Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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SOUND OFF ONLINE POLL Create message boards at Should The Gamecock have www.dailygamecock.com or the right to endorse candidates? 1 send letters to the editor to YES 50% gamecockviewpointsiiiihotmail.com NO 50% IN OUR OPINION Keep voting Nearly 3,000 students voted in this week’s Student Government elections. While this is little more than one-tenth of the student body, it still ranks as one of the highest turnouts in the past decade. It’s pretty lame that we can get so excited about “voter turnout” when so few USC students actually make it to the polls — a process that involves rolling out of bed, turning on your computer and clicking a couple of buttons. But we’re impressed with the efforts this year’s group of candidates has made to increase turnout, Candidates see their shadows: Get ready for one more week of campaigning. especially alter last year s even more dismal showing. We credit it to a minimum of squabbling among candidates, who have all run clean campaigns and focused more on issues than on pettiness. Plus, the campaign trail nas been tun tor candidates, ana students—tor example, David Bornemann’s staff spent the week trading golf cart rides for voter participation. But this year’s SG elections are far from over; the races for president and treasurer have entered their most critical phase. Next Wednesday and Thursday, students wilTmake their final choices Th runoff elections for these two offices. We challenge the student body to outdo its own turnout accomplishment. Remind your friends, roommates and classmates to vote next week at http://vip.sc .edu, and don’t forget to do the same yourself. And if you didn’t vote because you think SG is ineffective or you think your vote doesn’t matter, do something about it: Write a letter to the editor, confront your SG senator or apply for Cabinet. Gamecock Quotables “Occasionally, there is a happy day for a university president. Today is one of those days.” JOHN PALMS . , use PRESIDENT. ON THE ANNOUNCEMENT bF A $1.7 MILLION GIFT FOR THE NEWSPLEX “I think it is the most ridiculous piece of legislation to come out of the'General Assembly.” COREY FORD SG PRESIDENT, ABOUT A PROPOSAL TO RELAX S.C. GUN LAWS “Wall had any infractions yet?” PATEL CAMPAIGNER TO CHRISSY STAUFFER, CAMPAIGN MANAGER FOR DAVID BORNEMANN “Students at the University of South Carolina mean business. We’re willing to do what it takes to make our presence felt.” DAVID BORNEMANN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE AND SG SENATOR, ABOUT MAKING HIGHER EDUCATION A PRIORITY FOR LOTTERY FUNDS GAMECOCK CORRECTIONS The softball photographs in Wednesday’s paper were taken by Chris Tilley. In Wednesday’s Voter Guide, treasurer candidate Brant Tosi’s majors should have been identified as marketing and international business. The Gamecock regrets the errors. If you see an error in today’s paper, we want to know. E-mail us atgamecockviewpoints(«:hotmail.com. ABOUT THE GAMECOCK Mary Hartney CONTACT INFORMATION Editor in Chief Offices on third floor of the Russell House. Ginny Thornton Editor in Chief: gamecockeditor@hotmail.com News Editor University Desk: gamecockudesk@hotmail.com City Desk: gamecockcitydesk@hotmail.com Kevin Fellner Viewpoints: gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com AQQt npwc Frtitor The Mix: gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com Sports: gamecocksports@hotmail.com Mackenzie Clements Online: www.dailygarnecock.com Viewpoints Editor Newsroom: 777-7726 Carrie Phillips EDITORIAL BOARD The Gamecock is the Thn rHltnr student newspaper of Kyle Almond, the University of South , . Mackenzie Clements, Carolina and is published A^t^ho^Miv PHitor Chris Foy, Mary Monday, Wednesday and Hartney. Brandon Friday during the fall and Larrabee, Carrie spring semesters and c Phillips, Ginny nine times during the Sports Editor Thornton, Martha summer with the . ^ ... ... Wright exception of university J Keith Allen holidays and exam Asst. Sports Editor STUDENT MEDIA periods Opinions _ . expressed in The Brandon Larrabee Erik Collins Gamecock are those of Special Projects Faculty Adviser the editors or author and „ not those of the o r i r Ellen Parsons University of South Design Editor Director of Student Carolina. The Board of Page Designers Med'a Student Publications ~ . „ and Communications is My, |. u ’ Susan King the publisher of The McLauhn. Katie Smith. Creative Director Gamecock. The av' a®® Department of Student „ . . Carolyn Griffin Media is the Copy De°"c.,ef Business Manager newspaper s parent copy .Desk cruet organization. The . „„„ Sarah Scarborough Gamecock is supported Copy Editors Advertising Manager in part by student Crystal Boyles. Andrew activities fees. One free Festa. Jason Harmon. sherry F. Holmes d Jill Martin, Paul Rhine classified Manager AdditfonJ, copies may be Mark Hartney Creative Services Oniine Editor Derek Goode, Todd ^"f Student Hooks. Earl Jones. Media Corey Davis Jennie Moore. Melanie Photo Assignments Roberts. Beju Shah jq ^ Photo Technicians Advertising Staff The Gamecock Robert Gruen. Candi Betsy Baugh. Amanda 1400 Greene Street Hauglum Ingram. Denise Columbia, S.C. 29208 Levereaux, Jackie Advertising: 777-3888 Kelly Petruska Rice, Stacey Todd Classified: 777-1184 Community Affairs v Fax: 777-6482 TfRRORiVT ALERTS UKEL"/ To tHCK(j\Se,Sflj bao'T OFFICIALS mam '- r “ . .