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I %U (5amecock Serving the Carolina Community since 1 QOS Brock Vergakis Editor in Chief Brandon Larrabee University Editor Erin O’Neal , Spotlight Editor Kyle Almond Sports Editor Brad Walters Design Editor Cristy Infinger Asst. University Editor Valerie Matchette City & State Editor Amanda Silva Spotlight Editor Martha Wright Copy Desk Chief Charles Prashaw Asst. City & State Editor Aubrey Fitzloff Asst. Viewpoints Editor The Gamecock will not be silent This week, some people tried to do an idiotic thing and censor Wednesday’s edition of The * Gamecock. Some did everything in their power to prevent us from printing Wednesday’s edition, while some pathetically attempted to trash hundreds of copies of the paper outside the Student Government office. Some even went as far as to physically rip out an article on the SG vice-presidential debate from some newspa pers. Apparently, these people didn’t like the idea of our exercising First Amendment rights by endorsing candir dates in this week’s Student Government elections. Or perhaps someone didn’t want students to see a news ar tirlp rnlnmn nr Ipftpr tn tho oriitnr at r*aot a nnrPAn ai* ' ------ -* »»»*»» »<vn/v M V/* organization in an unfavorable light. Whatever reason these people chose to try to censor The Gamecock, we hope they know they failed, and failed miserably. The Gamecock will not be intimidated and will not be silenced. The Gamecock's editorial staff decides the content of this newspaper, not Student Government or the university administration. We do not and will not seek anybody’s permission before printing an article or _tl' • *_• _ . vununai. 11113 10 rwilCll^a, 11UI a L/UllllIlUIllol UUUIUry. We hold the right to discuss anything that is not ex plicitly forbidden by law. The last time we checked, po litical commentary was the most protected form of speech there is under the Constitution, just as it always has been. And whether anyone likes it or not, no univer sity policy, administrator or Student Government offi cial has the right to violate the Constitution. We have full First Amendment protection and the Supreme Court to back us up. We suspect the perpetra tors who tried to censor us have nothing more than a chip on their shoulders, bruised egos and a poor under standing of the Bill of Rights. About U s 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. Stuoeht 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 gamecockcitydeskQhotmail.com Viewpoints gamecockviewpoints0hotmail.com Spotlight gamecockspotlight0hotmail.com Sports gamecocksports@hotmail.com Online www.dailygamecock.com Submission Policy Letters to the editor or guest columns are welcome from all members of the Carolina community. Letters should be 260-300 words. Guest columns should be an opinion piece of about 600 words. Both must include name, phone number, professional 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 e-mailed to gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com. The Gamecock reserves the right to edit for libel, style and space. Anonymous letters will not be published. Photos are required for guest columnists and can be provided by the submitter. Tw Gamecock Ann Marie Miani Travis Lynn Jennie Moore Sean Rayford Katie Smith ph°>° Editors Mark Yates Mackenzie Clements Page Designers ial'?n Ashley Melton Betsy Baugh c°py Editors Sara McLaulin Charles Tomlinson Community Affairs Senior Reporter SruoMfr Meow Erik Collins Carolyn Griffin Faculty Adviser Business Manager Ellen Parsons Sarah Sims Director of Advertising Manager Student Media 6 Susan King Janne" Deyo Creative Director RobYn Gombar Kera Khalil °e Luna Denise Levereaux Todd Hooks Nicole Russe|| Me'ante Hutto Advertising Staff Emilie Moca Martin Salisbury Sherry F. Holmes Creative Services Classified Manager Only two letters to the editor per student will be printed in a semester. Staff columns take priority over guest columns, unless the guest columnist offers expertise on a subject, or if the subject's relevance is limited by time. Guest columns and letters may be submitted by e-mail to gamecockviewpomts@hotmail.com. Call 777-7726 for more information. f OMHtiBtiftiQF 1 |lteWUWK®afe I Ulftlfi, WtW® 1 flPlCUWIg... r^\ a Misdirected Blame USC police doing excellent job The USCPD has recently come under public scrutiny. In order to fit in, many students say they hate the police, though they’ve had ,;t,T Phil Watson little or no experience with the is a th ird'year campus police. This student in the is understandable. College of Hating cops is Journalism and fashionable in this Mass day and age, and Communications, being fashionable is Send letters to the everything. editor to Its just funny garnecockvjewpoints that some of these _. . , , ©hotmail.com. people who constantly complain about the police would probably become accustomed to daily ass-stompings if the police didn’t exist. For some, law enforcement has kept them alive since the fifth grade, but still they complain. I don’t mind criticizing the police if the complaint is warranted, but recent complaints have been unprovoked cries for attention: “Look at me! I’m angry, and I’m going to attack the police because I know it is socially acceptable!” The USCPD is the last local law enforcement agency that should be criticized. I’ve