The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 19, 2003, Page 7, Image 7
THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, March 19, 2003 • 7
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IN OUR OPINION
Beginning of
endfor U.N.
The question of U.N. support has been answered.
The 48-hour deadline that Bush gave Saddam
Hussein Monday night leaves no doubt that the
United States will head for war without the approval
of the United Nations. The question that needs to be
answered now is what does this mean for the future?
The U.N. has become a joke in the diplomatic
world. An organizational body that would put Libya
in charge of the Human
me demise ot tne
U.N. could destroy
. the system of
international
checks and
balances holding
nations
accountable.
Rights Commission testifies
to the mockery that the U.N.
has become. For the past 12
years, the U.N. has issued
resolution after resolution
calling for Iraq to disarm.
Each resolution continues to
be ignored. This is evidenced
by Chief U.N. Weapons Inspector Hans Blix’s 80-plus
page report of steps that Iraq must take to disarm.
i
Twelve years of resolutions requiring disarmament
should not result in a huge list of remaining steps to
disarm.
But the demise of the U.N. could destroy the
system of international checks and balances holding
nations accountable. All that was built after World
War II would be forsaken, throwing away 50 years of
stability.
Regardless of the risk to the future of the U.N., it
appears our country will proceed without U.N.
approval in the next several days. We have no choice
to but deal with the consequences.
Winners and Sinners
U.S. MILITARY Our president might stutter,
but the military’s assault rifles don’t. Here’s to
kickin’ ass and taking names over seas,
use WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Play in the NCAA
, Tournament this weekend. At least the Carolina
% Center will be home to one winning team.
► THE OSCARS “Lord of the Rings” and
“Chicago” are favored for awards. Honestly,
why would any other actors even attend?
SADDAM HUSSEIN After 12 years of talk, Iraq’s
existence depends on the next 48 hours. Finally,
Bush’s cowboy hat will see some action.
BRIAN DAVID MITCHELL Drifter considered 15
w year-old Elizabeth Smart his wife. Michael
Jackson went to the Neverland Ranch ceremony.
DIXIE CHICKS After their comment about
Bush, just so you know, we’re ashamed to say
that the Dixie Chicks are from America.
GAMECOCK CORRECTIONS
If you see an error in today’s paper, we want to know. E-mail us
at gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com.
ABOUT THE GAMECOCK
Editor m umer
Jill Martin
Managing Editor
Charles Tomlinson
News Editor
Adam Beam
Asst. News Editor
Wendy Jeffcoat
Viewpoints Editor
Erin O’Neal
The Mix Editor
Corey Garriott
Asst. The Mix Editor
Meg Moore
Sports Editor
Matt Rothenberg
Asst. Sports Editor
Brad Senkiw
Photo Editor
Johnny Haynes
Asst. Photo Editor
Morgan Ford
Head Page Designers
Sarah McLaulin, Katie
Smith. David Stagg
Page Designers
Justin Bajan, Samantha
Hall, Staci Jordan, Julia
Knetzer, Shawn Rourk
Slot Copy Editors
Crystal Boyles, Tricia
Ridgway, Emma Ritch
Copy Editors
Jessica Foster, Alyson
Goff, Mary Waters
Online Editor
Bessam Khadraoui
Community Affairs
Kiran Shah
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
Production Manager
Patrick Bergen
Creative Services
Derek Goode,
Earl Jones,
Sean O'Meara,
Anastasia Oppert
Advertising Staff
John Blackshire,
Adam Bourgoin,
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Jacqueline Rice,
Stacey Todd
CONTACT INFORMAmUN
Offices on third floor of the Russell House.
Editor in Chief: gamecockeditor@hotmail.com
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Viewpoints: gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com
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Public Affairs: gckpublicaffairs@hotmail.com
Online: www.dailygamecock.com
Newsroom: 777-7726
Editor's Office: 777-3914
The Gamecock is the
editorially independent
student newspaper of
the University of South
Carolina. It 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 Soutfc
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
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One free copy per
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from the Department
of Student Media.
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Columbia, S.C. 29208
Advertising: 777-3888
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I
CARTOON BY HANNAH ANGSTADT/THE GAMECOCK
College media needs critiquing
PHIL WATSON
GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM
It’s hard not to poke
fun at The Gamecock.
I’m going to spend the next 58'
or so words bashing this news
paper. Innovative, isn’t it?
I challenge you to find an elec
tric-car salesman who will tel
you the scrawny, go-cart-lookin!
thing you just test drove wil
make you look like a pansy ii
front of your friends or a news
caster who will tell you his sta
tion is as bad as a drunken col
lege student’s Spanish.
