The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 07, 2002, Page 6, Image 6
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IN OUR OPINION
I
Repair delay
risks safety
The health and safety of students and faculty is at
stake, and USC’s research goals are being
undermined by the state of its buildings.
The Earth and Water Sciences building has had
serious structural problems, and only haphazard
measures have been taken to fix it. The EWS
building was built in the 1960s, and its structure
doesn’t hold up under today’s codes. The building
wasn t made to nouse
laboratories, but the work
being done in these labs is
integral to the university’s
research mission.
Geology students and
faculty have been waiting
since December for
maintenance to be completed
on a beam that was installed to
hold up the structure under
the weight of the labs and
floors. The beam now sits, exposed, showing off
gaping holes in the walls and the weakness of the
building. What’s more disturbing is that the beam
has not been fireproofed — the department needs
$9,000 more to do that.
Facilities says it’s the department’s burden; the
department says it’s a structural problem and that
Maintenance should take care of it. But the
administration takes 45.5 percent of any grant the
departments get for overhead. So how can the
geology department be expected to pay for building
repairs when so much of its funding is cut?
While these arguments have been going on about
funding, the building has continued to be used for
classes and lab work. Students and faculty are
laboring in a building that isn’t keeping them safe.
And waiting for repairs isn’t new to the geology
department’s faculty and students: In 2000, one lab
had a broken hood, which sucks chemical fumes out
of the lab. It took Facilities two years to complete the
repairs — even as workers were getting sick.
The bottom line is simply that there’s too much red
tape in a system that can’t safeguard its patrons —
the. faculty and students working in the labs and
classrooms. When the university emphasizes
bureaucracy over safety, something has gone
terribly wrong.
Geology students
and faculty have
been waiting
since December
for maintenance
to be completed
on a beam that
was installed to
hold up the
structure under
the weight of the
labs and floors.
GAMECOCK CORRECTIONS
The information in the state fair graphic in Friday’s paper came
from scstatefair.org and the photo was taken by Aaron Hark.
If you see an error in today’s paper, we want to know. E-mail us
at gamecockviewpoints@hotmaiI.com.
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, Sarah McLaulin,
Shawn Rourk. David
Stagg
Copy Desk Chief
Jill Martin
Copy Editors
Jennie Duggan. Tricia
Ridgway, Holly Totherow,
Karen Vaught
Online Editor
Bessam Khadraoui
Community Affairs
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
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Media
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Creative Director
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Classified Manager
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Creative Services
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Jones, Kimberly
Myles, Melanie
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Kiran bnan
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Fax:777-6482
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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
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fees. One free copy
per reader. Additional
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cAse
CLOSeD*
V J
CARTOON COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS
Raising a stink for no reason
JASON RAPP
GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM
Representation reflects
groups’ participation.
There was a nice stink raised
on campus last week, for those of
you who paid attention. For a
change, the stink had nothing to
do with steam emanating from
deep beneath campus, though
there was a bad mishap involv
ing that foul mess.
The stink of which I speak in
volved Homecoming and the way
USC selects a king and queen for
the week to which nobody pays
attention. USC’s chapter of the
National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People,
unhappy about the demograph
ics of the Homecoming Showcase
contestants, decided to call out
the people running it. The orga
nization called the proceedings
undemocratic because none of
the final 14 contestants were mi
norities and because students
don’t pick the winners. One can
only assume that Whitey must be
up to his dirty tricks again. I will
readily concede the point that,
any way you look at it, said
Showcase is not representative
of USC. You can look at it from
the standpoint of race, or Greek
and non-Greek, or heterosexual
and homosexual. It isn’t a cross
section of our student body.
The point that’s being missed,
regardless of how many times
people point it out, is that
Showcase, like many other
things on campus and in life, is
voluntary. It’s also open to any
one interested, provided the per
son has a sponsoring student or
ganization. That means that
whether you’re in Zeta Zeta Zeta
or the Student Dairy Farmer
Club, you can enter Showcase. If
you measure up, you can win —
regardless of who chooses the
winners. But you can’t make peo
ple do something voluntary.
