The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 21, 2005, Page 4, Image 4
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THBK*AMECOCK
EDITORIAL BOARD
EDITOR
Michael )_aForgia
NEWS EDITOR
Jon Turner
VIEWPOINTS EDITOR
Wes Wolfe
THE MIX EDITOR
Jennifer Freeman
ASST. VlfcWrUINTS fcDITUK
Patrick Augustine
SPORTS EDITOR
Jonathan Hillyard
DESIGN DIRECTOR
Chas McCarthy
COPY DESK CHIEF
Steven Van Haren
IN OUR OPINION
Athletics director
leaves mixed legacy
When he walks out of his office for the last time in a nearly
12-year career as USC’s athletics director, Mike McGee will
leave a mixed legacy of both success and doubt because of the
methods used to attain that success.
During his tenure, McGee was able to recruit nationally
recognized coaches that propelled various USC sports to divi
sional and national achievement, and he will probably be best
remembered for bringing Lou Holtz and Steve Spurrier to
Columbia. However, it is also
USC fans can relax
knowing that
Sorensen helped
strengthen sports
programs at
Alabama, Florida.
important to point out that he
had a hand in recruiting Dave
Odom, Ray Tanner, Curtis
Frye and golf coach Puggy
Blackmon. The success of the
programs headed by these indi
| viduals can be traced back to McGee’s effectiveness in manag
ing a large athletic department at a major SEC school, which
in itself is no small feat. USC has 18 major varsity sports, 10
of which are for women, and McGee has done much during
his career to promote women’s sports in the post Title IX era.
However, McGee’s career has not been all positives. The
football team had its longest-ever losing streak of 0-21 from
1999 to 2000, and an NCAA investigation is still open regard
ing former USC running back Derek Watson. Relations
between the city of Columbia and USC have been strained
because of the inability or unwillingness of either side to com
promise on building a joint baseball stadium and on the terms
of bringing the Inferno hockey team to the Coliseum.
Considering the recent arrival of a new football coach, the
timing of McGee’s departure raises questions for the future of
USC athletics. Gamecock fans can rest easy with the knowl
edge that USC President Andrew Sorensen, who helped hire
athletic directors at Alabama and Florida, is at the helm of the
search for McGee’s successor. It is important that whomever is
chosen has a reputation for excellence and a record above
reproach if Carolina is to build on the foundation left by
McGee.
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.
i 1 i
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
VIEWPOINTS EDITOR
Wes Wolfe
THE MIX EDITOR
Jennifer Freeman
ASST. THE MIX EDITOR
Carrie Givens
SPORTS EDITOR
Jonathan Hillyard
ASST. SPORTS EDITOR
Stephen Fastenau
SENIOR WRITER
Kevin Fellner
PHOTO EDITOR
Jason Steelman
SPORTS PHOTO EDITOR
Katie Kirkland
PAGE DESIGNERS
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Nielsen, Staci Jordan
COPY EDITORS
Jessica Foster, Brindy
McNair, Daniel
Regenscheit, Jason
Reynolds, Katie
Thompson, Shana Till
ONLINE EDITOR
Ryan Simmons
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.edi|
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CARTOON COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS
Better off embarrassed than dead
■ Helping my fellow
man avoid cancer is
worth merciless ribbing
I have to do this. I have to. As
much as it might turn me into a
minor laughingstock, I have to do it.
About two weeks ago, I woke up on
the second day of an extended band
practice with a pain downstairs —
where I keep the jewels.
I hobbled into the living room and
tried to walk it off. “Hey,” I thought to
myself, “these things happen. We all
sleep in funny positions sometimes.”
But I was worried. I mean, I safeguard
those jewels with my life, so this pain
could’ve turned into a jewel thief — a
cancerous jewel thief.
The pain receded through practice
and almost disappeared the next day. I
figured one more day and I was home
free. A guy’s moronic cardinal rule:
Walk off the pain. The only good
doctors have names like Strangelove
and Feelgood.
But the throbbing came back the
next night, inescapable and
increasingly worrisome. I timidly
checked the jewels and stopped cold —
my fingers felt an imperfection the size
of a raisin.
That night, I Googled my ass off.
One site said the presence of an
imperfection but the absence of pain
was a good indicator of cancer. Phew.
But the same site said a painful lump
could be cancerous too. Damn.
