The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 23, 2005, Page 4, Image 4
VIEWPOINTS
AMECOCK
EDITORIAL BOARD
Editor Sports Editor
MICHAEL LaFORGIA JONATHAN HILLYARD
News Editor Viewpoints Editor
STEPHEN FASTENAU BRINDY McNAIR
Asst. News Editor Copy Desk Chief
JUSTIN CHAPURA STEVEN VAN HAREN
The Mix Editor Design Director
ALEXIS ARNONE CHAS MCCARTHY
IN OUR OPINION
Don’t put criminals,
liars up on pedestals
Why is society lionizing people who break the law?
Here are the stories of a crook and a perjurer. The crook, a
63-year-old millionaire with a knack for making things out of
pine cones, was convicted for lying to investigators about why
she sold ImClone stock just before the stock price plummeted.
She served five months in a federal penitentiary' in West
Virgina.
After she got out, Martha Stewarts stock rose dramatically in
the public eye.
Meanwhile, hip hop star Kim Jones, a.k.a. LiT Kim, lied to a
federal grand jury — and lied again during the high-profile trial
that followed — about what she saw during a 2001 shooting
outside a New York radio station.
She appeared in this week’s edition of Newsweek after she was
sentenced to 366 days in federal
NO criminal, prison. she began serving her
degenerate or liar on Mond
should be adulated ... . ,, , . v ,
. I admire Martha, Newsweek
by anyone. , T
quoted Jones as saying.
Why?
And the even more disturbing question: Who will be next to
claim that they admire Lit* Kim, and the fortitude with which
she weathered the consequences for breaking the law?
Several flattering shots of Jones accompanied the story, as if
the writer were jirofiling a philanthropist or a Nobel Prize win
ner.
There’s nothing admirable about people such as Stewart or
Jones. They’re liars, not role models, and they paid the price for
their misdeeds.
(As an aside to LiT Kim: You think you felt violated when,
during the 1999 Video Music Awards, you had your breast
grabbed by Diana Ross? Wait until you meet your new cell
mate, Diana Hoss.)
No criminal, degenerate or liar should be adulated, no matter
how wholesome and delicious her cooking or bootylicious her
music.
IT’S VOUR RIGHT
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www. dailygamecock. com
or send letters to the editor to
gamecockopinions@gwm.sc. edu
CORRECTIONS
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gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu.
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I
I
I
Bring back old-school art of secret admirers
IIOO ninrlAniA aUmuI#! ....
www giuuumg giiuuiu
leave behind shyness,
win crushes’ affection
I have a crush. No, not a can
of a somewhat obscure brand of
orange soda. An awkward,
unexplainable and somewhat
infectious attraction to
someone.
Shocking, I know. The guy
who developed a reputation last
year as “that kid who writes
columns about girls and his
mom and stuff” is writing about
having a crush on someone.
What’s next, the Sports section is
going to start printing articles
about Steve Spurrier? So
predictable.
So back to that crush. Ask
anyone who’s ever been hurt, i.e.
anyone — crushes are very, very
bad things. How can anyone
possibly convince themselves
that a “crush” or “falling” for
someone is a good thing?
Sounds like a bad omen to me,
using words that imply pain and
unfortunate accidents to
describe romance. It’s almost as
encouraging as seeing a doctor
who refers to his work as
« n
practice.
I have crushes all the time.
What makes this crush so juicy
that I’ve chosen to dedicate an
entire column to its existence?
Well, this girl I have a crush on
— I’ve never met or spoken to
her.
Before you start calling me
creepy ana
checking my
criminal
history, allow
me to explain.
If you pay
CHASE ' attention, you’ll
notice that you
‘run into a lot of
history die same faces on
student your walks to
and from class
each day. Sure, you see hundreds
of people a day on campus, but
I’ll bet you remember the pretty
ones.
It’s not my fault that last year
a really cute girl happened to live
in my dorm, frequently dine at
the Russell House or be instantly
recognizable from a distance
thanks to some oversized
sunglasses. I guess it’s like having
a crush on a celebrity, except I’m
far more likely to meet this
person than, say, Kate
Beckinsale.
How do you approach
someone and say, “Hi, I think
you’re quite adorable” without
totally creeping them out? In
short, you can’t.
Looks like I’m going to have
to base my entire game plan on
the hope that one day I’ll hop on
the elevator at Gambrell, find
myself standing in a 100-cubic
foot room along with this
mystery woman, when the
elevator will become stuck,
forcing us to have a remarkably
deep and insightful conversation
wnue we await rescue.
Hey, it could happen.
Who am I kidding? Mystery
woman? That’s what we called
them before we had Facebook. If
I had some guts, after I
memorized her every interest, I
could just ask any of the 16
friends we have in common to
put in a good word.
I’ll tell you what Facebook is
missing — the ability to send
anonymous messages. That’s
right. We need to bring back
the lost art of the secret
admirer.
