The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 13, 2002, Page 6, Image 6
6 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, February 13, 2002
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IN OUR OPINION
Let SG run its
own elections
Tonight, Carolina Student Judicial Council will
meet to decide whether Nathan White can run for
Student Government vice president. He should be
allowed to do so, regardless of the merits of his case.
The issue should never have gotten this far.
Last week, SG Coordinator Angela Dusenbury told
White he couldn’t run because his GPA was too low
to serve. White challenged the decision, saying
whether he was allowed to serve should not impact
whether he was allowed to run. SG President Corey
Ford agreed with White, but was forced to uphold
White’s disqualification by the Office of Student and
Alumni Services.
Refusing to let It’s ridiculous that SG isn’t
White run will allowed to run itsnwn elections,
eliminate the Dusenbury and the OSAS aren’t
Student in SG members; they should have no
Student say in SG decisions.
Government. The responsibility for
correcting this outrage now falls
on the Judicial Council. They should allow White to
run, simply because refusing to do so would
eliminate the student in Student Government.
Administrators must learn that college students are
grown-ups; they don’t need to be supervised and
corrected like children on a playground.
The decision by Ford and Elections Commissioner
Adam Bourne should stand. They are the students’
leaders, and, unlike Dusenbury, they were elected or
appointed by people who were. Now it is up to the
Judicial Council to make sure that the students’
spokesmen will be heard.
Winners and Sinners
OUTKAST The whole world loves it when rap
gives mad props to Columbia. I am for real.
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA Puts chicken fat to
use heating campus. No wonder Chick-fil-A is
closed on Sundays.
SNOWBOARDING America sweeps the medals in
men’s half-pipe and wins gold in women’s. Let’s
make up more new “sports” we can win.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY Legislators need to make
tuition decisions before the class of 2006 comds
back for its reunion.
OLYMPIC JUDGES Just when we thought figure
skating was an actual sport, it seems old
friendships are hard to break with judges.
FORMER ENRON CEO JEFFREY SKILLING When
your own mother doesn’t buy it, why should we?
GAMECOCK CLARIFICATION
Tom King and Tyler Odom are running for SG Senate in the
College of Criminal Justice.
If you see an error in today’s paper, we want to know. Write us
atgamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com.
ABOUT THE GAMECOCK
Mary Hartney
Editor in Chief
Ginny Thornton
News Editor
Kevin Fellner
Asst. News Editor
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The newest example of ‘inhumane’
MAM HARTNEY
MARKCONVEYSCONSTERNATION@HOTMAILCOM
Do detainees prefer
caves to mattresses?
Tonight, almost 200 Afghan
soldiers and statesmen will sleep
under a tin roof on a standard
issued mattress. Some will be
shackled tomorrow. Their beards
have been shaved, and they will
pray on one of their two towels.
The Red Cross calls these
conditions “inhumane” and
“deplorable.” They demand that
the United States grant rights
afforded by the Geneva Convention
to Camp X-Ray prisoners.
Don’t make me fetch the
Kleenex. Six weeks ago, many of
these men were sleeping in
caves, using goat whiskers as
toothbrushes. I doubt they would
prefer a rocky outcropping to a
U.S. Army bed. No one can
believe these men ate three
square meals every day while
spelunking near Tora Bora.
They had lice. Now they have
shampoo. They carried weapons
in Afghanistan.’Now they carry
an issued copy of the Koran.
After seeing photos of these
men kneeling and shackled, the
Red Cross threw their arms in
the air. Was there no justice? If
the fence were electrified, the
shackles were burning and the
men were lying unconscious, I
might consider the conditions
inhumane. They say the
prisoners suffered religious
indignity by having their
unsanitary facial hair removed.
If a man can hide a bomb in the
sole of his shoe, I would count
on a blade in a beard. When they
weren’t blindfolded and
manacled, they bit guards.
When they were allowed to
assemble, they began to plan
attacks and escapes.
