The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 02, 2004, Page 4, Image 4
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
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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. E-mail us
at gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu.
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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
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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