The only catch here is that
contestants must meet certain
criteria, such as a minimum
GPA. We wouldn’t want people
to do that at an institution of
higher learning. Perish the
thought!
The idea of Showcase is to pick
a male and a female who best ex
emplify USC students.
Contestants are judged on their
service to the community, aca
demics, and even some sort of in
dividual talent to represent this
university and be held up as the
“best” of USC. Your color, your
gender, your sexual preference
and even from where you come
don’t matter.
Showcase is open to everyone.
If people are upset because there
aren’t minorities or non-Greeks
in Showcase, perhaps minorities
and non-Greeks should enter.
Where were the African
American fraternities and soror
ities? Where were USC’s non
Greek student organizations?
This is nothing more than a
classic affirmative action argu
ment. I will readily agree that mi
norities get shafted in a lot of sit
uations, especially the business
world. Ignorance is everywhere,
including corporate boardrooms
that don’t want to break up the
white boys’ club. But this is dif
ferent.
It’s reminiscent of the allega
tions that The Gamecock is racist
because it has mainly white male
columnists. Perhaps that’s be
cause minorities don’t volunteer
to write. When I was Viewpoints
editor this summer, I ran into
this problem. To have a viable
marketplace of ideas, you need
many voices. But few minorities
wanted to write, despite repeat
ed pleas for writers.
Don’t make something a race
case when people opt not to do
something that’s available for
them to do. Don’t complain about
not being involved when the door
is open and you walk past it. If
people don’t like that
Homecoming is traditionally a
white, Greek affair, get out there
and do something. Don’t make a
plea for affirmative action; get in
volved.
Rapp is a fifth-year print
journalism student.
IN YOUR OPINION
Police not there to
hold victims’ hands
This is in reference to the ar
ticle “Tires slashed around
campus,” printed Wednesday.
People need to understand
that in such situations as tire
slashing (discovery crimes)
there is not much the police
department can do for the vic
tim besides call a tow truck or
take a report.
- Some of you people think the
police have to hold your hand
through your entire “hard
ship.” Many of you complain
about the lack of police pres
ence around campus when
crimes are committed.
If you want more police pres
ence, look for an increase in tu
ition —again. Aren’t we all op
posed to that idea already? Law
enforcement does what it can
for all of you, so please stop
complaining.
STEFFONIE SCHREIBER
KOliimi-YKAHCRIMINAUI'.STICK
STUDKNT
Librarians deserve
thanks, respect
As a doctoral student new to
the USC campus this year, I feel
the need to express my appre
ciation of the faculty and staff
at the Thomas Cooper Library.
The dedication and sinceri
ty in helping students under
stand the library’s many meth
ods for locating materials are
refreshing and encouraging. I
have consulted with the refer
ence libraf ians on several oc
casions and have discovered
they not only don’t mind your
questions, but also will go to
great lengths to ensure you re
ceive an adequate answer.
A tour of the library and a
brief lecture that reference li
brarians gave on electronic re
sources to one of my classes fa
miliarized me with numerous
avenues to literary searches.
When 1 could not find a docu
ment that was badly cited in a
book, a reference librarian and
graduate assistant both took
time to examine multiple in
dexes to find the source.
The staff of interlibrary loan
has been diligent in providing
efficient services, while the peo
ple at the circulation desk have
been both friendly and well or
ganized in their presentation.
The staff in the microfilm and
microfiche area has been ex
tremely helpful in instructing
me on how best to use the anti
quated equipment provided for
viewing materials.
I think the professionalism
demonstrated by these mem
bers of the USC community
warrants recognition and
many thanks from the teaching
faculty and students.
PHYLLIS ROBERTSON
FIRST-YEAR DOCTORAL STUDENT.
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL
PSYCUOLOUY
atuaenis, Tacuiiy
debate U.S. policy
A group of students and pro
fessors are holding a teach-in
today to address the Bush ad
ministration’s unilateralist,
pre-emptive Iraq policy..We’re
worried that this issue has not
been the subject of serious public
dialogue.
