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; V •' " ’ ‘ ' ‘ ■ r ' ONLINE POLL Who do you think will win the Super Bowl? Let us know at Page 4 www.dailygamecock.com. Friday, January 28, 2005 Results Posted Friday —— —jiy—■ — ... —-—!g TH#S&AMECOCK EDITORIAL BOARD EDITOR ASST. VIEWPOINTS EDITOR Michael LaForgia Patrick Augustine NEWS EDITOR SPORTS EDITOR Jon Turner Jonathan Hillyard VIEWPOINTS EDITOR DESIGN DIRECTOR Wes Wolfe Chas McCarthy THE MIX EDITOR COPY DESK CHIEF Jennifer Freeman Steven Van Haren IN OUR OPINION USC must address equal gender pay Since the 1980s, USC has been careful to encourage the hiring and promotion of women in an effort to undo years of gender discrimination in higher education, and while statistics indicate progress toward equality, pay discrepancies between the sexes mean the university must immediately go out of its way to assure its female employees that they have the same opportunity as their male counterparts. The debate about gender and its role in the politics of the uni versity environment was reignited recently when Harvard University President Lawrence Summers asked if the lack of women faculty members in the fields of math and the sciences could be attributed to genetic dif ferences between sexes. Freedom of speech and political correctness concerns aside, Summers' speech underlined the problem that all universities have of attracting wom en to traditionally male-dominated academic fields. Short of encouraging women and minorities to pursue doc torates in these fields, change will be slow in coming, and even a concerted effort to give incentives will bear fruit only 10 to 20 years cjown the road as former students become established in departments across the country. Universities cannot be expected to immediately correct the disparities in numbers, but they must correct imbalances in pay between men and women immediately. Affirmative action was successful, but it had the unintended consequence of casting doubt upon the qualifications of the candidates who came through the system. Similarly, women must not be hired on the basis of a quota system, but instead the university should be encouraged to look at equally quali fied female candidates. USC cannot be expected to correct a long-term problem like gender inequality overnight, but by taking steps to ensure women have as much of a shot at jobs as men, the university can send a signal to the culture that discrimination will not be passively accepted but actively resisted. Short of encouraging women to pursue doctorates in these fields, change will be slow in coming. 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. ABOUT THE GAMECOCK EDITOR Michael LaForgia CONTACT INFORMATION DESIGN DIRECTOR °"icGS third floor of the Russell House. Chas McCarthy The Edltor s off,ce hours are Monday and Wednesday from 3-5 p.m. copy .desk chief Editor: gamecockeditor@gwm.sc.edu Steven Van Haren News: gamecocknews@gwm.sc.edu news editor Viewpoints: gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu Jon Turner The MiX: gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu Sports: gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu ASST, news editor Public Affairs: gamecockPR@yahoo.com Thomas Chandler Online-, www.dailygamecock.com viewpoints editor Newsroom-. 777-7726; Sports: 777-7182 Wes Wolfe Editor's Office: 777-3914 the mix editor STUDENT MEDIA The Gamecock is the Jennifer Freeman editorially independent asst, the mix editor director student newspaper of Cauie Givens Scott Lindenberg the university of South sports editor faculty adviser Carolina. It is Jonathan Hillyard Erik Collins published Monday, .0<vr c„lxrt0 Wednesday and Friday creative director during the fall and Stephen Fastenau Susan King sprjng semesters and SENIOR WRITER business manager nine times during the Kevin Fellner Carolyn Griffin summer, with the photo editor exception of university Jason Steelman advertising manager holidays and exam SPORTS PHOTO EDITOR Scarborou8h periods. Opinions Katie Kirkland classified manager expressed in The pacf designers Sherry F. Holmes Gamecock are those of FAGE DES GNE“E . the editors or author Julian bans, Diaci production manager and not those of the Ssap"nJ aAn Garen Cansler University of South copy Ltors creative services Carolina. The Board of Jessica Foster Brindy Burke Lauderdale, Student Publications McNafr Darnel Chelsea Felder, Laura and Commumcat.ons is Regenscheit, Jason Gough, Joseph Dannelly 'h e p u t;*sheF0 6 Thompson^Shana Till £,yER™NG STAFF ***"«« °f Student Robert Carli, Breanna Media is the online editor Evans, Ryan Gorman, newspaper's parent Ryan Simmons Caroline Love, Katie organization.'The public affairs Stephens, McKenzie Gamecock is Jane Fielden, Katie Miles Welsh supported in part by student-activity fees. —-"] One free copy per TO PLACE AN AD reader. Additional The Gamecock Advertising: 777-3888 copies may be 1400 Greene St. Classified: 777-1184 purchased for $1 each Columbia, S.C. 29208 Fax: 777-6482 from the Department of ___ Student Media. Back off, man, I’m a journalist ■ If our paper’s so bad, why do you read it so cotton-pickin’ closely? To be honest, our little newspaper can blow a lot of ass. Just last week, the front-page teaser for Curtis Chow's column featured Mahmoud Abbas' mustachioed, smiling mug shot. I've seen "assasinate" and "solitician" in headlines, the latter at the top of the front page. I've seen columns and stories end mid-sentence, stories jump to the wrong pages and a slew of misnomers and misspellings. A year ago, we corrected a correction. Oops. But jeez, The Gamecock's detractors are vicious. Their insults go beyond these technicalities, aiming right at the jugular — our "journalistic integrity." I can't make excuses for "assasinate." If this