Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Quote, Unquote ‘We’re not in the driver's seat, but as I told them, at least we’re in the car.’ Lou Holtz, USC head football coach Vhe (Bmecock Serving the Carolina Community since 1Q08 Editorial Board Brock Vergakis • Editor in Chief Kevin Langston • Viewpoints Editor Nathan White • Asst. Viewpoints Editor Patrick Rathbun • Editorial Contributor Brad Walters • Editorial Contributor Martha Wright • Editorial Contributor Presidential hopefuls disappoint in debates The 2000 presidential debates have pitted Texas Gov. G eoige W. Bush and Vice President A1 Gore together in three c onsecutive exercises of futility. The first debate three weeks ago showcased each candi < date's immature side. We saw Bush fire off several planned “zingers” for the media’s sake, including his repeated accusa tions that Gore practices “fuzzy Washington math.” Interest ingly, Bush didn’t supply figures of his own to counter Gore’s fuzzy numbers. Just as bad were Gore’s consistent audible sighs and his human-interest anecdotes that weren’t quite true. That girl in Florida, whom Gore said had no place to sit in her classroom because of overcrowding, was in fact a new student at school and had a place to sit by the end of the day. Removing the podiums for the second debate brought on a tone of collegiality — and even agreement at times. But in stead of adequately highlighting their very real policy differ ences, Gore and Bush spent their time searching for common ground to attract undecided voters. We would be surprised if the debates did anything to encourage the undecided to vote for either one of them. Even though the second debate was far more mature than the first, the men were still unclear, speak ing in code words and bullet points that required interpreta tion. In last night’s town-hall style debate in St. Louis, the can didates were better about outlining the differences in their platforms, but just like before, neither candidate was able to adequately explain their policies or substantiate their claims. Don't use the elevator to go to the 2nd floor People who take the elevator to the second floor should instead use the stairs as a common courtesy for those who need to travel a greater number of floors to reach their desti nation, particularly in buildings such as South Tower, Cap stone and the Humanities Classroom Building, where long el evator waits are the norm. In these buildings, people who use the elevator to get to the second floor not only cause inconvenience to those al ready on the elevator; they also cause those waiting down stairs for an elevator to have to wait that much longer. Unless a physical handicap prevents these people from be ing able to take the stairs, chances are they don’t need to hold everyone up by using the elevator to get to the second floor. In the future, these people should be more considerate and take the stairs instead. About Us me iwmbw o uie biuuem newb^w^r ui me umvwbiiy oi oouin uaruiirid dnu ib puuiibneu wionaay, weanesaay ana rriaay 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 803-777-7726 Editor in Chief gamecockeditordhotmail.com University Desk gamecockudeskdhotmail.com City/State Desk gamecockcitydeskdhotmail.com Viewpoints gamecockviewpointsdhotmail.com Spotlight gamecockspotlightdhotmail.com Sports gamecocksportsdhotmail.com Online www.gamecock.sc.edu 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 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 and should be sent to gamecockviewpointsdhotmail.com. The Gamecock reserves the right to edit for libel, style and space. Anonymous letters will not be pub lished. Photos are required for guest columnists and can be provided by the submitter. Call 777-7726 for more information. UAMCCOCK BrocK vergaKis Editor in Chief Brandon Larrabee University Editor John Huiett City/State Editor Kevin Langston Viewpoints Editor Jared Kelowitz Day Sports Editor Kyle Almond Night Sports Editor Mackenzie Clements Jason Harmon Ashley Melton Brad Walters Martha Wright Copy Editors Sruaerr Modm Erik Collins Faculty Adviser Eilen Parsons Director of Student Media Susan King Creative Director Sean De Luna Todd Hooks Melanie Hutto Emilie Moca Martin Salisbury Creative Services MacKenzie Craven Spotlight Editor Amy Goulding Sean Rayford Photo Editors Charles Prashaw Amanda Silva Asst. University Editors John Bailey Asst. City/State Editor Nathan White Asst. Viewpoints Editor Aubrey Fitzloff