The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 05, 2004, Page 6, Image 6
6 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Monday, April 5,2004 f
Online.Poll * T I ,lTTT I VT"X I *1 like security and parking. I was
Should the S.C. Legislature I B 1 ■ / B B ■ f B I ' relieved to find out that the uni
pass a law to legalize tattoo- B B"*^ » / « / B-^ B B % B versity is like a well-oiled ma
www.dailygamecock.com. J_J f f Vy _ g _L ky STEPHANIE SEJEWSKI
Results published on Friday. high schooljunior from aiken, on
IMPRESSIONS FROM THE USC SH0WI
In.our.opinion
New arena
boon to USC
Even more than a home for our reinvigorated
basketball team, the Colonial Center has been a
huge success as a concert venue, drawing attention
to USC and Columbia.
The Colonial Center ranks 22nd in the world for
number of tickets sold in 2003, according to Pollstar
Magazine, proving that it is drawing more than just
basketball crowds responding to the stellar run the
men’s basketball had this year. Also, the Colonial
Center will be busy this month,-with seven national
shows coming, beginning Wednesday with
, . , Aerosmith and Cheap
Ticket sales for the T . .
Colonial Center ri
allayed pre- /art of the Colonial
construction fears Center s success ran
that a new arena attributed to the diversity
would not be a good of concerts that have been
investment for USC. scheduled for the venue,
with acts ranging from
pop princess Britney Spears to folk legend Bob
Dylan April 10. Columbians are eager for
mainstream music shows in an arena setting.
Since the Colonial Center has more seats than
the Coliseum, there were initial fears that it would
be difficult to fill them. But as it turns out, the
construction was a good investment for USC from
several perspectives.
. meariy, uie ooiumai center nas ueen a success
from an entertainment viewpoint, and it will also
aid the efforts of basketball to recruit top prospects.
New facilities that include amenities for athletes
help the athletic department, and the arena is also
superb for viewing games. Despite the additional
seating, the Colonial Center feels smaller, with
better views of the court from all around. This helps
the teams as they play, since fans who are happy
with their seats will be more attuned to the game
and thus likely to be more vocal in their support.
USC students should be happy about the
practicality of the Colonial Center, which
contributes to the entertainment options for all
Columbians.
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
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b/\5 Jo Go H(G<rt6(Z
Who decided skinny was hot?
Is it just me, or is Kate
Beckinsale not hot? At all.
Seriously, I’m really tired of
saying she’s hot all the time just
because everyone around me is,
and if I didn’t,
they’d think I
was gay.
It would
probably be
kind of fun if
they thought I
was gay, but
that might be a
problem some
where down
the road.
Anyway, I
watched
“Underworld”
the other day, the movie that
supposedly she was really hot
in, and the whole time she was
running around in skin-tight
leather pants and I figured
something out: Kate Beckinsale
has the exact same figure as
Mick Jagger. Except I think
Mick Jagger has more curves.
This is the primary problem
we face in society today, in my
opinion; people think Kate
Beckinsale is hot. Kate Beckinsale
is 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighs ap
proximately 17 lbs and was the fe
male lead in “Pearl Harbor.”
What’s there to like here?
The problem with Kate
Beckinsale, and our society, is
that fashion magazines and aw
fully-scripted movies about vam
pires fighting werewolves are
constantly telling us that wom
en who make Robert Plant look
like Aretha Franklin are attrac
tive. And they’re not.
So what are we going to do
about it?
For starters, don’t watch
“Pearl Harbor,” but that’s more
like the 11th Commandment
than a new development in the
quest to de-hot Kate Beckinsale.
(I’m only picking on Kate
Beckinsale because she’s also a
really, really bad actress. I could
just as easily be picking on
Claire Danes or Cameron Diaz.
Oh wait, they’re also really bad
actresses. Sorry, never mind.)
All right, so here’s the plan:
First, boycott all Kate
Beckinsale, Claire Danes,
Cameron Diaz and Kurt Russell
movies, unless they have Hugh
Jackman in them. However, if
they have Hugh Jackman in
them, but also feature Kate
Beckinsale as a vampire or vam
pire hunter, then don’t see them,
unless they have Ian McKellen
in them. Who, incidentally, is
way too thin, but I don’t think
that’s related to an unhealthy
societal view of the female fig
ure. Oh yeah, and skip “Pearl
Harbor.” It’s really long.
