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v . • • ONLINE POLL Which presidential candidate performed the best in the debates? Go to www.dailygamecock.com to vote. Results posted Wednesday. EDITORIAL BOARD EDITOR Adam Beam DESIGN DIRECTOR David Stagg NEWS EDITOR Michael LaForgia THE MIX EDITOR Meg Moore COPY DESK CHIEF Gabrielle Sinclair VIEWPOINTS EDITOR Wes Wolfe SENIOR WRITER Kevin Fellner ASST. NEWS EDITOR Jon Turner IN OUR OPINION Admissions must strive for quality With high profile legal cases, including the recent U.S. Supreme Court case involving affirmative action at the University of Michigan, USC officials are taking a closer look at their admissions requirements. For most of its history, USC has had traditional admissions requirements, having minimum GPA and SAT requirements for students to gain admission. But some of the top schools in the country have moved to what’s called a holistic admissions policy, where everything is included in a university’s require 1 1* 1 By keeping the satellite colleges, USC fulfills its obligation for educating South Carolina. iiu-uio, muuumg (whether your parents were alumni), involvement and com munity service. In 2003 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that holistic approaches were OK, but that assigning numerical values to meet quota, i.e. giving 10 points to a student because he or she is black, is unconstitutional. So, USC is considering a modified holistic approach, wherein offi cials consider everything in a student’s application but students are not awarded “points” with a certain number of points guaranteeing admission. This is all part of USC’s quest to become more selective in its admissions policies, but at the same time provide quality educa tion to South Carolina’s students. Whenever colleges tighten their admissions standards, they run the risk of having fewer students apply, thus narrowing the selection pool. With this modified approach, the goal is to eliminate that. USC has an obligation, as the state’s flagship institution, to provide quality education to the people of South Carolina. However, USC should also recruit the best students in order to . improve. If USC keeps its system of satellite colleges and encourages students to transfer to the Columbia campus, USC is fulfilling this obligation. IT’S YOUR RIGHT Exercise your right to voice your opinion. Create message boards at * www.dailygamecock.com or send letters to the editor to gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu GAMECOCK CORRECTIONS On Friday’s front page in an article about student IDs, Traci Hunter’s name was misspelled. 'J 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. ABOUT THE GAMECOCK EDITOR Adam Beam DESIGN DIRECTOR David Stagg COPY DESK CHIEF Gabrielle Sinclair NEWS EDITOR Michael LaForgia ASST. NEWS EDITOR Jon Turner VIEWPOINTS EDITOR Wes Wolfe THE MIX EDITOR Meg Moore SPORTS EDITOR Jonathan Hillyard ASST. SPORTS EDITOR Daniel Kerr SENIOR WRITER Kevin Fellner PHOTO EDITOR Jason Steelman SPORTS PHOTO EDITOR Katie Kirkland PAGE DESIGNERS Erin Cline, Jennifer Logan, Chas McCarthy, Jessie Ann Nielsen, Staci Jordan COPY EDITORS Jennifer Freeman, Anna Huntley, Daniel Regensheit, Jason Reynolds, Jennifer Sitkowski, Shana Till, Steven Van Haren, Joey Wallace ONLINE EDITOR Brian Cope PUBLIC AFFAIRS Jane Fielden, Katie Miles CONTACT INFORMATION Offices on third floor of the Russell House. The Editor’s office hours are Monday and Wednesday from 3-5 p.m. Editor: 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: gamecockPR@yahoo.com Online: www.dailygamecock.com Newsroom: 777-7726; Sports: 777-7182 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 Garen Cansler CREATIVE SERVICES Burke Lauderdale, Chelsea Felder, Laura Gough, Joseph Dannelly, Kristen Williams ADVERTISING STAFF Robert Carli, Breanna Evans, Ryan Gdrman, Caroline Love, Jesica Johnson, Katie Stephens 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 a Department of Student ■ Media is the newspaper’s parent organization. The Gamecock is supported in part by student-activity fees. One free copy per reader. Additional copies may be purchased for $1 each fi^fci the Department of Student Media. TO PLACE AN AD The Gamecock Advertising: 777-3888 14^3 Greene St. Classified: 777-1184 CoSombia. S.C. 29208 Fax: 777-6482 wmz SNORE. ^3'.:^' w?rcaMfo? CARTOON COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS DeMint comment embarrasses S.C. ■ GOP candidate for U.S. Senate can’t get his foot out of his mouth So here we are again. Another one of our state leaders has gone above and beyond the call of duty to prove to the rest of the country what a progressive and tolerant place South Carolina is. After the little e-mail snafu at Congressman Jim DeMint’s U.S. Senate campaign headquarters, in which his campaign’s director of operations unwittingly (and boy, is that the perfect word for it) carbon-copied an inter-office e-mail to the leader of a gay and lesbian group in Savannah, referring to the woman as a “dyke.” As intelligent a move as that was, DeMint further compounded the issue in his debate with opponent Inez Tenenbaum last week when he stated that gay and lesbian teachers, as well as unwed pregnant fnothers, should not be allowed in our public schools. Now I’m certainly not surprised that a conservative congressman in the South might not be as accepting of homosexuality as many would like, but I