Miranda LaLonde Ann Marie Miani Jennie Moore Katie Smith Page Designers Carolyn Griffin Business Manager Jannell Deyo Robyn Gombar Kera Khalil Denise Levereaux Brantley Roper Nicole Russell Advertising Staff Jonathan Dunagin Interim Ad Manager Sherry F. Holmes Classified Manager College Press Exchange » The Engush Language Subtle notions of superiority A few weeks ago, I sat in the court yard between Gam brell and the Hu manities building, advising an old friend to look for my Monday columns. My friend, whom I love in part for the de tachment from the notions of time and space some people consider funda mental, replied ag itatedly, “Whenev er 1 look for your Jennie Ughtweis is a senior English major. She can be reached at game cockview points®hotmail. com column, I find Kevin Langston or Pete Johnson!” I understand her frustration every time I open a newspaper and see James Kil patrick or William F. Buckley. This is not to analogize my fellow columnists and me with these two gentlemen; only to say that my expectations are thwarted when I see either Buckley or Kirkpatrick writ ing about language. I expect the ostensi bly intelligent Kilpatrick and Buckley to be able to see when their mission of lan guage prescription has become bloodsport, and a tool of bigotry. Despite, or perhaps because of, my love of language, I felt the same kind of rage when I saw, in a list of new book re leases, one called “A Superior Person’s Book of Words” (by Peter Bowler) and “The Leaning Tower of Babe” (by Richard Mitchell). Both are prescriptivist texts about language — the first proposing to make the reader a “superior” person with elevated diction, and the second suggest ing that America’s butchery of the English language has led us to a state of language chaos. I don’t know their purpose. Is it to combat the damage they believe a liberal education, and Ebonics, have dealt to the language? To answer, I would say that, when it came to language, my education was not so liberal. Most of my high school English teachers believed that language play was great art from poets, and a sign of moral degradation from students. Fur thermore, Ebonics was a public relations disaster blown out of proportion by racists who wanted people to believe that Cali fornia schools would teach written dialects. This is clearly impossible — written Eng lish will probably always stay the same, while spoken dialects, thankfully, cause the language to evolve and change. Of course, these subtly racist attitudes are not exclusive to Kilpatrick, Buckley and rural English teachers. Even a pro gressive like Christopher Hitchens, a mod el of heroic journalism, says people don’t speak dialects because their cul ture is different from mainstream, but rather because they are economically and socially deprived. For Hitchens and other people of con science, I return to the metaphor between reactions to poetic license and dialectic li cense. If poets are labeled correct, but African-American and rural Southern chil dren are called “deprived,” I can only as sume that language prescriptivists are vic tims of subtle notions of racial and class superiority. These prescriptions devil me, partic ularly when I listen to the amazing verbal acrobatics of hip-hop music. In part, the confusion of the language prescriptivists must involve the metaphoric quality of di alects. A newer term like “bling-bling” refers to the diamonds and jewelry adorn ing wealthy rappers. It’s a clearly metaphor ic reference to the shine off their adorn ments — but this kind of creativity is not celebrated like Shakespeare’s coinage of “chortle” or “assassinate.” Shakespeare, a working-class play wright from the English.provinces, has got ten some good PR as an innovator of lan guage, as Jay-Z and Tupac haven’t. Perhaps I’ll have to give it time, wait and see if the prescriptivists come around to the elastic and intelligent uses of new words. Until then, I have to scorn their subtle notions of superiority, and rejoice that when “A Common Reader’s” catalogue and language mavens disappoint, I always have my dic tionary of slang, and George Clinton on the turntable. Letters Creed sets ideal for student behavior To the Editor I was pleased that The Gamecock Ed itorial Board took the time in the Oct. 11 issue to ponder the question, “Does USC really need the Carolinian Creed?” It is exactly the kind of conversation and aware ness.that the university community hopes to encourage during Carolinian Creed Week. The