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------ . THE GAMECOCK ♦ Friday, March 19,2004 I witnessed was severe 5 Should Spain have withdrawn I I J ' I I J M | I ill yersity on this campus and the Results published March 26. “^-^^ ^ ® ' ~®~ ^—' ^n^Biu^couR^^RHK^^ioR|^ In.Our.Opinion USC can push development ^ USC President Andrew Sorensen’s Bow Tie Bus Tour last week underlines the important role of South Carolina’s university leaders in encouraging economic development. Sorensen is uniquely positioned outside of political circles, enabling him to be an advocate for South Carolina as it seeks to modernize with the help of higher education. Because USC is supposed to be a “faithful-index to the ambitions and fortunes of the state,” it should have a leading role in helping the state to transition from last century’s manufacturing based economy to a new information-based infrastructure. As Sorensen said, he can help point businesses to underdeveloped areas of the state as our research campus expands beyond what the Columbia area can contam. It is critical that we partner with state government on this issue, since it is a lack of property tax revenues that hurt the primary educational systems of many rural counties. USC can help solve two problems in the state by ensuring our research initiatives grow South Carolina’s economy evenly, thus providing a better educated stream of in-state students to the university. The nanotechnology and research campus proposals are meaningless if they do not raise the overall quality _oflife in the state. Furthermore, a focus on the living H^ituation of South Carolinians fits in with Gov. Sanford’s overarching vision for the state, and will make cooperation with government easier. While research for its own sake certainly has a role in the university setting, the Palmetto State needs the efforts of its best and brightest minds to help it catch up with the rest of the nation. Sorensen’s efforts to reach out to other institutions of higher education and to state government are laudable, and the university must continue to pursue a future that is better for all South Carolina. USC can help solve two problems in the □state by ensuring our research initiatives help to b-JwS.C.’s economy evenly SOUND OFF Create message boards at www.dailygamecock.com I or send letters to the editor to gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu Gamecock.Corrections In Wednesday’s calendar, Workshop Theatre’s address should have been listed as 1136 Bull St. The Gamecock regrets the error. 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 DJonathan Hillyard Photo Editor Morgan Ford Asst. Photo Editor Johnny Haynes Page Designers Erin Cline, Brad Senkiw, Mary Pinckney Waters, Chas McCarthy Copy Editors Allyson Bird, Jennifer Freeman, Jessica Foster, Steven Van Haren Wire Editor Z’Anne Covell 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 Carli, Kate Femino, Latoya Hines Carolina Love. Jesica Johnson, David Weatherford 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 Tljf Gamecock Mvertising: 777-3888 1400 Greene St. Classified: 777-1184 Columbia, S.C. 29208 Fax: 777-6482 JC£RRV WON'T TUB who BAO?~ HIM -—.-v^pa—i^MaaatBai^n—wea^ f'KiRRy'? fo« ' / PRES*06nT7 If /^5cwy.T. n/oN - K<zfW yet, y_i - SAOVfrM !/( M T i T TTTi I W£0°'* CARTOON COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS Words that make me vomit I don’t usually hate things. Every so often, I run across some thing that bothers me, maybe a person here or there who gets un der my skin, or maybe a late-night Wendv’s on Assembly Str eet that almost always mixes your order with someone else’s and you begin to order the wrong thi ng just so you DAVID STAGG can get what Third-year you really want media arts and you don’t student even know you Part three in a got the wrong six part series thing until you get home because you went through the drive-through. But just like getting grilled chicken instead of the savory spicy chicken, there are some things I just can’t stand. As we’ve been exploring the depths of the English language the past few weeks, it’s time we tackle the words no one should use. Hated Word No. 1: “metrosexu al”: This is the most ridiculous term I’ve ever heard. Not only does it stereotype both gays and alpha males (e.g. if a straight man is clean he must be somewhat gay), but, and this is more important when it comes to selecting a word to describe something, the word