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VIEWPOINTS _ f TH 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 IN OUR OPINION Court nominee Miers represents compromise We’re glad President Bush avoided picking a fight with his nominee to fill Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s seat on the Supreme Court. When the president nominated 60-year-old Harriet Miers, a lawyer from Texas and Bush’s White House counsel, it disap pointed some die-hard conservatives that the president didn’t nominate another Antonin Scalia or Clarence Thomas to tip the balance of the court in a conservative direction. But members of the conservative right should re-evaluate what’s more important: strengthening one party’s grip on the Supreme Court or avoiding more conflict in a nation already fiercely divided along political lines. And by the same token, those Democrats sounding cries of cronyism should keep in mind that — despite Miers’ history WG 16 glad as a clear Dusn loyalist ana President Bush longtime member of the presi avoided picking dents inner circle —the presi a fight with his dent could have nominated a neW nominee, far more conservative candi . date. While there might be some merit to questions about her qualification for the job — Miers has never heard a case — it’s important to remember that several good justices, including for mer Chief Justice William Rehnquist, joined the high court having never served as a judge. * Like everyone else, we’d like to know more about Miers. After all, she has published no opinions about such incendi ary, hot-button issues as abortion, but she represents an obvi ous compromise on the president’s part. It’s good to know that even George W. Bush wasn’t ready to wage ideological warfare by appointing a hard-line conserva tive. It’s just unfortunate that his decision to compromise was most likely influenced by the bad publicity surrounding the White House response to Hurricane Katrina and scandals that have beset the president’s party after the indictment of former House Majority Leader Tom Delay. IT’S VOUR 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 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 Graphic Designer LAURA-JOYCE GOUGH Copy Editors CHELSEA HAOAWAY, KRISTY LAUBE, MELISSA MAULDIN, KATIE THOMPSON, JAMISON TINSLEY 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 Advertisings 777-3888 Classified: 777-1184 Fax: 777-6482 CONTACT INFORMATION Offices on thirdfloor of the Russell House. The Editor's office hours are Monday and Wednesday from 1-3 p.m. Editor: gamecockeditorQgwm. sc. edu News: gamecocknewsQgwm. sc. edu Viewpoints: gamecockopinionsQgwm. sc. edu The Mix: gamecockfeaturesQgwm.sc.edu Sports: gamecocksportsQgwm.sc.edu Public Affairs: gamecockPRQyahoo.com Online: www.dailygamecock.com Newsroom: 777-7726: Sports: 777-7182 Editor's Office: 777-3914 STUDENT 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 Advertising Staff BREANNA EVANS, RYAN GORMAN, KATIE CUPPIA, APRYL ALEXANOER, MARY RACHEL FREEMAN, MCKENZIE WELSH, OEIORE MERRICK 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 GAM ECOCK 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 o/TIIE 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 fom the Department of Student Media. Cartoon courtesy of KRT Campus Wedding cake for this Carolina fans soul Luckily, my brother’s wedding put positive spin on lousy Saturday My brother got married this weekend. In other news, USC got blown out by Auburn, 48 7. The two events mixed like oil and water — not at all. We headed down to Orangeburg on Friday for the rehearsal hoopla, swam in the hotel pool and woke up Saturday to get ready. Flashing in my mind like a cheap neon sign was USC’s 7 p.m. kickoff at Auburn. No problem. Leading up to the weekend, sports editor Jonathan kept reassuring us with that foolish sports-fan mentality that the Gamecocks would come out of Alabama with a win. “I have a feeling about this one, guys. I have a feeling. Last time I had a feeling? Basketball beat Kentucky.” I guess I was revved up. I even picked USC to solidly beat Auburn in The Gamecock Challenge. Yes, and Dewey defeated Tfuman. Back to the wedding. My brother and his missus had cleverly planned their wedding around Carolina football, opting for the weekend of one of the team’s more far-off road games. Apparently, lots of people plan like that. What savvy. As we got into our monkey suits at 5:30 p.m., we had the pre-game countdown pouring from a radio in the church rec room. Our cinched bow ties must have cut off the STEUCI) blood flow to UflllHIlREIl °ur head*’ because we relt Fourth-year damn mechanical r / engineering Sooc* about student everything, including the game. So I’m standing there from 7:45 to 8:20 p.m. as a groomsman, hoping my knees don’t buckle on stage while my brother pledges his life away. I’ve completely forgotten about the game, and remember that the reception will have a TV hooked up for diehard fans such as myself. I got into my car after the ceremony, ready to party, when we flipped on the radio to try to find the score. ’Twas a mistake. It was halftime. It was bad news. We were getting the recap of the first half, intercut with play-by-play from 560 AM. We kept hearing awful words, capped with a 31-0 deathblow. I was ticked for about five seconds. At the reception, I got an update from a fellow groomsman. It was 38-0. Alas. I shared a good-humored “awwww” with my buddies, and left it at that. I never thought about the game again. Being a sports fan requires melding your heart to the throes of luck, chance and chaos. I follow the Gamecocks and the Panthers as much as possible, and when they lose, it ruins my day for a few hours. I’m pissed off. On Saturday, I didn’t think about it because we were celebrating like jackasses and having a good time. My band, with new brother-in-law in tow, tore through some rock ‘n’ roll classics and got the room rocking. USC? What’s