The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, December 06, 2002, Page 5, Image 5
THE GAMECOCK ♦ Friday, December 6, 2002 5
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IN OUR OPINION
Cancellation
unnecessary
On Wednesday, USC made a hasty decision to
cancel classes. Anticipating the forecasted icy
weather, the university determined that the weather
would prove too high a safety risk for USC students.
Although the concern for students is admirable, the
university rushed its decision during one of the most
critical times of the semester.
A few years ago, severe weather conditions
threatened student safety and USC resumed classes
It’s worrisome that t0°soon’which ?ut
USC canceled students and professors at
classes out Of risk.The university wasn’t
concern for its cautious enough that year,
students, but had no but this year, it has jumped
trouble letting the the gun.
women’s basketball It would be dangerous for
game go on as Students to drive home if
scheduled, the university waited too
long to cancel classes. But that doesn’t mean it
should assume the worst and shut things down
because it’s cold outside; a balance must be found.
It’s worrisome that the university canceled all
classes out of concern for its students and faculty,
but had no trouble allowing the women’s basketball
game yesterday evening to go on as scheduled.
Though fans could choose whether to risk the roads
to travel to a sporting event, players and coaches
could not.
USC did act in students’ interests yesterday; there is
no doubt about that. But the quickness of its decision
is questionable. The decision to cancel classes the
week before final exams is serious; many students
would have used that class time to better prepare.
Gamecock Quotables
“You can talk about
education, economy and
business and health, but if the
streets aren’t safe enough to
go to work, go to school, go to
the doctor, what have you
got?”
ROBERT STEWART
STATE LAW ENFORCEMENT DIVISION CHIEF,
ON BUDGET CUTS
“I don't know what these
Northern kids think of us
when there's a chance of a
freeze and they call
everything off. It's
ridiculous.”
BENJAMIN MORRISON
THIRD-YEAR EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
STUDENT, ON USC’S CANCELLING SCHOOL
“I am hoping that students
will see the great benefits of
this change, want to see it
pass and vote for it.”
BROOKE VICKERY
ELECTIONS COMMISIONER, ON TRYING TO
CHANGE THE ELECTIONS DATE
“I really didn’t know until
there were about seven
minutes left in the second
half. My teammates were
telling me how many points I
had and how many I needed to
get into the record books.”
JOCELYN PENN
use FORWARD, ON SCORING A CAREER
HIGH AND RECORD-TYING 50 POINTS
AGAINST WOFFORD
GAMECOCK CORRECTIONS
If you see an error in today’s paper, we want to know. E-mail us
atgamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com.
ABOUT THE GAMECOCK
Editor in Chief CONTACT INFORMATION
Mary Hartney _
Offices on third floor of the Russell House.
News Editor Editor in Chief: gamecockeditor@hotmail.com
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Viewpoints: gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com
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Online: www.dailygamecock.com
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Editor's Office: 777-3914
Asst. Viewpoints Editor ctiiiscmT lUICniA
Erin O’Neal olUUtlil IVICUIH The Gamecock is the
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CARTOON COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS
Bikers are coming to town
1 j
GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM
It’s time to trade in the
books and buy a hog.
When I was 18,1 unknowingly
went to Myrtle Beach during bik
er week. I vowed never to speak
of the horrible incident again, hut
something I saw in the news re
cently stirred up old memories,
and I decided to reflect.
A big biker rally might be
coming to Columbia next year.
When I heard the news, I in
stinctively hid my money and
taped a sign on my front door
reading “NO METH HERE.”
But maybe Myrtle Beach was
an isolated incident. I’ll never
forget any of it, though. The
midgets in burlap sacks, the bro
ken bottles of Pabst Blue Ribbon,
the 300-pound women, and my
frantic sprint down Ocean
Boulevard with two hogs
manned by drunken crank deal
ers rumbling behind me are all
memories burned in my mind
like the dragon tattoo on Zeke’s
forearm.
That weekend, I learned the
hard way that going into a biker
bar at 2 a.m. and asking for di
rections to a golf course while
wearing khakis and a collared
shirt under a nice sweater is nev
er a good idea.
“Excuse me, sir, can you tell
us how to get to Arrowhead
Country Club?”
“How ’bout I break this beer
bottle over your head, college
boy?”
