The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 20, 2006, Page 4, Image 4
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AMECOCK
EDITORIAL BOARD
Editor ; Design Director
STEVEN VAN HAREN CHAS MCCARTHY
News Editor j Sports Editor
' JUSTIN CHAPURA STEPHEN FASTENAU
Assistant News Editor \ Viewpoints Editor
JACKIE ALEXANDER BRINDY McNAIR
The Mix Editor \ Assistant Viewpoints Editor
ALEXIS ARNONE AARON BRAZIER
IN OUR OPINION
S. C. s greatest athletes
should stay at home
In a stinging stranglehold of Sprewell-ian proportions,
S.C.-boys-turned-Auburn-hitmen Travis Williams and
Kenny Irons led a 48-7 splintering of our Steve Spurrier
honeymoon phase last fall.
It was a reminder of who, exactly, we had neglected.
That should’ve been us wiping the field with hapless
Tigers — with Wdliams and Irons happily wearing
garnet and black.
Recruiting season is winding down, and orly five
out of USC’s 21 football commitments are South
Carolinians.
We need to keep the
We need to keep
the Palmetto
State’s best
athletes right
where they are.
Palmetto State’s best
athletes right where they
are, while still pooling
whatever obvious talent
we can from around the
Southeast.
Let’s not forget that
Williams, a Columbia
native and Spring Valley
High School graduate, was passed over by USC in
2001. Auburn was the only Division I-A school to come
a-knockin’, and we certainly felt his wrath at being
overlooked by the state’s flagship university.
Irons transferred from USC in 2003 after seemingly
getting the brush-off for Demetris Summers.
With two touchdowns and a whole lot of karma on
his side, we think Irons took it personal — as would any
native son with a natural talent who was shunned by his
university.
Of course the Spurriers, Odoms and Tanners know
the science of recruiting, and if going outside the state
will better USC’s teams, so be it.
But for every in-state high-schooler we pick up, we
lose someone to Georgia, Tennessee or a premature
NFL Draft.
But in Spurrier we trust.
If we have any hope of getting and retaining in-state
talent, it comes from the ol’ ball coach’s big-name
status.
A 7-5 record, wins against Tennessee and Florida and
an Independence Bowl appearance don’t hurt, either.
USC must concentrate on not only recruiting in
state talent, but keeping it here for four years.
IT'S YOUR RIGHT
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or send letters to the editor at
gamecockopinions@gurm.sc. edit
CORRECTIONS
If you see an error in today’s paper, we want to know about
it. E-mail us at gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu.
ABOUT THE GAMECOCK
Editor
STEVEN VAN HAREN
Design Director
chas McCarthy
Copy Desk Chief
AARON KIDD
News Editor
JUSTIN CHAPURA
Assistant News Editor
JACKIE ALEXANDER
Viewpoints Editor
BRINDY McNAIR
Assistant Viewpoints Editor
AARON BRAZIER
The Mix Editor
ALEXIS ARNONE
Assistant Mix Editor
KRISTEN TRUESDALE
Sports Editor
STEPHEN FASTENAU
Assistant Sports Editor
ALEX RILEY
Photo Editor
NICK ESARES
Assistant Photo Editor
KATY BLALOCK
Page Designers
MIKE CONWAY, MEGAN
SINCLAIR
Staff Writers
AJ. BEMBRY, TOM
BENNING, JESS DAVIS,
TIM MCMANUS, MARJORIE
RIDDLE, GINA VASSELLI
Copy Editors
MELISSA MAULDIN, KATIE
.THOMPSON, JAMISON,
TINSLEY, LIZ WHITE
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Editors office hours are from 2-3 pm. on Tuesdays and Thursdays
Editor: gamecockeditor@gumt.sc.edu
News: gamecocknews@gwm.sc.edu
Viewpoints: gamecockopinions@gwm. sc. edu
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ParleZ'Vous francais? No, I speak English!
Foreign languages
far more challenging
than placement exam
Toast. Fries. Kisses.
What do they all have in
common? In my opinion,
they’re significandy more
enjoyable when they’re
French.
Reading. Writing.
Speaking. What do these
things all have in common?
In my opinion, they’re
infinitely less enjoyable
when they’re in French.
As a student in the
College of Arts & Sciences,
I’m required to pass a
foreign language through
the 122 level. Gross.
I tried to ignore it as
long as I could. Alas, after
a four-year hiatus, I took
the plunge this semester
and dove back into the
language of lovers.
This is where things start
to go wrong. USC has this
silly rule about placement
tests. If you’ve studied a
language in high school
and choose to continue it
in college, you have to take
a test to determine what
level course you belong in.
Seems fair enough, at first.
I sauntered to the
Humanities building last
Thursday, hoping to score
CHRSE
STOUDEnmiRE
Second-year
history
student
well enough
to be placed
in a 121 level
course where
I belong.
Several
things
happened
later that
night —
cows jumped
over the
moon, Hell froze over and
I placed into French 122.
I’m telling you, that’s
just not possible.
I tried going to a 122
class, but words and phrases
were flying over my head
like SCUD missiles. But
because of my score on the
placement test, I can’t get
credit for any course below
122.
When it reaches the
point where students are
begging the administration
for a lower level, something
has gone seriously wrong.
Truth is, I didn’t actually
take the exam. My long
lost evil French twin Jean
Luc took it for me, just to
piss me off.
Jean-Luc and I were
separated at birth. I was
bom alive and well, naked
and screaming like any
standard newborn. No ■
one was prepared for what
happened next.
Out popped Jean-Luc,
complete with a croissant
in one hand, a bottle of
Vittel in the other and a
slick, black beret on his
head. He was singing
some sort of sick song
about marching and how.
he wanted the blood of
infidels spilled in his crib.
