The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 05, 2002, Page 4, Image 4
4 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Friday, April 5, 2002
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IN OUR OPINION !
Cancellation
When you walk through the Russell House and see
several empty rooms, it might not be because no one
is scheduled to meet in those rooms. It might just be
that the organizations that are supposed to meet in
those rooms simply didn’t bother to show up.
To prevent this, the Russell House Advisory Board is
considering allowing student groups to schedule regular
meetings for no longer than an hour and a half. If the
board approves, Vice President of Student and Alumni
Services Dennis Pruitt could put the policy in place.
The move would be unfortunate. The Russell House
already fines those groups that cancel their meetings,
a proper way of dealing with
Limiting meetings those who don’t follow through,
is a sweeping But t^e ngw policy is a
S.°^'°n a j sweeping solution for an
individualized . .. .. .. , ..
.. individualized problem. Since
pro em. wjien -s an h0ur an(j a half the
appropriate length for a meeting? That might work
for some groups, but things like movies and Student
Government meetings in the Russell House Theater
regularly surpass that limit.
The Russell House’s predicament is
understandable. Groups that consistently don’t show
up waste university money, and they take up
valuable meeting spaces that could be used by
others. But these repeat offenders are the ones that
should be punished — not everyone else.
Gamecock Quotables
“My preference would be
never to renovate while there
are still people in it, but we
don’t have that luxury. ”
CHARLIE JEFFCOAT
CAMPUS ARCHITECT AND FACILITIES
PUNNING AND MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR,
ABOUT THE SUMWALT RENOVATIONS
“So are you going to admit
3,000 across the spectrum or
3,000 of the best? We want to
admit 3,000 of the best.”
DENNIS PRUITT
VICE PRESIDENT OF STUDENT AND ALUMNI
SERVICES, ON THE FATE OF THE TRANSITION
YEAR PROGRAM
“This is the first time girls
have competed down there for
several years.”
MICHELLE FIELDS
COACH OF THE COQUETTES, ABOUT THE
COQUETTES GOING TO THE NATIONAL
CHAMPIONSHIP IN DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.
“If someone has a better
solution, we’d be happy to
listen to it.”
CARMELLA CARR
RUSSELL HOUSE DIRECTOR, ABOUT TRYING
TO LIMIT MEETINGS IN THE RUSSELL HOUSE
TO AN HOUR AND A HALF
GAMECOCK CORRECTIONS
& CLARIFICATIONS
A brief in Wednesday’s paper should have said Robin Poston,
who was awarded a State Farm Companies Foundation
Exceptional Student Fellowship, will attend Winthrop University
to pursue her master’s degree in business administration.
As a clarification to Wednesday’s editorial, the Board of
Trustees is not immediately contemplating eliminating the SAT
requirement for admission. Dennis Pruitt, who is vice president of
student and alumni services and isn’t on the board, said he
thought all universities in the country would eliminate the SAT
requirement if the University of California did so.
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
Editor in Chief
Ginny Thornton
News Editor
Kevin Fellner
Asst. News Editor
Mackenzie Clements
Viewpoints Editor
Carrie Phillips
The Mix Editor
Justin Bajan
Asst. The Mix Editor
Chris Foy
Sports Editor
J. Keith Allen
Asst. Sports Editor
Brandon Larrabee
Special Projects
Adam Beam
Contributing Editor
Martha Wright
Design Editor
Page Designers
Crystal Dukes, Sarah
McLaulin, Katie Smith,
David Stagg
Kyle Almond
Copy Desk Chief
Copy Editors
Crystal Boyles, Andrew
Festa, Jason Harmon,
Jill Martin, Paul Rhine
Mark Hartney
Online Editor
Corey Davis
Photo Assignments
Photo Editors
Robert Gruen, Candi
Hauglum
Kelly Petruska
C<
CONTACT INFORMATION
Offices on third floor of the Russell House.
Editor in Chief: gamecockeditor@hotmail.com
University Desk: gamecockudesk@hotmail.com
Viewpoints: gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com
The Mix: gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com
Sports: gamecocksports@hotmail.com
Online: www.dailygamecock.com
Newsroom: 777-7726
EDITORIAL BOARD
Kyle Almond,
Mackenzie Clements.
Chris Foy, Jason
Harmon. Mary Hartney.
Brandon Larrabee,
Carrie Phillips. Ginny
Thornton, Martha
Wright
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
Derek Goode, Todd
Hooks, Earl Jones,
Jennie Moore,
Melanie Roberts,
Beju Shah
Advertising Staff
Betsy Baugh,
Amanda Ingram.