• My black history celebration TAGARA HALL GAMECOCKVlEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM Sitting in a classroom is my form of tribute. I’m a 22-year-old black woman, yet I have done nothing to “formally” celebrate Black History Month in the past couple of years. Am I an ungrateful member of this illustrious race? I)o I not take pride in the struggles and triumphs of my ancestors? Have I lost faith in Dr. King's dream? Have I forgotten about landmark Supreme Court cases, such as Brown v. Board of Education, that ended segregation in public schools? The more I pondered these questions, the clearer my answer became. Recently, radio personality Tom Joyner ran a series of commercials about Black History Month. He asked people of different races and occupations, “When do you celebrate black history?” Respondents replied with different months of the year. One white woman, an avid gardener, said she celebrates Black History Month in September, when the fruits of her labor arc harvested. By celebrating black history in September, she said she was honoring and paying tribu te to Benjamin Banneker, who wrote the first almanac, \ . . , Similar commercials aired throughout February. After watching and listening to the commercials, 1 realis'd how true the intended message was — the celebration of black inventors, physicians, educators and civil rights leaders shouldn't be confined to the 28 or 29 days of February. Instead, it should be a lifelong celebration. Though my personal celebration isn’t formal in design, [realized that 1 celebrate black history at least n ine months on t of the year ■ when i attend classes at USC. If it hadn't beenfor the blacks who were instrumental in the fight to desegregate public schools, many of us would not be attending this culturally diverse university, I also celebrate black history on a daily basis when I use i 'in moil household products: a hair comb (Sacramenta G. Tankins), toothpaste (Anthony Tbent5)! a refrigerator (John Stgnard), a clothes dryer (George T. Sampson), an ironing board (Sarah Boone), a stove (Lewis Dorcas) and an air conditioning unit (Frederick Jones). And each time I meet the gt ials set before me, or those I've set myself, I am celebrating the hi;story of my ancestors. Each time I defy negative stereotypes of blacks, i am celebrating my history. Each time a black person is elected to a political office, passes the LSAT, graduates from medical school, becomes a professor at a distinguished university, creates another household item or signs with a professional at hie I ics team, black history is celebrated. To have a keen knowledge of your history and to exemplify its richness is to celebrate that history. I challenge all students, not just black students, to join in the 365-day celebration of black history. For mey it isn’t about a program held at church, a classroom lecture or a guest speaker on campus. Instead, black history is my life story. Hall is a fourth-year advertising student. Housing should fix laundry situation Do the words “breach of contract” mean anything to Housing? When choosing a dorm, my roommate and 1 specifically considered certain halls because of their capacity to do laundry. Upon careful deliberation, we decided on Capstone. What a mistake! Last Sunday night, my roommate and I were forced to wait in the cold for more than an hour while fire trucks arrived-and men inspected the building. We weren’t offered any place to stay outside of the cold and spent the second night this week huddled in the back seat of my car. Last Tuesday’s event was worse because it occurred at 4 a.m. It’s getting old! Because of the fire, our permanently closed for the rest of the semester. When I signed my housing contract, I did so under the assumption that l would be provided laundry facilities. Not that I don’t enjoy walking across the parking lot to Columbia Hall (after all. it’s not that far), but now I have to wait twice as long for a laundry machine. This also isn’t fair to residents there. Housing should take steps toward getting us another place to do laundry. Housing made adealwithHol May In n, allowing students to stay there when dorms were filled. Would it be too difficult to do something similar with a laundromat in Five Points? How about trying to correct the problem before the end of the semester? r ’ IN YOUR OPINIO Someone needs to speak but against, this problem. Housing should do something. ' MERRITT FITZ SKm,\’l)-YKAH KXHAIIMI.YIAi. f'SYOriOl.tlllY STI flEST Laundry situation bad for Capstone I would love to know what the Residence Hall Association suggests Capstone residents do about laundry, especially because we can’t get into Columbia Hall after 8 p.m. ALAN WOOD SKOiNIM'RAH PIIHMI.NTIIY STl’iUINT Just about everyone has biases, eh? After reading Chris Foy’s Wednesday column, “Olympic nagging starting to get old,” I noticed he had no evidence of “nagging” except his own. This year’s judging scandal is just that a judging scandal. Foy complained that the Canadians’ nagging about the gold medal decision is getting old. However, the first person to publicly complain about the decision was the American commentator for NBC. The scandal revolves around a French judge, not a Canadian skating pah-. Had an American pair been in the Canadians' shoes, Foy would have had exactly the opposite opinion. He would have written about the injustice his country faced, After Foy finished complaining about how much the Canadian figure-skating pair had been nagging about a gold medal, which he admitted they deserved,! , decided to back up his assault on “The Great White North” by cutting down a national hero’s opinion (Canadian national, of course). Wayne Gretzky is undoubtedly the best hockey player in the history of the game, despite his nationality. 