Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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ONLINE POLL What should USC do about its Paffe 6 admissions standards? Go to Oj , www.dailygamecock.com to vote. Wednesday, Results posted on Friday. TH AMECOCK EDITORIAL BOARD \ EDITOR Aaam Beam DESIGN^XRECTOR Davi&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 DeMint delay m could cost election Republican Senate candidate Jim DeMint is having a hard time digging himself out of his self-entrenched political hole after saying gays and single pregnant women shouldn’t teach in public schools. DeMint made the comment about gays during a debate in Charleston with his opponent, Democrat Inez Tenenbaum, the state superintendent of education. Last week, DeMint told the Aiken Standard editorial board that he was sorry for his com ment about single pregnant women, saying he spoke without We could forgive DeMint for his comment if he had taken the time to retract it or clarify what he said soon after he said it. thinking. In Tuesday night’s . debate, DeMint said the decision should be left to school boards. But gay teachers in public schools shouldn’t be an issue. Homosexuality in America is certainly a controversial issue as the nation faces a social crisis with the gay marriage debate. We are not here to render a verdict on that issue, but rather to point out that no one should face job discrimination in this country. A person’s sexual identity does not impact his or her teaching abilities. Straight teachers do not promote the heterosexual lifestyle in the classroom, just as gay teachers do not promote the homosexual lifestyle. We could forgive DeMint for his comment if he had taken the time to retract it or clarify what he said. After all, he made the comment during a debate, which is unscripted, and many politi cians have misspoken in live debates. But DeMint had several times to clarify what he said, including speaking at the Russell House the day after his statement, but he waited too long to react. Even at the opening of last night’s debate in Greenville he had a chance, but only apologized about the fact that it diverted attention from the campaign, not that he was specifically sorry about his comment. His refusal to talk about the subject only digs the hole deeper. It might already be too deep for him to climb out. 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 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, Jessica 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 Linden berg 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 Gorman, 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 Department of Student Media is the newspaper’s parent organization. The Gamecock is supported in part by student-activity fees. une Tree copy per reader. Additional copies may be purchased for $1 each from the Department of \ Student Media. TO PLACE AN AD The Gamecock Advertising: 777-3888 1400 Greene St. Classified: 777-1184 Columbia, S.C. 29208 Fax: 777-6482 u CARTOON COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS Kerry’s multilateralism validated ■ British unrest shows irritation at Bush and Blair’s terrorism policy Upon arriving in America two months ago, I was unfamiliar with the so-called Democratic rhetoric and was both skeptical and unhappy about the . little I had heard from John Kerry. However, I have actually been impressed by his performances in the last two presidential debates. Kerry struck me as more presidential — relaxed, articulate, more in command of facts and less prone to repeating sound bites about himself or his opponent. Willing to admit mistakes from his senatorial career and this presidential campaign, he also gave far better details about proposed policy. Conversely, President Bush was vague on policy as well as deluded and stubborn by steadfastly refusing to admit obvious errors of judgment. For example, by invading Iraq and simultaneously giving a tax break to high-income earners, he was building America’s highest budget deficit in history. This was not an example of a strong and wise leader. The beheading of British hostage Ken Bigley last Thursday has been very high profile in Britain. It has put immense pressure on Tony Blair to admit his mistake in joining the United States in Iraq. Whether Britons believed that Bush was on a witch-hunt or whether they were anti-war on principle, there was more universal opposition .toward Blair’s immediate, unconditional support of Bush. British popular opposition was symbolized by the Stop The War March in London in February 2003 — the largest demonstration in Driusn history. Police estimated 750,000, and organizers claimed that 2 million members of the public attended. This is a staggering number from a population around 60 million. Blair had clearly agreed to follow Bush into Iraq regardless of the majority public opinion, willing to badly damage relations with close allies France and Germany and to seriously undermine the credibility of the United Nations to preserve his “special relationship” with the president. Our most widely read newspaper, The Sun, has a reading age as young as seven, so the entire country was acutely aware and embarrassed when it caricatured our prime minister’s image as Bush’s lapdog. The belief that Bush and his cronies decided to use any excuse to remove Saddam Hussein is more than a conspiracy theory confined to the left. Significant public suspicion was fueled by former counter-terrorism advisor Richard Clarke’s revelation in February 2003 that Bush had forcefully asked him to link al Qaeda to Iraq the day after the 9/11 attacks. U.N. approval and coordination would have given the action legitimacy in the Middle East and Islamic world and provided a more sensible warning to countries such as Iran and North Korea, who pose nuclear threats. Now it is hard to imagine that the “coalition” alone can be capable of clearing up their appalling mess in Iraq without substantial further casnalties, cost and the huge risk of spreading more hatred. Kerry’s intention to use “smart diplomacy” is actually the only viable strategy to mend Iraq and make progress in fighting terrorism. Blair would certainly not reject Kerry’s new approach because a greater majority than ever of the British public share Kerry’s criticisms. With his leadership being questioned and a possible spring 2005 election, Blair has too much to lose. Furthermore, it is insulting to V assume that countries like France and Germany who opposed the U.S.