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_ VIEWPOINTS T AMECOCK EDITORIAL BOARD Editor MICHAEL LaFORGIA News Editor STEPHEN FASTENAU Asst. News Editor JUSTIN CHAPURA The Mix Editor ALEXIS ARNONE Sports Editor JONATHAN HILLYARD Viewpoints Editor BRINDY McNAIR Copy Desk Chief STEVEN VAN HAREN Design Director chas McCarthy r IN OUR OPINION Storm-ravaged region needs more from Bush President Bush needs to put his priorities in order. While he should be commended for accepting responsibility for the government’s delay in aiding Hurricane Katrina victims, the president should consider making up for it by devoting his full attention to Gulf Coast relief and reconstruction. Instead, President Bush has been juggling diplomatic duties, including face time with Iraqi dignitaries, the United Nations and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, parts of New Orleans remain submerged in filthy water and towns up and down the Gulf Coast are still splintered and rent. Making Michael Brown, the former Federal Emergency Management Director who stepped down on Monday, the fall guy for a sluggish reaction isn’t good enough. That the president hasn’t dropped everything else to focus on drain OUT hxing the Cjulr Coast is bad. flooded cities and That more u s trooPs can,t be patch our shattered dispatched to regions damaged pipes before by the Category 4 storm because anything else. they’re serving in Iraq is worse. But that the Bush administra ^ tion is now rattling its saber at Syria, which it says is allowing nsurgents across its border and into Iraq, is as poorly timed as it was predictable. Here’s a novel idea: Let’s drain our flooded cities, patch our shattered pipes, collect the pieces of our broken houses and churches and schools, and start building new ones. The president should put everything else on hold — or at least on the back burner — and help us bounce back from the worst natural disaster ever to touch our soil. Then, once he has discharged his responsibility to us, the American people, the ones who put him in the White House for two consecutive terms, perhaps we won t look so harshly on him when he brings another Middle Eastern country into his crosshairs — for reasons valid or otherwise. 0 Until then, President Bush should tell the president of China chat he’ll call him back, and, for God’s sake, keep the bombs in the armory. irs yOUR RIGHT Exercise your right to voice your Create message boards at www. dailygamecock. com or send letters to the editor to gamecockopinions@gwm.sc. edu CORRECTIONS Monday’s “Building commences on Habitat house” should have stated that the sign-up slots for student building shifts have been filled. Also, the mascot featured on Page 2 was misidentified. The mascot was actually Coldwell Banker’s Rocky the Retriever. The Gamecock regrets the errors. MICHAEL LaFORGIA News Editor STEPHEN FASTENAU Asst. News Editor JUSTIN CHAPURA Viewpoints Editor BRINDY McNAIR The Mix Editor ALEXIS ARNONE Sports Editor JONATHAN HILLYARD Asst. Sports Editor ALEX RILEY Photo Editor NICK ESARES Sports Photo Editor KATIE KIRKLAND ^—, Page Designers / ' MIKE CONWAY, JESSICA ANN NIELSEN, MEGAN SINCLAIR Graphic Desirner LAURA-JOYCE GOUGH Copy Editors CHELSEA HADAWAY, KRISTY LAUBE, KATIE THOMPSON, LIZ WHITE Online Editor RYAN SIMMONS Creative Services JOSEPH DANNELLY, LAURA-JOYCE GOUGH, MARGARET LAW, MEGHAN WHITMAN TO PLACE AN AD The Gamecock 1400 Greene St. Columbia, S. C. 29208 Advertising: 777-3888 Classified: 777-1184 Fax: 777-6482 ABOUT THE GAMECOCK CONTACT INFORMATION Offices on third floor of the Russell House. The Editor's office hours are Monday and Wednesday from 1-3 p.m. Editor: gamecockeditor@gwm.se. edu News: gamecocknews@gwm.sc.edu Viewpoints: gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu The Mix: gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu Sports: gamecocksports@gwm. sc. edu Public Affairs: gameeockPR@yahoo com Online: www.dailygamecock com Newsroom: 777-7726; Sports: 777-7182 Editor’s Office: 777-3914 STUDEN I MEDIA Director SCOTT LINDENBERG 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 RYAN GORMAN, KATIE CUPPIA, APRYL ALEXANDER, MARY RACHEL FREEMAN, MCKENZIE WELSH, DfelORE MERRldK THE (JAMECOCK 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 0/THE 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 purchasedfor $1 each from the Department of Student Media. \H\\ SPIRA-1 TionJ rs*l Cartoon courtesy of KRT Campus _ Unlearned lessons will rock us like a hurricane While some will learn, most folks are doomed to repeat big mistakes Once bitten, twice