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Quote, Unquote “As a black American, I understand...what black Americans are saying about the flag.” Alan Keyes, Republican Presidential candidate Whe (Bamcock Editorial Board Kenley young • Editor in Chief Brad Walters • Managing Editor Brock Vergakis • Viewpoints Editor Peter Johnson • Assistant Viewpoints Editor Emily Streyer • Editorial Contributor Shuttle bus system needs improvement ith the upcoming elections, a popular topic of debate among the candidates has been the need to increase shut tle bus routes, as well as the frequency of busing on cur rent routes, to on and off campus locations. Shuttle buses on campus today are frequently unreliable and untimely. This year, a few new shuttle buses were purchased by the university, and bus stops were labeled. The shuttle bus system is better now than it used to be, but it still needs much improve ment. For starters, the buses should run off campus to cut clown on campus parking problems. USC currently has four routes that stop near most of the major on-campus areas but no routes that run to off-campus locations. ine university commons Doasi m meir miormauonai pam phlet the existence of a shuttle bus to take students to campus. In reality, it doesn’t run on a regular schedule. The pamphlet is mis leading and the Commons look bad for it.. Other popular apartment complexes that house many USC stu dents, like The Rapids and Riverbend, could also stand for an ac tive shuttle bus. Many students also live in the areas in and sur rounding Rosewood, and in Shandon and Olympia. More students move off campus every year and are forced to drive to classes, creating a greater need for parking. It is a waste of time, money and the efforts of the students. Another area in need of a shuttle-bus system is Five Points. With an efficient shuttle system, traffic, parking problems and drunk driving cases would decrease. Life on and around campus would see improvement, and stu dent costs will decrease. Bush makes mistake by not coming to USC Cs the eyes of the nation turn to South Carolina for the re publican Presidential Primary, candidates are making every effort possible to get their message out and recruit as many voters as possible. However, it seems one preidential candidate has taken the view that the students of USC are an unimportant demographic to court. Of the three remaining republican candidates, only Texas Gov. Geoige Bush has chosen not to visit USC, the state’s largest university. Arizona Sen. John McCain gave a speech at the Swearingen Engineering Center Feb 2., and Ambassador Alan Keyes spoke at the Russell House Thursday afternoon. For whatever reason, Bush has made the decision that other ar eas of the state are more important to campaign in than USC is. It’s not that he doesn’t view the college vote as an important one, he has just snubbed USC. Bush has even taken time out of his busy schedule for a staged photo-op of him running with the Clemson cross country team earlier in his campaign. If Bush wants to get USC students votes, he should show us the same respect and attention McCain and Keyes have. After all, would they really be seen wearing a Clemson T-shirt? 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. 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Photos are required for guest columnist and can be provided by the submitter. Call 777-7726 for more information. The Gamecock Ken ley Young Editor in Chief Brad Walters Managing Editor Brock Vergakis Viewpoints Editor Clayton Kale News Editor Brandon Larrabee Associate News Editor Rebecca Cronican Ann Marie Miani EtCetera Editors David Cioninger Jeff Romig Sports Editors Kristin Freestate Copy Desk Chief Renee Oligny Copy Editor Kevin Langston Encore Editor Stuobit Media Ellen Parsons Director Susan King Creative Director Kris Black Julie Burnett Todd Hooks Betsy Martin Kathy Van Nostrand Creative Sen/ices Kenton Watt Advertising Manager Carolyn Griffin Amy Goulding Travis Lynn Photo Editors Will Gillaspy Online Edita Peter Johnson Asst. Viewpoints Editor Kelly Haggerty Patrick Rathbun Asst. News Editors MacKenzie Craven Asst. EtCetera Edita Shannon Rooke Asst. Sports Edita Rob Fleming Asst. Encore Edita Charles Prashaw Shawn Singleton Charlie Wallace Senior Writers Emily Streyer Editorial Contributor Business Manager Sherry Holmes Classified Manager Erik Collins Faculty Adviser Jonathan Dunagin Graduate Assistant Robyn Gombar Gina McKelvey Melissa Millen Brantley Roper Nicole Russell Advertising Staff College Press Exchange National Issues Bring on the interns, baby I hereby an nounce my candidacy for the 2000 presi dential elections... Don’t ask about my plat form. Just know I am not going to be your everyday Joe Politician who kisses babies, smiles and waves at everyone while lying through my teeth to get votes. Since I am more or less a Mrdiigei iu many of you, I have carefully chosen cabinet members who are a little more well known. First Lady: Cameron Diaz. She might not be too politically minded, but most couch-surfing, Sports Center addicts will vote for me because of the “hot wife” fac tor. Now they can take an interest in pol itics, rather than watching endless re-runs of those Jules Asner-hosted E! specials, like “Sex on the Riviera,” or whatever. We don’t have to Elxploit the male voters of America, but it’s more fun that way. Vice President: Jack Kerouac. He is a true American and stands for everything this nation should be built