Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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A Jkt I -w- ~w~ Quote, Unquote ‘Is it going to be easy? No, but it’s something that should motivate ^ our student atheletes and coaches.’ Associate Director of Athletics Kerry Tharp, on USC’s goal J to have every sports program ranked in the NCAA Top 25. Page 6 It 03111 ttOtk Wednesday October 25,2000 Wat (Bamtcock 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 More student input needed in dean search Before each of the prospective candidates for dean of the College of Journalism and Mass Communications began ar riving on campus, The Gamecock requested an opportunity to meet with the candidates to discuss some of the problems we’ve seen and the overall student experience in the print journalism program. The focus of this request was not to get an inside scoop for a news story, but to talk with the candidates as concerned students whose voices often fall on deaf ears when it comes to the state of the existing journalism program. Unfortunately, our request was uemeu. As we feared, campus administrators missed our point. They thought we were vying for an interview, when we were actually trying to represent the students of a college that is in urgent need of some lasting improvements. We have expressed our concerns to the college, but we realize our efforts have changed little because the interim dean will be stepping down in the upcoming months. When the candidates arrive for their two-day visit to USC, they are given from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. to speak with students — only one hour out of about 20 hours a candidate spends on campus. If the university were more open to giving students a chancejo express their concerns, wouldn’t it offer a longer and more convenient time for its students to interview and speak with these candidates? The journalism school has real problems that need to be ad dressed, and nobody knows this better than The Gamecock. What harm is there in letting the student newspaper talk to the prospec tive deans? The only thing the administration has to fear from hav ing the candidates speak with us is that we would be able to paint a much too realistic picture for the candidates as to exactly how poor of a condition the print journalism sequence is in. But this is exactly what all of the candidates need to know. Se rious change is needed to make the entire college — not just the advertising/public relations sequence — competitive with other schools. We face stiff competition irom soutneasiern scnoois sum as uic University of Florida, the University of Georgia and the Universi ty of North Carolina. Unless an accurate picture of what goes on in the basement of the Coliseum is painted, no changes will be made and we will continue tp have an inferior program. Faculty are unlikely to point out that some of the classes they teach, such as JOUR 201 and 202, aren’t providing the proper in troduction to journalism. And they surely won’t tout that, in 3 1/2 years of college, students are required to write only five articles. And even those are done without any resemblance of deadline pressure. For print journalism majors, it is no secret the program is in dire need of reformation. We want to know how the candidates plan on addressing an outdated and impractical program, which has disenchanted the one group that should be its biggest supporter and defender — the student newspaper. Unfortunately, it’s looking like some things will never change. 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 803-777-7726 Editor in Chief gamecockeditor@hotmail.com University Desk gamecockudesk@hotmail.com City/State Desk gamecockcitydesk@hotmail.com Viewpoints gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com Spotlight gamecockspot I ight@hotmai I .com Sports gamecocksports@hotmail.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 gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com. The Gamecock reserves the right to edit for libel, style and space. Anonymous letters will not be pub lished. Photos are required tor guest columnists and can be provided by the submitter. Call 777-7726 for more information. Brock Vergakis MacKenzie Craven Editor in Chief Spotlight Editor Brandon Larrabee Amy Goulding University Editor Sean Rayford John Huiett Photo Editors City/State Editor Charles Prashaw Kevin Langston Amanda Silva Viewpoints Editor Asst. University Editors Jared Kelowitz John Bailey Day Sports Editor Asst. City/State Editor Kyle Almond Nathan White Night Sports Editor Asst. Viewpoints Editor Mackenzie Clements Aubrey Fitzloff Jason Harmon Miranda LaLonde Ashley Melton Ann Marie Miani Brad Walters Jennie Moore Martha Wright Katie Smith Copy Editors Page Designers SruoewT media Erik Collins Carolyn Griffin Faculty Adviser Business Manager Ellen Parsons Jannell Deyo Director of Robyn Gombar Student Media Kera Khalil Susan King Denise Levereaux Creative Director Brantley Roper Sean De Luna Nicole Russell Todd Hooks Advertising Staff Melanie Hutto Jonathan Dunagin Emilie Moca Interim Ad Manager Martin Salisbury Sherry F. Holmes Creative Services Classified Manager College Press Exchange Gamecock Football Student support needed against UT In a football season which has seen the University of South Carolina reach near the top of the SEC, Gamecock fans __ _feb have surprisingly Corey Ford beeu rewarded as is a junior political years of mediocrity science major. He change to outright writes every domination of con- Wednesday. He can ference opponents. 5e reached at Even during gamecockview the excruciating points@hotmail. 