Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

ONLINE POLL Should Syvelle Newton be kicked off the football team? Let us know at www.dailygamecock.com. Results posted Friday. AMECOCK EDITORIAL BOARD EDITOR Michael LaForgia NEWS EDITOR Jon Turner VIEWPOINTS EDITOR Wes Wolfe THE MIX EDITOR Jennifer Freeman ASST. VIEWPOINTS EDITOR Patrick Augustine SPORTS EDITOR Jonathan Hillyard DESIGN DIRECTOR Chas McCarthy COPY DESK CHIEF Steven Van Haren IN OUR OPINION Newton, others have no place on our team The USC football team’s up-and-down offseason took a southward turn last week as six players were charged with crimes related to the theft of team equipment following the announce ment that USC would turn down a bowl bid in the wake of the brawl in last season’s final game with Clemson. While the actual thefts took place in November, the athletic department had been handling the matter internally until it was revealed that a report of a stolen computer, video equipment and photographs having been returned was not accurate. Following the admission of this error by Athletics Director Mike McGee, the university pressed charges against team leaders Dondrial Pinkins, Syvelle Newton and Rodriques Wilson, among others. Simply applying the law in this circumstance is not a suffi cient resolution of the discipline problem that, from the out side, seems widespread within USC’s football program. Steve Spurrier’s arrival and the subsequent hiring of new coaches and staff members signal the beginning of a new era, and what better time than now to make a forceful statement and clean house by throwing the offending players off the team perma nently. While tensions during a game with rival Clemson are to be expected, the complete lack of discipline and respect for former coach Lou Holtz that the players showed underlines that this problem is systemic. Losing the privileged opportuni ty to play football at a major SEC school is a far greater pun ishment in the long term than the probation and community service that the athletes will likely receive if the cases even make it to trial. Since the athletes held significant positions on the team, it is important they be removed to prove how seri ous the nature of these violations are, and how it will not be tolerated among those who should reasonably be relied on to set a good example for younger players. We can only hope that next year is different for our football team, and that in the mean time, USC>s other sports continue to set a good example of sportsmanlike behavior both on and off the field, thanks to their good coaching. Since the athletes held significant positions on the team, it is important they be removed. 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 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 Jillian Garis, Jessica Ann 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. Editor in Chief: 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 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 ADVERTISING STAFF Robert Carli, Breanna Evans, Ryan Gorman, Caroline Love, Katie Stephens, McKenzie Welsh 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 i Gamecock. The I 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 L' purchased for $1 each } from the Department of Student Media. TO PLACE AN AD The Gamecock Advertising: 777-3888 * 1400 Greene St. C,ass'fied: 777-1184 Columbia, S.C. 29208 777-6482 NoiseiAaKers;1 "~: . .-: 1 PARTY FAVoRST o. PiNATA! fB>KefT CoNFeTTif | ** o,? CARTOON COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS . Harsh truths can challenge blind faith ■ Ever so often, beliefs can be derailed by cold reality and experience In the process of reading the Bible for my class — the first time I’ve picked up the Scripture since I was in third grade — I realized a sobering thing. It’s all hogwash. Men didn’t have children until almost 100. Noah lived until he was in his 900s, along with a bunch of other guys. God “placed” the sun in the sky. I mean, really. What, the same sun that’s going to grow large and swallow up the Earth, along with Mercury and Venus, in several million years? If you’d like a book to believe in and live your life by, there are many out there that are just as good as the Bible, and with fewer absurdities. You could try Bear Bryant’s autobiography — he had a career game as a player against Tennessee in the ’30s, and did it with a broken leg. He also won six national championships as a coach and one as a player. There’s David Packard’s story of how he and Bill Hewlett took HP from a garage in Palo Alto, Calif., to a powerful international corporation. Or David Beckham’s autobiography, “My Side.” Sure, Becks went into the tank for England during Euro 2004, but a guy who is the most famous athlete in the world and married to Posh Spice has to have something of the divine about him. Then again, I never really bought religion, or the Christianity of my youth. I didn’t even believe in all that mess when I was singing “O, Litde Town Of Bethlehem,” in preschool at my church. Something about it just seemed as suspect as all the other silliness you’re supposed to believe in at that m rc age — Santa Claus, wm FF the Bunny' •— the essential FIFTH-YEAR &°odneSS °f PUBLIC mankind. RELATIONS Of course, for