The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 14, 2003, Page 4, Image 4
4 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Friday, November 14,2003 41
SOUNDOFF TTT^TTTTl^V VTTT1C1 ONLINE POLL
Create message boards at I B-^ » l\ I I—* fl - B ^ I Should sexual preference be included
www.dailygamecock.com or 'I I 1 i \l */ I ■ ■ % ■ l in USC’s nondiscrimination policy?
send letters to the editor to I ■ J W W I \ W yk I L J YES 54%
gamecockopinionsia.,hotmail.com —■— ■ ^ w * —®— V—^ ™^—' NO 46%
:
IN OUR OPINION
Rock out for
a good cause
For those who love listening to music beyond the
mainstream, college radio remains an ever-important
medium, a means of introducing innovative artists to
the masses. Looking to raise money to keep spreading
the good word, WUSC is holding its annual fund
raising drive, “Moolah For Music,” during which it
will step outside its usual non-Top 40 bounds and play
any artist this weekend—from the unheard to the
overhyped—in exchange for donations.
Yes, you can request and listen to Justin Timberlake
songs until your wallet is empty if you so desire.
Considering students’ devotion to their respective
This weekend,
tune in and show
WUSC some love.
favorites, on-campus
listeners should be WUSC’s
most-spirited supporters.
Sure, speaking in favor of
independent radio is ail well and good, but the bottom
line is that every, station, regardless of how
noncommercial it is, needs funds.
No matter what one’s radio-listening principles are,
every good music fan should understand the need to
support emerging and underappreciated artists —
after all, every great band has to start somewhere.
That beginning, for many, has been their local college
radio station.
So, celebrate your disdain for popular music on
another day. This weekend, indulge in that inner urge
to hear a smash hit on WUSC, just for once.
As college students, we may be music’s biggest
pirates, but we should also be its biggest supporters.
Tune in and show WUSC some love.
Gamecock Quotables
“We’re losing to a nut and a
tiger. And we definitely
don’t like tigers here.
We need to show the world
how cool a chicken can be."
JUSTIN CHAPURA
SECOND-YEAR JOURNALISM STUDENT. ON
THE CAPITAL ONE MASCOT BOWL
“I wouldn’t know half the
stuff that’s going on right now
if it wasn’t for this.”
ANTHONY CONERLY
FIRST-YEAR EDUCATION STUDENT.ON THE
SUCCESS OF THE READERSHIP PROGRAM
“I hope that this lady regrets
her actions.”
FAZEL AHMAD MANAWI
DEPUTY HEAD Of AFGHANISTAN'S SUPREME
COURT, ON MISS AFGHANISTAN'S CHOICE TO
WEAR A BIKINI IN THE MISS WORLD
COMPETITION
“While America has a race
problem, South Carolina has
an obsession with racial
problems.”
LONNIE RANDOLPH JR. -
PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE S.C. NAACP, ON
THE STATE'S ISSUES WITH SEGREGATION IN
EDUCATION
GAMECOCK CORRECTIONS
A story in Wednesday’s paper about the Interfaith Council
dinner should have said Bahiyyih Young is a third-year
psychology student.
The Gamecock regrets the error.
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
Gabrielle Sinclair
The Mix Editor
Meg Moore
Sports Editor
Brad Senkiw
Asst. Sports Editor
Wes Wolfe
Photo Editor
Morgan Ford'
Head Page Designer
Shawn Rourk
Page Designers
Justin Bajan, Staci
Jordan. Philip Whiteheac
Slot Copy Editors
Amy Genoble, Tricia
Ridgway. Mary Pinckney
Waters
Copy Editors
Jessica Foster, Steven
Van Haren
Online Editor
James Tolbert
Public Affairs
Kimberly Dressier
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: ganiecocksports@hotmail.com
Public Affairs: gckpublicaffairs@hotmail.com
Online: www.dailygamecock.com
Newsroom: 777-7726
Editor's Office: 777-3914
STUDENT MEDIA
Director
Scott Lindenberg
Faculty Adviser
Erik Collins
Creative Director
Susan King
Business Manager
Carolyn Griffin
Advertising Manager
SaraN Scarborough
Classified Manager
Sherry F. Holmes
Production Manager
Amber Justice
Creative Services
Whitney Bridges,
Robbie Burkett,
Sean O'Meara
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 publisher of The
Gamecock. The
Department of Student
Media is the
newspaper’s 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
The Gamecock
1400 Greene St.
Columbia, S.C. 29208
Advertising: 777-3888
Classified: 777-1184
Fax: 777-6482
tH§f^\
CARTOON BY MARY PINCKNEY WATERS/THE GAMECOCK
I’m more exhausted than you
STEVEN VAN HAREN
GAMECOCKOPINIONS@HOTMAIL.COM
Sleep deprivation is
the new test of cool.
It’s time for another witty ob
servation of student life that all
the saccharine-sweet hayseeds
love to make. Consider me bitter
when I talk about this stuff.
I’m a listener before class, pre
ferring to look at my day’s sched
ule, do a crossword or listen to
conversations around me.
Observation: nine out of 10 dis
cussions I hear before, during or
after any class concern sleep —
or lack thereof. When it comes to
sleep, less equals more according
to the unwashed masses.
A typical exchange involves
two not-fully-baked jocks, two
“busy” students or two loose ac
quaintances who have nothing
better to yak about.
It begins with the casting of
the gauntlet. Example: “I didn’t
get to bed last night until 2 a.m.”
A modest number, like the basic
ante in a poker game.
Person No. 2, who feels 2 a.m.
is the standard bedtime for a se
nior citizen, coolly shoots back,
“I only got three hours last night,
and two of those hours were re
ally light, and the rest of the time
went by so quick — it’s like I
didn’t sleep at all. I’m so tired,
dude.” Person No. 2 proceeds to
bask in his one-upmanship with
a weary grin.
At this point, not listening to
each other whatsoever, people
pull out their special plays. They
are determined to be the most
baggy-eyed, coffee-swigging in
somniac imaginable with a sleep
less-night “horror” story. Jocks
and frat boys are the worst —
“Come on, man, we really did
think we could walk to Lansing
and get back for Wednesday
classes.”
There’s the overworked stu
dent — “Not only did I have to
write an international address
for the Pope in 50 languages, but I
also had to write three term pa
pers, two novels and transcribe
the Ten Commandments onto
stone tablets. Whew.”
But the bread and butter for
all insomniacs is a reliance on
getting wonderfully piss-faced —
“I had to drink that gallon of rub
bing alcohol. It said ‘alcohol’ on
the label, and besides, we were
out of toilet whiskey and moon
shine.”
I’m used to hearing all of this
in some form or another.
However, there are a few I
haven’t heard yet that I’m sure
will pop up someday. As every
body tries to be sleepier than ev
erybody else, this bloody annoy
ing trend will continue into un
charted depths.
The hard-core insomniac will
come along and best everyone —
“Sleep? I haven’t slept in three
days. Well, actually, it’s been
more like a week. Wait, no, hold
on — I’ve never slept in my life.
I just stare at the ceiling every
night. Nope. Never slept.
Sleeping’s for idiots. Beat that
one.”
He’ll cackle with wild,
drowsy evil, and those in his
presence will worship his life of
grogginess.
I wish people could keep their
lack-of-sleep stories to them
selves. If they actually think the
person they’re gawking to is lis
tening to them, then sleepless
nights have given them the IQ of
a soiled mattress. Everybody
wants the most pity.
I hope the Sandman strangles
these people with his fishing line
of peaceful dreams. Maybe then
they’ll talk about something, any
thing, else.
Van Harm is a second-year
mechanical engineering student.
IN YOUR OPINION
Site helps students
find easy teachers
After seeing the signs around
campus that advertise Student
Government’s sponsorship of
TeacherReviews.com, I in
stantly recalled the many occa
sions when I have used one of
the Web sites that let students
rate their teachers.
My intentions are usually
clear when I use the Web site:
to look for an easy teacher.
Students want to find that one
teacher who is really nice, re
quires as little effort as possi
ble and gives easy tests.
The typical mind set of stu
dents is to choose the easiest
way out, despite the possibili
ty they might learn more with
another teacher.
College is not about
finding the easiest teachers.
Sometimes, having an easy
teacher can actually hurt stu
dents later in their professional
lives. Being challenged and suc
ceeding despite is one of the
most rewarding things that col
lege can offer.
The bottom line is that stu
dents only use this Web site to
find the easiest teacher avail
able, and that is what SG is
telling all USC students and fac
ulty members by sponsoring
TeacherReviews.com.
Although it’s helpful to
know a little bit about the
teacher with whom you will be
stuck for a whole semester,
TeacherReviews. com is not
the only place to go. As a busi
ness student, I know I can just
go to the business school’s
Web page to find out accurate
information about business
professors.
The reviews are either
harsh complaints from failing
students or accounts of how
nice and easy teachers are.
They do have some entertain
ment value, though. SG should
not spend its time and our mon
ey sponsoring something that
all students know about and
use anyway. The article in The
Gamecock on Monday ex
plained that sponsoring a teach
er-ratings site was the No. 1 pri
ority of the SG president.
This is just another publici
ty ploy to get SG’s names in the
paper for not doing anything
beneficial to the university.
