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THE LEADER A vision for USC’s leader With President John Palms set to retire in June, USC has now embarked on a crucial mission that will determine the direction of the university. Before the search even begins, the university should make sure that it makes an honest effort to allow for a large amount of student input. The university should also be sure the pool is a diverse one that includes women and minorities. The next president will have to be able to address problems such as the difference in salary between some male and female faculty and the racial USC’s next president must have a vision that includes all of the university. imbalance of USC’s faculty and staff, including a lawsuit alleging that black maintenance workers were passed over for pay or promotion because of their race. Most importantly, the university must choose a candidate with a solid vision for USC. The university’s president is often its public face, and he or she should have a solid system of ethics to avoid the problems that plagued former President Jim Holderman. He or she should continue Palms’ drive to enter the Association of American Universities, but this drive should not turn into an attempt to stamp out USC’s individuality. And the university must consider all colleges’ interest, instead of focusing so much on the so-called “Cathedrals of Excellence” that other colleges are left to drift along with little support. However, the biggest challenge the next president will face is the coming budget cuts. The SDIC should consult with the presidential search committee and jiivuxu xii v v/x * V/ ixxv/ x/uxxvxxvxu xvu uxxu uxv wxiuiixi.i>vv u eventual choice in its deliberations. Certainly, there are other traits to consider. The search for a new president is a national one, as it should be, but the new president should also have a familiarity with South Carolina. But before the search committee looks at any other factors, it must select a president who will represent all of USC as he or she guides USC toward what this university should be. GAMECOCK CORRECTIONS In the final paragraph of an article that appeared in Friday’s edition, the name of USC spokesman Russ McKinney was misspelled. 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 Martha Wright Editor in Chief Mary Hartney University Editor Ginny 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 Hark Photo Editor Andrew Rogers Asst. Photo Editor Greg Hambrick City Editor Alicia Balentine Asst. City Editor Brandon Larrabee Viewpoints Editor Rene Moffatt Political Cartoonist/ illustrator Candi Hauglum Graphic Artist Page Designers Mackenzie Clements Crystal Dukes, Katie Smith, David Stagg Copy Editors Crysfc&l Boyles, Jasor Harmon, Jill Martin, Carolyn Rowe CONTACT INFORMATION Offices on third floor of the Russell House. Editor in Chief: gamecockeditor@hotmail.com University Desk: gamecockudesk@hotmail.com City Desk: gamecockcitydesk@hotroail.com Viewpoints: gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com The Mix: gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com Sports: gamecocksports@hotmail.com Online: www.dailygamecock.com Newsroom: 777-7726 TO PLACE 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 Scarborough Advertising Manager Sherry F. Holmes Classified Manager Creative Services Todd Hooks, Jennie Moore, Martin Salisbury, Beju Shah. Advertising Staff Betsy Baugh, Caryn Barowsk Denise Levereaux, Jackie Rice, Stacey Todd Gamecock Community Affair: Karen Yip me (jamecocK is xne 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 f copies may be purchased for one dollar each from the Department of Student Media. f : ALL CARTOONS COURTESY COLLEGE PRESS EXCHANGE Maurice Bessinger is our bin Laden DARRYL GREEN DRGREEN22@HOTMAIL.COM Draw on Maurice’s ad a bit, and you’ll reach a startling conclusion. Do me a favor. Take this Gamecock newspaper or previous Gamecock newspapers and turn to the section that has the Maurice’s BBQ ad. You know, the coupon. The one in which he is smiling like a clown in the middle of a one-dollar bill. Now, with a black pen, draw a beard underneath his chin. Now darken up his face a little. Now draw a turban on his head. All right, now squint your eyes just a bit. Who do you see? IT’S OSAMA BIN LADEN! Maurice Bessinger is Osama bin Laden! I know. I know. It spooked me the first time, too. But if you look closely, you can clearly see that Maurice is the spitting image of Osama bin Laden. We have been bombing Afghanistan trying to kill him, and he has been on American soil the whole time, selling cheap barbecue to the masses. Not only does Maurice Bessinger look like Osama bin Laden, but they also share ideology. The similarities are startling! Consider this: 1) Osama bin Laden advocates the killing of innocent Americans. Maurice Bessinger also advocates an institution that killed thousands of innocent Americans: slavery. In his 11 restaurants in and around Columbia, Maurice sells tracts and tapes that say Africans brought here in chains were “grateful” for slavery. Even though historians have likened the practice of slavery to Nazi concentration camps, which were, of course, working grounds for the walking dead. USC historian Walter Edgar said of slavery in South Carolina: A History, “Deprivation of food or privileges was a milder form of chastisement. Whipping was a universal form of punishment, and no respecter of age or gender.” No one would be grateful for treatment like that. 2) Osama bin Laden has a crazy logic. Bin Laden’s crazy logic says, “Americans are infidels. They must be eliminated before they contaminate Islam.” Maurice Bessinger also has a crazy logic. Bessinger’s crazy logic says, “My skin is white and I sell barbecue. Therefore, I am superior to anyone who is different from me.” Example? Let’s look at his racist past. In the summer of 1964, Maurice stood in the door of one of his restaurants to block a black minister’s entry. At this time, blacks could get take-out food from Maurice’s BBQ, but none were allowed to eat inside. That lasted until 1968, when, after a civil rights suit, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Maurice, 8-0. 