I couldn’t sleep that night. Visions
STEVEN
VAN
HAREN
THIRD-YEAR
MECHANICAL
ENGINEERING
STUDENT
Springtime
perfect for
on-campus
connections
m USC organization fair
gives students a shot
at making a difference
The Student Organization Fair is for
overzealous student leaders who have
come to expect too much from the
student body. The biannual event seems
to have come
ADAM
BEAM
FOURTH-YEAR
PRINT
JOURNALISM
STUDENT
from the same
factory that
produced the
GPS shuttle
system and
Greene Street
posters — it just
doesn’t work.
Students live i
for the 1
spontaneous.
Planning takes
too much energy
and dilutes the
excitement of the
unknown. That’s
why every
of scalpels and
hospital beds
and early death
danced in my
head like evil
sugarplums.
Even worse, I
envisioned a
legion of girls
dumping me
when they
found out my
treasury wasn’t
fully stocked.
I drove
home to see my
doctor early the
nPYt rlav Mv
mom told me
he wasn’t on call and that another
doctor would be examining my jewels.
Dr. Truesdale. A woman. Of course.
Not to be sexist, but guys want guy
jewelers to handle their merchandise.
“Bet you wish I was a guy, don’t
you?” Truesdale asked as she entered
the examination room later that
morning.
“Uh, yeah,” I said nervously,
followed by a hyena laugh.
Yes, doctors have seen it all. Yes, to
them, it’s just a job. But dropping
your trousers for someone you met
two minutes ago is still nerve
wracking. In that sense, it was like a
slow first date.
She said, she didn’t feel anything
unusual, but we arranged an
ultrasound just to be sure.
I told a friend about my dilemma,
speaking in vague phrases to hide my
shameful malady. She scoffed at the
thought of a guy getting an ultrasound.
“Are you expecting?” she joked. I
couldn’t help laughing despite my fear
of being a 21-year-old castrato.
Three days later, I set out for the
procedure, cancer or bust.
We’ve all seen a pregnant woman
get an ultrasound on TV. Her belly
gets slathered in goo, and the machine
operator smears said goo all over with
some kind of detachable showerhead.
The room is filled with smiling people.
The heavens part.
Imagine that, but in a slightly cold,
dimly lit room off Two Notch Road. I
don’t think I was smiling. For the
second time in a week, I found myself
de-pantsing for a woman who was only
interested in administering a south-of
the-belly ultrasound.
Actually, it wasn’t so bad. The
woman was really nice, and we made
idle chitchat as'she moved the sensor
around. Turns out ultrasounds are
used to diagnose a wide range of body
parts, not just unborn kids.
During this 10-minute inspection,
she didn’t once shriek and point in
horror at the ultrasound screen, so I
think I’m OK. I’ll know in two days.
Guys, don’t let a jewel thief take
your natural inheritance. Cop a feel
now and then. I’ll probably be
ridiculed mercilessly for this column
-— imagine a heavy-metal version of
“Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire”
— but if one guy can save his junk, my
job here is done.
IN YOUR OPINION
Broom’s NFL ideas
need major overhaul
This letter is in response to Jake
Broom’s hostile article on the Patriots
(“Playoffs make me want to vomit,”
Wednesday). Mr. Broom, I would
first like to know where you are from
and who your team is. I might not
know anything about football
compared to your statement that “I
know more about football than any
normal human being ever should,”
but I do know that your article has no
grounds or support. Regardless of who
you think is the better quarterback,
Tom Brady has still taken the Patriots
to two winning Super Bowls, which is
more than Peyton Manning
apparendy can do. The only sense you
make in this article is to say that yes,
they should have made 11 trophies for
the defensive players. Better yet, they
should have made trophies for the
whole team, all the coaches and the
fans. Don’t get upset that the Patriots
are becoming a dynasty. They also
started from the bottom, just as I’m
sure your team is.
Now, on the subject of Corey
Dillon, how would you like to play for
a team and fans that turn against you
. when things go badly? This was
Corey’s situation until he was traded
to the Patriots. Now that he plays for
the Patriots, he has become a happy
team player. As far as him being a role
model, that is a whole different
debate. Do you really think that sports
players should be role models? Because
if so, I think you should worry about
children looking up to Kobe Bryant
rather than Corey Dillon. The
Patriots are a team, and a damn good
team at that. There is no “I” in team,
as Tom Brady, Corey Dillon, Adam
Vinatieri and the rest of the Pats
know. You should eat your words.
And in case you were wondering, I’m
from Massachusetts. Go Pats!
