Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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VIEWPOINTS th3%amegock 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 'Immersive memorial makes light of tragedy Including an “immersive” area in a Manhattan museum to honor victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center is a rotten idea. Part of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp.’s tentative plan for the Sept. 11 museum at ground zero calls for an inter active exhibit combining pictures of the falling towers with recordings of howling sirens. The intention, planners say, is to make viewers feel as if they’re in the towers during the attacks. Particularly reprehensible is the thought of airing voicemail messages left by victims on Sept. 11 to dramatic effect. Who wants the voice of a dead mother or father or sister or brother or daughter or son forever echoing in some cheap gimmick chamber? That planners would even consider an attempt to recon struct the events of Sept. 11 reveals outrageous insensitivity. No theme park-style experience can ever adequately capture the horror and chaos victims knew that day. Nothing can. To try is to turn our nation’s most painful hour into a specta cle. It’s like housing relics of our profoundest tragedy in a laser tag arena. Any exhibit remembering the shock and despair hijackers caused four years ago should be solemn and respectful, not some attraction best viewed while eating an elephant ear. Silence. That’s what the museum should emphasize. That’s what hung over the nation on the morning those terrorists’ dread design sucked the breath from every man, woman and child in America. Silence. Have some respect for the dead. Have some respect for the men and women still dying in the Middle East, sent there — right or wrong — as a direct result of Sept. 11. We hope planners will come to their senses as the museum takes shape over the next few years, that they’ll forgo canned sound effects for quiet and let the towers’ deafening absence speak for itself. It’s like housing relics of our most profound tragedy in a laser tag arena. IT’S VOUR RIGHT Exercise your right to voice your opinion. Create message boards at wivw.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, KATIE THOMPSON, JAMISON TINSLEY LIZ WHITE Online Editor RYAN SIMMONS Creative Services JOSEPH DANNELLY, LAURA-JOYCE GOUGH, MARGARET LAW, MEGHAN WHITMAN STUDENT MEDIA Director scon 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, APRYLALEXANDER, MARY RACHEL FREEMAN, MCKENZIE WELSH, DEIDRE MERRICK 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.sc. edu News: gamecocknews@gwm.sc.edu Viewpoints: gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu The Mix: gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu Sports: gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu Public Affairs: gamecockPR@yahoo.com Online: www.dailygamecock.com Newsroom: 777-7726; Sports: 777-7182 Editor’s Office: 777-3914 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 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 newspapers parent organization. THE GAMECOCK is supported in part by student-activity fees. One free copy per reader. Additional copies may be purchased for $1 each from the Department of Student Media. TO PLACE AN AD The Gamecock 1400 Greene St. Columbia, S.C. 29208 Advertising: 777-3888 Classified: 777-1184 Fax: 777-6482 Some Secies op irkq Showed R>rtY percent of ^THEIR PuSUC N»T VoTlNGr, Cartoon courtesy of KRT Campus Boys will soon become over-protective dads Eventual father writes letter to his daughter, 20 years in advance A lot of strange things happen to us as we’re growing up. Going to sleep becomes fun. Ponies start disappearing off our holiday wish lists. Most disturbingly, the things out parents have told us all out lives start to make sense. That’s because, whether we like it or not, we’re growing into the adult phase of out lives. What does this mean foi the warm-blooded males who read my column every week? It means we’re about to undergo a miraculous transformation. In a few years, we’ll stop having girlfriends and start having daughters. We’ll stop being the offense and start being the defense. Last year, I printed a column that pretty much amounted to a letter to my future wife. If all goes well, eventually, I’ll also have a future daughter to worry about. There are a couple things I would like to go ahead and address with het now so I don’t have to play bad guy when she’s old enough to fight back. With no further ado, and 20 years in advance, I present a letter to my future princess. To the most beautiful young lady I know: I’m so proud of you. You turned out to be much more rthan I ever could have asked for. While you know I absolutely CHHSC a^ore you, your ST0UDEIW1IRE m°ther has told me you Second-year ^ history . . , student haPPy wlth me right now. Perhaps that explains why you aren’t speaking to me. I hop^ you’ll listen as I try to explain why I’ve done all of these things you’re upset about. I know you loved volleyball, but one day you’ll be glad that I made you quit. We both know those shorts they made you wear did a much better job of showing a detailed outline of what’s underneath than of actually covering anything up. I think you need to consider taking up a less provocative sport. Like pingpong. I understand you don’t think it’s fair that your brother gets to do more things than you, such as leave the house on the weekends. But you also have to understand that there are lots of boys out there who aren’t your brother, and one of the things that they would like to go out and do is, well, you. Nothing fun happens on the weekends, anyway. I know you like to play practical jokes, but the pregnancy test in the trashcan really took things too far. Yes, I want grandchildren, but I can assure you — it doesn’t take that long to figure out how to put A and B together. So no, it’s not necessary to get in a few years of practice before you — and your HUSBAND — decide to make