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_ THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, October 17, 2001 IN OUR OPINION PETA letter misses point In its latest crusade, the People for the Ethical ^ Treatment of Animals faxed a letter to President Palms on Tuesday, asking him to consider changing USC’s mascot. The organization claims that, simply by calling our mascot a Gamecock, the university supports “needless violence.” Ridiculous. PETA says our mascot represents tacit approval of cockfighting, which is illegal in South Carolina. While the mascot does represent the Fighting Gamecocks, cockfighting is not what it stands for today. USC has a long and For PETA to proud tradition of using the attack USC’s gamecock as its mascot. The mascot for its fighting gamecock has become name while other a symbol of valor and I schools continue toughness at USC — not a to use live symbol of condoning illegal mascots is cockfights. Everyone knows absurd how cruel those fights can be — that’s why they’re illegal. It’s true that the school used to use a live, leashed gamecock for its mascot at sporting events. But the school had the foresight to end that, citing “humane” reasons. While many schools still use live mascots in addition to their cartoonish figures, USC only employs Cocky. For PETA to attack USC’s mascot for its name while other schools continue to use live mascots is absurd and completely off the mark. ► PETA also equated using a gamecock as a mascot with spousal abuse, bank robbery and driving while intoxicated. To say that USC’s choice of mascot is the moral equivalent of perpetrating domestic violence, robbing a bank or drunk driving is beyond comprehension. The kind of skewed logic PETA uses discredits itself as a legitimate organization. There have been previous attempts to change USC’s mascot, most notably when a USC alumnus claimed that doing so would end the dreaded “Chicken Curse.” But at least that cause was vaguely related to sports and had the appearance of logic. Any serious organization that attempts to crusade ^ for animal rights should not be involved in a petty dispute over a costumed character or its name. GAMECOCK CORRECTIONS In a letter published this past Friday, Oblate Benedict Puisys identified herself as a graduate student in philosophy. USC does not have Puisys listed as a registered student. The Gamecock regrets the error. If you see an error in today’s paper, we want to know. Write us at gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com. ABOUT THE GAMECOCK m Martha Wright w Editor in Chief Mary Hartney University Editor Glnny Thornton Asst. Univ. Editor Victoria Bennett The Mix Editor Justin Bajan Asst. The Mix Editor Chris Foy Sports Editor Preston Baines Asst. Sports Editor Elizabeth Swartz Online Editor Aaron Mark Photo Editor p Greg Hambrick City Editor Alicia Balentine Asst. City Editor Brandon Larrabee Viewpoints Editor Page Designers Mackenzie Clements, Crystal Dukes, Katie Smith, David Stagg Copy Editors Crystal Boyles, Jason Harmon, Jill Martin, Carolyn Rowe Political Cartoonist/ Graphic Artist Rene Moffatt ♦ TO PUCE AN AD The Gamecock 1400 Greene Street Columbia, S.C. 29208 Advertising: 777-3888 Classified: 777-1184 Fax: 777-6482 STUDENT MEDIA Erik Collins, Faculty Adviser Ellen Parsons, Director of Student Media Susan King, Creative Director Carolyn Griffin, Business Manager Sarah Sims, Advertising Manager Sherry F. Holmes, Classified Manager Creative Services Todd Hooks, Jennie Moore, Martin Salisbury, Beju Shah, Advertising Staff Betsy Baugh, Caryn Barowsky, Denise Levereaux, Jackie Rice, Stacey Todd Gamecock Community Affairs Karen Yip Graphic Artist Candi CONTACT INFORMATION Offices on third floor of the Russell House. Editor in Chief: gamecockeditor@hotmail.com University Desk: gamecockudesk@hotmail.com City Desk: gamecockcitydesk@hotmail.com Viewpoints: gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com The Mix: gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com Sports: gamecocksports@hotmail.com Online: www.dailygamecock.com Newsroom: 777-7726 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. One free copy per reader. Additional copies may be purchased for one dollar each from the Department of Student Media. ■P Hi »DAD. GUeSS WHAT—SHe SLEPT THROUGH THe NiGHTf Yep. FIRST TiMe SiNce we lost hgr mom. So Tea Me,Does THAT COUNT AS A GLORioUS ViCTORY in the FiGHT AGAINST GLOBAL TERRORISM*? ( Does iT Feeu ' UKe a [ VICTORY, I SON? Yes.Yes iT Does. MORNiNG, DADDY! I --- -•• • - ^ ^^«W COLLEGE PRESS EXCHANGE WEEK IN REVIEW A loss in football, a war goes on Gamecocks suffer first