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4 / / Hnlino Pnl! i “wnthecollegekidsare inillllC.f UU away on spring break, that is Should the U.S. have sent when the high school kids come troops to Haiti to stabilize in and pick up the slack.” the Caribbean nation? pAUL GOpp www.dailygamecock.com. saliys surf shop manager, on ihe effects Results published on Friday. of the annual exoous of use students r FROM COLUMBIA FOR SPRING BREAK M - , . , In.Our.Opinion Sports must play by rules After rumors of widespread recruiting violations involving sexual favors at the University of Colorado, it has become clear that college athletics are in desperate need of reform. Gary Barnett, the head football coach at CU, was placed on paid leave for making disparaging comments about a former place-kicker who claims she was raped by a teammate. The program is also under a dark cloud as stories circulate that recruits were taken to strip clubs and offered women by football team members who were supposed to be have been placed on paid leave, and his insensitive comments about a rape should have gotten him fired. All allegations of abuse on women should be taken seriously, even if the player did not perform well on the field as he claimed. Colorado is not alone in facing serious issues involving athletics — last year, the Arizona State student newspaper ran a feature quoting a member of the female recruiting organization, the Sun Devil Recruiters, saying that club members often slept with recruits. Furthermore, the plight of Kobe Bryant means that athletics on all levels will have to endure more scrutiny from now on. The most recent news that CU will investigate recruiting irregularities comes just as Women’s History Month begins. While women have made great strides on college campuses in terms of gender equality, as long as they fear walking alone at night, there will still be work to do. Women should not live under the threat of unwanted advances from other students, be they athletes or regular coeds. College athletics can no longer be a cover for unethical practices, questionable dealings and subversion of the educational mission of universities. acting as chaperones. The greatest tragedy is that Barnett claimed to be ignorantof the allegations and dismissed them as not being a sign of bigger problems in the program. Clearly, he should not College athletics can no longer be a cover for unethical practices and subversion of the educational mission of universities. SOUND OFF Create message boards at www.dailygamecock.com or send letters to the editor to gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu Gamecock.Corrections If you see an error in today’s paper, we want to know. E-mail us at gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu. AboutThe.Gamecock Editor in Chief Adam Beam Copy Desk Chief Gabrielle Sinclair Design Director Shawn Rourk Asst. Design Director Staci Jordan 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. Brad Senkiw, Mary Pinckney Waters, Chaz McCarthy Copy Editors Allyson Bird, Jennifer Freeman, Jessica Foster, Steven Van Haren Wire Editor Z’Anne Coveil Online Editor James Tolbert Senior 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, Burke Lauderdale. Paul Koska Advertising Staff Robert CarJi, Kate Femino. Latoya Hines Carolina Love, Jesica Johnson, David Weatherford Public Affairs Kimberly Dressier JQ p|_/\CE AN AD The Gamecock Is the editorially independent student newspaper of the University of South Carolina. 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A*Y Vamz's \ ClAJT CH VJ/\wnA j N&weojy CARTOON COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS I’m a sucker for big words Welcome to week two of my highly scientific approach to the problems and glories of the English language. I love words just as much as the next person, and sometimes I’ll come across a word I abso lutely adore. ME: Yeah, I’d like to get a number six with a Dr Pepper, please. DRIVE- DAVID STAGG THRU: Muulld Third-year nu niek nss- media arts ssies nid dat? student ME: Yeah, Part two ina that’d be great, six part series DRIVE THRU: Nneeees dive eukaryotic gooog. It’s always good to have a deep respect for words. It’s also possi ble that a word is the only thing you can actually be respected for using. (Insert "your mother” joke here). Words are all around us. You can’t pass through any crowded area without a) running into a dangling participle; b) hitting your head on a low lying vowel; or c) getting handed a Zipsheet. This week, I’d like to focus on the words that make my day. Having a big vocabulary is won derful. Also, having Microsoft Word to increase your vocabulary for you (e.g. term papers) is won derful, — although sometimes it makes your story not make sense. “The narrative account of the dawdling and sound testudinidae on no account is not up to snuff when it draws closer to rousing someone who is languid.” So to increase your vast knowl edge of words, I offer you some of the words I love and the reasons I love them. THE WORD: phragel liorhynchus WHAT IT MEANS: It’s a proto zoan. For those of you who don’t know, a protozoan is the prototype of a person from the Amazon. THE REASON: It’s the longest word with five vowels, also in al phabetical order. Say that five times fast and it will produce vow el movements. Yes! I did it! I said that joke! You thought you would make it through a series on English and hot get that pun. I rule. THE WORDS: cabbage, bag gage, defaced, effaced WHAT THEY MEAN: I hope with everything that I am you know what these mean. THE REASON: These are all words that can be played on mu sical instruments. No, you cannot play “crap” on a musical instru ment. Try using one of these in stead: You: What music are you lis tening to? Roommate: It’s this rockin’ new band From the Opening of December’s Doors to the Airy Ambience of Winter’s Rising Tide. You: Man, that sounds like cab bage. THE WORD: resign WHAT IT MEANS: See below THE REASON: It’s the only word in the English language that has two entirely separate mean ings when pronounced differently. THE WORD: pneumonoultra microscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis WHAT IT MEANS: a lung dis ease caused by breathing in cer tain particles. THE REASON: Oh come on, you didn’t think you’d make it out of this article without the longest word in any English dictionary, did you? And if you need help with find ing that one word you can’t quite put your finger on, give me a call. I’d be ecstatic to facilitate your yearning for any utterance you en vision. In.Your.Opinion Christian morality isn’t universal law I am astonished by Raymond Coble’s column (“Liberals two faced over gay marriage,” Feb. 25). I thought a political science student could differentiate be tween standing up for rights and being