The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 23, 2004, Page 7, Image 7
f . 7
Online.Poll k “Because the dean is going to
Should South Carolina extend ** <afMUSC) doesn’t necessarily
the LIFE Scholarship to five mean that one sch°o1 is better
years? ‘ than tbe other. This is not an in
www.dailygamecock.com. ter-collegiate athletic contest.”
Results published online. ANDREW SORENSEN
use PRESIDENT. ON THE IMPLICATIONS# A W
POSSIBLE PHARMACY MERGER
In.Our.Opinion
Life Sciences
billflawed
When the General Assembly overrode Gov. Mark
Sanford’s veto on the Life Sciences bill, which would
provide at least $220 million for research at the
state’s major universities, it highlighted the hurdles
education faces in the state.
On one hand, the additional funding will aid USC,
Clemson and the Medical University of South
Carolina in setting up research programs to attract
knowledge-based industries to the state, which in
the long term will bring higher-paying jobs and
increased tax revenues. The trade-off, however, is
that legislators added riders
to a good bill, making it
nothing more than an
example of pork-barrel
politics. Our elected
representatives in the State
House knew that if Gov.
Sanford vetoed the bill, it
Despite the pork
barrel politics
involved, the Life
Sciences bill
would benefit
USC by providing
additional
research money.
would look poorly for him politically. When the
governor sent the bill back to the legislature with
his veto, and they subsequently re-voted to override
it, the only losers in the process were fiscal
responsibility and common-sense lawmaking.
Gov. Sanford’s threat to sue the legislature over
the amendments to the bill is yet another
reaffirmation that he has not tried to work with his
neighbors in the State House to get his agenda
passed. Instead, mistrust and bad feelings have
resulted from poor communication and the hard
headedness of Sanford and the leaders of the House
and Senate
Conversely, adding unnecessary and expensive
items to the Life Sciences bill is irresponsible, and
technically illegal, for the legislature to do. South
Carolina politics have for too long supported the
status quo, which is compromise at the expense of
tough decisions and logical decisions that benefit the
state’s residents.
South Carolinians are right to demand more mature
leadership from their representatives, and the
Senate’s bottleneck is an insult to all of us who depend
on them decisions for a functional government.
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semctfV/ey
CARTOON COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS
I waste space like bloggers do
I think it’s time we all do a lit
tle reflecting on the semester
that-should-have-been, and not
the semester-that-was.
I planned on accomplishing a
few things this semester
(straight As,
good atten
dance records,
building a suc
cessful nuclear
reactor and
winning the
Pulitzer Prize),
but only ac
complished DAVID STAGG
one thing Third-year
worth men- rnedia arts
.. . T student
tioning: I suc
cessfully man
aged to not enter the Thomas
Cooper Library for a full
semester. Not once did I set foot
in the place. I rule.
I know what you’re thinking-.
It’s not an accomplishment to
avoid the library. Well, what
with the Internet and all, I’ve
found other sources of material
for research papers (along with
a whole lot of viruses, dating
services and that random scant
ily clad girl who always ends up
on that one ad on Hotmail’s Web
site).
But in my pursuit of glory
and accomplishments (and glo
rious-successes at failing), I
have noticed a common trend
among college students, facili
tated by the “profile” option of
Instant Messenger: blogs.
What’s the deal with these on
line journals? At the beginning
of the semester, when I first
went on an Instant Messenger
diet, [which eventually turned
me into Messengertarian (one
who does not use the Internet
for messenger systems [I’ll tell
you about why some other time
(if you have enough modifiers
to your sentence, you get to use
brackets)])] you could see the
seeds of personal journaling tak
ing hold, soon to blossom into a
beautiful forest of ideas and in
timate thoughts.
One of my really close
friends, who we’ll call Zane
Ullman No. 2 to protect his iden
tity, was the first person I knew
to start to putting his “diary” on
an Internet site. At first, he re
ally went all out with it. He was
saying some seriously personal
stuff that I wouldn’t have the ca
hones to broadcast to let the
public read, let alone for people
mentioned in his journal to
read, let alone anyone to read,
let alone the Pope to read.