They were so much fun! You
remember walking around the
classroom, trying to see whose
handwriting matched the little
note you found all folded up in
your desk. Unfortunately, secret
admirers have faded away.
Some people say we’ve just
grown up. I disagree. We’re just
more scared. All this time and
we’ve done nothing but evolve
into much larger, hairier secret
admirers.
So right now, I’m announcing
a great crusade — a call to arms.
Guys, were going to do
something about all these
crushes.
We’re not going to wait until
the last week of class to tell the
girl in our government class that
she’s been distracting us all
semester. For all we know, she
thinks we’re Mr. Cool Pants.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve
got an elevator to catch.
IN YOUR OPINION
Fans abandon game,
show lack of spirit
I’ve never had a big
problem with exercise-science
students, but one thing in the
past day has bothered me. I
am confused, Mr. Benson, as
to why you would call out the
band for trying to exhibit
some school spirit (“‘Cute’
chant change drags USC’s
spirits,” Wednesday) when we
outnumber the student
section at the end of the game
and when we devote our time
and talent during the week
and weekends to the
betterment of school spirit.
Perhaps, Mr. Benson, you
would like to perform a
service to school spirit and
have your peers berate you. If
you would like, during the
Troy game this weekend,
come on up and tell all 300 of
us how you feel about our
music. I’m sure we can all
have a nice discussion. We
will probably tell you about
how the words to those songs
were changed years ago or
how when we get new songs
we are told to change the
words by the cheerleaders or
administration.
But all clever Gamecock
cheers aside, I can’t recall the
last time words came out of
my horn while I was playing a
stand tune. One other thing
— the song that Alabama
fans were cheering is one they
yell whenever they beat a
team, and it goes a little
something like this, “Hey
mascot, hey mascot, hey
mascot, we’re gonna beat the
hell out of you!” I believe
they call it the “Rammer
Jammer.”
You want to talk about
embarrassments — let’s talk
about how the stands looked
during the fourth quarter or,
rather, the Grand Exodus. I
submit to you that the cheers
of euphoric Alabama fans
might have been inaudible
had our devoted fans still
been there, let alone cheering.
It is a shame for a section of
Alabama fans to be louder
than multiple sections full of
students — well, not so full, I
guess.
Hey, I’ll level with you
here, Jeb. If the band
embarrasses you that much,
we just won’t show up
anymore, then there really
won’t be anyone left in the
stands after those losing
games.
I know I have better things
to do with my time on
Saturdays than be
unappreciated by a few fans
who have no idea what they
are talking about.
NICHOLAS ANNAN
Second-year business student
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777-7726 for more information.
Grads breed
new grade
of educated
undergrads
Next time you see a
grad student, give him
or her a big wet kiss
You see them daily. The
shiftless. The hopeless. The
lost. The damned. They are
usually in
classes early,
waiting at the
front or among
you. They live
and they
breathe, and
they are here to
BRAZIER stay They are
Second-year strange beasts
hlst0P with many
student , , .
strange habits.
They are graduate students.
My personal theory, which
comes from years of
observation of their mating
habits and general attempts to
feed, is that they breed in the
library.
I theorize there are huts
made from piles upon piles of
carefully selected books.
Within these huts, the grad
students produce new
generations by a two-stage
process. First, kidnapping a
senior undergraduate. Second,
there is the process of osmosis
of knowledge, bitterness and
manic depression into the
unfortunate chosen
undergraduate. It’s a vicious
, spiral that will never end.
Yes, these fellows are poor
fools who decided that a
bachelor’s degree just will not
satisfy. They are the guys and
girls at USC who bridge an
unbridgeable gap in classes
between the professor and the
undergrad.
I love grad students, mainly
because the ones I’ve spoken
to have a great sense of humor
about the subjects they focus
on. My sanity has been
restored in many classes by
their efforts to boil down ideas
to manageable, bite-sized
chunks. Aren’t they nice?
The tvnical prad student
invests a lot of time at our
university, and, in so many
ways, we take advantage of it.
You want someone to teach
an intro course? Get a grad
student. What about those
fantastic lab sessions dealing
with 20 confused liberal-arts
students? Super grad to the
rescue.
I know one grad student
who spent three hours a week
with one senior undergrad to
help him pass his math
requirement.
That’s the same amount of
time that, any professor
teaching a MWF course does in
lecture. People even take
advantage of these grad
students.
And what do they get for it?
A pat on the back, a low
paycheck and mixed
nightmares — sometimes
excluding a paycheck.
The next time you’re in
class with a grad student, go
kiss them on the cheek.
I don’t propose this method
to say thanks, but more to show
grad students human life exists
beyond thousands of pages of
reading or coundess equations.
Go on, I dare you.
a Do you agree with Governor
Schwarzenegger's decision to remove
vending machines from schools?
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