were the New York Times, the entire copy desk could have heen fired for that gaffe. Those mistakes lower a paper's credibility, so now’s the time to make amends. I'd like to apologize on behalf of The Gamecock staff for screwing up about five words per issue, with a paid staff of about 25 people, most of whom work seven-hour shifts for less than 50 cents an hour. I'm sorry to all the girls who wanted to get peeped on in the Blatt, all the guys who wanted their bikes stolen and all the sick people who didn't want to know how to get flu vaccine. I'm sorry I 1 about that comma splice, archduke. If it made you choke on your tea in a blind rage, give me my due punishment. - - People don't know what bad w^|g writing is until LI AD CM they've worked HARcN at a college THIRD-YEAR PaPer- We have MECHANICAL to puree this ENGINEERING J , STUDENT stuff through a rigorous journalistic juicer. Section editor passes to copy editor passes to me passes to editor, and despite many stories' refined beauty, I still see the ass-end of some ugly mothers. Imagine the most fluffy, awkwardly worded, alphabet-soup gibberish ever. Then get the dumbest chimp in the dirtiest zoo in the world to translate it. Readers never see that side of a story, but from the hate mail we get sometimes, you’d think we were just dumbly clicking Spellcheck. We actually click Spellcheck with a pinch of dash and daring. Things get busy during production, and we sometimes have time only to take a story from third-grade crayon scribblings to, say, Dr. Seuss, whose penchant for brevity would've made him AP president. For every bad writer, we have 10 good ones. Great ones. They write stories that would shame the AP. If you want true incompetence, you're barking up the wrong newspaper — The Clemson Tiger is a weekly exercise in shoddy pulp. When I first saw a copy, I spontaneously wept. Admittedly, we are a ghetto, shoestring newspaper. Let the Times, the Post and the Enquirer have stock market listings and miles of fashion garbage. We cover USC. The Times, like most newspapers, has a little corrections box in every issue. We all screw up — it's just that when we, do it, a million college hipsters get more whining fodder. Misspelling? Embarrassing, but it's not a cardinal sin. In this age of horrible writing, Spellcheck has become the panacea of the unwashed. It's a good line of defense, but human error still creeps in. Incompetence? Show me where. Please point. Bias? Lots of morons equate our editorials and columns with our news stories. Here's an ironclad promise from me: If you ever find editorializing in a Gamecock news story, I'll dance the hoochie-koo with a bow on my head. In case you were wondering, in the real world, "lack of journalistic integrity" equals lying, misquoting, fudging, distorting or fabricating hard news. This just in: Nitpicking detractors can kiss my ass until you get a real complaint. IN YOUR OPINION All thieves must pay for criminal actions After reading last Friday's issue of The Gamecock, I was actually quite mad about our six USC thieves, I mean football players', actions after the Clemson game. Upon reading Monday's paper, I became livid. First of all, I think it's crap that all six players weren't charged with grand larceny. They acted together and should be charged equally. I also agree with The Gamecock staff in wanting the aforementioned criminals kicked off the team. They bit the hand that fed them and they expected to get away with it. I can't steal from my college, get a slap on the wrist and continue to have my education paid in full, and neither should they. They should have to go home and tell their parents that they blew a free college education because they wanted to act like hoodlums. The Gamecock said Monday that Woodly Telfort had already completed pre-trial intervention in Florida for grand-theft auto, thus making him ineligible to participate in a similar intervention for his crimes at Williams-Brice. This is preposterous. The fact that any of the players should be given a chance to have this incident erased from their record is absurd. They've already been cut enough slack in the matter. The athletics department has known about the incident since November and is only now giving out ''punishments.'' If I or any other plain Jane, Tom, Dick or Harry committed these crimes, we would've been arrested immediately and charged accordingly. I will be totally disappointed if I have to cheer for any of these so-called football players next season. It sickens me to think there is so much money going down the hole in cases like this. Give me a full ride. I spend probably twice as much time at 300 Main St. studying than they do practicing. The sports industry is becoming entirely too corrupt. We should bring back the Roman days of the Coliseum and gladiators. I wouldn't mind paying $50 to see a good game of thieves vs. lions. BRIAN MILBOURNE Third-year mechanical engineering student Qualified women seek jobs elsewhere The problem with the gender imbalance among our faculty is hot because of a lack of information about new job positions ("Statistics show gender imbalance among faculty," Wednesday). There just are not enough qualified women to fill the open slots. Since USC is not the only college that is trying to branch out to minority groups, there is a strong competition among universities to fill open areas with the few qualified persons available. This also makes it harder to compete with more prestigious universities or other universities that offer higher salaries. There are no statistics actually showing how many women compared to men apply for these jobs and how many are selected. To be able to thoroughly say that women are not given the same opportunity is illegitimate because there are no ratios for how many