STUDENT , , what it s worth, religion isn’t the sole place where my cynicism began, or to which it is limited. For instance, in my first-grade class, my teacher told the class that any of us could grow up to be president. While it was a nice thought, it didn’t seem too true in an underfunded school in 1988 in the deteriorating suburbs of Birmingham, Ala. She said that the same thing was said to the first-grade class that the Republican nominee for president, Vice President George Bush, was in. The difference, though, was that Bush was the son of a U.S. Senator and from a family that was otherwise well connected. The roots of my cynicism were laid early, though. There were all those nights when I was very young and wanted to watch cartoons, but instead had to endure watching the “NBC Nighdy News” with my parents while we ate dinner. I was exposed to the whole, horrible outside world courtesy of Tom Brokaw’s dulcet tones. The world of the mid-’80s was a nasty place. The Iran-Iraq war, the Iran-Contra scandal and hearings, the S&L scandal, homelessness, starvation in Africa, the arms race with the Soviets — you name it, it was happening. Still, even then, I knew the world was unfair and that bad things happen and there is no way to ameliorate them. It all began on a snowy day in the Central Park neighborhood of Birmingham. It snows in the Magic City about once every 10 years, so this was a big deal. I was about 2 years old. My mom dressed me in a powder-blue snowsuit in which I could barely move, a la Ralphie’s brother in “A Christmas Story,” and we went to play in the driveway. My mom tried to teach me how to make and throw a snowball, but it wasn’t taking well. Around that time, she threw a snowball at my face. It didn’t hurt, but it did surprise me. This was the person who was supposed to nurture me and protea me, and she tossed a snowball at me. My world was shattered. Nothing would ever be the same again. I tried to respond in kind, but my poor excuse for a snowball fell just inches from my small, two-year-old arms. Regardless, it did pay off. I was able to stan off early in questioning what people told me was absolute faa, like, “We’re winning the war on terror,” or “I’m making college more affordable.” Sure, Mr. President. Maybe you need a snowball in the face. IN YOUR OPINION Pregnancy can carry considerable risks I’ll admit that I probably won’t change any opinions about abortion with this letter, but I would like to rebut a few statements in Alex Harper’s column (“Abortion poses serious health risks to mothers,” Thursday). First, the.studies sited in the article are called retrospective, non experimegtal studies, which cannot show causation, but only that two subjects might be related. There is no way to know if, for example, women who choose to have abortions have preexisting psychological problems, which could be why these women had unprotected sex. There are also psychological conditions caused by having children, such as postpartum depression, which Harper failed to mention. According to the book “Textbook of Women’s Health”, about 70 to 80 percent of women experience some degree of depression after delivery. Lingering postpartum depression is thought to occur in 10 to 20 percent of women. Second, of course having an abortion has some risk. All medical procedures and medications carry risk. If this were not so, everyone would be popping Viagra and Prozac. The Food and Drug Administration, physicians and pharmacists exist to help control these risks. That’s why it’s important that physicians perform abortions, not women in back alleys with minimal medical knowledge. Third, I’m not going to do a Medline search to know the exact figures, but I do know that pregnancy carries many serious health risks as well. For example, the surge in hormones to which Harper referred also can cause clotting problems, leading to venous thromboembolism, which can, if not treated, lead to death. There are also many chronic medical conditions, such as epilepsy, that are exacerbated by pregnancy. I will admit that I’m “pro-choice,” but as a pharmacy student with clinical experience, I’m also able to see through Harper’s column. To take Harper’s words and change a few, “far from being safe, pregnancy is, in fact, an extremely risky condition that can not only cause substantial harm to the patient, but can also lead to agonizing psychological trauma as well.” KATIE MCCLENDON Graduate student in the School of Pharmacy Parental approval needed for abortion Brandy Armstrong’s letter to the editor makes no logical sense (“Cigarettes, alcohol worse than abortion,” Friday). Is she really trying to compare the risks of major surgery to that of a drag of a cigarette or a shot of liquor? That is absurd. First of all, one abortion can affect a woman for the rest of her life, and possibly, though rarely, kill her. One drag of a cigarette will not do the same. A more logical comparison would be that of an abortion with an injection of heroin. Secondly, cigarettes and alcohol have age restrictions. These restrictions are in place to ensure that the people who participate in the activity are well-aware, and mature enough, to understand the risks. There are no age restrictions on abortion. Forty-two states have enacted laws