The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 10, 2005, Page 13, Image 13
TTITTIT^ A" limn online poll
M’m/m / 111 1 % I I 1 ’ Are you going to give money for
rl m/m/ I—* II % I tsunami relief? Let us know at
im/m/l ml m III www.dailygamecock.com.
I I A f f I ^ ^ B Results posted Friday.
AMECOCK
EDITORIAL BOARD
EDITOR
Michael LaForgia
NEWS EDITOR
Jon Turner
SPORTS EDITOR
Jonathan Hillyard
VIEWPOINTS EDITOR
Wes Wolfe
ASST. VIEWPOINTS EDITOR
Patrick Augustine
THE MIX EDITOR
Jennifer Freeman
DESIGN DIRECTOR
Chas McCarthy
*
COPY DESK CHIEF
Steven Van Haren
IN OUR OPINION
Budget cuts hinder
higher education
Despite claiming that education is a priority in next year’s
state budget, Gov. Mark Sanford’s proposal betrays educational
advancement in South Carolina by failing to earmark any addi
tional funding for faculty pay raises and cutting the USC
It is a short
sighted move to
prioritize K-12
education
budget
increases.
branch campuses in Union and
Salkehatchie.
In a state that consistently ranks
at the bottom for academic achieve
ment, it is a short-sighted move to
prioritize K-12 for budget increases,
as the effects of such increases will
take years to manifest.
USC’s effort to attract and retain quality professors will be
crippled if money is not earmarked for salary increases, which
would be disastrous for USC President Andrew Sorensen’s
focus on building a research campus with some of the bright
est minds in the nation.
The reduction in state funding of higher education is not
surprising, considering national trends, and Sorensen is wise to
link the development of a research campus to fund-raising
efforts and the cultivation of an endowment. Sanford’s budget
proposals only serve to underline that to remain successful,
USC must emphasize private donations and good investments
as the means to financial stability.
While it is doubtful that all of the governor’s proposals will
make it through the State House untouched by the legislature,
the push to eliminate the Union and Salkehatchie campuses
highlight the lack of a coherent educational strategy for South
Carolina.
The governor has long pushed for consolidation of state ser
vices, including reducing duplication in the educational system.
Coupled with the merger of USC Spartanburg and USC Aiken,
which was completed last year, reducing the number of branch
campuses will free up more funding for the main Columbia cam
pus and hopefully reduce the need for massive tuition increases
like those seen in recent years.
However, consolidation will only be effective if the state’s
technical schools receive commensurate increases in resources to
make up for the lack of local higher education where the satellite
campuses once existed.
• *' i
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ABOUT THE GAMECOCK
EDITOR
Michael LaForgia
DESIGN DIRECTOR
Chas McCarthy
COPY DESK CHIEF
Steven Van Haren
NEWS EDITOR
Jon Turner
ASST. NEWS EDITOR
Thomas Chandler
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VIEWPOINTS EDITOR
Wes Wolfe
ASST. VIEWPOINTS EDITOR
Patrick Augustine
THE MIX EDITOR
Jennifer Freeman
ASST. THE MIX EDITOR
Carrie Givens
SPORTS EDITOR
Jonathan Freeman
ASST. SPORTS EDITOR
Stephen Fastenau
PHOTO EDITOR
Jason Steelman
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Katie Kirkland
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CARTOON COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS
i
For social scene, an abrupt about-face
■ Students trade
keyboards for kegs to
meet people online
It’s spring now, and as the popped
collars and wristbands of the past fall
semester will be as few and far
between as the trucker’s hats of last
year, it’s time for a new trend to hit
colleges across America. Welcome to
Thefacebook.com. I know you’re
thinking, “Wait, I’ve seen you on
there,” but check out my friends list.
After this column gets passed
around the lecture hall, I’m going to
be the first ever to have a friends list
hit the negative. But whatever. The
Facebook is like going to party and
not having to leave the house. Unlike
a party though, you can’t get slapped
for being rude or drunk. It’s almost
perfect. Almost.
The problem is that The Facebook
is just that — a face book. It’s not
like every person on there just puts
up the best picture they have of
themselves. It’s not like anyone’s
using Photoshop or Facebookers pose
like they’re trying to get cast in an
Oxy commercial. No, this is totally
honest self-advertising for personal
gain in the contemporary college
pastime known as “trying to get laid.”
