The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 25, 2002, Page 4, Image 4
4 WEGAUECOCK*Monday, March 25, 2002
SOUND OFF ONLINE POLL
Create message boards at Do you understand Value
www.dailygamecock.com or Centered Management?
send letters to the editor to www.dailygamecock.com.
gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com Results published on Fridays.
THE LEADER
USC's ‘values'
Though the Strategic Directions and Initiatives
report devotes a page and a half to the proposed
“Value-Centered Management” system for USC,
VCM would mean sweeping changes to the way USC
divvies up money. It would allocate money to the
university’s colleges based on the number of
students they attract, their fund-raising abilities and
their “value” to USC as seen by administrators.
Blind leap of faith
USC’s Student and Faculty senates have criticized
VCM and questioned how the board plans to
implement it. The board’s answer is as disturbing as
it is vague — essentially saying, “Trust us.”
University administrators aren’t even sure who
would ultimately make the changes. It’s possible that
USC President John Palms could change the system
. M un ms way uui me uuui.
It’s hard to trust
the board when Testing the system
we don't know The one encouraging aspect
whether trustees of the VCM plan is that usc
will have a vote. woui(j “test” it before
implementing it by paralleling it on paper for a year
with our current management system. But that
doesn’t ensure the system will be fair.
In one scenario, money would be allocated based
on the number of students in a college. In another,
funds would be distributed based on the number of
students enrolled in a certain college’s classes.
Allocating the money based on credit hours would
slant funding even more toward the “Cathedrals of
Excellence” — Liberal Arts, Science and Math,
Engineering and Business — where much of USC’s
wealth is already concentrated. Everyone has to take
English and math; not everyone needs a course in
journalism or nursing.
aiiu n cuuiu ieau iu me pruiuexauuu ui 1 epemive
courses. The university could see colleges creating
courses to pad their pockets, such as “Art History for
Social Workers” or “English and Pharmacy.”
VCM should be implemented carefully and after a
great deal of thought. If done correctly, the system
could lead to a stronger university, where colleges
are rewarded for a job well done. If done incorrectly,
it could widen the wealth gap between colleges and
send more money to a select four while allowing
equally strong but less “valued” colleges to tumble
into mediocrity.
GAMECOCK CORRECTIONS
The day on the March 22 paper should have been Friday.
The prizes for Carolina Productions’ Oscar Party include a
dinner for two at Dianne’s on Devine.
The Gamecock regrets the errors.
If you see an error in today’s paper, we want to know. E-mail us
at gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com.
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Harmon, Mary Hartney,
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Carrie Phillips, Ginny
Thornton, Martha
Wright
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CARTOON COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS
When mediocrity is king
EDRIN WILLIAMS
GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM
Mediocre black males
have become the norm.
The jury has ended its
deliberation and returned this
verdict: The overwhelming
majority of USC’s black male
population is guilty of blatant
mediocrity. The evidence is
piled higher than the garbage
in your residence halls.
Guys on this campus have
too many systems in place to
support the “strive-to-be-a-face
in-the-crowd” mentality.
Everywhere we turn, we’re
being persuaded to do just
enough to stay in school, and
being the gullible souls that we
seem to enjoy being, we say OK
and spend more time at the
“Tree of Knowledge” than at the
library or doing community
service.
And we treat mediocre men
with too much regard. We allow
them to call us their friends. We
accept them into our
organizations. We even
introduce them to our female
acquaintances.
The mediocre black male has
become the norm at this
institution and is reaping the
rewards. From the hundreds of
Jay-Z and Mohh Deep lookalikes
to the 112 wannabes, each has
scheduled their classes around
the Russell House lunch period
to give them the opportunity to
approach as many women as
possible. Once classes are out,
they head to the gym to see
who’s hanging out courtside.
And at about 7 p.m., they go
back to the Russell House for
the nightcap.
Knowing this schedule, it
angers me when I invite some of
them to a meeting of the
Brothers of Nubian Descent
(BOND), and they give me a line
about having to do this or that.
Then they have the audacity to
avoid eye contact when I see
them an hour later sitting in the
Grand Marketplace.