shy. Hopefully. Hurricane Katrina showed the nation how quickly society can devolve into a riotous mess, where plasma TVs mean more than fresh water and shooting at helicopters is a stress-reliever. I hope it can’t happen here. I’m just not so sure. As of Monday morning, Ophelia, a Category One hurricane, was idling off the Carolina coast. Our chance for a litmus test presents itself, a test I hope we never have to take. Silver lining: Even if Ophelia suddenly upgraded to a Category Five and brutalized the Carolinas, the damage, death and ensuing panic would still be significantly less than that in New Orleans, a city that had always been ranked as one of the worst possible places a hurricane could hit. Yes, I know, whenever South Carolinians hear about a possible half-inch of snow, they go nuts at Food Lion and stock up on bottled water and powdered milk. That hypersensitivity might be a good thing. Ophelia almost surely won’t do much to Columbia, as she’s expected to swing northwest and make landfall in North Carolina. But by principle, I’ve gotta be wary. It’s too close for comfort. “Close” counts in horseshoes, hand grenades Steueil and hurricanes, Uan Haren right? r . Let’s say rourth-year ~ mechanical °Phella were to engineering sweep through student Columbia, the streets flooded, and people couldn’t get out. Be cool, my babies. Did Katrina teach us anything? Is your memory so short? All the smart people would leave WHEN THEY WERE TOLD TO. They’d pack it up and go stay at their cousins house in Tennessee. That would leave all the dumb people here, the ones who wouldn’t stock up, heed government warnings or even remember Katrina for a split second. All the people who learned their lesson with Katrina would bug out, and the cycle would repeat itself. Forget your Southern hypersensitivity — and Southern hyperhospitality, for that matter. I could only imagine the Colonial Center slammed with people, classes canceled, looting, mass hysteria at the State House. I can’t even imagine anyone would ever again balk at severe weather warnings. You remove the problem at the source, namely peoples’ stupidity and the fine line between society and anarchy. Complaints about people being unable to get out of New Orleans abound. We’d be rid of this problem if people, again, listened. Anybody can find a way to get out of a city with a few days notice, even if it means walking on the side of a highway. Your life’s at stake, you idiot. I guess the point is that some people, like me, never paid a shred of attention to warnings such as “act of God” warnings. Now, me and people like me give it more thought. But we — humans — are still doomed to repeat it. This is the pattern: We forget something in our lives, put it away and dust over it. Then something bad happens, and that “something” suddenly becomes the most important thing to hem and haw over. Then we forget. Then it’s game over in a few more years. Rinse. Repeat. On Sunday, I barely registered what four-year anniversary it was. I guess when Columbia is ravaged by floods, we’ll see how it goes down. Unfortunately, you’ll still have the same contingent of morons going nuts. Newspapers will be able to simply rerun their Katrina stories and change names, dates and locations. The storms of life bring us closer together People look to others, inward to find strength during times of crisis It was an honor for me to meet two gentlemen this weekend who had actually evacuated New Orleans after the emergence of Hurricane Katrina. The gentlemen are staying at the old Sheraton, current Columbiana Hotel & Conference Center, and soon to-be Radisson Hotel. They were visitors of our church. They were very nice and looked like they were the farthest people away from the Gulf Coast when Katrina struck. Similarly, there is another young lady — single with no children — with whom I attend church. This sister lost everything she owned to an apartment fire that started in another persons unit. Within minutes of making one telephone call, our sister had temporary shelter and a congregation of people sending and soliciting donations on her behalf. In fact, she actually received checks from people she didn’t even know. If you really think about it, the people in both stories pretty much had the same experience. I believe, however, that the sister with the apartment fire would say she www. dailyva wasn’t as bad off as the others because she never had to wonder where she rjnpu would sleep, nnnpp She never lost her bHtbb job and she Fourth-year never had to interdisciplinary , studies student 8° hyn8rY or penniless. On