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4 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Monday, September 23, 2002 SOUND OFF TT^TTTTirY VTmO ONLINE POLL Create message boards at I 1^ M / % / I—JI I I Should the United States try to www.dailygamecock.com or I I 1 i m / »/ I ■ I I l force out Saddam Hussein? send letters to the editor to I I J W W I \ W yk I L I www.dailygamecock.com. gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com —®^ ®^ ®— ' ' ' Results published on Fridays. IN OUR OPINION No need for new course There are a few programs at USC that strike students as boring or a waste of time. A sweeping but unwarranted generalization made by students is that University 101 is one of these trivial classes. Most students dislike University 101 because it resembles a whole semester of the campus tour they received during their first visit to USC. Who can blame them when the class gets to peruse the Horseshoe, identifying buildings and offices? But some University 101 classes, such as those for engineering and business students, can actually teach something useful. Previous engineering University 101 classes have built model bridges, and business classes heard presentations from businessmen in various fields. Also, the program can prove helpful for out-of-state students who, without the luxury of frequent campus visits, might be bewildered by the large inner-city campus. Despite the lack of support from students, the university has added University 201, a program designed to enhance students’ researching skills. While the ability to research is important, it should not be stretched into a semester-long class. Why not combine it with the curriculum offered by University 101? By doing this, University 101 will surely assert itself as a more meaningful class. USC wants to be more of a research-based university, which is indeed an admirable goal. But it seems wasteful to create another class devoted to research when so many University 101 classes accomplish so little. Combining the two classes will provide more meaning to students and get the university closer to acheiving its goals while providing students with a more solid foundation from which to launch their college careers. GAMECOCK CORRECTIONS In an article Wednesday about bike lanes being added to campus, a group should have been identified as Students Allied for a Greener Earth. Also in Wednesday’s paper, an infographic about Homecoming 2002 incorrectly listed the time for the Homecoming parade. The parade will be held at 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4. Aisha Tyler’s name was misspelled. An article Friday about confiscated ID cards at the Georgia football game should have said IDs can be picked up at the Office of Student Judicial Programs, not at the Carolina Student Judicial Council, which was incorrectly identified. Midlands Technical College student Ashley Woodward’s name was misspelled. 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. While the ability to research is important, it should not be stretched into a semester long class. ABOUT THE GAMECOCK Editor in Chief Mary Hartney News Editor Adam Beam Asst. News Editor Emma Ritch Viewpoints Editor Chris Foy Asst. Viewpoints Editor Erin O'Neal The Mix Editors Justin Bajan. Charles Tomlinson Sports Editor Kyle Almond Asst. Sports Editor Matt Rothenberg Photo Editor Candi Hauglum Head Designer Katie Smith Page Designers Samantha Hall. Julia Knetzer, Shawn Rourk, David Stagg Copy Desk Chief Jill Martin Copy Editors Jennie Duggan. Tricia Ridgeway, Holly Totherow. Karen Vaught Online Editor Bessam Khadraoui Community Affairs Kiran ^hah CONTACT INFORMATION Offices on third floor of the Russell House. Editor in Chief: gamecockeditor@hotmail.com News Desk: gamecockudesk@hotmail.com Viewpoints: gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com The Mix: gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com Sports: gamecocksports@hotmail.com Online: www.dailygamecock.com Public Affairs: gckpublicaffairs@hotmail.com Newsroom: 777-7726 Editor's Office: 777-3914 STUDENT MEDIA Faculty Adviser Erik Collins Director of Student Media Ellen Parsons Creative Director Susan King Business Manager Carolyn Griffin Advertising Manager Sarah Scarborough Classified Manager Sherry F. Holmes Creative Services Derek Goode, Earl Jones, Kimberly Myles, Melanie Roberts Advertising Staff Adam Bourgoin. Justin Chappell, Amanda Ingram, Bianca Knowles, Denise Levereaux, Jacqueline Rice, Stacey Todd TO PLACE AN AD The Gamecock 1400 Greene St. Columbia. S.C. 29208 Advertising: 777-3888 Classified: 777-1184 Fax: 777-6482 i rie vaamecucK is me 