Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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ONLINE POLL Do you think the men’s basketball team will make the NCAA Tourney? 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 Spring holiday policy leaves students out » If you’re reading this, chances are you’re in class on President’s Day, since USC students don’t get this federal holi day off. In fact, USC students get very few holidays off this semester, including any of the days surrounding Easter. The only exception to this rule is the StllddltS ShOUld week that students and staff members be given the have for spring break in March, ... . and the Martin Luther King Jr. holi following Easter f, .T day immediately alter the start or the so they can . , have a full se“in Januafy Sunday with This *sn t ^rst c*me t^iat stu* their families dents have been deprived of national holidays by USC for the sake of end ing school earlier in May. As The Gamecock editorial board has stated before, students should at the very least be given the Monday following Easter so that they have a full day with their families on Sunday if they so desire. While it is understandably not the position of the university to endorse a particular faith by their scheduling choices, the preferences of the majority of the student body should be reflected in and respected by such decisions. Furthermore, by essentially lumping all days off into a single midterm break, the university runs the risk of giving students whose families live far away very few chances to see them in person during tlje semester. Also, an extended run of classes for many students who have difficult majors is an arduous task. A more evenly dispersed set of long weekends and holidays keeps students mentally fresh and prepared to tackle a sizable course load. Finally, the message the university sends to students by for going a holiday like President’s Day is that the civic celebra tions that unite us as a nation with a common history and communal future matter very little to an education that is sup posed to build character and engagement. Although the univer sity hardly sets a calendar with this intent, USC must guard against giving students the wrong impression of what it means to be engaged in a time where people are increasingly discon nected from public life. flT’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 DESIGN DIRECTOR Chas McCarthy COPY DESK CHIEF Steven Van Haren NEWS EDITOR Jon Turner ASST. NEWS EDITOR Kelly Cavanaugh 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, Megan Sinclair COPY EDITORS Jessica Foster, Brindy McNair, Daniel Regenscheit, Jason Reynolds, Katie Thompson, Shana Till ONLINE EDITOR Ryan Simmons PUBLIC AFFAIRS Jane Fielden, Katie Miles TO PLACE AN AD The Gamecock Advertising: 777-3888 1400 Greene St. Classified: 777-1184 Columbia. S.C. 29208 Fax: 777-6482 i . _ 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 J Gamecock. The ■ 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 purchased for $1 each from the Department of Student Media. N)6W5: T&cys HftRPtY IWwmeift ANVgNCWemr RI6HT5 CDNSWtfL yovflsetf \^0&, (ZMfH. NOW WH6N You OZTTo H(6H HCrtooo yboU Ai^Apy K^m/ CACU/^6 ATgACH^ A'VOOfvS'Wr A pffcST Artet'WeKT CARTOON COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS Evil people need jobs like everyone else ■ Just because you’re devil-incarnate doesn’t mean you can’t work In honor of recent events, with the former “Axis of Evil” states now being defined as “Outposts of Tyranny," those of us who are just good old fashioned evil might be wondering a bit about our job security. I mean, it’s not like Curtis Chow is a tyrant — he’s just evil. So, if you’re like me, or Curtis, or Saddam Hussein, you’re probably looking for a new job where your old evil skill set is still relevant. That’s why I’ve taken it upon myself to compile a list, for everyone out there, of the Top 10 Most Evil Jobs in the World. 10. Copy Editor — Copy editors, as a group, are soulless bloodsuckers who do their best to rip out every piece of originality placed in a work of journalism, all in the * name of sacrificing it to their god, AP style. Writer beware. 9. LAPD Officer — If you consent to work for the LAPD, it will become your job to shoot to kill any suspect who appears to be armed and any sort of minority (preferably Native American, as there are fewer of them to riot in protest). Any ordinary citizen who is merely armed or a minority should be beaten within an inch of their life, not killed. 8. Yusef Kelly — Agricultural school in backwards area seeks no talent tailback for long walks on the beach, cow tipping activities and kicking opposing players in the ribs while they lie face down on the GRAHAM ground Benef,ts CULBERTSON ‘"clude free shopping sprees FOURTH-YEAR in local businesses and STUDENT one-on-one time with the coach’s porn star daughter. 7. International Terrorist — I think this is where most copy editors end up after they’ve been fired from their jobs at The Tiger. The only prerequisites are willingness to kill innocent civilians and yourself. 