Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

Debate CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 must argue against the resolution. After assignments,.the topic is an nounced and teams are given any where from 15 to 20 minutes of preparation time. The govern ment speaks first. The debate usu ally ends up taking about 45 min utes total. “You won’t really have a reli gion debate or one on abortion or gun control,” Dickson said. Teams do have to debate for a resolution to an issue they are t ' ueuauuB against something that we don’t agree with happens often but it usually falls along po litical lines.” Prince said. “But we are so well read that we don’t have such staunch opinions on most is sues.” Teammate Maggie Brock agreed: “You get to a point where you can look at both sides of it and take different viewpoints than what you would normally have.” The debate team “season” lasts throughout the year, running from September through the end of April, Prince said. And while debate might seem as simple as getting up and argu ing, team members agree it is more than just standing at a lectern and going back and forth with an opponent. “Just like I can’t play basket ball, there are people who can’t de bate. You just have (to have) cer tain skills,” said Prince. Being a member of the debate team is more than just traveling and taking long weekends. It’s also more than being able to ar gue for the sake of arguing, Shipman said. “Debate is sort of like a varsity sport. People don’t realize how much time we put into the cases,” Shipman said. Next year, the team hopes that their work throughout the season will pay off — ideally with another national championship. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu Bands CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 hall the tour plays. He and other young activists are energized that such numbers could swing November’s presidential race. At last month’s South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin, Texas, the nonprofit Music for America was spreading the word at a “Rock Against Bush” showcase coordinated with Burkett’s Fat Wreck Chords label and punkvoter.com. The show featured punk bands such as Gainesville, Fla.-based Against Me! and Minneapolis-based Dillinger Four. On an outdoor patio, Molly Lewis, a representative of Music For America, was handing out lit erature about the organization, which aims to motivate at least 1 million young voters to go to the polls in November. Like Punk Voter, Music for America por trays the Bush administration as wrong on education, the econo my, the war, health care and oth er social issues. It’s a different approach from the longstanding Rock the Vote, which takes a nonpartisan stance on candidates when pushing young people to vote. Lewis, 25, claims that method is becoming outdated. Music for America also is sponsoring and participating in national rock tours. The orga nization, online at music foramerica.org, has been in volved in more than 250 shows this year, including 65 concerts during the Super Tuesday pri mary week. Anytime a musician exhorts an audience to become involved, the group’s registration numbers increase dramatically, Lewis says. At least one rock historian says prospects for lasting politi cal songs now are much less promising than in the Vietnam era. “It seemed to me that, back, then, the anti-war sentiment was much stronger than it is now,” says William McKeen, chairman of the journalism department at the University of Florida, who teaches a course on rock history and has au thored books on Bob Dylan and the Beatles. “The country is very divided right now, much more than before, about supporting Bush and the war or not. I don’t think that this period is going to produce the kind of en during anti-war anthems that we had out of the 1960s.” McKeen thinks it would re quire a pop star such as Britney Spears to take a political position before the level of activism could “I wouldn't want to be part of a movement that didn’t include music. Right now, we don’t need a movement, we need a crusade.” JOAN BAEZ MUSICIAN reach that vplume. And he doesn’t see that happening. d don't think that the artists today want to be that political. They are too career-conscious. In that sense, I have to admire Joan Baez or Bob Dylan, because you knew they didn’t put their ca reers first. Instead, it sort of be came Joan’s career.” Baez was among the featured panelists at South By Southwest (SXSW), and her session was steeped in anti-Bush rhetoric. However, she also expressed her disappointment that musicians are often charged with a higher social responsibility than those who listen. “The trick is that the responsi bility is for everybody,” she says. “Everybody has a constituency, whether it’s one, or a dozen, or 15 or 1.000. That obligation, I feel, is something you are born with — to be decent.” “I wouldn’t want to be part of a movement that didn’t include music,” Baez says. “Right now, we don’t need a movement, we need a crusade.” -:—-————:-1 New and recent books 25% OFF OR MORE Select backlist titles STARTING AT $1.00 April 22-24, 2004 Thursday noon to 4 p.m. Friday noon to 6 p.m. Saturday 10 to 2 p.m. Cash, check, or charge. All sales final. USC Press Warehouse 718 Devine Street, Columbia between Park and Huger Streets (behind Carolina Coliseum) ^ kj IImtvrrsttv of South Carolina Prfss I KAPPA KAPPA GAMMA QWould Like to CongratulateA*? &'■ ^Our Newly .Initiated Sisters! Kelli Austin Ashley Christopher N ikki Gutherie Scarlett Kelly ||||k ' * Rebekah Carter Megan Olmstead Heather Pembleton bAprUSettl? , Amanda U row sky Ashlpy Williams Be a Leader in the Army National Guard, and get the respect of soldiers who will look to you for leadership. You’ll also get career training, money for college and opportunities to develop management skills - plus special training to prepare you for advanced positions. Most Guard members train part-time, so they’re ready to respond if their community or the Nation needs them. If you have at least 60 college credits and meet other requirements, you can apply to Officer Candidate School.The Guard offers flexible Officer programs that can help you stay in school or let you work full-time. Graduate as an Army Guard Officer. YOU CAN 'e ■ ......