3) Osama bin Laden believes that his hatred is the will of God. He justifies his hatred by using a book of peace and love, the holy Quran. Bessinger also uses a holy book to justify his hatred, only he uses the holy Bible. A tract in Bessinger’s store says “slavery in and of itself is not evil and it is not sinful. The Bible allows slavery.” 4) Osama bin Laden wants to overthrow America. Bessinger also wants to overthrow America, at least the current multicultural version of it. Imagine Maurice’s perfect world: one with enslaved African-Americans, deported minorities, Confederate flags on every flagpole and mustard based barbecue in every white mouth. OK. OK. So maybe Maurice hasn’t killed or harmed anyone, at least not physically. But, while he might not be Osama bin Laden in deed, he certainly is Osama bin Laden in thought, spirit and logic. And that makes him equally as dangerous, if not more so. Mr. Bessinger’s invective has done more to bring about the social and moral decay of America than any bin Laden bomb ever could. We do worse than bin Laden to hurt America when we support those who further enlarge the racial divide. And a house divided is a house that will surely fall, whether by bomb or by abhorrent belief. In this case, abhorrent belief is mightier than the bomb, bigotry more corrosive than anthrax. Osama bin Laden does not need hijackers and anthrax mailers to bring down America. He already receives great assistance from Maurice Bessinger. So, what do you call a man who hates America, supports causes that killed and enslaved innocent people and uses his money to promote hatred? You . call him Osama bin Laden. I know him as Mr. Maurice Bessinger. Darryl Green is a 5th-year student in the Moore School of Business. I pledge allegiance to the almighty buck CHARLES PRASHAW CPRASHAW@YAHOO.COM Americans turn anything into an industry - even newfound patriotism. The French have it, the Germans have it, the British have it and even most Canadians have it. Until about a month ago, most Americans couldn’t even spell it. That’s right — patriotism. Have you ever seen Britain and France play soccer against each other on ESPN? Now that’s patriotism. Americans haven’t had patriotism since the Kennedy administration. Regretfully, like most things, we take a good thing like patriotism, cheapen it up and sell it in the form of plastic flags at Wal-Mart. Come on, we’re Americans, you got to make a buck somehow, right? We are the same society that allows shirts that say, “I survived Hurricane Hugo.” Only in I America could people take a great tragedy and look for ways to make money off it. I’m just surprised Ebay has barred people from selling pieces of the World Trade Center wreckage. It seems now, after the Sept. 11 attacks, everyone has patriotism, and I’m not sure if that is a good or bad thing. Don’t get me wrong; I love America. I actually have an American flag hanging inside my dorm window. My father, all three of my uncles, my grandfather and my great-grandfather were military men most of their lives. But you have to admit, no other people on the face of the earth are like us. Only in America could we take a tragedy like the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., and turn it into a marketing ploy to sell more cars. Have you seen these “Keep America rolling... buy a GM” ads on TV? That’s lovely; I’m so glad corporate America has put its support behind our country now. But aren’t these the same companies that move entire factories to Mexico and Indonesia just to make a buck? Even BMW, Honda and Toyota are in on the game, and they aren’t even American-owned. Each of these companies has posted reminders on their Web sites that they too support America. It just leaves me wondering if the CEOs of these companies are really patriotic, or are they just trying to look for ways to get the American public to buy their products? Patriotism for a buck isn’t only for big companies like GM, either. Our own local business genius of the century, promoter of race relations and overall good guy (if you couldn’t tell, I’m being sarcastic) Maurice Bessinger is in on it, too. Bessinger, who you may recall had taken down the Stars and Stripes from flagpoles at his local restaurants last year in protest of the removal of the Confederate flag at the State House, has suddenly become patriotic again. Probably because he was thinking about selling BBQ instead of his country, he was waving the U.S. flag once again from his Piggie Park restaurants. And why is it suddenly fashionable to wear American flag, NYPD and FDNY hats, shirts and sweaters? Most of these people wearing this stuff haven’t even been to New York. The worst are celebrities, like Bruce Willis shamelessly plugging his new movie on Letterman. Sorry, Bruce, even if you wear a NYPD shirt, I’m not going to pay $7.50 to see Bandits. Here’s 1 another example of patriotism gone amiss: girls wearing these little tight tube tops that say “USA” in trashy glitter. Nice — not only do you promote America, but you also dress like a slut. Isn’t that special? Another bad product of this new wave of patriotism is radio stations across the country pulling hundreds of songs from their playlists. These are some of the discarded songs: Live’s “Lightning Crashes,” “Sunday Bloody Sunday” by U2, “Crash into Me” by the Dave Matthews Band, “Imagine” by John Lennon and Lenny Kravitz’s “Fly Away.” Some of these songs are kind of obvious, but what is wrong with “Imagine”? I thought that song was promoting peace; we are all the same race, love your brother, that kind of thing. Also, these stations claim to be doing this out of patriotism and respect for the victims of the attacks. But, really, it’s probably all about the bottom line; they don’t want anything remotely un-American to get started about them. Maybe the lesson behind all of this is if there is one thing Americans love more than “God and Country,” it would have to be the almighty buck. Charles Prashaw is a third-year print journalism major. I I Have a question, comment or concern? Let us know at $ gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com ♦ TODAY’S “IN YOUR OPINION" CAN BE FOUND ON PAGE 6.