that? It’s not easy trying to tell a Gamecock fan driving back from Auburn after witnessing a severe shellacking, to cool out. It won’t work, so yot shouldn’t try. They need to beat up some pimply fan-boys and vent. Watching your team lose is like all other painful losses in life: It takes time to get over, and then you’re on to the next endeavor — possibly, an even more frickin’ painful endeavor. Next week, we could get blown out 98-2 by Kentucky. I guess I’ve gotta say that life moves on, and I understand when fans (myself included) go crazy and want to be left alone while muttering under their breaths about a piss-poor defense that couldn’t stop a marble. There’s always next week. We five to lose another day. ' The Gamecock flubs Greek life portrayal The Gamecock consistently over-generalizes hazing to be a Greek-wide activity. While there might be a few who haze their pledges, there are just as many, if not more, who would not consider practicing hazing. Greeks constantly receive bad publicity from media outlets, and those same media outlets never focus on the positive aspects of Greek organizations. Greeks provide more than 14,000 hours of community service annually and donate more than $110,000 to local and national charities each year. Greeks will never be able to shed their stereotypes as long as articles such as yours are published. Before you generalize an entire section of students, get information from each individual chapter because not every chapter practices hazing. While we are trying to learn from past experiences, you could offer some support rather than criticism. So, if you’d like to be IN YOUR OPINION showered with gifts, introduced to new people, get involved in many other organizations and learn a few homecoming dances along the way, by all means, let us “haze” you. JEN BLACKWELL Third-year public relations student JENNIFER MCKAY Third-year psychology student Visitation policies help protect students There has been a big uproar about changing housing rules to let students receive visitors after 2 a.m. I live off campus this year but will be moving on (or near) campus next year, so those who live here might say I don’t understand, but I do. I think the rules are fine the way they are (from what I have heard and seen). This rule is not to be mean and tell you that you can’t have any fun here at USC — this rule is here for your own good. , This school has an obligation to watch out for you if you are on campus. What would a student be doing after 2 a.m.? Hmmmm, I wonder. The school is not dumb. That’s why they made this rule. They know what students are doing then. Call me old-fashioned or whatever you want, but why does someone need to be in your room after 2 a.m.? Shouldn’t you be sleeping so you don’t fall asleep in your English class the next morning? Or maybe you could be doing that word students hate to hear: “studying.” Now there is a thought. We might think we are now all adults since we are off to college and away from the nest, but we still have a few more years, and until then we need a few rules to at least try to keep us out of trouble. MICHAEL WILLIAMS First-year history student 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. Im looking forward to kicking back, eatingy ogling For this USC fan, food, beautiful girls trump football performance I’ve been working on the sports staff at The Gamecock since last year. The last football game I got to watch as a fan was against Clemson last year. What a waste of four nil nil hours that was. RIIEV After an Second-year uninspiring Pr,nt performance in journalism r. student the most backward state in the Union, I’m ready to get 4 out of the collared-shirt, no cheering world of the press box and get back to the cheap seats for the first time in a long while. I’m not so much excited about the actual football game. Let’s face it, Kentucky could probably find a way to lose to the S.C. School of the Deaf and Blind. Add to that the fact that the only bowl USC looks bound for might be the toilet’s. It makes for a less-than-stellar day at the Brice. What I’m really looking forward to is getting back to being the ridiculously crazy Carolina fan I am. First off, tailgating is the greatest thing to ever happen to Columbia. The atmosphere around the fairgrounds is _:_ .1 __l_I. __l_ JUlllVUIUlg WUIVi JV.I1VUU wish they had. I believe that if it weren’t for Saturdays at USC, breweries around the country would be in trouble. All I want to do is sit around, eat good food, joke with my buds and party till the sun goes down. While tailgating with my friends is nice, it would be nothing without the sights — otherwise known as the Carolina girls. I’ve been to Clemson, Auburn, Kentucky, Georgia, Florida and Vanderbilt — and trust me, they don’t compare. Not even close. When they say “Carolina Girls: Best in the World,” they aren’t lying. Now if the atmosphere’s good and the women are unbelievable, then the State Fair only adds to the experience. The rides, food and carnival feeline are something everyone in the state loves coming to year in and year out. Sure, parking will be a little tougher, but it’s worth the time for a sausage dog and an elephant ear. With all the pre-game festivities behind me, the best part of USC football could be the five minutes before the team takes the field. When the national anthem strikes up and the cannon goes off, your skin tingles because you’re an American. When 85,000 people chant Gamecocks and “2001 blasts over the airwaves, your skin tingles because you’re a Carolina fan. When the smoke settles and the other team gets its chorus of boos for showing up, the only thing left is to play the game. And oh, how I have waited for that. I haven’t lost my voice cheering for this team since Lou Holtz was my hero. So when Saturday rolls around, I’ll be on my way to the Seawell’s parking lot looking for a good time. Girls, grills and good times. And good grief, I’m ready for it.