Thanks to Thefacebook.com, you
don’t even have to leave your
computer! No warm beer, no waiting
for the keg, no $3 drinks and hey —
you don’t even have to wear heels to
do it. Why pay thousands of dollars a
year in dues for
those Greek
letters when now
all you have to do
is own a computer
and have a little
spare time before
“Family Guy”
comes on? Just
qqP£Y wnen college
HUTCHINS stul!ents th°ug!\'
nothing could
t FIFTH-YEAR beat Easy Mac,
ENGLISH along came AOL
STUDENT .
Instant
Messenger. Just
when college students thought
nothing could beat AIM, here comes
The Facebook. Remember when we
used to pass notes in class?
This is like that on amphetamines
and addicted to Spanish fly. I’m
hooked. But The Facebook isn’t all
about hooking up or hanging out on
the cyber quad. It’s also about
bonding without the “Whoa, you’re
too close” awkwardness. They even
have a button you can click to “poke”
someone.
Think of insinuation without the
restraining order. Think of yanking
on the ponytail of the girl in front of
you without the Saturday detention.
You can also tell a lot about people
from the groups function of The
Facebook.
It’s not really baffling that
everyone in the Bow Tie Wearers and
Fans Club are also all proud members
of Bush Is My Homeboy. Or how
members of Chronic Nappers United
probably don’t have connected
friendships to anyone in Cocaine
Anonymous. But groups don’t define
us. Not in college. Nope, never have.
So if you haven’t been to
Thefacebook.com yet, I encourage
you to sign up — not because it’s
healthy for you and not because it
will make you rich or help your
grades.
But just like everything else in
college, do it because it’s fun.
Because it’s more infectious than
Ebola and will keep you up until two
in the morning when you should be
cramming for midterms or puking in
the toilet. Steve Spurrier is on there.
USC President Andrew Sorenson,
too. So are half the USC
cheerleaders (even the guys) and
even that kid you only see when
you’re drunk in Five Points who
swears he knows you and you’re
“totally best friends” until it’s his
turn to buy the next round. But just
like everything else in teal life, there
are a few simple rules. First, use
good judgment. Second, just like cell
phones, AIM and your SUV, don’t
do it when you’re drunk.
As a friend of mine said a few weeks
ago, “Man, she looked good on The
Facebook, but when 1 met her in real
life I started having flashbacks of‘Shrek
2.’” And another thing — please stop
sending me messages asking, “How do
I know you?” I obviously am not
following the second rule.
Bush's Pellpolicy out of line
■ Education grant rules
cause headaches for
S.C. college students
More than a year ago, in September
2003, 1 wrote a column explaining
how the Bush administration’s plans
for restructuring the federal financial
aid formula would screw middle class
students out of what they should
receive, even as tuition continues to
increase.
Well, the president didn’t give up
after his initial gambit failed, and
instead found enough support in
Congress to take a shot or two at Pell
Grants in December. It was a nice
Christmas present to South Carolina
college students — South Carolina is
one of six states that will be hit hardest
by the cuts.
An estimated 1.3 million students
nationwide will be directly affected by
a smaller grant or no grant
whatsoever. The cuts will cause a
ripple effect through the entire
financial aid system, and students
who were relying on not having to pay
back a Pell Grant will end up having
to pay back a loan, with interest.
The government is expected to
save $300 million a year, but you’d
think tha*t the White House brain
trust would look elsewhere (like, say,
•
repealing those
massive tax cuts
to very wealthy
people) before
cutting financial
aid to students
who can’t afford
to continue to
pay the rising
WES costs of a college
wni FF education.
Ll-L However, if
FIFTH-YEAR you’re in college
PUBLIC you’re not in
RELATIONS , . „
STUDENT 1 q’ d
intrepid
president needs
more cannon fodder to send to that
quagmire by the Tigris.
It’s really not to be expected that
Bush and his people would give a
damn about middle class students and
families affording college anyway.
Certainly not the president, who
relied on the legacy of his father and
grandfather to attend Yale, pull C’s,
get drunk and get coked up. This
really is a sick joke, considering that
in his campaigns in 2000 and 2004,
Bush promised to bolster the Pell
Grant program.
Bush claims he’s helped the Pell
Grant program by allocating more
funds, but he hasn’t allocated enough
money. There are more students
becoming eligible for Pell Grants, and
the president’s funding hasn’t kept
up. Now he’s cutting back.
His minions in Congress are even
worse. I remember that after my
column ran, Rep. Joe Wilson wrote a
letter to the editor saying that I was
employing liberal scare tactics — well,
it sure is scary to watch your Pell Grant
get cut. He mentioned phrases like
“Republican pro-education agenda.” I
would laugh if it weren’t so horrible.
