Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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4 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Monday, August 26, 2002 ^ SOUND OFF ONLINE POLL Create message boards at Are you going to attend the first www.dailygamecock.com or football game of the season? send letters to the editor to www.dailygamecock.com. gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com r Results published on Fridays. IN OUR OPINION f The value of your books As each semester begins, freshmen face the challenge of deciding where to purchase their books. Some choose the new alternative of online shopping, but most students still go to either Addam’s University Bookstore, South Carolina Bookstore or the Russell House Bookstore. While all three use coupons and discounts to persuade students to shop at their store, the Russell House Bookstore markets itself Why Should by conning students and their students pay parents int0 purchasing books m whfi0^00’ S at higher prices because some paying moreto ofthe proceeds go toward tuition? scholarship funding. Freshmen are also given the option to reserve books, a service not offered by Addam’s or South Carolina bookstores. Students shouldn’t feel compelled to buy only from the Russell House instead of shopping around. Giving money to fund scholarships that won’t be used for a year hardly justifies the Russell House’s outrageous prices. According to the Princeton Review, USC ranks 14th in the nation for students who are dissatisfied with financial aid. Students not having enough money for college isn’t new, but why should students pay more for books when they’re paying more for tuition? Students should weigh their options. It’s good that the Russell House funds scholarships — students could use the financial help. But why not save money from the beginning? Be a thrifty shopper. Don’t settle for the first price you see. Shop around; visit all of the bookstores; check online retailers; and see whether any of your friends have taken, or are taking, the same course. It might take more time, but it will relieve a little of the typical student’s financial hardships. It certainly couldn’t hurt. Books should not be bought on the basis of helping the scholarship funds; because many students at USC have some financial hardship, they should shop around for the best bargain. GAMECOCK CORRECTIONS Jack Carrington’s name was misspelled in an article Thursday about the Greek Village. Thom Barry’s name was misspelled in an article Thursday about the West Nile Virus. Dennis Pruitt’s title was incorrect in an article Thursday about a USC student’s death and in an article about housing. He is vice president of Student and Alumni Services. In a graphic about freshman housing, part of the freshman class data labeled 2003-2004 should have been labeled 2002-2003. In a schedule of college football games in Thursday’s Sports section, some games were listed incorrectly. The Pigskin Classic, the Black Coaches Association Bowl, the Black Coaches Association Classic and the Eddie Robinson Classic were played Saturday. The Hispanic Fund Classic was played Sunday. 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 Editor in Chief Adam Beam News Editor Emma Ritch Asst. News Editor Chris Foy Viewpoints Editor Erin O’Neal Asst. Viewpoints Editor . Justin Bajan, Charles Tomlinson The Mix Editors Kyle Almond Sports Editor Matt Rothenberg Asst. Sports Editor Candi Hauglum Photo Editor Katie Smith Head Designer Page Designer David Stagg Jill Martin Copy Desk Chief Copy Editors Crystal Boyles Karen Vaught Online Editor Bessam Khadhraoui Community Affairs Carrie Phillips, Kiran Shah 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 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 Adam Bourgoin, Justin Chappell Amanda Ingram, Denise Levereaux, Jackie Rice, Stacey Todd TO PLACE AN AD The Gamecock 1400 Greene Street Columbia, S.C. 2920** Advertising: 777-3888 Classified: 777-1184, Fax: 777-6482 The Gamecock is the student newspaper of the University of South Carolina and is published Monday, Wednesday and Friday during the fall and spring semesters and nine times during the summer with the exception of university holidays and exam periods. Opinions expressed in The Gamecock are those of the editors or author and not those of the University of South Carolina. The Board of Student Publications and Communications is the publisher of The Gamecock. The Department of Student Media is the newspaper’s parent organization. The Gamecock is supported in part by student activities fees. One free copy per reader. Additional copies may be purchased for one dollar each from the Department of Student Media. ' /MAMSues, ClAtiws FAST fooO fiwiNE(7 HiS HFauTH__ _ CARTOON COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS Ups and downs of student life EDRIN WILLIAMS GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM Don’t restrict learning if you’re going to invest money in an education. As I walked past the Financial Aid Office this past Wednesday, I had to