Another sector of the black
male population needs to be
addressed — members of the
class of 1997 and before. They’ve
been here long enough to know
what goes on, yet I’m surprised
that they don’t do more
mentoring to young, misguided
men. Instead of talking about
the mistakes they made by
settling for average, they
condone the practice. Instead of
encouraging younger men to
get involved with worthwhile
organizations, they tell them to
meet them at the gym where
they show off their crossovers
and class of’96 senior T-shirts.
I hope by now that all you
mediocre black males are so
mad that you go out of their way
to prove me wrong. Get at least
a 3.0 GPA this semester and
show me how out of line I was.
Join BOND and work toward
becoming one of the few elite
men on this campus. Do some
community service. Force me to
print an apology.
Ladies, you have a
responsibility, too. Stop settling
for the guys who aren’t about
anything. You will know which
guys are working toward goals.
And if you absolutely have to
have one particular guy,
encourage him to do something
with his life.
Guys, I hope you realize what
I’m trying to do here. I’m not
trying to ridicule you for your
complacency; I’m trying to let
you see what society sees when
they look at you, and I hope that
image will inspire you to move
away from the practices and
stereotypes that plague us.
Wake up!
Williams is a fourth-year African
\merican studies student.
Don’t take away
students’ rights
In regards to Ashley Lewis’
March 20 letter, congratulations
that you’re in the Honors
College. Here’s your cookie.
As my friends and I read
Lewis’ letter, we couldn’t help
but laugh.
She began by saying all of
the perks that come with the
Honors College have
traditionally gone
unchallenged by the student
body. Realize that non-honors
students have always thought
it was unfair that the Honors
College receives early
registration. We would love to
have smaller classes.
However, even in your
sheltered Maxcy confines, this
latest attempt at taking
privileges from
upperclassmen is going over
thp linp
Lewis compares honors
students to athletes in that
they rightfully deserve better
housing. But athletes have
talents. Honors students were
born with the exceptional
ability to take biased
standardized tests well. Have
another cookie. Just because
your parents still have your
sixth-grade honor roll sticker
on their bumper and say
you’re special doesn’t make it
so.
Try to ground yourself and
realize you’re not superior to
anyone. I truly am sorry your
friends got “verbally
assaulted,” but quit your
bitching and leave
upperclassmen with the rights
they have become accustomed
to. We were watching seniors
move onto the Horseshoe when
you were still in grade school.
MATT PENNINGTON
THIRD-YEAR MARKETING STUDENT
IN YOUR OPINION
Miani needs to oe
better informed
I just took a break from
writing a paper for one of my
“elitist” honors classes to read
The Gamecock, and all I can
say is, “What the hell?” Ann
Marie Miani’s column on
Friday is an obvious example
of how misinformed USC is on
the subject of honors housing.
I’m one of the “prissy
sophomores” who’ll be stealing
Horseshoe housing away from
poor seniors next year, and I’m
tired of hearing about it. There
was never any “assumption”
that, because we live in Maxcy,
we should get the rest of the
Horseshoe. We didn’t ask to
live there — the Housing
Department came to us first.
I’m sorry that Miani’s
teachers don’t cut her any
slack, but ours don’t either
when we have four tests, three
papers, two labs and an
Honors dinner with the
university president in one
week. And most of us didn’t
make a 1300 on our SAT; we
scored higher. My suggestion
for Miani would be to drop
The Gamecock, pick up a copy
of The Princeton Review and
study up. I’ll even save her a
spot in my apartment next
year. But leave us alone about
decisions we can’t control.
Remember this when
you’re 35 years old and not
suffering from lung cancer
because Capstone was
renovated the summer before
your senior year. Be thankful
that this university offers the
opportunity to live on-campus.
Many schools reserve then
housing for underclassmen.
TRACY FORD
FIRST-YEAR POLITICAL SCIENCE
AND FRENCH STUDENT
laieniea scuaenis
deserve rewards
This “newspaper” has become
a bastion of anti-intellectual
sentiment.
