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Online.Poll pn^^Mn^Ha^aftprV^fpr THE REV' AL SHARPTON en the Monday after Easter democratic presidential candidate .00? SPEAKING IN A VOTER FORUM AT COLUMBIA'S www.dailygamecock.com. states^tradepoucT*8001™8^^1 Results published on Fridays. # In.our.opinion Give students day off to vote College students in South Carolina, the first Southern state to hold a Democratic presidential primary, do not get Tuesday off so they can vote. This is absurd. Tomorrow’s primary is an excellent opportunity for students to make candidates address issues important to young voters by going to the polls. While voters must sign an oath saying they are Democrats to vote in Tuesday’s primary, South Carolina’s primaries are open, meaning that you don’t have to be a registered Democrat to vote. cast ballots in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. It is virtually impossible for out-of-town students to go home and cast primary ballots if they are expected to be in class. Universities are designed to be training grounds for future leaders, and have the responsibility to instill a sense of civic responsibility in the students who pass through their doors. USC fails the student body by not giving us the opportunity to develop the important habit of voting — students who don’t vote in college aren’t going to suddenly become politically involved later in life. If you are from South Carolina and intend to vote on Tuesday, you can find a list of polling locations and other information about the voting process through the South Carolina Election Commission at www.state.sc.us/scsec/voting.html. If you are not registered to vote and will miss Tuesday’s primary, you can still register for the Nov. 2 general election. USC should always give students the opportunity to vote, even if it means cancelling classes. This year’s Democratic primary carries particular importance for South Carolina, as we are the first Southern state to USC fails its students if it does not give them the opportunity to develop the important habit of voting. SOUND OFF Create message boards at www.dailygamecock.com or send letters to the editor to gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu Gamecock.Corrections A cutline in Monday’s News improperly identified the Colonial Center. In Wednesday’s News, a photo should have been credited to Katie Kirkland. In Monday’s The Mix, Carrie Givens’ name was misspelled. 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. AbouUTie.Gamecock Editor in Chief Adam Beam Copy Desk Chief Gabrielle Sinclair Design Director Shawn Rourk News Editor Michael LaForgia Asst. News Editor Alexis Stratton Viewpoints Editor Patrick Augustine The Mix Editor Meg Moore 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 Waters Copy Editors Allyson Bird, Jennifer Freeman, Jessica Foster, Steven Van Haren Wire Editor Z’Anne Coveil Online Editor James Tolbert Public Affairs Kimberly Dressier ServU>r Writer Kevin Fellner CONTACT INFORMATION Offices on third floor of the Russell House. Editor in Chief: gamecockeditor@gwm.sc.edu News: gamecocknews@gwm.sc.edu Viewpoints: gamecockopinions@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, Trenholm Ninestein Advertising Staff Adam Bourgoin, Latoya Hines, Jesica Johnson, Caroline Love, Ben Sinclair 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 ' \peut, 31 % 0? t*e KAP > A 600p DAy, H\% Hap A PAY AHP '23'%/ V. (S UNP^PtP^P1-^/r /V^r-7— --—' M I l Foreman grill threatens USC There is one force, one ancient demon, which scares USC Housing more than anything else. More than the specter of stu dents getting drunk and smoking pot; more than the catastrophe of visitors of the opposite sex spending the night in dorms, USC Housing GRAHAM has one great CULBERTSON enemy. Third-year ThaPs right: Sg that deadly, in sidious, hea then contraption known as the George Foreman grill. If it is not stopped, our entire campus could perish. This is not to suggest that the George Foreman grill operates alone. Oh no, if it were only the grill, then we could all breathe a sigh of relief. But the fine RAs, RHDs, CAs, and SOBs in housing also have to contend with waffle irons, electric griddles, toasters, toaster ovens, candles, space heaters, extension cords and var ious other WMDs. At this point you’re thinking to yourself “Golly, at my house we have a candle sitting on top of a toaster oven that’s plugged into an extension cord, and we’ve never had a fire. Why are these common everyday objects allowed into homes and apartments all over the world, when housing has discov ered that they pose such a threat to our well-being!?” I have two an swers to this. First, please do not use the word “Golly” ever again. Second, the USC Housing au thorities are, in fact, so smart that they, and only they, realize how dangerous a George Foreman grill is. Not only can it grill chicken, beef, and a variety of other foods, and eliminate grease, it is a fire-starting ma chine! All you have to do is put some kindling and newspaper on it, give it a few squirts of lighter fluid, plug it in, wait a few min utes, and eventually there will be a small, self-contained blaze with the potential to set the toaster oven on fire. For God’s sake, Mr. RHD, save us all from this fate! It is a little known fact that, al though Saddam Hussein was not found to have any WMDs, each of his presidential palaces contains literally hundreds of toaster ovens, George Foreman grills, ex tension cords and candles, any one of which could set the entire country on fire with absolutely no advance warning. If all theForeman grills and toaster ovens in Iraq were activated si multaneously, the result would, I’m sure, threaten Columbia itself. With our own city and univer sity threatened by these small household appliances, and George W. Bush and UN weapons inspec tors alike blind to the threat, there is only one possible course of ac tion. Every person associated with USC Housing, from the drunken RAs of Moore and Laborde to the uptight RHDs, must be placed in a large, preferably slow boat, and shipped to Iraq. Once there, they will provide invaluable assistance, as they leave fines and citations for Saddam and the other members of his regime too stupid to put