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. / THG \ f itAPoRTOMT \ THtNG is \ He weNT THROUGH I THe / CARTOON COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS Sufferingfrom memory loss CATHERINE BAAB GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM Selective memory affects old and young. I was invited to brunch at the house of my friend Lola’s mother last weekend. I was to serve as a human buffer. Their relationship is tacit, tenuous at best. The long and short: Lo’s mom my left Lo’s daddy in the lurch for a married CPA when Lo was little. Her dad then raised four girls, worked full time and suf fered. Across town, all the while, Lo’s Mom drank, justified and found herself. And she even found time to invent, and subse quently grant, her daughters each a Great American Girlhood, complete with crafts, carefully packed school lunches, well-exe cuted birthday parties, genuine hugs and an abundance of bare footedness. In this, she, the pa tient, perfect mother, starred. But Lo, that morning, still wasn’t buying it. Nope, huh-uh, no way. Her mother’s house reminded me of a movie set, or a Pier One display. In every corner, candles softly burned. The cloth napkins matched the tablecloth. The blue rug beneath my chair was excep tionally blue — deep, luxurious, inviting. The orange juice was freshly squeezed; the blueberries in the blueberry pancakes were organic. A basket of fruit on the counter had been locally grown — and said so. Through this haze of home and hearth, Lo glared at her aging parent; she refused the proffered raspberry tea. “Well, how about an Apple wich?” said her mother. “A what?” asked Lo. “An Applewich — you know, when you were little, you used to love them. You just cut two apple slices, and stick a piece of this cheese between them.” She demonstrated. The sharp knife flashed between her fingers, bright as her smile. “Mom. That sounds disgust ing. I’ve never eaten anything like that.” Her mother’s smile grew slightly brittle. You see, Lo was telling the truth, but she was also committing a tiny faux pas by re membering the past as it had ac tually been. She was interfering with her mother’s nostalgia-driv en idea of their past. Dutifully, I piped up. “I’ll try one.” This phenomenon of creative memory isn’t capricious, I’ve no ticed, or limited to brunch chat ter. Only consider the obscenely uniform decor of all Applebee’s and Cracker Barrel restaurants (or any chain restaurant for that matter), or those Abercrombie and Fitch T-shirts that com memorate athletics events that never occurred and in which the wearer could never have partici pated, considering the nonevent was held in 1952. Also, most war movies, Thomas Kinkade prints, Pat Conroy novels, et cetera. The list is insidiously long. The actu al past is under constant siege. Similarly, have you ever seen, as you trot across campus or at a Friday night kegger, those broad shouldered boys with wide and ambling gaits, who vaguely re mind you of characters from “Animal House”? I refer to the boys who fairly suggest it them selves, in their speech. It’s as if they thought themselves charac ters in an American college lifestyle movie. Watching them, I wonder: What came first, the American college-lifestyle or the American college-lifestyle movie? It’s a kind of the-chicken-and-the-egg issue. Gil Scott-Heron said, “Nostalgia, that’s what America wants.” And he was right, he re ally pegged it, yet his statement just begs that eternal question: Why? Why is the actual past some how insufficient? I direct any knowledgeable parties to drop me a line. Baab is a third-year English and advertising student. IN YOUR OPINION Presidents at fault for poor amenities In response to the recent laments regarding the loss or lack of amenities at USC (re placing the tennis courts with a child care center, lack of park ing spaces, not enough police presence, lack of safety devices on dorm windows, et cetera), I just might be able to point you toward one possible reason. Have a look at one or two of the past presidents of the universi ty. Examine why they left of fice, then check out how much it cost the university to have them leave. I might be wrong here, but I think it would be hard to build tennis courts and parking lots when millions of dollars are going to pay off con victs. If you, dear editor, or I were convicted of the same things that a certain USC athlete was, we would not still be playing sports. We would be in the slammer serving our time. Wonder why that is? JOHN BLANKENBECKLOR COLUMBIA, S.C. Alabama’s loss is Carolina’s gain I began my studies at the University of Alabama in 1994, two years prior to the arrival of Dr. Andrew