around. Every American will be required to read “On the Road.” It taught me, among many lessons, that if I allow myself to become fascinat ed by the little things, life becomes much more interesting and entertaining. He might be dead, but his words and spir it live on. Secretary of State: Mark Paul Gosse 'lar (a.k.a. Zack Morris). Come on guys, you know you were jealous of Zack’s pimpin’ skills. He can talk his way out of just about any situation, and those “time outs” that always froze the entire room... those can’t hurt. He’d like you to think that he’s an innocent, clean-cut American boy who never did anything that warrant ed that detention slip. Belding knew bet ter, but he’s been “handled” by the... President’s Goon: Joe Pesci. Must I explain? Go watch Goodfellas. An added bonus is his ability to use the word “f*ck” in just about any context. Treasurer: Scrooge McDuck. He’s thrifty, although a bit greedy. But we learned that old Scroogie has a softer side and a heart of gold, thanks to Duck Tales. Secretary of Defense: Mr. T. Be cause when punks start messin’ with in nocent people, he makes it his business. ‘Nuff said. • Attorney General: Andrew Dice Clay. The Dice Man won’t put up with anyone’s whining, that’s for sure. He may be a crude, dirty sexist, but you gotta love him. I can’t decide who’s manlier, him or Reno. Surgeon General: Homer Simpson. A healthy dose of beer, pork rinds and mind less television. Gotta problem with that? Director of Transportation: David Let terman. He’d probably turn our nation’s roadways into death traps. But at least we wouldn’t have to worry about speed lim its. Yup, he’d abolish them. No limits = no tickets. Director of Housing and Urban De velopment: John Shaft. Quite an obvious choice, I think. Shaft knows how to clean up the streets. So long, pimps and push ers, cause he’s a baaad motha *shut ‘yo mouth*...uh, nevermind. Director of Agriculture: Woody Har relson. He’s got a lot of good ideas on cash crops - like uh, potatoes. Directors of Education: Ferris Bueller and Parker Lewis. These two slackers are sweet-talking chick magnets. Ferris has everyone pulling for him, and Parker Lewis can’t lose. What a team they’ll make! . Director of Labor Jimmy Hoffa. Hey, they never found the body, right? Intern: Monica Lewinsky. Why not? Director of Health and Human Ser vices: Cookie Monster. Anyone who can eat cookies by the truckload and stay healthy is overqualified. Americans will be urged to eat two cookies a day to stay healthy. Press Secretary: Hunter S. Thompson. This LEGENEARY journalist takes no guff from swine. He’ll make the job interest ing with some tripped-out acid induced commentary and such. Speech Writer: Bob Dylan. You might not be able to understand him sometimes, but he speaks from the soul. Addressing flood victims would be the most fun. It might start a little something like this... “come gather round, people, wherever you roam, and admit that the waters around you have grown, and accept it that soon you’ll be drenched to the bone..." You know the rest. Parks and Recreation: Ranger Smith. This former Jellystone ranger can keep America’s parks beautiful and will adopt a strong “don’t feed the bears” campaign. IfN. Weapons Inspector Regis Philbin. I’m hoping that he asks the wrong Iraqi soldier, “Is that your final answer?”and gets what’s coming to him. Director of Foreign Affairs: Carmen Sandiego. Her wordly knowledge will come in handy, and her frequent flier miles make it easier on our budget. DO IT ROCK APELLA! Hey, if celebrity status got Reagan in, why not me? Pete Johnson is a journalism senior. He can be reached at game cockvtew points.@hot mail.com State Issues Removal of flag admits guilt Even though I’ve been a loyal resident of South Car olina for 19 years, I’m as op posed to the state’s insistence on flying the Confederate flag as any member of the National Asso ciation for the Advancement of Colored Peo ple. However, I ly satisfy Southern heritage supporters, but also remove the racist stigma of the Con federate flag. Nevertheless, because of cur rent circumstances, this is not an option. For South Carolina, removing the flag now signifies to the rest of the world, “Hell yeah, we’re racist.” 1 prefer South Car olina to be known as the land of “smiling faces, beautiful places,” so this isn’t ex actly the image I want the mention of my home state to portray. But as long as it stays up, the controversy remains. Although the flag was placed atop the Statehouse to commemorate the centen nial anniversary of the Civil War, many people believe it signifies resistance to civ il rights and desegregation. If our state de cides to remove the flag now, it acknowl edges the validity behind this reasoning, and it opens us up for attack. It’s like the U.S. policy on terrorism: Giving in to terrorist demands shows the world we are susceptible. Likewise, taking down the flag will not only clearly admit that we are “the racist state,” but will also show other groups that have a grievance that we’ll give in to their demands. In turn, this would great ly affect, and probably damage, our econ omy. Sure, I know the state’s losing millions already because of the NAACP boycott, but think how much more we stand to lose. Now, I’m not saying anything against the NAACP; in fact, more power to them. Any group that can successfully organize and maintain a state-wide boycott needs to be applauded. But the effects of boy cotts on our state are immense. Any South Carolinian who