JACK CANINE
SECOND-YEAR BUSINESS STUDENT
Make use of VIP
for ticket sign-up
I have a question for Katie
Dreiling and the rest of the
Student Government: How is it
that resources have been used
to make sure people can vote
for SG elections through VIP,
but we are still using the ar
chaic method of standing in a
ridiculously long line to sign up
for the Clemson lottery?
Personally, it would be much
easier for me to sign up for the
lottery online through VIP
since I am not on campus two
of the three days when the sign
up took place.
With technology advancing
at a rapid pace, there is no
need for students to waste an
hour or more of their lives
standing in line just to sign up
for tickets they might not even
receive. I have stood in the
line for the last time because I
will be graduating in the
spring, but for future students’
sake, I hope SG or someone
can bring USC into the 21st
century.
TONY FLOWERS
GRADUATE STUDENT IN EDUCATION
Most-dedicated
fans deserve tickets
I have attended every home
football game. I enjoy attending
the football games, and I would
really like to attend the Carolina
Clemson game also. I think stu
dents who have attended most of
the games should be the first stu
dents to receive tickets. The oth
er people who never attend foot
ball games should be the last to
receive them.
These people do not care about
football; all they care about is be
ing able to say they went to the
football game. Most of them do
not even like football and know
nothing about it. Therefore, if
there is a way to tell which stu
dents have attended most of the
games, then I think that these
students should receive tickets
first.
AMBER SKALICKY
FIRST-YEAR BIOLOGY STUDENT
w
Drop us a line at
gamecockopinions
@hotmail.com
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
gamecockopinions@hotmail.com.
Letters will be edited. Anonymous letters
will not be published. Call the newsroom
at 777-7726 for more information.
Iraq is
not as
bleak as
it seems #
PATRICK AUGUSTINE
GAMECOCKOPINIONS@HOTMAIL.COM
The media is turning
war into a sideshow.
I must not have gotten the
memo — the cool thing to do in
the media is to bash Bush and Co.
over the developing situation
Iraq. I think it’s a good tiling
cause if it all turns out well, lute
we hope it will, every newspaper
and major network in the United
States will be eating a heaping
helping of crow’s pie.
Granted, not everyone is offer
ing a doom-and-gloom assessment
of the situation or saying it looks
“eerily like Vietnam,” but the only
stories from the cradle of civiliza
tion seem to be about downed he
licopters and dead soldiers. As
Americans, we have the right to
hear these stories about our mili
tary in action. However, we might
not be getting the whole story.
I was sitting in the Charlotte
airport last weekend and over
heard a bit of conversation be
tween a serviceman returning
from Iraq and another passe* -
The soldier was saying thsP -
spite the coverage, the troops had
all the support they needed on the
ground and that things were rel
atively calm where he was. No
pronouncements that more troops
were needed or that we were get
ting bogged down fighting a
broad-based insurgency slipped
from his lips —just his honest,
private analysis.
There have certainly been prob
lems in areas of Iraq from which
Saddam derived support, notably
the Sunni Triangle, but Sept. 11,
2001, proved that a small force can
make a big impact with relatively
little support and resources.
Opposition forces carrying out
attacks are driven more by A >
rabid antimodemism than*
tred of America, as witnessed by
the bombing of an Italian police
station two days ago in Nasiriyah.
American troops are simply the
nearest icon of progress at hand
for Baath party loyalists and
Islamic fundamentalists who,
through their actions, pervert
their own great faith.
Our action in Iraq is simultane
ously a turning point for democra
cy in the region, as the president
outlined, and for the American me
dia, which for too long have held a
sacrosanct position in public life.
Even if the media, like myself,
views the Iraq war as suspicious
ly unjust and declaims the reasons
proffered by the Bush admin
tion, they still have a responsibili
ty to show both progress and set
backs in Iraq. News media should
not be concerned with interpreta
tion, only with providing the im
ages and allowing the audience to
draw its own conclusions.
The Jessica Lynch drama is be
ing played out on TV screens ev
erywhere. By her own accounts,
she was unconscious for all of the
combat, while one of her comrades
killed nine Iraqis who were trying
to blow up the vehicles. Instead of
highlighting the story of this Silver
Star Medal-winner, Lynch was
tapped as the hero of the situation
and promptly given a $1 million
book deal. I hardly think the
Pentagon is the culprit in this
game of greater deception.
But the biggest farce to' e
from Iraq is the legislators wh . t
ed to approve action in Iraq and
now refuse to vote for the $87 bil
lion package to rebuild the nation.
It has become a political football
passed around by the Democratic
contenders and the President, all
of whom do our troops a disservice.
Give our fighting men and women
what they need to do the job and
find another way to promote or op
pose the current policy.
Augustine is a third-year political
science student.