hypocritical. Mr. Coble missed the point completely. People denounced Roy Moore’s placement of the Ten Commandments in the Alabama Supreme Court, not only because he broke into the courthouse to do it, but because there is a supposed separation of church and state within the United States. The Ten Commandments are only rec ognized by Christians; howev er, all Alabama residents are represented by the Supreme Court, Christian or not. It would be extremely preco cious for the Supreme Court to think everyone is a Christian in Alabama and to allow this type of behavior (when not everyone is a Christian) is wrong. The same ideas applied when people started speaking out for gay marriage. California’s Proposition 22 is discriminato ry and does not protect gays equally by law as it does hetero sexuals. It is a violation of the 14th Amendment and the civil rights of gays. Just because this is a law does not. make it right. There have been many laws that were proved wrong by people doing exactly what they’re doing now — speaking out against the laws. I remember a separate-but equal philosophy that was codi fied in this country and because of people speaking out and protesting and deliberately breaking the law, we found those laws unconstitutional. The liberals are not being hypocritical but are consistently standing up for equal protection for all. If you are looking for a hypocrite, look no further than President Bush, who stated in his 2000 campaign that the gov ernment has no business in peo ple’s private lives, especially concerning marriage. ERIN JULIAN FOURTH-YEAR CRIMINAL JUSTICE STUDENT Gamecock faithful could go colonial As an alumnus of USC and a law student here as well, it puts a great big grin on my face to see all of the students who show up to support the men’s basketball team. But I have an idea that will make our student section the most unique in the country as well as the most feared. As everyone knows, we play in the Colonial Center. I think we should dub our student sec tion “The Colonial Crazies.” The university and/or the Gamecock Club should pur chase hats like those worn in colonial times for all of the stu dents to wear. To add to the theme, each stu dent should have a plastic mus ket during the game. It would probably be best if these mus kets were just placed in all of the student sections before the game and have bins where they could be dropped off as students leave. It would be way too dan gerous to just have people bring ing their own muskets. Another part of this plan in volves Cocky playing the role of Paul Revere. He will dress up in clothes from the colonial era and just before the visiting team comes out, he will ride over to the student section on one of those broomstick horses and hold up a sign that says, “The (insert opponent’s name here) are coming!” This would be the cue for all of the students to start holding up their muskets and yelling at the opposing team. Can you imagine how intimi dating that would be? JOHN MONAHON SECOND-YEA It DAW 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. Building character through eviction The other day I got evicted. It was my fault. Too much noise and too much partying. Too much fun on the 14th floor with the whole city below me, and owning one too • many disposable things to throw out upon it. My building had a lot of adults and serious people —peo ple who check their mailbox every day. I should have known not to move into that building anyway; the lobby was too nice. LiiKe 1 said, it was my rauit. 1 was skipping class to sleep when the knock came. A friend down stairs showed me the letter. “You have five days to COREY leave Find a HUTCHINS new place to Fourth-year lvf'T . English Walking student down Greene Street' in the rain, scribbling down numbers off “For Rent” signs with a borrowed pen on the back of a telephone pole flyer, I wondered why I wasn’t bothered by it. In college, we’re indestructible. So I got evicted. Other than this, the worst thing that has happened to me was missing the season fi nale of “Real World vs. Road Rules.” I knew I had until the first of the month to get out of there without having to pay'the rent for March. I’d remember to sign out of my lease. My oia Duuuing leerea aDove me the entire weekend. Nineteen floors into the sky, it stared at me, unblinking. The two antenna lights were red eyes following me. While I moved couches and piled kegs and chairs and boxes into my friends’ pickup trucks, it watched and waited. Holding me out until March 1. Dangling me like a puppet all over the city, watching me dance and show my friends my new place and smile and laugh and let me joke about being untouchable. Feb. 28, around midnight I re membered the lease. I’d forgotten to sign off. I’d owe $320 that I didn’t have for March. My credit would be shot for life. My credit history murdered in its sleep, I thought about never being able to buy a house, a car, a mortgage or a loan. Somewhere a guy in a suit in a tow er higher than mine wrote off my future for $320. He’d call me “high risk,” he’d take out his pen and he’d click it like a trigger. No longer the untouchable col lege student who framed his evic tion notice and hung it on his bathroom wall, I leaned back in my chair and picked up the tele phone. Mom and Dad will love this one. I thought about the last half a dozen calls 1 d made home m the past few months — two asking for money, one about a new student loan, the other defining “academ ic probation” and the last ex . plaining an ambulance bill they’d get for when I’d gotten drunk and split my head open at a bar. I hung up before my fingers reached the keypad. Then I saw the calendar. One of the only things left in my now empty place, the month of February hung above my comput er. Littered with Post-It notes and concert dates, a few X’s on days where I'd tried to quit biting my fingernails and a swear word in red on the 14th, something was off about the way it looked. There was an empty box at the end. A leap year — I had an extra day! Somewhere in my chest, I felt new, warm blood. Tomorrow I’d sign out of the lease before the first of the month and get out bright white and dry as a bone. I’d like to think by the next leap year I’ve grown up a little. I’ve got four years to think about it. Online.Poll do you think about ‘The Passion of the Christ?’ Thumbs up 75% “I thought it was really good... It makes you think.” MARTY HAUSE * SECOND-YEAR ELECTRONIC JOURNALISM STUDENT Thumbs down 10% “I think people read too much into religious stuff.” RALEIGH MCMULLEN FOURTH-YEAR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STUDENT 1 don’t care 15% “All the hype has been blown out of proportion.” NICHOLAS PEREZ THIRD YEAR PSYCHOLOGY AND RUSSIAN STUDENT RESULTS FROM WWW.DAILYGAMECOCK.COM — THIS POLL IS NOT SCIENTIFIC