Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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ONLINE POLL THE GAMECOCK • Wednesday, July 6,2005 Should the City of Columbia have ~W 1 1 I I T I 'V ~ K T y ■ ^ rrr,ho,w V KWr \ S www.dailygamecock.com. T _1_1 f f 1 V_^ _ >. 1 ■ r^_>/ TH&teAMECOCK CONTACT INFORMATION Offices on third floor of the Russell House. Editor: gamecockeditor@gwm.sc.edu News: gamecocknews@gwm.sc.ecki 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 STAFF EDITOR Steven Van Haren NEWS EDITOR Taylor Smith VIEWPOINTS EDITOR Patrick Augustine THE MIX EDITOR Shana Till SPORTS EDITOR Alex Riley COPY EDITORS Laura-Joyce Gough Brindy McNair PAGE DESIGNERS Jessica Ann Nielsen Megan Sinclair Mary Pinckney Waters ONLINE EDITOR Ryan Simmons 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 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 Gamecock. The Office 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 Office of Student Media. GAMECOCK CORRECTIONS If you see an error in todays paper, we want to know. E-mail us at gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu. TO PLACE AN AD The Gamecock Advertising: 777-3888 1400 Greene St. Classified: 777-1184 Columbia. S.C. 29208 Fax: 777-6482 EDITORIAL BOARD EDITOR Steven Van Haren NEWS EDITOR Taylor Smith SPORTS EDITOR Alex Riley THE MIX EDITOR Shana Till VIEWPOINTS EDITOR Patrick Augustine IN OUR OPINION City needs new plan for Independence Day When the Capitol City Bombers were in Columbia, the choice for Fourth of July entertainment was an easy one. The Bombers would put on a big fireworks show following their fourth game, which meant that Columbia had a family-friendly opportunity for celebrating our nation's birthday with baseball, hotdogs and a light show to boot. However, this year the only fireworks celebrations in town, Fort Jackson's Torchlight Tattoo and Lake Murray's boat parade, were both held two days early on Saturday evening. A holiday of national magnitude like the Fourth of July deserves a public celebration in South Carolina's capitol, regardless of the presence of a minor-league baseball team. Columbia is adept at putting on events like the Three Rivers Music Festival and the sum mer-long Finlay Park concert series, so organization is clearly not the problem. Mayor Bob Coble may be disappointed not to have his baseball team, but commemorating our nation and those who have served and died for its existence is bigger than a political issue. Furthermore, if the city were to take the initiative in planning an all-day festival for families, it would surely benefit local businesses and spread the goodwill that Columbia is known for. ' 0 N.' K /' VV V rl -■ ! >■ %"pw ___ COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS Stopping corruption key to African growth The massive Live 8 concerts held this past Saturday supposedly gathered one million live viewers and tens of millions more via television. The event and _ its preaecessor, Live Aid, are both commendable for the charity and goodwill they displayed. JACOB Few things are DAVIS more moving Third-year than when print journalism student people come together for a common cause, and few causes are more worthy than relieving the suffering of the African continent. The first Live Aid concert reportedly raised more than $100 million. With Live 8 consisting of ten separate concerts held across the globe, eclipsing that mark is not especially ambitious. Unfortunately, the true cause of the suffering, and what should be the target of an international movement, is being missed. It is not for lack of funds that Africa is wracked with want. Monetary relief from the West to Africa is conservatively at $200 billion in the past few decades alone. For all its problems, Africa is still rich in natural resources. Nigeria sits on some of the biggest oil reserves in the world, and the war-torn Congo region is awash in precious gems. It is not a lack of wealth that cripples Africa, but rather the rampant corruption of governments that have engulfed the entire continent. From the ruthless Robert Mugabe, who controls Zimbabwe with an iron fist as cruel as any seen in the West, to the savage warring factions who have plunged Sierra-Leone into civil war for years, Africa is a continent ruled by corrupt and violent dictatorships. While their people starve and die of diseases like malaria that are all but wiped out in our part of the world, these thuggish brutes enrich themselves, filling their own pockets and those of their cronies. Monies meant to reea starving infants, educate children and vaccinate the masses against preventable diseases are instead used to finance the building of palaces and the dictators' personal armies. These animals keep their people weak specifically because they know this way the people can never rise against them and because they think it will only mean more money frorij the West pouring into their coffers. Charges that exploitation from the West has caused these problems are a cop-out and all the more reason for us to right the situation. It is time that iron-clad conditions and consequences, possibly military, be attached to any conciliatory gesture the West makes from now on, ensuring that the generosity so happily given is no longer so scornfully wasted.