-led coalition’s action would refuse to act reasonably and assist. Building peace in the Middle East and successfully pursuing the war on terrorism will depend on international consensus and broad multilateral action under international law. Kerry appears to be the only candidate to grasp this concept. KIM PATRICK SECOND-YEAR HISTORY EXCHANGE STUDENT IN YOUR OPINION Liberal scare tactic grounds draft lies Unfortunately, many of you watch the mindless drivel on MTV. Since Democrats are in panic mode because of Kerry’s imploding campaign, they are resorting to an old play called the scare tactic by using the issue of the draft. Democrats usually scare minorities into thinking that Republicans will suppress their vote. This time, however, the scare tactic is aimed at fis in order to get young people to vote for Kerry. MTV (owned by Viacom, which owns CBS), Rock the Vote and liberals are twisting the facts on this issue. Draft legislation has been proposed in both the House and the Senate. However, the bill in the House was proposed by Democratic Rep. Charlie Rangel of New York, and the bill in the Senate was proposed by Democratic Sen. Fritz Hollings of South Carolina. In fact, the last draft proposal was terminated by Richard Nixon (a Republican) when Donald Rumsfeld was working for his administration. Do not be fooled at this devious attempt by liberals to scare young people into voting for Kerry when the liberals themselves are responsible for the scare. RAY COBLE Fourth-year political science student Students must show more pride at games As a graduate of USC, a 25-year Gamecock Club donor and member of the Richland/Lexington County USC Alumni Association Board, the lack of coordinated spirit efforts at my alma mater have concerned me for a long time. I was pleased to see that the Student Gamecock Club has decided to try to “lead” the USC faithful by suggesting a black after 'p .m. “dress code” for football games. In heading to Tuscaloosa on Oct. 2, this would be especially important since garnet clad USC fans would just get lost in Alabama’s crimson-clad fans. I was looking forward to 5,000 USC fans dressed in all black. Unfortunately, only about half of our fans decided to support the Student Gamecock Club and wear black. What a wasted opportunity to show unity for our impressive Gamecock football team. The most disappointing aspect of this game, however, was the choice of uniforms the USC cheerleaders decided to wear — not solid black or even black and white, but solid garnet. Anyone sitting in the stadium would have assumed they were just another group of Bama cheerleaders. By choosing this attire for such an important game, the very group that should be working hard to increase school spirit and team unity — the USC cheerleaders — chose to not support the Student Gamecock Club’s efforts at building a solid, unified group of Carolina fans. I am sure when members of the Student Gamecock Club saw the USC cheerleaders, they thought, “Why do we bother?” If the cheerleaders don’t support other groups seeking to build school unity, who will? This is another example of what head coach Lou Holtz is calling for — changing the culture at USC of mediocrity and losing. We must have coordinated spirit promotion and unity at USC if we are to ever attain a truly SEC-caliber experience at USC athletic events. It is my hope in the coming games we will see unity and new USC traditions started by the cheerleaders. They should start by cooperating with the Student Gamecock Club and adhering to the football “dress code.” Let’s all get together to create unparalleled SEC spirit at, USC football games — fans, Gamecock Club members and cheerleaders alike. DR. JAMES LANE 1980 USC graduate The Gamecock is looking for an online editor. If interested, e-mail gamecockeditor @gwm. sc.edu I 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 informatiort. i, ( These are a few of my least favorites ■ My enemies list runneth over with irritating subjects Week after week, I’ve diligently written columns for The Gamecock, and it only recently dawned on me that I am not very creative. So instead of trying to implement any CURTIS CHOW FOURTH-YEAR ECONOMICS STUDENT type of leitmotif or reason in my writing, I’ll get right down to business. This week’s topic (like every other week’s topic) — stuff that makes me irate. Carrot Top. From the purely etymological implications of his name, one would expect endless festivities. Chock full of antioxidants, fibers, minerals and beta carotene, Carrot Top is not only good for you, but also a whirlwind of whimsical fun perpetually spinning toward happiness. Instead, we are presented with this big haired loud thing that is none of the above. In any other civilized country, he would have been tied down, beaten, shaven, sedated and forced to listen to Enya. He epitomizes the degradation of American society. USC Parking Services. When trying to evaluate Parking Services, I always run into one major issue I can never seem to get past: Are they going to the fourth or eighth circle of Hell? Are they simply avaricious and prodigal, or are they barraters and thieves? Maybe I’m being too harsh — it could be the case that those in Parking Services aren’t pure evil but merely horrible administrators (and maybe Hider just needed a hug). AOL. It probably stands for Ass-hat and Oaf League. Yes, I realize that I made a direct endorsement or their smiley lace concept last week, but that was before I had the pleasure of dealing with their technical support over the weekend. Before I go any further, let me clarify that I was fixing someone else’s computer — I personally would never subscribe to America Online. AOL could win the highest superlatives for the buggiest software and the most incompetent technical support team on the bee of the planet. If I wanted someone too stupid to actually troubleshoot problems to read useless information from a sheet of standardized practices that are inapplicable to my specific problem, give up and pass me on to three other “technicians” who all simply repeated the process, I could have at least been better amused talking with a Best Buy computer technician. Then I could have perused all of the neat, shiny gadgets they have on display while the Best Buy technician tried to pretend to know what he was talking about. I think AOL’s problem is that it confused the term “technical support team” with the term “stupid idiots” during the hiring process. People who respond “it’s beer-thirty” when you ask them what time it is. This one wouldn’t be so bad if there was a universally understood point of reference for “beer o'clock.” But as it stands, no such point exists. From now on, if I ask what time it is, and you respond “beer thirty,” I’m simply going to understand it as “Please ask someone else, and then throw rocks at me.” People who psychoanalyze the satirists who offend them. If a satirist singles you out and targets you, then surely he must have some sott of personal instability. Let’s forget the fact that you’re the one who identified yourself as a member of the stereotype he was addressing, and that you, in doing so, have validated his argument. Yes, maybe it’s all in his head, and his personal problems serve as an impetus for verbal assault, but on the other hand, maybe you’re obtuse, and he finds it amusing to berate you for it. That’s it. I’m done. No creative conclusion. ONLINE POLL Which presidential candidate performed the best in the debates? Kerry 81% Bush 19% FROM WUaV.DAILYGAMECOCK.COM - -i->—