And Lord only knows what
the Pope would do. Probably
make you wear a dunce hat.
Because they look like his. And
his isn’t cool. Fashion faux paw,
Pope, major fashion faux paw.
But now, everyone got a blog
site — even Jesus Christ. Who
knew? Well, I guess he did. And *
I guess God did, too. But they’re
the same person anyway.
Nothing gets past them.
Regardless, the problem now
is that most of the time, blogs
don’t say anything serious at all.
I don’t want to read about your
lunch at Taco Bell. I want to
know who. you have a crush on!
Come on! Give me the gossip! I
guess I was spoiled when Zane
#2 set the bar on blogging. Oh
well, it’s a stupid word anyway.
• In conclusion, I respect all of
you out there who blog, but I im
plore you to make it worth the
readers’ time. Use words like
implore. Normally, I would read
blogs to waste time when I
should have been doing home
work, but now, I feel as if I’m
REALLY wasting my time read
ing them.
And because I’m not a big —
oh, how do you say — “thinker,’.’
you probably won’t see my blog
anywhere in the near future.
But the second a blog earns
someone the Pulitzer Prize,
count me in.
In Your Opinion
Band, WUSC need
campus support
Two recent submissions
struck a sour note with me that
I wish to comment on
(“WUSC’s broadcasts don’t
serve students,” Monday, and
“Replace USC band with CD
samples,” Friday, April 16).
With regards to the former, I
suggest that if Mr. Bowen wish
es to express his opinion, that
he at least takes the time to
have an informed one. If he
were to have taken the time to
know what he was writing
about instead of just sharing
his thoughts, he would know
that the purpose of WUSC is to
educate the Carolina commu
nity of other styles of music i
that exist beyond the same ten
songs that saturate the air
waves of every other radio sta
tion across the country. Or, j
perhaps he is so close-minded
that he cannot comprehend en
joying anything more than
what the commercial media
will offer. In any case, if it’s not
to your liking, then change the
station, or turn your radio off.
Regarding the latter letter,
the USC Marching Band is as
much a part of the football team
as the offensive line. Aside from
the many sacrifices and hours
of dedicated practice, the mem
bers of the USC Marching Band
are students, too, and have the
same right to attend every foot
ball game, contrary to what Mr.
Ekman believes. These individ
uals embody the fighting spirit
of USC, both here, and at distant
campuses, proudly supporting
our football team. Are you to
say that USC should marginal
ize that spirit and loyalty into a
thin plastic disc? Never.
In my opinion, Mr. Ekman,
nothing shows more loyalty to
the university than giving one’s
self to perform something dear
to every Carolinian. These indi
viduals exhibit more school spir
it in one autumn Saturday in
support of USC than all of the
“Gamecock” T-shirts you and I
could ever buy.
JEFFREY GARCIA
FOURTH-YEAR CIVIL ENOINEERINO
STUDENT
Edwards sets poor
example for USC
I was appalled after reading
the statements made by former
Student Government Treasurer
Ben Edwards in the Monday
edition of The Gamecock.
Mr. Edwards was honored
with the prestigious Algernon
Sydney Sullivan Award during
the Awards Day ceremony
April 15, and was asked to re
flect on the honor bestowed
upon him. He stated that he
participated in the various ac
tivities, referring to those that
led to his winning the award,
because he “wanted to get into
a good law school.” In addition,
Mr. Edwards also stated that one
of the only reasons he was excit
ed to win the award was because
it “may make a difference in my
(law school) application.”
After reading the column, I
was ashamed that our school
would give such an honor ta^ ]
someone who appears to have act
ed out of purely selfish reasons.
While it is a fact that most stu
dents participate in extracurric
ular activities in order to enhance
graduate school or job applica
tions, it is by far not the only rea
son behind becoming involved.