There is a stigma attached to
questioning the wisdom of this
war, as if having a different opin
ion from our national leader
somehow makes us unpatriotic
or un-American.
Being able to disagree is right
at the heart of being an
American, and if we think our
government is leading us down a
foolhardy, unethical or danger
ous path and we don’t speak up,
we are remiss in our duty as
American citizens.
As such, this event is an open
forum. Professors in such fields
as government, international re
lations, history and religious
studies, as well as community
members and students, will speak
and answer questions, and all
people — whether for a U.S. at
tack or against it — are invited to
come and speak about what they
think or how they feel about this
issue.
I encourage everyone on cam
pus to join us today from 10 a.m.
until 4 p.m. on the Greene Street
side of Preston College for what
should be an informative and en
gaging experience.
“Learning humanizes charac
ter and does not permit it to be
cruel.”
JOEY OPPERMANN
THIRD-YEAR HISTORY STUDENT
Submission Policy
Letters to the editor should be less than
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at 777-7726 for more information.
War can
leave a
lasting
memory
CATHERINE BAAB
GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM
It’s hard to grasp what
my dad felt in Vietnam.
He had volunteered. He was a
Marine, he fought in combat. I’ve
heard a few stories from my moth
er about that part of his life. And
yet I’ve never truly tried to push
my mind there — into what my fa
ther must have felt and experi
enced in 1968 Vietnam. I don’t
know exactly what has kept me
from making the effort. I don’t
know whether the obstacle was
something as involved as dread
or pride, or rather something
more typical and lazy — a disbe
lief in his having fully existed be
fore I did.
My memories of him are sim
ple enough, which is to say that
they are tender and happy. They
cleave easily one from the other,
like pages or leaves. We are driv
ing home from church. With his
index finger, he taps out a Beatles
riff on the steering wheel. It is ev
ery Sunday morning of my girl
hood. On school nights, he reads
“James and the Giant Peach” to
my sister Amy and me once we
are in bed. His rough-soft voice di
rects our imagining. It surrounds
and encloses us.
Tonight, many years later, my
eyes and thoughts return to a dif
ferent picture I have of my Dad—
one I can touch. He stands with
his back to the bookcase in the
den of his parents’ house. His uni
form is crisp; it pleats appropri
ately at his shoulders and waist.
His eyes are serious; the camera
affirms this, but tactfully doesn’t
comment further. There is a tac
iturn set to his mouth.
If pictures say a thousand
words, they must also tell the oc
casional lie. Often, they offer us a
view of a bright smile or an os
tensibly authentic embrace, faces
and poses that seem to speak: I
was happy then. I kneyv what I
was doing. I really wanted to be
there. But it isn’t wise to trust pic
tures. They lack something nec
essary, vital: another dimension,
a mouthpiece. They are only a sin
gle piece of evidence; they can’t
corroborate themselves.
Said my mom: “He wasn’t com
fortable watching a crowd of poor
men, most of them black, go fight
a war that he could avoid fighting
because his parents could afford
college. So he enlisted.”
Said my dad: “I remember, on
our way over on the ship, I was
the day guard for the keep. I sat
across from them, watched the
prisoners in their cells. There was
a particular prisoner—I think he
was from Ohio — he had been act
ing strangely. He couldn’t yield.
Several nights later, he was show
ering and he slashed his wrists
with his shaving razor.
Depression wasn’t the same word
then as now.”
Said my mom: “We weren’t al
ways in constant touch while he
was overseas, but I remember
that, upon his coming back, his
mother rented a cottage on the
beach in North Carolina so that
he could, well, decompress. It was
a deserted stretch, very peaceful.
She’d invited me to come down,
too. I think we all stayed a week
there.”
I imagine the two of them,
walking down the beach togeth
er. Loosely, just by the fingers,
they hold each other’s hands.
Tracks trail back to the cabin long
behind them. The sun goes about
its setting neatly, as it does in late
spring. My quiet parents walk on,
into the early dark. Time leaves
them there.
Baab is a third-year English and
advertising student.