Sorensen as presi dent of our institution. His impact was immediate and beneficial. In addition to raising the bar of academic ex cellence at the Capstone, he ad vocated and procured funding in a state where education dol lars, particularly higher edu cation money, is scarce. Additionally, Sorensen fur thered the interests of Alabama students throughout his six years. His commitment to student well ness, academic success and fi nancial stability, as well as his de votion to higher education, will be sorely missed. In President Sorensen, you have acquired an able adminis trator, a gifted instructor, an ex cellent scholar and — by all ac counts — a first-class human be ing. The Alabama family’s loss of Sorensen is clearly to your ad vantage. ERIK J. GUNDLACH-EVANS UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA LAW STUDENT 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 gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com. Letters will be edited. Anonymous letters will not be published. Call the newsroom at 777-7726 for more information. DON’T BE JUST A FACE IN THE CROWD. SEND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR TO GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM. Repay people wrongly in prison - JASON RAPP GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM Wrongful incarceration calls for reparations. Reparations have once again be come part of a national debate. We’re hearing much about them lately—mainly for slavery and for being wrongfully incarcerated. I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find that more people than I dared imagine are open to the idea of reparations for those sent to prison for crimes of which they are either completely innocent, or crimes the state could not ade quately prove they committed. It is a somewhat liberal topic and those don’t go over well here, even among supposedly idealistic col lege students. But since the time I decided to write about this, I’ve been taking an unscientific poll of my friends. In the aggregate, they lean more to the right than my middle-of-the road, or slightly leftist, proclivi ties. Being a nice guy, I keep them around anyway. They’ve sur- * prised me by being mostly sym pathetic to this cause. I decided some time ago that I am, too. Not because my heart bleeds, but because it seems to me that it’s the right thing to do. There is no mistaking that many people are led into our courtrooms today thought to be guilty before the judge even takes a seat on the bench. And because of that, too fre quently people will head to our cor rectional facilities when the state did a poor job of making its case. The last time I checked, we Americans have this document that declares us innocent until such time as the state proves oth erwise. So when this system fails, -» and people are unjustly robbed of life, liberty and the pursuit of hap piness, it only makes sense that something should be done to make up for that. There are in stances when “sorry” just isn’t enough, assuming that “sorry” isn’t merely politically motivated and is truly sincere. This is one of those instances. Sorry isn’t enough because it doesn’t bring back the hole in someone’s life. In some cases, such as that of the man who served 14 years before being re leased, that hole is a chasm. He and others have been denied birthdays, weddings, births and graduations. They’ve been denied anniversaries, reunions, holidays _ and even simple things like a Sunday afternoon on the couch watching football, then grilling out for dinner. For these things, how can anyone think an apolo gy is even close to being enough? I heard Gov. Frank Keating of Oklahoma say on CNN last week something to the effect that he doesn’t want tax dollars to be used to pay reparations, and I’ve heard others wonder where states would get money for them. Tax dollars are at a premium in a lot of places these days, but again, it’s about what’s right. The court system operates on behalf of the people. If the court finds someone guilty who is either innocent — which isn’t a verdict — or not guilty — which is a ver dict but could mean there wasn’t enough evidence to convict — that means the people have spo ken. So, consequently, if the peo ple are wrong, the people should pay. Not an exorbitant amount, but just compensation. Wages lost and time served should of course be factored into the decision. I don’t advocate massive, $100 million decisions, just something to make up for the reprehensible ill of taking away part of some one’s life, if, of course, we can come close to making up for that. It’s the right thing to do. Rapp is a fifth-year print journalism student.