have to say I was a bit disturbed by his comments. You’ve got to love these blanketed discriminatory notions that politicians sometimes arrive at when trying to achieve political enlightenment. In making this thoughtless statement, DeMint has successfully proven to the rest of the country yet again that we in South Carolina ar< much happie: in ; homogenou: community than in one tha cherishe: tolerance anc diversity. If DeMin had his way our legislator: could go dowr the line o teachers wit! their owr checklist anc throw out whomever they deem tc have ideas different from their own Possibly DeMint should study j similar societal model used throughou Europe in the late 1930s. I heard it wa; a real crowd pleaser. Just think of where USC would b< if all our classes were taught by onl) wealthy, conservative, white men. No: that there’s anything wrong with bein^ one. I hope to achieve that dream on< day as well (sans the conservative part) But there is a lot to be said for having diverse faculty members to give '< variety of differing opinions anc perspectives when teaching. This is true for any age. I woulc think most South Carolinian; understand that being a dedicatee teacher has nothing to do witt whether someone is black or white man or woman, rich or poor, Jew 01 Gentile, Democrat or Republican, ga) ZACHERY SCOTT FOURTH-YEAR POLITICAL SCIENCE STUDENT or straight. We need to put the focus back on better funding for educational opportunities from toddlers in kindergarten to Ph.D. candidates in college. Education in our state has enough hurdles to overcome without a person like DeMint using his selective morality to weed out anyone who has a different opinion from their own. DeMint has now muddled through what can be construed by anyone with a pulse as a half-hearted apology. He says that while those are his personal beliefs, which even I will argue he is certainly entitled to, he would not make them public policy if elected. Here DeMint is trying to have his cake and eat it too. I find it very hard to distinguish between what a candidate believes and what they are willing to put into effect if given power. I like a candidate who says what he thinks and does what he says. However, while I respect DeMint’s right to tell his opinion, I along with many others do not have to agree with it. With comments like these, DeMint is trying to divide our state like it was 1964, rather than 2004. He’s an intelligent man who has put in many years of public service. But his view on this particular topic is too far right from the mainstream and is not the direction that we as a state need to be headed. He should know better. But if you want my guess, I say there is a pregnant lesbian out there who screwed him over royally. IN YOUR OPINION Postwar Iraq shows Bush’s failed policy If we accept the standards for determining a president put forward by George W. Bush, we can only arrive at one conclusion: We cannot vote for him. Bush has argued that this election comes down to the war on terrorism. If this is true, then we must look at the success of this war and let that determine whether its leader should be welcomed back for a second try. Let us begin with Afghanistan. We invaded Iraq for three reasons: to bring &n end to the reign of the Taliban, to catch Osama bin Laden and, finally, to establish a democracy capable of resisting the pull of the Islamic fundamentalism that surrounds the country. The first task was accomplished with relative ease. But, of course, it is not difficult for the world’s last superpower to defeat a medieval theocracy. The second task, as we know, has not been accomplished and barring the possibility that Bush has him in storage waiting till just before the election, bin Laden will not be in U.S. custody before Nov. 2. The final task is the most important and the farthest from completion. Afghanistan is in near chaos. According to reports, the only stable city is Kabul, with the rest of the country divided between war/drug lords and the former Taliban. The situation is so bad that the president of the country is not guarded by his own people but by American mercenaries. It would seem that the first front in the war on terrorism is leaning heavily to the side of failure. Iraq was supposed to be the next front we had to fight. Saddam was supposed to have WMD, the ability to deploy them and the desire to help al Qaeda destroy the United States. We now know, and many already knew, that Saddam, in fact, did not have WMD, that he did not have the ability to deploy the non-existent weapons or even the ability to deploy a significant defense of his country and he did not have any significant connection with al Qaeda. If we ignore these facts and assume that Iraq is part of the war on terror, things do not get better for George W. The planning for postwar Iraq has been nearly non existent. Paul Bremer, the man picked by W. to run Iraq, now says there were not enough troops to successfully contain the chaos and violence that followed the invasion. Rumsfeld has said that elections cannot take place in the entirety of Iraq because the United States does not control the entire country, leaving cities in the hands of the insurgents. Postwar Iraq is the final failure in the war on terror. SID LITTLEFIELD Graduate student in the College of Liberal Arts Writer should know encore was planned I know a lot about tour production and let me just say that Chas