Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

I Quote, Unquote ‘We seek to reach non-believers through comedy.’ Wes Church, Sunday Night Alive fellowship president l ^ "" ' ' ' '. 111 .' "" ' ' """ ~ ■■ '! Whe 0amcock Serving the Carolina Community since 1Q08 *' Editorial Board Kenley Young • Editor in Chief Brad Walters • Managing Editor Brock Vergakis • Viewpoints Editor Peter Johnson • Assistant Viewpoints Editor Emily Streyer • Editorial Contributor Napster efficient at . creating problems University officials have decided not to ban student use of Napster, an Internet music service that networks its users and allows them to download songs from the computers of all customers linked at the same time. Other colleges that allow students to use Napster through their campus Internet connections have experienced some major problems with network traffic. USC certainly doesn’t need any more network problems. The network already goes down frequently, and the additional traffic that Nap ster creates doesn’t help speed up the connection. Besides the fact that the heavy traffic creates a slower Internet connection for everyone, the concept of Napster is unethical. Al though many might think they are bypassing the record company and going straight to the artist, in reality the artists are getting * short-changed more than the record companies are. If you enjoy a song that you hear on the radio, what makes you so certain that you won’t like the rest of that artist’s work? The only way to truly support artists today is to buy the album through their record company. Unfortunately, most music fans don’t care whether an artist gets support from them. Everyone assumes that bands are all rich and that they don’t need our money. This is true for the N’Syncs and the Britney Spears of the world, but too many middle-range bands are losing money from Napster. Music is a gift from an artist to the world, and too often, nothing is returned to the giver. Too many people are selfish in their tastes, and very few take into con sideration that many artists really don’t make that much money. You are not robbing the rich record companies, but biting the hand that feeds you your favorite music. U.S. warhead plan hypocritical policy The U.S. Energy Department’s plan to refurbish more than 6,000 nuclear warheads over the next 15 years is complete ly unacceptable. In a time when nuclear weapons should be significantly reduced, the energy department wants to keep these weapons of mass destruction on “inactive reserve.” By doing this, the U.S. government would become highly hyp ocritical as it tries to persuade new nuclear powers, India and **akistan, to stop their nuclear programs. According to The Washington Post, the Clinton administra tion’s policy is intended to allow the United States to match an other country should one begin to suddenly produce additional warheads. But by doing this, the U.S. government might be begin ning a self-fulfilling prophecy. The government could mistakenly be starting a nuclear arms race as other countries strive to keep their militaries on par with the United States. In addition to heightening the potential for starting a nuclear arms race, the government will also be wasting millions of dollars refurbishing these weapons. This money could be used more effi ciently elsewhere by funding programs other than those with the sole purposes to kill and destroy. *. • 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 The Gamecock AmyGoulding 1400 Greene Street Travis Lynn Columbia. SC 29208 „ . Photo Editors Managing Editor Will Gillaspy Offices on third floor of the Russell House. Brock Vergakis Online Editor Student Media Area code 803 Viewpoints Editor Peter Johnson Advertising 777-3888 Clayton Kale Asst. Viewpoints Editor Classified 777-1184 News Edltor . Kel|y Haggerty pax 777-6482 Brandon Larrabee Patrick Rathbun Office 777-3888 Associate News Editor Asst. News Editors Gamecock Area code 803 Ann Marie Miani Asst. Etcetera Editor Editor gcked@sc.edu 777-3914 Etcetera Editors Elizabeth Rod News gcknews@sc.edu 777-7726 David Cloninger Asst. Sports Editor Viewpoints gckviews@sc.edu 777-7181 Shannon Rooke Rob Fleming Etc. gcketc@sc.edu 777-3913 Sports Editors Asst. Encore Editor Encore! gamecockencore@hotmail.com 777-3913 Kristin Fmestate Charles Prashaw Sports gcksports@sc.edu 777-7182 Copy Desk Chief Shawn Singleton Online www.gamecock.sc.edu 777-2833 Renee Oligny Charlie Wallace Submission Policy Copy Editor Senior Writers Letters to the editor or guest columns are welcome ^^StT ^'tlrfailrntributor from all members of the Carolina community. Letters Student Media should be 250-300 words. Guest columns should be an (►n.o^ece of about 600-700 words. ,Parsons Business Manager . j aw Director Sherry Holmes must include name, phone number, profes- Susan Kjng Classified Manager sional title or year and major, if a student. Handwritten Creative Director Erik Collins submissions must be personally delivered to Russell Kris Black Faculty Adviser House room 333. E-mail submissions must include Ju,ie Bum€tt Jonathan Dunagin telephone number for confirmation. Todd Hooks Graduate Assistant The Gamecock reserves the right to edit for libel. Strand style and space. Anonymous letters will not be pub- Creatm services Melissa Millen lished. Photos are required for guest columnist and can Kenton Watt Brantley Roper be provided byJhe submitter. Advertising Miyiager Nicole Russell CaJ 777-7726 for more information. Carolyn Griffin Advertising StatT College Press Exchange \ w°'& % .W-p j Campus Issues Reading at USC highly rare Distraction is taking over our purpose for education. Lit erature is a major el