never been harassed by people for money on campus. The USCPD keeps people who shouldn’t be on campus away. For the most part, they do a good job. Obviously, it’s hard to monitor every nook and cranny of a campus this size. But when’s the last time a scary-looking man reeking of liquor approached you on campus and asked for money? I’ve never been approached by panhandlers on campus. The minute you step off campus, it’s a different story. Campus is a sanctuary compared to the rest of urban Columbia. We have the USCPD to thank for this. An incident earlier this week also made me think the USCPD does a good job. Around 1:30 a.m. Monday, someone was harassing my roommate and me. This individual was quite angry, and it showed in the way she battered my door with a big stick and tried to get in the room. Luckily, the door was locked. We called the police, and they promptly came and solved the problem. They issued a “no trespassing” order rgainst the individual who was trying to get in our room. In this incident, the USCPD proved to be an effective and timely agency. They came to the room quickly and took care of the situation. There’s always going to be crime on a campus, especially one the size of USC. The fact that USC is located in the middle of a fairly large city also means there will be crime. The sad-but-true fact is that where there are a lot of people, there’s a lot of crime. Instead of blaming the police for crime, maybe we should blame the scumbuckets who commit the crimes. They’re the root of the problem. If anyone on this campus needs to be singled out and trashed, it’s parking services. These people seem to enjoy stealing money from us. They are cold-blooded and ruthless as Roman tax collectors. They have dirty and coercive tactics when it comes to reaching their sticky hands into already-empty student pockets and taking a little more. I was parking at a metered spot the other day and all I had on me was a few dimes. I put one into the meter, and it wouldn’t turn. This meter only took quarters. Of course, the meter still keeps dimes, it just doesn’t count them toward your allotted parking time. Little things like this illustrate how greedy and hard-hearted the parking people are. The USCPD should arrest them for robbery. Letters <"**• s. n, *,w ' - w iM W«,, 2 :'1.4 , \ HI OS vt .*•' S& " _ •• Parking lot cruisers belong in the zoo To the Editor The noise lias got to stop! I live in Sims dorm, and my window faces the parking lot in front of Patterson. This parking lot has got to be the noisiest place on campus. It is so loud that it takes my roomate and I hours at night to fall asleep. We have to keep our windows cracked because we are only offered heat at this time and our rooms can be unbearably hot. I don’t know who told these people it is cool to cruise through the parking lot at all hours of the night blasting their ex pensive systems in their crappy cars. I just wanted to tell them that this is a univer sity campus and not the strip at Myrtle Beach. If they have to resort to picking up girls by cruising, then their crappy cars are obviously not their only problems. If they are going to act like mon keys in the parking lot, then they should go hang out at the zoo! Kim Yandow Second-year Student College of Journalism and Mass Communications Viewpoints page contains bias To the Editor This letter is directed toward the ed itorial board and specifically the editor in chief. On behalf of most of the students with whom I socialize, I would like to sar ciistically thank you for your expert opin ion about the best presidential and vice presidential candidates. In all seriousness, I believe you have foolishly assumed that the students on cam pus are sadly misinformed and incapable of deciding which candidate they think will do the best job. Instead of picking candidates for us, maybe you should have printed everyone’s agenda and let us decide for ourselves. We are not as ignorant as you seem to assume. College students are able to read. Why not let all of the candidates write a few para graphs to describe their intentions in their own words rather than in yours? I am quite sure that I’m capable of choosing the can didate for me if I had been informed about all of them instead of just your personal favorites. This latest “Viewpoint” is another ex ample of The Gamecock’s recent down hill slide. This, in addition to your ridicu lous “Anti-Greek” letters to the editor, has pathetically proved that your desire for controversy outweighs your obliga tions to present the news in an unbiased manner. The Gamecock’s insistence on print ing gossip is an embarrassment to the Uni versity. I view this as a lack of maturity and professionalism on the part of the ed itors. You should be ashamed of using stu dent-paid allocations to print such garbage. I hfino tlllC Qmiratalw ovnrflrrnr m 1 r AAn tempt for your lack of judgment. John Dixon Third-year Student Darla Moore School of Business Editor's note: John Dixon is a campaign staff member ofNithya Bala, a vice pres idential candidate who was not endorsed by The Gamecock. Protecting others is our responsibility To the Editor: I would like to take this time to thank Hamp Nettles for his enlightening view point, “I’m no fan of the BGLA or whin ing” in the Feb. 14 edition of The Game cock. 1 found the column to be polite and well-written even though your view might be controversial to those on campus. However, there is one point that I would like to argue. 