McCarthy (“Incubus delivers in Atlanta," Tuesday), obviously doesn’t know much about the production of a concert. I was at this concert, I didn’t think it was Incubus’ best performance, but it was still a good show. When McCarthy said, “‘Maniac’ was supposed to close out the concert,” is total b.s. That was a choreographed end ing. It was designed to cause the crowd to cheer them back on stage; it was ex pected. After “Maniac” ended, the house lights did not come up and the stage lights nev er went completely out, they stayed dimmed and slowly faded up. Explain how there was a complete light show planed for the songs they played after the “encore.” The light show was far too com plex and complete to be executed with out former planning. It was timed per fectly with the music with a very fancy fade in just before the music started. This “encore” was way too planned to have just happened. COURTNEY BROCKINGTON First-year media arts student 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. Anonymous letters will not be published. Call the newsroom at 777 7726 for more information. Working at shelter gives one perspective ■ Helping out another human being is always a win-win situation I’ve been thinking a lot about volunteer work and how good it’s supposed to be for you. I’m a firm believer that it is good for people, not just for those who do the I volunteer work, but the needy people who receive things from the volunteerism, such as a new home, a warm, filling meal or a listening ear. I’ve written about my experiences working at a women’s home here in Columbia. SARAH ROGERS FOURTH-YEAR ADVERTISING STUDENT started out as a volunteer worker in early 2004 and figured it would just be a temporary thing but it’s now almost Halloween and I am still at it, just as strong as ever. Out of all the jobs I have held in my 21 years, I have come to learn the most from this one and I d like to tell you why. My hope is that you will consider volunteering yourself after you « read what I have to say. I have learned that volunteerism teaches you that there is still good left in the world. Today, there is a lot to be worried and discouraged about. On the news, all that seems to be reported on anymore is suicide bombings by terrorists, innocent people being murdered in the streets and school shootings masterminded by 12-year-olds. It’s hard to go around with a smile anymore. My work at the women’s home has made me see that there are plenty of people, even young people, who sincerely want to help instead of hurt those who are less fortunate. Volunteerism has made me see how fortunate I really am. I complain about so much in my life, but when I look at the bigger picture I see that my griping is truly selfish. I talk about how ugly my car is and then shut up when I see how most of the women at the home have to take the bus or a taxi if they want to go anywhere. I wish how I could have more shopping money to buy a new handbag or a pair of shoes, but stop my wishing when I see that the woman next to me is wearing a hand-me-down blouse and skirt donated by one of the local churches. I tell myself how stupid it is for all of my professors to assign their exams during the same week, but then hush when I realize that most of the women I work with don’t even have a high school uipiuma. I have learned that volunteerism is a good way to learn how to interact with people from all walks of life. Before I began my work at the women’s home, I did not venture that far from my close circle of friends. I had basically hung out with the same types of people my entire life. Volunteerism has introduced me to those who have experienced abuse from so-called loved ones, those who have been incarcerated for a number of years, those who have suffered from cancer and AIDS, and even those who have initially seen me as a threat because of the color of my skin and my good upbringing. I have become more accepting, more caring and more mindful because of all the people volunteerism has brought into my life. I could write an entire book about why volunteerism is good for everyone, but there’s only so much I can say here. I do hope I’ve given you a better idea of what volunteerism has done for me specifically, and I can promise you that it gives the same benefits to others as well. Be sure to check out www.volunteermatch.org for more information on finding out how you can give back to the world, and if you only remember one thing from this column, remember this: With volunteerism, it’s always a win-win situation. COLLEGE QUOTE BOARD MINNESOTA DAILY ' ' UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA Iothis presidential election, same-sex marriage is an issue that distinguishes ™ Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry and President George W. Bush. It also exemplifies the candidates’ moral and political resolve. Kerry has stood in sup port of extending equal rights to same-sex couples, whereas Bush is pressing to constitutionalize discrimination under the auspices of protecting a bedrock of civ ilization. jSf y DAILY COLLEGIAN PENN STATE UNIVERSITY An election as important as this requires a higher level of responsibility and ma turity on the part of campaign supporters. Rather than spending time pulling juvenile pranks like stealing signs, these so-called “supporters” should be volunteering for cam paigns and informing students about the issues. k # ' STAFF REPORTS