Quite honestly, I don’t know if the
sick feeling in my stomach is from my
hangover from last night or the
realization that the leaders of our
country are dangerously out of touch
and actively pursuing the worst public
policy I’ve seen in my life.
If Congressman Wilson is so fired
up about kids being able to afford
college, why did he fail to mention
education in his front-page column in
the suburban Irmo News last week?
Instead, he harped on base closings
and tax cuts. Well, tax money funds
the military.
Of course, maybe they will balance
the books after all. They’ll just take
money from kids going to college and
reapportion it for more guns. That’s
the message from our president now:
Drop out of school and grab a gun —
go to war and kill some Arabs. You
don’t need that degree anyway.
Natural
disasters
other than
Bennifer
■ Tsunami relief effort
deserves more attention
from American people
Ah, America, how I love thee. Far
across the world, in some little-known
locale known only as “Tsunami-land,”
more than 150,000 people have died
because of a vast
GRAHAM
CULBERTSON
FOURTH-YEAR
ENGLISH
STUDENT
that pedestrian.
natural disaster.
Every once in a
while, a “Give
Money To Red
Cross” pop-up
appears on my
browser as I
wander the
Internet, but I
just close it out.
I can’t be
distracted from
my pursuit of
the newest Paris
Hilton sex video
by something
But of course, the sports world
came to the rescue. The Yankees are
giving a million dollars, the NBA and
its player’s association are giving a
million (combined), as are Major
League Baseball and its player’s
association.
But most exciting was the recent
clash of Kobe “Don’t Call Me A
Rapist” Bryant and Tracy “Don’t
Associate Me With Kobe Bryant”
McGrady, who pledged $1,000 for
each point they scored in Friday’s
Rockets-Lakers game.
Imagine, if you will, that Friday’s
game took place just a few months ago,
with T-Mac, in true Texas style,
pledging a thousand smackers for every
point he scored to Dubya’s campaign,
while Kobe took an anti
Schwarzenegger approach and
dedicated his scoring to John Kerry’s
campaign.
Fights would have broken out
across the country — states would
have been colored red for T-Mac and
purple for Kobe. But since the money
was for tsunami victims, the only
people who cared were SportsCenter
anchors (oh, and presumably tsunami
victims, but we don’t hear much from
them).
But wait! NBA superstars weren’t
enough to get the public mobilized
behind saving millions, but perhaps we
could tell them a supermodel is in
danger?
That’s right, a search on Yahoo
News for “tsunami supermodel”
returned 11 articles (out of the first 20)
written entirely about Petra Nemcova,
the Czech supermodel and 2003
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition
cover girl that was injured in the
deadly tsunami.
Recendy, you’ll be happy to hear,
Nemcova modeled for Us Weekly
from her Thai hospital bed in order
that the proceeds might benefit
tsunami victims. Now that’s
dedication (1 think).
The upshot of this whole messy
tsunami business, with NBA stars
pledging aid, injured Czech
supermodels posing from hospital beds
(hopefully with Paris Hilton) and
messages on major Web sites begging
for aid donations, is that it takes a
whole lot to get us Americans to care.
Hold a presidential elecdon between
a pair of meaningless placeholders, and
you’ll see a country divided. Tell the
richest nation in the world that millions
are homeless (not to mention the
millions here and abroad who were
already homeless, most of whom live
between the Horseshoe and the Koger
Center on College Street), and the
result is a collective yawn, unless a
Czech supermodel or polarizing sports
star is involved. If that’s the case, you’ll
at least get somebody interested
(although never, under any
circumstances, in international aid).
Right, I don’t have any more time
to write about the tsunami victims
now — I still have that Paris Hilton
video to find.
[COLLEGE QUOTE BOARD
THE CRIMSON WHITE
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA
Anyone who saw the Music City Bowl knows how referees can sometimes
make a few mistakes that could ultimately cost one team or another the game. It
would be wonderful if all football games could be called perfectly, but this is not a
reality due to a small stipulation called human error. This year, the Big Ten
implemented a plan that enabled referees to try instant replay as a form of check,
and it seemed to work well.
THE LANTERN
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
While the enemy combatants held at Guantanamo Bay and other military
prisons are some of the most dangerous people in the world, they have rights too,
both in international and U.S. law. Denying them their rights by holding them
indefinitely in violation of habeas corpus just further confirms the idea in
terrorists’ minds that we are as evil and corrupt as we think they are.
U-WIRn