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AM K( KICK
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
Research campus
stuck at the start
On Tuesday USC held a pep rally for its heralded research cam
pus, a hybrid of similar campuses at North Carolina State and the
University of Texas, where private companies partner with a public
university to build space for research and business. USC officials
announced this plan last year in a similar media event, with quotes
all around about how great the campus will be.
And, for the most part, we agree. The research campus, if it ful
fills expectations, will revolutionize the university, Columbia and
possibly the state. The campus would provide jobs as well as keep
some of the brightest students in state after graduation.
Tuesday’s rally was
just a glorified
reiteration.
However, 1 uesday s rally was
just a glorified reiteration.
Nothing new came from
Tuesday’s event; it was just pro
viding USC officials with a plat
rorm to Droaacast tneir vision ror tne university, as weu as tne city.
We still don’t know what businesses will partner with the universi
ty, where the buildings will be built, what they will look like and
how they will be organized. The only new development officials
announced Tuesday was a groundbreaking ceremony set for Dec.
15 — a month later than originally planned — for the so-called
Hardee’s block off of Blossom Street by the Strom Thurmond
Wellness & Fitness Center.
USC has had some bad publicity recently with the decision to
forgo a joint baseball stadium with the Capital City Bombers in
favor of building it’s own stadium in the Vista. So with USC leav
ing a bad taste in some business leader’s mouths, USC officials
decided to have this event to try to win them over for the research
campus. After all, it’s been a year since the initial announcement
and with no new developments, there has been nothing to report.
But that’s going to change, according to USC officials like
Harris Pastides, vice president of research. He says that starting
now, there will be a new research campus development every three
to six months, whether it be a groundbreaking ceremony or
announcements about building specifications. The first of such
updates will come at the Dec. 15 groundbreaking, when officials
will release information about the buildings. And looming in the
distance is the Life Sciences Bill, which gives USC permission to'
forge cooperatives with private businesses. The bill is before the
South Carolina Supreme Court right now, and if it is struck
down, USC will have to go before the state legislature again, a pro
cess which could significantly slow campus development.
But we enjoyed the show. It’s good to be reminded about good
things, even if they haven’t happened yet.
GAMECOCK CORRECTIONS
If you see an error in today’s paper, we want to know. E-mail us at
gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu.
I---1
ABOUT THE GAMECOCK
i
tun uk
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, Ann*
Huntley, Daniel
Regenscheit, Jason
Reynolds, Jennifer
Sitkowski, Shana Till,
Steven Van Haren, Joey
Wallace 1
ONLINE EDITOR
E.B. Davis
PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Jane Fielden, Katie Mile:
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7
BASKETBALL
TICKETS
£\^6SVDe
Ni
Vm still holding out for the pizza
■ Everybody wants me
to write about them, but
this column’s for me
There’s this friend of mine named
Christian Fisher who represents a lot of
people I know. Occasionally, these
ambiguous friends of mine get brilliant
ideas and say to me, “Hey David, you
should write about — “ and then they
fill in the blank with some random —
usually ridiculous — subject, like why
Jaleel White never had another good
acting job since portraying Steve Urkel,
despite demonstrating his pristine acting
ability in morphing seamlessly to his
alter ego, Stefan Urkelle.
Well, Christian (or as 1 like to call
him, Christian) was very persistent
about one subject: himself. I believe it
went something like, “Hey David, I’ve
got an idea for a column.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“Me.”
And he was holding out for it. He
saw no logical reason why 1 should not
be writing a column about him. I’ll be
the first to admit, he’s hilarious, a good
conversationalist and I’m sure a lot of
dudes have man-crushes on him.
To me, that just wasn’t enough-until
I thought about the things I’m holding
out for, and how they deserve as much
attention as, well, Christian.
I’m holding out for an SEC
Championship in football. I’m holding
out for Air Spurrier (and not Let’s Run
The Draw Every Play, Especially When
There’s One Minute Left in the Half
and There’s Still
an Actual
Opportunity to
Score) and for a
move to the
spread offense
with a
quarterback who
can hit one of
DAVID five receivers
0 q q I’m holding out
for the same
FOURTH-YEAR quarterback to
STUDENT throw when he s
under pressure,
and not just
duck and run.
