Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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IN OUR OPINION USC should show better fan support USC has long prided itself on having a strong fan base. ESPN witnessed this with the record crowd at GameDay and the blackout at Williams-Brice. USC students and fans are proud of their teams, from football to track. But pride and support can be viewed in separate lights. Our men’s basketball program has the opportunity to experience something unique as we usher in the Dave Odom era. And the women’s basketball team, which toppled the No. 9 Duke women’s team, is poised to be an SEC and NCAA threat. Recently, the Coliseum has remained unfilled for games, with countless empty Show your pride and support for USC’s basketball programs from the beginning. garnet seats. With a new era, we encourage students to revive the Coliseum. Both the men’s and women’s teams will face rough competition against nationally prominent teams in the next weeks. The men face Georgetown next Thursday at 7 p.m. in a nationally televised game on ESPN. Let’s show our teams, coaches, opponents and nation who we are. Fill the Coliseum. Make the arena alive with the passion that makes us Gamecock fans. Coach Odom hasn’t witnessed the power a packed arena has to intimidate opponents and pump up the USC team. We challenge you, the students and pride of USC, to come out and give our basketball team the true support they deserve. Start giving support this weekend—the Lady Gamecocks face Duquesne today at 7 p.m. and the men face Colorado State on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. We are at the beginning of what promises to be a great season. Don’t jump on midway through the season; show your pride and support from the start. Winners and Sinners JAM EL BRADLEY: Plays well, then serves as mentor to hearing-impaired children. Rest of USC athletes should see him as a role model, too. “ IN FERNO: Works out deal with the university to use Coliseum for hockey games. Journalism students to start bundling up? PEPTO BISMOL: Revenues should skyrocket as more USC parking is eliminated. GMP: DHEC rating dips as low as a B. And they say the food there is wholesome... SDIC: Considers killing McKissick. Birds, ** young children flying kites next targets? IRAQ: W. issues warning, tells Saddam to let U.N. back in. Look out: This Bush might actually mean business. GAMECOCK CORRECTIONS Photos of the West African Drumming and Dance Ensemble should have been credited to Michelle Dosson. The Gamecock regrets the error. As a clarification, WOST113, mentioned in a Wednesday column, is a course titled “Women and Their Bodies in Health and Disease.” ABOUT THE GAMECOCK Martha Wright 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 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, Sara McLaulin, Crystal Dukes, Katie Smith, David Stagg Copy Editors Crystal Boyles, Jason 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@hotmail.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; Amanda Ingram, Denise Levereaux, Jackie Rice, Stacey Todd Gamecock Community Affairs Karen Yip 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. -n/ stice pf^r-ry JJ ( (J£(Zs/OVS A0ooriu_. y \. PL^(f46\^k ivj! >72 r/^Vg^THe @<£<75^ \ 5c*>tw W/ • 'V /k Dangers of human cloning CLAYTON KALE CEKALE@HOTMAIL.COM Cloning, like fire and the atom, is useful but potentially hazardous. The news that a Massachusetts company cloned a human embryo has sent writers into a metaphoric frenzy. There are countless criticisms of the breakthrough that liken it to opening Pandora’s Box, and the spineless “slippery slope” argument has been maxed out. And let’s not forget those who rally around the seemingly boundless scientific possibilities cloning offers. The media play the initial announcement received was muted in light of the war. But make no mistake: Cloning is an issue that won’t go away, and it’s potentially as dangerous as it is inevitable. The danger of cloning, even if it’s simply to harvest stem cells for growing organs and tissues in sterile laboratory environments, is that, far too often, humans don’t use the tools they have responsibly. Imagine the first cave dwellers to use fire as a tool. Then imagine two weeks later, after the fire got too big and enveloped the nearby forest. The reason we humans have been successful on this planet is our ability to manipulate our surroundings and to fashion tools. The human mind led to the invention of the wheel, the internal combustion engine and air conditioning. All three have come together to form a major part of our civilization, the automobile. But we had the Model-T before the Mustang. Cloning might, in time, prove to be as important to civilization as the car, but before we dance around petri dishes of growing spleens, our scientists need to be sure they know what they’re doing. Scientists, government officials and common citizens need to keep an eye on developments in the new science of human cloning. With every scientific development comes unanticipated problems, and we must watch for the inevitable problems cloning will bring — before we set the woods on fire. The automobile’s development made traveling long distances possible for the common person, but it brought with it traffic, air pollution and accidents. Splitting the atom to create relatively clean energy brought with it toxic waste and the most destructive weapon ever developed. What problems will cloning bring? Will the world’s population soar as birthrates far outpace death rates, bringing crime, war and pollution? If cloning will cure people who suffer from potentially fatal genetic disorders, is that not cheating God (and if not God, the beneficiaries’ own DNA) because they were designed to die at a certain age? And how much will a new farm-raised liver cost? Will this medical breakthrough be available only to the superrich? I’m not afraid to admit cloning scares me. It’s easy to sit back and entertain visions of a brave new world like the one Huxley described. Maybe scientists really want to clone only embryos for their stem cells. But Einstein wanted only to prove that an atom could be split, and look what scientists did later. Kale is a fourth-year student in the College of Journalism and. Mass Communications. IN YOUR OPINION Dining Services cheats customers After picking up lunch at the Sidewalk Cafe on Tuesday, I was reminded why I don’t have a meal plan. I’ve had a meal plan for only one of the five semesters I’ve attended this university, and it’s because Dining Services cheats its customers. I have always felt the prices are higher than they should be. If you compare prices of the campus Taco Bell, Chick-fil-A and Pizza Hut with the same establishments off campus, the prices are higher. However, I just assumed the price increase was for the “convenience” of being