6. Serial Killer — Many people are surprised that serial killing, one of the most well-known occupations of evil, doesn’t make it into the top five. Bonus non-evil points were given to the serial killers for escaping the rat race and following their own heart. This is where most evil people end up when they decide to just wing it. 5. USC Columnist — Yes, sad to say, USC columnist beats out serial killer. Besides Curtis and myself, evil points are gained for all the articles written by political science students for the sole purpose of boring the entire campus to death. 4. UN Official of Any Sort — If you’re on the outs with your present evil employer, consider working for the U.N. The only requirement is to take bribes that result in the deaths of thousands of innocent Iraqis/Somalis/etcetera, and the desire to turn the organization with the world’s greatest potential for do gooding into an irrelevant afterthought. 3. Fascist Dictator — Fascist dictator does give you the ability to dictate a series of systematic mass murders, not to mention run a country with an iron fist while starting offensive wars. Even though you’ll never kill as many people, world opinion will always inexplicably hold you in worse esteem than Stalinist dictators. 2. Stalinist Dictator — As a Stalinist dictator, you will focus on murdering your own people through a shadowy bureaucratic system that will never disclose final numbers and occasionally leave you a respected and honored figure in the country that you decimated by killing your loyal “comrades” for no reason. 1. USC Parking Ticket Nazi — The evilest of all world occupations, this job requires you to repeatedly and unmercifully ticket and tow thousands of students who have already taken out loans to pay for an overpriced education and are just trying to find somewhere to park for class. We salute you, Ticket Nazis of USC, for you are truly making Hitler proud. IN YOUR OPINION SEC should gag on fan celebration fine The SEC has fined USC $5,000 for the students rushing the court at the Kentucky basketball game, and I hope the SEC chokes on that money. Rushing the court after a major upset is an unwritten tradition for college students and an event that people can tell their kids about — how long they waited for tickets and how it felt to run on the court and celebrate with the players. The connection between the students and the student-athletes is what makes all college sports so great — that the emotion the students show can make a difference in that game. The SEC is slowly breaking this bond. The rule, called “the sportsmanship policy," passed Dec. 1 by all 12 SEC schools barely made the news, but when I saw it, I was angry. As a sports fan and college student, seeing the stupidity of the BCS system in football or that Jason White was given a sixth season for no reasonable reason or that Mike Williams was told, “Too bad you can’t play anymore," left me angry. Now they are trying to prevent the students of the SEC from doing something a student in any other conference can do, and it is sickening. The rule says it is for “the safety of participants and spectators alike," and I say, name one time in the last 10 years there has been someone severely hurt in these celebrations. I understand the SEC likes to hold itself to a higher standard than everyone else. I think they are forgetting whom college sports are for. BOBBY DAVIS Second-year economics student Creationism fails in countering Darwin Curtis Chow’s column on creationism and evolution, once again, represents a basic misunderstanding of the scientific process, and also of the reasons why creationism has no validity whatsoever in the biological sciences (“Evolution debate uses straw men,” Wednesday). Since Darwin proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection in 1859, its four basic postulates have, in every circumstance, held up with flying colors. The four postulates are 1) that there is variation in a population, 2) that this variation is in some degree inherited, 3) that some individuals, by virtue of this variation, are better able to survive and reproduce than others and 4) that this survival is not random, and that those whose traits allow them to survive and reproduce more than others are naturally selected. Anyone who has taken a basic course in evolution (or bothered to look up the evidence) would know this. In addition to the routine upholding of these four postulates, the evidence for so-called “macroevolution” — evolution whereby members of a species evolve into another kind of species — is also incredibly immense. There is a mountain of fossil evidence, to the point where paleontologists can date fossils and show how one lineage of species evolved into the other. Creationists always proclaim that the fossil record is lacking. But they haven’t bothered to ask the experts. The final nail in the coffin of creationism is the simple fact that not one scientific article that shows evidence for “creation” has been published nor presented to any scientific journal. Instead, they make these claims in the public arena, without regard to evidence or a sufficient means of analyzing the