The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, August 13, 2005, Page A13, Image 13
Real world exists, impacts USC students
Living inside college
bubble no reason to not
pay attention to world
With the long, hot days of
Slimmer behind us and the long,
fiot days of school ahead, I’d like
to encourage everyone to be more
aware of the world around them
this year. Many feel that
governments — student through
[ federal — are distant entities that
have no tangible effect on their
lives. However, in the coming
months, we might witness
significant changes that will
affect all of us in one way or
another. There is no better time
than now to get involved.
At the university level, we will
hopefully see “upgrades” around
campus. For instance, the long
promised wireless Internet
blanket will soon descend upon
the far reaches of USC. To those
of you with laptops that get more
than 30 minutes of battery life,
this will present an opportunity
to work on homework, and more
importantly, instant message
nearly anywhere. I, on the other
hand, will be the guy lugging my
“laptop” (my legs quickly lose all
circulation if 1 actually place the
beast on my lap) around the
campus, searching for an outlet
to recharge every few minutes.
Let’s encourage computer services
to complete the wireless network
by the September 2005 goal they
have set.
While USC has many great
□ facilities and
classrooms,
some buildings
make me
grimace as I
enter and am
instantly
ransported back
LEAKE t0 the 1960s
□r (since I was alive
back then and
remember how
the buildings
looked). In order
to gain the kind of clout we’re
striving for as an institution, we
need to update certain areas such
as the science buildings and the
library. Asbestos isn’t exactly “in”
anymore either.
The world outside the
university is ever-changing as
well. In September, we will
witness the swearing in of a new
Supreme Court justice. This is
significant because so many of
the controversial decisions the
court has made in the past few
years have been 5-4 decisions,
hinging on one justice.
Terrorists will continue to plot
and scheme against innocent
civilians around the world.
Having spent some time in
Washington, D.C. this summer,
I’ve grown accustom to the sight
of officers armed with machine
guns guarding almost everything
along my walk to work. After
both the successful and
attempted London bombings,
mass transit was raised to orange
alert status. No word yet on how
this will affect the USC bus
system, but it probably will not
make them more punctual. As
the new generation of voters, we
have the opportunity to shape
how the government prevents
terrorism and what levels of
security and monitoring we are
willing to allow, if we choose to
make our voice heard.
This fall will be vastly different
from last fall, in that we have no
presidential election to fill our
eyes, ears and minds 24/7. Don’t
think for a moment, though, that
the College Republicans and
Democrats will lay low in the
absence of an impending
election. Likewise, the
Viewpoints section of The
Gamecock will continue to be
littered with political
commentary written by
Gamecocks like myself who like
to believe that a majority of
students really care about the
world around them.
Which brings me back to my
original point: Be involved in the
many opportunities USC
provides for students to shape the
direction of our university, as
well as the direction of our
country. Voice your opinion on
the issues that matter to you. It’s
easy to be a bystander and live
your life as though nothing in the
news affects you! I encourage you
to fight that urge and begin to
effect change in your university,
city, state, nation and world.
Columbia's boring label belies hidden fun
A
There’s no excuse for
missing chances to do
fun stuff for free at USC
After all the time I’ve spent
working for The Gamecock as a
USC undergrad, you’d expect me to
be a little nostalgic leaving campus
for the last time this August. Sorry,
no dice. I refuse, by matter of
principle to ratde off a list of “you
should have been there when”
events from my past four years of
college. What I will leave you with,
though, is a handy dandy
perforated-for-your-convenience list
of things you, oh dear reader, should
do while you’re lucky enough to
walk around USC’s campus.
Instead of staring enviously
through the windows of the Honors
College kids lucky enough to live on
the Horseshoe, egg em. Kidding,
but in all seriousness, you really can’t
say you went to the Real USC
umess you tnrew a rnsoee or
baseball around on the big of lawn
that we call the Horseshoe. Just be
sure to f>ick your time wisely - it.
doubles as a tanning parlor when
the weather is nice, and stepping on
the cutie from your intro English
class is a terrible way to make an
introduction. Oh, and every
undergrad should try to steal the
ball from the Macxy monument —
even if it’s harder now that they
bolted it down.