Carolinian Creed is a set of aspi rations set forth by the University of South Carolina community. The Creed stands as an ideal for human behavior, not as a for mal Code of Conduct. The Student Code of Conduct of the university is outlined in the student handbook, and it is distinctly separated from the Creed, which stands as a Code of Honor. As such, a student is never “charged” with “being in violation of’ the Creed. Nor does the Creed have any enforcement (“weight”) other than what the student community demands of itself. This is not to say that some of the ideas set forth in the Creed are not also reflected in the university’s Code of Conduct — certainly they are. But to give the Creed “teeth,” as it were, . would be to turn it from a goal to a re quirement, from a lofty aspiration to a mandate of conduct. Essentially, it would strip away that which makes it special, that it comes from each individual as op posed to being imposed on each individ ■i The Board’s observation that the “Creed is not forceful,” that the “Creed is abused daily,” and that “it isn’t a part of our daily lives,” is exactly the reason why we need it. The university community should embrace this goal, as you suggest, “more than one week out of the year,” and I believe as students, we should stand at the forefront of this movement. I agree that, when the “day arrives” when all students do what is right because it is the right thing to do, and not out of fear of consequences, we will “truly see the beauty of having a Creed.” But until that time, how will we recognize the beau ty of that achievement without the Creed there to remind us of our goal? The Car olinian Creed stands as the premier sym bol of this university — it is one of the things that makes USC truly a landmark institution. Michael Hannon Political Science Senior President, Student Judicial Council Reader says Bush is best choice for USA To the Editor After reading Corey Ford’s column on Wednesday, Oct. 11 (“Gore is best choice for 2000”), I’m afraid that Mr. Ford has fallen prey to Vice President Gore’s lies and exaggerations. Ford contends that Gov. Bush has not shown “remarkable leadership” in his role as the governor of one the laigest states. In six years, Gov. Bush has improved ed ucation by restoring local control to schools, putt welfare recipients to work, decreased the number of frivolous lawsuits, strength ened the criminal justice laws by insisting on tougher punishment for violent of fenders and delivered the two laigest tax < cuts in the history of Texas. The “re markable” aspect of his record in Texas i is that he accomplished all this with the 1 bipartisan support of the democratic-con- l trolled Texas House of Representatives, i The democratic lieutenant governor had even endorsed Gov. Bush in his 1998 re- i election bid and in his presidential cam paign. Gov. Bush obviously did something 1 right to be the first person to be elected to 1 consecutive four year terms in Texas his tory in 1998 with almost 70 percent of the vote. In contrast, Vice President Gore is a product of VVhshington, D.C., having spent nearly his entire life there. While Bush has real-life experience having been a cor porate executive, Gore offers experi ence in the partisan politics of Washing ton. Ford failed to point out the eight years of inaction during the Clinton/Gore ad ministration. In 1992 and 1996, they cam paigned on middle-class tax relief, health care reform and prescription drugs for seniors. They have yet to accomplish any of these, and Gore actually cast the tie-breaking vote on the largest tax in creases in U S hisfnrv Gov. Bush’s proposals are real plans for real people. His Medicare plan gives seniors prescription-drug coverage and a :hoice in health care plans. His education •eform plan insists on accountability to ensure children are learning. His tax-cut rlan provides tax relief to all families, not ust a select few. The vice president’s plan vill ensure a laiger bureaucracy that would nake any tax-and-spend democrat proud. Finally, Gov. Bush wants to restore tonor and dignity to the White House. A'f er eight years of fund-raising shenanigans vhere there was “no controlling legal au hority” and scandal after scandal, Gov. Bush and his running-mate, Dick Cheney, ire men of character who intend to nake Americans proud of their presi lent and vice president again and end the ;eason of cynicism in Washington. Ford nakes sure to give praise to Sen. John Mc lain in his