data to show creation as a valid scientific principle. I do agree that this issue is up for discussion, but until creationists have brought any scientific theory to the table to validate Intelligent Design, it will always be considered a Trojan horse for religious ideas to be brought into the sciences. CADE WARREN Second-year experimental psychology 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. COLLEGE QUOTE BOARD MICHIGAN DAILY UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN In this year alone, the No Child Left Behind Act will remain underfunded by one-third of what Congress previously approved. Bush has long pledged to increase spending for education, but his record with the underfunded act and his current budget proposal suggest the president has different, misguided priorities. Sacrifices should be expected in order to curtail the enormous budget deficit, but the president should first look toward scaling back the massive tax cut he hopes to make permanent for the very wealthy before he decides to forfeit the future of America. • . t- ' l . THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE UNIVERSITY OF CAUFORNIA-DAVIS Journalism’s purpose has recently been called into question. By refusing to reveal names of sources in a grand jury investigation, a three judge panel of the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., ruled Tuesday that two reporters should be jailed for contempt. The journalists are being charged with withholding information regarding the identity of a covert CIA agent. ■■■■■■■■■■■■■I My fellow Gamecocks, USC’s state is annoying ■ My list of grievances goes way beyond the usual parking complaint We’ve already had the State of the Union address, and, more recently, the State of the State. I guess that means there is really only one thing left to r“state” *****so here it is: the State of the University. Mr. President, fellow students, creepy old guys who still read The Gamecock: As weekly column JAKE “* DDnntJ sophomore D ROO M transfer student, I find that it is SECOND-YEAR . political sure,y my duty to SCIENCE assess the progress STUDENT r rtiIi> or our great university. bo, uh, here we go. I am going to start personally towing people who park in front of the Russell House and put on their emergency lights. Where is Parking Services when you actually need them? If they can write me a $20 ticket for parking in a “state vehicle only” parking space for six minutes, why can’t they do something about this? They probably snuck up on my car like a bunch of ninjas when I got out, but they can’t find the cars with the blinking “Hey, give me a ticket” lights? Can we find the kid who was shooting cars from the Towers with a BB gun and place him in the Bates parking lot to take care of a few birds? I parked there for 40 minutes the other day and so many birds crapped on my car that 1 almost didn’t recognize it. I’m not sure what these birds eat, but I do know that it’s hard to get off of a late-model Isuzu Rodeo. If you ever see a guy in one of those trees screaming at a bird that he has in a headlock, there is a good chance that it’s me. Do us both a favor and never mention it to anybody. Why, yes, hot water would be nice. We can laugh off $5,000 fines for storming the court after the Kentucky game, and we can spend coundess dollars trying to Decome a Dig-ume researcn university, but apparently we have yet to master the intricacies of the hot water heater. The fine people at Housing can spend the first four months of the year jack-hammering the bricks off my building and replacing them with identical bricks, but they can’t fix my leaky sink? That sounds about right. Speaking of the dorms — how did we manage to steal the services of Sizemore Security away from the White House? Surely these fine security personnel could be better used protecting the pope or some sort of international superstar. When they aren’t sleeping on the job, they are usually yelling at me fot not showing my ID fast enough, but they can’t stop a homeless guy from going in the laundry room and stealing clothes from a guy on my hall. I feel safe. I know I’m new here, but would someone please explain to me the point of having two shuttle buses for every route, when half the time they follow each other? Here is a word of advice for the bus drivers: If you are driving the green bus and you can actually read the license plate of the other green bus, that’s a problem. Thank goodness we spent hundreds, probably thousands of dollars on those NextBus screens at the bus stops to get our hopes up. “Wow, the green bus will be here in two minutes and nine minutes.” Not if they are following one after the other. It’s more like “the green bus will be here in 27 and 27 and a half minutes. Yeah, you’re pretty much screwed. You should probably just start walking now.” Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, you can go back to doing the crossword puzzle during class, using this to cover your hair when it’s raining or being one of those rednecks who write me incoherent hate mail when I make fun of NASCAR. Thank you for reading, and may God bless USC.