make a 20-foot detour off the sidewalk to avoid the mass es standing outside holding num bered slips of paper. It reminded me of the time I volunteered at the Department of Social Services in Orangeburg County. Every day, hundreds of people came in, each with a story about how they needed to receive funds—or get more funds — be cause they just couldn’t make ends meet anymore. I got that same feeling of em pathy as I neared my window in Nada Apartments and heard stu dents pass by complaining to friends about how they would have to get more loans or defer ments in order to handle tuition this year. While I was having a moment of concern for those people, I be gan to think about the cruel ironies of the situation: First, many people — parents and stu dents — invest thousands upon thousands of dollars in higher ed ucation. I know parents who sacrifice bills so their children can go to college; the depressing reality, however, is that a significant number of graduates will not be able to make the transition to the job market. Just as troubling is the fact that our elected officials at the State House continue to take money away from the education al system. We always hear adults preach ing to students about the need for an education, but seemingly lit tle value is placed on education in the real world. Anyone who questions this point can simply look at the latest teacher salary figures. In light of all this, one might wonder what the purpose of all this strife really is. Why do we endure the classes, study sessions, lab fees, parking tickets and bookstore rip-offs if we might not even get a decent job? If education is so important, why is education receiving a small fraction of the funds allot ted to other areas? Well, I had to entertain these questions myself. What is my ed ucation worth? As funding declines and tu ition increases sharply, it’s im portant we get what we intend to get from our education in the shortest time possible. I have been fortunate enough to realize what it is I need from this uni versity. Though I wasted most of my freshman year, I was able to see what college had to offer me and decided how I was going to get it. I sit here ready to graduate in December, and I know I am one of a select few students who have actually learned something use ful here. By expanding my educational ventures beyond the classroom, even beyond the campus, I will leave USC a well-rounded stu dent whose knowledge of his craft far exceeds what someone else taught. About two years ago, I realized the reason schools charge tuition just might be related to the fact that we are expected to take something with us when we walk onto the stage at graduation. So, for those of you who have some time before you graduate — especially the freshman class — take control of your education here. Don’t restrict it to the class room. Don’t do just enough to get by. Strive to make your time here a true experience, not just class. Do that, and you will enjoy your stay here and realize that it can be rewarding in numerous ways. Williams is a fourth-year African American studies student. IN YOUR OPINION Parking Services needs redirection Three years ago, I arrived on campus to tour my future place of education and employment. As I drove around the urban campus, which was situated on the edge of a growing small Southern city, I was amazed when f had a difficult time find ing a place to park. Being from Baltimore, Md. (a larger city in the North), I am accustomed to metered and crowded streets, but not to the extent of what I have been deal ing with here at Carolina over the past three years. There are three issues I think concern parking here at USC: removal of essential and needed parking, a lack of sys tematic parking access and ac cess to parking for all. The hrst issue tocuses on the removal of much-needed park ing, which was replaced by “aesthetically pleasing” grass by the library and the Russell House. This is extremely confusing to me. Two of the most highly accessed buildings on campus now have limited parking be cause of unused but beautiful grass. Administrators must have a notion that this is a rural school with a focus on school beautification instead of cater ing to their large population of commuter and graduate stu dents that lack time to drive around for 30 minutes to find a parking space three miles away to return a book at the library. The second issue deals with a lack of true systematic access for the varying levels of stu dents, staff and faculty. Here at USC, freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors, graduate students, graduate teaching assistants and certain faculty and staff have to fight for the limited number of park ing spaces in the same lots around campus. There is no type of seniority for students or instructors in regards to parking access or passes. There used to be a commuter student parking lot next to the University Police Department on Wheat Street. That is now a “general” stu dent lot, which is full constant ly from dorm parking. The third issue, which is the most confusing