Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Quote, Unquote ‘It is a great time and a good cause. We enjoy beating ass and beating frats.’ Michael Geiger, Naval ROTC participant in Delta Zeta’s Turtle Tug (Samecock Serving Ihe Carolina Community since 1908 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 Protest positive sign of student activism If you missed the large, graphic signs on Davis Field this past week with dead fetuses and the comparisons of abortion to the Holocaust, slavery and the Cambodian killing fields, then you missed a rare instance of campus activism. Some critics of the display, put together by the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform and sponsored by Reformed University Fel lowship and Students for Life, might say the anti-abortionists who visited our campus could have argued their views better without graphic photos of dead fetuses. A lot of students — both pro-life and pro-choice — were opposed to the display for this very reason. However, The Gamecock commends last week’s demonstra tors because they had the courage to get in students’ faces about something they really care about. Regardless of their method, they got people openly talking about the abortion issue. Even though the protest was shocking and graphic, it was a shining example of the First Amendment in action. Fortunately, most students didn’t need a law class to explain this to them; a real-life example was displayed next to the Russell House. Many of the students who protested the display acknowledged that the group had a right to be on campus and didn’t go crying to the ad ministration to try to get them kicked off. Instead of trying to prevent the group from getting its pro-life message across, protesters used their own First Amendment rights to show their disgust with the display. More students should follow their lead in the future and realize that the answer to speech you disagree with is not to silence it, but to respond with speech of your own. Protesters handled themselves exceptionally. There was no mindless shouting or any threat of violence. The police were never forced to intervene. Students might not have agreed with CBR’s methods, but at least they acknowledged the anti-abor tionists’ right to display their signs. In the past, people have been known to get out of hand when controversial topics are an issue, but none of this behavior oc curred this past week. The Gamecock commends everyone on both sides of t he issue for recognizing and respecting each other’s right to express different viewpoints. 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 sem esters 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 Studei it Publications and Communications is the publisher of The Gamecock. The Department of Student Media is the newspap-er's parent organization. The Gamecock is supported in part by student activities fees. Aooress 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 Ar, °a code 803-777-7726 Editor in Chief gamec xkeditor0hotmail.com University Desk gamec xkudesk0hotmail.com City/State Desk gamecocl-tcitydesk0hotmail.com Viewpoints gamecxkvi ewpoints0hotmail.com Spotlight gamecxk spotlight@hotmail.com Sports gamxocksports@hotmail.com Online w'lvw.dailygamecxk.com Submission Policy Letters to the editx or guest columns are welcome from all members of the Carolina community. Letters should be 250-300 wxds. Guest columns should be an opinion pixe of about 600 words. Both must include n«»me, phone number, professional title or year anr.l major, if a student. Handwritten submissions must be personally delivered to Russell House rxm 333. E-mail submissions must include; telephone number fx confirmation and should be e-mailed to gamecxkviewpoints@hotmail .com. The Gamxxk reserves 1 the right to edit fx libel, st, !e and space. Anonymous letters will not be published. Photos are required fx guest columnists and can be provided by the s ubmitter. The Gamecock Ann Marie Miani Travis Lynn Jennie Moore Sean Rayford Eatc vT'th Phol° Cdl,ors Mark Yates Page Designers Ciystal Boyles Betsy Baugh Mackenzie Clements Sara McLaulin Jason Harmon Community Affairs Copy Editors SruoofT Media Erik Collins Carolyn Griffin Faculty Adviser Business Manager Ellen Parsons Sarah Sims Director of Advertising Manager Student Media Susan King Ja™,"rDey? Creative Director RobynGombar Kera Khalil Sean De Luna Denise Levereaux Todd Hooks Nicole Russell Melanie 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. f Guest columns and letters may be submitted by e-mail to gamecockviewpoints©hotmail.com. Call 777-7726 for more information. I The Gamecock |3bg Chfc SaypS ■ Tell me P8our ybue&R UJH fir Do\fou Loo K. OK£? U)rtftrBoYou.Do? Scuj> mo^J xam y s^ooita Blomd Hair >Blue EyES ,TOki_ tXJXTH F\ePPuuJ6 (71U&CLES. A miterSEE!! [X Am A Bu/den/tet the iMrveRKifry ^C5M^ < " 3-WfrzMET HornNCE "_| Introspective Being a college kid isn’t so bad James Battle is a third-year student in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. Send responses to gamecockviewpoints ©hotmail.com. I have a cat, and the cat’s name is Booney. It’s