Denise Levereaux,
Jackie Rice, Gloria
Simpson, Stacey
Todd 4
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during the fall and
spring semesters and
nine times during the
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exception of university
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periods. Opinions
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Gamecock are those
of the editors or
author and not those
of the University of
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Gamecock. The
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(>«.(..■/AOSTTVWK PAfniCteavTf w CtIHICAl. TRIALS A^N'T Tfel-P I
5
CARTOON COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS
In the Carolina communal
i____
BRANDON LARRABEE
GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM
Collective punishment
hits the wrong people.
If there’s one thing that can
be said about the USC
administration, it’s that it loves
collective punishment.
My first brush with that
attitude this semester came
because of vandalism in
Preston College. No one stepped
forward to accept responsibility
for the damage, so the USC
Housing Department decided to
fine everybody $5.36.
Now the Russell House has
joined the fad of punsihing
everyone for the crimes of a few.
They’ve decided that, because a
few slack groups didn’t show up
for their meetings, all groups
will face stringent restrictions
on how long they can meet.
If this collective punishment
principle is such a great idea, I
propose we expand it to
everyone at the university,
from the students to the faculty
to the administration.
You see, it appears that the
women’s soccer team didn’t do
so well last semester, so I
propose we freeze all Athletics
Department salaries. It’s too bad
that most of USC’s other high
profile teams had solid seasons.
There was a team that didn’t do
well, so no one deserves a raise
— not even Lou.
Recently, three former
employees of the Institute for
Public Service and Policy
Research were convicted of
misusing their office by filling
out illegal travel vouchers. But
only those three employees were
forced to pay restitution for their
illegal acts. Under our collective
punishment policy, all employees
of the think tank should pay for
their crimes. Or perhaps all
employees of all USC institutes
should pay because, hey, you
never know who might be the
next to dip their hand into the till.
And we’re still not in the
Association of American
Universities, so it’s time to cut
all administration salaries.
C’mon, guys, you’ve had 201
years and you still can’t get this
university into the upper tier?
Don’t expect any of these
suggestions to be put into law in
the immediate future. The
administration probably isn’t
eager to be subjected to
collective punishment, and they
shouldn’t be.
Collective punishment always
punishes those who are doing
what they’re supposed to do. The
Russell House policy will penalize
those who are meeting. Why do
groups who aren’t meeting care
how long they can meet?
The same is true of the
housing fines. We were told that
the fines were imposed to “send
a message.” What message?
That, if you vandalize a
residence hall, you can get
away with only paying five
bucks as long as you keep quiet?
Punishing everyone for the
sins of a few has its roots in the
mindset of authoritarian
governments, not universities in
countries where freedom and
individual rights are supposed to
be acknowledged.
Individual punishment is
rooted in the principle of
individual choice and individual
freedom. If you dispose of one, the
other two won’t be far behind.
Larrabee is a fourth-year print
journalism student.
IN YOUR OPINION
Cycling is best form
of transportation
Do you have a bicycle? Is
the chain rusting? Are the
tires flat? Spring is here. It’s
time to tune up your bike,
pump up the tires, put a basket
on the front and ride. Cycling
is the future. Cleaner air, less
traffic, more green space,
firmer thighs, lower blood
pressure and less coronary
heart disease are the results of
participating in cycling. In the
nation’s highest-ranked state
for risk of strokes and obesity,
cycling is part of the solution.
Less driving means less oil
consumption, which reduces
our dependency on oil
producing nations and drilling
in the Alaskan wilderness.
Walk or ride your bike to
school, the library, to buy
groceries, to the Nickelodeon
or to your favorite bar. Save
the car for long trips or car
pooling. Avoid road rage, air
pollution and expensive car
payments. Petroleum
hydrocarbons pumped into the
air by your car temporarily
paralyze the lung cells of
cyclists like me. Think again
before jumping in your car to
go to the store for a loaf of
bread or a six-pack. Cycling is
no longer a purely recreational
activity. It’s a lifestyle.
AMANDA MARTIN
PUBLIC HEALTH AND SOCIAL WORK
CIIADUATE STUDENT
Not all colleges
allow every minor
This letter is in reponse to
Shanna Reed’s column in
Wednesday’s paper about
choosing a minor. It was very
entertaining and well-written,
but quite»idealistic. I, too,
once thought that students
could minor in anything they
desired, but this simply isn’t
the case in the College of
Criminal Justice. I wanted to
minor in theater, because it’s
always something I’ve loved
to do. When I declared my
minor last semester, nothing
was said to me in regards to
the subject I had chosen.
But this semester, when I
went to advisement, I was told
that only one of the classes
required for a theater minor
can count toward my degree.
One! When asked why, the
adviser said, “No classes that
are considered to be ‘training
or skills’ classes may be
counted toward our electives.”
She went on to show me
this clause in some book that I
had never seen before. Why
does the College of Criminal
Justice discriminate against
another school of thought?
