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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.
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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
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Letters to the editor should be less than
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gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu. Letters
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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