Instead of thanking the university
for his education and the oppor
tunities to help others he was priv
ileged to have had, Mr. Edwards’
statements show that he only, act
ed out of self-interest when he par
ticipated in the activities that now
enhance his law school applica
tion. I hope Mr. Edwards was mis
quoted, and that he does not tru
ly have this attitude toward help
ing others. I also hope the rest of
our generation does not possess
this same attitude. If so, the future
does not look bright.
MARIE VERMILLION
FOURTH-YEAR HISTORY STUDENT
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Bringing
back the
draft for
fairness
I must admit, when I first
heard mention of reinstituting
the draft over a year* ago I
thought it was somewhat hu
■ morous. Maybe it was because it
came from Congressman
Wrangle and our beloved Sen.
Hollings, but more than likely it
was because I knew it had about
the same chance as happening as
me winning the Pulitzer Prize
However, the situation in Iraq
has caused me to wonder if the
Pulitzer isn’t
completely out
of my reach.
Now don’t
get me wrong, I
am not clean
ing off a space
on my shelf yet.
JUSTIN 14 ^ust seems
SIMMONS like the arf
Third-year “given for
political the draft are
science student starting to hold
• more rele
vance.
There are a few reasons I be
lieve a draft would be a good
idea, at least in the current situ
ation. I know it’s not often that
you find an argument for the
draft in a college newspaper (es
pecially post-Vietnam) but I be
lieve when the current national
security problem is looked at ob
jectively, and you really think
about the ways a draft could be
beneficial, the reinstitution of
the draft begins to make sense.
The most pressing reason for
a draft is the critical need for
manpower that the armed forces
now finds themselves in.
Whether you believe this short
age comes from too many .de
fense department budget cuts or
the over-commitment of our mil
itary, we are asking a lot of our
troops — even if being a soldier
is their chosen profession. The
defense department is trying to
help the situation by re-evaluat
ing the need for our troops in
Korea and Germany, but long
term policy changes are not
enough to help our over-worked
soldiers now.
Another good reason just to
begin a dialogue on the reinsti
tution of the draft is the way it
will increase political involve
ment. If this were the sole reason,
it would be highly manipulative
to dangle the chance of a draft
over the head of the American
electorate simply for the sake of
better voter turnout. This case,
however, is simply an externality
caused by the necessity of ex
panding our military strength.
America has had successful
and unsuccessful drafts — the
success being determined by the
perception of the war into which
Americans are being drafted.
Few men refused to go fight in
Europe or the Pacific during
World War II, given the obvious
threat that was posed by an Axis
victory. Vietnam was a far less
popular war, and in the eyes of
many, a far less needed one. If
you want to find out if the
American people perceive the
war in Iraq as needed, reinstitute
the draft and you’ll have your an
swer come November.
A final reason, to reinstitute
the draft is purely intrinsic, and
yet is something that could be
very beneficial to my generation.
If we look at the veterans from
World War II, I believe one char
acteristic that was present in
them, but yet which my genera
tion lacks is fortitude. Nothing
steels the nerves quicker than
the possibility of facing great re
sponsibility. Whether drafted or
not, each person will be forced to
scrutinize their beliefs and re
evaluate the cost of living in a
land so richly blessed. 1 can’t see
how that would be a bad thing.
Online. Poll Should USC consolidate the pharmacy school with MUSC?
Yes 14% No 68% I don’t know 18%
“Yes, because If you
replicate the process
< it’s wasteful.”
I CHUCK HOFFMAN
THIRD-YEAR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
STUDENT
“No, i think it
should remain
here.”
ETAI ESHEL
THIRD-YEAR NURSING STUDENT
“I don’t really have
an opinion.”
MONIQUE MORPHIS
FIRST-YEAR MARKETING
MANAGEMENT STUDENT
RESULTS FROM WWW.DAILYGAMECOCK.COM