The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 26, 2005, Page 8, Image 8
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AMECOCK
EDITORIAL BOARD
I 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
tIN OUR OPINION
TSC Housing
eeds repairs
The rash of problems last semester proves that USC’s facilities
aintenance program is facing a crisis simply in keeping up with
nergencies that arise from being underfunded and overworked.
Thile yearly budget cuts and tuition increases make it clear that
ctra cash is a rare commodity on campus, simply fixing things as
>ey break will be far more expensive in the long run.
urthermore, paying outside contractorsto come in after-hours to
lean up when disaster strikes, not to mention having to compen
ite students for damaged property, is poor policy toward a his
_:_I__i. . i_
The university
must face its
responsibility to
students who live
on campus.
iv/iiv cam^uo uiai uvvuo u iv/iig
term plan for building conserva
tion and renovation.
Aged buildings on the
Horseshoe are not the only prob
lem when ir comes ro broken
vater mains, disrupted Internet service and unreliable heating and
lir conditioning. While DeSaussure and Maxcy have had a dispro
>ortionate share of problems, the rush to move students into the
tew West Quad residence hall compromised overall construction
quality. Housing has become an institutional issue as the universi
ty tries to take in larger freshmen classes to maintain tuition rev
enues while replacing buildings, like the Towers, that have out
lived their lifespan. Putting overflow students into converted
hotels is not a solution, nor is it consistent with a university seek
ing to vault itself into the upper echelon of public institutions.
The university must face its responsibility to students who live
on campus by compensating them for losses incurred when resi
dence hall rooms flood, since apologies and box fans to dry out
the carpets do little to replace fried computers. The Residence
Hall Association fails to meet its stated responsibility in being an
intermediary between University Housing and the students who
use Housing’s services if it is not an advocate for residents.
Students must be assured that when they sign up for on-campus
housing, they can expect a safe and functional place to live, and
that University Housing will not simply trample the rights of a
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uiai uoj tvu uuivi aiiviuuu » w.
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
In a photograph in Monday’s The Mix, David Hislop was misidentified.
The Gamecock regrets the error.
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
Michael LaForgia
DESIGN DIRECTOR
Chas McCarthy
COPY DESK CHIEF
Steven Van Haren
NEWS EDITOR
Jon Turner
ASST. NEWS EDITOR
Thomas Chandler
I
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, Staci
Jordan, Jessica Ann
Nielsen
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.edu
News: gamecocknews@gwm.sc.edu
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exception of university
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RTOON COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS
Relativists are absolutely wrong
■ Certainties have a
legitimate place in all
academic arguments
Throughout the course of my
dialogues in the university setting, I have
noticed a startling trend among
purported academics. This
phenomenon occurs almost any time
one attempts to assert an absolute truth.
Although doing so often provides much
entertainment in the form of watching
the relativists do the “You’re wrong
because everyone is equally right” tap
dance, I must admit that the mind
numbing banality they present is
actually quite pitiful. Have no fear,
however, for I have compiled a short
guide to defending relativism.
Step 1: Name-Calling When your
argumentation sucks, there’s always ad
hominem. In defending your assertion
that no one is wrong, you probably
shouldn’t be trying to prove those rotten
absolutists wrong. Instead, you need to
defend the fact that you (and only'you)
are the one who is right. Terms such as
“wrong” are very negative, and we want
to avoid that. Everyone knows that the
best defense is a good offense, and since
you supposedly don’t actually have any
absolute point of reference as a basis for
your argument, that leaves only ad
hominem. Repeating the term “dose
minded” usually brings any insightful
dialogue to a screeching halt. In
addition, throw around the terms
“arrogant,” “antiquated philosophy” and
“intolerant.” Never define or qualify any
of these terms —
just shame your
opponents into
adopting your
perspective.
Step 2:
I Changing The
Subject — This
can usually be
accomplished
through the
application of
Step 1.
Otherwise, start
tossing out some
PrpnrK -a nrl
German last
names. When you do this to absolutists,
they might simply assume the names
belong to obscure philosophers and that
you are better read than they are. They
might even opt to change the subject
themselves to avoid an embarrassing
blow to their intellectual capacity.
Step 3: Repeat Steps 1 and 2.