stating that women under the age of 18 must “notify” or get consent from their parents in order to have an abortion. Why not 50 states? The fact is that the majority of women are ill informed as to the mental, physical and emotional risks of having an abortion. Many Americans, seemingly including Ms. Armstrong, would like to believe that abortion is as close to major surgery as having your nails done. This is just not the case. It’s time that Americans get their heads out of the sand. HOLLY ADELMAN Third-year biology 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. SpongeBob does not encourage gay lifestyle ■ Censorship of cartoon character is misguided attempt at morality If you’re like me, you probably weren’t allowed to watch “He-Man” when you were litde. After all, in “He Man,” characters do stuff like with powers and things, and use evil satanic magic and, well, probably other bad stuff. OK, I don’t know what happens in “He Man” — I wasn’t allowed to watch. GRAHAM I’m sure everyone _... else out there was CULBERTSON - .... forbidden to FOURTH-YEAR watch “He-Man” ENGLISH too, right? STUDENT A , , . v Anybody? So I know I’m on my own. My parents were the only ones savvy enough to see the insidious dangers posed by the bastion of masculinity that is He-Man, and not because they’re feminists. Just like the “Harry Potter” series, David Beasley speeches and the Bible, “He-Man” is full of people having special powers and performing feats of magic and track prowess that we all know are impossible. Lately, thanks to the work of Focus on the Family’s Dr. James Dobson, an even more insidious force of evil has been revealed: “SpongeBob SquarePants.” Just like the Rev. Jerry Fahvell, who skillfully outted purple Teletubby Tinky-Winky when the rest of us thought him devoid of sexual organs, only Dobson knows that SpongeBob has gone further than asking children to believe that people in an alternate universe, on a distant planet, in a time far, for away, in an obviously fictional world, can change water into wine. That’s right — SpongeBob has committed that most heinous of all sins: acceptance of homosexuality. I can see his career on the airwaves in South Carolina fluttering out right now. Niles Rogers, who co-wrote the disco hit “We Are Family,” formed a foundation (creatively named “We Are Family Foundation”) in response to all the problems he saw in the world in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. SpongeBob and a host of other well-known purveyors of evil, including Kermit the Frog and Winnie the Pooh, recently appeared on a “We Are Family” video that urges acceptance and tolerance for all people in a multicultural society. Now, homosexuality isn’t actually mentioned in the video, per se. But, as “Doc” Dobson has discovered, children who have been “brainwashed” (the Doc’s word; by the video will then be compelled to visit the “We Are Family” Web site where, lo and behold, they will immediately click on the link labeled “tolerance pledge.” They will then become sexual deviants after reading a pledge that is in favor of “respect for people whose abilities, beliefs, culture, race, sexual identity or other characteristics are different from my own.” It is also feared that the children will become Sister Sledge fens. Truly, this video is an attack on everything right and true in the world. I think all of us, disco fans and non fens alike, can understand where Doc Ock, er, I mean, Dobson, is coming from. Respect for other cultures and races is a good thing, of course, unless that culture or race reflects a different lifestyle choice from our own, in which case that culture, race, belief system and lifestyle choice must be systematically hunted down and destroyed, even if it is hidden behind a sponge wearing form-fitting pants or a bespectacled British teen starring in a series of highly overrated novels. I, for one, am willing to join the cause, and I will stand with Dobson, FalweU, President George W. Bush, Jesus and the rest of the Justice League against Niles “Dr. Evil” Rogers and his foundation of respect and acceptance. If, that is, I never have to hear that damn song again. COLLEGE QUOTE BOARD IOWA STATE DAILY IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY - President Bush's second-term inaugural celebration kicked off in Washington earlier this week, with a price tag on the festivities expected to run close to $40 million. This new record in extravagance comes at a time of mounting deficits, a major military action and administration warnings about a supposed long-term fiscal crisis. Contrast this with Franklin Roosevelt’s fourth inauguration, a decidedly solemn od subdued affair that featured an inaugural address only I ^sentences in length. Iliat event took place in January 1945, in the darkest days of World War II. DAILY NEBRASKAN UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday endorsed Condoleezza Rice to be the next U.S. Secretary of State. If she is confirmed by the full Senate next week (a near-certainty), Rice will replace Colin Powell as one of the highest-ranking members of the White House. We believe Rice has what it takes to be our next Secretary of State. She’s smart and hardheaded — and it’s also good to see a woman in a positityi of such power. 7