The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 07, 2003, Page 4, Image 4
4 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Monday, April 7, 2003
SOUND OFF ONLINE POLL
Create message boards at Are you going to the spring
www.dailygamecock.com or football game?
send letters to the editor to www.dailygamecock.com.
gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com Results published on Fridays.
IN OUR OPINION
To our new
SG president
Dear Katie,
You’ve signed up for a big job.
You say you have faith that Student Government
can become an effective organization with a push in
the right direction. This past year, SG has been
known more for infighting and self-regulation than
for doing much to improve students’ lives. Maybe you
weren’t in a position to change that when you were
vice president. You’re in the perfect position now.
One of the easiest ways to make students care
... ... about SG is to allow them a
say of their own. Don’t stay
to Students closed off 111 y°ur Office, and
don’t allow SG to close itself
on trom tne rest ot tne student body, invite students
to speak at Senate meetings; actively seek their
ideas.
Another way to help students, especially in such
tight financial times, is to take USC’s concerns to the
state Legislature. Often, the ones who benefit most
from new legislation are the ones who speak the
loudest. Make our voice heard. Don’t just send a
liaison to sit in on the occasional House gathering.
Sign up to speak at the next meeting of the House
Higher Education Committee. Come with facts. Such
meetings are open to the public, and the legislators
will have to listen to you.
It’s your job to make SG matter to students. You’ve
got some good ideas — creating boards to address
student concerns and improving communication
within SG are a couple of them — but the challenge
will be turning those ideas into actions.
College Quote Board
THE DAILY FREE PRESS
DENNIS REARDON, BOSTON UNIVERSITY
“I don’t particularly care
whether hazing goes on — af
ter all, people who join frater
nities know what they are get
ting into.
What I object to is having
our money go toward organi
zations where you must go
through these weird rituals in
order to join.”
SWARTHMORE PHOENIX
MORGAN HOLT, SWARTHMORE COLLEGE
“If we sit on our butts stuff
ing our faces with Big Macs and
super-sized fries while watch
ing ‘Friends’ reruns, we’re go
ing to get fat. Big shock. But
then we sue McDonald’s for
making us fat because our port
liness alienates and depresses
us because, paradoxically, our
culture does not like the chub
biness it creates.”
GAMECOCK CORRECTIONS
The College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management was
incorrectly listed as the College of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism
Management in an informational graphic Wednesday about the
results of the Student Senate race.
Brian Murphy’s name was misspelled in an article about
Student Government elections on Wednesday.
The Gamecock regrets the errors.
If you see an error in today’s paper, we want to know. E-mail us
at gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com.
ABOUT THE GAME.GOGK
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
Bessam Khadraoui
Community Affairs
K«ran 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,
Med,a Wednesday and Friday
Ellen Parsons during the fall and
spring semesters and
Creative Director njne 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 an<j Communications
Patrick Bergen jS 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 Advertising: 777-3888
1400 Greene St. )■ Classified: 777-1184
Columbia. S.C. 29208 : Fax:777-6482
AUP^°NS
Wf WaSTT To ryskAuttAsa
/ Keep ufWrrrt Kid-- j
(ULtUC OTHER yoUR.£
tvchrhhf^)Wh1 / a,o^)f
5HOU^ WEP1CR
' \foV ftS OORWftR
"" Expert?
Voters determine term limits
BEN EDWARDS
GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM
Not all offices should
have time restrictions.
Concerning term limits,
which were considered by the
Founding Fathers during the
Constitutional Convention of
1787, Alexander Hamilton wrote
in the Federalist Papers,
“Nothing appears more plausi
ble at first sight, nor more ill
founded upon close inspection.”
His words ring with truth today.
I agree wholeheartedly that term
limits, in most cases, are a terri
ble idea.
The premise behind the move
ment is that politicians are in
herently corrupt and become
progressively more corrupt as
time goes on. Consequently, the
only viable way to ensure purity
in government is to prevent
politicians from remaining in
one position for an extended pe
riod of time. Many people dis
trust elected officials, not out of
any properly founded sentiment,
but rather out of an uneasiness
with having confidence in gov
ernment that lingers from the
Vietnam era. In some cases, I
agree that term limits are appro
priate. For instance, limiting the
term of the chief executive at
both state and federal levels
makes perfect sense because it
prevents the emergence of a dic
tatorial figure who so thoroughly
consolidates power under his or
her control as to become impos
sible to unseat.
The same vein of thought
when applied to the legislative
branch lacks merit because of the
distinctions in how power is ex
ercised by representatives.
Legislators do not have the same
degree of control over imple
mentation of procedural matters
as the executive branch does.
The power of legislators emerges
from their ability to build con
sensus with other legislators and
create coalitions to advance leg
islation that benefits enough of
the populace to ensure popular
support and, hence, re-election.
Enacting strict term limits in
sults the intelligence of voters by
essentially saying they are not
qualified to determine who
should remain in office and who
should be voted out. The best way
to limit the term of a corrupt of
ficial is to vote that official out of
office. No matter how much spe
cial-interest money an incum
bent spends, he can still be voted
out of office if his constituents do
not approve of the way he votes.
As an example of this, Tom
Foley, a Democrat who was serv
ing as speaker of the House, did
not win re-election in 1994. He
lost to a political novice who had
virtually insignificant name
recognition.
Term limits would emasculate
the power of the ballot and make
it impossible to retain elected of
ficials who have the necessary
experience to do a good job.
Contrary to popular belief, many
officials spend their time work
ing countless hours to help their
constituents. Summarily dump
ing these hard workers because
of the amount of time they have
been in office without evaluating
what they have done clearly
makes for injustice. Rather than
forcing qualified and experienced
legislators out of office, we should
retain the power of the ballot to
actively reward legislators who
do a good job and to vote out
politicians who do not perform.
The assumption that enacting
term limits will somehow im
prove the competence of elected
officials has no merit because
there is no demonstrable link be
tween limiting terms and im
proving the quality of our elected
officials. If anything, I fear it will
lower the bar and put the deci
sion-making power in the hands
of people without the necessary
experience to know the intrica
cies of government.
Edwards is a second-year
philosophy student.
IN YOUR OPINION
Everybody has his
own taste in music
According to Ray Murray,
Ludacris’ music isn’t music or
entertainment (“Ludacris’ mu
sic isn’t real entertainment,”
Friday). Well first of all, it’s
haters like Murray who try to
bash and degrade anything
they dislike or disagree with.
I am not a Ludacris fan, but I
don’t bash his music and say
that all he is selling is arrogance.
In fact, some of his stuff is actu
ally pretty good. Music is art,
and art comes in many forms,
sometimes pleasurable to the
mind, sometimes not. Musicians
make some of the best music in
the world by writing and
singing about the way they feel,
how they live and things in their
lives, and if it happens to con
tain some obscenities, it is their
right to do so.
L,uuacri5 may rap auoui some
issues that are looked down
upon or are considered rude and
degrading. Well you know what,
if you hate it that much, just
don’t listen: the solution to the
Ludacris controversy. If you
don’t like what he’s about, don’t
pay money for his CDs or con
certs. It is that simple.
Do you people think Ludacris
is the only rapper to ever talk
about money, drugs, hos and be
ing a thug? Do you remember
Ice-T and his song “Cop Killer”?
What happened when people
protested and tried to get his
music banned? His popularity
increased and he became an
even bigger public icon. The
same thing is happening with
Ludacris: The more you com
plain and protest, the more you
fuel his popularity.
If you don’t enjoy or agree
with Ludacris’ music, don’t lis
ten to it. Complaining about it
isn’t going to make him disap
pear or stop making music; if
you really want to protest him,
don’t pay any attention to him,
his music,or anything he rep
resents.
To all the Luda fans out there,
it’s your choice to listen to what
ever you want, so don’t let these
haters try to persuade you from
what you like. And to Murray
and every other Ludacris hater
out there, What gives you the
right to decide what is good and
bad music? People are entitled
to their own opinions, likes and
dislikes, and we will listen to
whatever we want to!
JONATHAN BRUCKER
FOURTH-YEAR MARINE-SCIENCE
STUDENT
Anti-war protesters
aren’t unpatriotic
The other day I was listening
to a morning radio show and
one of the DJs made a comment
about how there were anti-war
protesters gathering at a loca
tion outside. The DJ then pro
ceeded to say that all those who
support the war should go out
and show the anti-war people
how to be patriotic.
Excuse me? Just because
someone is against the war does
not mean they are not patriotic
or don’t support the troops. In
fact, it’s just the opposite. The
reason I do not support this war
is because of the troops. They
are the ones who are out there
fighting, dying, and leajving
their homes and families.
It is my generation that is pay
ing for this war. Of all the
Americans who are dead, cap
tured or missing, 50 of them are
under the age of 30. That’s more
than half. These are people who
just started their lives. They have
families, husbands, wives and
children who will grow up with
out knowing their parents. The
reason my generation is paying
for this war is because we are too
silent. This age group has the
lowest voter turnout in elections,
so America thinks that we do not
care about what goes on in our
country.
Every day, I walk around and
see students my age wearing
their uniforms. They could go to
fight tomorrow, and it makes me
sick to my stomach. It makes me
mad to think that my former
teacher has been over there since
last fall and left behind his wife
and two daughters.
But what really makes me sick
to my stomach is to hear my 58
year-old llth-grade English teach
er talk about how she’s never got
ten married because all the men
in her generation got killed in the
Vietnam War, which could be
reminiscent of a war we know
now.
JENNI DILLARD
FIRST-YEAR PRINT-JOURNALISM
STUDENT
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. Submissions are
limited to two per person per semester.
Call the newsroom at 777-7726 for more
information.
Express
yourself
without
cursing
SHAWN ROURK
GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM
Here are alternatives to
the five big dirty words.
I never noticed the language of
college students. Up until now, I
never have noticed how much
profanity people use in everyday
conversation. Frankly, it’s a little
disturbing.
Being one who would put a
sailor to shame with my mouth,
it never did occur to me just to
stop using that language and
think of other ways to say phras
es.
I’m not saying that cussing is
a completely bad thing, but it los
es its effectiveness when people
use it too much.
For some people, f— k isn’t
even a word; it’s a comma. It has
become such an overused word
that, whenever someone says it,
it doesn’t even faze me. So to clean
up this filthy problem, I have com
piled a list of five dirty words and
some alternatives to wearing out
these staple phrases of college life.
♦F—k, v., n.: F—k is a hard one.
Because of the wonderful, kind of
whip-cracking sound at the end of
the word, it is a hard-to-beat exple
tive. However, you could call some
one a “shmuck!” And f ing would
become “shmoozing.” Fd up could
then be “crunked-up.” Flark is an
other good alternative for this, and
it rolls off the tongue.
- V^XX, li., V.. 1CICU1UU1C1 Id
vorite of college students. My fa
vorite alternative to this is dork.
Yes, this one jumps off the tongue
and can rhyme in time in songs. I
hear that it is becoming a new al
ternative for Will Smith to use in
his music. Instead of this degrad
ing word, you could call someone
a dunderhead, not only insulting
them, but confusing them as well.
♦ Hell, n.: Hell is about the only
word on this list that can be print
ed in a newspaper because, to
most people, it is a proper noun.
However, it has worked itself, at
least in the past 100 years, into the
popular phrase, “How in the... ”
There really aren’t any alterna
tives to this one, except for heck
— which can be a good one to use
if you are in front of your parents.
♦ S—t, n.: This is a favorite of
people who have recently experi
enced problems with their com
puters. I can no longer count the
number of times I have said this
when my computer freezes and I
have an essay due early the next
morning. My only alternative if
one were going to scream this at
the top of one’s lungs would be to
jumble the word so that it sounds
like a line out of some rap-metal
song.
♦ A—s: i ms one is tne easiest.
You could simply use the normal
alternative to it, butt. There are a
few more creative ways to say it,
however. One could go with my
all-time favorite: fool. Other op
tions include birdbrain, block
head, bonehead, dimwit, halfwit,
idiot, imbecile, jerk, lunkhead, mo
ron, nincompoop, ninny, nitwit,
numbskull, stooge and twit.
Try to make a game out of
putting together some of these in
teresting phrases. Then you can
come up with cool catchphrases
like “Holy flarking schnit!” Or, if
you really want to put someone
down, call him a “crunked-up
dunderhead who can’t spell worth
a schnit.” Or, if someone is both
ering you, use my favorite:
“Backupoffmuhgrill, you
schmuck.”
Of course, the complete oppo
site could happen now, if you
made it to the end of this. Right
about now, some of you might be
thinking what my editor was
thinking when she finished this:
“What the F—K!”
Rourk is a first-year print
journalism Student.