loss of season The story was supposed to go something like this: After beating Alabama, USC’s football team would reel off three easy wins — defeating Kentucky, Arkansas and Vanderbilt—and build up a 7-0 record before facing the dreaded Orange Crush, where it would play Tennessee, Florida and Clemson, breaking only once to play Wofford. If USC beat Florida, it could conceivably go to the SEC championship, win or lose at Tennessee — assuming the Gators beat the Vols. A Gamecock loss to Florida would send the Gators back to the title game. The story got a lot messier Saturday, as No. 9 USC suffered its first loss to Arkansas and Auburn toppled No. 1 Florida. The USC loss continued Arkansas coach Houston Nutt’s unbeaten record at Little Rock — he is now 11-0 there. Meanwhile, Auburn remained the only team undefeated in SEC play. But even the Tigers have a non conference loss — to Syracuse. WHATS NEXT: The race for the top of the the SEC East is wide open. Four teams— USC, Florida, Tennessee and Georgia — all have one conference loss. USC’s only sure way to make the championship game is by winning out in SEC play. The lack of an undefeated team makes it highly unlikely that the SEC will be represented in the national championship game. INS continues to hold former student The Immigration and Naturalization Service continued to detain a former USC student in relation to the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. According to friends of Mohammad Alghamdi, the INS was holding the former student in Dallas. No charges have been filed against Alghamdi, and his friends think he is being held because he has the same last name as three of the suspected hijackers, a chage the INS refuted. “I can state unequivocally that we wouldn’t detain someone solely because they have the same name as someone else,” INS Chief Press Officer Russ Bergeron told The Gamecock. Meanwhile, 34 students who planned to come to USC for the English Program for Internationals have canceled their trips. Twelve students already at USC had returned earlier in the wake of the attacks. WHAT'S NEXT: USC doesn’t expect the exodus of international students leaving the university to continue. “We think we have stabilizedfor the semester, ” Russ McKinney said. U.S. continues to bomb Afghanistan The United States-led bombing campaign against Afghanistan has entered a second week as efforts continued to root out Osama bin Laden and topple the Taliban regime that shelters him. WHAT'S NEXT: The bombing could continuefor weeks. Meanwhile, negotiations to set up a new Afghan government appeared to have stalled. IN YOUR OPINION The Gamecock has created message boards on its Web site as a new forum for your opinions. Some topics are already listed. To join the discussions, visit www.dailygamecock.com. Columnist wrong about Americans Ms. Wilson, as I read your article on “Americans hurt Americans too,” I would really like to ask you where in the hell you get the idea that Americans sit idly by while acts of violence are committed against American citizens? I suggest it’s you and people like you who sit in their chair, pen in hand, and write stupid columns on which they have no clue! I see every day Americans helping or trying to help people in the exact situations you speak of! Some even pay with their lives! Yes, some people like yourself sit on their asses and do nothing and then write an article and feel they have done their part. I do understand how you might not know this, though. You would much rather ignore heroes like the NYPD. and the FDNY until one of them is accused of a crime, and there you are again. Pen in hand, doing absolutely nothing! Yes, we need to clean up America! I would like to start with you! Your column is trash! It should be thrown away! Maybe you should get out more and meet new people. You might just meet one worthy of being called a human! You, my friend, are what’s wrong with America! MICHAEL FARMER use COMPUTER OPERATIONS MANAGER ‘Fetish Ball’ article inappropriate, vile Sharon Panelo’s article entitled, “The Fetish Ball” (Sept. 17,2001) was inappropriate, unnecessary and vile. The sick photos and perverse subject matter were degrading to the human person. It also insulted Christians, especially Catholics. In the paragraph “Pain and Politics,” she wrote, “the performance was directed against conservatism and intolerance, represented by stereotypes of Catholicism.” That statement in itself was moronic and hypocritical. A bunch of sexual deviants bash me oamonc cnurcn in a trashy hang-out. In Panelo’s opinion, they’re just “against ignorance and close mindedness.” Yeah, right. Would