Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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W" Dear future governor, I’m writing to tell you... TERRANCE BEERS GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM I understand that it's far easier £1 express discontent with an is (^he than give constructive criti cism. Granted, I do have a right to complain according to the First Amendment. However, I consider it my duty as an American citizen to provide elected officials with ideas whenever I feel their plans aren't working, or whenever I feel that they're ignoring crucial is sues. I normally wouldn't address people this way, but I really don't think Gov. Hodges or Mark Sanford would read a letter from an average student at USC be cause I'm no bigwig donor, mak ing my opinion is slightly less im portant. Hence, I'm printing the letter in The Gamecock. I hope both of them address these issues. ♦_z_ Dear Gov. Hodges and Mark Sanford, One of you will be elected the next governor of this state. You will have more influence on public policy than any other South Carolinian, and you can make substantial changes that really im prove the lives of South Carolinians. I understand that you both re alize the importance of education as a strong political issue. South Carolina parents are no longer willing to let the state remain at the bottom of the education rank ings. I'm willing to bet all the mon ey in my checking account, not much mind you, that your advi sors say education is one of the biggest factors in whether a swing voter casts their ballot for you. It seems both of you agree with your advisors judging by your adver tisements and web sites. I hope that you really care about educa tion instead of using it to receive more votes. Admittedly, I agree with Gov. Hodges on improving education in South Carolina. Mr. Sanford, no offense to you, but I'll never vote for someone who says he in tends to improve the quality of ed ucation in our public schools, yet he won't send his own children to South Carolina public schools. I believe Gov. Hodges has done an outstanding job the past four years. He has successfully imple mented the S.C. Education Lottery that, despite the hot air of critics, is doing good things for this state like helping keep the best and brightest in South Carolina. Take a look at the number of freshmen admitted to USC who actually chose to attend this year. The scholarships are simply too good for families to pass up. And, South Carolina is first in the United States in SAT improvement with a jump of 23 points. The success of First Steps ear ly child initiative is growing. The program has reached every coun ty and is expanding classes for 3 year-olds. I look forward to wit nessing the long-term effects of the 15,000 children who have benefited from the community-based pro gram. Gov. Hodges' commitment to in crease teacher pay is wonderful as well. Hodges has increased teacher pay $593 above the re gional average. We have a long way to go, but progress is being made. The Greenville News reported that 36 poor school districts are suing the state because of the way schools are funded. They want the court to rule the funding of state schools unconstitutional. I agree with them. I feel the state should allocate tax money based on the wealth of each district. Wealthy school dis tricts such as Greenville County’s should receive less money while poorer school districts such as those in Allendale County should receive more. I realize that the amount of funding doesn't always determine school status. However, we all know that high poverty usu ally accompanies low test scores. Poorer school districts can't make up the difference with local prop erty taxes to provide a quality ed ucation. The poorest residents are taxed the most in order to pay for local schools and South Carolina is leaving many children behind. We can't expect to improve education without giving teachers, parents and students the proper resources. I encourage you both to take a bold stand and propose real change to help South Carolina. Please put politics aside and do something to help people. South Carolina's citizens and, more im portantly, its children deserve it. With Best Regards, Terrance Beeks Beeks is a fourth-year political science student. 4 Don’t let graduation be a 4-year focus Four and a half years lat er, on Dec. 16 to be exact, I will walk out of USC not knowing a thing about what I'm up against. Ain't life grand? Life in between has been a wonderfully nice blur. The things I've learned, about journalism, about life and about myself, have been priceless. So now I'm (final ly) facing senior semester at the J-school and graduation soon afterward. Graduating, for many of us, is paradoxical. We're ready to get out of here, yet we don't want to leave. It's just too much fun ... and the time passed way too fast. Carolina turned out to be the best choice I didn't want to make. I was accepted and had my heart set on attend ing elsewhere, but I knew after one semester that I wouldn't trade being a Gamecock for