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4 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Friday, March 28, 2003 « SOUNDOFF TT71TTTT^/^V" VimO ONLINE POLL Create message boards at I B—4 ■ /B / B—^ fl B I Which No. 1 seed will advance the far www.dailygamecock.com or I I 1 j ■ / ■/ fl fl fl I I l thest in the men’s NCAA tournament? send letters to the editor to II k W W I \ / B Ik/ KENTUCKY 50% gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com —B— B 4 f f B 1 B r\—/ ARIZONA 25% IN OUR OPINION SG act could fix parking Aitnougn student government nas Been otten criticized as purely a self-governing body, this past Wednesday it passed a reform act that touches an issue close to the heart of every USC student: parking. The Campus Parking Reform Act, sponsored by Sen. J.D. Shipman, is a realistic attempt to alleviate perhaps the biggest headache at USC. Under the plan, freshmen will be awarded any leftover garage spots on a lottery basis after upperclassmen have If the students and faculty would stand behind this bill and voice their concerns to the Board of Trustees, we could see this legislation become law. registered. The bill calls for putting security cameras in parking lots to deter crime. It also speaks against the frustrating problem of favoring green space over parking lots and ticketing cars when their owners had no prior warning that their lot would be closed for an event. But this legislation isn’t perfect. It calls for a global positioning system for the Carolina Shuttle so that students can track the position of a shuttle at any time. It’s a superfluous decision that will only create additional costs in a time of harsh budget cuts. Sadly, the Senate act is only a glorified suggestion that does not ensure a change in university policy. But if the students and faculty would stand behind this bill and voice their concerns to the Board of Trustees, we could see this legislation become law. Maybe then, the “parking utopia” promised by University Parking could begin to come into focus. Gamecock Quotables “He’s sitting there in his little room thinking he’s having a good morning, and whap, we’re in, whap, we’re out.” COL. CHRIS VERNON BRITISH ARMY SPOKESMAN ON THE CAPTURE OF A SENIOR LEADER OF BAATH, IRAQ'S LEADING PARTY “Regardless of what type of music you like, or even if you are a regular listener or not, this is a great chance to raise some money for a good cause. ” TUG BAKER WUSC STATION MANAGER ON MOOLAH FOR MUSIC CAMPAIGN “There are different people from all different political affiliations involved in this. They want to make sure the party remains diverse, and I think they are doing a good job of that.” ANKIT PATEL STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT ON THE PALMETTO PARTY “It is great to get a win against Clemson, no matter what sport you play them in.” KENT DEMARS USC MEN’S TENNIS HEAD COACH ON THE TEAM'S WIN OVER CLEMSON 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 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 EJessam Khadraoui Community Affairs Kiran Shah CONTACT INFORMATION Offices on third floor of the Russell House. Editor in Chief: gamecockeditor@hotmail.com News: gamecockudesk@hotmail.com Viewpoints: gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com The Mix: gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com Sports: gamecocksports@hotmail.com Public Affairs: gckpublicaffairs@hotmail.com Online: www.dailygamecock.com Newsroom: 777-7726 Editor's Office: 777-3914 STUDENT MEDIA The Gamecock is the editorially independent Faculty Adviser student newspaper of Erik Collins the University of South Carolina. It is Director of Student published Monday. Media Wednesday and Friday Ellen Parsons during the fall and spring semesters and Creative Director nine times during the Susan King summer, with the exception of university Business Manager holidays and exam Carolyn Griffin periods. Opinions expressed in The Advertising Manager Gamecock are those of Sarah Scarborough the editors or author and not those of the Classified Manager University of South Sherry F. Holmes Carolina. The Board of Student Publications Production Manager and Communications Patrick Bergen |S the publisher of The Gamecock. The Creative Services Department of Student Derek Goode, Media is the Earl Jones, newspaper’s parent Sean O'Meara, organization. The Anastasia Oppert Gamecock is supported in part by Advertising Staff student-activity fees. John Blackshire, One free copy per Adam Bourgoin, reader. Additional Bianca Knowles. copies may be Denise Levereaux, purchased for $1 each Jacqueline Rice, from the Department Stacey Todd of student Media. TO PLACE AN AD The Gamecock i Advertising: 777-3888 1400 Greene St. Classified: 777-1184 Columbia, S.C. 29208 Fax:777-6482 * CARTOON COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS Festival uproar is ludicrous ROB SEAL GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM No one would be upset if Miles Davis played. Miles Davis, despite being a musical genius, was an asshole. At least that’s the picture his bi ographers paint. In fact, that’s how he describes himself in his autobiography. He hit women, stole and pawned other musi cians’ instruments, and even smacked John Coltrane for try ing to quit the band. He talked trash about such people as Thelonius Monk, Charles Mingus and Dave Brubeck. Miles Davis refused, for the most part, to play in the South, so he probably would never have found himself in the position Ludacris is in. A while ago, I saw Russell Simmons, founder of Def Jam Records, defending Ludacris on Fox News. Simmons was protesting the fact that Pepsi had dropped an endorsement deal with Ludacris because of the con troversial content of his music. If this had happened today, there would have been a reporter em bedded at Def Jam, eliminating the need for Simmons to be phys ically present at the Fox studios. Watching Simmons stalwartly defend a rapper on the always fair-and-balanced Fox News chan nel was mesmerizing. It goes without saying that the anchor of the show — I think it was either Jerry Falwell or Newt Gingrich — barely let Simmons get a word in. What Falwell or Gingrich said was along the same lines as some of the protests that have arisen as a result of Ludacris’ impending performance at the 3 Rivers Music Festival. Some people in the Columbia area have vocally protested Ludacris’ playing at 3 Rivers. It was even a topic at a City Council meeting this past week. This is why Miles Davis didn’t play in the South. To those people who are con cerned with the content of Ludacris’ music, I would advise staying home during the 3 Rivers Festival this year. There — prob lem solved. The outcry that’s gone up from the Columbia communi ty, especially since it was revealed that there isn’t anything anybody can do about his playing now, any way, is ridiculous. Let’s be hon est. Most of the people protesting have probably never even heard his music before. I don’t think I’ve ever heard his music before. It’s his character that people have the real problem with. Even though Miles Davis was an asshole, I still would have gone to see him play. I like his music. And if a bunch of people who had never heard his music rose up in revolt and said: “He can’t play here! He’s a woman-hitting, in strument-stealing, Coltrane smacking, trash-talking asshole!” I think the most obvious reply would be to tell those people to stay home, or at least ask them to be quiet during his solos. If the perceived problem is that Ludacris might be corrupting the youth of America, then I’m afraid the adults of America have al ready been corrupted by idiocy. A good kid who walks into a Ludacris concert is not going to walk out a criminal. Besides, where was the public outcry when the String Cheese Incident was at 3 Rivers a couple of years ago? I’m sure the likelihood of being offered drugs or debauchery was a lot higher with that crowd than any thing Ludacris will muster up. It would be better if Miles Davis were playing. Seal is a fourth-year print iournalism student. IN YOUR OPINION Endorsing Norton was a bad decision After reading the editorial “Norton could make Senate ef fective” (Wednesday), I have quite a few comments for The Gamecock. First, it seems obvious that The Gamecock is no longer looking at the facts or who would do the best job, but sim ply favoring an image of Norton that doesn’t even exist. The facts speak for themselves, or so I thought. The problem is The Gamecock editorial board chose to ignore them. First of all, I must point out that Patrick Norton has only been part of the Senate for one month. He knows little about how the system works, espe cially compared to Zachery Scott, who has not only been in volved in SG since high school, but is one of the most active in SG at USC. pcu i ui me pi uuiem <xi ovj is that business is not con ducted in a timely manner, mostly because the leaders don’t quite understand Senate procedures or bills that are to be followed. The Gamecock is therefore endorsing a candi date who has no experience in this area and ignoring the more experienced candidate, Scott. Good job, guys. Second, when comparing the candidates on a moral and per sonal basis, Scott wins by a landslide. Norton has not only shown poor judgment in the past when put in front of the Judicial Council, but also shown his lack of loyalty when ratting out his previous room mates for something he told them was ^)K to do. Not to men tion that I have heard numer ous people, his own friends, talking badly about him. He fol lows his best interests at the time, caring little about how his actions might affect others. On the other hand, Scott has shown that he is not only doing what’s best for his con stituents, but is being true to himself. He is articulate, open minded and experienced, al lowing him to be a better, posi tive leader for the diverse cam pus at USC. The bottom line is The Gamecock was wrong. It needs to review what is really going on here — and realize that if it wants the Senate to move faster and get things done, en dorsing an inexperienced, sketchy, closed-minded candi date like Norton is not the way to go. Scott is the only one who will get the job done and is who should be chosen on Election Day. JENNIFER DE VITA SECOND-YEAR SOCIOLOGY STUDENT Norton’s views are against progress I found vice presidential can didate Patrick Norton’s com ments regarding the manner in which the university treats its students and