Step 4: If you’ve reached this point
you have only one option left -- make up
your own reality where nothing applies
or exists. In your conceptualization of
reality, be sure to ignore its self-defeating
nature (i.e. establishment of a valid
alternate system of truths based on the
absence of any ontological truth),
otherwise it all falls apart.
Mainstream culture has
indoctrinated even students in our
academic community into the idea that
to assert an absolute truth is almost
considered morally equivalent to
burning puppies or stealing Christmas.
CURTIS
CHOW
FOURTH-YEAR
ECONOMICS
STUDENT
Why is it so Wrong to advocate absolute
truths? Many relativists would argue that
in doing so, absolutists are exclusive in
their line of inquiry. Rather than
asserting the absolute nature of a
particular truth and rejecting
contradictory contention points,
absolutists should accept other points as
equally valid perspectives to a larger,
over-arching truth.
I have often heard the argument that
truth is like an elephant, and we are as
blind men seeking to describe it. Each of
us takes hold of a different part, and
subsequently describes the holistic
characteristics of the elephant by the
individual component we are feeling. I
grab its leg and say, “The elephant is like
a tree.” You grab its ear and say, “It is
like a sheet.” Yet we are all correct in our
different views because we are all
describing components of the same
thing.
However pleasant and tolerant this
view might appear, it is inherently
flawed in that by asserting that the
proper way to view contradictions is to
view them as different facets of the same
truth, it rejects the absolutist view on the
grounds that it is contradictory to this
view. In other words, all of a sudden we
want to apply the law of non
contradiction in argumentation against
its own validity. Furthermore, if we are
all blind men, then no one knows that
truth is like an elephant. To say that it is
requires you to be an outside observer
watching the blind men. I submit that
you are no less bound by the human
condition than the rest of us.
IN YOUR OPINION
Five Points puts out
racist welcome mat
What is the deal with some of the
bars and clubs in Five Points not
wanting to serve African-Americans?
Instead of hanging signs In the
window that say “Whites Only” or
“No Blacks Allowed,” they find
more subtle ways to discriminate
against us by enforcing rules that
only seem to apply to African
Americans: “No dreadlocks” (Knock
Knock Club), “No hip-hop/R&B
music” (Club Drink), “No urban
wear” (numerous clubs), etc. And
why is it that “urban wear” only
applies to clothing worn by African
American males, whether it be jeans
and a T-shirt or khaki pants and a
collared shirt?
Segregation supposedly ended
more than 30 years ago, but one
could not tell by visiting Five Points.
I urge all African-Americans in the
Columbia area to spend their money
elsewhere, because it is quite obvious
that these establishments don’t want
our business.
DANIELLE WASHINGTON
Fourth-year advertising
student
Everyone deserves
shot at redemption
“We can only hope ... that in the
meantime, USC’s other sports
continue to set a good example of
sportsmanlike behavior both on
and off the field, thanks to their
coaching” (“Newton, others have
no place on our team,” Monday).
Would this comment at the end of
Monday’s editorial be in reference
to the volleyball players who stole
pillows from a hotel or the one who
spit on the Florida fan? Or maybe
you’re referring to the peeping Tom
on the swim team.
Syvelle Newton and Freddy
Saint-Preux stole pictures of
themselves — pictures that would
have been given to them eventually
anyway. They did not steal laptops
or video projectors. While they
certainly deserve to be punished,
kicking them off the team seems a
bit severe. Two of the four
volleyball players who stole the
pillows are still on the team. No
one has called for their heads. The
Gamecock has singled out Newton
because he is arguably the most
high-profile student at this
university, but to do so is not fair.
He is just as human as the rest of us.
Are we supposed to set up a “one
strike and you’re out” precedent?
Does that send the tight message to
recruits or even potential student
non-athletes? Doling out a
punishment out-of-line with the
crime would certainly make a
“forceful statement” as the editorial
suggested. It would make a forceful
statement that we demand
perfection at USC or you’re not
welcome here. 1 think there’s this
book you might have heard of called
the Bible that says something about
perfect people casting stones.
I doubt that Steve Spurrier will
take into account The Gamecock
editorial board’s opinion when
deciding what to do about Newton
and Saint-Preux, but he would be
making a mistake in taking its advice.
