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10 the GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, October 23, 2002 THEY SAID IT CONTACT US OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES: “A man’s mind stretched by a new idea can Story ideas? Questions? Comments? never go back to its E-mail us at gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com original dimensions.” PHOTO BY ANNE LEE/THE GAMECOCK From left to right, female impersonators Samantha Hunter, Marla Vega and Nicole Roberts perform at last year's “The Birdcage.” This year’s event, sponsored by the Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Alliance and Carolina Productions, will be in the Russell House Ballroom on Wednesday night at 8. Creed Week hopes to open students’mind to diversity BY ELEANOR SIBAL THE GAMECOCK / One of the Carolinian Creed’s tenets is to diminish bigotry and learn from differences in people, and three USC student organiza tions are sponsoring Creed Week events Wednesday night to open students’ minds to different groups, cultures and lifestyles. USC’s Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Alliance and Carolina Productions are sponsoring “The Birdcage: Gamecock Style,” which will be in the Russell House Ballroom at 8 p.m. Wednesday. This is the fifth year of “The Birdcage” at USC, and BGLA President Jeffrey Crews said he expects this year to be as impres sive as last year. “We expect it to be wonderfully successful. More and more people come to see us,” he said. “And there’s a lot of participation from a wider group of people. And that’sour goal.” The Birdcage revue is a two hour event featuring the “finest fe male impersonators in Columbia,” who were chosen by BGLA. The performers will dance and sing in dividually and, after each act, will sit down for a question-and-an swer session with the audience. BGLA sponsored “The Birdcage” alone last year, but CP is helping this year. Scott Sowell, director of special programs for CP, said he recom mends the show for everyone. “The show is definitely for all audiences to experience,” Sowell said. “If something bothers you about their lifestyle, this is your chance to talk to them and ask questions. By opening yourself to them and experiencing different aspects of their lives, you are able to understand them and accept them for who they are.” The show itself is impressive, according to former attendee and fourth-year exercise science stu dent Raymond Delacruz. “It was definitely interesting. I saw things I hadn’t experienced before, like men with waxed legs and big breasts trying to hit on you,” he said. “I’m open-minded, so it didn’t bother me, but it was interesting to be introduced to an other part of the world.” “Everybody is people — just with different tastes,” Delacruz said. A Student Organization Showdown,” sponsored by the Carolina Student Judicial Council, will be held at the Golden Spur on Wednesday at 6 p.m. ixcuj jjcoocin, a coordinator for the game, said the event is a way for diverse groups to get to know one anoth er and have an enjoyable evening together. The Chi Omega sorority, the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity, Student Government and the Muslim Student Association are some of the groups that will participate in Family Feud. “The game is a fun and friendly chance for organizations that have never had contact with each oth er to work together and cooperate with one another,” Bessent said. The event is fashioned after the television game show “Family Feud.” This year, the council sur veyed students to get the most nnnn lor v»/i r^r * “ sponses to questions contestants will be asked at the pro gram. The groups do not play against one UllOUiOl , All stead, they will split up, mix and match so that every participant works with people from different groups. Last year, the Student Judicial Council fashioned a Creed Week event after the game show “The Weakest Link.” Players enjoyed it so much, they suggested the council do it again. Aaron Hark, graduate assistant of Judicial Affairs, said he hopes the relevance of Creed Week comes out through the event. “What I’ve learned is that the more we bring different groups together, they learn from one an other, and that is what makes us closer to becoming a unified cam pus,” he said. Hark also said he thinks the laid-back atmosphere of the Golden Spur will allow the audi ence to get more involved with the program and enjoy it more. Because “Family Feud” and “The Birdcage” are back-to-back events this year, the organizers are hoping the whole night will be a hit. “We hope the events draw the same people since they are in the same building and happen one af ter the other,” Hark said. “They’re both fun, and they’re both the kinds of events that a crowd can really get into.