Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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8 THE LEADER Nation must I now move on Wounds are still healing from Tuesday’s attack on our nation. The cowardly acts of the terrorists who did this will leave scars that might never heal. However, despite the pain every citizen of the United States now feels, it is time for us to move on with our lives. Admittedly, there will be some who will be incapable of leaving the incident behind. For survivors, family members, friends, pieces of then lives and their hearts are Despite the buried beneath the rubble of understandable the World Trade Center, lying pain in this there with the innocence that nation, we must once blinded America to a honor the victims’ clear and present danger. None memories by Of us — particularly those who getting on with lost loved ones in the attacks — OUr lives. Will ever be the same. But despite the understandable pain in this nation, we must honor the victims’ memories by getting on with our lives. As the family members of the dead keep reminding us, this is what many of the victims would have wanted. That doesn’t mean we should forget what happened. There are many lessons that rose from the ashes of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon along with the ghostly smoke: Live life for now; don’t assume you have a moment left. Our nation is powerful and free, but not immune. Americans are Americans, be they white, black, brown, gay, straight, Christian, Jew, Muslim or atheist. When crisis strikes, we pull together, and the notion of America, once lost in prosperity or peace or apathy, re-emerges. But we cannot dwell on the moment when America and the world changed. We cannot remain fixated on the tragedy without looking to the solution and the eventual triumph. If we do, we have lost the battle before we have even had the chance to take the field and respond. A week is sometimes recognized as the proper period of mourning for a loved one, and the same is true here. We encourage students, faculty and staff to continue their tributes. We urge them to buy one of the shirts on sale at the University Bookstore (all proceeds go to the Red Cross) or find some other way to display their grief for one last time on Tuesday. Then, as painful as it might be, it will be time for us to move on. GAMECOCK CORRECTIONS If you see an error in today’s paper, we want to know. Write us at gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com. ABOUT THE GAMECOCK «arthaW;'gh* CONTACT INFORMATION Editor in Chief Offices on third floor of the Russell House. Mary Hartney Editor in Chief: gamecockeditor@hotmail.com University Editor University Desk: gamecockudesk@hotmail.com City Desk: gamecockcitydesk@hotmail.com Ginny Thornton Viewpoints: gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com Asst. Univ. Editor Spotlight: gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com Sports: gamecocksports@hotmail.com Victoria Bennett Online: www.dailygamecock.com The Mix Editor Newsroom: 777-7726 Justin Bajan __ Di «/<c aiu *n The Gamecock Is the Asst. The Mix Editor “LAl/L AN AU student newspaper of the The Gamecock University of South Chris Foy 1400 Greene Street Carolina and is published Sports Editor Columbia SC 29208 Monday. Wednesday and Advertising: 777-3888 Friday ddr'ng the fal1 and Preston Baines Classified'777-1184 spring semesters and nine Asst. Sports Editor Fax'777-6482 times during the summer with the exception of Elizabeth Swartz cTlincMT MCniA university holidays and Online Editor oTUUtIMI IVItUIA exam periods. Opinions Erik Collins, Faculty Adviser expressed in The Aaron Hark Ellen Parsons, Director of Gamecock are those of Photo Editor Student Media the editors or author and Susan King, Creative not those of the University Greg Hambrick Director of South Carolina. The City & State Editor Carolyn Griffin, Business Board of Student Manager Publications and Brandon Larrabee Sarah Sims, Advertising Communications is the Viewpoints Editor Manager publisher of The Sherry F. Holmes, Classified Gamecock. The Page Designers Manager Department of Student Mackenzie Media is the newspaper's Clements, Crystal Creative Services parent organization. The Dukes, Katie Smith, Todd Hooks, Martin Gamecock is supported in David Stagg Salisbury, Beju Shah part by student activities fees. One free copy per Community Affairs Advertising Staff reader. Additional copies Betsy Baugh, Karen Betsy Baugh, Caryn may be purchased for one Yip Barowsky, Denise Levereaux. dollar each from the Jackie Rice, Stacey Todd Department of Student Copy Editors Media. Crustal Boyles, yj, Cotey Garriott, Jason * Harmon, Jill Martin, Carolyn Rowe I Jh < Q w < E-« CZ3 < £ O < OS w o z w s < o Moby, Falwell and Dan Rather CHARLES