our cat because we feed it, and a year ago it was probably someone else’s cat. I used to think it would be fun to be a cat. Today, the cat is pregnant and reminds me of an overweight teenage sister walking around the house smoking cigarettes. There is a grapefruit lodged in her mid-section, wliich in two months will turn into several baby Booneys. I thought it would be fun to be a cat, because whenever I’m constipated with bills, tests and teachers, Booney rubs against my leg ands takes a nap. “You don’t do a damn thing, Booney,” I said one day. “Sure don’t,” she said. Later that day, a large black cat crashed through' our bushes and jumped on Booney in a way that the Kama Sutra describes as the Congress of the Cow. My roommate shot him with a pellet gun, and Booney, confused, ran upstairs, wrestling widi the dilemma of losing her virginity and then having her lover shot. “Maybe we should get her spayed,” I said. “No way, man. That costs, like, hundreds of dollars,” he said. As the month carried on, Booney was discovered in more congresses, and this time the couples were shot with a camera instead of an air rifle. There’s a collage. A few days later, we were watching The Price is Right, and Bob Barker told us to get our pets spayed or neutered to keep the pet population under control. Our neighbor sitting on a dingy blue couch said, “Did you know it only cost $25 to have a cat spayed?” The next day, a friend came over and brought his dog, Bud. The dog chased Booney around the house. When Bud caught up with her, she was huddled in the comer, holding her grapefruit and hissing at him like a viper. Bud panted back with his black tongue and wondered what was wrong with the cat. “Hey, go get your dog,” I told my friend. “Whit a minute. Whtch this,” he said. I hesitated for a moment, and my roommate reflected, “Cats are pretty damn weird.” “Yeah,” he said. “I bet if you died in your house, and you had a dog, the dog would starve to death and die by your side, but a cat... a cat would eat you,” he said. Eventually, Bud saw our toilet and ran off. I picked up Booney and asked her if she would eat me if I died. “Sure, because I’m a cat. I’m weird.” “Oh.” That’s pretty much when I decided that being a cat sucks, and being a malnourished college kid isn’t so bad. Letters E-mail wasn’t meant to censure display To the Editor The Gamecock printed an article this past Friday titled “Tour guides told to avoid display.” Because the Visitor Center was never consulted, I’d like to clear up a few points. The purpose of the e-mail referenced in The Gamecock article was to inform the ambassadors of what they might encounter while on the tour, not to censure any information that might be provided in the display. The Visitor Center is the official “front door” to USC. We welcome more than 100,000 visitors to campus each year and look at every visit as an opportunity to showcase the distinguishing features of our campus. When there is something that could insult or disrupt the impression created on our campus tour, the University Ambas sadors are notified. Whether it is general construction on the Horseshoe or a geno cide exhibit by the Russell House, we want our staff to be prepared. This would be especially tme if something might detract from the overall purpose of a campus visit. We strive to have every campus visit focus on the great qualities of USC. Neither the Visitor Center nor the campus tour are about promoting a political or social issue. We are here to welcome visitors and to impress them with all that USC has to offer. Denise A, Wellman Director, USC Visitor Center Editor’s Note: The reporter of Friday’s news article attempted to contact the Visitor Center for comment. Anti-abortion display offended students To the Editor I feel compelled to write to you about the display in the middle of our campus last week. The one with the horrific images of dead babies, piled-up Jews and hanging black men. The same one that sent many people rushing by, ready to vomit. The same one that kids walked by asking, “Mommy, what’s that?” Yes, believe it or not, you can see tliis right here on USC’s campus. The display is outrageous, uncalled for and should be banned. I heard a Jewish person speak about how outraged she was to see such images. 1 heard Preston residents ask “Why is this in our front yard?” Better yet, “Why is this so close to where we have to eat?” l oeneve everyone is entitled to the rights granted in the Constitution. But where does that stop? It should have stopped before USC allowed these images to be plastered on campus. There are better ways to express your freedom. Pass out pamphlets, hold a rally, hold a lecture — but don’t put up huge images of dead babies, the Holocaust and hate crimes. Instead of trying to honestly educate the community, Students for Life and “the abortion-mobile” only offended students. The entire group conducted themselves unprofessionally. After being photographed for protesting, I asked die camera man who he was with. He responded “I’m with the Lord against abortion.” He couldn’t even answer my question. So much for