Even our most reliable
enemies support us on this; Fidel
Castro has been loaning his
personal car to our diplomats, for
Christ’s sake. The fiercest
opponents are those who think
the detainees are more than
prisoners—they are prisoners of
war. It sounds plausible. After
all, how many times have we
heard the phrase “War On
Terrorism”? On the other hand,
we’ve also heard this is a new
kind a war in a new millennium.
This tense situation has no
precedent. Most detractors
worry we’re going to zip through
a tribunal sentencing these men
to death by firing range in the
next 10 minutes. I’ll be concerned
when it starts, probably
sometime in spring 2010.
In addition to his patience in
waiting for a trial, President Bush
has wisely granted Geneva
Convention rights to certain
Taliban members. He did so to
prevent the torture of our soldiers,
but refuses to consider them
prisoners of war. In the days after
Sept. 11, Bush said he wouldn’t
distinguish between terrorists and
the countries who harbor them.
He misled us slightly, but only
because it would have been
impossible to anticipate the scene
at Camp X-Ray.
Al-Qaida fighters aren’t
uniformed soldiers. No one
declared war. They attacked non
combatants. They swore no oath
to a government. Don’t argue that
leniency is absent When these
men chose to kill civilians and
engage in international terrorism,
they gave up rights other soldiers
would have in an armed conflict
Normally, it’s sufficient for a POW
to give his name, rank, serial
number and date ofbirth. Nothing
else can be extracted.
It would be appropriate in this
case to provide the prisoners at .
Camp X-Ray with copious
amounts of sodium pentathol
and to try unconventional (i.e.
painful) methods for gathering
information. I wouldn’t
sympathize with any prisoner
who suffered physical damage
that prevented the death of one
of our soldiers.
I don’t expect the Red Cross
to side with me. But then, most
in their employ haven’t lived in
a cave. Maybe you disagree, but
I’m not wrong.
Hartney is a fourth-year
chemistry student.
IN YOUR OPINION
Thanks for covering
sexual responsibility
Bravo, for bringing up the
subject of sexual
responsibility near
Valentine’s Day. Sexual
responsibility should be
discussed freely and truthfully
between young people. Today,
not many adults are willing or
are too shy to discuss STDs
with the younger generation.
How about a weekly column
about “Questions and
Answers on Sex” in The
Gamecock?
KIRA FISHER
RETIRED MICROBIOLOGY
DIRECTOR. BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT
Mutual respect is
what love is about
Before I even start, let me
clarify—I totally agree that
women should be respected,
and I hate to see women in bad
situations just as much as
anyone does. That said,
respecting women isn’t what
love is about. Love is about
mutual respect between two
people in a relationship. If it
were about respecting women,
then gay men woul d be unable
to love.
Love is about giving and
taking, understanding and,
most of all, communication.
Katie McClendon’s aspects of
love (in Monday’s edition of
The Gamecock) can all fall into
one of these categories.
Whether I’m talking about
how much I love my mother,
who has made it possible for
me to attend this university; or
my father, who is always at my
side when I need him most; or
my fiancee, the center of my
world, I love each of these
people by the same set of
“rules.” The outcome might be
different, but the basics *
remain the same.
So, the true meaning of love
isn’t all about women. Maybe
in the past it could have been
broken down that far, but not
today. Just because a male is
attracted to other males, he
shouldn’t be excluded from
experiencing “true love.” The
problem is that people try to be
too specific.
This is yet another case in
which the answer can’t be seen
up close, but only when you
take a look at the bigger
picture.
JOHN NOLAN
FIRST-YEAR BUSINESS STUDENT
Schools, students
benefit from lottery
The S.C. Education Lottery
is a step in the right direction.
This money will benefit
schools, teachers and students.
Since the introduction of the
lottery, there have been many
people who are opposed to it
and criticize the people who
play it.
For the people who buy
tickets, thank you for
contributing to my education.
To the opponents: What is so
wrong with the lottery? If you
think lottery tickets are bad,
aren’t they the same as buying
raffle tickets? The lottery takes
the root of all evil (money) and
turns it into something good (an
education). For once in my life,
this state is letting us have more
money instead of taking it away.
For the critics: Go to a school
district where they have no
money to build new school
buildings. A school where the
roof leaks every time it rains and
where the school is old enough to
be a national historic landmark.
