The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 11, 2000, Page 6, Image 6
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. 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 gckedOsc.edu 777-3914
News gcknewsOsc.edu 777-7726
Viewpoints gckviewsOsc.edu 777-7181
Etc. gcketcOsc.edu 777-3913
Encore! gamecockencoreOhotmail.com 777-3913
Sports gcksportsOsc.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.
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?