Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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4 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Friday, November 8, 2002 SOUND OFF °NLINE P0LL O U U JN U Ur r wrn the football team finish Create message boards at with a winning record? www.dailygamecock.com or YES, WE CAN BEAT ARKANSAS 54% send letters to the editor to NO, WE'RE THE GAMECOCKS 35% gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com I'M WAITING ON BASKETBALL 11% IN OUR OPINION Dear Mark Sanford: First, let us congratulate you on winning a hard fought race for governor. It was a tight race down to the wire, but you pulled it off. You are now the governor for the great state of South Carolina. You have about two months to get some rest before you take over some pressing issues concerning our state. Education has always been a problem in recent memory for South Carolina. You have the task of overcome the state’s dreary 49th-place finish among oil fVio cfofoc rvFtVid nnirm Rut There are some pressing issues you must deal with as governor of this state. when the time comes to switch around budgets to make the necessary cuts, watch out for higher education. Under Gov. Hodges’ campaign, higher education received some attention, but it also was always one of the first educational institutions to be considered for budget cuts. If you treat higher education wisely, you could end up benefiting future K-12 students by producing quality college graduates to improve the conditions of our schools. During your campaign, you pledged to try to eliminate the state income tax. Yes, cutting taxes can boost the economy by increasing consumer spending. But the income tax accounts for a large portion of the state’s revenue. Please be cautious in instituting your plan; make sure the benefits of eliminating the tax are sufficient to make up for the lost revenue. Otherwise, the only option is more budget cuts; and higher education can only bear so many more of those. We urge you to rest while you can, Governor-elect Sanford. You have indeed won the battle, but rest assured; greater challenges still lie ahead. Gamecock Quotables “This next four years, we hope to continue the course. We have an education strategy that’s working. We don’t need to change course or dramatically alter it.” INEZTENENBAUM AFTER BEING RE-ELECTED AS STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION TUESDAY Playing the last game at home “is going to be hard for them, but it’s going to be hard for us as coaches to think about playing without those guys.” LOU HOLTZ use HEAD FOOTBALL COACH, ON THE LAST HOME GAME FOR USC'S SENIOR PLAYERS GAMECOCK CORRECTIONS The date on page 1 of Wednesday’s paper was incorrect. Wednesday was Nov. 6. A quote in Monday’s paper by Anne Marie McNeil, Sorority Council president, was incorrect. She did not say the Greek community is looked at as the partyers of Columbia. In Wednesday’s paper, Paul Taglibue was incorrectly chosen for an award in Kyle Almond’s sports column. Gene Washington is the NFL executive who hands down player fines, not Taglibue. If you see an error in today’s paper, we want to know. E-mail us at gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.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, Staci Jordan, 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 Uimn Chah 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 STUDbNT MtUIA 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, Sean O’Meara, Anastasia Oppert Melanie Roberts Advertising Staff Adam Bourgoin, Justin Chappell, Bianca Knowles, Denise Levereaux, Jacqueline Rice, Stacey Todd 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. TO PLACE AN AD The Gamecock 1400 Greene St. Columbia, S.C. 29208 Advertising: 777-3888 Classified: 777-1184 Fax: 777-6482 (1'5 Sffuu Of 5ca^V kmowin^ That tp th£ N°m-v/oTCpr S7A£T6-(7 Ttt£<* ova/n' Pa^ty TH6Y Couu? MH £v/g^Y ^LgCTroN/ / CARTOON COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS Take down the media circus CLAYTON KALE GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM We can’t convict the sniper suspects yet. The State’s editorial cartoon two Sundays ago made me laugh out loud. It was a television jumping with excitement as it told the man watching, “SNIPER CAUGHT!!” “Now we can get back to normal,” the man says and kicks back to watch the television defy gravity with news about North Korean nukes, bombs in Bali and the war on Iraq. I laughed, but not at Ariail’s message. I laughed because, in tentionally or not, it displays in all capital letters the problem with the media’s coverage of the sniper story. The media’s quickness to con vict John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, the suspects in the sniper case, is disturbing. Within minutes of the arrest, CNN was on the scene and re porting that the snipers had been caught. One would think the me dia would have learned their les son after falsely “convicting” Richard Jewell for blowing things up at the Olympics. Whether the men are the snipers isn’t CNN’s place to judge. And neither should the Washington Post, the Montgomery Journal or Fox News. Admittedly, the case against these men is quite strong. But everyone gets a trial, even the man holding the smoking gun. And that’s where the media need to call off their dogs. I’m not surprised at all at the amount of coverage the sniper story received. It’s huge: Unknown persons kill like assassins and vanish like ninjas. And right in the govern ment’s back yard, to boot. You couldn’t write an “X-Files” script better than this. And, as a quasi-professional newsman, I understand the half mad obsession that reporters get when they smell the telltale smell of The Big Story. This story mad ness can become a problem when editors or news directors start playing a game I like to call “Follow that Story” — that’s when they send the circus to town, tents and all. Quips a wag: “Washington is the permanent home of the me dia circus.” Quips a young, ide alistic journalist: “But not when it’s following a ‘valuable source’ who met the sniper suspect once and said he was nice.” A gaggle of reporters bombarding a man with questions about the sus pect’s temperament, home life, et cetera, as he walks his dog — that’s not good journalism. That’s ketchup journalism. As the facts are reported, the case against Muhammad and Malvo sounds strong. I don’t have much compassion for the suspects; I have a number of friends who live in Montgomery County, not far from the num- . bered circles on the maps they keep showing on television. The thought of a friend getting shot as he scratches his butt at the gas pump crept into my head more times than I’d like to admit. Some say the problem can be fixed by officially limiting what the press can report. This would be found illegal by any judge who had ever read the Constitution. That leaves only one way for the media to be regulated. From the inside. Despite the good odds that the cops caught the bad guys, as Americans, the suspects have ev ery right that you or I have. They deserve a jury trial before they’re forever known in the annals of American trivia as “The Snipers.” For now, let’s just call them “The Suspects.” Kale is a fifth-year print journalism student. IN YOUR OPINION Get the facts about selection process I am writing in response to Emmanuel Thomason’s Oct. 28 letter (“Attack messages, not messengers”) regarding the Homecoming Commission’s se lection policy for Showcase. Emmanuel, you wrote, “My message was the system was corrupt because the selection committee chose only people of a particular color.” As a crimi nal justice student, I would think you would understand the importance of gathering facts before presenting a case. I am also a criminal justice student, but unlike you, I took the time to gather the facts before pre senting my argument. I spoke with members of the Homecoming Commission to get the scoop on how candidates are selected for Showcase. The ap plications do not contain pic tures of the individuals, and the names are whited out before eiv en to the selection committee. Therefore, no racial association can be inferred from a candi date’s picture or name. After the preliminary screening, those ap plications that are not “cream of the crop,” so to speak, are re leased before the interview. The candidates you speak of were re leased before the committee could meet them face to face and determine their races. They were eliminated because their grade-point averages and stu dent activities were not as im pressive as those of the people who made the cut. Now let’s talk numbers. First, out of 55 applicants to Showcase, two were African-American and one was of Indian background. Therefore, do not complain about the number of minorities chosen before you look at the number of minority candidates who took the time to apply. Second, because I am guessing you did not attend Showcase, Emmanuel, I will tell you who won. Evelyn Ackerman was our Homecoming Queen, and Ankit Patel, president of our student body and a minority himself, won Homecoming King. This means that the committee deemed someone who did not check off “Caucasian” on his SATs in high school outstanding enough to represent the student body as our Homecoming King. You might also be interest ed, Emmaunel, in learning that our so-called “corrupt” Homecoming Commission sponsored both an African American gospel choir and an Indian dance group for the Showcase entertainment. I am not attacking the mes senger, but rather the message. You have shown that you are a very involved student, and I commend you for that. My problem lies with your lack of effort to collect hard facts be fore present an argument, and I find it exasperating. KATHERINE BALLARD .SECOND-YEAR CRIMINAL JUSTICE STUDENT Editor’s note: According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s stan dards, Patel is considered Caucasian. True