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SOUNDOFF TTTITTTTl/^TATm O POLLRESULTS Create message boards at I M ■ /1 / I—J I III I Should Derek Watson have been www.dailygamecock.com or I I 1 i ■/ \ I I II % I l allowed to rejoin the Gamecocks? send letters to the editor to IIJWW I xXliv I k 7 YES 17% gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com —■ ■ ^ ®^S A l —■— ' NO 83% ♦Poll from Welcome Back edition IN OUR OPINION Are we really improving? Within the last year, USC has outlined many goals for the future of its main campus, many of which are starting to make a visible impact this year. Most show promise to improve the quality of student life. Students visiting the school’s Web site can get a surface view of those improvements. With a new redesign, the Web site can provide better access and services to USC students. Making the search function easier to find and adding direct links to USC news and sports give the site a more intuitive interface. In addition, the site looks better to wandering Web surfers as well as prospective students. Updating the dreary student union has been a long-called-for overhaul. With USC’s new 15-year contract with Sodexho, the Russell House has the potential to be a source of pride for Carolina students. New eateries and services give the Russell House the chance to better serve students. And to further serve students’ interests, the university has picked up new leaders to take over where departed university President John Palms left off. New deans have finally lifted some schools out of a rudderless limbo. New university President Andrew Sorensen has already laid out a vision for the future of USC, and some of the first tasks he carried out were efforts to save the school money. But while most of these projects show promise, some just are not practical. This year’s freshman class is record-sized. And while it is great to have a school that attracts so much interest, someone should have known better than to let in more people than the university was prepared to house. The additions to the Russell House will be tremendous; yet, despite the fact that three months passed over the summer during which much of the student body was away from school, all that was done was the removal and relocation of some mailboxes. Students’ lives also could be made easier if the Board of Trustees had been more up-front about tuition increases before slapping raises of 17 percent onto the student body. With all these changes going on around campus, students have a voice that needs to be heard. If you don’t like the changes or think new policies will harm you or an organization you are a part of, then do something about it. Go see one of your elected officials from Student Government. Write a letter to the editor. Just make sure you do something. As a student, you have the ability and right to question the administration. But a silent voice has little chance of changing anything. GAMECOCK CORRECTIONS If you see an error in today’s paper, we want to know. E-mail us at gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com. ABOUT THE GAMECOCK Mary Hartney CONTACT INFORMATION Editor in Chief Offices on third floor of the Russell House. Adam Beam Editor in Chief: gamecockeditor@hotmaii.com News Editor News Desk: gamecockudesk@hotmail.com Viewpoints: gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com Emma Ritch The Mix: gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com Acct Npu/c cHitnr Sports: gamecocksports@hotmail.com Online: www.dailygamecock.com Chris Foy Newsroom: 777-7726 Viewpoints Editor Editor: 777-3914 The Gamecock is the Justin Bajan, STUDENT MEDIA student newspaper of Charles Tomlinson .... ... the University of South The Mix Editors c ?.° si,*. Carolina and is Faculty Adviser published Monday. Kyle Almond ... _ _ Wednesday and Friday Sports Editor Ellen Parsons during the fall and Director of Student spring semesters and Matt Rothenberg Medla nine times during the Asst. Sports Editor >i.. summer with the ousan rung exception of university Candi Hauglum Creative Director holidays and exam Photo Editor „ , . periods. Opinions Carolyn Griffin expressed in The Jill Martin Business Manager Gamecock are those Copy Desk Chief ..... ... ._ . of the editors or Sarah Scarborough author and not those Copy Editor Advertising Manager of the university of Michelle Daly „ . South Carolina. The Sherry F. Holmes Board of Student Head Designer Classified Manager Publications and Katie Smith . . ... Communications is Creative Services the publisher of The Page Designer °era* <f°°da.Earl Gamecock. The David Stagg -Lones' Me an e Department of Student Roberts Media is the Community Affairs .. newspaper's parent Carrie Phillips. Advertising Staff organization. The Kiran Shah ' Gamecock is Amanda Ingram. supported in part by Bianca Knowles, student activities TOPI APPAN All Denise Levereaux, fees. One free copy PLACE AN AD Jackie Rice, Gloria per reader. Additional • The Gamecock Simpson, Stacey