21-game losing com skid, Williams Brice Stadium fdled up to capacity near ly every contest. As one columnist from Raleigh’s The News :uid Observer, wrote last year, no team with a losing record had full sta diums — outside of Columbia, S.C., of course. Truthfully, Carolina fans have to be considered some of the best in the nation. At every away game, thousands of fans support the team, and many times create much louder noise than those home crowds in Tuscaloosa, Lexington and Nashville. The Williams-Brice faithful and stu dents provided a major lift for the play ers and the visiting teams in their upsets of ranked conference foes Georgia and Mississippi State. Despite the nation’s longest losing streak, one of the largest crowds ever in Williams-Brice history turned out to see the ‘Cocks shut out the New Mexico State Aggies and the destruction of the goal posts. The crowd noise, especially from the student section, certainly rattled Heis man hopeful Quincy Carter and dazed Mis sissippi State in the fourth-quarter mira cle comeback. But no matter how unbelievable the games against both Bulldog teams might have been, the true tests come in the final three games. Tennessee, Florida, and Clem son — known as the Orange Crush — is the meat of the schedule. Fan support in these coming games — even the ones in Gainesville and that place in Pickens Coun ty— will be crucial. Many fans see Tennessee as a vulner able team with three conference losses, but the Vols are no joke, especially com ing off their win against Alabama — the only team the Gamecocks have lost to so far. As of Monday, student tickets were available for the game, so if you have not yet received one, be sure to do so. A concerted effort has been underway to show unity at the game Saturday. Dif ferent people have asked students and fans alike to wear black for the game to show a degree of school spirit unparalleled since the 1987 Clemson game or the 1992 Ten nessee game. Imagine seeing 80,000 all in black; the scene undoubtedly will intim idate the Tennessee players. In addition, we as students must do a better job as our team makes its entrance onto the field. The phenomenal 2001, the greatest entrance in all of college football, should generate more excitement from the fans. At the game, jumping up and down with a constant roar while 2001 is blaring on the P.A. system can set the tone for the game. Also, I encourage students to come out to Williams-Brice on Thursday to cheer on the team as they finish their final week ly practice, which usually ends around 5 p.m. This pep rally tradition began last year with the Lou Holtz’s entrance as head coach. While support from alumni and oth er South Gtrolinians has always been high, we as a student body can do better. Let’s start with this Saturday’s game against the Volunteers. I look forward to seeing all of you in black and deafeningly loud in Williams Brice. Letters Letters to the editor even dumber than The Gamecocks normal content To the Editor As I’ve watched The Gimeax'k strug gle for relevance, I’ve been tempted many times to write a letter to the editor ex pressing my amazement at the pointless columns that continue to appear. In fact, given the time and resources, I would love to write my own newspa per purely in response to the uninformed, illogical and blatantly irrelevant stories that manifest themselves in campus con versations three times a week; however, I figured that was only my own opinion and this opinion could remain between me and my friends for our own entertainment. Un fortunately, many people at USC do not exercise the same restraint when deciding to send a letter to the editor. The recent barrage of letters to the ed itor has been a dilapidating circus where the authors apparently think people around here actually care about their moronic viewpoints regarding something they read in our beloved student newspaper. These letters are so random, it makes the actual Gamecock columns look like excerpts from The New York Times. Topics ad dressed include Catholics vs. Protestants, those stupid scooters and the word “gay.” First of all, the Reformation ended cen turies ago; you’re all Christians and Jesus loves you, but the rest of us don’t care. If people want to ride those scooters, let them; it just makes the rest of us look that much “cooler.” “Gay,” by the way, means “happy.” People can use the word to mean whatever the hell they want it to mean. I know when 1 say “those scooters are gay” I’m not picturing a Richard Simmons ex ercise video. The two uses of the word are totally unrelated! • Finally Ms. Gilbert’s degradation of the Swahili language [“Bigoted columnist needs Creed lesson,” Oct. 13] (and ap parent insensitivity to all foreign languages) is the most bigoted comment yet to appear in The Gamecock. If she really wanted to “leant from the differences in people,” as her sacrosanct Creed calls for, she might actually try to learn another language or at least try to tolerate other languages. I’m sorry that I’ve had to waste my time and the precious Gamecock space with this letter. I hope it serves as some sort of “divine intervention” (sorry, Chris tians) in order to stop the incessant bick ering that occurs over these truly point less themes. Maybe then we could use The Gamecock for things that really matter, or at least return to mediocre journalism. Brian Trauth Finance Senior Reader discouraged that fellow students can’t see sarcasm To the Editor As I’m sure Brock Veigakis has had his share of hate mail, I decided to go ahead and send a positive view. I was told by my roommate to read the column [“Charleston residents destined for hell,” Oct. 18], as she knows I can get up on my soapbox. She actually misunderstood the article, and she took it literally and thought I might have a field day responding. I went into the column thinking I would be annoyed but almost fell of my chair when I immediately caught the biting satire. I often feel I’m trapped in a moral major ity