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6 Online.Poli “It's seriously like he’s an un Should USC consolidate the . ad cult favorite-He has a pharmacy school with MUSC following. in Charleston? ASHLEY KOLAYA www dailveamecock com second-year anthropology and www.aauygamecocK.com. . psychology student, on late usffiK S Results published April 23. professor harry miuer r In.Our.Opinion * Princeton’s failing grade Princeton University’s effort to reduce grade inflation is a poor response to a problem that has plagued higher education, and the Ivy League specifically, for years. The Princeton, N. J. school has implemented a policy that A grades can only compromise 35 percent of the overall distribution for undergraduate classes. This is in response to the apparent problem that students at Princeton were receiving excessively high grades for their work—a fact borne of statistics showing 65 percent of2002 graduates had grade point The knee-jerk response of raising grades to meet standards is a disservice to students and schools. averages in excess of a B+. Policies intended to reduce this inflation will target larger classes with less instructor-student interaction, but students at Princeton are afraid the denartment caD on high grades will hurt smaller, high-level classes. Classes that are not challenging enough to produce a normal grade distribution, and unwillingness by faculty members and the administration at these institutions to anger students spending so much for higher education is unacceptable. Simple quotas and percentages are insufficient to address these systemic concerns, and are reminiscent of the affirmative action debate that higher education has been struggling with for years. Instead of creating a new educational quagmire, universities should do a better job of sheltering faculty members from the pressure of grades on tenure and performance reviews. New professors who fail too many students are in danger of losing their jobs, and while this may sometimes be indicative of poor teaching, the knee jerk response of raising grades to meet standards is a disservice to students and schools. When schools determine grades based on outside factors, both grade inflation and deflation will be the result, with the latter being the unfortunate end of the Princeton debacle. Neither option is acceptable. Gamecock.Corrections In Wednesday’s The Mix, the comic strip “Buttercup Festival” was misidentified as “Skully.” The Gamecock regrets the error. If you see an error in today’s paper, we want to know. E-mail us at gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu. ADOut.me.bamecocK Prflfnr In P.hlof PflMTAPT IMTHDMATIHM 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, Joel Wallace Wire Editor Z'Anne Coveil Online Editor flames Tolbert Offices on third floor of the Russell House. Editor in Ch'ief: 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: gckpublicaffairs@hotmail.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 Vacant Creative Services Whitney Bridges. Robbie Burkett, Burke Lauderdale Advertising Staff Robert Carli, Kate Fefnino, Latoya Hines Caroline Love, Jesica Johnson, David Weatherford Public Affairs 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 jw newspaper’s parent ipt; organization. The mm Gamecock is JHf supported in part by flV student-activity fees.IS One free copy per lilt reader. Additional iHk copies may be purchased for $1 each from the Department of Student Media. rviiuuciiy uicsaici TO PLACE AN AD 1400 Greene St. Columbia, S.C. 29208 nuvciuamg. i i i --jooo Classified: 777-1184 Fax: 777-6482 — Get a McGrip on food wars I’m skinny. I’ve always been skinny. I could eat three bison and still weigh 140 pounds. I could eat as many — gasp! — carbohy drates as I want and still look like Calista Flockhart on a diet after 31 days on “Survivor.” The problem for most people, however, is that they eat one strand of spaghetti and balloon out like Oprah Winfrey. DAVID STAGG Sometimes, Third-year when I’m with media arts friends and student we’re looking to find a place to eat, they’ll be like, “I’m sorry, I really can’t eat. I ate last Tuesday.” And I’m like, “It’s Friday.” And they’re like, “Shyeah.” The truth is, something we doctors like to refer to as “metabolism” dictates a lot of the way someone looks. It deter mines how much of that strand of spaghetti you’re about to eat becomes processed fat. It then decides what your prom date will look like, where you’ll go to college and tells you to get a hair cut every two weeks, other wise you will be worthless and drown in your sorrows and end up on Montel Williams going to boot camp. That aside, someone’s genetic flaws have caused multi-nation al corporations to stumble. McDonald’s, the very target of the world’s most frivolous and asinine obesity lawsuits, is fur thering their goal of becoming a health food store by offering “Adult Happy Meals,” complete with salad, bottled water, a pe dometer, advice to walk more, a personal mortgage, stock options and 2.7 children. Yeah, and the best part is, it’s called “Go Active!” — which leads me to another question: At what point did adults lose track of what’s cool? Which brilliant marketer held that meeting? BOARD MEMBER 1: So, what do we call it? BOARD MEMBER 2: How’s “Your Life Sucks Now That You’re Old and Fat Why Don’t You Let McDonald’s Fix It For You?” 1: Nah, that’s too long. 2: How about “Sweatin’ to the McOldies?” Well, all this upsets me. Whatever happened the America I grew up loving? The one where when you went to McDonald’s and you knew you were getting processed chicken parts as your “McNuggets” and you didn’t care? Where you could get 30 hamburg ers and a glass of grease to wash it down with for less than five bucks? This is what our nation was built on, not the anti-carbs, don’t eat-what-your-body-actually needs-though-someone-said-it made-you-fatter-so-now-everyone stays-away-from-it-like-Michael Jackson-at-a-day-care people that end up running fast food joints. Poor McDonald’s — since when did you become the figure head for all things obese in America? Immediately, the fin gers are pointed at you. You’ve resorted to Adult Happy Meals, and giving kids the choice of sliced apples instead of fries and juice instead of a soft drink. Well I’ve done some research for you, Mickey D’s. When we go to McDonald’s, we want what ev eryone wants when they hear the name of your corporation: quick, very-good-tasting but very-bad for-you food that makes grease ooze out your pores when you work out. But all that seems to be chang ing. Pretty soon, you’ll see me at EarthFare ordering a bucket of fries, a cup of mayonnaise and the biggest slab of raw meat you can