Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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SOUND OFF ONLINE POLL Create message boards at Do you use USC’s antivirus www.dailygamecock.com or " software or your own? send letters to the editor to www.dailygamecock.com. gamecockopinions@hotmail.com Results published on Fridays. IN OUR OPINION How to keep your bicycle r USC Police have already received reports of 10 bicycle thefts this semester — only 11 were stolen during the entire fall semester 2002. Bicycles are a fast and environmentally friendly way to get to class, so it’s a shame so many have been stolen. Many bicycles disappear because students lock them with chain or cable locks. Students should Many bicycles disappear because students lock them with chains or similar locks. Students should use the sturdy U-bolt locks to secure bicycles. use the hard U-bolt locks to secure bicycles; USCPD hasn’t received a theft report from a bike with a U-bolt. Students should also register bicycles with Parking Services at the Pendleton Street garage. It only takes five minutes, and while its benefits aren’t stellar, it can’t hurt. If your bike is stolen, the USC sticker on your bicycle could be used to identify it if you LillillV J VU ¥ V 11W L iWIXvJ 11UO J WW1 V/iV. But the dorms also could do a few things to stymie criminals. If USC dorms had interior rooms where bicycles could be stored — perhaps one of the closets — students could keep their bicycles off the street and away from bolt cutters. Also, a lot of bicycle racks are kept rather far from the street. USCPD has better things to do than patrol parked bicycles, so well-hidden racks like the one near the Towers invite crime. These racks, poorly lit li and never seen, could be moved directly under a streetlight near the road. TX X» 1 /"* • winners ana sinners SEC With four teams ranked in the country’s top 15, who wouldn’t want to be a football fan in the Bible belt? JOHN EDWARDS Democratic presidential candidate speaks at USC. Three down, six to go. DARK CHOCOLATE Study suggests it could lower your blood pressure. Medicine never tasted so good. GAS PRICES AAA says gas prices will skyrocket for Labor Day. Don’t hit the beach; hit the Horseshoe. BIKE THEFTS USCPD says about 10 bikes have been stolen so far this semester. So much for helping the environment. PRESTON PARKING Lots disappear as green space takes over. What’s wrong with asphalt? GAMECOCK CORRECTIONS If you see an error in today’s paper, we want to know. E-mail us at gamecockopinions@hotmail.com. ABOUT THE GAMECOCK Editor In Chief ^ Charles Tomlinson Managing Editor Adam Beam News Editor Michael LaForgia Asst. News Editor Alexis Stratton Viewpoints Editor Corey Garriott The Mix Editor Meg Moore Asst. The Mix Editor Brian Ray Sports Editor Brad Senkiw Photo Editor Morgan Ford Asst. Photo Editor Trisha Shadwell A Head Page Designers W Shawn Rourk, David Stagg Page Designers Justin Bajan, Samantha Hall, Staci Jordan Slot Copy Editors Amy Genoble, Alyson Goff, TriciaRidgway Copy Editors Gabrielle Sinclair, Mary Waters Online Editor James Tolbert CONTACT INFORMATION Offices on third floor of the Russell House. Editor in Chief: gamecockeditor@hotmail.com News: gamecockudesk@hotmail.com Viewpoints: gamecockopinions@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 Faculty Adviser Erik Collins 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. Ai^stasia Oppert Advertising Staff John Blackshire. Adam Bourgoin, Ben Sinclair, Jesica Johnson, Ryan Gorman. Laytoya Hines 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 South Carolina. The Board of Student Publications and Communications is the pubJisher of The Gamecock. The Department of Student Media is the newspapers parent organization. The Gamecock is supported in part by student-activity fees. One free copy per reader. Additional copies may be purchased for $1 each from the Department of Student Media. TO PLACE AN AD i he Gamecock 1400 Greene St. Columbia, S.C. 29208 Advertising: 777-3888 Classified: 777-1184 Fax: 777-6482 11 xrTsr^,BJO W,,ll CARTOON COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS ‘Mr. Right’is a wrong ideal JOHN RABON GAMECOCKOPINIONS@HOTMAIL.COM Consider finding a nice guy for your next beau. Can the little girl’s dream of a “knight in shining armor” exist anymore? This what I find my self asking while on the receiv ing end of two tales of woe re garding some of my female friends’ dealings with guys. Every little giri, it seems, grows up listening to fairy tales about a guy who’s going to sweep her off her feet and take her away to be his princess, only to reach adulthood with the realization that life isn’t a fairy tale, and they’re going to have to kiss a lot of frogs before finding their prince. I don’t suppose this realization could be any more true than it is with my friends Claire and Paige (names have been changed to pro tect the innocent, a la Dragnet). Claire is probably the less dra matic of the two cases, just com ing out of a relationship that’s been off and on with the same guy since high school. She left him when it no longer appeared that he had any drive in his life and left before he started taking her downhill with him. This was hard for her because he’s the only guy she’s had ma jor feelings for, and then he winds up degenerating before her very eyes into someone that wasn’t half the man she fell in love with. Since the breakup, she’s sworn off all serious relationships. Paige, on the other hand, comes from the opposite end of the spectrum. She has had many different relationships, most re sulting in bad breakups that have spawned trust issues and deep in ner fears. This has caused her to second guess practically any guy that asks her out, wondering if he’s really interested in her or just trying to get in her pants. Now she finds herself sexual ly involved with a guy who prac tically ignores her until she threatens to leave, then comes af ter her begging for her not to leave. She has opted to wait around and see if he ever comes out of this “I love her, I love her not” phase. Both of the cases are pretty hard for me to judge from the out side because the way I see it, it’s these kinds of situations that leave girls feeling burned and ru ining a lot of chances with decent guys. Whether it occurs following one bad incident or multiple heartbreaks, the classic image of the knight has been shattered, leaving the girl wondering if “Mr. Right” hasn’t just been a fig ment of her imagination this whole time. Is it still possible to hold onto that image after having life throw you so much crap? I think so, perhaps you just overlook him because you aren’t looking in the right place, or maybe he just doesn’t exist in the sense that women are looking for. I believe what comes along tends to look a little more like Don Quixote. His