles had been crammed into one. Brent Scarpo’s “Journey to a Hate Free Millennium” was special for many reasons. As I mentioned earlier, it was quite well attended and was easily the biggest event of Creed Week. Also, Brent Scar po is the only movie maker which the Shep ard family has agreed to give the Matt Shep ard story to, making Scarpo’s “Journey to a Hate-Free Millennium” unique from any other hate crime program. And coin cidentally, also making national news that very same day was the conviction of one of Shepard’s attackers. But even beyond the program itself, how it was brought to USC was special. Bryan Quick, our pro gramming chairman, knew that it would be quite costly to bring Scarpo all our selves, so he sought to co-program this event. He coordinated all of the hall gov ernments on campus to join with RHA and bring Scarpo to campus. Essentially this is like having 19 entities coming together to bring Scarpo here. In my opinion this sort of student cooperation is quite special, and it has never been done in RHA before. I will now step down from my soap box and conclude this letter. I thank you for allowing me the opportunity to share with all some important points about this program that may have been overlooked so as to give credit where credit is most certainly due. Jason Wade Residence Hall Association President The Washington Post HERBEOCK’S CARTOON 'WlEHtfV/) FEa THIS i$ NOTTtfE V&V THE fW£KS P1ANHEP IT" 4 HERBLOCICS CARTOON "IF you WERE Si^eRt,yOU'PWP YOUR BA6 RI6HT AWAY A hlP LET HE CLOBBER H00 M WE tiEtr Eimod* ■.fW* 7 1 ser / 4- i. Social Issues Avoid the blues this holiday It’s remarkable, really, to witness the violent mood swing we hu mans experience during this transi tional period be tween Thanksgiv ing and Christmas. You can time it al most from the Kenley Young minute the shiny wrjtes eacb blade pierces the Monday. He can plump turkey, be- be reacbed via cause it s all down- _ . . .... f , The Gamecock at hill from there. . _ For those of us g^*ews@sc.edu who have loved and ■ lost, that’s when the depression starts to sink in. All our regrets, our mistakes, our yearnings come roaring back to life this time of year in one aggregate nightmare. It strikes with all the deliberate force of a sledgehammer, and we experience it ten fold with the onset of Christmas. Why? Because no one s life is as fulfilling as he or she thinks it should be, and the bro ken-hearted can’t stand the fact that oth ers might actually be enjoying them selves at this joyous time of year. Holiday blues are a bitch, but it does n’t have to be that way for all of us. Here are some helpful pointers to help you avoid wallowing in self-pity and pining for the one who got away: No. 1: Remember that chocolate is a kind of stimulant—it stimulates fat growth, particularly around the hips and the ass. So don’t exacerbate the situation by stock piling Russell Stover candy and partaking in a sinful, three-day binge. It’s only going to get worse with every trip to the mir ror. No. 2: Do not, under any circumstances, imbibe alcohol. Alcohol is a depressant. Guess what it will do to you. Alcohol eras es one’s inhibitions, too (see No. 7). It makes a person cry, fight, hiccup, throw up, bitch and moan a lot. And no one wants to deal with any of that crap. No. 3: No matter how incredible it might have been, do not think about the explosive sex the two of you had. I repeat: Do not think about sex. Don’t think about how hot it was, or how good it felt, or how alive you were, or how many times you felt the Earth move. No, definitely don’t think about that. No. 4: It might require a superhuman effort, but try to avoid any kind of intro spective reflection on your life. This time of year, everyone’s life sucks. You could be as rich as Bill Gates, as sexy as Jenny McCarthy, as up to your ears in women as Ricky Martin. But nothing’s perfect (Gates is a dork, McCarthy is an airhead and Mar tin has no talent). If your life sucks, don’t sit around sulking about it. Get up, get dressed, find someone whose life definite ly sucks more than yours (like, say, John Bobbitt) and pick on that person. ThatTl make you feel much better. No. 5: Girls, for God’s sake, don’t wear his boxers to bed. You’re just asking for it. No. 6: Guys, don’t keep her letters and other memorabilia in that shoebox under the bed (and don’t try to deny it, boys. All of us preserve trophies like that). No. 7: Should you choose to ignore No. 2, please don’t make any rash phone calls at 4 a.m. to your ex. Chances are no one’s going to answer at that ungodly hour anyway, and you’ll only end up blubber ing into his/her answering machine for half an hour about how comfortable those box ers are or how much that letter spoke to your heart. That’s when the restraining or ders start pouring in. No. 8: When “your song” comes on the radio, exit the room immediately. I don’t care how much the song means to you, how many times the two of you danced together to the tune, how lovingly she held you and nestled her precious head against _i_____»i.. u«.^i_i.. JWUI JIU/UIUVI IW JUUtjVUHJ WIUJIIVUU IV” stray strands of hair back behind her ear. Getting lost in the good times is not worth the pain you’re going to experience once the song fades out. Other “feel-good” dit ties to watch out for include R.E.M.’s “Everybody Hurts,” U2’s “With or With out You” and anything by Burt Bacharach or The Carpenters. Follow these simple rules, and you might actually have a good shot at enjoy ing the holidays this year. If nothing else, you’ll stay sober, slim and sane. And if you ask me, that’s about as close to happiness ;ts we ought to venture. C