1 lis opinion on hockey should be as trusted as the testimony of an expert witness. However, Foy discards Gretzky's opinion about liow Americans don’t respect Canadian hockey because the Canadian papers are doing that reporting, not the ones in the U.S.” i This leads one to believe that if The New York Times printed an opinion, backed by experts on the topic, that no other paper was reporting on, it would be completely unreliable because no other paper had reported on it. Truth doesn’t come from media opinion. We must take what the media tells us and find the truth, because everyone is biased. Judge Marie Reine Le Gougne is biased. Wayne Gretzky is biased, Chris Foy is biased and maybe I’m even a little biased, eh? It’s a shame to both our countries that despite our similarities, we disrespect each so much MATTHEW BANNON KIKST-YEAlt MECHANICAL i NCINLLinXCSTI KI \'T Submission Policy Letters to the editor should be less than 300 words and include name, phone number, professional title or year and major, if a student. Bring letters to Russell House 333 or e-mail gamocoekviewpoirits®hotmail.com. The Gamecock reserves the right to edit for libel, style and space. Anonymous letters will not be published. Outside I submissions supporting or opposing a candidate or a party in any election will not be run the day before or the day of an election. Call the newsroom at 777-7726 for more information. SG SPEAKS Fees and more fees HYDRICK HARDEN GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM Student activity fees go toward noble causes. Student activity fees are considered by many as code for “additional tuition that we’re just not calling tuition.” They’re considered another scanrto get you to pay more for an education that doesn’t even guarantee you a job anymore. Many of you probably don’t even realize that you’re forking over $46 a semester in these activity fees. Those who do know probably resent every last dime. Hell, everyone knows $46 equals 23 Beam and Cokes at Sharky’s. What could possibly be more important than swilling bourbon on a lazy Thursday afternoon? For starters, this paper you’re reading (and the crossword puzzle you’re working on during class) is supported by student activity fees. In fact, all of Student Media is—Garnet & Black and WUSC, too. Did you enjoy “The Mothman Prophecies” at the Russell House Theater a couple weeks back? Did you catch Joey from “Full House” during Cockfest? For that matter, what about the Hootie & the Blowfish concert right before we demolished Vanderbilt at Homecoming? That’s right, Carolina Productions is funded by student activity fees, too. Granted manv of vnn readinp this column never attended these events. You’re here to get an education so you can contribute positively to society (and get filthy rich along the way). How is paying for a concert going to help me when I go looking for a job? Well, it might not, but student activity fees aren’t designed only to provide student entertainment. They’re supposed to enhance your education and learning outside the classroom. Activity fees support artistic and cultural awareness. The Ceramics Club used its allocation to have a guest lecturer come to USC and instruct students in an advanced ceramics technique. Puppet Regime put on student written, student-produced plays at Benson Theater. The NAACP hosted a historical Civil Rights Tour over Christmas break. The International Students’ Association hosted a fair during International Week. Activity fees provide additional educational opportunities. The Academic Team is able to travel around the Southeast to compete on behalf of USC. It’s the same thipg for the Mock Trial Team, which recently received state honors. And don’t forget about the Debate Team — they’ve received national recognition. Activity fees enhance community outreach. We benefit greatly from the Columbia community, so rarely do we have a chance to return the favor. Carolina for Kids found a way to give back—they hosted a valentine s Day dance tor Epworth Children’s Home. The Sport Administration Club worked the raceways at the Southern 500 in Darlington. Kappa Epsilon went to elementary schools to lecture about poison prevention. The Women’s Student Association put on a Sistercare benefit concert. With the depressed job market, you’d think more USC students would take advantage of the opportunities afforded to them outside of class to build their experience base. Instead, most of them are clamoring for their $46 back. I hope they use it to drown their sorrows at Sharky’s when they realize a diploma just isn’t enough. Harden is SG treasurer and a fourth-year accounting student.