copies may be 1400 Greene Street Todd purchased for one « Columbia, S.C. 29208 dollar each from the y Advertising: 777-3888 „ Department of Student Classified: 777-1184 Media. Fax: 777-6482 i jm CARTOON COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS A freshman letter to home J.D. COOPER GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM Life is certainly a little different than what goes on back home. Dear Little Brother, So I read your last letter and almost puked into my stuffed shells at the GMP. (“Gimp” is the cool name we college students use for the place we eat. You’re something like a major loser if you call it the cafeteria.) Queen Amidala is definitely hotter in Episodes I and II than Princess Leia was in Episodes IV-VI. That is, I would have puked if I cared about kid stuff like that any more. I’m in college now, re member? Don’t send any more letters unless they’re about girls or beer, or unless you ever want to know what a bong is. I’m kind of homesick, but don’t tell Mom and Dad. I think all that USC stuff they bought me was a mistake. The first day of class, I wore my gamet-and-black pants with my Gamecock Club shirt and my USC windbreaker. Some senior turned around in his seat and asked me where the cheerleading tryouts were. Everybody laughed. I just kept taking notes, which is useless in college anyway because the pro fessors talk so fast, there’s no way you can write down every word. As for my roommate, I still don’t know his name. Every few hours, a group of guys crashes into the room. They all look ex actly like him, with long hair and shirts that say stuff about death, or sometimes about goats and pigs. The first day, they came in and completely covered his side of the room with black paper. Then two of them set up a com puter in as much time as it had taken me to figure out where my data jack was. When I introduced myself, one of them said, “Who’s that?” and my roommate said, “He’s the pos er.” Then they sat down on the bed, turned on music that’s all British guys yelling about stuff, and took turns playing a video game. You get a lot of free stuff just for being in college. I still haven’t done my laundry, so I’ve been wearing these shirts they give you for free just for signing a few papers outside the Roho (college speak for the Russell House). The Russell House is our student union, which in college is, like, THE place to hang out. Or it’s supposed to be. I went there yes terday, and the only people I met were two janitors and three guys playing pool who looked way too old to be in college. But I went on a Tuesday, so I’m sure there will be loads of hot girls there when I go back Friday night. I’ve got to stop writing now be cause my roommate is kicking me out. He does it every day at 4:20 p.m. I think that’s when his mom makes him call home, and he just doesn’t want me knowing what a loser he is. But I don’t re ally mind because, after they talk, he always listens to Pink Floyd’s “Welcome to the Machine,” which is a pretty cool song. All in all, being a college man is pretty good. Freshman Student P.S. If you hear about any Episode III spoilers, go ahead and send them because I might need something to do if I get re ally, really bored. Cooper is a fourth-year English student. The joys of urban exploration PHIL WATSON GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM Just when I think the Internet is inhabited totally by liars, thieves and perverts, it comes back and redeems itself like Paul Reubens (the artist for merly known as Pee Wee Herman) did in the critically ac claimed 1996 film “Dunston Checks In.” You remember, it was the one about the monkey who stayed in a five-star hotel. I had just finished browsing the ads on Yahoo Personals, and I was putting the final touches on a piece I was going to post on my favorite Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen message board when I accidentally came across a Web site that made me rethink one of my favorite pastimes. I’ve always loved going places I’m not supposed to go. Whether it’s an abandoned prison, a shut down mill, an underground util ity tunnel or a Dykes on Bikes convention, I’ve been there un invited. This Web site I came across told me I am not, in fact, a petty trespasser like all those judges told me.1 was. No, sir, I am an ur ban explorer. Let me say that one more time. Urban explorer. Let it sink in. Magellan, Columbus, Cortes, Cook, Raleigh ... Watson. Who would have thought I’d ever be an explorer? And not one of the dorky kinds from high school who spent their Saturdays washing squad cars and mopping the drunk tanks at the local police stations. I’m talking about a met al-hat-wearing, gold-stealing, machete-waving, cannibal-fight ing, chandelier-swinging ex plorer. As if simply being an explorer weren’t cool enough, I take it a step further by being an urban explorer; I think that’s a rank above a regular explorer. Evidently, there’s a whole subculture of people just like me, who love sneaking