I’m holding out for at least five more
multiple-storied parking garages (we’re
talking a minimum of 10 floors here,
Parking Services), for a decrease in
parking fines or for at least just a
personal parking spot in front of the
Russell House.
I’m holding out for the day we can
hold NCAA Basketball Tournament
championships in town, for people in
politics to stop thinking they know
better than those who aren’t for the
complete disintegration of the bow tie.
I’m holding out for the savior of hip
hop, or for at least LiT Jon to give me
one more solid catchphrase before the
New Year. I’m holding out for a
detectable change in seasons, for the
return of the board game Guess Who?,
for someone to sublease my apartment.
I’m holding out for the day when the
drivers in this city will drive a little faster,
for the day when any team from
Houston wins a professional sports title
or for at least just Carlos Beltran and
Roger Clemens to make a return to the
Astros.
I’m holding out for getting a job at
the top of the ladder just because I was
in the right place at the right time, for a
sorority girl to show interest in me
(because I have a secret crush on all of
them), or for at least just a girl with a
Southern accent.
I’m holding out for another growth
spurt, for my beard to stop growing in
patchy on the right side/ or for at least
just a good haircut. I’m holding out for
the invention of teleportation so I can
bring all my friends back home with me.
I’m holding out for mort people to
stop watching television, for beer to
actually help you lose weight or for at
least just eating after midnight to be
healthy.
I’m holding out for at least two new
decent clubs in Columbia, one for
dancing and one for bands. I’m holding
out for a new ‘N Sync record, for
spinners on my car, for the Cajun
Chicken Pasta at Chili’s (you can hold
the tomatoes and chives), for graduation
ceremonies to be shorter than eleventy
billion hours.
I’m holding out for a town in South
Carolina to hit one million people, for
the GMP to serve pizza at all times
(including breakfast), for USC to finally
admit it’s an urban campus and stop
worrying about greening everything.
But I’m going to go ahead and hold
off on growing up. And I’ll hold on to
that until I die.
IN YOUR OPINION
Tree lighting story
only shows one side
As a team leader for the Holiday
Outreach Committee in the Office of
Community Service Programs, I was
disappointed by Justin Chapura’s
article (“Students say lighting
ceremony too dull,” Monday).
It would have been considerate,
even professional, of Mr. Chapura to
contact the Office of Community
Service Programs before writing his
slanted story.
At the very least he might have
interviewed someone who has
actually attended the event. Maybe
then hexould have written a well
developed, impartial newspaper
article. Unfortunately, such
thorough work requires journalistic
integrity, something The Gamecock
often lacks.
As an office that focuses primarily
on serving the needs of our
community, we are allocated a
minimal budget by the university.
We use these funds to support our
service projects rather than prolific
advertising. We use every available
resource to publicize our events.
The Tree Lighting Ceremony,
scheduled for Dec. 1 at 6 p.m. on the
Horseshoe, is a celebration of religious
diversity and the commitment to
community service at USC. Contrary
to Mr. Chapura’s article, there are
students who care about this event;
they have invested their time and
energy to make it a success.
This month, students, faculty and
staff have donated 3,500 pounds of
food to Harvest Hope, adopted 25
area families in need and filled 750
stockings for Salvation Army. Sadly,
there has been no story to document
this overwhelming generosity.
It would be nice if, for a change,
student endeavors were publicly
supported rather than criticized.
Perhaps we should be grateful; this is
the most publicity we’ve received
from The Gamecock in years.
MEGAN KRAFT
Third-year psychology
student
USC players acted
on instinct in brawl
Before everyone starts calling the
fight on Nov. 20 an embarrassment,
let’s look at a few things. The
beginning of the fight was caused by a
Clemson player pushing Syvelle
Newton’s head into the ground after
the play was over. Being a past football
player, teammates, especially offensive
lineman, do not take their quarterback
being punished lightly. The
camaraderie of a football team is too
strong for something like that to go
unnoticed. No, the benches should
not have cleared, but let’s remember
that ours did not leave until after half
their team was on the field. I’m sorry
that Lou Holtz has to leave with his
bowl game being stripped from him
and having this as his last memory of
coaching at USC, but I know as a player
I would have done the same thing in the
situation.