women actually apply. Statistical evidence showing that women among our faculty have increased is a great step toward improvement. LAUREN JOYCE Third-year marketing and management student Players’ mistakes warrant a do-over As pointed out in The Gamecock, the USC football team is once again the center of controversy ("Newton, others have no place on team," Monday). While I do not condone the actions of certain players, I would like to point out that only one side of the story has been told. According to a message board post on gamecocksportscenter.com, former player Ryan Brewer acknowledged the fact that the pictures taken from the athletics department were not of any type of historical background. New pictures are put up each year, and at the end of the season, players are allowed to take the old ones or they are thrown away. Therefore, by Newton, Pinkins, Saint-Preux and Wilson not being charged with a felony, my assumption would be that they did not steal anything of major value (i.e. laptops or video equipment). Therefore, to my knowledge, the only other things reported missing were the pictures from the athletics department office. Now, based upon that feet, it is possible to think that the only reason those pictures were reported stolen was because of the missing laptops and video equipment. Had the laptops and video equipment never gone missing, would anyone have said anything about those pictures? Furthermore, how are players supposed to know that this year was any different from last? If these pictures are given away every other year, why would anyone care now? These are questions that I don't know the answer to, but USC students need to understand that there are always two sides to each story. While the actions of certain players might prove to be wrong, don't be too quick to convict. Everyone deserves a fair trial, especially student-athletes that devote as much time as they do to USC. ROLAND TROUT Third-year sport and entertainment management 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. SG needs fresh ideas | for election gimmicks m Candidates can’t lose using free food as tool to attract college crowd Want to have your fortune told? Has the drop in temperature and high wind chill made your lips so chapped that it is unbearable? Does your breath need a little freshening? Do you have an exam in your next class and your pen just ran out of ink? Well, it seems that the Student Government office has a solution to all of ANNA these problems — FOX this past week they offered fortune cookies, SCIENCE Chap Stick, mints STUDENT / and pens to USC students. The kick is that printed in every fortune cookie is a reminder that SG elections are being held in about two weeks, on Feb. 14 and 15. Printed on every Chap Stick and pen is the same message, and yup — you guessed it — the reminder is also on the silver packaging of the mints. FYI: Student Senate recently passed a piece of legislation calling for greater student involvement in elections. One of the statements contained in the legislation reads, "Whereas, in the most recent election (2004) only 10 percent of the student body voted, and whereas, this lack of participation is cause for concern ..." This more than likely served as the basis for the rash spending. However, these promotion prizes were being given out in the SG office. This is my thing, though — who goes into to the SG office? Those people who are in SG, those people who are officers of organizations who have business in the office and people generally aware of when SG elections are and likely voted in the last election. So, then I ask, what is the purpose of this "liberal" spending? University funds are being spent promoting an event to people that are already well aware of when said event is going to take place. Let me add a little fuel to the fire. This past week we also had the kickoff for Clean Carolina, which was held on Greene Street, during high-traffic times. There was free food, free T-shirts, free drinks, etc. No doubt these items were donated to the event or given at a reduced price (this is my guess). A great promotional idea, it drew attention. People who are not involved in student organizations were exposed to what Clean Carolina is and how to get involved. ’There is no better way to draw in a college crowd than to offer free food. In my opinion, there is a better way to promote the upcoming SG elections. First of all, candidates will do a lot of promoting for themselves — by Tuesday, Greene Street and students alike will be littered with fliers, stickers, signs and T-shirts. Secondly, why not get the local vendors to come and do pre-election events? I know that as pan of multiple student organizations, I have solicited pizza, sodas, wings, cookies, cake and koozies in order to promote events, raise money and raise awareness. Combined, our student body is about 27,000 people. That adds up to an immense amount of buying power, volunteer hours and word of mouth influence. What store owner would pass up an opportunity to get 27,000 people to know about their product? Let our Executive Council and senators take a few minutes to do some election promotion on Greene Street. We are all students here, we want to be educated — just tell us what to do and how to do it. It seemed to work in the past presidential election — we had the most people vote, ever, in any election in America’s history. P. Diddy said, "Vote or Die" — I am not sure we have to go to that extreme — but why waste university money during budget cutbacks to promote a system that does not work? If you want things to change, you are going to have to work to change the system — think outside the box. ONLINE POLL Should Syvelle Newton be kicked off the football team? Yes 74% No 26% FROM VVWW.DA1LVGAMKCOCK COM