VIEWPOINTS _
I
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
fust to be on safe side,
students need flu shots
The nation’s second-largest provider of flu vaccine is still
waiting for the Food and Drug Administration to sign off on its
batch of inoculations, so students should get flu shots while
they still can.
Officials at USC’s Thomson Student Health Center have said
that they expect about 2,000 doses of inactivated flu virus vac
cine by late October.
If everything goes as planned, flu shots will be available to
students this year — even to those who don’t play on the bas
ketball team.
Last year, millions of doses made by Chiron Corp. were
banned after inspectors found contamination at the company’s
Liverpool plant, causing vaccine shortages nationwide.
Getting vaccinated is especially important for students suffer
ing from chronic illnesses like
Go get your flu shot. heart or lung disease.
ChOHCeS 3re, But everybody should get a flu
you 11 be glad shot> if not for his or her own
yOU I . health, then for the poor kids
forced to loan them a pen in
English class.
Students who do come down with the flu this year should
stay out of classes, out of the GMP and away from any place on
or off campus where they could transmit the illness to others.
We promise your professors won’t mind. College campuses are
famous for spreading sickness like butter over hot toast. Have
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And while students are at it, they should follow the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention’s advice to keep from catch
ing and spreading the flu this season. Cover your nose when
you sneeze or cough. Avoid close contact with sick people. Wash
your hands — with soap, for at least 20 seconds — regularly,
Don’t repeatedly touch your eyes, nose or mouth. It’s the nit
picky stuff your mother harps on that really works.
Students should do all they can to avoid catching the flu this
year, or spreading it if they do. It’s a long season, and chances
are, students will be glad they did.
IT’S VOUR RIGHT
Exercise your right to voice your opinion.
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 todays paper, we want to know. E-mail us at
gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu.
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Not everything fits neatly into black, white
Polarizing issues Keeps
people from discussion,
understanding others
It seems to be human nature
to define things in opposition.
“There are two kinds of
people in this world.”
“You’re either with us or
against us.”
“You either love him or you
hate him.”
“Is it butter or margarine?”
And, most importantly: “Are
you a Republican or a
Democrat?”
I’m no smarter than the
average bear, so I’m sure most
people don’t really, in their
heart of hearts, believe in this
kind of crap. People don’t really
look around and see everything
set up in twos, everything at
constant war with its opposite.
It’s just easier to group things
this way, maybe because the
average human being comes
with two hands, two feet, two
ears and so on. At least I hope
they don’t see things that way.
The fact that it’s easier, and
perhaps even natural, to pretend
like we do might explain a lot of
things, such as why the news
media can only focus on one city
in the aftermath of a hurricane
that destroyed a whole region of
the country. Or why it seems
hard for some to get their minds
around the idea that you can
« __ . 1J
support
individuals in
the armed
forces (by
wishing them
well or praying
STEUE fpr them or
nuzum sendins 1116111
cookies or
Fifth-year whatever you do)
mastersm . ..
teaching whlle stl11
student disagreeing with
what they do.
Or, for that matter, the idea that
you might hate many
individuals who happen to be in
the Army, while thinking it is a
great idea (or, maybe, the best of
a series of bad ideas) to go to
war.
The key is that you can’t
always say either/or. Sometimes
you have to use other words,
such as “but” or “or” or
“nonetheless.” Sometimes you
have to concede that the other
guy has a point, even though
you think yours is better. Or
maybe you’re both right.
I don’t like to call myself an
“Independent,” mainly because
that seems to still define itself
in opposition to the
Republican and Democratic
parties — parties that, if many
of the founding fathers had
gotten their way, would never
exist. Although those particular
dead white guys made plenty of
mistakes, I think they were
onto something there.
I think to polarize any issue
(the “support our troops” thing,
for instance) is usually to ignore
what the issue is really all about,
and that’s what Republicans and
Democrats alike want to do.
They seize upon an issue that
the media has hyped up in one
direction or the other, stylize it
until a third-grader can be
righteously outraged at it and
fight over who is really looking
out for the “American people.”
They don’t care about who is
really right, who really needs
help, as long as the wheels in the
machine keep turning.
And that’s how they keep
going. If you are fervent
enough in your political
loyalties that you have ever said
“I hate Republicans” or “I hate
Democrats,” and you consider
yourself to be defined in
opposition to that party, in my
opinion you are the one
creating the party and giving it
fuel to thrive. Because they
might run off of money, but
that money is minted in that
battle of oppositions. To put it
simply, it’s like what your
parent or guardian always told
you about that younger sibling:
“He wants attention. Ignore
him and he’ll go away.”
But it’s hard not to just kick
him instead.