on campus—until today. As I was browsing through the selection offered at the Sidewalk Cafe, I saw a sandwich, fruit and potato salad combo. The price sticker said $3.95.1 thought that was a deal; so I picked it up. I also got a $1.35 drink and quickly did the math to make sure I had enough money to pay tor it. t estimated $5.eo. t had just enough without having to break another $5 bill. The cashier rang me up, and my total was $6.14. Could my estimate be 54 cents off? I didn’t think so, so I checked my receipt. I was charged $4.50 for my sandwich combo. When I brought this to the attention of the cashier and showed her the sticker, she just said, “No, that is $4.50.” I mentioned that the prices needed to be changed. She simply said, “Yes, they do” and then peeled the sticker off of my sandwich combo. Last time I checked, establishments will give you the price marked on the merchandise, even if the price is marked wrong, because they don’t want to falsely advertise. If Dining Services wants to charge $4.50 for the sandwich combo, that’s its choice, but either change the price stickers to the correct price or own up to its mistakes and charge only what the sticker says. CHRISTINE CIMO THIRD-YEAR STUDENT SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH Stop the terrorism in our backyard Ten thousand people from across the United States gathered on Nov. 18 in Columbus, Ga., at the gates of Fort Benning to demand closure of the terrorist training camp in our own backyard. Among them was a dedicated group of USC students who took the nonviolent approach for the solemn funeral procession in remembrance of the thousands of victims of School of the Americas graduates. Fort nenmngisau.a. rniny uuanury training base. It hosts the School of the Americas (renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation). Since 1946, SOA/WHISC has trained thousands of Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency tactics. Human rights organizations have linked hundreds of SO A graduates to widespread terrorism — civilian-targeted torture, disappearance and killing. SOA trained soldiers have targeted civilians in Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia and elsewhere in Latin America. Sunday marked the 12th annual commemoration of the massacre of six Jesuit priests, as well as thousands of others killed in Latin America by SOA graduates. Mourners, shrouded in black and carrying coffins, led the procession of thousands bearing white crosses inscribed with names of victims. The procession marched to the haunting song of the victims of SOA graduates in Latin America. Crosses, flowers and giant, colorful puppets were hung on the newly constructed fence of Fort Benning. More than 100 peaceful protestors were arrested Sunday and are awaiting charges. The nonviolent cooperation of the 10,000 civilians attests to the outrage many Americans are feeling about the U.S. attacks on Afghanistan. The double standard Mr. Bush has declared by demolishing terrorist training camps in Afghanistan, yet failing to close down our own terrorist training carnn. is highly hypocritical and needs to be addressed immediately. AMANDA MARTIN GRADUATE STUDENT SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND COLLEGE OF SOCIAL WORK 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 submissions to Russell House room 333, or e-mail gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com. The Gamecock reserves the right to edit for libel, style and space. Anonymous letters won’t be published. Photos are required for guest columnists and can be provided by the submitter. Call 777 7726 for more information. f Racism, ads and Maurice - * MARTHA WRIGHT i GAMECOCKEDlTOR@HOTMAIL.COM Barbecue Baron has free speech, but so do you. You won’t see him in our paper today. You know who I’m talking about—heavy guy, white moustache, unctuous grin. Sometimes he’s nestled in the Classifieds, in the company of Confederate flags and pig silhouettes. Sometimes he’ll crop up in our regular sections. But lately, people have been asking me why we allow Maurice Bessinger’s ads in our paper at all. It’s a good question. Maurice has a racist record that won’t quit: In 1968, he lost a U.S. Supreme Court case to keep African-Americans from eating ' in his restaurants; the decision was unanimous. Around that time, Maurice tried to prevent Stevie Wonder from coming to USC, calling his work “jungle music.” Even today, huge Confederate flags — which Maurice has called a Christian symbol — flap outside his Piggie Park restaurants. Inside, he sells his book, Defending My Heritage, and tracts that soft-pedal slavery. His Web site even plays a MIDI file of “Dixie.” Maurice is proud of things that make him a pretty revolting person. I am certain no one at this newspaper shares his backward views. You say you’re offended by his ad in The Gamecock and you want me to get rid of it. I couldn’t agree more. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. Wal-Mart and Piggly Wiggly can refuse to sell his sauce because they’re privately owned businesses. But The Gamecock is a public forum because it’s funded partly by USC, which gets money from the state. It would be easy to reject Maurice’s ad if we were a private school or an independent paper. But here, rejecting his ad could result in a lawsuit about his right to free speech, a suit he stands a good chance of winning. Maurice and his lawyers know commercial speech enjoys some First Amendment protection. He has the same right to run his ad as anyone. You could buy half a page saying “Happy Birthday, Lovenugget,” and no one would stop you. Similarly, you could buy an ad that said “Maurice Bessinger is lousy racist, and here’s why.” You’re protected, too. Even as editor in chief, I don’t have the power to reject Maurice’s ad. That decision would have to come much higher up in the university. But here’s what I can do: Next time he buys an ad, next to it will be a statement from The Gamecock mentioning his record and saying we as a newspaper vehemently disagree with his politics. That’s where our hearts and minds are. The tricky thing about the First Amendment is it protects speech we like and speech we don’t. But the cure for bad speech is more speech. Want to make Maurice uncomfortable? Send The Gamecock letters or columns or buy ads. Talk to your SG representatives and people in the administration about Maurice. Don’t buy his products and tell your friends why. Maurice Bessinger is part of a graying guard of white, Southern males whose beliefs are dying with them. Show him, by ignoring his ad and not buying his products, that Maurice, his barbecue and his politics aren’t worth an inch of our column space, a dime of your budget or a second of your time. Wright is editor in chief and a fourth-year student in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications.