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* s ■ ' 4 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Friday, January 30,2004 « •' n H .>;k “^ggion is a part of any com Ufl 111! 6 - r 011 *-jnunity, and if a student wishes Should USC students be giv- to celebrate a particular day, it en the Monday after Easter should be excused.” off? BRIAN RIVERS www.dailygamecock.com. use graduate student on why uscsnould Results published on Friday. K£EP EASTER Monday as a studenBMoay _=^_==_ ========_=^^=^ In.Our.Opinion USC key to city’s image Next Tuesday’s Democratic presidential primary in South Carolina gives USC the opportunity to show off what is good about the state. Following the negative media attention this state has received over the last two years during the Confederate flag controversy and the recent attention over. Strom Thurmond’s illegitimate child, we need to present a positive image to the visiting national press corps. Taking note, Columbia has launched a public relations campaign to coincide with the arrival of the media circus that ?0lumb'f ,Sb0b d includes a publication partner with USC to .... r. .. . ... distributed to visiting show the rest of the nation that South members or the press. Carolina is more 1116 packet h'"h:k;ll,s than the asPects °f the city other Confederate flag than the ones the national press seems convinced define South Carolina. The project is a good idea, but misses the mark if all it has to offer is the Vista and Riverbanks Zoo. USC should be the focal point of any similar future campaigns. USC comprises a significant portion of downtown Columbia, and its position as an emerging major research campus is proof that the state can offer more than a legacy of slavery and segregation.. While public relations campaigns are essential to changing the opinion of outsiders, one has to wonder at the effectiveness of a program put in place by the city that has been unable to come up with a new slogan for over two years. Instead of wasting funds on a campaign that has no central focus, Columbia should partner with USC to show the rest of the nation that South Carolina is a national innovator in more than politics. Gamecock.Corrections In Wednesday’s Sports, a photograph should have been credited to Mark Schilling, In Wednesday’s Viewpoints, the editorial cartoon should have been attributed to Mary Pinckney Waters. In Thursday’s Sports, Olga Gritsaeva should have been identified as the leading women’s basketball scorer with 19 points. Kelly Morrone scored 16 points. Critical Mass will begin 5:30 p.m. today. The Gamecock regrets the errors. If you see an error in today’s paper, we want to know. E-mail us at gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu. About.The.Gamecock Editor in Chief Adam Beam Copy Desk Chief Gabrieile Sinclair Design Director Shawn Rourk News Editor Michael LaForgia Asst. News Editor Alexis Stratton Viewpoints Editor Patrick Augustine The Mix Editor Meg Moore Asst. Mix Editor Jennifer Sitowski Sports Editor Wes Wolfe Asst. Sports Editor Jonathan Hillyard Photo Editor Morgan Ford Asst. Photo Editor Johnny Haynes Page Designers Erin Cline, Staci Jordan, Brian Ray. Brad Senkiw. Mary Pinckney Waters Copy Editors Allyson Bird, Jennifer Freeman, Jessica Foster. Steven Van Haren Wire Editor Z’Anne Coveil Online Editor James Tolbert Senior Writer Kevfa Fellner CONTACT INFORMATION Offices on third floor of the Russell House. Editor in Chief: gamecockeditor@gwm.sc.edu News: gamecocknews@gwm.sc.edu Viewpoints: gamecockopinlons@gwm.sc.edu The Mix: gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu Sports: gamecocksports@.gwm.sc.edu Public Affairs: gamecockpr@yahoo.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 Sarah Scarborough Classified Manager Sherry F. Holmes Production Manager Amber Justice Creative Services Whitney Bridges, Robbie Burkett Advertising Staff Adam Bourgoin, Latoya Hines, Jesica Johnson, Caroline Love Public Affairs Kimberly Dressier 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 Advertising: 777-3888 1400 Greene St. Classified: 777-1184 Columbia. S.C. 29208 1 fax: 777-6482 * TVfeBiGGeSi; MOST ' LUXURIOUS Li NOR ~~ EV/6R SUiLTf I 3USTW/SH OUR KiDS WeRe HeRfiTU Expettence iTT WHAT * CARTOON COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS Say no to an ugly candidate South Carolina has come into the media spotlight, being the third state to hold a primary for the Democratic Party. This, how ever, is news to South Carolinians who, although the election is to be held next Tuesday, have already elected former Repub lican Strom Thurmond to the Democratic ticket. DAVID STAGG In all seri- Third-year ousness, the media arts , student word on the street is it’s a race between John Edwards (a South Carolinian by birth who moved to North Carolina when he was old enough to realize he lived in South Carolina) and John Kerry (commonly referred to as “The Future Ugliest President of AH Time”). Well, I’ll be darned if an ugly man is elected president under my watch. How can I change that, you ask? Simple: I’ve learned from what the first two primaries have taught us about elections. Therefore, I will share with you insights into my Kerry On My Wayward Son Campaign, so there will be peace when he is done: 1) The winner of a primary gains what those of us privy to media-friendly terms used to make us feel smarter like to call “Momentum.” This swings voters of future primaries to the suc cessful candidates’ sides. This is comforting to know — that most people vote a certain way depend ing on what the rest of the popula tion thinks and not upon what THEY think. That’s why California doesn’t have a prima ry until well into the political sea son; if they voted first, the “Momentum” would shift all vot ers to not only NOT elect a Democrat to the Democratic tick et, but also to elect a high-profile actor commonly known to NOT be from this country. In our attempt to ensure Kerry is beaten, we have already failed. Kerry has “Momentum” on his side, since he has won both Iowa and New Hampshire’s primaries. However, his wins might have been worth it if every time Dean loses a state he goes on a tirade. I would pay money to put Dean on a stage and watch his reactions. And when he fails to be elected to any office, I’ll organize a nation wide crusade to give Dean his own reality TV show. 2) Merely participating in a pri mary, you are endorsed. Pairing this up with What I’ve Learned No. 1, the endorsement means “Momentum” means more votes strictly based upon what other people think. Because of endorse ments, I’ve come to grips with the fact that our next Democratic can didate will be LeBron James. 3) If you fare poorly in a state, you drop out of the race. Gephardt did it after Iowa. Carol Moseley Braun did it before she was em barrassed in an actual election. Dennis Kucinich hasn’t figured out he’s running for president yet, so he’s excused. Therefore, if we can ensure Kerry is absolutely decimated in an upcoming pri mary, he’s required to drop out. How do we do this, you ask? Easy : We create our own state. Not only will the 51st state (to be in habited by me, of course, where I will be the sole endorser and voter in elections) attract a media fren zy, but it will allow for me to use the word “Momentum” more than I could possibly imagine. So join me in my endeavor, friends, to put a stop to John Kerry. And if you need me, look me up — I’ll be in Puerto Rico en dorsing LeBron James for presi dent. In Your Opinion FCA welcoming of all USC students I understand that satire re quires an amount of negativity to be funny. However, I want everyone to know that FCA is always thrilled to see a new face come in the door and welcomes any one to come out one Thursday night. We’ll try our best for you to have an enjoyable and rele vant experience. This is why we are thrilled when school leaders like USC President Sorensen, coach Ray Tanner and coach Lou Holtz come to speak at our meetings. At FCA, we are serious about having fun but also se rious about our purpose: to present the challenge and ad venture of Jesus Christ in your life. JAMES MELCHERS THIRD-YEAR EXULISH STI.’DEXT Culbertson column is poor journalism This letter is in response to Graham Culbertson’s column (“What would Jesus name it?” Monday). I realize that the main rea son Mr. Culbertson wrote this column was that so he would receive a response and there by verify that people actually read his work. I decided to oblige him. It is probably best to say up front that I’m not a member of, nor do I attend meetings of, any of the religious groups he named in his column. Culbertson has a right to his opinion; I’m not disputing that. However, what I wish to take issue with is his shoddy jour nalism. When you attempt to write a credible opinion piece, you base your opinions on factual information. Journalism, of course, is based on such minor things. But in this work, there are no facts—though he did at least get the names right. You want examples. The Shack; “I’ve never actually been there, and I don’t know when they meet, but I’m sure it’s great!” Another favorite is when he talks about the PALM Center: “I’ve never ac tually been there, although I have walked past the building several times.” May I suggest, Mr. Culbertson, that if you are go ing to judge a campus organi zation, spend some time find ing out what they are about be fore you start making as sumptions and jokes at their expense. But you know, if those were the only two things in the arti cle that bothered me, I proba bly wouldn’t be writing. The fi nal straw for me came right at the end when Culbertson com mented that FCA is “lots of real ly trendy people who offer tons of chances for quick, completely Christian dating hookups.” I do wish Mr. Culbertson would re frain from questioning the mo tives of people he does not know. When you feel the need to label a group of people, think first about what kind of message that is sending out about yourself. Let me congratulate you for giving people a reason to believe that “no self-respecting homeless person would even read The Gamecock, let alone sleep on it.” WILLIAM KING KOl imi-YKAIt JOURNALISM STUDENT The Gamecock’s Public Affairs e-mail has changed: gamecockPP@ yahoo.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@gwm.sc.edu. Letters will be edited for space, possible libel and style. Anonymous letters will not be published. Call the newsroom at 777 7726 for more information. Franken falls flat in search of laugh I’ve always thought that Rush Limbaugh is a big, fat idiot. But something happened in the year 2000 that made me realize that the liberal media were no better. I was a confused high school sophomore when I watched A1 Gore “win” Florida — and hence the election — the night before, only to wake up to Bush’s victory. Once it was finally explained to me that the networks had called the election early and erroneously, my □ faith in bal anced journal ism faltered. But even if I don’t trust the bull, I still like the fight. I think Ann Coulter is ALLYSON over-the-top in jjlPU her vicious at „ tacks on liberal tecond-ymr bias>butIthink journalism Bernard Gold student berg’s research is haunting. And I decided to give A1 Franken the benefit of the doubt last week. USC gave the “Saturday Night Live” alum quite a warm recep tion. Franken was entertaining. His stories about his experiences with Cocky on his last visit to the campus and his Strom Thurmond imitations were great and gutsy. I didn’t agree with a lot he said, but I can handle outlandish accu sations against the right. He start ed to annoy me during the ques tion-and-answer session, though, when he dodged questions by at tacking the askers personally, and for the ultimate question, by launching into his treasured “SNL” character Stuart Smalley and a pun on Cocky. That’s great, because he’s a comedian and we wanted to laugh, but at a certain point I stopped laughing. One gushing woman stepped up to a microphone with the sin gular objective of telling Franken she was a fan. But Captain Obvious did manage to raise an other point when she notified Franken of Brett Bursey’s pres ence that night. Bursey is the Columbia man ar rested for holding up a “No War for Oil” sign in an area that was pro tected for the president at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport in October 2002. Franken liked this story and even tossed around the idea of getting his lawyers in on it. He also said he might return to Columbia this week for a grass roots convention. I’m not holding my breath on either. Franken enjoyed this story, be cause he hates Bush. But love him or hate him, that pursed-lipped, ill-spoken daddy’s boy is our pres ident. And presidents afford cer tain protections, whether we like them or not. I was disgusted at how Franken handled a query from a Young Republican complaining about unfair treatment on cam pus. First, he let the crowd laugh at the kid for a while. Then he prodded the obviously nervous student to the breaking point. After Franken had moved to the next question, he wanted to call back the Young Republican for one last blow. When the next per son at the microphone signaled that he left crying, Franken said in his absence, “You’re a f—kin’ idiot,” to which the crowd erupted with laughter. Nice. Very nice. So Franken’s going to be the new liberal mouthpiece; it’s about time they got one who will actually be labeled as “analyst” and not “journalist.” I just wonder how well people will respond to having their political questions thwarted by insults and “SNL” characters. Conservative or liberal, they’re all big idiots. And Franken is cer tainly no exception. Online.Poll Should USC retire basketball player B.J. McKie’s number? Yes 49% No 25% Who is B.J McKie? 26% “Not really, it shows “Who the heck is “Yeah.” a ,ot of recognition that?” HOPF BARBER and h® ^USt^ d'd h*S ANDREAS SCHLOEMANN FIRST YEAR PHARMACY STUDENT Part” I WM HETH-YEAR POLIT.CAL SCIENCE KENNETH FERGUSON SECOND-YEAR HRTM STUDENT RESULTS FROM WWW..UULYCAMECOCK.COM