their candles and extension cords in the cupboards when the an nounced inspections take place. Sure, it will be hard for us to survive without the friendly and inept staff of USC Housing, but we’ll manage, somehow. And maybe even enjoy a grilled burg er on a toasted bun in the confines of our dorms, no matter the dan ger. In.your.opinion Easter article fails to include all views I have recently read your ar ticle entitled “Students Question Logic Behind Canceled Holiday” by Jacob Davis. I am appalled by it to say the least. The article claims that “many students are concerned about the change.” Maybe if the reporter did a little more research he would’ve found that many students are also not concerned with the change. Only one opinion is ex pressed. Shouldn’t the Gamecock express the views of more than one group of people, i.e. Christians? I for one could care less whether or not I have Easter off. It’s not like I get Yom Kippur off. Until the university feels like recognizing all high holidays for every religious group repre sented by USC students, one par ticular group should not be fa vored over another. By allowing a day off of school for Easter, USC more or less is saying that celebrating Easter is more important than educating one’s mind about broader subjects. I beg to differ. Easter means absolutely nothing to me and I resent the fact that I spend all this money on tuition only to be denied my right to learn on account of a holiday I do not celebrate. So before you guys decide to print the so-called view of USC students, why don’t you try and collect some more facts. LEAH RAPAPORT FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH 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 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. The Gamecock is online five days a week. USC news, sports and opinions are all just a click away. New content every day, Monday through Friday. Remember to fill out the Best of USC Survey. Drop boxes located around campus, or e-mail your choices to gamecockpr@ gwm.sc.edu. Entries due by noon on Friday, March 5. Results will be published Wednesday, March 24. WWW .dailygamecock .com College.Quote.Board CORNELL DAILY SUN Ljgf§g|. <;oRmi|i niversity "But we remind Democrats that, ultimately, this Presidential L election should not be about which Democratic candidate wins which primary, but whether or not the party as a whole can oust President Bush. Whether victory belonged to their preferred j candidate or not, all Democrats should look forward to the con test between the party’s eventual nominee and President George W. Bush.” | THE FAMUAN FLORIDA A&M “South Carolina possesses a staunch black population of mod erate to conservative Democrats who will serve as the first ma jor testing center for the candidates’ positions on black issues. Once the stigma of the black population is not large or significant enough to make a difference at the polls is removed from the black psyche, they can see what eager presidential candidates see in South Carolina.” COURTESY OF U-WIRE Success begins at homefor students Many of you have asked a ques tion with an obvious answer, cre ating an annoyed response that can even offend someone. When you ask the question “What about socialization?” to a home-schooled student, you are saying that student is prob ably not as well-socialized as you are. Ask any home-schooled JOHN TYLER student how Fifth-year manY times a finance and day he or she management hears this. The student error the inter rogator often commits is asKing tnis question without first defining what posi tive socialization really is. I would like to present to you that there are (at least) two types of social ization: positive and negative. I define negative socialization as being dependent on one group of people to fulfill social needs. Traditional schooling often es tablishes and develops peer-de pendency. I do not believe it is wrong to depend on one’s peers; the status quo is a process that teaches children to be socially com fortable with their age, their grade. As the child becomes older, he or she begins to rely solely on his or her cohorts to fulfill needs of association, intellect, emotion and intimacy. Parents become more of a hassle for the child and less of the source of nurture and wis dom that they are, or desire to be. School is sometimes used as an es cape mechanism for families to avoid struggling together over se rious issues. Children will be more likely to succumb to peer pressure, putting parental guid ance on the back-burner. Please know that I do not pro fess public schools and private schools to be evil. I simply wish to propose to you that it is not the superior social experience. Positive socialization should be defined as a well-rounded-ness that can only come from experiencing a social life not dependent on one single group of people. Positive so cialization includes, but is not lim ited to: learning from the grand parent generation, being active in public service and governmental affairs, teaching an underprivi leged third-grade child how to read, going to leadership training schools, participating in ex tracurricular activities, being in tellectually stimulated while tak ing a hands-on approach to learn ing and spending time with the family that one has been given. Home-schooling is a tool that can be implemented by a willing family to establish and develop a positive social life for a child. The highly praised system of public schools, lauded as “a good atmosphere for socialization” has the potential to rape our children of truly positive socialization. I do not claim that everyone should home-school, just that anyone can. The next time you run into someone who was home-schooled, perhaps you would be wise not to ask the cliche question, “What about socialization?” I now solicit that you turn this question on yourself: “What about my socialization?” Do you rely al most completely on your peer group to fulfill your social needs, your needs of association, your intellectual needs, your emotion al needs, your need for intimacy (and I’m not just referring to sex). We all are imperfect and fall far short of where we should be. Home-schooled students are pur suing positive socialization. Don’t antagonize them for it.