it happen. I know you’re upset that you’re grounded, but next time I tell you not to drink, I’ll be sure to specify alcohol. I would hope you don’t need me to tell you not to drink antifreeze. And next time, you should go ahead and assume that when I say be home at 11, I mean p.m., not a.m. Yes, it is unfortunate that every boy you’ve brought home for the past few years has mysteriously disappeared within a week, but I’m afraid we aren’t going to be able to have a proper relationship if you keep accusing me of murder. By the way, the new shed in the backyard needs to stay locked at all times. I hope that soon you’ll feel comfortable talking to me again instead of sending notes scrawled in red ink. Your mother tells me that nowadays you feel more like a prisoner and less like a princess. True, you should be able to have and do anything that makes you happy. But if you’re a princess, that makes me the king. It’s the king’s job to protect his princess. Much love, Daddy IN YOUR OPINION Most white people find race irrelevant Demond Elliot asks Randy Dargan how he would feel if he was on the other “side of the fence,” (“Dargan should think about how blacks feel,” Wednesday). Would Mr. Dargan, as a white adult, share the views of many blacks, or would he act as if it never happened? Well, I cannot speak on behalf of my friend Randy, but I can say this: The majority of whites at USC don’t think about the fence. When we were growing up in school, we learned about racism and its history in America. We learned about the injustices played out against blacks from slavery to Jim Crow laws and beyond. We learned about the unfulfilled promise of 40 acres and a mule. But we studied black history as innocent little children. As a child, I knew racism had been carried out by whites against blacks. But I never felt like I was part of the problem just because I was white. My parents weren’t racist and I wasn’t racist, so why would I ever think that I would be on a certain side of the race issue? But now I am an adult — a white adult. And now, all of the sudden, I’m part of the hypocrisy in America. Now I’m part of white America, and I’m now partly responsible for the injustices in America. Ten years ago, it wasn’t my fault. But now it is my fault. I know there are pent-up emotions. I’m not saying blacks have been treated fairly — that is certainly not the case. But, blacks wonder why white USC students don’t seem to understand the race issue. The reason we don’t see it like most blacks is that we don’t look at it from either a white or a black perspective. Blacks our age have probably felt discriminated against. And consequently, blacks tend to view the racial issue in America from a black perspective. But most young whites haven’t ever felt like they were the discriminators. I understand the “try walking in our shoes” argument. But understand this: You might put on “black” shoes in the morning — and maybe some people put on “white” shoes in the morning — but when I wake up in the morning, I put on my shoes and go about with my day. We don’t feel like we are on the other side of the fence. Jonathan Hardin Third-year business 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. Do you think the Sept. 11 memorial museum should include an Immersive’ area? www. dailygamecock. com SECpolicy keeps games from being fan-friendly Students should not have to worry about other team’s feelings So I learned the hard way. Not physically, thank heavens, but by exposure. I learned to love the American pastime of football. But you can take the nnpnn Englishman out of England, BRAZIER but notthe Third-year England out of philosophy jje Englishman. student , When I see our sports back home, we have a culture. An identity. A commitment. It’s fairly obvious most Americans don’t really get association football. They even give it the old upper-class English nickname of “soccer.” There is a prevalent opinion that soccer fans are somehow all hooligans, lovers of violence. That’s a mistake if ever I knew one. The confusion comes from our deep-seated passion that burns so bright it can be blinding. Swearing and ~ cursing at players, the referees and especially the opposition is everything. But somehow, the SEC wants me to behave. Even in the middle of a passionate game of football, respect is meant to be shown to everyone. No charging on the field, no offensive chants — basically, we’re supposed to be little robots. Does that strike anyone else as wrong? The l band, for example, astonishes me every time I see the Gamecocks, by being there for hours upon hours trying to lead the team. In my opinion, if they could lead more “extreme” chants, I’d think these people were demigods. Even cheerleaders mildly entertain me, but it’s all so “nice.” Football isn’t meant to be “nice.” “Nice” is golf. I want blood and thunder. The argument that football is a family sport is ridiculous. Having men pound into each other and cause injuries, intended or not, is a celebration of violence. Look, when we play Alabama or whomever, I have the right to call their team a bunch of inbred hicks. If students want to celebrate a win against the basketball college of Kentucky by running on to the court, they should be allowed to. We, as both fans and students, pay our fees and support our teams. Student athlete safety is paramount, but at the same time these people choose to play their sports. The NCAA system is well designed to encourage student-athletes to be prepared beyond sports, but sport is usually their main reason to be here. As it stands, I think the SEC is a joke. I want to be passionate and bleed garnet every game. Going to a bar and crying as the Gamecocks get thrashed by Auburn does not endear me to our Alabaman friends, so why should I pretend it does? Until the day that sports lose their soul, expect an irate Englishman to be in Williams Brice Stadium hurling abuse at our opponents. If you don’t care as much as I do, then go and work for some governing body and try and take away the soul of the sport further.