AMANDA MORTENSON
Fourth-year advenising
student f
Cigarettes, alcohol
worse than abortion
I am not pro-abortion, but I am
pro-choice. Personally I would never
have an abortion because of my
personal moral beliefs and
preference to take responsibility for
my actions, but it is not my place to
make that decision for others
(“Abortion poses serious health risks
to mothers,” Thursday). I am not
going to advocate taking away
anybody’s choice to smoke and
drink, and I am not going to
advocate taking away any woman’s
choice to avoid (or not avoid) the
health risks of abortion. As for the
moral obligations of a woman to her
unborn child, take that up with your
God and leave “every liberal
individual and organization in
between” out of it.
Alcohol’s long-term side effects
include increased likelihood for
attempted suicide and depression
plus the risk of developing heart
disease, liver disease, ulcers,
reproductive problems,
osteoporosis, pancreatitis and
memory loss. Aside from the death
of a few brain cells, there is also the
risk of acute alcohol poisoning and
increased risk of cancers of the
mouth, pharynx, larynx and
esophagus that studies indicate is
most pronounced amongst smokers.
Cigarette smoking has been
declared by the surgeon general as
the single major preventable cause
of cancer mortality in the United
States since 1982. Among the
health-related risks are lung cancer,
cardiovascular disease, chronic
obstructive pulmonary disorder,
increased chance of getting cancer of
the esophagus, cancer of the
kidneys, cancer of the pancreas,
cancer of the cervix and cancer of
the bladder, asthma and detrimental
effects on a women’s reproductive
health causing miscarriage, early
delivery (premature birth), stillbirth
and sudden infant death syndrome
(SIDS). Cigarette smoking projects its
adverse health effects on non-smokers
through the medium of secondhand
smoke, endangering other lives
without their permission and, in the
case of those ignorant to these health
risks, their knowledge. One hundred
forty four thousand people die each
year from the side effects of tobacco,
outweighing the combined deaths
from alcohol, car accidents, suicide,
AIDS, homicide and illegal drugs
combined.
Note that while heart attack (1)
and cancer (2) victims make the top
10 list for cause of death in the United
States, abortion does not. Yet in spite
of well-known health risks, alcohol
and tobacco — two drugs which
increase the risk of both these health
problems — are not only legal but
promoted aggressively through the
media. People choose to take these
legal health risks every day, which may
result in death (theirs and innocents’)
and physical and mental side effects.
BRANDY ARMSTRONG
Graduate student in the College
of Liberal Arts
Submission Policy
Letters to the editor should be less
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and major, if a student. E-mail letters to
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residence hall party usually turns into an
RA social and midnight Wal-Mart runs
turn into Charleston road trips.
It’s not that students don’t want to
get involved — they just don’t want to
walk around among a bunch of tables
and listen to other students tell them how
they should spend their time.
Schedules don’t make involvement
any easier. To students, the year begins in
August and concludes in May. That puts
the Fourth of July about December and j
Christmas in April. The summer breeds '
idleness and boredom, with student
ambition sucked up in a summer job or
an internship, getting coffee and
experience. Think of August as January:
the start of a new year and new
ambitions.
In the fall, everyone is looking for a
way to experience college — at least until
classes get going. Then the energy fizzles
so much it’s audible. If you need more
proof, just look at the numbers. USC has
279 registered student organizations,
with as many as 50 more going through
the registration process that eventually
gets them a mailbox and an e-mail
address. Every organization has to have at
least 10 members to stay, which means at
least 2,700 students are involved in
student organizations.
In the fall the Student Organization
Fair draws about 100 organizations, |
which is a lot. In the spring, Student
Government, which runs the fair, usually
prepares for about 60, if they have that
many.
lhe student Government graduate
assistant in charge of the fair, Amy
Clarke, said University 101 classes
provide most of the fall traffic, as most of
their students are required to go to the
fair or go for extra credit.
“In the spring,” Clarke said, “that
influx of new students just isn’t as great.”
In other words, which are mine, some
student organizations don’t think it’s
necessary to recruit twice in one year.
That’s why the second Organization Fair
is a good way to separate the wheat from
the chaff.
Anyone with 10 members and the
proper paperwork can put out a table in
the fall and test waters for student
interest. Usually more sink than swim. ^
The spring is different. The spring is
for the veterans who have more than 10
members and monthly meetings. It’s for
successful leaders who have spent their
years trying to make a difference instead
of trying to Fit in. After all, it’s that
attitude that has made them leaders.
This means that spring is the perfect
time to get involved. If a student
organization is out recruiting in the
spring it’s because they still care enough
about what they are doing to ensure it
continues beyond their involvement. It
means they spent all fall brainstorming
and thinking of ways to improve student
life and now they are ready to go — they
just need more people.
ONLINE POLL
Are you concerned about freight "
trains traveling through
Columbia?
Yes 35%
No 65%
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