doesn’t even make any sense. Are these people that have sex with buses? Do they have sex on buses? Does the man like sex in the city? Can a woman be a metrosexual? Who the heck knows? Stop using the buzzword. And if a boy looks clean, dresses nicely and stands on two feet, he’s either hetero or homo, not both. Even my trusty Microsoft Word program doesn’t like the word metrosexual. I click on the cute lit tle computer help box that waves to me and I type in my question: “Did I spell metrosexual wrong?” He replies, “No, I don’t know what that word is, you jackass, and I don’t like it or you,” before he pro ceeds to insult my mother and give me the middle arrow key. Hated Word No. 2: “guessti mate”: Another term that doesn’t make any sense. If we estimate something, we are, by default, not hypothesizing. Hypothesizing (def inition: writing a thesis on hippos) requires the scientific method, lots of scientists, half a cup of sugar and three blind mice. Estimating, on the other hand, is understood to be somewhat of a guess. That’s why we have separate words for the Hierarchy of Guessing on Mid Term Exams (in order of greatest to least knowledge on a subject): hypothesizing, estimating, guess ing and I was drunk last night. Heck, estimating is like the Upper East Side of guessing. So we’d either guess (having no real idea whatsoever), or estimate (have somewhat of an idea, but not enough of an idea to write a thesis on hippos). Therefore, if we guessti mate, we merely confuse the lis tener and might as well use the word metrosexual right after it. Hated Word No. 3: “ginor mous”: Yes, we understand that the object is big. We understand that it might be a little difficult to describe, but is it so big you can’t think straight and have to com bine words and inadvertently in vent a new word that defies lan guage? Gigantic. Enormous. Why don’t we just invent “hugantuan” and “colossive?” If you use these words, this is not an attack on you. I personally choose to weed these words out of my vocabulary, but every once in a while I make the ginormous mis take of guesstimating a woman’s age wrong, and then horrible words slip out of my mouth, too. Next week: Acronyms In.Your.Opitiion ZTA article ignores context of event For many years, the ladies of Zeta Tau Alpha have been hosting Big Man on Campus to help raise money for breast cancer awareness. Big Man on Campus has always been an amusing male beauty pageant that many organizations have, by choice, attended. The article (“USC apolo gizes for ZTA incident,” Wednesday) written by Adam Beam was extremely degrad ing to the women of ZTA, Alpha Delta Pi, and Tim Tice. Most of the article was written off of hearsay from a second or tnira source. For there to be demands be ing made after apologies from ZTA and Tice have been given is outrageous. The Greek com muhity is supposed to func tion as one family, whether the fraternity or sorority is black or white. With the apol ogy from ZTA and Tice, this matter should be dropped. I also found it surprising that the article barely men tioned the cause or the good that ZTA does with the money they raise. There are more pressing issues on this cam pus to worry about than what color someone painted their legs to win a male beauty pageant. MARIE RUSS SECOND-YEAR ENGLISH STUDENT No separation of church, state I just want to point out to Erin Julian that she is wrong when she speaks of separation between church and state. Nowhere in the Constitution did the framers say, “There shall be separation between church and state.” It says: “Congress shall make no law respecting an es tablishment of religion or pro hibiting the free exercise there of.” I don’t see separation of church and state in there. You can read the Congre ssional records during that four month period in 1789 when the Amenumem was uemg irarneu in Congress. Their intent was to prohibit a single denomination from excluding all others, • whether it was Anglican or Catholic or some other. They realized the importance of the presence of God’s laws. They realized how disgusting people become without recog nizing.God and the laws He has given us. Look at our society. You would have to be crazy to think that we’re a pure society. Without recognizing God’s laws, our society will collapse. HART TRAYLOR FIRST-YEAR BUSINESS STUDENT ZTA situation blown out of proportion The ladies of Zeta Tau Alpha have for many years suc cessfully raised money to help the continuous battle of breast cancer, an extremely deadly dis ease among women. The fact that Tim Tice used black paint on his legs to imitate Janet Jackson’s scandalous ac tions during the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVIII was not to degrade black people, but to reenact the boob-exposing event that has had everyone and their grandmother laughing since late January. The black paint on his legs was also used as part of his “evening wear” tuxedo, but that part was conveniently left out of the article. Like many other philan thropy events that take place here at USC, Big Man on Campus raises money for local and national beneficiaries and makes a difference within the community. Instead of turning this into a heated racial debate, look at what an awesome impact they make across the country. LESLIE MILLER THIRD-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. Count on college soapbox for sap I remember those fun-filled, col lege afternoons spent reading sto ries about fun-filled, college after noons. You know, those feel-good pieces about milquetoasted, white- • washed high jinks with a shim mering life lesson at the end. It seems like just yesterday a twin kle was involuntarily jammed into my retina. Wait a minute—it was yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that, every time a senior felt youth fading fast and wanted to strad dle a soapbox to pontificate some crusty pseudo wisdom. Spare me your “Chicken Soup for the STEVEN ^ouege senior s VAN HAREN Sdul” 1 would 0 , actually recom Second-year , . . mechanical mend Chicken engineering Soup for the student Hammy, Unoriginal Hack’s Soul.” Better yet, just eat some chicken soup to stuff your gullet and pipe down. But if they feel so inclined, here’s a template for all future syrupy reflections: “Once upon a time, I came from (insert name of third-world shantytown) where ev eryone told me I would never amount to anything. But there was one (man/woman) who believed in me, like I believe in (insert some thing no one cares about). (He/She) inspired me to go to USC through a steady diet of (Lifetime/CSPAN) and bootlicking. “Four years later, I remember the good times as well as the bad. There was the time when (insert wholly innocent “Leave It To Beaver” craziness). But how could 1 forget (insert “lost backpack” sto ry, followed by how their head al most exploded). But in the end, it was worth the ride. I encourage all (insert group of people to which they’d like to talk down) to make the most of...” mere it comes, m iuu melodra matic glory. “The college experience. My fel low Americans, we have nothing to fear but four wasted years. I have a dream that graduation day will live in infamy as the iron cur tain descends on the stage. Give me'death, but please not liberty! I consider myself the unluckiest post-college applicant on the face of the earth, but I am not a crook. By the power vested in me by the gods of Sappy Banter and Overblown Pomposity, I now pro nounce you, the reader, asleep. You may now kiss my hide.” Close it out with some bad po etry, and you’ve got a column per fectly attuned to 90-year-old wom en. But be careful — it’s a little edgy for their 115-year-old moth ers. These pieces are the exact op posite of their intended effect — uninspiring, unoriginal, annoy ing and preachy. If the authors of these sentimental anecdotes didn’t know that college is all about liv ing life to its fullest, then they’re out of luck. To be truthful, the message they send is correct; they simply have a problem with stringing together two iotas of creative thought. Sadly, I know how they get in spired —they scamper to the near est Hallmark and copy card lines that couldn’t inspire the biggest namby-pamby in the world. Well, here’s my sales pitch, free of tears and John Tesh back ground music: live it up, or face middle age with the crushing knowledge that you wasted your life. Cross your fingers; someday, someone might make a Lifetime movie about you titled “Wasted Years, Tasty Beers: Confessions of a Middle-aged Cock.” Online.Poll Should the U.S. have sent troops to stabilize Haiti? Yes 53% Yes, I think it was an absolute mess down there.” BEN DAVIS THIRD-YEAR PSYCHOLOGY STUDENT No 41% “I think that Bush should step back and analyze if our help is needed.” FAITH ISREAL SECOND-YEAR PHARMACY STUDENT “I don’t know much about it.” LYDIA HELMICK THIRD-YEAR NURSING STUDENT RESULTS FROM WWW.DAILYGAMECOCK.COM — THIS POLL IS NOT SCIENTIFIC