and annoying, is related to the second issue. It regards the access that fresh man students have related to parking on campus. USC is one of the few uni versities that allows first-year students to have vehicles on campus. This may not be a problem at a rural university with ac cess to large amounts of space and available parking, but here at USC, it is. I work as a graduate teach ing assistant in the Blatt P.E. Center, and my job requires the transportation of large amounts of equipment in and out of the building at many times throughout the day. I could cry the blues for an awful long time, but what about some solutions? How about varying the access to parking according to seniority? Freshmen can have cars, but they should park much farther away (let’s say, over by the Williams Brice Stadium), gradu ate students should have access to more spaces during the day, and graduate teaching assistants should have access to faculty and staff parking (because we work for the university) or have spe cific spaces created for each build ing. At the Blatt P.E. Center, some of the 90 faculty and staff parking spaces could be converted into graduate teaching assistant park ing spaces. What about building more parking garages instead of single level parking lots and charging by the hour to generate revenue? What about issuing special parking permits for limited-ac cess parking? What about towing vehicles that are parked illegally instead of giving them several tickets ev ery day? There are several solutions to the parking confusion and night mare here at USC; we just need some action, or we need to make more noise as students at all lev els. RICHARD M. RAIRIGH GRADUATE ASSISTANT. BUTT P.E. CENTER 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. E-mail letters to gamecockview points@hotmail.com. Letters will be edited. Anonymous letters will not be published. Call the newsroom at 777-7726 for more information. Senior dispels college myths - i BETHANY MITCHELL GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM Incoming freshmen may be disappointed with the college experience. When I woke up Thursdays morning, my mother asked me if I was excited about my first day of school as a senior. Well, after as sessing the question for a minute, I said: “No. I’ve been doing this for four years now, and I really don’t want to go.” All I want to say is, welcome back for all this crap. Let me take a minute to express how ex tremely tired of USC I am. And be ing that I was enrolled in Maymester, Summer I and Summer II, I believe I can speak on the subject. When I tried to park at the Coliseum Thursday morning, I was highly pissed off. It took me 30 minutes to find a parking spot, and it wasn’t even at the Coliseum. And before finding it, I had spent $20 on a parking decal for the Coliseum. I know there were others that shared that same experience, so I won’t dwell on it; I’ll move to more important business. Some advice to our freshmen: Let me be the first to say I’m sor ry. I’m sorry you have to endure this crap for three-plus years. I know you came to USC with high hopes of partying, drinking, making lifelong relationships and having a great learning experi ence. Sorry again. By your senior year, the parties get played out and you get tired of seeing the same people in tne same outnis. Freshmen ladies, the guys will talk to you only because you’re a* new face. So soak it in while you can because, as soon as you get some credit hours, you’ll no longer be cute. For freshmen guys, this will be the first time some of you will be considered cool. This is because no one will know how much you really sucked in high school. You’ll drink your first year away, maybe join a fraternity and some how muster up five cool points as a party animal. Overall, don’t expect to learn anything, don’t think you and your roommate will be best friends and please don’t think the same people you came into school with will graduate with you. The only sense of community^* at USC isn’t at the Russell House under the tree of knowledge (if you even know what that is). Real community is at the football games; that’s the only thing USC is good for. you can expect to stand by blacks, whites, Asians and gamet and-black people. They will high five you even though they couldn’t spell your name, and you will high-five back. Why? Because you’re a Gamecock now, and that’s what we do. The most important thing you should know about the foot ball games is that everyone must join the chorus at kick-off saying, “Go, fight, win, kick ass!” Freshmen, if you survive a football game, you’ll have all the keys to succeed at USC. Also, girls, stay away from th^ three F’s: freshmen, fraternities and football players. Love the game, not the players. And for my party animals, please strap up. There are some nasty people at USC. Overall, I’m ready to go. I’ve contracted senioritis, and it’s tak ing over my body. So excuse me if I don’t smile when you see me in class or walking on campus. It’s not you; it’s education. Mitchell is a fourth-year electronic journalism student.