supports a group boycotting our state doesn’t have state pride. The boycott’s destroying our economy, and anyone that doesn’t see that is blind. And when adding the possibility of more boycotts arising, the damage to our economy is unfathomable. After all, giving in shows that every time South Carolina decides to support something that a group doesn’t agree with, they can initiate a boycott. This will harm our state, not necessarily because we’ll give in every time, but because the insis tent annoyance will be unbearable. Imagine opening the paper every day and reading “Another Group Boycotts the State.” I mean, this situation is already an annoying embarrassment; think about the future. Do you want your news to be the same thing for the next decade? I don’t. I don’t want my state to get run over by special-interest groups, and I don’t want my state to be labeled unjustly. And even if you don’t agree with those who call for Southern heritage and Southern pride, it’s another thing to yell for state pride. For this reason, I think the flag needs to stay up, for now. iuiu n iiecesary to keep the flag flying. This is not so much because of South ern heritage, but because of the contro versy surrounding the flag. Although the majority dismiss those who proclaim that the removal of the flag is a dishonor to our past, I am open to all views and actually understand their stance. But 1 also agree that it can be seen as a sign for racism, through no fault of our own, but because of the connotation the flag carries. For these reasons, I believe a suitable alternative is to replace the Confederate flag with South Carolina’s state flag used during the Civil War. This would not on Jonathan Dunagin is an Integrated Communications graduate student. He can be reached at: gamecockview points@hotmail.com Campus Issues Don't judge a book by it's cover Have you ever no- 1 | ticed how j completely mis- j leading first im- 1 pressions are? So | much has been j made about how i you never get a { second chance to § 1 make a first im- .. pression, that first BfOCk Ver8aW» impressions can’t 's 3 jounalism be trusted anymore, junior. He can be The first time we reached at game meet someone, we cockview put on a show. We polnts@hotmait.c di^uise who we re- om ally are, adjusting to meet the expectations of others. I’ve never been really fond of that whole process. I’ve gotten to the point where I can see right through people who are being fake, and I despise them. If you can’t be yourself, don’t be anyone. rake the risk or sticking it out there and not being afraid to have it cut off. ' Annoyingly enough, though, it seems very few people at USC choose this path. The majority of students here feel they have something to prove or somebody to im press. They want to do so as quickly as pos sible, hence the big push towards making a great first impression. Save yourself some time and energy. Anybody worth impressing knows the best way to get to truly know someone is to give it time. Nobody is exactly what you thought they were the first time you met them. I had a girl say to me the other day “I can’t believe how wrong I was about you. I thought you were the biggest jerk in the world after reading your first column, but you’re one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met.” It’s amazing how completely different you can see someone if you give him or her a little time. The more you’re around someone, the more your perception of them will change. The only problem is, you nev er know if it will be for better or worse. You never know if the guy you thought was so great and wonderful will turn out to be a sleazy liar who lies about his age to try and get in your pants. Or guys, you never know if a girl who you thought you could trust turns out to be a slut any time some guy hits on her or serves her a drink. Just the same, you never know if the person you argue with constantly and can’t stand the sight of will end up being your best friend in the world, or maybe even a husband or wife. Only time can tell, so everyone please give the superficiality a rest. Being super ficial can only cause problems later on. Right now, there’s probably a large num ber of sorority girls reading this, wishing the sorority they joined wasn’t so com pletely superficial during rush so they might have joined one with people they actual ly liked, instead of being stuck with the one they’re in. But since sorority rush only lasts about a week, and sororities meet a couple hun dred girls at a time, they have no choice but to be superficial the entire time. _ I’ve seen some of the sheets they have when deciding who they’re going to give bids to. It’s good to know such strong bonds of sisterhood are being based upon physi cal appearance and how they’re going to pay their dues. If there’s one thing people should learn at college, it’s that nothing is quite as it seems. We must always dig deeper to find the complete truth about anything or any one. Simply relying on a brief encounter to formulate an opinion on someone makes you just as superficial as the person who’s putting on a show to try and impress you. The best thing to do is to just be yourself, and don’t be fooled by others who aren’t. I will warn you, though, this is a dangerous practice. Every time you see someone meeting for the first time wearing a fake smile, and ^ pretending they have something in com mon with the other so they won’t seem rude, you’ll have an innate urge to lose your lunch. Breath mint anyone?