Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Quote, Unquote I’ve been circumcised. No more cuts.' The text of a sign at this past Friday’s budget cut protest Page A7 %\it (Bamecock Serving the Carolina Community since 1Q08 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 Palms leaves students hanging by a moment Cnother year is over, but there’s no closure on two issues vital to USC’s future. President John Palms, aspiring aspiring senator, had “hoped” to decide by May 1 whether he’d step forward as a Democratic candidate for Sen. Strom Thurmond’s soon-to-be-empty seat, which would likely mean his resignation from USC. Well, it’s May 2, and he’s remained reticent, trying the pa tience of students and the trustees, who needed to begin the search weeks ago for Palms’ replacement. His bumbling, delayed-reaction style of decision making is eclipsed in ineptitude only by his sense of timing; it’s tactless to scurry away from the state’s largest university when it’s mired in the morass of potential budget cuts. Though the budget won’t be passed until July, already it’s caused damage. USC has enforced a hiring freeze, asked staff members to take unpaid leave and cut countless classes that people need to take to be graduated. How much can you tighten your belt before it cuts you in two? USC deserves better than vacillation from its leadership. Palms needs to decide now what his path will be so other leaders may decide USC’s. Return Gertrude as soon as possible, you cowards Chere are certain things that we at The Gamecock just can’t stand. And stealing a Columbia landmark is high on the list. Recently, somebody stole Gertrude, the wooden purple cow that sits out in front of The Purple Cow grocery store on Pickens Street. Gertrude is as much a part of Columbia and USC as the city skyline and the Horseshoe. Whoever stole Gertrude is a sick indi vidual who should be punished severely. But fortunately for who ever stole the cow, the management at The Purple Cow simply wants Gertrude returned, no questions asked. Whoever stole Gertrude, ft you have any sense of decency, any pride in Columbia and even a shred of respect for the genera tions of students and visitors who will come after you and will want to see one of Columbia’s most famous landmarks, then you will return Gertrude immediately. 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 activity fees. One free copy per reader. Additional copies may be purchased for one dollar each from the Department of Student Media. Adoress 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 gamecockeditor0hotmail.com University Desk gamecockudesk0hotmail.com City/State Desk garnecockcitydesk0hotmail.com Viewpoints gamecockviewpomts0hotmail.com Spotlight garnecockspotlight0hotmail.com Sports gamecocksports0hotmail.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 250-300 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. I H* UWBM * James Battle Travis Lynn Ann Marie Miani Sean Rayford Jennie Moore Photo Editors Katie Smith Mark Yates Crystal Boyles Page Designers Mackenzie Clements Betsy Baugh Jason Harmon Sara McLaulin -I'H Martin Community Affairs Copy Editors Stuikht Mena Erik Collins Carolyn Griffin Eaculty Adviser Business Manager Ellen Parsons Sarah Sims Director of f Advertising Manager Student Media Susan King Janne" De>f0 Creative Director RobY" Gombar Kera Khalil Sean De Luna Denise Levereau* L"“ Hooks„ Nicole Russell Melanie Hutto Advertising Staff Emilte 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 gamecockviewpointsQhotmail.com. Call 777-7726 for more information. College Press Exchange STovy 5aY5 vi Ye/\€5 o9 5?eNtANG cAofc& and fwey ON £puCMToN HA5s>'T lM9Ro\ie(? SCHOOLS ------ ---Z-- ' I l/\ \ 1 I K _ 'V-7 [zoo oil t fAOHV ; r fAOOft Final Thoughts * I am the luckiest guy in USC history Make no " — mistake about it, I am the luckiest guy in USC history. You’d think work ing more than 40 BrockVergakIs hours a week, jsa fourth.year getting no sleep, studentinthe skipping at least _ ,, r " 6 , College of four classes a week , , . . Journalism and and receiving a nonymous threats, dozens of critical Commun,ca,lons letters and angry Send responses to phone calls every gamecockviewpoints day wouldn’t qual- ®hotma,l.a«n. liy someone as being lucky, but you’d be dead wrong. All these things are part of what it means to be the editor of South Carolina’s leading collegiate newspaper. And, beyond a shadow of a doubt, being the editor of this newspaper is the single greatest job any student could dream of having. Now, there were times being editor in chief made a week in hell sound like a dream vacation, but I wouldn’t change those times for anything. Those were the times I learned the most. Those were also the times I truly learned to