fans will stand up for their team Before we head out to Williams-Brice this Saturday, I would like everyone to consider what it means to bleed Garnet. It’s more than just shov/ing up to the games and cheering when things go right. A real fan supports the team when things go wrong as well. Too many times last Saturday, I heard the people around me boo ing our coaches and booing our players. As far as I can tell, that generally isn’t part of supporting the team. Many of our players will never play at a level higher then college, but they still come out ev ery game and play their hearts out. It must be crushing to hear your fans calling for your head. It hap pened with Phil Petty, and I hear it happening now with Corey Jenkins. My advice, if you’re the guy who has to yell out, “I could do better than that!” is that you grab yourself some pads and head on up to Clemson because, not only do they need a QB, but its obvious you’re not on our side, anyway. Even though I’ve graduated, I still find a way to make it into the games. It’s not always pretty and not ever cheap. So if you feel you can’t make it through a game with out berating our team, then why don’t you give me a call and let a true Carolina fan fill your seat? No matter what happens this Saturday, whether we win by 40, win by two or (God forbid) lose, don’t take out your frustration on the 100 guys wearing garnet. Blame the officials, then blame the other team, and if that fails, go back to blaming the officials; it’s probably their fault, anyway. BRAD DAWGERT use ALUMNUS 2002 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. Election showed nothing is sure BROOK BRISTOW GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM Hard work couldn’t save Democrats from losing. So maybe it’s just me, but after Tuesday night’s debacle for the Democrats, I think the Republican Party should officially change its slogan from “Dubya is my Daddy” to “We Kick Ass.” And defeat the donkey they did, as Republicans took control of both the House and the Senate in a historic election. What separates this country dur ing elections? It’s the philosophical differences between the parties, for the most part. Republicans, of course, believe in lower taxes, leg islated morality, fewer regulations and smaller government. The Democrats, in turn, believe that Republicans are morons. This midterm election has been full of oddities. Like the 17th congressional district of Ohio, which gave expelled Congressman Jim Traficant 15 percent of the vote. Fifteen per cent! He’s in prison, and he’s pulling about the same percent age I did when I ran for student body president! And what about Arkansas Sen. Tim Hutchinson, who lost his race? Hutchinson served on the Republican panel to impeach then-President Clinton for his moral infidelities. The fun ny part is that Hutchinson had cheated on his wife a few years ago, divorced her and is now mar ried to one of his staffers. Before the election was called as a win for his Democrat opponent Mark Pryor, it was called ironic just in general. DUX give me ueinucraxs some credit. They worked hard and gen erally ran close in the races they lost. But hard work doesn’t always pay off, as witnessed Tuesday night. In fact, after this election, all the hard work and campaigning done by the Democrats, at least in South Carolina, was about as effi cient as Corey Jenkins on a third down pass play. It just goes to show that elec tions, like anything in life, are un certain. The only certainty we have is change, death, uncertain ty and low ratings for TNN. So where did it all go wrong for Jim Hodges? The funny thing is that Jim Hodges’ downfall didn’t even come during the campaign. Remember the Florida game and ESPN’s “College Gameday” com ing to Columbia last year? Well, Jim, I’ve got two words for you: Gameday Day. And what about Mark Sanford? Well, I just hope he has enough Members Only jackets and plaid paisley ties for every day of the week. Or maybe even a bow tie. If you’re going to be governor of this state, you had better dress the part. What we as an electorate want are real people. We don’t want peo ple who say, “I am not a politician.” That’s a lie. The fact that you are running for political office makes you a politician. And we sure don’t want megamillionaires or tyran nical fundamentalists. We have enough ot those aireaay. iney re called televangelists. What we need now is partisan ship, not a win-at-all-costs, make the-other-side-look-like-David Arquette, free-for-all, we’re-right they’re-wrong, shut-up-you-went to-Clemson, steel-cage-match bat tle royal. So, OK, Republicans, after all your victories, I would hope that you are on a high that could make anyone attending a reggae festi val envious. So enjoy the victories and get to work. There is so much to do in this country, and we’re looking to you as our leaders. Just remember, “To whom much is given, much is expected.” Bristow ira fifth-year advertising student. 1