Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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„ . VIEWPOINTS AMECOCK EDITORIAL BOARD Editor < STEVEN VAN HAREN News Editor JUSTIN CHAPURA Assistant News Editor JACKIE ALEXANDER The Mix Editor ALEXIS ARNONE Design Director chas McCarthy Sports Editor STEPHEN FASTENAU Viewpoints Editor BRINDY McNAIR Assistant Viewpoints Editor AARON BRAZIER IN OUR OPINION Despite political jabs, funeral fit for a King Coretta Scott King’s funeral Tuesday was a fittingly jubilant celebration of the life and legacy of the first lady of the civil rights movement. People spontaneously stood and cheered at the maay mentions of Kang’s accomplishments. Diplomats cracked jokes. Nary a wet eye could be seen on television. Indeed, King’s life was something to smile about, and the rowdy reception she received was far more appropriate than one sobbing confessional after another. But shame on former presidents for using the funeral A funeral is the wrong place to air out political grievances. to sling political mud. Jimmy Carter, during an otherwise gracious and lighthearted speech, mentioned how the government wiretapped Coretta and husband Martin’s phone. It was an obvious dig at President Bush and the recent warrantless wiretapping of Americans with suspected ties to terrorists. The crowd responded with rowdy applause and a low, barely audible chorus of boos. Bush smiled and took it in stride. Whether people see Bush as the angelic messenger of God or the devil incarnate, a funeral is the wrong place to air out political grievances — even if they’re surrounded by land comments. It’s like watching two people in a shouting match while everyone else quietly looks down at their dinner plate — no one else cares. Save it for “Meet the Press,” and keep the 10,000 strong crowd’s attention on praising a hero. Bill Clinton said it best as he pointed at the coffin: “That’s a woman in there.” How right he was. King’s four children weren’t there to watch elephants and donkeys spar in the shadow of the funerary bouquet. Carter should have taken a page from Clinton and Bush No. 41, who lightheartedly poked fun at each other for only a few seconds. But even with some using the pulpit as a way to spew modern political issues across the pews, a few inappropriate partisan jabs couldn’t dampen the spirit of the hours-long tribute. IT’S YOUR RIGHT Voice your opinion on message boards at unvw.dailygamecock.com or send letters to the editor at gamecockopinions @gwm. sc. edu CORRECTIONS In Monday’s News, AAAS should not have been identified as a fraternity. 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, KATE FENWICK, MEGAN SINCLAIR StajfWriters A.J. BEMBRY, TOM BENNING, JESS DAVIS, TIM McMANUS, MARJORIE RIDDLE, GINA VASSELLI Copy Editors PATRICK MASTERSON, BETHANY NICHOLS, ELIZABETH PARHAM, KATIE THOMPSON, JAMISON TINSLEY, KRYSTAL WEBBER, LIZ WHITE CONTACT INFORMATION Offices located on the thirdfloor of the Russell House Editor’s office hours are from 2-3 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays Editor: gamecockeditorQbgurm.sc.edu News: gamecocknewsQbgwm.sc.edu Viewpoints: gamecockopinionsQgwm.sc. edu The Mix: gamecockfeaturesQgwm.sc.edu Sports: gamecocksportsQbgwm.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 Classifieds Manager SHERRY F. HOLMES Production Manager c. neil scon 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. IF ALLTHE SPEECHES BY ALL THE POLITICIANS CONCERNED ABOUT ENERGY WERE CONVERTED TO ALTERNATIVE FUELS... Courtesy KRT Campus Companies dating policies condemn couples Favoritism exists in all forms, not only in workplace love affairs I’m hoping that no one was turned off by all the mistakes and changed content in last week’s column and that readers will continue to relate with my relationship and sex complaints week to week. To draw you all back in, I fully intended to write my column this week about one-night stands. But something came up. I worked at a movie theater. The keyword is worked. Company policy forced me to quit my wonderful job. Apparently, it is frowned upon for an employee to date a manager. Strongly frowned upon. At least that is how our general manager explained it to my boyfriend, the assistant manager. But to me, he said: “This is something we cannot have, and we have to fix it. You have two weeks to decide, and then I will have to decide for you.” I felt like a little kid getting scolded for doing a no-no, not like a semi adult working a serious job. No, I needed a strong talking to, something like a verbal spanking. My options: quit my job, get transferred to another theater and do the whole new employee thing again, or break up with my boyfriend. Ah, the tilings wc uu for love. Sure we’ve only been dating a short time, but is it really necessary to break up over a part-time job? I only worked there for the free movies anyway. And is it really necessary to make me quit because of it? Companies act as if favoritism doesn’t exist already between managers and employees, even those that aren’t officially “boyfriend/girlfriend.” Take that one manager that showers her favorite with excess hours, lets him slack off at work, leave early and arrive late free of punishment. Favoritism isn’t always about romance. Guys have drinks after work, go clubbing and hang together. Girls meet to watch movies or go shopping. Eventually, companies will have to face the fact that people work together LIZ WHITC Second-year print journalism student and that they don’t remove their romantic or friendly feelings just because they are clocked in. How many people meet their significant other in the professional environment? Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise. Courtney Cox Arquette and David Arquette. Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Maybe those aren’t the bestexamples, butitjustgoes to show that relationships aren’t screwing up work environments. It’s like dating a classmate. And as far as I can tell, professors don’t really have a problem with that. Favoritism aside, managers always worry about the fallout after a horrendous break-up. What happens when he lies and breaks her heart, like he inevitably will? Nothing. If we’re grown up enough to be in a romantic relationship in the workplace to begin with, then I think we are mature enough to handle the post-break-up tensions. Been there, done that. Worry about it when it happens. Don’t doom my relationship from the beginning. He really could be my lobster. But, oh well, I have to find a new job now. Budget cuts leave children., education behind Governor, president lack considerations for future generations If you had told me a couple years ago that I would be walking around with a South Carolina driver’s license as an actual resident, I would never have believed you. Never in my life would I have believed I would find myself voting in a red state or living somewhere other than the great city of Baltimore. As of a couple days ago, thanks to growing prices and pressure from this university, I am now an official resident of the Palmetto State. While I don’t consider myself a southerner, I do vote on the issues and policies of S.C. So, I find it only fitting to comment on these policies this week. I was reading The State newspaper yesterday when I came across a review of President Bush’s new budget. It said that Bush had allotted $63.4 billion in the area of education, 28.5 percent less than what was allotted last year. Bush has been running around for the last couple of months defending his ass off against withdrawal from Iraa. and now he has the audacity to cut education spending by nearly 30 percent. Supporters would argue that Bush did cut defense spending, but only by 8.7 percent. And if you look at the numbers, he’s still planning on spending $491.3 billion after these minor cuts. But enough about Iraq. My real concern is that Bush increased spending for NASA! While only a 1 percent increase, this is still outrageous. Since when does the moon come before our children? Last time I checked we’ve been going to the moon and researching space for about 40 years now, and where has BRflnOT BQIDV Fourth-year elementary education student it led us? 1 don t remember finding cancer cures or any sustainable planets to move to. Bush isn’t the only one taking a swing at education, though. Let’s not forget S.C. and concerns of children here. I did some research and found that Gov. Sanford recently vetoed $ 3 0 million in higher education spending. I can’t think all of this cutting back in the “Corridor of Shame” is really helping things. Outside education it seems that during Sanford’s term, the unemployment rate has increased 6.6 percent. Time magazine ranked Sanford as one of the three worst governors in the nation. I’m quite proud to be a S.C. resident, and I’d like to think this state has a great future. As a mass of highly educated people, it’s our responsibility to make informed decisions. Now, I’m new here, and I’m only going on the facts, but next election you probably won’t see me checking Sanford’s name. Winners & Sinners i i ' U.S., Indonesian and m Australian scientists ■ found a “Lost World” in an Indonesian mountain jungle. Jacob Robida — he allegedly attacked and shot three men in a gay bar. Humor helps * heart ignore heavy holiday hullaba-lues Valentine’s Day leaves singles cracking jokes as defense mechanisms Valentine’s Day is next week. Many of you have romantic plans with the one you pretend to love. But some * of you, I’m sure, are single _i i_ U11U UU T V trouble finding a remotely enjoyable way to spend the holiday. With a sense of humor and * massive amounts of alcohol, this holiday can almost be tolerable. i 1 mu mcmnnus Fifth-year print journalism student 1 remaps uic ucm. way to demonstrate a sense of humor is through jokes. And ' thus, making jokes abouf. being single on a holiday specifically designed to make single people feel bad is a good way to enjoy the day, be happy and stick it to the man. While my love for women fades like a hangover on a Tuesday afternoon, my love for bad jokes is everlasting — especially those of the “yo’ mama” genre. And a good way to change one of these jokes into a Valentine’s Day humor extravaganza is to focus the joke on the lot points of your love life. This can be seen in the joke “Yo’ ex-girlfriend is so bigoted that she dumped you after six months because she decided she couldn’t date someone of a different religion.” Deciding that you can’t date someone of a different religion is not bigoted, of course, but deciding that after six months of dating is bad form. At this point, I would just like to say that I hope none of my exes read this column — but luckily for me, non of them read. Another classic joke format is the questdon-and-answer )— Person One: “Did you hear about the girl who could remain attracted to Tim McManus for more than a few months?” Person Two: “No.” Person One: “Neither did I.” And if reading British comedies for theatre classes has taught me anything, which it hasn’t, it would be that someone attempting desperately to do something and failing is a great sourc for humor. So, over the next week, remember to have no shame in your attempts to get someone to go out with you by Feb. 14, then sit back and enjoy the comical mishaps. Ask out that sex columnist you share the op-ed page with or that student your co-workers at the astronomy center accuse you of flirting with — we’ve all been there. And, if you’re like me, you’ll probably fail and end up with a slap to the face, or worse. There’s no reason why you can’t have a nice laugh befoi drinking yourself into a state of oblivion. Submission policy Letters to the editor should be less than 300 words and include name, phone number, profes sional title or year and major, if a student. E-mail letters to game cockopinions@gwm.sc.edu. Let ters will be edited. Anonymous . letters will not be published. Call the newsroom at 777-7726 for more information.