It seems obvious that every
student goes to football games
during their tenure, but I’ve met a
surprising number of non-Preston
residents who have never made it to
a game, despite the free tickets. To
me, it’s just wasteful, since your
tuition covers entry. Furthermore,
it’s the closest many of us will ever
get to being a rock star, as having
more than 80,000 screaming fans
around you is an experience not to
be underestimated. Half of USC,
chiefly those with more than one X
chromosome know that games are
more of a social event than a
sporting one. Don’t limit yourself to
football, though - baseball, soccer
and basketball
games are among
the best-times I’ve
had at USC, since
we have both
excellent teams
PATRICK
nuGUSTine “""'d 7
say 1 never took
Fourth-year advantage of the
political many
science
student opportumt.es to
enculturate myself
at the university’s expense while I
was here. Since USC has great
music and theatre students, it’s no
wonder that classical music
performances and stage productions
abound. Between the Koger Center
and Longstreet Theatre, USC has
amazing venues for productio’ns,
one exhibiting the finest in modern
acoustics and the other Old South
charm and history. Barely a block
away from USC reside two of
Columbia’s theater companies,
Workshop and Town theaters, and
South Carolina’s Shakespeare
Company occasionally puts on
performances of the bard’s classics in
Finlay Park. You can read our The
Mix section to stay current on these
of events, and Columbia has
copious chances to see live music, be
it in one of the many venues or
festivals that the city has.
As an old Southern town,
Columbia has lots of historically
significant buildings that are
architecturally unique and will be
of interest to history buffs. A bonus
is that many of them are
purportedly haunted, a fact I
suggest you test for yourself. The
Hampton-Preston, Robert Mills
and Wilson family homes can be
toured and do special candle-lit
events around Christmastime.
Former USC presidents and Civil
War soldiers purportedly haunt the
Horseshoe’s South Caroliniana
Library and DeSassure College.
Columbia’s Riverbanks Zoo is in
the top 10 nationally for cities our
size and has its own botanical
garden and farm animal petting
area. Richland County has a chain
of award-winning libraries, with the
architecturally distinctive main
branch on Assembly Street (a great
quiet place to study if you’re
roommate isn’t quiet and Thomas
Cooper is full).
Film buffs are walking distance
from the Nickelodeon, Columbia’s
only independent theater
specializing in small films. Located
behind, the State {douse on Main
Street, the Nickelodeon is likely to
expand to new digs before the
current crop of freshmen leave town
for good in six years. Even
Columbia’s own art museum, on
the other end of Main Street, has a
surprisingly good selection of an
from nearly every significant
movement in modern history.
5o me people mignt not consider
lectures their idea of fun, but every
once in a while, USC still manages
to surprise me. After all, Carolina
Productions (CP) managed to bring
New York Times columnist Thomas
Friedman to campus last year. Dave
Chapelle also made a stop at the
Koger Center at CPs behest,
proving that college students can
indeed do something amazing on
their own. Overall, most of CP’s
vents are worth checking out, like
the free movies in the Russell
Flouse. It’s a little-known fact that
USC’s film classes have screenings
in the evening, and it’s a chance for
poor film fans to see stuff you could
otherwise only find on NetFlix.
The Honors College does a
great job with their ‘Last Lecture’
series, which gives professors the
chance to say what they would if
they only had one lecture left —
the results are impressive.
Finally, don’t let a list like this
one limit you — college is the
chance to fall asleep in bars, go
skydiving or drive to Monetta to
watch a movie while sitting on the
hood of your car. That way when
you’re old and wrinkled like me,
you can have a whole new set of
things to recommend to the starry
eyed fresh meat.
CR or TG (shameless plug). You’ll
learn what those acronyms stand
for soon enough if you read this
newspaper or pay attention as you
stumble around campus.
Student organizations are equally
demanding and easygoing. While
you usually can’t perform drunk or
hung over, pajamas are perfectly
acceptable board meeting attire.
Either way, you can’t do your job if
you’re a lush.
Phew. I hope I avoided the
cheese of the normal
mealymouthed “get involved”
column. Oops, secrets out.
In summary, please don’t puke
on me, and go get involved. In that
order. Go Cocks..
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Advisory Board is an encouraging
innovation by USC’s student
government,” Congressman Jim
Clyburn said in a statement to
USC. “It provides a wonderful
opportunity for students to
become more engaged in the
jpues facing our nation and gain
a deeper understanding of the
governmental process. I look
forward to interacting with my
student constituents.”
In writing this column, I am
not only highlighting SG’s
accomplishments, but I am also
encouraging all Carolina students
to get involved in this process. In
order for there to be major policy
changes in the government
regarding higher education,
students must stand up and make
sure their voices are heard. SG is
committed to keeping important
issues at the forefront for
discussion, but we can’t do it
alone. With your help, we can
strive to make college more
affordable and less stressful.
Sunday Morning Worship 9am and 1 lam
Thursday Evening Informal Worship 7pm
Sunday Bible & Breakfast for Young Adults 10am
Pastors: Rev. Michael Henderson and Rev. Megan Gray
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