“I see by the tattoo on your
forehead that your name is Hell
Wolf. Well, Mr. Wolf, we don’t .
want trouble, we were just...”
“Hey, Zeke, this boy just
tipped over your bike. Let’s get
him.”
Before I could convince them I
did nothing of the sort, the
midgets were flying. We man
aged to dodge the first few, but
my friend Richard took one right
on the head. He was down, but
there was nothing we could do
for him. We were lucky to get out
of town alive.
But that’s behind me, and now
it’s time to plan ahead for when
the biker rally comes here. I’ve
decided I can’t beat them, so I’m
going to join them. The biggest
problem will be the bike. I don’t
have a Harley Davidson, but I do
have a Mongoose 21-speed from
Wal-Mart. Maybe if I pedal up to
them wearing a leather jacket
and a tattoo on my arm of a
naked woman leaning against a
bloody dagger, they’ll accept me
as one of their own.
Telling them a few jokes will
be a sure way to break the ice:
What’s the difference between a
Hoover vacuum cleaner and a
Harley? The placement of the dirt
bag.
I’m not sure what they’ll make
me do for initiation, but I hope it
will involve eating cheesecake
and watching reruns of “The
Simpsons.” I aced my last politi
cal-philosophy test, and I’m sure
biker-gang initiations pale in
comparison to writing essays
about Plato and Aristotle.
It would be great if they gave
me a really cool biker name like
Rides With Broken Tailbone, or
Mac And Cheese Phil. I would
also be happy with something a
little tougher, like Roadkiller,
Asphalt Kicker or Kitten Eater.
Either way, getting into a biker
gang will be a welcomed change
of pace. I’ll be like the bounty
hunter from “Raising Arizona.”
Watch out, ladies.
Watson is a fourth-year print
journalism student.
IN YOUR OPINION
Dance team should
dress for weather
As a lifelong South
Carolina resident, I was lucky
enough to get some tickets to
the Carolina-Clemson game at
the last minute. Although it
was very cold, despite about
three layers of clothes, my
husband and I enjoyed the
game — that is, until I saw
what USC’s dance team was
wearing.
Dressed in skin-tight, back
less, sleeveless halter tops, the
20 or so girls “warmed up”
near our seats for halftime.
Despite the 30-degree weather,
these women were wearing
next to nothing and freezing.
They huddled in groups and
shivered, and some coughed
and sneezed, no doubt fighting
off colds.
These women were sacrific
ing their health and comfort to
look sexy. The sad part is that
no one looks sexy when her
nose is running, she has chill
bumps all over her arms, and
her face and ears are red from
the cold. I have a hard time
thinking their chosen outfits
were crucial to the perfor
mance.
Instead, trying to fulfill soci
ety's and their own expecta
tions about their entertain
ment value, the members of
USC’s dance team chose to sub
jugate themselves to one of the
oldest sexist values — women
are best when pushed up,
sucked in, half naked and
stupid. And that's what their
outfits were — stupid.
ERIN JAMES PREDMORE
OOl.'.WSKUNf; (MiADI'ATK STI DKXT.
rXIVKHSITY OF OEOHIMA
T
Graduate proud of
students’ charity
Being a recent graduate of
USC, I understand how hard it
is to volunteer your time to
someone else while you have
papers and exams to worry
about.
More than 30 USC students,
however, dedicated their time
to helping our students at
Epworth Children's Home. The
University 101 classes, specifi
cally those of Mary Hipp and
Ed Dickey, have made a pro
found impact tutoring the kids
at our school. They have self
lessly given inspiration and
compassion to our kids, who
thrive off kindness.
Thank you for seeing the
need and not the cause. You
make me proud to be a USC
graduate.
HEIDI VAUGHN
SITE COORDINATOR FOR EPWORTII
CHILDREN'S HOME COMMI NITIES
AND SCHOOLS OF THE MIDLANDS
BSA shouldn’t push
sexual conformity
I am disappointed in The
Gamecock. I remember my un
dergraduate years at USC,
when The Gamecock’s
Viewpoints editor did not feel
the need, as Chris Foy appar
ently does, to write blatantly
bigoted and homophobic
columns to stir up resentment
among his readership. He has,
at any rate, missed the point
that what is legal is not neces
sarily just.