the other” hand, I perceive that they are all more than conquerors. What storms of life have you faced? Natural disasters are one thing, but there are so many other storms that we face every day. Some of us live with child and/or spousal abuse, financial burdens, poverty, incest, rape, low self esteem, alcohol and drug abuse, trust issues and so many more issues. As children we learn to cope with our situations, I believe, because we don’t have the means to verbalize our situations. As adults, our options are much different. Resources might include support groups, books, friends or acquaintances, and, now, therapy has become even more accepted and affordable. ■ The media has provided many images of destruction of the Gulf Coast since the onset of Hurricane Katrina. I am challenging you to look for mecock.com inspiration for your own situation. Amid the bickering and finger-pointing are many wonderful stories. Yes, there were many who died, but many more lived. Yes, there were people who lost everything, but those same people still have life. Yes, there are mothers separated from their children, but there are also many people who are taking in entire families they do not even know. Look at the struggles of those people and find the strength of the human spirit. A few weeks ago, the evacuees were just ordinary people. Today, they are heroes because they have proved that they have what it takes to live through situations that could have easily killed not only their bodies, but also their spirits and their sanity. We each have the ability if we tap into that same strength that lies within. This storm has brought about many life lessons that will never be forgotten. If nothing else, it is comforting to know we live in a country where citizens have the means j and the mindset to donate time and resources and to raise hundreds of millions of dollars to assist one another in our time of need — even if the government is slow to do so. Isn’t that what life is about? New South hospitality nonexistent on roadways USC motorists’ attitude no match for Northern street-tough sensibility It took 19 hours to get down here. My preconceptions of the South clouding my thoughts, I arrived at campus convinced I had chosen throw into the midst imrtiimu First-year with guns, psychology draw,s and its. student ° Well, I’ve seen no gum, ucaru plenty or arawis and ran away from plenty of grits. I was thinking about Southern hospitality the other day as I was walking to class. Since I’ve been here, I’ve said hello to more strangers on the road than I ever would have up north, I’ve been called “ma’am” or “miss” more times than I can count and you folks hold the doors for passers-by a full 10 seconds longer than I’m used to. Pondering this thought, the first day of class I stepped out onto one of the sidestreets on the outskirts of campus, safely within those little white lines otherwise known as a crosswalk. Fully halfway through my journey across the street, I looked up only to realize a car was speeding toward me with no intention of stopping. Now, this would hardly be noteworthy if this were an isolated incident. Later that same day, and each day after, similar events occurred. I came to the realization that for small sections of the isolated streets toward the back of campus, Columbia transforms itself from a slow, sweet Southern city into a cold, hard, individualistic city of the North. Another unexpected, though not necessarily surprising, idiosyncrasy of Columbia comes in the form of construction crews. My prediction for Five Points construction: possibly finished by graduation 2009. This is backed up by the only other image of Southern construction I have seen. I was waiting at a red light, and, out of the corner of my eye, I see water gushing out onto the road, presumably from a broken water line; Breathe easy — the break was being attended to by four construction workers. Two were operating a tractor behind the water in a refreshingly novel manner: One was standing in the bucket of the tractor, waving his arms wildly, while the other was operating the tractor, moving the bucket up and down, much like a playground toy. These two roadside incidents have forced me to conclude that South Carolinians have to drive aggressively, even rudely, on isolated back roads to make up for the construction zones along the main drag. A little contrary, but I suppose I will find plenty of understated contradictions to entertain and confuse me during my first year in the unique, eccentric and charming South. 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.