PRASHAW CPRASHAW@YAHOO.COM Things I could have done without over the past tragic week. Hey, guys, good old Chuck here, and for once, I don’t feel like writing a column. You see, the whole reason I write columns is so I get a response out of someone. So keep the hate-mail coming. There’s no better feeling than when I’ve pissed someone off so bad they feel the need to take time out of their busy schedule and write me a personal e-mail. I aim for laughter, but most of the time, I just piss off straight-laced cats who don’t get that it’s a joke. However, on Tuesday, Sept. 11, a great tragedy struck our country. And it would have been inappropriate to discuss the topic I was going to write about today. Now, if I were any other columnist, I would take this time to talk about how America is going to gets its revenge, or question how all this is even possible. But I’m a simple college student, and I’m sure everyone else will be talking about the terrorist attacks for the next week and a half. But we’ve got space to fill, and if they don’t get me to write one, I’m sure they’ll find someone else who wants to write about the recent terrorist attacks. I hate to be the loud mouth jerk here. But a loud mouth jerk has to do what he does best. Here are five things over this whole tragic week that I could have done without. NUMBER ONE: Moby on MTV discussing the terrorist attacks. Moby is the last person I want to hear discussing our national tragedy. Hello, did any producers over there think about putting someone on from the Red Cross and trying to get young people to donate blood or do something a little more useful than listening to Moby discussing his personal feelings? NUMBER TWO: Broadcast news. I’ve always had a low opinion of the other kind of journalism, but they really screwed this whole thing up. I was glued to the TV almost all day and, boy, did CNN, ABC, Fox and the gang really get under my skin. It wasn’t bad enough they brought out the creative design team and made little stupid radar clip art on the bottom of the screen, but they even came up with trite little expressions like “America Under Attack” and “Day of Infamy.” Even better, Fox was reporting that an Air Force jet had shot down the plane that crashed in Somerset, Pennsylvania. You see, guys, in print journalism you can’t use unattributed information because it’s usually unreliable. And I don’t care what Dan Rather assumes or speculates happened in the airplanes before they crashed. It’s Dan Rather; he reads off a TelePrompTer for a living. NUMBER THREE: I hope both Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell go to hell. Do they actually think before they open their big fat mouths? Here is what Mr. Falwell had to say about the tragedy: “I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say, ‘you helped this happen.’” Here’s another gem by Falwell: “The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked.” NUMBER FOUR: The total cancellation of all sports in the United States. I wanted something to keep my mind off the terrorist attacks. But, no, I’ve got to watch CNN all weekend. Thanks! I really feel no one wanted to take a bus and that’s why they really canceled all professional sports. The SEC Commissioner — I hate you (Sorry, I forgot your name). You went on ESPN on Wednesday and said SEC games were going to be played. Then, Thursday, you got right back on ESPN, 24 hours later, and changed your mind; what a hypocrite! And, yes, I think the NFL should have played this weekend, despite everyone who is disagreeing with me here. NUMBER FIVE: Professors who felt as though nothing were out of the ordinary and were off in their own little world teaching journalism and Latin. To say the least, I didn’t show up to my classes on Tuesday. When anger replaces the shock ANN MARIE MIAN I GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM Note to terrorists: You can try to break us, but we will stand firm. “Imagine all the people, living life in peace. John Lennon I’m mad. No, not angry, not upset, but downright “I want that son-of-a-bitch’s head on a stick to be paraded around the country” mad. On Tuesday at 9:32 a.m., my cell phone woke me and I was informed that the World Trade . Center was attacked by terrorists. In my sleep-ridden mind, I didn’t fully comprehend what was being said to me. I went downstairs and saw my roommate staring at the television. CNN was replaying a plane crashing into the second building Of the WTC. I couldn’t believe my eyes. As I watched the Twin Towers collapse, tears rolled from my eyes. Then I snapped out of my daze, and I realized I knew people who were in the city. I panicked. But I had to go to class and take a quiz. I knew I wouldn’t be able to concentrate, so I decided to take the quiz and leave. I needed