The Boy Scouts have the le
gal right to exclude gays and
atheists and possibly other
groups as well. They rnight
have the legal right to exclude
boys who wear their hair long
or otherwise do not fit the model
of “clean living” as laid down by
the upper-class Englishman Lord
Baden-Powell. I suspect, howev
er, that few people in this coun
try agree with BSA that all gay
men are dirty child molesters, or
who sympathize with BSA’s ex
clusionary policies. •
I contend that our society has
outgrown Baden-Powell’s antique
model of puritanical sexual poli
tics. I see BSA’s condemnation of
homosexuality as an attempt to
enforce sexual conformity upon
the boys within its ranks.
Sexuality (to the extent that it
does not harm others) is a matter
of individual identity, and BSA
should keep its hands off the sex
uality issue by simply remaining
silent and allowing a boy’s family
and faith to shape his identity in
that regard.
One related issue: Jonathan
Frost’s whiny letter complaining
about Dr. Woliver and other “left
wing feminists” who attack “any
thing they don’t agree with”
struck me as plainly anti-demo
cratic. If we are to have a mean
ingful debate in this country
about what kind of social change
is worthwhile, opposing groups
must voice their opinions. The
fact that Mr. Frost does not agree
with Dr. Woliver is hardly a rea
son why her feminist theory class
should not voice its opinion of
Mr. Foy’s column. Let the debate
continue.
ROBERT PAUL DAVIS
KIKST-VKAB LAW STL'IlLA'T
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. ,
I Letters will be edited. Anonymous letters
will not be published. Call the newsroom
at 777-7726 for more information.
Illegal
aliens
need a
chance
CLAYTON KALE
GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM J
Land of opportunity and
non-English speakers.
. It’s a fact that many school dis
tricts in South Carolina have cre
ated a position known as an ESL
teacher. English-as-a-second-lai>
guage classes are intended for the
children of immigrants who don’t
speak English in their homes.
While English isn’t the official
language of the United States, it’$
an essential tool for someone to
have to get a job in this country,
at least a job in the top percentile
of wages.
“This is our country” and
" “We’re becoming the minority”
are common refrains of the xeno
phobe. People shouldn’t worry
that their children’s American
history classes will be taught in
Spanish or that Sergio Troncoso
will be taught instead of Fitzgerald
or Shakespeare.
As the son of a high-schooj
English teacher, I’ve observed
that summer reading lists are be
coming more diverse in writers’
backgrounds and nationalities,
but Hamlet’s place in the English
curriculum is as safe as a2 + b2 =
c2 is in geometry. What is more
problematic than an increase in
the number of students in our
public-school system who don’t •
speak English is the attitude of
xenophobia itself.
Notions of our country and
“we” being the minority are
tinged with racism and short;
sightedness. Racist because “we”
carries with it the connotation
that America is a white country!
which it is not and never was, no
matter how American history has
been romanticized. (Yes, the
reigns of power are generally held
by men with white faces. But this
is more of an economic factor
than a racial one.)
It’s shortsighted because, be!
fore America was America, it
wasn’t America. I realize it sounds
like I stole a line from Yogi Berra;
But consider that, before America
became a powerhouse, it consisted
of pockets of Spanish settlers!
German settlers, Dutch settlers,
- English settlers, French settlers!
slaves brought from Africa — and
why did all these settlers come t<)
America (except, perhaps, for the
slaves in bondage)? Because they
were seeking something better
than the conditions of life in their
homelands.
A new job, a place where they
could worship without the silly
rules of the pope or the hypocrisy
of the Anglican Church, a place
where there was enough room to
grow enough potatoes to feed a
large family. They were seeking',
as the cliche goes, a land of opj
portunity. And now, some 30Q
years removed, have we not
proven that America is a land of
opportunity?
a place wnere tne naggea
Dicks of all cultures can call
home? A country where 4
Methodist is equal to a pagan urn
der the law? A place where all
children receive the best educa
tion they can based on the amount
of tax dollars collected? A place
where people can come and work
and provide for their families? ;
Consider this: If every new im;
migrant were capable of discussing
the finer points of “The Sound and
the Fury” during tea at Harvard, 1
promise that Harvard would be
even more competitive. Even the
more “menial” service-industry
jobs afford a life superior to the one
back home for some immigrants:
I, for one, am proud that America
is still seen as the land of opportu
nity by much of the world. Fori
when it is not, we know our day iii
the sun has passed.
Kale is a fifth-year print
journalism student.