1 would like to dis cuss your statement, “I certainly think that personal choices can be the basis of dis crimination” because I feel that it is flawed. I realize that you, Mr. Nettles, are not ad mitting to discriminating against a person’s personal choice, and that you do under stand that this form of discrimination ex ists. Yet I feel as though you are defend ing it. All humans have the right to exist on their own terms, much as you stated. In an ideal world, all persons would mind their own business, being too busy dealing with their own shortcomings to worry so much about who is peeping with whom. But this is clearly not that kind of world. Because of the unfortunate death of Matthew Shepard and others unnamed who have been tortured and tormented for their choice, we have a responsibility to look out for those who might be harmed, harassed or killed. It is irrelevant whether being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender is a personal choice. No human being should have to tolerate harassment and discrim ination. It is irrelevant why ignorant hu mans must believe that only their beliefs exist. So, the next time you are walking down the street, ask yourself, “Do I feel safe be cause I am protected by those around me, or am I paranoid that I may be attacked because I have made different personal choices than those around me?” Hillary Huesman Third-year Student Darla Moore School of Business I 'ITht (5amECOCk accepts letters to the editor from all points of view. We accept both popular and unpopular opin ions. Letters represent the opinion of the author, and not those of “Cllt (BamECOCk. The editor reserves the right to edit for space, style and libel. Anonymous letters will not be printed. All letters must include name, year in school, college and a phone number. Letters should be fewer than 400 words. Send your letters to gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com. Submission does not guarantee publication. Dance Marathon Dance Marathon affects everyone When The Gamecock first approached me about writing a column on the Dance Marathon, I figured I would have no trouble knowing what to say. I knew that I had to throw in the facts. It is a 28 hour fund-raiser for the Children’s Hospital of Palmetto Health in Columbia, and we ask participants to help by raising $150. I also realized that Edward Bender, Dance Marathon’s overall Chairman, is a fourth-year student in the College of Liberal Arts. Send letters to the editor to gamecockviewpoints ©hotmail.com. asking people to spend /» hours in the Russel] House Ballroom after raising money would not sound very appealing to the average college student, and I recognized that I had to try and capture the fun and excitement of Dance Marathon. I figured I could talk about all the great bands — such as Maywater Rum — we’ll have or about the children from the hospital who will be there or about all the food they will be getting. Yet, as I sat down to the computer, I just did not know if all that great stuff could convey the Dance Marathon in an enticing light. So instead of telling the facts about the Dance Marathon, I thought this column would be better suited 1 am going to explain the amazing impact the Dance Marathon has had on my life. I got involved in Dance Marathon in a time in my life when 1 was not happy. 1 spent all second semester of my freshman year pining away over a girl who did not like me. My grades were horrendous, and transferring seemed to be my only course of action. Then one day, a friend asked me whether I would be interested in joining the Morale Committee for a new campus organization called Dance Marathon. I figured that I did not have too much going for me, anyway, so it could not hurt to join. So on Sunday and Wfednesday nights for the next ten weeks, we got together and created the first line dance. During these meetings, friendships were built and bonds were made that I could have never imagined. These people became like a family to me. This surrogate family helped me realize that there were many things I was missing out on at Carolina. By the time Dance Marathon had arrived, transferring seemed like a distant memory. The first Dance Marathon was unlike any experience I have ever had. Interacting with the children from the hospital made me realize that my problems were quite insignificant compared to what they had to endure every day. I felt a sense of joy and accomplishment because I knew that my time was making the difference in a child’s life. Dance Marathon gave me a newfound sense of purpose in life and since the first event. I have not been the same. Every time I feel sad, I think of the Dance Marathon and the kids in the hospital, and 1 realize that nothing heals the soul more than being able to help another. I cannot promise Dance Marathon will have the same affect on you as it had me, but I can assure you that it will have an impact on your life. Nothing beats the feeling you get seeing the children from the hospital laughing, playing and being able to forget, at least for a little while, their daily struggles. The third Dance Marathon takes place today in the Russell House Ballroom. I’ll be there. Will you?