into places they’re not supposed to. Some even earn the prestigious title of “vehicular urban explor er.” In other words, they find big storm drains and drive their trucks in them. Explore on, you courageous, noble patriots. In the old days, explorers took great risks to find out more about the world in which they lived. They wanted to see what was over the horizon - then plunder and kill it mercilessly. While I don’t want to kill or pillage, I do want to see what hasn’t been seen in weeks. I want to know whether there re ally are crazy hobos in the old prison. I want to see for myself whether ghosts lurk in the old Olympia mill and, OK, I admit, maybe do a little pillaging while I’m at it. My first urban exploration mission was in the old prison near the Broad River* I was as nervous as Mohamed Atta at a three-day Charlie Daniels music festival in hell. Shadows seemed to move. Every scurrying rat sounded like a ra zor-wielding meth addict getting ready to lunge at me. We eventually made it to the roof of the three-story building and took some pictures of the Columbia skyline. It was a memorable experi ence. Calling it urban explo ration might be a stretch, but it was fun and adventurous. Columbia’s a great town for ur ban exploration, or harmless trespassing, as some call it. There are all kinds of old mills, prisons and waterworks to check out. There’s even an elaborate system of tunnels running un der this very campus. I have to hand it to the Internet. Before I ran across all these sites, I was a petty tres passer. Now I’m a prestigious urban explorer. Just call me Sir Phil de Watson. * Any stories involving ille gal activities in this column are fictional. Readers are discour aged from breaking the law and putting their lives at risk by il legally entering structures that are not open to the public, no matter how fun or cool it might be. Watson is a fourth-year print journalism student. It’s past time to turn off the TV SHANNAREED GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM Pop culture can remove appreciation for the simple things in life. \ The revolution won’t be tele vised. If it is, I plan to miss it. You know what? Screw that. I’ll start my own. I’m turning it off. I’ve made a decision. It’s not unprecedented, but not widely practiced, either. I don’t know of anybody who has taken these measures to maintain a fruitful mind. We know a mind is a terrible thing to waste, but we spend hours killing brain cells in the re lentless pursuit of pop culture. I’m turning my television off. No more “Ricki Lake” in the morning, soaps in the afternoon, or “Must-See TV” and “The Real \X7/-vv»1 ** i rrV\ -f We watch MTV and it’s like a one-stop shop for everything we . need to be fulfilled. Feeling so- ’ cially conscious? Watch “UltraSound.” Need a little fash ion advice? Turn on “House of Style.” Love life in shambles? Check out how screwed up some one else’s is on “Dismissed.” I’m not saying Satan runs MTV. And I’m not saying it is to tally devoid of truth and beauty; I’m saying that, because of MTV, we are. How many hours do you think we’ve wasted implanting Hollywood’s ideas into our brains at the expense of our own? When was the last time you made a fashion choice without first seeing it in the media? How many shirts have you thrown away because Cosmo said they are out? Pop culture has tak en the fun out of discovery and creation. People wonder why celebrity status has become so important, but it’s easy to figure out. We put celebrities on a pedestal because they have stepped out of the box. They take the time we don’t to cre ate something interesting, com pelling or beautiful. We watch them in awe and wonder at the complexity and ex citement of their lives. I’m tired of watching; I plan on living. I’m not striving necessari ly for celebrity status, just for a break from the mundane. I never want to envy another person’s life, and I pity any person who does. When did you have your last original thought? We toil away in overpriced classes learning about the great thinkers of our time. We learn to regurgitate mag nificent ideas in history, but fail to recognize our own. Most of us rarely write a sentence or read a book unless it’s assigned. We lament that we don’t have time, that we’re too busy working or whatever the case might be. Perhaps we’re too busy watching late-night television to realize our own beautiful minds. I'm tired of reaching for vener able words of wisdom and finding that all I know has been implant ed by movies, TV shows and eighth-grade homework assign ments. So I’m turning it off. I’m turn ing it off so I can write and share my voice and my own thoughts with the world. I’m turning it off so I can read and discover poetry and prose once again. There is more to English liter ature than Shakespeare, and there is more to literature than English writers. I will embrace the African and Chinese writers. I will search out the Spanish, Argentine, Korean and Native American writers. I’ll ♦ REED, SEE PAGE All