buy. Thanks, McDonald’s. In Your Opinion Teachers should learn compassion This is in response to Graham Culbertson’s article (“Teaching sympathy to USC,” Monday) about the sympathy of USC professors. I could not agree more that some profes sors need a little lesson in sym pathy and compassion. Last semester, my mother unexpect edly passed away. That week I was supposed to have a couple of tests and some other impor tant things, so I started calling my instructors one by one. First, I talked to my biolo gy professors who were ex tremely kind and offered to do anything they could to help. Then, I called my dance pro fessor. I was understandably already upset from having to repeat the words, “my mother has passed away.” The head of the dance department an swered the phone and was rude from the beginning. I simply asked to speak to my professor, and the person gave me a hard time asking “Who is this?” and “What is this about?” which was none of her business. I told her my name and why I was calling. Even after I told her my mother had just passed away the day before, she con tinued to be extremely rude to me. Since I was already in a fragile state, I started to cry right there on the phone. By the time my instructor got on the phone, I was so upset I could hardly even tell her what was going on. On top of that, she was not very nice either. I was not expecting either of them to start crying with me on the phone and talk to me for an hour on how I was doing, but being that impolite was definitely not necessary. So, I am sorry to tell you Graham, you are not alone. LEAH BEASLEY FOURTH-YEAR BIOLOGY STUDENT Replace USC band with CD samples There are many constants at this university that contin ually bring my fellow students and myself happiness, one of which is football games. However, please join me while I imagine our university with out its greatest laughingstock, the USC Marching Band. Is it too much to ask that our university provide a half time show that doesn’t put me to sleep or incite me to use the bathrpom? I’ll give credit where credit is due; our fight song is powerful and a band carries that well. But do we need a band to portray that or can we do what every profes sional team does? Use a CD sample. The band’s monstrous mem bership travels courtesy of USC I and when they take their seats our faithful Gamecock students suffer for seating space. Without the fi nancial burden created by all the band expenses, everyone can en joy a more enjoyable and enter taining halftime performance. The university will save mon ey, create positive publicity and involve students in choosing their own halftime perfor mances. Maybe we can even af ford a decent kicker and I’ll throw in a vote for AC/DC play ing 2001. KEVIN EKMAN •FOURTH-YEAR MARKETING STUDENT Like to stay up late? The Gamecock is looking for an online editor for the fall semester. Interested students should e-mail gamecockeditor@ gwm.sc.edu 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. Media fashion minority images In the aftermath of the Zeta Tau ( Alpha incident, as USC prepares to implement a program focusing on “sensitive” issues offensive to blacks, allow me to suggest one area of consideration: popular cul ture. Think about it — where are most of the prevailing, degrading epithets and stereotypes created? And which people have the most influence over consumer behavior? If you answered the media and celebrities to the aforemen tioned ques tions rnnoratii lations: you have not been brainwashed into believing SHAUNDRA tha* ^eSe Con t CUNNINGHAM cocted images ( Third-year arejeality marketing Herein lies student the problem: as long as the me dia caters to pop culture, false mis conceptions and jaded perceptions will transform into stereotypes. Hence, there is a cycle of mis-edu cation that can potentially become oppressive to the ethnic groups or parties being portrayed. Particularly, because persons or parties not affiliated or familiar with the customs of the conveyed group begin to internalize or ac cept the media images they are subconsciously perpetuated. As shown by the influx of celebrities advertising every prod uct imaginable, corporate America is capitalizing on the pop-driven market. Most celebrities welcome endorsement deals and consider them to be a staple of commercial success, but what’s the cost? Often, these stars must exchange artistic identity for the sake of capitalism. For instance, as hip-hop contin ues to dominate the mainstream, many rappers, encouraged by then record companies, tend to follow the hackneyed formula for success. As an avid hip-hop advocate and fanatic, it sickens me to think that an art form rooted in originality and lyricism has become topically stagnate (with a few rare excep tions, i.e. OutKast). The main rea son for this transformation is pop culture and the quest for so-called crossover success. Even Jay-Z, arguably the best rapper alive, attested to this theory in “Moment of Clarity” on “The Black Album” stating he “dumbs down for (his) audience and dou bles (his) dollars.” Essentially, due to Jay-Z’s desire to sell millions of nr\c* oncl ^aonifo llio r>lin ikn contrary, he bought into the capi talistic trap: release the party an thems and go platinum. Furthermore, I must stress that the rap videos in heavy rotation are not representative of the black experience. So, please don’t pa tronize me in conversation by making references to rap lyrics or videos because they don’t reflect or define my existence. Finally, one of the segments of entertainment that is defined by stereotypes is Hollywood. Blacks have historically been cast in sub servient and degrading roles in the name of pop culture. Simply probe back to the first talking picture, The Jazz Singer” from 1927, and many others in which black face was the norm. Even today, many of the movies containing a multi-ethnic cast con stantly go after the cheap laugh or cliched response based on percep tions rather than developing an in triguing plot and crafting multi-di mensional characters. I challenge everyone to re-ex amine the impact of popular cul ture, the influence of media and the oppression of stereotypes. Only then will significant progress en sue regarding race relations and Online. Poll Would you buy a yearbook if USC offered one for sale? Yes 39% No 35% I’m not sure 25% “Yes, probably the reason why Is to reminisce your college years.” CORDELL BAUGH THIRD-YEAR MUSIC STUDENT “No, I've never bought one. It doesn’t affect me.” CHRIS KELLEY t FOURTH YEAR CRIMINAL JUSTICE sruDENT “It depends on the price and if my picture is in it.” ALEX GARNER THIRD-YEAR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STUDENT /* RESULTS FROM WWW.DAILYGAMECOCK.COM