appreciate my friends and family. And without them, I never could have survived this year. I know I will never be able to convey to my parents how much their love and support has meant to me. And when it comes right down to it, family is what life is all about. No matter how you define family, it is the one tiling that keeps us all going. It is what inspires us to attempt to accomplish great things in the face of adversity. It might seem like a difficult bit of information to swallow, but everything our predecessors did was for us. And if we’re not selfish, everything we do will benefit those who follow us. Sometimes this means continuing a tradition that was laid out for us, and sometimes it means starting our own. This year at The Gamecock, we tried to honor those who came before us, but we were not afraid to carve our own path. We became the first, and still the only, collegiate newspaper in South Carolina history to publish five days a week with new content, via the Internet. Our stories were picked up by collegiate wire services on a regular basis, which told us what we already knew — we’re South Carolina’s best. We also weren’t afraid to endorse candidates in Student Government elections, and we won’t be scared to in the luture, either. There are certain battles worth fighting, and the editorial freedom of this newspaper is one of them. It is a battle that desperately needs to be fought; one we have no intention of losing. But it is now up to future staffs of The Gamecock, and I’m sure they will fight a good fight. Someday I will return to campus and pick up a copy of The IndeDendent Dailv Gamecock. I know this because there is no single group of people that is more passionate, more idealistic, more driven than a college newspaper staff. It is amazing wliat a bunch of young journalists can accomplish. I have witnessed some of these accomplishments this year, and I could not be more proud of my staff. It takes a special group of people to realize that just because something has never been done before doesn’t mean it can’t or shouldn’t be done. But after a few semesters at The Gamecock, I realized that the people I work with are much more than co workers, they are some of the best friends I will ever have. These are the people I have grown up with, day by day, for the past few years. And to all my other friends I’ve depended on these past four years, thanks for staying up with me way too late, having a beer with me at 3 a.rn. on countless school nights and calling from wherever they were around the country to lift my spirits at the exact moment I needed it. It’s amazing how different our view of the world is now conmared with what it was four years ago, but even more amazing is how, four years later, I still wouldn’t trade any of you for the world. I'll never foiget all the fun we had, the hell we raised and the lessons we learned. To my family and friends, you are what makes me the luckiest guy in USC history. To the 2000-2001 staff: 1 love you guys. Letters RHA congratulates Vergakis on year To the E diton We would like to publicly praise Edi tor in Chief Brock Vergakis for the work he has done with The Gamecock this year. We have seen a marked improvement in the overall quality of articles and coverage of events under his strong leadership. He has played a large role in supporting RHA’s enterprises on campus this year, and for that, we thank him. Though we refrain from stating an opin ion on some of his actions that have recently come under attack, we do congratulate him for doing a remarkably good job in his du ties this year, and we hope to see similar progress continue with The Gamecock in the fall. Residence Hall Association Executive Board and Council Garnet & Black worth 200-year wait To the Editor Thanks to the Garnet & Black staff for such a great new issue! Martha Wright was correct in saying that the Bicentennial Spe cial was “worth waiting 200 years for.” Clearly, the Garnet & Black staff put forth its best effort for this edition: the pic tures are beautiful, and the stories are in teresting and well-written. USC has thrived during the good and bad of the past 200 years. Tins bicenten nial edition is the first part of our very own story. Ginny Thornton Third-year Student College of Journalism and Mass Commu nications Reprimand deeply disturbs former staff To the Editor As a five-semester veteran of The Gamecock, I am deeply disturbed by the recent revelations concerning the Board of Publications and their cowardly “repri mand” of Gamecock editor Brock Veigakis. Word on the street is that the illustri ous board is seeking to turn The Gamecock into a lame, irrelevant community-type newspaper, the type that only runs zoo centered feature stories and bean dip recipes. Of course, the best