anything ... and this before I really met the friends you always hear you'll make in college. I couldn’t be leaving at a worse time, unfortunately. If I take a look around, it's hard sometimes to recognize the place. Change is every where, mainly in the form of construction projects. So far Sumter Street is (still) get ting a facelift; a first-class Fitness and Wellness Center, which I probably won't get to use, is (still) be ing constructed; the Russell House just recently started getting a makeover to fill it with eateries I won't get to patronize; and we've got a “jewel” of a sports/enter tainment venue nearing ♦ RAPP, SEE PAGE 14 A little help for freshmen CLAYTON KALE GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM New students, don't scoff when you read this. And parents, don't fret over what you're about to read. You are about to begin a pro cess of change. You'll be brain washed, indoctrinated, social ized and cultured until fit for re lease into a job that might be - but probably isn't - related to your major. Chances are, youll take a course in what you'll be told are the finer things in life; perhaps poetry or drama. You'll take history classes that will ex . pand on or even refute what you learned in high school. And you'll learn other nifty skills. Like writing complete sentences. It starts slpw at first as you be gin to figure out where your place is among all the other wan dering souls packed liked sar dines into the Towers or Bates House. You'll find friends in peo ple you once would never have associated with, and you’ll find enemies among people you thought were your friends. As soon as this happens, you'll find that you love college, and you'll tell yourself you never want to leave. But the machine that brainwashes you into liking the verse of William Carlos Williams also toys with your per ception of time. Nothing is slow anymore, and semesters end be fore you know it. Freshman year is a blur, and then you are a sophomore. Freshman year is the most "fun" year of college if you han dle it correctly. With that in mind, consider the following ad vice from a veteran. * Choose friends wisely. Not in the notion of stay-away-from him-because-he-smokes-mari juana sense, but because the friends you make during your freshman year likely will be your friends.until graduation and beyond. As students are thrown onto a heap of new peo ple in a new location, everyone is naturally at ease with strangers, and meeting people is easy. Go out and test the waters with many different people and find those with whom you feel "at home." Making a close connec tion with people is more difficult once college is old hat. * GPA is important, but not as important as you might think. Most 100-level classes are reme dial. In other words, freshman year is easy. Keep up with your papers and reading, and there is no reason not to have a B aver age come summertime. Your goal this year should be to learn how to take care of your own ba sic needs, such as: Taking a shower when you stink, washing your clothes without dyeing your undershirts pink, and eat ing at least one non-fast food meal a day. Once you have this down, you'll be ready to tackle the more cerebral 200-level class es. * Beware the fake ID. They are tempting, but dangerous. It might fool your friends or a bouncer in Five Points, but it won't fool the police, or worse, SLED. As this paper is funded largely by the university, I'm not allowed to condone drinking in the dorms... but it happens. As a public service, I'm allowed to say if one should get caught in the dorms, beer in hand, the con sequences are much less than getting caught in public. Eighteen hours in- the drunk tank or a meeting with the head TLA.? The choice is yours. I think that's enough advice for one day, and I think it sums up what freshman year is: A time to get your feet on the ground and have fun. It's your reward for doing well in high school and your break before doing well in college. Meet, drink and be mer ry. But, for God's sake, don't do anything stupid. Kale is a fifth-year print journalism student. I JASON L. RAPP GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM Four years ago, on Aug. 15 Jk be exact, I walked into J^tes House not knowing a thing about what I was up against. rm # lotus RESTAURANT ^Authentic "Thai b Japanese Cuisine With large dushi 'bar $1 Sushi 4-6:30 pm Lunch Buffet t Sun-Fri 11 am-2 pm ™ (includes iced tea) i $5 OFF! I Order of $15 or more • I Valid on Sushi & Menu Items. Expires 6/5/021 I Not valid for buffet One coupon per order. 1 Restrictions apply ■wOTMBWttMOTOTMaMOTMIIIIItMIMr \best7 I 13est Thai Restaurant Record Shoppe NEW & USED RECORDS, TAPES, CD's, & DVD's Most Used CD's $4 to $8 Over 30,000 Vinyl LP's In Stock!! • Jazz * Bluegrass • Classical • Rock * Blues • Almost • Soul • Reggae Anything www.papajazz.com i f 5 POINTS 2014 GREENE ST. Mon-Sat 10am-7pm Sun 1pm-6pm -1-: The Residence Hall jAssodation Mt^sic wHh *704.7. \/olle.yballl A Free. Pepsi/ F^ee Food/ Wednesday, j\ugust21 C\tkee.ne St. at me Russell House 7:00pm - 10: