The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 25, 2003, Page 3, Image 3
THE GAMECOCK ♦ Friday, April 25, 2003 3
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IN OUR OPINION
New degree
makes sense
If its plans are approved next month, USC’s
College of Education will finally join other South
Carolina colleges by offering bachelor’s degree
programs.
When these programs come into effect,
undergraduates will be able to major in education
instead of having to settle for it as a minor. This
makes much more sense for students looking to
become teachers, especially those interested in
Introducing
bachelor’s degree
programs in
education is more
practical than
forcing future
elementary
school teachers
to take advanced
chemistry
courses.
elementary or cnnanooa
education.
Before, it wasn’t uncommon
for students who intended to
teach kindergarten to have to
take advanced-level
mathematics or science
courses, which would be a
waste of time, not to mention
money.
The change should also
attract more students to USC. Colleges such as
Charleston Southern University, Winthrop
University and the College of Charleston already
offer similar programs. It was easier for students to
get the degree they wanted by attending one of these
schools instead of USC, and they wouldn’t have to
only minor in education.
Maybe, with the introduction of the new bachelor’s
degree programs, some of those students who would
have gone to Charleston Southern, Winthrop or the
College of Charleston can now look at USC as a viable
option for their education degrees.
Gamecock Quotables
“Anything you do while
you’r,e in college headed
toward the job market... you
ought to be thinking how does
this fit with acknowledge
ment to your goals.”
LARRY SALTERS
CAREER CENTER DIRECTOR GIVES
INTERNSHIP ADVICE TO STUDENTS
“We definitely learned our
lesson. We’ll make sure it’s
never kept on campus again.”
JEFF BLATT
HEAD OF THE RAIDER RED COMMITTEE ON
THE THEFT OF TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY’S
RAIDER RED MASCOT COSTUME
“We rolled in, go to the pad,
never played there — and
there’s a locksmith there
changing the lock. And the
owner comes — says he’s
evicting these people.”
MIKE WATT
MUSICIAN ON THE TUESDAY-NIGHT CLOSING
OF SENATE PARK
“The faculty has been looking
forward for a long time
getting out of the basement of
the Coliseum.”
CHARLES BIERBAUER
DEAN OF THE COLLEGE OF MASS
COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION
STUDIES ON THE POSSIBLE RELOCATION OF
USC'S JOURNALISM SCHOOL
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
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Managing Editor
Charles Tomlinson
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Erin O'Neal
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' Meg Moore
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Goff. Mary Waters
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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 South
Carolina. The Board of
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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
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ineuiamecocK pf
1400 Greene St.
Columbia, S.C. 29208
Advertising: 777-3888
Classified: 777-1184
Fax: 777-6482
lfe«f
You get what you paidfor
ROB SEAL
GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM
Show off that college
learning to the world.
Elroy McLoy had an awful
name. Knowing this, he went by
Roy. Roy was in college when he
was nearly fatally wounded by
his backpack.
Roy, in the Spring of his 4th
. year of college, was not doing fine
in school. He was studying jour
nalism, and had realized he was
a lousy journalism learner. Roy,
who was a fan of crass puns,
thought his college career shared
characteristics with a turd that
was one spiral away from com
pleting a flush. In order for the
turd of his academic career to
make it safely into the drainage
pipe of graduation, Roy would
have to get his crap together.
Roy sighed. It was like a
metaphor.
Roy had 3 days left in his 8th,
and next-to-last, semester of
College. For 7.9 semesters of col
lege and three and one half years
of high-school, Roy had worn his
backpack with only 1 shoulder
strap. It had been the fashionable
way to wear the backpack for a lit
tle while, and he never quit. This
had damaged his back. Because
he wore the backpack with one
strap, and because his backpack
weighed forty-seven lbs., Roy was
nearly fatally wounded on the
way to his most important class.
Roy carried all the leavings of
his education on his back. He still
had a failed biology quiz from the
eleventh grade, safely crammed
in his backpack with about twen
ty three notebooks.
Roy had considered that his
backpack might actually be a
book-bag, but decided there were
too many nonbook objects in it.
Every quiz, test, note, and notice
of impending academic suspen
sion Roy had ever received was
in his backpack. There were a lot
of failed grammer exercises, and
botched labs reflecting Roy’s
suckatude at a.p. style. He con
sidered filing suit against the a.p.,
inferring that his unability to
master they’re skills was due to
some short-coming on they’re
part. Roy wrote in passive voice
almost sixty % of the time. He was
always mispelling things.
You could say Roy had a flare
for failure. He got Fs with a capi
tol f. But somehow Elroy McLoy
had persevered through seven
point nine semesters of college.
There was a lot of summer school
and borderline remedial classes
involved in his perseverance. It
had been quite expensive, and
Roy really wanted his diploma
shaped receipt.
Finally, 3 days before his final
exams started at the end of his
8th semester, Roy was late to
class. It was a class in which he
was not doing well. In fact, if he
botched the lab he was heading
to, he would fail the course for
the 2nd time. The door to his
classroom was at the top of a
flight of thirty three stairs. At the
thirty second stair, the forty sev
en lbs. of Roy’s backpack caused
something to snap in Roy’s spine
and he collapsed on his face,
limbs akimbo, directly in front
of the door. He was to weak too
move. He had been studying
without sleep for hours. The
weight of his backpack bore <
down on him, and his academic
career hung in the balance.
He could lift his back-pack, re
pair his spine, and keep truckin
— or he can just skip class.
Heskipedclasss.
THEND
Seal is a fourth-year print
journalism student.
IN YOUR OPINION
Name-calling does
nothing for cause
I am writing in response to
Bryan Cox’s letter (“War
protesters have been proven
wrong,” April 14).
Speaking as a small member
of the hippies, I am still attend
ing USC. I have not run away,
and still think war is a brutish
affair that we must avoid. I
have plenty of chalk, but now, I
prefer to use ink.
I recall a peaceful rally out
side the Preston commune,
which I do not live in, and the
tension that it raised. Must I re
mind you who was angered and
sought to disrupt the open dis
cussion with rhetoric? It was
not the hippies. We welcome
discussion if you will allow it.
Your letter reeks of anger,
foolishness and pride. It con
tains no intelligent argument
and seems nothing more than
an opportunity to insult people
whose views differ from your
own.
I respect your opinion and
hold no hostilities toward you.
Simply, I challenge you not to
respond to me with name-call
ing.
This government faces the
overwhelming task of restoring
order to Iraq. If we fail to follow
our violent introduction into
Iraq with the support needed to
repair the damage caused by
violence, you will see me and
thousands of others voicing our
opinions, which is our duty as
American citizens.
I will be there if you would
like to discuss your thoughts
with me or anyone else. And if
you see me, I will not run or
hide my face. Do not worry; I
shower and do not stink of egg.
RUSftELL P. JONES II
THIRD-YEAH ENIiLlSH STUDENT
Comparing Israel
and Iraq is absurd
Matt Smith is misinformed
and misdirected in his assess
ment of Israel’s actions (“Israel
isn’t much different from Iraq,”
April 9). Smith is using Israel
as a scapegoat for the problems
in the Middle East.
In 1948, rather than recog
nizing a U.N. agreement al
lowing for the existence of a
Jewish state and a Palestinian
state, the entire Arab League
declared war on Israel. The
Israeli Defense Forces are in
structed not to open fire unless
they are first fired upon by the
enemy.
The picture Smith paints of
a murderous Israel is prepos
terous. Israel has never target
ed Palestinian civilians; all tar
gets Eire militarily strategic in
response to Palestinian suicide
attacks. Nor does Israel want to
“inflict harm and death upon
Iraqis.” Its opposition to
Saddam Hussein stems at the
very least from scud missile at
tacks during the first Gulf War.
Israel was a neutral country,
and did not even retaliate.
All Israeli citizens enter its
army at the age of 18. Its citi
zens are prosecuted for refus
ing service, not, as Smith im
plies, for refusing to harm
Palestinians. The American cit
izen was killed by the Israeli
bulldozer because she inten
tionally placed herself in the
line of fire, not because she
voiced opposition to Israeli
policies.
Israel is not completely fault
less in its actions since 1949.
But to compare its free society
to aggressive, totalitarian
regimes is inexcusable.
MATT DEANTONIOr
FIRST-YEAR ECONOMICS STUDENT
Seniors deserve to
have housing priority
Having 550 upperclassmen on
the on-campus housing waiting
list, which includes myself, is
ridiculous.
As a rising senior, the last
thing I need -to worry about is
whether I’m going to have a place
to live next school year. Reading
that “just about every senior will
get on campus” does not make me
feel any better.
University Housing needs to
do better than that. I realize
nothing is perfect, but this situ
ation just adds to the universi
ty’s long list of problems: The in
crease in tuition, campus safety
and the parking problem just to
name a few.
I understand freshmen are a
priority, but I think the large in
coming class is taking up too
many housing options. As a.
sophomore last year, I lived in
Columbia Hall and had a fresh
man roommate. When I was a
freshman, I could only dream of
living in a suite-style dorm.
I should have just as much
privilege and priority as a rising
senior for on-campus housing. I
have given this university three
years’ worth of hard work, tuition
and expensive fees. I want a hous
ing assignment; I didn’t pay $125
— $25 of which is non-refundable
— to be put on a waiting list.
NANCY J. COLLINS
THIRD-YEAR ADVERTISING 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 seni^ter.
Call the newsroom at 777-7726 for more
information.
Decide
what’s
bestfor
your life
-* ANNA LAKE
GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM
Your future is shaped by
the choices you make.
Chris Tucker said it best in
the comedic hit “Rush Hour”:
“Do you understand the words
that are coming out of my
mouth?”
Lately, everything that comes
out of my mouth is taken the
wrong way, taken too seriously,
not taken seriously enough or
taken as an ultimatum. No pres
sure.
The semester is drawing to a
close,'and summer is quickly ap
proaching. With summer comes
afternoons on the lake, baking in
the sun, drinking iced tea on the
porch and relatives constantly
asking what my plans for the fu
ture are.
No, I do not know what I want
to be when I grow up. I do know
what I don’t want to be: anything
that involves blood or small chil
dren.
I was not a normal child. I
didn’t ask for Nintendo games or
dress-up clothes for my birthday.
I asked for microphones and those
Talkboy things from the movie
“Home Alone.” Anything so I
could hear myself talk and prac
tice “interviewing” people.
I kept a journal and sometimes
even made up events in my life
just to have something interest
ing to write about. I was in plays
instead of basketball games. I
was in drama competitions in
stead of cheerleading competi
tions. I have watched the
“Today” show more faithfully
than anything else on television,
and my world changed the day I
met Katie Couric.
Understand the words that are
coming out of my month: Yes, I
tell people that I want to be Katie
Couric when I grow up. In all
honesty, I have no idea what I
want to be when I grow up. I
have no idea where I will be 20
years from now. But I know that
the “Today” show doesn’t sound
bad.
While some of you are lucky
and the biggest worry in your life
right now is whether you will eat
dinner at the GMP or Pandini’s, I
spend far too much time worried
that mv next decision could affect
the rest of my life. Even if it’s piz
za or a sub — you never know
who you might meet in that sub
line.
So, with these fears in mind, 1'
am trying to figure out exactly
where I’ll be this summer. The
Midlands? The Upstate?
Washington, D.C.? Italy? I have
to make the right choice right
now, or else. All I am hearing is:
“We need to know something by
the end of the week.” These
words that are coming out of my
mouth are going to be the rest of
my life.
In planning for the rest of my
life, I place extremely high val
ue on the opinion of my parents.
I don’t usually let on that they
are so important. About 90 per
cent of the time, I argue with
whatever they say, no matter if
it is about boys, cars, school or
my career. I don’t have a clue
how, but my parents are always
right. I need to understand the
words that are coming out ot
their mouths.
Yeah, I’m sarcastic and make
jokes a lot. But I do worry about
my future a lot, too. I’m just as
confused as most college stu
dents.
So, on second thought, it’s OK
if you don’t understand the words
that are coming out of my mouth.
They probably don’t make much
sense anyway.
-
Lake is a second-year electronic
journalism student