KEVIN MCCARRELL
Fourth-year economics and
finance 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
gamecockopi nions@gwm.sc.edu. Letters
will be edited. Anonymous letters will not
be published. Call the newsroom at 777
7726 for more information.
SG should
spend our
greenbacks
frugally
■ USC student leaders
must find alternatives to
increasing activity fees
Writing this column is like eating your
vegetables — it’s good for you, but it doesn’t
taste so good on the way down.
I’m trying to digest the popular
Collegiate
I- -1 Readership
Program, the
darling of Student
Government that
gives students free
newspapers they’ve
already paid for.
For USC, the hill
program comes
with a $30,000
per-semester price
tag that includes
thousands of
newspapers. The
watered-down
version, 800
papers a day, is
ADAM
BEAM
FOURTH-YEAR
PRINT
JOURNALISM
STUDENT
aDOUt $1Z,UVV pci mUBKIi
But those costs didn’t deter SG officials
from using students’ money to purchase the
program, put on by USA TODAY. In fall
2003, SG officials discovered SG had about
$190,000 worth of student activity fees in a
forgotten bank account. SG can allocate
money to student organizations that meet
certain requirements. If the organization
doesn’t use all of its money in one school
year, it has to give it back. Thus, the secret
armiinf.
So Katie Dreiling, Zachery Scott and
Ben Edwards, the trio of student leadership
at the time, decided the secret money had to
be spent immediately. Student Life Director
Jerry Brewer encouraged the leaders to
spend it on programs that wouldn’t have
recurring costs. In other words, don’t buy
something that you have to keep paying for.
But the Student Senate didn’t listen. SG
decided to use enough of the surplus to fund
the newspaper program for two years. The
rest went, among other things, to
incorporate GPS for the shuttles and install
10-foot signs with maps of the campus.
There was no plan on how to fond the
newspaper program after the first two yean.
SG leaders’ typical response was only,
“We’ll find a way.” Apparendy, that “way”
is using students’ money.
SG President Zachery Scott said last
week the Student Senate plans to ask the
Board of Trustees to raise the student
activity fee $2 so the program can continue.
It’s not that an extra $2 every semester will
break the bank for students, but it only adds
to a disturbing precedent.
SG officials don’t wield much
administrative power with the university,
but when they ask for a fee increase, they get
it. The last time came in October 2002
when then-SG President Ankit Patel asked
the board for a $20 increase to give more
money to Carolina Productions, Russell
House maintenance, late-night programs
and, of course, Student Government.
HUKVC1 LHC dUlllUiuuauuii WcUlLS
student input, it talks to Student
Government representatives because they
are elected by us, for us. But running off and
asking the board to raise the student activity
fee every rime SG runs into funding
problems is not responsible management.
This is so much mote than newspapers.
If we let SG officials get by with this fee
increase, we are sending the message that a
student activity fee increase is a good
economic quick fix and should be added to
SG’s bag of tricks. We can’t let that happen.
This SG administration has done a lot
for the campus, including organizing a
statewide student lobbying group. But if all
our leaders can do for money is raise student
activity fees, then I’m disappointed. Surely a
group of driven, focused students can
organize some type of massive fund-raiser to
meets its needs. Students, faculty members,
this newspaper and yours truly initially
praised SG for implementing the newspaper
program. The deans loved it so much that
they donated about $50,000 last year to
keep it going. But none of it would ever be
enough to make the program truly free for
students.
So let’s learn from our mtstake before we
make another one. Financial responsibility
shouldn’t have to be so hard to swallow.
Iw/nners and sinners
VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO New Ukranian president
sworn in after a contentious battle for the post. i
SOUTH ASIA A new tsunami warning system gets
approval and funding at a UN conference. H
SCIENCE A U.S. district judge orders Georgia public j
schools to removes stickers from their science textbooks
that read, “Evolution is a theory, not a fact.”
' V ' • ‘ " ' V ■
nF COLUMBIA The Mean of Columbia Motel,
ng house featured on the cover of Hootie & The
s “Cracked Rear View,” is set to be demolished.
' SEAMAN Michigan teacher sentenced to life
for killing her husband with a hatchet.
\N LEGISLATORS Nationalist representatives
1 investigation to oudaw all Jewish organizations
ose«ute people that support th|em.
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