way to go about this is to get rid of the one editor in the past five years whose dedication to excellence and bucking the status quo threatens the board’s comfy little slumber party. Have no doubt, folks, if Veigakis does n’t step down voluntarily, he will be re moved. He makes students think, challenge mediocrity and stand up for the First Amend ment. Thus, he is an obstacle to the board’s obvious “journalistic” agenda of soft news and spineless, politically correct rhetoric. The Veigakis agenda, on the other hand, is a simple one: he wants The Gamecock to be the best damn student newspaper it can be, not the butt of jokes by smug pro fessors and students who choose comfort able ignorance to challenging information. By God, Veigakis was almost there, too, with the addition of aggressive city state coverage and fearless editorials that buck the board’s sacred complacency. So he must be stopped, right? The first step of which, a “reprimand,” was done with Ver gakis not even present. Plus, at the time this letter is being written, the baud has refused to speak with student journalists who want answers for the baud’s passive-aggressive actions against Vergakis. While this seems oddly appro priate considering the board’s desire to thwart student journalistic freedom, it re veals the cowardly character fueling the Vergakis “reprimand.” Readers and staffers must stand up for the values of journalistic excellence Vcr g,tkis has worked so hard to implement over the past two semesters and stand against The Gamecock's almost assured return to mediocrity. If not, have fun reading and writing those bean dip recipes. John “Hacksaw” Huiett Fourth-year Student College of Journalism and Mass Communications Sports editor wrong to hate Florida To the Editor Kyle, I understand your problem with most of the schools in the SEC. I hate most of them. You have to in a tough con ference like ours. Tennessee sucks. They cheat, pipy dirty, and, damn it, their fans are the most obnoxious in the SEC. UGA is easy to hate because they,are a border rival and they’ve been whooping on us for years. Plus, they are the meanest fans in the SEC. All of the other schools are small change, except Mississippi State. I’ve got two words for you: Cow Bells. But Kyle, buddy, have you missed the boat on Florida. Florida is without a doubt the easiest team to pull for in the con ference besides our beloved Gamecocks. First of all, as you pointed out, they win. Secondly, their coaches are the kind of guys that everybody hates but would love to have on their side. Spurrier is the Don Corleone of football coaches because he strikes fear into the heart of every other coach in the SEC, with the exception of Holtz. Finally, it is obvious that you have nev er experienced the magic which is Ben Hill Griffin stadium. That place is the best sta dium in the country, and week in and week out, it is filled with the best fans and usu ally one of the best teams in the country. Just ask Shane Hall what it’s like to have Alex Brown and 86,000 Gators in your ear for 60 minutes. So, Kyle, it’s time to re think your anti-gator stance. Because as they say, “If you ain’t Gator, you must be Gator bait.” Dan Blackmon Fourth-year student College of Liberal Arts Adviser defends abortion display To the Editor I commend you for your balanced cov erage of the Genocide Awareness Project display that took place on campus March 22-23 and for printing so many letters rep resenting a wide range of points of view. Students for Life exists to educate peo ple about life issues such as abortion, eu thanasia, managed health care, physician assisted suicide, genocide and capital punishment. We realized the GAP project would be intensely controversial but felt the result ing discussion and debate would help peo ple of opposed viewpoints to understand each other’s concerns better. The people who set up the GAP dis play have similar aims. They included African-Americans and a Jew who could be identified by the yarmulke he wore. Had Linda M. Ziegenbein [Letters, April 2] talked to them about the Holocaust and lynchings, she might have been less inclined to accuse the GAP people of being “disre spectful” of “the victims of genocide” in showing pictures of victims of these and other crimes against humanity. I would also like to say that there is no “hypocrisy,” as Alison M. Hogue [Let ters, March 23] claimed, in regard to “hav ing to destroy an animal because it was dis eased or unwanted.” One of the GAP pictures showed a rhesus monkey obviously suffering from an experiment, and many pro-lifers are appalled by cruelty to ani mals, myself included. However, there are laws against cruelty to animals and none against cruelty to unborn human beings. Peter J.Nyikos Faculty Adviser, Students for Life