"Uno mas cerveza por favo
amigo. Yo soy mucho intoxicadi
to.”
There’s one thing the goverr
ment and The Gamecock have h
common: Neither mind beim
publicly criticized by macaroni
and-cheese-eating college stu
dents who think they have th
world figured out.
So maybe it is just me, but Th
Gamecock’s opinion page is abou
as lame as Liza Minnelli dancin;
in a Christina Aguilera video
with myself as an exception.
Oops, sorry to steal you
flame, Brook Bristow, those
metaphors are just too money.
If it’s not someone moaning
about Bush on the Viewpoints
page, it’s someone whining about
how hard life is. I’m sorry, but life
isn’t that hard for you. You’re in
college, not in some South
American orphanage with no pos
sibility of social advancement.
You will get a job after college and
you’ll be fine, so stop complaining.
I go to the Washington Post for
knowledgeable political opinion,
) not The Gamecock. Who cares
- what a 19-year-old liberal-arts
student thinks about foreign pol
- icy? Not me.
I Ben Edwards, you’re a smart
; guy, but when spring breakers
l come back to town and read The
l Gamecock in the lobby of the
- health center nervously waiting
on their test results, they don’t
care what South Carolina needs
to do to improve its economic
• policies.
They just want to know why
the rash won’t go away and
maybe have a laugh to forget
i about the lifetime of painful uri
; nation that could be ahead of
them.
Speaking of painful, it has to
; tear Hunter S. Thompson’s drug
saturated heart apart every time
; he reads Tyler Jones shamelessly
t ripping offhis style.
; If you use words like “swine”
, and “brouhaha” in your columns
and then insert preposterously
big words in between them, you
better be sure you have some
good points. Nice try, Tyler, but
you better leave the apocalyptic
metaphors and vague arguments
to the Good Doctor from now on.
The front page can be as bad
as Viewpoints. If a homeless guy
walks out of the methadone clin
ic and says he’s against war in
Iraq, The Gamecock gives him a
color picture and a 20-inch story
on the front page.
Want your picture in the
newspaper? Call The Gamecock
and say you’re going to protest
Bush/ world safety/ Frank
Stallone/ bumper-car safety/ sex
toy laws/ sticking up for yourself
or the elderly. Dress up like a
horse’s ass and hold a sign on
Greene Street. Ta-da! You’re on
the front page.
y-'v __1 J 1__i.1_
V_/i J-UU 1/UU1U L/C VJllt \JL U1UOC
pretenders in Student
Government. Threaten people,
accuse people of breaking rules
that five people care about, dress
up in your Sunday best and play
politician. Sure ways to get front
page publicity.
I better stop now, before I
anger the powers in SG. Who
knows what powerful wrath they
might bring down on dissenters?
The Gamecock might leave a
few things to be desired, but at
least it’s lighthearted enough to
let its sexiest columnist publicly
bash it.
Watson is a fourth-year print
journalism student.
IN YOUR OPINION
Where, oh where
has Osama gone?
Why has the man who
brought down the Twin Towers
been forgotten? The man
President Bush promised to find
and bring to justice is still loose.
Why has Bush shifted our at
tention to Iraq, a country that
did not attack us? Why did
Bush break the national ban on
flying a few days after Sept. 11,
in order to fly 11 members of
bin Laden’s immediate family
out of the United States?
Despite the bin Laden oil
family’s ties to the Bush oil fam
ily, all the bin Ladens should
have been made to stay within
the United States. Instead, they
were whisked back to Saudi
Arabia — away from the 3,000
families of Sept. 11 victims—be
fore the bodies were even cold.
I wonder what the
Republicans would say if A1 Gore
had been president and was the
one to break the nationally im
posed flight ban to fly the family
of the world’s most wanted man
out of the country? Cries of “im
peach Gore” and “coverup”
would have deafened our ears
and filled our liberal media.
Kenneth Starr would have
had no end of things to do. It
would have made peanuts of
the Lewinsky case, with all of
Gore’s oil connections to follow
hither and yon. Yet we have no
special investigators, no truth
seeking task forces, no Osama,
and no questions about it from
the major news networks.
Alice, pass me the looking
glass.
DAVID SINGELYN
WATER SPRINGS, CALIF.
Opinions expose
lack of experience
This is a response to articles
written on the Iraq war debate
and, more specifically, to the
Patrick Augustine’s column
(“War drums beat in
academia,” Feb. 24).
Many commentaries pub
lished in The Gamecock are
written by people who didn’t
serve during the Vietnam or
Gulf wars, yet discuss the facts
pertaining to these wars as
facts rather than opinions.