education. Brandon J. Ray First-year Student College of Liberal Arts Shock value, scorn don’t change minds To the Editor: As I was walking back from class today, I was bombarded with a huge display of dozens of pictures of dead, bloody, aborted babies. I walked around the entire display and read signs that pro claimed “abortion is genocide” and others that compared abortion to the Holocaust, killings in Cambodia and Rwanda and race-related lynchings. The display and its logic were so obscene and twisted that pro-choice and pro-life supporters joined to protest it. 1 talked to both the people involved with the event and to those protesting it, and I felt the same misgivings about the display as the protesters did. This display was grossly inconsiderate to all students here at USC, especially those living on campus. I live in Sims. The Russell House could be considered the equivalent of my front yard. While the promoters of this so-called genocide awareness project have a right to voice their opinion, they should have the decency to not do it in a manner which is inescapable to campus residents. Such a display gives a horrible name to true pro-life supporters, who understand that the only way to even begin to change someone’s mind is through compassion and understanding, not tactics of shock value and scorn. Katherine Ray Third-year student College of Liberal Arts Pop Culture Where did all the rock stars go? Michael Kerr is a third-year student in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. Send responses to gamecockviewpoints Qhotmail.com. Turn on TRL on any after noon and you’ll see the likes of Britney, Back street and ’N Sync battling it out for the title of Most Popular Artist on Earth. Their music is, of course, both commercialized and lacking emotion. And, with the possible exception of Britney s inspiring Stronger, it doesn t say anything. It’s not the lack of substance and emotion or the presence of commercialization that angers me about a large portion of today’s music. I’m worried about the lack of good old fashioned rock stars and the presence of way too many boring front men that seem more suited for work in a cubicle than on stage in front of 50,000 fans. Do you remember Mick Jagger, David Coverdale and Sebastian “Skid Row” Bach? Those guys thrived on arena rock. What happened to them? I’ll tell you. Kurt Cobain killed them and buried them in unmarked graves somewhere in Seattle. In his short but meaningful stay at the top of the music world, Cobain abruptly put an end to everything flashy, glitzy and fun about rock ’n’ roll. To put it bluntly, he killed the rock-star image. The Eddie Vedders and Scott Wfeifinds of the world were more than happy to step into the spotlight as the rock stars of the 1990s. But there was one problem. The shoes left by the likes of Brett Michaels, Jani Lane and Ozzy Osbourne were just too damn big to fill. The public was yearning for rock stars to live vicariously through. No one wants to pretend they’re just some regular guy up on stage whining into a microphone. The appeal of being a rock star is to be laiger than life. Rock stars are, and should be, no more than living cartoon characters for our amusement. Their leather pants and zebra-striped cowboy hats work in the same way that cartoon characters survive when anvils fall on their heads. In the real world, both Steven Tyler and Wile E. Coyote would be dead. Rock ’n’ roll is a world all its own, that everyday people can’t be a part of, but worship from a distance. Last summer I saw Poison and Motley Crue live in concert. The shows were everything a rock concert is supposed to be. I didn’t fork over my cash to see a band play music. I paid to see fireworks, fans rush the stage, elaborate stage setups and sleazy-looking women in tight leather dancing around poles. It seems a lot of people want die same thing. Poison, the Crue and Def Leppard had successful tours last summer. The public seems to be ready to rock again. 1 he resurgence of rock can t be left completely up to a public that merely realized the error of its way. First, someone had to open the public’s eyes and remind it exactly what rock ’n’ roll is all about. That man’s name is Kid Rock. I am, by no means, Kid Rock’s biggest fan. As musicians, Rock and his Twisted Brown Trucker Band are below average. But that’s not the point. I doubt Kid Rock ever sat at home, pretending his tennis racket was a guitar as he sang along to “Back in Black” hoping he could one day be a musician. Kid Rock wanted to be a rock star. Pure and simple. He doesn’t apologize for anything or hide his attentions. Just watch one his videos. He dresses like the rock stars of old, rides a Harley, has half-naked women mud wrestling and, up until his untimely death, was always flanked by his three foot rapping sidekick, Joe C. Who cares if the songs suck? This is rock ’n’ roll. I can’t help but notice something. Half-naked women, flashy clothes, pyro and midgets? Think it’s just a coincidence that rock music and professional wrestling are regaining popularity at the same time with a similar fan base? Neither do I.