The nurses acted quickly
rushing him to the nearest
non-warring country.
I hadn’t spoken to him in
years until this past week,
right before he drugged
me, threw me into a van
and took my placement
test.
What do you want me to
say? Am I supposed to tell
you that I made the whole
thing up and in truth the
language department’s
multiple-guess placement
tests require no writing
or speaking whatsoever,
just do a miserable job of
gauging a student’s grasp
of a foreign language?
I’m fluent in French and
I didn’t even know it! Allow
me to impress you with my
newfound skill:
J’ai juste avale un grand
enfant vert tout en jouant
des controleurs avec une
poupee deformee de
Barbie! (That’s French for
“Thanks for reading, see
you next week!”)
Love melts in your mouth, not in your hand
Like milk chocolate,
relationships make
you hungry for more
Right now, my love life
is like a candy mix.
Not to go Chase
Stoudenmire on you, but I
read my fellow columnist’s
talk about love. A lot.
He’s funny and all, but I
doubt you’ll see him write
about Creationism or
something. Sappy love is
on the brain. It’s like water
but involves more roses
and chocolate.
Apparently, love is some
New Age attitude where
you commit yourself with
compassion and respect.
Or at least that’s what I get
from objective sources.
How many of us whine
that we haven’t found “the
One,” or that there are
no good guys or girls out
there? Too bloody many
of us. We all drift by one
another to class and back
into our own worlds.
Then you have another
problem where every
person you meet seems to
be “the One.” A remotely
interesting, attractive
person suddenly becomes
your entire life.
Love does not sound like
something easy to find.
So, I stood up and
made a decision that hurt
people. But, in my defense,
the choice of candy was
3 Musketeers — a soft
nougat, not a chocolate and
flflRon
BRAZIER
Third-year
philosophy
student
peanut butter
hybrid of
malevolence
and spite.
Nobody
mixes
American
football with
Heidegger,
so don’t
mix peanut
butter with
chocolate. Damn it,
people!
However, that’s the
chocolate world we live
in. It’s full of different
shapes, sizes and fillings.
Sometimes we feel like
toffee, other times we feel
like caramel.
On the other hand,
deep down we always hold
affection for one or two
types. It’s just a little too
much. It makes you sick.
The new candy mix
might be so wonderful that
nothing else can compare
to it. It might be awkward
when you combine the
two pieces of candy and
get some evil concoction
— like peanut butter and
chocolate.
But let s race it — we re
young. I love German and
Swiss chocolate and even a
bit of Belgian on occasion.
Usually, it’s British. Tastes
change, new experiences
happen, and the candy-mix
world becomes a confusing
and worrying place.
Eating too much
candy makes you want
to go running across the
country. And by the time
you’ve reached a handy
city — some place such
as Philadelphia, perhaps
— the stomach demands
resolution by ejecting
its contents. Exciting
proposition.
The world becomes gray
and bland without enough
chocolate. It looks like a
nightmarish example of a
city torn apart in the midst
of civil war.
Nothing could ever
seem bright again until
you open a shiny wrapper
and bite into the goodness
contained inside.
Finally, there’s the
power of a diet. It’s the
love equivalent of taking
a break. If the diet works,
you learn self-control and
about yourself. If the diet
doesn’t work, you just end
up in an even worse place
than before.
iou know, mayDe
this love thing isn’t too
complicated after all.
Talking about these things
in reference to chocolate
makes so much sense.
I’ve saved everybody a
whole semester’s worth of
articles about love. Haven’t
I been good to you?
But, I’m going to tell
you to keep reading The
Gamecock.
Don’t let anyone fool
you into thinking love is
easy. Chocolate makes a
lot of sense, but love is a
unique feeling that can’t
be boxed. I
IN YOUR OPINION
Intramural referees
receive proper training
I am writing in response
to Stephen Fastenau’s article
“Have fun despite crummy
rules, refs.” Mr. Fastenau
repeatedly bashes the officials
and our school’s whole
intramural program and
his comments could not be
more off-base. Working for
USC’s intramural program is
the best job on campus. He
comments on how poorly
trained the officials are, but
all our officials receive # (
week of training before the
season begins.
They are also evaluated
after every game that they
officiate. In the past two
years, USC has had three
All-State officials and has
sent officials to regional and
AAU tournaments and even
into high school officiating.
Mr. Fastenau ends his
article by saying, “Your
opponents are, after all,
fellow students.” I am
confused to why the same
courtesy is not taken with
the officials. Our officiatm ^
staff is comprised entirely
of students and is open to
all students who desire to
work.
I am not here to say that
our officials will be perfect.
We are human and will make
mistakes. However, without
the time and effort that is
put forth by these student
officials and our excellent
staff, USC would have no
intramural program for you,
the students, to participate
in. I have been to other
schools in the region fcgw
tournaments and clinics am™
I am confident in saying that
our staff is the best that I
have come in contact with.
The writer’s complaint
about officials being allowed
to play is uncalled for. I can
assure you that no officials on
our staff are simple-minded
enough to hold vendettas
and ref in favor of one team
over another. It simply would
not be tolerated. Besides,
why should these students
be denied the opportunity
to play like every other
student? if y
I would like to conclude
my letter by offering Mr.
Fastenau the chance to
become an intramural official.
We are always looking for
new officials who have a
passion and a knowledge of
the game, as Stephen seems
to have. I would just like for
you to see the game from the
other side and hopefully you
will gain a new perspective
of our wonderful intramural
program here at USC.
RIP RIPLEY
Third-year sport and
entertainment management
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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.
I
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gamecockopinions
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