armor is bat tered, scratched, and he wears a shaving basin for a helmet; it is his spirit, however, that shines through like a true knight. He opens doors, pulls out chairs and puts a coat over the ground for you to walk on;' he just doesn’t look like an Abercrombie model. Maybe he’s just the average-look ing guy across the hall who needs a chance. Think about that. John Rabon is a second-year English student. ♦ The Viewpoints section has a new e-mail address. gamecockopinions@hotmail.com The gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com address is no longer in service. Sorry to those who have sent letters to the editor that were never printed because of problems with our account. You can now send us letters at the address above. Thanks. Racial perks are still unjust ALBERT CASTLE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON DAILY COUGAR Racial admissions hurt students for no reason. One exceptionally bland day of high school my senior year, I re ceived a yellow pass in one of my classes. A yellow pass was almost always good because it meant that the counselor was pulling you out of hell briefly, most likely to ask you some random question about something unimportant. Natur ally, I was elated and headed to the counselor’s office. Once I got there, the counselor politely asked me if I was aware that my information labeled me as “Hispanic.” “I guess,” I replied. “Well, you know that one of your parents must be full Hispanic or both of your parents must be of half Hispanic origin for you to be considered Hispanic?” she asked. “I guess,” I again replied. “Are you clear on what is con sidered a Hispanic country?” she asked. “Uh, well, my dad is full Cuban,” I said, beginning to won der where this all was going. After being asked if I was sure of this, it was explained to me that I had been selected as a finalist in the National Hispanic Recog nition Program. The situation im mediately struck me as funny, considering the counselor’s reac tion to the fact that I'm as white looking as they come. The issues and considerations surrounding affirmative action are a complicated many; there fore, it would be imprudent for me to make a broad judgment. But from my own personal expe riences, I have found that affir mative action spells nothing but injustice for the prospective col lege student. If affirmative action is meant to ensure equal opportunity, it is self-defeating. Nothing is equal about giving certain groups of people an advantage because of the color of their skin or their heritage. It is unjust to punish an entire generation of young Americans because they are white. Redressing past discrimination shouldn't begin by inhibiting one group to advance another. Universities will stop at noth ing to become more diverse, even if it means employing devious methods. In one such scheme, the University of California decided to give the SAT II twice as much weight in admissions as the SAT I. This decision seemed innocu ous until under-qualified Hispanics began to be admitted in others’ places. How did this happen? They aced the Spanish language SAT II, a test designed to measure second language ac quisition. In a society where our doctors, scientists and national leaders have reached their positions due to merit, affirmative action as it is implemented in universities today is a step backward. The only real and fair solution is to attack the problem at its source. Politicians avoid this be cause bringing our educational system up to date and funding disadvantaged schools costs money that can only be raised in taxes.’ Strange allies in Iraq are perilous ERIC BOST OKLAHOMA STATE DAILY O'COLLEGIAN Using former Iraqi intelligence isn’t wise. . We're all well-versed with the phrase “war is hell,” but what is it after the war is over? Well, as we have seen, it is just a continuation of that: hell. Yes, we are still in Iraq in an attempt to make the country's transition to democracy happen. Establishing a stable govern ment and economy is crucial be cause there is still a danger of Saddam coming back or another unfriendly power taking his picnic. So, although more and more soldiers die in Iraq on a daily ba "sis, that is the reasoning behind the continued presence in Iraq. But there are other costs to our presence in Iraq. Recently, CNN Headline News ran a story about how our mili tary intelligence machine is ac tively recruiting Saddam’s for mer spies to provide intelligence for us. Now, in theory it doesn’t seem like a horrible idea — only in theory. These spies already know the area, they already know the peo ple, and they already know how the system works. Theoretically, they could provide valuable in telligence to help win over the Iraqi people and save American lives. But just think about this for a few seconds and the inherent dan ger should be painfully obvious. These Iraqi spies were some of the most feared elements from Saddam’s regime. And now they’re working for us. Yep, that’s the way to get the Iraqi people on our side. Instead of representing a dictator, they are representing democracy. tt Jiaic vcj. uiciiiuua uicj uscu to gather intelligence under Saddam are probably the same methods they will use now in working for the United States. For the Iraqi people, the enemy has the same face, but has changed names. This could potentially do much more damage than good for rela: tions with Iraq, assuming it can eventually become more than an occupied territory. I understand the reasoning be hind this apparently common practice by our military, but I still don’t understand how it is sup posed to work. Since my first government class in high school, I have not had any delusions that any gov ernment that has ever existed is only trying to work solely in the public’s good. There are different levels to which a government or official will try to take advantage of suuauuua. But this seems to be going'over the top, even if we claim to be do ing this for the safety of our troops and the safety of the Iraqi people. It might save some more American lives, which is good, but what about the Iraqi people? The reign of terror will contin ue with a different name and will probably do more to make us seem like “The Great Satan.” There is a point where a gov ernment is faced with an idea. The idea is theoretically good, and is entirely possible. The question is, “Can we?” We have asked the question and the answer came back a re sounding yes, apparently. But the second question of, “Should we?” was either ignored or not asked. But that’s where we stand now, using Saddam’s spies to do our dirty work, supposedly for the good of all the people in Iraq. Whether it actually works the way it has been planned is some thing that we will have to wait to see. And for the good of Iraq and America, let’s just hope this new weapon we have doesn’t backfire in our faces.