ement of our pro ductivity in this learning institution, and sadly, it seems that no one takes the time to read anymore. Employment, re lationships, school activities, volunteer work, Napster, video games, Instant Mes saging and social activity have collective ly become such rivals to the actual learn ing process that the value of a college education becomes questionable. If we are at this university to leant through lecture, lab work, reading and hands-on experience, we are failing in our pursuits in at least one of these areas. We are not reading. We are not reading textbooks because we’re too busy with our extracurricular activities, or because they’re boring. We are not read ing leisure books because we don’t have time for leisure! But, we do have time for Sony Playstation, frisbee on the Horseshoe, and the latest movie at the Dutch Square theaters. Students aigue that residence hall life is busy, loud and not conducive to study ing quietly or reading, so they go to Thomas Cooper Library to get their study on. This is a classic idea, one that stems from 1801 when the first generation of Gamecocks would study in the library after a brisk walk through the Horseshoe. But we don’t read leisure books in the library. We go to Thomas Cooper to get the job done — that sheet of homework, that four-page paper, what have you. Then, we run back, grab some chicken fingers, and have fun with our extra time in the springtime sun. A weekly trip to Barnes & Noble Book sellers is a seemingly educational endeav or that has become a nationwide habit for high school-and college-age students. Ac tually, it’s nothing but a relaxing social activity that accompanies cappuccino be fore a late-night movie, not an immersion in great books. I go there to read about Vin cent van Gogh with my neighbor for a bit of intellectual stimulation, but soon we ven ture over to the magazine section to check out the guy’s magazine, Maxim, for some male insight. Not surprisingly, we find a group of college students surrounding the men’s interest and women’s mag sections. As it turns out, we college kids are read ing something! Self-professed inventors of this newfound literary slackness know that we only have this problem now, and that when we get out of college, time will af ford us greater opportunities for the deeper written word and its complexities. It’s just a shame that we’re in a time of great learning and enlightenment, but we are do ing other things. We don’t have time to read. We are paying to be able to put our Social Security numbers on test papers, to eat at the Russell House, and proudly dis play Gamecocks on our T-shirts as we con gregate in weekly oiganization meetings. Since high school, administrators have been telling us that to be college-bound, we must be well-rounded, taking on ac tivities that “look good on your resume” and joining oiganizations to reflect leader ship ability in order to train ourselves to be entrepreneurs for the future. Reading has always been just an assumed aspect of the integral learning experience, so it’s been bypassed by the other factors that make us who we are as people and future college graduates. Reading has definitely been overlooked in the midst of this “perfect process” of life, and we are missing an enormous element of ourselves by forgetting to discover trea sures and create personal theories and vi sions through reading, analyzing, and thus, inquiring. Being enrolled in this university en sures that each one of us 26,000 students has been taught to read, and has been giv en a gift. An advocate for literacy, The James Flanigan Foundation, is based on an ideal that says: “Literacy is more than being able to read, it is the knowledge that reading can transform a life by filling it with greater understanding, even wisdom. “Literacy transcends reading as a prac tical matter, it is the ability and the desire to pursue reading as a means to enriching both mind and spirit.” Literacy for life is the embodiment of the idea that literacy cultivates ability and improvement, and ultimately, a better fife.” • Knowledge. Transformation. Under standing. Wisdom. Enrichment. Im provement. A better life. These words en compass the reasons students attend a university, and the first way to make the most of our days and the most of our mon ey is to read those expensive textbooks with pride and a purpose to change and grow. Our teachers think we read these books, so let’s give them the opportunity to supple ment our understanding through lecture with a based on the reading. Thomas Cooper would-be proud to know we’re not just slumming in the seats of his library’s darkness with our econ books, but instead lying next to the fountain with Pat Conroy’s Beach Music, reading about our very own Bull Street and Car olina traditions. So, go, Gamecocks go! Fight! Read! Meredith Davis Is a journalism junior. She can be reached at gamecock viewpoints® hotmail.com Letters Baseball article contains fact errors t After reading Shannon Rooke’s arti cle on the baseball team’s first loss of the season to the Florida Gators, I’m compelled to ask, just what game was she watching? She wrote “Then came the inning that forced most of the devoted Gamecock crowd to stand up and leave in disbelief.” She must not have stayed herself, because more than three-fourths of the crowd that was there at the beginning was there at the end to give the Gamecocks a standing ova tion. The crowd appreciated the effort the team put forth, because even though they were down 11 runs, they believed they could win and played that way. She does an injustice to this team by implying that the fans only stay to the end when they’re winning. Rather