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V 4 / n nlina “I know that one day Iwill be '-'I lllllc. rU i I president of this country. If not Should the South Carolina today, then when I'm 60.” legislature pass a law to MAXWELL HIGHSMITH legalize tattooing? Columbia resident, on his participation in nrarn rlailvPAmwrv'k rnm THE REALITY TELEVISION SHOW AMEggiN I www.aauygamecocK.com. showtime; produced by showtime H Results published on AprU 9. r In.Our.Opinion Alumni can help lobby The Carolina Action Network’s day of lobbying at the State House March 24 is an encouraging step forward for education if it represents a greater commitment to push the state for more funding. Sponsored by the USC Alumni Association, the network was created to push the S.C. Legislature to make higher education, and USC specifically, a * priority in the annual budget. State government has faced budget shortfalls for the past two years, and without an emphasis on the importance of USC’s vital contributions to the state it would be easy for legislators to ax The Carolina Action parts of use’s funding to Network can serve a . , , , “ meet the state s varied useful purpose if ... .. the alumni * „ ^ organization makes chiefly, the group an effort to reach intends t0 be a means for S.C.’s legislators. alumni t0 connect with their legislators to impress upon them the importance of remembering USC when appropriating tax dollars and keeping alumni abreast of action in the State House that affects higher education. For the group to be effective it must include more than a yearly drop-in at the capitol, and instead lend the weight of the Alumni Association to the existing lobbying efforts of the USC administration and Student Government. Elected officials intuitively understand the cold logic ot vote counts, and unless they are made to see that voting against USC will hurt them at the ballot box in November, the group’s efforts will be fruitless. Also, politicians are masters of using the media to their advantage, and if the group only lobbies at the State House once a year for a photo opportunity, legislators will use it to their advantage as well. Instead of seeking publicity for itself, the group should focus on cultivating personal relationships with the political actors who have input into the education funding process. SOUND OFF Create message boards at www.dailygamecock.com or send letters to the editor to gamecockopinlons@gwm.sc.edu Gamecock.Corrections In Monday’s The Mix, Buttercup Festival was misidentified. In Wednesday’s The Mix, the Von Bondies review should have been attributed to Celia Stephens. The Gamecock regrets the errors. If you see an error in today’s paper, we want to know. 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AMO INNU6MDD, \UAMeyoufC P£rc£/ 1 CARTOON COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS 1 Do as I say, not howl write It only makes sense that, as a columnist, I use words. Although aesthetically, a massive white hole here on the Viewpoints page might attract a few peoples’ atten tion, it doesn’t hold the same weight as an entertaining column. No one’s ever won a Pulitzer for his or her amazing ability to create nega- DAVI D STAGG tive space. Third-year However, media arts when we string student words together Part five in a and form sen- six part series fences, more of ten than not, we screw them all up. We put nouns and verbs and adjectives in all the wrong places. We leave the reader searching for some sort of sense, like a squirrel looking for its acorns in the spring and not being able to find them, so when he goes home, his squirrel wife starts asking where the food is. When he can’t explain, she starts to get pissed and all of sud den the male squirrel finds him self in a whirlwind of everything he’s done wrong for the past year as the female squirrel has actually logged her grievances in a compo sition book culminating in the Lost Acorn Incident, as she packs her squirrel bags and leaves the tree house. He can’t just do that, you know. So, in keeping with the series on the English language, we’re go ing to take a look at some gram matical principles that most of us mess up. Principle No. 1: Run-on sen tences I must admit, I do not feel that I am in a place to offer advice on this principle. If you read the first — well, any actually—sentences of this column, you’ll realize that I have mastered the ability to write run-on sentences, not correct them. So, don’t do what I did. However, I do support the break ing of English rules sometimes, like writing long sentences and like! putting. Punctuation wher ever; I want. To. Principle No. 2: Modifier place ment Let’s say you were trying to trick your mom into giving you money. You want to tell her you spent a lot of it on winter clothes because, by God, you need to keep warm. So you call her up and lay the bomb: “Mom, I need some more money, l nearly spent an ot it on clothes last winter and now the funds are running dry.” The first problem here is that your need for money is not so se rious. If you want to convince your mom you need money you need to make up a better story. Like single-handedly funding the rebuilding of Iraq. Now, not only are you broke and deserving of money, you’ve also done some thing very humanitarian. Problem No. 2 is that your modifier — in this case, the word “nearly” — is modifying the word spent, implying you almost spent it. If you had moved it to, say, between “more” and “mon ey,” the sentence wouldn’t make any sense, and then you could just say your cell phone is cut: ting out, then hang up, and e mail her. Now that’s the way to get some money. Grammar, as I’ve learned, is not for the faint of heart. I’ve real ized that after two principles, it’s better off to just speak so someone will understand you. Modifiers, run-ons, participles, adverbs, ad jectives — I’m about to have a stroke. I respect you, all you lin guists, but it’s time for me to call my mom and ask her for more money in run-on sentences. In.Your.Opinion It’s not easy being republican at USC If the S.C. Republican Party wants to do something for USC (which I doubt they do) then they will permanently ban the College Republicans from USC. I mean, these guys just never seem to get their act together. If they aren’t heckling John Edwards or acting like a bunch of hooligans, then they just don't seem to be content with themselves. nasi weex, l ne oaraecocK published a story about a Rhode Island College Republican