After you have performed the
requisite boycotting, the next
step is to carry a yummy, king
size Baby Ruth bar with you ev
erywhere you go. Whenever you
walk by a super-thin, really ugly
girl (usually surrounded by frat
guys saying, “Wow, she’s almost
as hot as Kate Beckinsale, ex
cept she could lose some
weight.”), whip out your Baby
Ruth and dangle it under her
nose.
She’ll immediately become
transfixed by the chocolate and
nuts, neither of which she will
have tasted since 1987, and will fol
low you home where you can fat
ten her into a healthy, attractive
girl with rosy cheeks, who will im
mediately fall in love with you for
showing her how wonderful a
king-size candy bar can be.
Oh yeah, and you’ll save so
ciety from the Claire Danes’s of
the world, probably. Oh well,
who cares? Once you have a girl
friend, anorexia seems less im
portant anyway. Just stay away
from “Pearl Harbor” and you’ll
be fine.
In.your.opinion
Ally program plays
vital campus role
I have many comments on
USC Printing Services employ
ee Archie Crossland’s letter
(“Ally signs have no place on
campus,” Wednesday). First of
all, I agree that it is a priority of
USC’s to support all students,
faculty and staff. However,
that’s the only thing Mr.
Crossland and I agree on.
The purpose of having visi
ble and distinctive signs on
campus signifying allies of the
gay community is because it
isn’t always easy to see who is
in fact a member of that com
munity. Homosexuals don’t
wear signs and neither do their
“supporters.” The Ally program
has been formed to assist those
who need help and have
nowhere else to go.
Perhaps the program’s an
nouncement reading that acts
of heterosexism “will not be tol
erated” is a bit extreme. Maybe
it would be better to say,
“Prejudices such as heterosex
ism should not be tolerated.”
Aside from the possibly
harsh wording in ads for the
program, it’s still a great idea for
a campus that is still relatively
shy toward homosexuality.
Mr. Crossland goes on to
mention that he doesn’t fear ho
mosexuals but fears for them,
along with adulterers, liars,
thieves or anyone else who
breaks “any of the Ten
Commandments.” He says all of
these offenders who don’t repent
to Jesus Christ will perish. As a
Christian I find these statements
quite interesting. Yes, the Bible
does mention homosexuality as
a sin, but it doesn’t say anything
in the Ten Commandments
about being gay. And for Mr.
Crossland to be such a devout
Christian like he claims, it
amazes me that he would pass
such strong judgment on others.
Christians know there is only
one judge in this world, and I
can assure everyone who is un
aware, that judge does not work
at USC Printing Services.
BRIAN BREITENSTEIN
SECOND-YEAR f>UBLIC RELATIONS
STUDENT
Mexico must follow
international law
Mexico scored a human
rights victory Wednesday when
the International Court of
Justice ordered the United
States to review the cases of 51
Mexicans facing the death penal
ty here. According to Mexican
officials, the United States sys
tematically violated its citizens’
human rights by denying access
to consular staff who could as
sist in their defense.
It is ironic that the very
thing the Mexican government
demanded, activists in
Mexico’s Chihuahua state are
now having to struggle for: gov
emment intercession in cases in
volving state crimes.
In Ciudad Juarez and
Chihuahua City, approximately
370 Mexican women have been
brutally murdered since 1993,
many after violent sexual assault.
The Mexican federal government
has been slow to intercede in
these crimes.
To coordinate the investigation
and prosecution of these murders,
the Fox administration recently
appointed Federal Prosecutor
Maria Lopez Urbina and Special
Commissioner Guadalupe Morfin.
Amnesty International welcomed
this intervention. It had previ
ously found serious deficiencies,
including a lack of follow-up on
witness statements and evidence,
and unjustified delays by police
investigators.
