Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Quote, Unquote ‘I’ll miss my friends at USC, but I’ll be back. I’m sure I’ll make it to a football game or two. ’ Jeanna Raney, Miss South Carolina ■ Wednesday, July 25,2001 'Che (Samecock Serving the Carolina Community since 1908 Editorial Board Mackenzie Clements, Editor in Chief Ann Marie Miani, Viewpoints Editor David Cloninger, Sports Editor Cristy Infinger, News Editor Rick Johnston, Asst. Sports Editor University presidents, politicians talk too much Since the beginning of this year, a budget battle has been going on between the S.C. Legislature, the governor and state col leges and universities. Now, Attorney General Charlie Condon is suing Hodges for his recent demands. These people want us to be happy because students aren’t going to be subjected to grotesquely outrageous tuition increases. But the bottom line is that these people — Hodges, Condon, the Legislature and university presidents — are nothing but media whores. Every action taken concerning the budget cuts has had heavy po litical undercurrents. Hodges, alter being elected on a plattorm ot ed ucation, vetoed the budget cuts because he finally realized he would n’t be re-elected without doing something drastic. And now Condon, who’s running for the Republican nomination for governor, is throw ing sand back in Hodges’ eyes with his latest lawsuit. Condon is try ing to paint himself as education’s savior while simultaneously por traying Hodges as a devil in Democratic clothing. And the presidents of Clemson and USC have simply been fight ing for the Legislature’s attention, all in the name of the “students.” Clemson pulled a 42 percent tuition increase out of the air, expecting it to cause a mad frenzy at the State House. They succeeded. The USC board of trustees, feeling slighted and out of the spotlight, re duced tuition hikes almost before the ink from Hodges’ veto pen had dried. While this might be an oversimplification of the politics involved this summer, one thing is certain — South Carolina is full of “lead ers” who talk too much, have huge inferiority complexes and can’t help but be media whores. 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 eight 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. One free copy per reader Additional copies may be purchased for one dollar each from the Department of Student Media. AVJUKCaJS 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 803-777-7726 Editor in Chief gamecockeditor@hotmail.com News gamecockudesk@hotmail.com Viewpoints gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com Spotlight gamecockspotlight@hotmail.com Sports gamecockspoits@hotmail.com Online www.dailygamecock.com I HE vjAMECOCK Betsy Baugh Jia Li Community Affairs Page Designer Student Media Erik Collins Sarah Sims Faculty Adviser Advertising Manager Ellen Parsons Maegen Thornton Director of Advertising Sales Student Media Carolyn Griffin Susan King Business Manager Creative Director . ._ Sherry Holmes Todd Hooks Classified Manager Creative Services College Press Exchange ■ _M BUDGET .DAY AT DiCK CHeNGY'S. Journalists need a new summer hobby IF you’re not outraged, you should be. Let me try and put it in perspective For you. 11 lllglll, U1C kitchen is quiet and the windows are open. There’s a woman in her mid 30s hunched over a cup of coffee. Her hair is a mess, and the same clothes have been on her four days straight. There arc remnants of non-carbon paper strewn over the table from the police reports. There are numerous business cards for mental health clinics and the police department. Tissues are on the ground, on the table, in her hand and not in the box. The woman’s sobs for her son resonate on the neighbors’ walls, and their grief for her thickens. About 12 days ago, this woman scolded her 14-year-old son for leaving the cereal open, told him to finish cleaning out the garage and kissed him on his forehead before bed. Now, she sits by herself and wishes he were around to scold and watch and kiss. She hasn’t heard or seen from her 9th grader, who always returned home on time, practiced the clarinet and brought home A’s in school Is this woman supposed to sit quietly, while half of the federally funded D.C. police force looks for Chandra Levy? Don’t blame the cops; blame the stooges that sit behind the anchor desk at “Hard Copy” and “Inside Edition.” The Washington Post and NBC News are only one up from that. But overall —and I leave CBS News out of it—the national and state journalism of this country has apparently gone down the tubes. They say summer news is slow. That’s a load of crap, and they know it. If there’s no news, go on a vacation, cover those “blond beauties” in the S.C. beauty pageant or go read a book. This oorerage of California Represertatire Gary Condit and his ties to Chandra Levy’s disappearance is only ruining his image and decimating his career. He’s done. But until they find the Ziploc bag he used to strangle her or the set of sextuplets they conceived, leave him alone. I think the sptXlight at home is bright enough for CondiL And his career is sure to meet him at the infidelity crosaoads. It always does. So now Gary has passed “his” liedetBctor test and given “his” genetic coding to the FBI (sure hope I get the FBI when my child turns up missing). I think the bovine joumallsts of the United States should focus on the recent China-Russia made talks or the 2001 United Stales’ violation of the 1972 ABM Treaty. But leave it to the big networks to gatekeep themselves. I decided not to prick CBS News earlier becaase of their attempt to leave this intern’s disappearance out of their headlines. I find that admirable. CNN’s coverage of this “story" is close to the rest of their bologna news coverage. Wolf Blitzer has beaten the Condit/Levy dead horse so many times that PETA has been pouting. NBC’s Brian Williams will hopefully leave the prime time news spot soon, taking with him this bloated intern story. But I’m sure Brokaw and crew will hastily bring it back if Condit breaks a pencil or sneezes. Overall, this late coverage of the Condit/Levy saga has gotten out of hand. The rest of the country's missing person’s cases have been tossed aside like a middle child. Why are the Levys getting the manpower of the FBI and the numbers of the D.C. police? What about the rest of the missing person cases in the D.C. area? You and I are paying for these cops to sniff around Condit’s underwear — not exactly how I pictured my federal income tax money to be spent. When would this case have gotten attention if Gary Condit weren’t involved? It’s too bad that Sian became America’s son last year because of the journalistic herds. It’s too bad that this year, Chandra Levy will be our daughter for the same reason. It’s too bad that the rest of America’s missing person cases hit the back burner because a politician uses his leverage on vulnerable women, when he needs to get his rocks off, and one of them turns up missing. But it’s worse when journalists mold and manipulate the blame and make up viewers’ minds because there’s nothing else to write about in the summer. Taylor Marshall* Green is featured columnist andean be reached at gamecockviewpoints @ hotmail.com.