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Dnlinp Pnil “jt*sn in tough economic \Jl llll IC.I Ufl tfmes.education is something Should USC have apologized that can’t be sacrificed. ” for the incident at ZTA’s Big REP J0EL laurie Man on Campus fund-raiser? use graduate and state representative. d-_ www.dailygamecock.com. Columbia, on the priority that salisp be Results published Aprd 2. given to education in the state « f In.Our.Opinion Don’t charge fee for e-mail Bill Gates’ proposal to use electronic stamps for e-mail as a way of cutting down on spam that crowds inboxes is a poor solution to the problem that his company Microsoft has done little to solve. Since its inception, the Internet has revolutionized the way information is shared across continents and languages in ways that are not yet fully understood. The ease with which e mail can be used to keep in touch with friends and family makes it essential for college students with small budgets and enhances the professor-student relationship. Gates argues that a one cent fee would have little impact on most users, but it might be the death of useful tools like listservs. Charging a fee for e-mail would irrevocably harm the democratic nature of cyberspace, and shows Microsoft is taking a lazy approach to controlling bulk e-mail. Instead of creating tools to cut down on the amount of spam delivered, Microsoft would instead develop a new bureaucracy to track and charge for e-mail. This poses a problem for advocates of free communication, as some governmental intrusion would necessarily be involved if postage were to be charged. While this option would be popular with the U.S. Postal Service, which has been losing revenue to e mail for years, it also indicates bad faith on the part of Microsoft to bribe the government away from lawsuits against Microsoft by promising increased revenues. Instead of charging for e-mail, or even making people solve puzzles as evidence of good faith, as Gates suggested at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Microsoft should follow the lead of other computing companies in making software that makes peoples’ lives easier. Consumers should not literally have to pay for the unwillingness of the world’s largest software company to address problems they helped to create. Charging a fee for e mail would harm the democratic nature of cyberspace by impeding information’s flow. 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. AboutJhe.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, Joey Wallace Wire Editor Z'Anne Coveil Online Editor James Tolbert J? 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: gameco<ikpr@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 Advertising Staff, Robert Carli, Kate Femino, Latoya Hines Caroline 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 The Gamecock 4 Advertising: 777-3888 1400 Greene St. Classified: 777-1184 Columbia. S.C. 29208 Fax: 777-6482 CARTOON COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS WASP learns his acronyms There is a trend growing with ever-increasing momentum that is beginning to take over small schools, local barbershops and national organizations. I’m not talk mg auoui Britney Spears’ navel. Or ‘80s fashion making slight comebacks. Or i “The OC.” L No, I’m be ginning to re- DAVID STAGG alize, along Third-year with the myri- media arts ad of other student people in this Partfour in a world who six part series don’t know what “myriad” means, that acronyms are invading our ev eryday speech. I’m going to be honest: At some points I think acronyms are confusing me more than simplifying my life. I’m watch ing the news and all of a sud den the DoD is talking about MIA soldiers from TTT2 that only drink RC Cola from the ROTC that support the ASAP invention of the LMNOP sector of government to discuss AEIOUs. Let me show you what I mean. Let’s play a game. Following is a transcript of a conversation between two fic tional characters, and it’s your job to translate. Ready? BOB: Hey man, WGO? BOB #2: NMH You? BOB: Same here WAYH? BOB. #2: Oh, just to the GMP You? BOB: I’m meeting the G/F, she’s at the G.M.P., too. BOB #2: No way. WTF? BOB: That’s your girl, too? BOB #2: *#A%). Got it? Well, here are the an swers: BOB: Hey man, whales go outside? BOB #2: No, mice homey. You? BOB: Same here Where are yesterday’s hogs? BOB #2: Oh, just to the good man’s plant. You? BOB: I’m meeting the Great Filibusterer, she’s at the gov erning male pit, too. BOB #2: No way. Where to fill? BOB: That’s your girl, too? BOB #2: Asterik, pound, caret, percent, parenthesis. See what I mean? There is no way to tell what on earth is go ing on here. And though some times I’m confused about what things stand for, acronyms are still a brilliant way of commu nicating. I’m not proposing we get rid of acronyms. If we got rid of things that became confusing af ter a while, there wouldn’t be any more women left on the planet. Oh yes, I just went there. I really do think acronyms are brilliant, and just like the food they take into outer space, pretty soon they’re going to have condensed versions of all necessary phrases in the English language so we’ll only speak in a numbered code that corresponds with a specific phrase so a re-memorization of the language in new numbered code would be necessary, and though it would be difficult at first, we would all agree that, in the future, this is the best for ev erybody. And a partridge in a pear tree. So I’m going to hold out and ride this acronym wave for as long as I can. And don’t be sur prised if you see me 20 years lat er and introduce you to my kid, LMNOP Stagg. In.Your.Opinion USC overreacting on ZTA incident Responding to the ZTA inci dent, USC administrators pre dictably jumped to the conclu sion that the performance must have been racially motivated. In addition, apparently act ing on the theory that time is of the essence, the administration rushed to meet the ridiculous demands Kappa Alpha Psi made after lodging a complaint. The worst among these de mands was that non-black stu dents be instructed on what . black students find offensive. This, of course, either implies that it’s not important that black students know what of fends non-blacks or that non blacks cari’t be offended. And now it