the local public tolerate a show, if there were performances of Bob Jones III chanting “I love Beelzebub,” a Muslim man abusing his veiled wife, a rabbi being tortured by a Nazi, or a black slave woman getting scourged by a white master, who was draped in a confederate flag? Can you imagine the firestorm of protest you would receive from the local Protestant and Muslim communities, the Anti-Defamation League and the NAACP? Apparently, this type of bigotry, Catholic bashing, is still “cool,” or you wouldn’t have printed the i article at taxpayer’s expense. Ms. Panelo, I challenge you to be open minded and think: This show was less about a protest “against conservatism and intolerance,” (as you stated as fact), but more about wickedness committed against human beings in general and hatred toward Roman Catholics in particular. One doesn’t have to be a Christian to be offended, just a person that isn’t desensitized by perversion. To protest such filth and bigotry in this “modem” age is to be truly open-minded and courageous. Your article extolling the degradation of the human person only serves to devalue us all. MARY G COCKFIELD SKC (RET) COLUMBIA, S.C. ♦ MORE CARTOONS, LETTERS TO THE EDITOR-PAGE 8 Submission Policy Letters to the editor or guest columns are welcome from the Carolina community. Letters should be 250-300 words. Guest columns should be about 600 words. Both must include name, phone number, professional title or year and major, if a student. Deliver handwritten submissions to Russell House room 333, or send e-mail 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. Call 777 7726 for more information. I Using God’s name in vanity ANN MARIE MIANI GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM Like others before it, Osama bin Laden’s war is not supported by God. I may not be the most religious person in the world, but even I am getting upset over the use of one name in this war — God. But if I were God, I’d be pissed that someone like Osama bin Laden keeps doing evil things in my name. Since the beginning of time, some group has tried to justify some evil, horrendous act through God or the gods, whichever they believed in. The Crusades were a perfect example. Both sides, the Christians and the Muslims, were fighting in the name of God. Whose side was God really on? Did He really pick a favorite team and cheer them on to win? Or was He the referee, who decided which side won? Now, bin Laden is turning God’s sacred name into a propaganda catch phrase. In his sick, twisted mind, he seems to think God would applaud him for the attacks on Sept. 11 and that God would actually condone the deaths of so many more people, both Christian and Muslim, in this war. He said, “I swear by God, who has elevated the skies without pillars, neither America nor the people who live in it will dream of security before we live it in Palestine, and not before all the infidel armies leave the land of Muhammad, peace be upon him.” Bin Laden is calling this a jihad, a war in the name of God. If anything, he should be calling for this war in the name of Satan, because the terrorist attacks that started this were nothing short of evil. He is calling President Bush the head of the Infidels. He says to Americans, “May God show them his wrath and give them what they deserve.” Since when is God wrathful? Is this still the 16th century? The last time I checked, this was 2001 and God hasn’t been wrathful since the days of the Puritans. And, personally, I would rather be an infidel than believe in a God who is hateful. I was always taught that God was supposed to love all his children, not just a select few. Isn’t that one of the main principles of religion, that God loves you no matter what? Whether it’s Christian, Jewish, Muslim or whatever, it’s the radicals who give an entire faith a bad name. They say they are fighting for their religion, when they are actually fighting against what it stands for. I think we all know that not all Muslims believe that America is evil. In fact, it’s probably just a fraction of a percent who do. Yet the entire faith gets blamed for the actions of one individual. I’ve always heard that wars are fought over money or religion. The money part I can understand, but the idea that people fight based on a set of beliefs completely defeats the purpose. Religion, whichever faith, is supposed to preach caring, open-mindedness and peace, not hate and intolerance. Another question that comes to mind is, what does God have to do with this war anyway? There is nothing righteous or holy about it. During the Crusades, the Christians were ♦ GOD, SEE PAGE 8