The Gamecock has the influ
ence to affect public opinion, but
I see this responsibility taken all
too lightly by journalists who
have not lived outside the United
States or experienced war first
nana. Articles written in sup
port of or against war with Iraq
do not present any new infor
mation or opinions other than
regurgitating those from major
news media, which apparently
think that detailed fact-checking
is no longer important.
So, here is the opinion of a
man who has fought in both
wars, who has listened to 40
years of the media with a criti
cal ear and yet who is still open
to new ideas and concepts.
Yes, we would win the war
with Iraq, but at a greater hu
man loss. Yes, a war will boost
the economy. Yes, we will have
to stop Saddam Hussein soon
er or later. Yes, Americans are
hated throughout the world.
Yes, this will have a direct eco
nomic effect on some programs,
such as education.
Young minds, particularly
those that proactively expand
their thinking skills in college,
i
are the first to question authority.
Comparisons to the Vietnam
War, however, are grossly inade
quate, as is the speculation that
all the men and women of my gen
eration formulate our opinions
and thoughts solely on this expe- •
rience. Excuse my bluntness, but
your disregard for these facts
have proven your ignorance.
Wisdom should not be underesti
mated by youth.
I adamantly support public de
bate and effective compromise,
and respect the points of view of
those around me because this is
what makes our country great.
Americans’ firm belief in freedom
of speech enables our govern
ment to make better decisions
than any other government.
So let people express their
thoughts, fears and concerns, but
u uic. iimv wiu^o »*m.u vui ivuu
ers choose to go to war, we must
support our country in this deci
sion. I speak from first hand ex
perience when I say that if you
don’t support our government,
then you don’t support the many
Americans who put their lives
on the line for you and our coun
try. Maybe your next article
should be one to thank these
brave individuals.
GERALD SMITH
FACILITY DIRECTOR OF THE COLLEGE
OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS
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
gamecockview points@hotmail.com.
Letters will be edited. Anonymous letters
will not be published. Submissions are
limited to two per person per semester.
Call the newsroom at 777-7726 for more
information.
We need
to care
for our
people
SHANNAREED
. GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM
Americans need help as
much as people abroad.
Are you concerned about your
people?
Not your mother or your fa
ther, not even those in your col
or or creed. I mean that woman
silting next to you on the bus
with two sons in the armed
. forces or that child jumping rope
in a courtyard ill Iraq. Are you
concerned about the human
race?
We move boldly to place flags
on our cars when our personal se
curity is threatened, but we hesi
tate to give a dollar to the home
less. I say personal security be
_ cause it was not concern for our
lieu lull uicu uiuvcu uj, u was uie
random nature of the Sept. 11
crime.
It was the “any American” who
was struck down that we couldn’t
deal with. Any of those people
could have been you or me, and
we cried for them.
But we can’t identify with a
young Muslim soldier who has
lived every day of his life in some
conflict he can’t begin to under
stand. We can’t even identify with
a single mother on welfare be
cause minimum wage Won’t cover
her family’s needs.
We have grown fat in the land
of plenty and have become arro
gant and selfish. It is time for all
of us to wake up. We march ego
tistically into a war, not against
terrorism, not in defense of some
human atrocity, not even from a
place of moral superiority; we
march into a war because we
can.
We have not exhausted our op
tions; we have not reached the
end of our rope where no other
course of action can be taken so
that lives can be saved.
I say again: We have grown
selfish, we have grown lazy.
This sentiment has not trick
led down from on high; this is
not an epidemic flowing down
from the president’s office to the
valley. We are all concerned
with our own petty things —
whether wearing heels with
jeans is still “in,” whether J. Lo
will marry Ben or whether to go
to a restaurant tonight or to or
der pizza. There are people in
this country who eat ketchup
soup for dinner.
We live in a land of bounty
where disposable income is king
and all we can do is think about
ourselves. We are not here to
spend our days and nights wor
rying about fashion or even
18th-century French poetry. We
are here on this earth to take
care of each other and to be in
gladness.
It is a new day, and every day
we should move to be a blessing
to someone else, even in the small
est of ways.
We must be sensitive. Sensitive
enough to see and be glad in the
blessings we receive and sensitive
enough to empathize with those
who are not as fortunate. If we can
learn to see, to feel and then to do
the things to change the world
right outside our door, then the
sensitivity for the suffering of ev
ery person won i ue naiu 10 lam
om.
It is then that we will no
longer need to bomb. We won’t
have to say goodbye to our sons
and husbands who are being de
ployed. We won’t have to live in
fear.
So I say again: Are you con
cerned with your people? Then
what are you doing about it?
Reed is a fourth-year public
relations student.
i