than try to make her readers believe that Carolina base ball fans are fair-weather fans, she should write about the fans that are there, win or lose. She should write about a team that stays after the game to sign autographs for anyone who wants them and takes pictures with its fans. She should write about the kid that re turned i^foul ball to the coaches during bat ting practice, only to have it returned to him signed by the whole team. Granted, this is an awesome team that deserves our support, but that support would be there for this team, win or lose. Base ball fans are among the most loyal fans around, and Gamecock baseball fans in par ticular. This is a team that seems to have fun doing what they’re doing and I see no “stars” or prima donnas on this team. The operative word here is team. They are a team, they play as a team and they win as a team. And their fans appreciate their ef fort ... win or lose. Chrissie Poore College of Engineering and Information Technology SG too concerned with minor issues Hey, how long did it take the SG to ac complish this miracle [“SG gets coliseum tunnel renovated,” March 20]? Isn’t this minor issue something that could have been decided and acted upon quite some time ago? They could paint the Lincoln Tunnel for all I care; they still have not addressed important issues efiictively, such as the de creasing parking availibility, rising tuition costs, colleges without deans, etc. As 1 have said before in The Gamecock, SG has no real authority except for the crumbs thrown to it off the administration’s table. Dev Brown Graduate Student, Computer Science Reader disappointed in Five Points party I would like to agree with your column about the St. Patrick’s Day celebration in Five Points. Not only was it a royal waste of time, but I payed $5 to get into the sports bar I frequent because of the $5 admis sion price to get into the zoned-off area. I did not drink any alcohol and observed the same type of drunken behavior you both mentioned. I did have a good time inside the bar watching the NCAA tournament, as my teams won! But, I nowknow next year I will not be attending the great St. Patrick’s Day party at Five Points! Thomas Davis Criminal Justice Graduate Student t Social Issues Evolution of society improbable In my fresh man year of high school, during biology class, I thought I was thoroughly convinced of the theory of evolu tion. But, when I think about it, some pop-cul ture trends and developments are so perplexing that they’ve compelled me to question that confidence. If evolution is an established -scien tific fact, then many questions must be answered. Sure, we’ve made considerable sci entific advances, but are they complete ly sound? I don’t know if cloning a mam moth is such a well-thought-out idea. “Jurassic Park” was a decent movie, but I don’t think I want to play that game. Aldous Huxley and George Orwell were quite perceptive; they might not have had their dates right, but their fore sight could still turn out to be-accurate. Duplicating an animal is enough, but what about humans and dinosaurs? How scary would it be to have a clone running around? With growing investigation into ro botics and genetic engineering, I’m not so eager for the future. I harbor an aversion to robots (maybe it’s just because I’ve seen “2001”), but just imagine the culmination of these sci entific journeys - the apocalypse might not be far away. If this kind of experimentation isn’t detrimental to our ecosystem, certainly the prevalence of sport utility vehicles is. What happened to environmental ini tiatives? In America, we’ve seemingly dismissed the ideas of conservation. Manufacturers and consumers alike don’t seem to have evolved at all. As always, bigger is better, but does anyone really need to drive an oversized gas depository? Maybe scientists are exerting their energy in the wrong areas. How come plastic surgery has become an institution that appeals to so many people? Certainly there is still no shortage of human shallowness or superficiality. Shouldn’t we have moved beyond this? I guess the process is quite slow in its manifestation. If this is part of a natural progression, then I have no desire to “im prove” my condition. What accounts for the abundant tele vision audience for “Who Wants to Mar ry a Millionaire?” And what about pro grams like “The X Show” and “The Man Show”? We must be in the middle of a backlash against feminism. I wasn’t sure whether television could get worse. And what happened to femi nism? I’m sure it won’t be long before we can enjoy the broadcasting of execu tions. If we’re leading such improved lives, how come I still can’t figure out how to program my VCR? And why can’t the manufacturers furnish me with satisfac tory how-to instructions, instead of un intelligible technical jargon? Explain the popularity of (image) mu sic like N’Sync and the Backstreet Boys, if we’re continuing to evolve. Is art ex empt from the evolutionary process? It seems this is the case when lis tening to popular radio or visiting con temporary art exhibits. I could be wrong about all these fads and discoveries, but they all appear du bious to me. Some of them tell me we’ve clearly regressed. We might just be a bunch of self-ab sorbed monkeys so entertained by pix els, instant gratification and flat-screened televisions that we’re not sure where ex actly we stand in the grand scheme. We’re so sure of our superiority that we don’t even need to question where our “progression” is taking us. No, I don’t think I have to admit “it’s getting better all the time.” Patrick Rathbun is a journalism sophomore. He can be reached at gamecock viewpoints© hotmail.com