Why don’t they put this clause
in the Undergraduate Bulletin
where everybody can see it?
And why does this college feel
that they should remain to be
a college when it obviously
feels a need to restrict a
student’s desires?
CRAIG A. BROWN
THIRD-YEAR CRIMINAL JUSTICE
ai uur,.\ i
SAT scores aren’t
only student factor
In response to Milyton
Brittingham’s letter on
Wednesday, your SAT score
doesn’t set in concrete the
kind of student you will be in
college. Big deal — so you
made it past the 1000 mark on
your test. The work you do in
high school helps to reflect the
person you are regardless of
your standardized score. For
example, if Student A can
make a 3.7 GPA in high school
but can’t get more than a 970 on
the SAT, it’s no big deal. Your
GPA helps to balance your SAT
score. Yes, it’s a good idea to up
the admission scores, but you’ll
have to look to the state before
you look to the student for
improvement.
STEFFONIE SCHREIBER
FOURTH-YEAR CRIMINAL JUSTICE
STUDENT
Timing of cartoon
was insensitive
This letter is a response to the
political cartoon in the March 29
issue. It was targeted at the
sexual abuse scandals in the
Catholic Church. I am one of
many Catholic students at USC,
and I found it appalling that this
cartoon would be put in the
newspaper on Good Friday. The
Catholic Church believes that
Good Friday represents the day
Christ was crucified. It’s a holy
day in the church, and many
Christians find this day very
important. The Catholic Church
has admitted to wrongdoings,
but it’s trying to find ways to
keep sexual abuse incidents
from occuring. I know it’s a hot
topic in the news, but I feel like
The Gamecock could have held
this political cartoon for
another day. It really bothered
me to be reminded of this
incident on a day that’s sacred
to the rememberance of Jesus
Christ.
ALISON HOLLAND
THIRD-YEAR NURSINU STUDENT
Submission Policy
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Letters will be edited. Anonymous letters
will not be published. Call the newsroom
at 777-7726 for more information.
The gray
color of
conflict
CHAU GLASS
GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM
There are no white hats
in the Middle East.
For the past several weeks,
I’ve sat before the news
networks with mouth agape,
watching leader after leader
explain how Palestinians could
strap explosives to themselves
and slaughter civilians in
suicide bombings. The
invariable answer is that these
people aren’t human, but have
somehow religiously morphed
into evil monsters.
In the whirlwind of emotion
evoked from media images, it’s
amazing what percentage of the
populace has bought into the
belief system that certain groups
wear white and are by nature
good, while their enemies wear
black and can’t help but do evil.
It seems easy for Americans to
believe that Arabs are
demonically possessed by their
adherence to a false religion, but
it’s impossible to think that such
extreme acts could be carried
out because a group has been ,
consistently oppressed for years
and has grown more and more
ilocnorjito
I lived for two years in Israel. •
When I arrived, my political
views were pro-Israeli. I grew up ;
in a society where my childhood
heroes were the Hebrew figures
of the Old Testament and in a
church that emphasized that the.
Jews are God’s chosen people.
This is the worldview of
millions of Americans. Add to
this the natural sympathies
evoked from the horror of the
Holocaust and the consistent
media portrayal of Arabs only as
terrorists, and an American has
few reasons to consider the
plight of the Palestinians.
However, I soon met a people
who were violently driven from
their homes, have lived in
refugee camps for more than 30
years, are restricted in travel to
an area roughly the size of
Columbia and have no voting -
rights. The Palestinians aren’t
hate-mongering monsters. They
are incredibly friendly and
hospitable. But they are
desperate, and desperation leads
By the pious language of our
leaders, one would assume acts
of terror upon civilians are a ’
new inexplicable evil in warfare.
Perhaps we should look in the
mirror. The American military I
thought it fully reasonable to sell
diseased blankets to Native
Americans in order to kill whole
tribes in their westward push.
The atomic bombings of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki have
often been justified as necessary:
Taking war to the innocents,
though completely deplorable,
has always been a part of
warfare. It’s now convenient to
endorse “civilized war” when we
have military superiority over
the rest of the world.
Though the predominate
religious teachings in our
country don’t endorse suicide,
every freedom-loving American
I know would also commit, and
then label heroic, desperate acts
of violence and sacrifice if
confined for years without basic
rights. This is the human |
reaction, repeated throughout
history.
War is never really played by
rules of fairness. It is not just. It
is a bloody and evil iheans. The
victorious declare the ends and
propagandize their role in it.
There aren’t sides with white
hats and black hats in the Israeli
Palestinian conflict. The sooner
we come to this realization, the
greater the probability that a
just and peaceful resolution can
come forth and the cycle of
violence can end.
Glass is a third-year English
student.