The football team is like family. And
as far as many others and 1 are
concerned, blood runs thicker than
water. Would you not help your family,
if they faced a similar situation? Or
would it be too embarrassing?
RYAN SNIPES
First-year engineering student
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Clarifying
my faith
in terms
of politics
■ Conservative values
and Christian beliefs are
not mutuairy inclusive
I am a conservative. I am a Christian.
You see, I say these statements separately
because all too often, the two are used
interchangeably as if political ideology
rand religion were
one and the same
concept.
And while 1
am both, I cer
tainly recognize
that my God is
not a God of part
isanship toward
any par-ticular
CURTIS political ideology,
CHOW but rather a God
who being holy
FOURTH-YEAR , , , .
ECONOMICS and “solute in
STUDENT nature, is a God
of truth as it
exists both within
and as a result of
his own character.
My political affiliation is hence a result
of my choice between imperfect political
ideologies — none of which truly and
holistically reflect my beliefs nor the
requirements of my God.
I write this column as an apology, in
both senses of the word. As moral issues
have taken a more prominent stage in
public policy lately, there seems to have
been a polarization between the “Bible
thumpers” and the “dirty heathens.” As
“conservative Christians” are being
bashed, I feel inclined to speak up in
defense of my faith.
As far as the issues of abortion and gay
marriage are concerned, as a conservative
Christian, I am against both. I don’t take
issue with a woman's right to choose
what she wants to do with her own body;
however it is my personal conviction that
abortion affects the body of another life,
which is also entitled to certain
inalienable rights.
Regardless of political affiliation, I’m
sure we can all agree that innocent lives
do not deserve to die. The question then
is whether a fetus is alive. As surely as
you’re entitled to your own opinion, I’m
also entitled to mine. I’m under the
conviction that the fetus is a living
person. It is this point that we are
committed to disagree upon — not a
woman’s right to choose.
As for gay qvarriage, as a conservative |
Christian 1 have certain convictions about
the religious sanctity of marriage as a
covenant relationship between a man and
a woman that reflects a heavenly
relationship between Christ and the
Church.
This isn’t to say I’m against equal
rights for gay couples pursuing civil
unions — I do not believe it is the role of
Christians to force non-Christians into
outward compliance of standards which
they have not accepted; rather the role of
the Christian is to point toward the truth
of the gospel message, and allow it to
transform those who would accept its
o
However, given my beliefs about
marriage, I have to say that gay marriage
lies outside the parameters of what I
believe should be permissible as it
reflects the relationship between Christ
and the Church. |
I do, however, recognize that given
Christians' attitudes toward unwed
mothers and homosexuals, we only have
ourselves to blame for these issues. For too
long, the Christian attitude has been one
of seclusion rather than outreach. Too
often, we crawl into a Christian “heathen
free” safe house where we tell people
“come to church, and we'll clean up your
act;” rather than genuinely loving those we
minister to and recognizing that it is
Christ who restores, not “conservative
Christian” standards.
As a receiver of the gospel of Christ, I
am a recipient of immeasurable grace, and
I have to admit that many times my
actions and attitudes fail to reflect the
grace I've received.
Allow me to be the first to apologize
for not loving you as Christ has loved j
me. '
NERS AND SINNERS
STEVE SPURRIER The Or Ball Coach lands at j
USC, ready to start winning. f
FOOTBALL DIETS Spurrier announces that fried I
chicken and fast food will now be a no-no. |
FLORENCE JUDGE James Spencer to become first
ever black chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of Virginia.
EXAMS The bane of every college student’s existence
rears its ugly head once again.
SUSPENDED PLAYERS Unfortunately, Clemson
player Yusef Kelly, caught in a photo kicking a USC player,
is graduating and cannot be suspended.
KEN JENNINGS The “Jeopardy!” uber-champion
finally fleets his match and is defeated by a Si margin.