hell. I feel it is absurd that this state is constantly legislating morality, and it does n’t just end at the blue laws. I have spo ken to many people who are going to vote no to the lotto because they feel it is moral ly wrong, and their church has told them this. Whatever happened to freedom of choice? Or separation of church and state? Or the fact that we came to this country to escape from oppression, and now in the South we have the moral majority trying to take that away. I can work myself up to the point of screaming over some people's closed-minded viewpoint. If you don’t want to drink, then don’t drink; be proud of your own convictions, but don’t assume it is right to take that choice away from everyone. Jennifer Murray Nursing Student Voters have more than two choices in presidential race To the Editor On Wednesday, Oct. 11,1 attended a protest against the presidential debates in Winston-Salem, N.C. I went not knowing what to expect and discovered nearly a thousand people gathered to make them selves heard. Libertarians, anarchists, Nader sup porters and others gathered despite their wide and encompiissing differences in back grounds, belief systems and political as pirations to speak with a common voice — to say, “We are not satisfied with the way things are.” The average American still believes that he/she must choose between Bush and Gore, or the lesser of two evils. There is no lesser of two evils. The real evil lies in the lack of choice. The ability to make a choice is what voting and democracy are about. With the greed-centered, corpora tion-sponsored two-party system of today’s politics, one has no choice — no right to make his/her own decisions—and democ racy only exists on paper. The average American appeases himself or herself by thinking, “It’s a two-party system. That is just the way things are.” Yes, this system is the way things are, but not the way things have to be. We can change it. How? Do not vote for Bush or Gore this Nov. 7 simply because they are the only options. Ashley Vaughan Undecided Freshman I Big Brother Is Watching Technology will find you everywhere you venture Im not sure what others did for their fall breaks, but I felt mine was fulfilling and much needed, although too short. I had the oppor tunity to retreat into the unviolated, tran quil wilderness dur ing my fall break. I went on a two day canoeing excur sion in a nearby riv er with several other close friends. We rowed near ly 25 miles each day and camped on a sandbar after the first day’s journey. i ieei rortunate ana tnanKiui tor the opportunity. Such experiences should be cherished and appreciated. I’m not trying to sound like Thoreau or Yeats, but everyone deserves and needs such an experience. Everyone should spend time immersed in the natural world, away from television and computer screens, away from the watch ful eye of advertisers, away from clock-lined walls, and away from life’s breakneck race. Everyone needs a change of pace and a change of scenery. Everyone should feel the need to take a step backward instead of striding forward with haste. Refreshingly enough, there weren’t any traffic lights or deadlines on the water. I did n’t bring my daily planner or my cell phone. The experience gave me the chance to hit the pause button on my life. It gave me the chance to observe what was before me, with frame-advancing capabilities. The riv er is agood place to get some thinking done. It is necessary to see the natural pat tern of the world every so often, and the more exposure the better. It signals a return to our literal roots. Nature is something we take for grant ed far too often. My return to the routine wasn’t as wel come of a change as my escape was. And I guess I was punished for my (over)indul gence because I was taken ill upon my re turn. I was bedridden for the past weekend, and I was relegated to watching television for no fewer than five hours per day, with a minimum of two “Magnum P.I.” episodes. There’s nothing more difficult than to drag yourself away from the TV. So, my illness not only made me feel physically weak, but also intellectually weak. The amount of time I spent immersed in nature was later balanced (and maybe can celled out) by the time I spent mindlessly nuuuida iuiu ui me icjcrr sion. Technology hunted me down with its in escapable, unbounded claw and yanked me back to the commodified world. I was foolish; I should have known I couldn’t escape. I should have known tech nology was going to bite me in the ass. This equalization got me to thinking. I also hadn’t gotten much sleep on the trip, and I knew I’d have to get some after my re turn to the mainland. There is a continual ebb and flow in many facets of life. My experiences are representative of life’s eternal tug-of-war. There is this ever-present cycle that per vades and characterizes our lives. Whether it be technology and simplicity or happiness and depression or consciousness and un consciousness, there is a balance ana cycle that we usually don’t take into account. I have arrived at this revelation before, and it has served me well in my endeavors. I know if I spend a lot of time thinking one day, then it must be equalized by brain shut off time. One can't expect for polarities not to balance out. And these cycles are things we don’t usually consciously consider. When it seems that it becomes more dif ficult to balance and budget our time, then it is time to take the proverbial step back to distance yourself from your sunoundings and consider or deliberate. I’ve already planned my return to na ture for the next fall break. I know I’ll be desirous of the natural world’s serenity and prepared to set off the balance. Patrick Rathbun is a junior jour nalism major. He writes every Wednesday He can be reached at gamecock viewpoints@hot mail.com