turns out that Tim Tice, the “offender,” was wearing the black paint on his legs as part of a makeshift tuxe do. It had absolutely nothing to do with black people. It is, of course, too late to tell this to ad ministrators, because their “ver dict first, trial later” method of operating has already resulted in specific changes being planned. And I don’t see them abandoning any of them now. The whole ordeal is a text book case of individuals being hypersensitive to theirjenvi ronments and believing that they have a constitutional right to not be offended. And any way, nobody should have been offended by what was obviously a criticism of Janet Jackson’s performance and not a criti cism of black people. It’s ironic that USC’s ad ministrators and some stu dents can point out racism in an incident like this, but are clueless when it comes to an is sue like racial quotas: the real cause of increased racial ten sions on campus. Students and USC alumni need to ask administrators why they’ve assumed the role of thought police and if it is their intention to keep bullying ma jority students in their quest for racial bliss. ALEX HARPER Til HID-YEAR ENID.ISM STUDENT Campus divisions not so significant Apparently a person’s apol ogy is no longer sufficient; there must be more, at least, that is what I gathered from Rodney Hollis’ quote in the Gamecock (“USC apology sur prises students”, March 19). It would seem that the universi ty must now answer for each and every action taken by fra ternities, sororities and other such organizations when some one is offended. Please, don’t misunderstand me — Tim Tice’s performance was undesirable, but does it re ally merit all of this attention? Obviously, several minority groups think it does. Where do such organizations get off telling the university whom they should hire into the Office of Greek of Life? I do agree and support a change in the Big Man on Campus fund-raiser to ensure that such acts as this do not hap pen again. As for a program where black students could make a presentation on why certain things are offensive, well, that can wait until next February. If that’s not soon enough, encour age students to watch BET. I am not writing to be offen sive, but to encourage the growth of common sense in those whc would make a mountain out of a molehill. Let’s be serious. While I find Tice’s performance person ally unacceptable, it doesn’t mean I’m going to turn it into a campus crusade for reform. Let’s let this matter fade into the background. Let me repeat that one more time for the NAACP: let this matter fade into the background. ian m. silver FIRST-YEAR OKI M INAL JUSTICE 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. SG needs students’ input to function At the end of February, I and . 32 other students were elected to continue or begin a stint in the USC Student Senate. Wednesday, we attended the first meeting of the legislative branch, marking a new year of Student Government. In the hours surrounding the meeting, as we approved President Zachery Scott’s cabinet nominees and elected a President Pro Temnore. I couldn’t helD hut think about our func tion as sena tors. Do my con stituents — lib eral arts stu dents — and the constituents of RYAN HOLT ”y fellow sena „ tors actually Sr .bo»t science student what we do? As someone who’s worked in the legislative branches of two states, I know the workings of a legislator’s job. One of the most prominent parts of these positions is the representa tive capacity. Usually, a legisla- _ tive office will hear calls from sev eral constituents a day, eager to voice their opinion to their legis lator. Now, I don’t think any member of SG expects to have such an ar rangement, but it inspires me to think: How can students know we’re serving them, and do they know what we can do for them? In my one year of serving in SG, I have seen the same faces molding the system. This is by no means regrettable; the pres ence of incumbent SG officers al lows for the manifestation of greater experience in the gov ernment. However, it is impor tant that these veteran gover nors do so with input from the student body. I think I speak for the rest of SG when I say that we would all like to hear from students, and here’s what SG can do for you: ♦Explain What You Don’t Know: This is within reason, of course. If you come across a piece of legislation or an attempt by students to solve a problem, a ( SG. Senators can explain to you legislation that has reached the floor. Executive officers can let you know about how to get your organization money, the dates of upcoming lobbying rallies at the State House and recent decisions by the administration. ♦Sponsor Legislation: A lot of times, students want to solve a problem with a good idea but don’t know where to turn. Many times, students will start a cam paign to create a petition as a way to solve the issue. A better way, however, is to go through SG. Call your senator with your idea and draft legislation that he j or she can propose on the Senate ' floor. Or, call one of the executive officers since they have even more resources to address prob lematic issues. ♦Get You Into a Student Organization: There are over 300 registered student organizations on campus. If you’re looking for your niche, SG will help you find it. The desk assistants and office staff in the SG office are great re sources, and senators and exec utive officers are also available to help. These are merely three areas where you can receive help from SG. I know I am not speaking solely for myself when I say call us, let us know your concerns and hold us accountable. As cheesy as this sounds, we’re here for you and for this university. We hope j you’ll take us up on this offer and let us know your opinion. How Online.Poll Should Spain have withdrawn its troopsfrom Iraq? Yes 21% No 75% I don’t know. 4% * “I don’t think it j should have taken a j massive attack to | make the decision.” li AMEERAH BETHEA J FtS^JRTH-YEAR HISTORY STUDENT “No, I think it shows terrorists that they can sway elections ” DAVID MILBRANDT FOURTH-YEAR POLITICAL SCIENCE STUDENT “It’s hard to say not knowing the motivation of those terrorists.” john/Sthan butler FOURTH-YEAR ENGLISH STUDENT RESULTS FROM WWW.DAILYGAMECOCK.COM — THIS POLL IS NOT SCIENTIFIC