places its priori ties in The Gamecock on Wednesday to be short-sighted and incorrect. Norton said: “USC’s not liv ing up to its potential. It cares more about football than it does about students.” I am not ex actly sure where his perspec tive is coming from, but it dis regards tlie rich athletic tradi tion of this state and university, the Gamecock pride and its le gions of devoted fans, as well as a university that has done an excellent job taking care of and communicating with its students. I have friends from UGA, UNC, Ohio State and Wake Forest, all of whom have ex pressed admiration for Carolina when I tell them about universi ty policies and procedures that affect my everyday life as a stu dent. They express sentiments along the lines of, “Wow, I wish we had it that good.” Students have access to just about any information they could desire, all the way to minutes from meetings of the Board of Trustees. The Gamecock does an excellent job of reporting official university developments, as does The State newspaper. His other point, regarding em phasis on the Carolina athletics, is equally disturbing. Major uni versities’ national image is large ly based on their sports teams: Miami football, Kentucky bas ketball, et cetera. Norton need only look back one decade to see how far our Athletics Department has come in terms of image, staff, coaches and, most importantly, overall success. Mike McGee has done a fantastic job as our athlet ics director, and the fruits of his labor are more recognition and the ability to attract higher-pro file students to Carolina. Norton’s philosophies are counterproductive to the efforts being taken by this university to improve both student life and the Athletics Department. NICK BOZZUTO SECOND-YEAR FINANCE STUDENT Submission Policy Letters to the editor shduld 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. Submissions ac# limited to two per person per semesti/ Call the newsroom at 777-7726 for more information. Don't miss out on dorm living ANNA LAKE GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM Maying on campus isni as fun as campus life. I awake each morning to the sounds of trees being sent through some sort of grinding machine outside my window be cause it is too hot to sleep with the windows closed. I lie on my floor for a little nap because I can’t find my bed, but the floor is covered in a thin layer of gross dust — or something. My room mate is glued to CNN’s coverage of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and I’m sick of war coverage, but we only have one television. Ah, the joys of living in a dorm. And now, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. Nope, not Christmas. Yes, March Madness, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about housing sign-ups. It’s the time when ev eryone rushes to find someone with good personal hygiene to spend nine months with. It’s the place where all fine col lege dreams are made — the dorm room. That wonderful mold-filled, asbestos.-laced jail cell that you and your soon-to-be ex-best friend will share. It’s not for the weak of heart. i vc La.rv.cn iwu iuiau,y umcicm routes to approaching housing at USC. I came to USC as a fresh man with a good friend of mine as a roommate, and we got to know each other like never be fore. She moved to the sorority hall, and I decided I wasn’t that brave. So I went potluck as a sophomore and have enjoyed meeting tons of new people — some very odd people, but rather entertaining for the most part. Living in a college dorm room is like no other experience in your life. You are stuck in one room with one person 24 hours a day for nine months with no place else to go. Growing up, most people generally have their own bedrooms and have a little privacy. When married, people usually share a bedroom but are graced with other rooms in the house to have some alone time. But not in college. So now that housing sign-ups are here, I’ve made a list of a few things you should look out for when deciding whom to room with: X/ XI xxvxng 111 all dydl iineiii style room or suite, be sure to find someone who will clean your bathroom for you. The key here is to find someone who is border line obsessive-compulsive. 2) Extreme violence can be a bad sign. If you’ve ever seen your potential roommate throw objects at people or things, watch out. And don’t be fooled; pillows can be used as weapons. It’s just com mon sense, folks. 3) Sleepwalking could also be dangerous. It just doesn’t sound like fun to wake up with someone urinating on the floor beside you. 4) Stay away from stuffed ani mals, especially monkeys that make loud squeaking noises. If your potential roommate has one of these in her possession, I sug gest you find a new roommate. It probably means she wants to see that new Piglet movie, too. Those are just a few key sug gestions. But if presented with the option of on-campus or off-cam pus housing, live on campus. You can’t beat waking up five minutes before class and still making it on time. ou gu uui duu actuun iui yuui nearest friend with the fewest per sonality disorders, claim her as your own and enjoy yourself. After all, aren’t these our “good old days”? --(»-JL Lake is a second-year electronic journalism student.