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockmixeditorfajiotmail.com Relax— you ’ll survive semester « CHARLES TOMLINSON GAMECOCKMIXEOITOR@HOTMAIL.COM It’s the middle of the year. I’d be inclined to think, “Oh, the semester is halfway over!” But not quite. Things have only begun to heat up. Some classes offer steady work loads. They might constantly keep students sweating over the books, but at least they’re consistent. > Others, however, like to play dirty little tricks on students: They start out not looking suspicious at all; the syllabus requires some read ings that are assigned every week, but nothing overwhelming. So the college kids put it off, little by little, until — surprise! — it’s time for U11UIC1JUUD. Suddenly, students are swamped with all that work they unsuspect ingly put off, in addition to the ever strenuous classes that keep them working the rest of the time. Personally, I know that when all this mid-semester weight is dropped on my shoulders, I collapse and flop around like a fish. I get so overwhelmed by having 20 tasks to accomplish in a day that I can’t con centrate enough to get but maybe : three of them done, by which I mean I get started, then realize I need to do something else more im portant first, and then realize I have something to do that’s not as im portant, but I have to have it done in 15 minutes, so I start doing that instead, and then I realize that there is a paper due the next day that I to tally forgot about, and AAAAGH! This brings me to a point I’d like to address: Why do people put up Instant Messenger away messages that detail their entire daily sched ule? It’s like saying, “Look at how busy I am! Aren’t you simply as tonished that I crammed my sched ule full of so much stuff?” It’s a self absorbed thing to do. And people don’t care where you are every sec ond of the day. At least I don’t. It’s times like these when I long for the days when things were sim pler — at least the days when my schedule was simpler. I want to go ♦EXAMS, SEE PAGE 11 TOP 10 These were the most requested songs on USC’s student radio station from Oct. 14-20. 1. “TELL YOUR FRIENDS” Mary Prankster 2. “NOTHING’S GOING TO HAPPEN" Elf Power 3. “KILL YOUR TELEVISION" Reunion Show 4. “LIVE ON ST. PATRICK’S DAY” Dropkick Murphy’s 5. “IN THE FISHTANK” Sonic Youth I.C.P.The Ex 6. “TURN ON THE BRIGHT LIGHTS” Interpol 7. “MAKE UP THE BREAKDOWN" Hot Hot Heat 8. “RIDE AWAY ROM THE WORLD” Stone Coyotes 9. “BEHIND THE MUSIC” Soundtrack of Our lives .10. “VELOCITY OF SOUND” Apple in Stereo Venue to place artists in closer setting BY HOLLY DUTTON THE GAMECOCK There might be small venues in Columbia, but this is no Nashville, with recording com panies drawing big stars and artists giving personal insights into their songs at concerts. But Columbia will get a singer/song writer night of its own, featuring members of Hootie and the Blowfish, Wednesday night at Senate Park. USC alumnus and singer/song writer Patrick Davis and his put licist Virginia Hunt, who wer both involved in Carolin; Productions, have taken their ex perience beyond the universit; campus. Davis recorded ii Nashville for his upcoming al bum “Chances Are,” and botl Hunt and he have seen a need fo more singer/songwriter nights. Davis, Hootie and thi Blowfish’s Mark Bryan, Cowbo; Mouth’s Paul Sanchez, and fpr mer Blue Dog Phillip Lammonds - played “a sold-out singer/song ! writer show at the famous i Bluebird Cafe in Nashville last month,” Hunt said. r “It’s very different for South i Carolina and this region because - there’s not a forum for songwrit i ers to get out there and perform, ” • Davis said. “Up in Nashville, there’s things like this every i where: big rock ‘n’ roll bands do r ing acoustic gigs. I thought it would be cool to do it in the Southeast.” Not only is Davis bringing the singer/songwriter idea to Senate Park, but Hunt has lined up South Carolina natives, folk artist Danielle Howie and Hootie and the Blowfish members Mark Bryan and Jim “Soni” Sonefeld. She has also lined up special guest Claire Holley of North Carolina’s Yep Rock Records to play along with Davis. Davis has come a long way from playing in Five Points on the corner of Greene Street and Saluda Avenue. After he graduat ed in 2000 with a degree in history, he said, he now lives on the road between Columbia and Nashville. “After graduating, I tried to fig ure out what I wanted to do. I had done some music a little bit. I didn’t want to get a real job. I was lucky enough to meet some great musicians in Columbia. Mark Bryan from Hootie has been real ly, really helpful,” Davis said. According to Bryan, during Davis’ first year at USC, he was dating Bryan’s wife’s cousin, who was a cellist. Davis would come over, and they would all jam at Bryan’s house. “I thought he had good taste in music,” Bryan said. “We defi nitely bond on that level. I thought they were pretty good once I heard a couple of his songs, and I liked his voice. I had time off at the time, so it was a good three years ago, the middle of my first year off tour, and I had the desire to do the producing, so that worked out for me.” Bryan is producing and is be ing featured on Davis’ upcoming album, “Chances Are,” which Hunt compared to a Tom Petty or Ryan Adams record. He said his live show has a more Lyle-Lovett type sound. Davis said one of the main rea sons he put the singer/songwriter tonight together was that, when ♦ SONG, SEE PAGE 11 PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK J!m “Soni” Sonefeld, drummer of Hoofie and the Blowfish. PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK Mark Bryan, guitarist for Hootie and the Blowfish. He and { Sonefeld are among those to play Senate Park on Wednesday.