organization that was offering a white only schol arship. Here at USC, things aren't a heck of a lot better with our own campus Republicans. Take Wednesday's article for example: “We were told by Kendall that she sent in the lists improperly because she did not want Adam to win.” Who needs Democrats when the USC republicans can fight with each other? It's always good to know that people from our own school purposely un dermine one another to pre vent them from progressing. But how dare I suggest that we kick our beloved College Republicans off campus, when they have 480 members? Well people, if you believe that there are actually 480 members of College Republicans, then I would urge you to attend one of their upcoming meetings. I bet you it will be less populat ed than an 8 a.m. philosophy class. Now don't get me wrong, I am all about the whole Republican thing. In fact, I have always been a Republican — but seeing what the College Republicans here on campus seem to stand for, sometimes I feel like being a Republican is like being a member of Hitler Youth. If they are the future of what the Republican Party in South Carolina will look like, we are all in trouble. Luckily, I am quite confident that none of these people will ever have a future in public of fice, so rest easy. I say this to the S.C. Confederation of College Republicans: You are all lucky people. I only wish USC could be as lucky, and get rid of the College Republicans once and for all. J.D. SHIPMAN THIRD-YEAR POLITICAL SCIENCE STUDENT Argument against Ally program faulty The principles upon which Archie Crossland (“Ally signs have no place on campus,” Wednesday) based his argu ment against the Ally program at USC do nothing but shape his argument to reach only people who already share his zealous Christian “right” belief system. By basing his argument against support for gay, bisexu al, lesbian, transgender and questioning students, who have been historically discriminated against, on his belief that it vio lates his conception of Christian doctrine, he does nothing to con vince people of his position. What he does do is make a bad name for other people who identify themselves as Christians. He also adds to the height of the wall of misunder standing between people of dif ferent beliefs about religion. I encourage Crossland to make an argument that does not alienate all but the few who share his extremist views if he wants to make a useful contribution to this debate. It's his same type of extremist pandering that the cur rent presidential administration of George W. Bush has used to di vide this country and freeze it in its tracks, if not reverse its path, down the road of fruitful debate and progress. JEFF CREWS FOURTH-YEAR POLITICAL SCIENCE 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. Father’s example teaches character February was Black History Month. Throughout February, spe cial events served as a remem brance of many blacks, whose sac rifices have given black youths bet ter opportunities. Many historical figures were honored, including our own Cleveland Sellers. I spent February thinking about George Walker. George Walker is my father. He died in January 2003. In February, I recalled his legacy while observ □ ing some black youths squan dering opportu nities my father fought extreme ly hard for. My father was a World War II veteran. WALKER [n l947’ en' . , tered Johnson mathematics C. Smith Univ student ersity and grad uated with hon ors in 1951. He received his M.A. in Psychology from New York University in 1954, also with hon ors, and completed post-graduate studies at S.C. State College, Atlanta University, Clemson University, the University of Wisconsin, Boston University and completed doctoral studies at Harvard University. How did this black man achieve such success during segregation? My father persevered. Somehow, he couldn't pass those literacy tests. He was expected to answer questions such as: “How many bubbles are on a bar of soap?” “How many barks does a dog have?” and “How many stars are in the sky?” He also explained that, on rainy days, white school buses moved toward ditches and splashed muddy water on him and his siblings. Sunny days were stormy. Despite enduring this adversi ty, my daddy taught me to respect all races because he understood the pain of hatred. Daddy wasn't a bit ter man; however, he wasn't “soft” by any means. One of Daddy's Northern professors at Harvard said, “George, don't take your knowledge south of Washington, D.C.” My daddy replied with his distinct Southern drawl, “Well, I'm from South Calina, and I'm going back the'a.” South Carolina's racist “hornets” had stung Daddy, but his perseverance motivated him to re turn to the hornets' nest. The military instills discipline, perseverance and attention to de tail. During my youth, Daddy's crit icism annoyed me. I didn't under stand him: “Use ya' head for some thing besides a hat rack.” “Do ya' eva' eat any fruits and vegetables? Do ya' eva' watch anything educa tional?” he would ask. If I wore my hat backward, he would say, “tu'n ya' hat around fa'ward.” Now, I understand. In hindsight, I did stupid things, while being oblivious to the image I projected. Daddy's constant criticism was just a hard-line method of saying, “pay attention to detail.” He taught me the importance of education in a militaristic manner. Some frown upon these attributes because they weren't taught them. In Mary McLeod Bethune's last will and testament, she stated, “If I have a legacy to leave my people, it is my philosophy of living and serv ing. As I face tomorrow, I am con tent, for I think I have spent my life well. I pray now that my philoso phy may be helpful to those who share my vision of a world of peace, progress, brotherhood and love.” Daddy expressed the same sen timents. He always said that black youths are fortunate to have bet ter opportunities. Don't squander them. Study and work hard, and make a difference. In memory of George Walker. Online.Poil Should USC have apologizedfor the ZTA incident? Yes 21% “Yes, they should apologize and (ZTA should) make clear what their intentions were.” BENE FLEMING FIRST-YEAR PSYCHOLOGY STUDENT No 69% “No,because I think whoever thinks it’s racist is racist.” BRADLEY YATES FIRST-YEAR CIVIL ENGINEERING STUDENT I don t know 10% “I wouldn't comment on that because I wasn’t there at the time.” JAMES BEARD THIRD-YEAR A'lSSIAN STUDENT RESULTS FROM WWW.DAILYGAMECOCK.COM — THIS POLL IS NOT SCIENTIFIC