column - well, here is a quote rom McCain, who has endorsed Gov. Bush or president: “Governor Bush will pro 'ide America with decisive leadership that’s espected at home and abroad.” JavidHill *ublic Relations Junior I Blue Laws Charleston residents destined for hell South Carolini ans should be ashamed of themselves. There is a city in this state whose residents are being preyed upon by the evils of alcohol, and the state’s govern ment is doing ab solutely nothing to stop it. And of all cities to let this moral decay occur, it’s Charleston, the holy city. The rest of the state seems to know iCWJi Brock Vergakis is a junior jour nalism major. He can be reached at gamecock viewpoints@hot mail.com ana ooey ooa s law, wnicn says, All ye who buy Bud Light on Sunday shall bum in the fiery pits of hell.” It’s not hard to miss. It’s right there next to, “The shepherd may drink Monday through Saturday, but only until 2 a.m. Saturday night, as this is the hour Satan visits Five Points to claim your soul.” Sure, it gets a little confusing, because some good Christian denominations like to drink it up in honor of Jesus with a little wine on Sundays, but in the Bible it says that’s all good just as long as you buy that wine be fore Sunday. That’s why we have local gov ernment here to keep us from taking the plunge into hell. Unfortunately, Charleston’s local gov ernment doesn’t realize its responsibility to ensure Charlestonians don’t go to hell. That really is sad. I feel terrible for Charlestoni ans, but what can I do? I think I’ll just bask in the glory of knowing I’m lucky enough to go to school in a city where ensuring I don’t go to hell takes precedent over that whole idiotic notion of separation of church and state. When we’re talking about saving souls, the U.S. Constitution really isn’t all that imnnrtanf riuht^ I used to think the Constitution was a pretty cool thing until I decided to come to school here and was shown the light. I fear for my fellow out-of-state students, though. What if they go to home and buy beer on Sunday? Are our souls any less im portant? I would hope not. Maybe South Carolina should make it illegal for people to travel to heathen states on Sundays, too. But then, there’s this whole problem of Charleston. Even if it were illegal to go to a heathen state on Sundays, people could just as easily go to Charleston, buy beer and go to hell. It’s not difficult. I’m not proud of it, but I too succumbed to buying beer in Charleston on a Sunday when I worked there this summer. Boy, was I glad to be back in Columbia when school started so that would never happen agaia. This country and this world have many problems that need to be solved, and it’s easy to ignore them. But how can we ignore sin ning in our own back yard? The people of Charleston are some of the greatest people I’ve ever met. I hate knowing that, when they die, they’ll be cooked Cajun-style by Chef Lucifer, all because they were allowed to buy alcohol on Sunday. The Christian lobbying groups in this state have a lot of power, and I think it’s time they did something about the state’s biggest embarrassment. With any luck, no body will ever be able to buy alcohol on Sun days in South Carolina again. That would be a glorious day. I can see one of Jesus’ saints handing Gov. Jim Hodges the key to heav en in honor of that right now. If there’s one thing God likes, its legislated morality. Nev er mind that “free will” crap. That must have been a typo from when King James was drink ing too much wine in honor of the Last Sup per. Ana on yean, mat wnoie tnrng about lei he who has not sinned cast the first stone,” is all a big misunderstanding. South Caroli na government was able to circumvent that clause because of some strong lobbying efforts by the same cleigy members who op pose the lottery. So a little more legislated morality should n’t be that much more difficult to accom plish. The big guy upstairs has already got ten on the horn with SLED and has given them the moral OK to bust some heads down on East Bay Street in Charleston. I uige all of you to write your legislators and tell them you don’t want Charlestoni ans to go to hell, so please make it illegal to buy alcohol on Sundays. Granted, the South Carolina government tends to work slowly, but when it comes to legislating moral ity, they can make an exception. Morality is important. This isn’t something they’d wait 30 years to do, like they did in bringing down the Confederate flag.