The Fox administration must
take its own advice if it believes
federal law supersedes state law
in special circumstances, and ag
gressively intervene on behalf of
the women of Ciudad Juarez and
Chihuahua who continue to be
at great risk of abduction and
murder.
ANNE GALANTOWICZ
FIRST-YEAR I'H.I). GEOGRAPHY
STUDENT
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A matter
ofpoor
public
relations
Those kooky College
Republicans. They just can’t seem
to quit making themselves look
like complete fools. Take last
week’s incident with the S.C.
Confederation of College
Rpniihlirans
□ While it’s a
bit of a he-said,
she-said affair,
the facts seem to
bear out that
former USC
College Repub
lican chair
WES WOLFE woman Ken
„ ., dall Robinson
public tned t0 screw
relations over a guy from
student her own organi
zation who was
running for state chairman.
Let me repeat that. She tried to
screw over a guy from her own or
ganization. A fellow Republican. A
comrade-in-arms. Are you kidding?
Through Robinson’s actions,
which included sending a pack
of erroneous credentials to the
confederation, she made herself
and her organization look bad.
In a conversation with The
Gamecock, Robinson said she
wouldn’t give a quote and that,
“There’s no story here.”
That’s smart. She could have
gotten her story out there and
maybe made someone else look
bad instead of herself, but no. It
was just easier to dip into that
well of hatred Republicans har
bor for the free press.
Of course, Robinson isn’t the
only College Republican to do
something idiotic in recent mem
ory. There were the other knuck
le-scraping Neanderthals in her
organization who decided to heck
le everyone who stepped on stage
when U.S. Sen. John EdwTards, D
N.C., came to formally announce
his presidential campaign in front
of the Russell House.
You guys were stellar. I espe
cially enjoyed the one who
screamed the words “commu
nism” and “socialism” in my ear
when former Charlotte Mayor
Harvey Gantt took the stage. The
yelling during the prayer was nice,
too, and occurred in practically ev
ery single pause a speaker took un
til Edwards’ wife admonished the
College Republicans for their ac
tions and asked for some courtesy.
It’s one thing to protest, but it’s
another thing to intentionally dis
rupt an event, especially when
you’re giving the USC student body
a bad reputation with your actions.
All in all, I was almost moved to
forego my usual pacifism and buy
myself a ticket to jail by jumping
onto the sidewalk and throwing
punches. According to the MSNBC
campaign embed, Dugald
McConnell, another member of the
working press looked like she was
going to walk down from the press
riser and strangle one of the kids
herself. If she had, though,
Robinson would’ve had one less
name to duplicate on the creden
tials application.
And then there s the group of
College Republicans who tried to
ambush A1 Franken during the
question-and-answer period of his
appearance at the Roger Center.
One fellow asked a question that
implied that Republican student
groups were being repressed.
Right. Republicans control the
presidency, Congress and many
state governments. But, apparent
ly, they’re being repressed. Well,
Franken cracked a joke at the kid’s
expense and sent him out crying.
If you’re going to ambush some
one, be prepared to have it thrown
back at you.
So, here’s to the USC College
Republicans. If you guys weren’t
such petulant, mean-spirited cry
babies, I would’ve had to write
about something important.
College.Quote.Board
DAILY ORANGE
jfMgte SYRAW’S^ university
“President George W. Bush has asked the FDA to alter the packaging
i of condoms so that they include a warning about their ineffectiveness
in preventing human papillomavirus, commonly known as HPV or
the vims that causes genital herpes. Furthermore, it is appropriate
and responsible that Bush, an unmistakably staunch conservative,
has acknowledged condoms as a part of the national sexual dialogue
through asking the FDA to reword the warning they include.”
S. f* ,'■<«* ’* 3 . ■ ‘ . * -Sk*1
THE LANTERN
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
“With all of the tanning alternatives out such as Mystic Tan and
bottled self tanner lotions, people no longer have an excuse to place
themselves amid the UVA radiation in a tanning bed. That is unless
they are striving for cancer—but while their at it, they should make
■sure to take a pack of cigarettes into the tanning bed as well. Even if
tanning does boost one’s metabolism, it is not worth the risks in
volved.”
f COURTESY OF U-WIRE