Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

VIEWPOINTS_ ME COCK 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 AAAS’financial woes serve as valuable lesson One of USC’s biggest and best student organizations just got a stern lesson in financial responsibility. The Association of African-American Students was sanctioned Wednesday by the Senate Finance Committee for being forgiven a $2,000 loan. As a result, AAAS must forfeit any leftover funds, as well as close non-university accounts and never again open new ones. We wonder why this had to happen — and hope it’s not a sign of trouble ahead. 1 he loan stemmed from AAAS’ inability to pay the winners of its November step show — later chalked up to misunderstandings about outside funds and low revenue from the event. Hopefully, this is only a sign of a younger administration feeling growing pains. It’s a tough lesson — especially during Black History Month — but it might be for the best. If the' committee is using AAAS as an example, we hope other organizations pay attention. Money can be a complicated beast, and when an organization finds itself struggling to pay the bills, its members should ask for help at the first sign of trouble. AAAS’ Elite Male Showcase will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Russell House Ballroom. Support AAAS and show that financial trouble can’t stop a great event — if AAAS learns to ask for help. So many students love and are involved with AAAS, and it would be a disservice for the organization’s programs to be jeopardized on a technicality. Let’s hope it was a wake-up call for them and all student organizations. We hope this financial sanction isn’t a sign of trouble ahead for AAAS. IT’S YOUR RIGHT Voice your opinion on message boards at untnv.dailygamecock.com or send letters to the editor at gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu CORRECTIONS In Thursday’s News, Garvin Design Group was misidentified, and is not located in Boston. The Gamecock regrets the error. 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 KIOD 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 KATY BLALOCK Public Relations Director ROSE GREENE Page Designers MIKE CONWAY, KATE FENWICK, MEGAN SINCLAIR StaffWriters AJ. BEMBRY, TOM BENNING, JESS DAVIS, TIM McMANUS, MARJORIE RIDDLE, GINA VASSELLI Copy Editors CAROLINE DESANCTIS, 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: gamecockeditor@gum.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 STUDENT MEDIA Director SCOTT LINOENBERG 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 ofTWF, GAMECOfiK. 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 purchased far $1 each from the Department of Student Media. Graham Dixon / THE GAMECOCK I cant live without schizophrenic translation Effortlessly switching between U.S., British slang does wonders Recently, there was a new discovery in my life. With my friends, I watched something original, unique and almost perfect. Graphical innovation and technical expertise have given us so much. And in this case, it was a very funny video explaining what it is that Fall Out Boy was singing in a recent hit. My friends found it hilarious, but for me the humor was double. How they laughed at the incoherent babble! The sad thing is that in my corner of the world, nearly all the music is like that. Seriously, it’s just mumbled whining. I’m looking at you, Papa Roach! Go sit in the corner until you talk like an adult! If someone makes me a mixed CD, I have to spend hours translating words and phrases into something logical. Music is supposed to be universal, but we should be thankful for small mercies that Slipknot doesn’t translate into Maori. RHRQn 11 gets BRAZIER worse; 1 c , am really bourth-year . J print tlred or journalism drunk, the student translator chip in my mind breaks. Most of the time I discuss sports and confusion arises over the word “football.” I do refer to the American football as football in conversation. Usually context works; if I speak of an excellent running back’s performance in the football game on Monday, frankly you should know I mean the armor and padding type. Otherwise, I’m probably going to have to discriminate against your face. But the translator chip is something that’s been worked on for years now. I can switch between chips and crisps and pants and trousers fairly easily. Certain skills elude me, . such as being able to say “aluminum.” Come on, it’s “aluminium” for a reason. Yes, I sound like a 60 year-old fart, but it’s my column. And hey, while I’ve got my crank on, it’s “sulphur,” too. One time at a younger age I read an American novel with the spelling “sulfur.” I thought it was a big mistake that only idiots could possibly make, especially with the editing. Sadly, it was a false assumption. It’s not wrong, it’s just that Americans don’t like diphthongs and logical spelling. If you don’t like it, go to “Phenix,” Ariz. But the translator chip in my head is wonderful. It makes me feel schizophrenic; I can switch between talking to people from my homeland and then people from abroad without a second thought. It’s like having two people in my brain! We all know that alternate voices in our minds