Anyone who read Ann Marie
Miani’s column on Friday would
certainly agree. She complains
that honors students get
privileges in almost every aspect
oflifeatUSC.
But USC rewards student
athletes in the same way. The
lesson is that talent will bring
rewards.
Miani continues, “Let’s teach
them early on that if they want
something, they can get it
because they’re ‘elite.’” Now
she’s making sense.
Hypothetically, if you were a
potential employer and had to
choose between an Honors
College graduate who’d received
prestigious awards and a
regular “C” student who was too
hungover or lazy to go to class,
who would you pick?
i nougn ner nnal sentence
was meant to be sarcastic, it’s
also truthful: “You can lament
the fact that, if you had gotten a
1300 on your SATs, life at USC
might have been better.” I
couldn’t agree with her more.
There’s nothing wrong with
settling for mediocrity, but
don’t go expecting the world to
be handed to you on any silver
platters if you do.
RYAN MORTON
FOU ll'l’l l-YEAR ANTHROPOLOGY
STUDENT
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Having
a senior
moment
MARTHA WRIGHT
GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM
We May 2002 graduates
will be leaving prepared.
Here’s a deal: These days,
moments of reckoning cost $38.81.
That’s the going rate — sales
tax included—for a cap, gown,
tassel and honor cord at the
Russell House Bookstore. It’s a
uniform every student hopes
and dreads to wear, and I bought
mine this past week.
As “sayonara” symbols go, the
purchase of graduation garb is
hard to top. We can’t predict the
future, but we know what we’ll
be wearing to greet it. Formal
caps and gowns, first mandated
in mid-13th century English
universities, were based on
medieval clerics’ robes lined
with wool or rabbit fur. May 2002
graduates will take the world by
storm in 100 percent polyester.
Still, most graduating seniors
are ready for that world. There
are a lot of us chomping at the
bit. This past fall, 4,275 people
were classified as seniors at
USC-Columbia, and 334 were,
like me, enrolled in the College
of Journalism and Mass
Communications.
My brain is packed with
thoughts about starting life after
school. Superstitiously, I feel
that completing graduation
related errands hastens its
arrival. And so buying
commencement regalia has
taken on importance.
I didn’t try on the outfit in the
bookstore, except the hat (it had
to be screened for willingness to
accommodate fluffedy Southern
hair). When you’re buying
ceremonial clothes, who’s
looking for a perfect fit, anyway?
A robe is a robe is a robe.
But when I brought my
graduation gear back to my
dorm, I decided to try it on. I
unpacked and put on the
billowy, black gown, knowing
I’d never be able to redo the
incomprehensible origami that
made it fit in its crinkly plastic
cube.
Next was the mortarboard,
another variation on medieval
dress. The black cloth didn’t
quite fit the broad, flat top. At
first, I mistakenly put it on
backward, the Eddie Munster
widow’s peak sitting squarely
between my eyebrows. Static
caused the tassel’s tendrils to
splay, and a brassy “2002” hung
awkwardly horizontal. There
was little glamour here.
Looking in the mirror, I could
imagine myself in the parade of
graduates on May 10, all of us in
baggy black robes and flat hats,
looking like frumpy and somber
coasters. This is what we’ll wear
as we receive our “Have-A-Nice
Life” handshakes from our
respective deans and USC
President John Palms.
In my room, not a graduate
but dressed the part, I thought
about my haste to leave this
academic world for the world of
work. By now, I’m sure a lot of
us have come down with
senioritis as we tally our credits
and earn the GPA we need to
graduate. But the cause isn’t
impatience or naivete or a
“hurry up” attitude peculiar to
our generation.
liiaicciu, i uilllft UHS ticigeiiic&a
to go is a sign we’ve been well
educated. All that we’ve learned
from professors and mentors
and advisers and friends is
ready to be tested in the real
world, where class rank and
GPA and honors are wholly
irrelevant.
On the day that marks that
transition, we’ll wear our tilted
caps, shapeless gowns, tangled
tassels and confused cords.
But because of their
symbolism, they’ll be a perfect fit.
Wright is a fourth-year print j
journalism student.