IN YOUR OPINION
Blacks straddle fence
with Facebook views
In response to “Students
still upset about Web site”
(Monday), African
Americans are trying to ride
both sides of the fence. Two
quotes stand out to me: “Just
how do blacks dress?” and
“It’s not the terminology, but
the insult of thinking that
blacks dress or look a certain
way that is degrading.” The
comments were made by
members of Student
Coalition Empowering
African-Americans and
Brothers of Nubian Decent,
respectively.
I can tell you how blacks
dress, at least the majority of
them. The placement of
pantyhose on the head,
wearing T-shirts three times
the proper size, jeans an
entire family could move into
or a NASCAR jacket without
ever attending a race. The
owners of FUBU certainly
know how blacks dress and
have made plenty of money
selling it; I have never heard
an African-American
complain about a company
called, “For Us By Us.” That
name makes it seem obvious
African-Americans want to
dress the same, and
distinctively from whites.
The second quote takes my
memory back to spring
semester, when I visited an
NAACP meeting where they
showcased African-American
hairstyles and culturally
distinctive clothing and were
very proud of it, and they
should be proud of it. There
is nothing wrong with being
different than other races —
that is what makes America
great. The problem occurs
when a race, this time
African-Americans here on
campus, try to play both
sides. They buy FUBU
clothes and attend showcases
of their culture, but then
criticize anyone else who
points out they have a
distinctive look. Pick a side
and stay with it, please.
I also know that not all
blacks dress alike, but the
majority do. The same is with
the majority of whites on
campus — we dress the same
for the most part and don’t
complain when someone
points it out. The only
problem I have with white
people is that I still see guys
wearing seersucker pants and
shorts now. It is clearly after
Labor Day, so if you are
thinking of putting on your
seersucker trousers this
weekend, don’t; they belong
in your closet until Easter
Sunday.
RANDY DARGAN
Fourth-year hotel, restaurant
and tourism management
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.
□ Will you get your flu shot
when the health center gets
this seasons supply?
www. dailygamecock. com
In wake of
catastrophes,
don’t become
brain-dead
While giant alligators
seem cool, most tales
full of hot air, gossip
Heard the one about the 21- i
foot crocodile swimming
through the streets of New
Orleans after
Hurricane
Katrina?
Did you see
the mermaid
that washed
crpurn ashore during
nnn iinnnn the tsunami in
WIMKI Asia las.
Fourth-year December?
mechanical s Scary
engineering . ,
student that people
believe this stuff
A 7.6-magnitude earthquake
Saturday killed an estimated
30,000 people in South Asia.Jjf
Let the electronic urban
legends begin for yet another
disaster. Soon, everyone,
mciuuing concgc biuuenis i
usually regard as a bit more
cynical, will lap this crap up
with eager tongues.
Our desire to believe in
unlikely stuff, such as a mutant
cat, comes directly from the
fact that there’s really no magic
left in the world. You know
how the world of, say, 2000
B.C. is shrouded in mystery?
Historians in A.D. 6000 will
never have that problem with^
the world of2005.
With the Internet, every
nook and cranny is out in the
open.
For me, it all started with
“Three Men and a Baby.”
When I was a freshman, I
stumbled on a Web site,
www.snopes.com, an urban
legends database dedicated to
debunking or confirming
urban legends. The site began
with the classic stuff — the
bloody hook on the roof of the
car — but has eventually
evolved into an Internet
investigator, exploring the crapjj0
we all get through spam.
So, stumbling fresh out of
high school, this little Web site
gave me a good grasp on being
skeptical. Sadly, if you look at
the lists of urban legends
cataloged, most are false or
inaccurate. I would love to
believe in some of this stuff.
I saw a section on “Three
Men and a Baby.” Apparently,
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boy in one scene, making the
movie a consistently popular
rental.
I was in my English 101
class, first semester of my
college career, and we were
talking about this stuff. ^k
Our teacher reeled me in.^
“How do you know this site
isn’t twisting the truth as well?”
Well dammit. I don’t know. I
have to give them the benefit of
the doubt, just like placing
trust in factcheck.org, a site
seemingly driven by truth.
Regardless, that’s when I
realized how willing we all are
to believe in the unreal. It’s
always disappointing when
someone comes along and
knocks down our cool little
stories with one well-versed
attack, but I’d rather be smart
with my own cool stories than^l
be romantically gullible with
someone else’s lies.
Be pretty flickin’ skeptical
when you start hearing about
weird animals lured from their
inner-earth lairs by the
earthquake in Asia. Don’t
believe that the earthquake was
actually a nuclear attack from
the U.S.
Get a grip on reality. It’s a lot
less fun, but life’s too short to
believe in BS.
I 1