are entirely healthy. That’s what the American part says at least. To be fair, it says I might need therapy, too. Happy Valentines Gay to you funda-mentals If Feb. 14 showed me anything, it’s that love shouldn’t be voted on I didn’t write a column for Valentine’s Day this year. What else can I say about love that hasn’t already been said by every other columnist in the past two weeks? Frankly, nothing. Unless I start talking about gay marriage. Some guys like blondes. Some guys like brunettes. Some guys like guys, and that’s where the (rhymes with pit) hits 'the fan. Millions of people celebrated Valentine’s Day this year with their husband or wife. This column is for the ones who weren’t able to. Several politicians are pushing for a Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. Given the opportunity, I would gladly push them off a cliff naked, strapped to each other in compromising positions. The prosecution? The religious right. Their case? Marriage is a holy union in the eyes of the Lord between a man and a woman. OK, that’s cool. I dig it. God defines marriage as being between a man and a CHASE woman. STOUDEniAIRE hu.ee Second-year problem With history that argument student as far as these politicians and their jobs are concerned is that marriage is a LEGAL union. Legal, meaning that thanks to my good ol’ buddy Separation of Church and State, the definition of marriage is to be defined by the state — not by what any particular religion has to say. But, just for kicks, let’s pretend we ARE going to use Christian standards as dictated in the Bible to determine who can and cannot get married in this country. Why stop with gays? We have plenty of other types of sinners we can oppress! And while we’re at it, let’s just go ahead and make sure non-Christians can’t get married either. After all, marriage is a holy union between Christian men and women. This isn’t Pope George W. Bush trying to ban gay marriage; it’s, unfortunately, President George W. Bush. If leaders of the Catholic Church or the Southern Baptist Convention want to condemn or ban gay marriage, that’s cool. But the president? Hell no! Denying same sex couples the same legal rights as heterosexual couples without letting the people decide is flat out wrong. The idea that we need to amend the Constitution to define marriage as being between a man and a woman is absurd. We’ve spent over 200 years trying to write discrimination out of the Constitution, and now we’ve got an insecure Texas cowboy trying to write it back in. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. I for one choose not to be a part of the group writing the next chapter in America’s history of wrongful discrimination. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go run off to Canada before the torrent of angry letters to the editor and calls for my public execution come rushing in. IN YOUR OPINION Hate crime legislation helps battle injustice In Tecla Markosky’s Wednesday column regarding hate crime legislation, she made the point that labeling a criminal offense as a hate crime only serves the purpose of creating artificial barriers between people, and because of this, the label should be eradicated to not create a new form of injustice. I have to disagree. The fact is certain groups of people are already at a disadvantage in the world, and the prosecution of unlawful behavior as a hate crime is a valuable tool in protecting these groups from violent attacks and helping to ensure their fair and equal protection under the law. i-JKe ic or hoc, our society values certain groups of people over others. Due to economic, political and social barriers in our world, an individual who is black, gay or Muslim, etc., has a much harder time navigating through the judicial system than your average straight white male. As such, when members of these communities have been targeted in the past there has often been little to nothing that they could do about it. The goal of designating certain crimes against minorities as hate crimes in the first place is to show that the judiciary does in fact care about these individuals and that it will take measures to fully prosecute any crimes committed against them. The stiffer penalty attached to the sentences of criminals found guilty of hate crimes only serves as a message to the population at large, making it clear that assaulting a person because of who they are is completely unacceptable. In a cookie-cutter world, each crime would be taken at face value and judged according to its societal detriment. But in our world, there is very often more than what meets the eve. The fact is that when Jacob Robida decided to fire his gun off two weeks ago, the fact he was firing it at a group of gay men was probably no coincidence. Until the occurrence of prejudice-based crimes stops, it is the responsibility of the government to step in and try to keep things fair. If this means having to set the judicial system in favor of the little guy, so be it. It will be impossible for any type of social healing to take place unless the breaks in the system are properly set. JAY WOOTEN Third-year English 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. I Online Poll