The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 30, 2005, Page 4, Image 4
VIEWPOINTS ....
EDITORIAL BOARD
Editor
MICHAEL LaFORGIA
News Editor
STEPHEN FASTENAU
Asst. News Editor
JUSTIN CHAPURA
The Mix Editor
ALEXIS ARNONE
Sports Editor
JONATHAN HILLYARO
Viewpoints Editor
BRINDY McNAIR
I Copy Desk Chief
STEVEN VAN HAREN
i
| Design Director
chas McCarthy
IN OUR OPINION
Housing should ease
visitation restrictions
We like Terrill Wilkins’ idea to overhaul the resident visita
tion policies for freshmen in dorm rooms on campus.
Under some policies in place now, men and women aren’t
allowed to spend the night in the same room in campus resi
dence halls. Meanwhile, men and men, or women and women,
can stay with one another for as many as three days.
Wilkins, president of USC’s Residence Hall Association, has
said even freshmen should be free to draw up their own con
tracts outlining individual visitation policies. He’s absolutely
right.
This is college. The lessons students learn here are as much
about responsibility and good judgment as they are about busi
ness administration and the classics.
All dorrris should allow other students to visit residents 24 hours
All dorms should a day> re8ardless of sender
allow other students But> °pp°nents m*ght argue>
to visit residents allowing men and women to
24 hours a day, stay the night with one other
regardless of gender, might result in dirty things.
To these people, we say quit
trying to enforce morality on campus. There’s nothing students
can do from 2 a.m. to 10 a.m. that they can’t do during the rest
of the day.
(Our motto’s always been when it’s right it’s right — why
wait until the middle of the cold, dark night?)
This is not to say that other policies that accompany on
campus living should be done away with. The security guards
who check keys in dorms such as the Towers and Columbia
Hall play an integral role in keeping students safe.
Another good idea already in place is the three-day limit
placed on visitors to dorm rooms, which prevents students
from shacking up together or housing buddies who might be
down on their luck. Both of these are examples of Housing
provisions that work to students’ benefit.
Wilkins has a good idea: We encourage him to put this sky
rocket in flight as soon as possible. And we hope RHA will lis
ten when he does.
IT’S YOUR RIGHT
Exercise your right to voice your opinion.
Create message boards at
umnv. dailygamecock. com
or send letters to the editor to
gamecockopinions@gwm.sc. edu
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
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
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LAURA-JOYCE GOUGH
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Professor-student debate enriches learning
We deserve stimulating
discussion, not sermon
on instructor’s opinions
I had a big argument the
other night. Not a ferocious
one, but a big one nonetheless.
The kind of argument I enjoy
! having.
The topic was something
that features constantly in the
national news and affects every
single one of us. It is that of
| the politically minded
professor — the man or
woman unafraid to share their
views to the class.
And the argument was about
why that’s a bad thing.
It is a serious offense to me,
as a studious person, to have
j new information interpreted by
{ professors shared with the class.
J Professors, whose job it is to
learn and teach, threaten my
beliefs and make me cry when
they ask questions. I want to
commit ritualistic suicide
because professors arrogantly
and disdainfully want to
engage their students, as equals,
on current events.
We need to stop this overt
pandering to education and
reason now.
The enriching part of my
education has been beyond
the traditional academic
formula of book + lecture +
exam = GPA.
Some of the most
challenging and enjoyable
times in a classroom have
been spent defending my view
' and hearing .someone else
□ defend theirs
— those
battles of wits
and reason
between
students and
professors who
BRAZIER care about the
. , world that
I bird-year
philosophy encourage one
student another to
think outside
the box. I love it.
It’s happening now, people,
and we’re part of it.
Students of the past have
been creators of societies. From
French to Chinese students,
those at universities have had
their finger on the pulse of new
ideas and thoughts. They’ve
taken them into classrooms
and shared the new theories
with others to make a hotbed
of brilliant minds clashing
But not so much today.
Not in this country. America
has been kidnapped by the
politicians and mass media
and has been replaced by its
bizarre twin — American’t.
Professors have to tiptoe
around students’ belief
systems, no matter how
ignorant or backwards they
are. Some professors,
however, go too far and
abandon reasonable debate
for an outright lecture on
their own ideology to
encourage others to think
like them.
The happy medium is just
blatantly rejected for an
absence. No, I don’t think any
professor should spend half an
hour of your Greek
mythology class on stem-cell
research, but five minutes on
any hot topic that burns so
brightly in the modern world'
can really thrust a person into
a dazzling new way of
thought.
If you come to USC and
expect to be pandered to in
every class, to not offend your
belief system, I blame you
directly for making universities
stagnant. There is a world of
difference between hate speech
and racism and critiquing
political ideologies for example.
I had to sit through a
disclaimer in a geology class to
not upset the poor, little
creationists. If you reject
science that much as part of a
solid, all-around education,
then what are you doing at my
university?