to find out what happened to my friends. I went to class and told my professor; he told me I needed to stay in class. I said I needed to leave. I walked out. It just didn’t seem right to be sitting in a classroom while there were thousands of people dying. Luckily, no one I know was hurt or killed in this tragedy. I was in shock all day. There was no way I could do anything but watch the news and repeatedly see the planes crash into the WTC and then see them collapse. As I look back on the events on Tuesday, the shock is gone and anger has replaced it. Someone needs to pay for what happened, for the thousands of lives lost, for the pain and anguish of the families and friends of those who died. Whether it is Osama bin Laden or some other terrorist bastard, they need to pay. And anyone who helped them in any way needs to pay. The United States needs to find those responsible and kill them. These people do NOT deserve to live. These sub human bastards would not be missed by anyone. A special note to whoever did this to us: You can try to break us, but we will stand firm, we will band together. The United States of America doesn’t get scared. We don’t let cowardly, faceless attacks shake us. You might have destroyed a few buildings, but you will NEVER destroy the spirit of this great country. We will find you, and you will pay. You pissed off an entire country at 8:45 a.m. on Tuesday. The United States doesn’t take kindly to being attacked. Remember Hiroshima? When we were deliberately attacked at Pearl Harbor and we struck back and eventually flattened two Japanese cities? It could happen to you, too. You not only pissed off Americans, but several countries in Europe and Asia. NATO considers this an attack, ♦ MIANI, SEE PAGE 9 It took a big boom to wake us DARRYL GREEN DRGREEN22@HOTMAIL.COM America’s unity, love and respect shouldn’t have come from attack. Boom! There went the north tower. Boom! There went the south tower. Boom! There went the Pentagon. Boom! There went the petty squabbles that divide our country. It was more than a tragedy. It was a horror flick, something out of Wes Craven’s imagination. Two Boeing 767s, filled with volatile fuel, smash into one of the most famous destinations in America. Another smashes into the heart of the nation’s military command center. Yet another crashes, sparing us a higher death toll and an even higher sense of terror. The crashes made booming sounds with aftershocks felt all around the world. WAKE UP! Those booming sounds we just heard were wake up calls. They were calls that alerted us to the fact that we are a vulnerable society, made possible by the same freedoms that make us great. They were calls that alerted us to the fact that everyone in the world does not like America as much as we do and that that disdain runs deep. And they were wake-up calls that seemed to make our differences obsolete. In the midst of what might be America’s greatest tragedy, Americans everywhere united. The color of one’s skin just didn’t seem relevant anymore. The religion one practices just didn’t inspire the same hatred. A person’s sexual orientation just didn’t sicken people as much. We were all Americans. For one brief moment, Americans put aside those differences, realizing that our greatest strengths are those differences and our greatest weanness comes in our inability to realize that. And BOOM! There goes reality. I wonder if the hijackers ever stopped to ask whether there were any African-Americans in those buildings? I wonder if they stopped to ask how many White Americans or Hispanic Americans or Chinese Americans were in those buildings? Did they ever stop to wonder which kinds of Americans would be killed? Of course not. They never stopped to consider race. It never once crossed their minds. Perhaps it should have never crossed ours. The planes that crashed were meant to kill Americans, not white ones or black ones, not rich or poor ones, not Christian or Jewish ones. They were meant to kill Americans. And they succeeded. Americans of all races lost their lives and loved ones. Americans of all kinds feel the pain. Americans of all kinds feel the anger. The unity, love and respect that we as Americans feel should not have come as a result of terrorist activity. It should have come as a result of common sense, a common sense that says that the things that unite us are far greater than the sum of things that divide us. The fact that one person likes rap music and another enjoys country music is a small difference when one considers the fact that there are people who want to wipe Americans off the face of the planet. What we argue about in this country is just plain silly. It took a big boom for us to embrace each other as Americans. That embrace should last far longer than the boom.