Talk to a student who didn’t
receive an equal education only
because his or her school
couldn’t afford to attract
nationally accredited teachers.
That is where the money is
needed most, in rural towns with
small school budgets.
This all comes down to the old
problem of “guns or butter.” The
state could increase funding, but
it would have to decrease it
somewhere else, and that’s just
not a feasible solution.
So, the next time the
university needs to cut back on
spending, raise tuition,
eliminate professors or
eliminate vital programs like
Transition Year, they won’t have
to because they will be another
source of income coming in. .
This lottery isn’t bad; it can
catapult us from 50th to first in
SAT scores in the nation, and it
can gain us the respect of other
states for our education instead
of a good laugh.
EMANUEL THOMASON
FIRST-YEAR TRANSITION YEAR
PROGRAM STUDENT
Submission Policy
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for more information..
Does sex
belong?
PHIL WATSON
GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM
Put your battery acid
away, boys - it’s V-Day.
Another one of my favorite
USC holidays is here. It’s better
than Carolinian Creed Week and
almost as good as Domestic
Violence Awareness week.
Happy Sexual Responsibility
Week, everyone. No matter
where you go this week, it’s
going to be sex all over. It’s safe
sex here, violent redneck sex
there and “Vagina Monologues”
off to the left.
1 can already see tomorrow’s
scenario, when that detestable
purveyor of Valentine’s
madness, Cupid, comes flying
into town. He’ll be half-naked,
toting his little bow and arrow of
love when he touches down on
Greene Street. As he looks for
people to shoot, someone in a
giant birth control pill costume
will waddle up to him offering
some Dental Dams, lubricants
and nipple clamps. As the
innocent-minded little Cupid
tries to walk the other way,
some guy in a giant condom
steps in front of him and asks
him to try the new OraSure HIV
test for free. Again, the Cupid
tries to go the other way, but is
pushed into line to play a game
in which the contestants throw
balls into holes to promote
sexual responsibility.
“You people sicken me,” he
might say, as he flies off with free
condoms and Kama Sutra books.
I have to give the organizers of
the week props for making it
coincide with Valentine’s Day.
Nothing makes a Valentine’s
date more romantic than a
candlelit dinner and an HIV test.
Not only does this special week
coincide withValentine’s Day, but
it also overlaps with Lincoln’s
birthday and Ash Wednesday.
Tasteful timing indeed.
All the hype has even made
some people complain (as usual)
about how bad South Carolina is.
Using Valentine’s Day as another
weekly platform to bash the state
is unacceptable and hypocritical.
Which brings me to Sexual
Responsibility Week’s grand
finale, “The Vagina
Monologues.” I can’t wait to see
this play. It will probably be even
more entertaining than certain
Women’s Studies classes. Are
truckers and couples welcome?
Normally, I get upset when
things aren’t equal. For example,
I think there should be a Men’s
Studies Department and job
placement based on who will be
best for the job. But when it
comes to “The Vagina
Monologues,” men don’t need to
try to come up with an equivalent
play. Just thinking about a play
called “The Penis Monologues”
makes me sicker than a feminist
at a topless raw oyster bar on the
outskirts of town.
Sexual Responsibility Week
needs an official mascot. No
offense to the giant birth control
pill, but I think we need
something a little more
memorable, like “Harry the
Herpe,” “Chlamydia Clyde the
Cowboy,” “Genital Wart Wally”
or “Crabby Sam.”
If the organizers of this
hallowed event want a mascot
who’s less stomach-turning, they
could use a real person. Ron
Jeremy is definitely the man for
this job. He’s proved over the
years that he’s a go-getter with
the desire to provide young
adults with better lives through
the promotion of abstinence.
Whether you’re parading
around in a giant birth control
pill suit this Sexual
Responsibility Week, or just
celebrating Ash Wednesday
with Chlamydia Clyde the
Cowboy, a good time will be had
by all, especially those drunken
truckers I’ve invited to “The
Vagina Monologues.”
Watson is a third-year print
journalism student.