We’re here to learn and
especially be challenged. If a
teacher asks for an opinion and
you give one that runs opposite
to his or her belief — and is
presented in a reasonable
manner — you should be
respected. Everyone is close
minded in some way —
professors, scientists, thespians,
engineers and athletes; a
university degree is meant to
help a person understand
others and to be a better
person. So why won’t we let
ourselves and professors make
us better people?
IN YOUR OPINION
Rapper’s comments
fuel racial tensions
I am writing in response to
Stacy Greggs column from
Wednesday (“Bush supporters
unfairly judge Kanye West”).
She defends Kanye Wests
remarks by accusing “supporters
of the president” of racism and
of flooding the airwaves with
“pro-Bush” messages.
Let’s take a look at the racist
nature of the actual comments
made by Mr. West. His
statement was replete with “iis
them” language and a reference
to “my people.” How is that
promoting racial harmony?
Can you imagine a white
celebrity even mentioning the
phrase “my people” in a racially
divisive way in any situation?
Mr. West also said “most of the
people are black,” as if that was
the fault of the “white” people
or the president. Mr. West and
Ms. Gregg forget to mention
that, according to the 2000
census, New Orleans is 67.25
percent African-American.
Therefore, most of those
affected by hurricane Katrina
were, in fact, black. This is not
racism; it’s demographics.
The most serious and
dangerous statement Kariye
West made was that “they”
(the white people) have “given
them (the military) permission
to go down and shoot us.” At
the height of unrest, Mr. West
I dangerously and recklessly
stroked the fears of gangs in
New Orleans by inciting
violence against the military. I
do not remember Mr. West or
[ Ms. Gregg chastising the gangs
who fired upon the Army
I Corps of Engineers as they
j repaired the broken levees. Mr.
West’s statements were false,
ignorant and dangerous.
Ms. Gregg’s “perception” that
white people such as the
president disagree with Kanye
| West because he is a “young
| black rapper” is absurd. The
president, unlike Mr. West and
Ms. Gregg, does not promote
racial disharmony by labeling
certain groups of people as “us,”
“them” and “my people.” New
Orleans mayor Ray Nagin, an
African-American, failed to
mobilize hundreds of school
buses to rescue his citizens. Ms.
Gregg accuses the president of
“ignoring their plight.” I guess
he was too busy securing
billions of dollars from
Congress, organizing a relief
effort, and sending the military
to protect the innocent and the
engineers from gangs.
It saddens me that Ms.
Gregg “empathizes” with the
race-baiting Kanye West. He
furthered the racial divide and
incited violence against the
military. There will never be
racial harmony in this country
as long as racists on both sides
continue their hate speech —
particularly despicable during
a time of crisis.
BRAD LEAKE
Second-year political science
student
Should Housings visitation policy
be revised to allow opposite-sex
visitors after 2 a. m. ?
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www. dailygamecock. com
People need
heartbreak
to help their
development
Young people should
get over hurt feelings,
remember good times
Most people come to college
excited about leaving behind all
) the drama and social turmoil
Mfrom high
school.
Fortunately, to
a certain
degree, it
happens.
But not
UHHSC completely.
sTouDcnmiRC We£p Jy
Second-year college students.
history Young, energetic
student , ? . , r
and, tor lack or a
better term,
hormonally potent. Fertile soil
for drama.
1 m writing this column
because we all get in fights,
people let us down and we all
have our hearts broken — but
that doesn’t mean we have to be
bitter about it for the rest of our
lives. Let’s focus on broken
hearts.
Typically, guy sees girl, guy
talks to girl, guy talks to friends
about girl. Perhaps she’s “hot”
or “pretty” or “cute” — and yes,
there is a difference. But what
about the times someone
catches your eye and you’re just
completely dumbfounded? You
feel an instinctive, completely
raw, gut-level attraction that
causes you to declare “I just
have to meet this person.”
These people, my friends, are
the reason people write love
stories.
Unfortunately, these people
are also the ones who can do
the most damage.
We all have, or will, come
across someone in our lives who
manages to turn us into a
brooding cesspool of hurt and
anger. At first, the slightest
glimpse of their face can
instantly arouse every ounce of
animosity we wish we’d never
felt. We’ve thought the hateful
thoughts, we’ve said the hateful
words, we’ve sung the hateful
songs.
But that doesn’t mean we
should vilify them for the rest,
of our lives. Sure, they might
create a couple of bumps in the
road, but I think more than
anything, we should thank
them.
As time goes on, we’ll
hopefully stop remembering
the things that made us run
away at the end and start
remembering the things that
made us hang around in the
first place. Regardless of how
many nights have been ruined
and how much confidence has
been lost, we owe them a ton
for reminding us that were
capable of loving and caring for
someone else.
Am 1 a young, liberal,
shamelessly idealistic guy? Yeah.
Am I looking for the kind of
story you see in the movies?
Yeah. But I believe in them. No
one could write them if no one
could feel them. 1 just cant
imagine going through life not
believing that one day I’d have a
starring role.
We focus too much on how
bad things felt when they were
being torn apart. Forget about
that — nothing feels better
than putting it back together.
Go find that person who you
deleted from your cell phone
and buddy list. Say thanks.
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