The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, December 01, 2003, Page 4, Image 4
4 the GAMECOCK ♦ Monday, December 1, 2003
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IN OUR OPINION I
Visit to Iraq
is honorable
Thousands of miles away from friends, family and
their own culture, U.S. soldiers are most likely
looking for a little personal leadership now and then.
President Bush made the front pages for visiting
and boosting morale with U.S. soldiers in Iraq on
Thanksgiving.
It is the nature of the president’s job that every
action and inaction will carry a political edge. If he had
not gone to Iraq, critics would have accused him of
ignoring the troops, especially with other politicians
such as Hillary Clinton making publicized visits.
Despite arguments But Bush went- and>stm
and agendas, Bush smarting over the whole
did an honorable “Mission Accomplished”
thing, and though incident on a certain aircraft
risky, the trip to carrier, risked accusation of
Iraq was clearly manipulating the military
lined with good for votes.
intentions. Presidents throughout
American history have visited war-torn countries,
including Dwight Eisenhower, who promised
during his campaign to visit troops in Korea.
Bush’s ultra-secret surprise visit to the troops was
purposeful and carried a good message that these
men and women are not expendable bodies, and that
our government values them.
Despite all possible angles, arguments and
agendas, Bush did an honorable thing, and though
risky, the trip to Iraq was clearly lined with good
intentions.
-*>. • ' ‘ p ' - - ’.‘A- 'I'
_
College Quote Board
OREGON DAILY EMERALD
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
“The one thing the media’s
circus left out, amidst inter
views with family members and
legal consultants and that home
less guy who got Jackson’s
spare change, was whether
Jackson should really be
charged with corrupting
America’s fairy-tale view of the
ever-innocent Peter Pan, who
symbolizes every American’s
dream of never growing up.”
THE Pins NEWS
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
“Will male birth control re
place vasectomies for men
who don’t want to have any
more children? Vasectomies,
while fairly routine elective
procedures are still invasive
surgery, and are generally
not reversible. For a man
who isn’t completely sure
he’s done reproducing, hor
monal birth control may be
ideal.”
GAMECOCK CORRECTIONS
In the Nov. 21 issue of The Gamecock, photographs of
Tigerburns circa 1940 should have been credited to the USC
Archives.
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.
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CARTOON COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS
Curtains have deep meaning
RACHAL HATTON
qfMECOCKOPINIONS@HOTMAIL.COM
A heaping helping of
Thanksgiving guilt.
Over Thanksgiving break, I
bought fabric for curtains, and
while waiting patiently in a
ridiculously long line on the
biggest shopping day of the year,
I found myself thinking about the
larger meaning of curtains.
A curtain masks, conceals and
prevents others from seeing parts
of our lives we wish to keep se
cret. So then I started thinking of
this double curtain — what we
keep in our dwellings, and what
we keep on our lives.
My heaviest curtain is my sis- •
ter. My family only speaks of her
right before holidays, before a
family member drops her off,
since she sold the car my par
ents gave her a few years back.
I have learned to keep the
draperies pulled and the shut
ters sealed.
My sister has spent the major:
ity of her life institutionalized,
and when she did spend time liv
ing at home, she caused nothing
but problems, and would usual
ly run away every few months.
My sister has not held a job
her entire life.
This Thanksgiving, she men
tioned that she lives off of $800 a
month that she receives in gov
ernmental checks.
With that money, she sup
ports herself, her two sons and
her abusive live-in boyfriend.
I’ve never been one to blame the
victim, but I feel she’s complete
ly irresponsible for putting her
children in such an abusive en
vironment and not materially
providing for them.
I can’t forgive her for that lack
of foresight and discretion, and
all my knowledge about women’s
studies and the status quo get
thrown out the window, curtains
and all.
But I digress. I’m ashamed
about how much I spend obsess
ing and concerning myself re
garding social ills, while simulta
neously giving such little consid
eration to the impoverished and
mentally ill in my own family.
I give money to local charities,
and buy sandwiches and soda for
the homeless who hang out at the
Shell station on College Street.
I could send money, food and
clothing to my sister and her two
sons. Instead, I blame her for her
poverty and criticize her
lifestyle.
This Thanksgiving, when I
was with my family, instead of
taking time to be thankful for all
I had, I was angry with my sister.
I felt she was unwilling to make
positive changes, and I was an
gry that my family was so disin
clined to help her when she so ob
viously needed help.
Aren’t they also responsible
for her? How can they watch her
get out of control and harm her
children in the process? In the
past, my parents had bought her
cars, paid her rent and sent her
checks.
Financial aid isn’t enough;
she needs livelihood support as
well.
I have a huge sense of guilt,
and I have a huge amount of
guilt. There’s so much I’m will
ing to do for people, and so many
ways I try to help others. But I
am just as irresponsible as my
heroin-addicted sister.
I could talk to her about go
ing to tech school, I could help
her find a job, and I could look
into other resources to help her
find childcare and assistance.
Instead, I further incriminate
myself, and draw the curtains
tighter.
Hatton is a third-year women’s
studies student.
IN YOUR OPINION
Pragmatism alone
shouldn’t guide law
In her column (“Gay mar
riages are practical,” Monday), *
Allyson Bird discussed opposi
tion by many to the idea of “gay
marriage,” wondering, “ ...just
what the big deal is.”
Well, that’s a good question.
I don’t agree with all of Bird’s
assertions, but I’m not writing
to argue the practicalities of
“gay marriage,” because I be
lieve very few people feel that
pragmatism alone should de
termine our society’s concept
of marriage.
So what is the big deal? I
would guess there are plenty of
people on either side of the
“gay marriage” issue who
don’t fully understand what
it’s really about. I say it’s not
just about homosexuals — it’s
about all of us and how we re
late to our Creator.
I’ll go ahead and acknowl
edge that I’m writing from a
decidedly Christian perspec
tive — at least that’s what I’m
trying to do — in order to pre
sent an explanation as to why
many Christians are passion
ate about this issue. You won’t
find anger or hate here,
though I expect many will dis
agree strongly when I use the
word “sin” in connection with
homosexuality.
Why do I use the word
“sin?” In simplest terms, I be
lieve the Bible. There are
parts of scripture, taken in as
much context as you like, that
make it pretty clear, in my
opinion. One of them is chap
ter one of Romans.
We must understand that
this issue is not about passing
judgment on people because
the very next chapter in scrip
ture (literally in the same
train of thought and discus
sion) says: “ ... at whatever
point you judge the other, you
are condemning yourself, be
cause you who pass judgment
do the same things.”
What is this telling us? I be
lieve it is telling us that we all
sin, and the nature of all sin is
the same. God created us. He
loves us. He wants us to be hap
py, and to that end, He has a
plan and a will for our lives. He
gives us our lives and says (big
paraphrase here) “Here’s life
— use as directed.”
But we all want to ignore
His direction. It’s as if we’re
prescribed medication to take
once a day and we say, “That’s
crazy, I’ll take 5 at a time as of
ten as I like.” Well, that can
hurt us, can’t it?
Just like kids, we think
“Because I said so” isn’t rea
son enough. We’re too intelli
gent — too sophisticated — to
be told what is and what isn’t
good for us. So we covet, we
lust, we indulge ourselves,
viewing His guidelines with
suspicion and missing out on
the joy He meant us to experi
ence. This rejection of God’s
authority in our lives is the
hallmark of all sin, not just
homosexuality.
And a careful reading of the
aforementioned chapter 1 of
Romans will plainly reveal that
the social acceptance of homo
sexual behavior is an indicator
that society in general has re
jected God’s authority. This is
why our government must not
equate same-sex unions with
marriage or in the process
grant a civil stamp of approval
to immorality.
For the same reason, the
prospect of “gay marriage” is
one that should provoke in
trospection, not judgment,
among those who oppose it.
“How have I been rejecting
God’s authority in my own life?”
is what I should ask myself
when I think about this issue.
Thankfully, God’s grace and
forgiveness are available to all of
us if we trust in His risen son,
Jesus Christ.
JEFF MOBLEY
GRADUATE STUDENT IN STATISTICS
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Preorder
your own
GloFish
today
ANITA AUTRY
GAMECOCKOPINIONS@HOTMAIL.COM
Brand-new way to beat
nature into submission.
In a fast-paced society that is
revolutionizing nanotechnology
and elucidating the human
genome, Matt Groening visualized
the future of fish engineering.
It’s true that “The Simpsons’”
three-eyed fish was one created by
the freak contamination of a near
by stream by the huge power
sucking nuclear plant, but the
similarities to the recent inven
tion of the glow-in-the-dark fish
are simply staggering.
Matt Groening’s genius must
not have been ignored.
This newly engineered nsn that
has recently been announced to
the public has the ability to glow
in the dark on command. By on
command. I mean when you shine
a black light on it.
As a scientist and feminist, I
am opposed to genetic engineer
ing in general. There should be
long-term research to figure out
what the consequences of such ad
vances will be on the ecosystem
before these products are intro
duced to market.
I also think it’s just a little odd
to recombine material found in
nature and patent it, but hey, who
am I to get in the way of profit-re
warding hard work?
However, I must praise the in
ventors of this new “GloFish TM.”
What better fruits of the genetic
engineering conquest could you
think of than a glow-in-the-dark
fish? I mean, those guys at
Greenpeace are so out of line
when they call this stroke of ge
nius “Frankenfish.”
All the scientists did was help
nature hurry up and do what it
was meant to do: allow zebrafish
and coral to reproduce together!
Imagine the possibilities of
mass marketing! “GloFish TM”
everywhere! It will be the new
betta. I think I’m going to go flush
Lucky to make room for my fluo
rescent fish. He’s embarrassingly
old, anyway.
I’m so glad they finally found a
new way to market black lights.
Those things were due for a resur
gence in popularity. My Bob
Marley and Dead Head posters
just weren’t motivation to turn
mine on anymore.
i nuoe ueud lion wcicjuai a
scam anyway. Down with those
greedy betta farmers! Bettas only
live for like, three weeks, and
what do they do? Swim around.
That’s it. The least they could do
is glow, for Pete’s sake.
The most exciting part of this
revelation in the fish-making
world is the possibility for future
GE pets. What I really have use
for is a glowing dog.
Think of it: I could have an
evening jog with my little puppy
and not worry about being able to
see the road or other drivers not
seeing me on the side of the road.
And honestly, what better con
versation piece is there than a
glowing lapdog?
So my advice for you is to get
on eBay as quickly as possible to
order your new fish, available in
the United States on Jan. 5, 2004,
for a reported price of $5. You’re
just not going to be respected if
you don’t have this new fad fea
tured as your dorm pet.
And be sure not to put it in
your “nature” corner — that
would violate your feng shui be
cause it’s not actually a product
of nature.
But be sure to put up a shrine
to Matt Groening in your genius
corner — he’s always been the
wind beneath my intellectual
wings.
Autry is a third-year neuroscience
student. , r