The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 03, 2006, Page 4, Image 4
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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
Beer-induced revelry
can certainly be safe
•>%. .
Spring break officially begins Monday, and like
pulling the tab on a Pabst Blue Ribbon, many students
are going to burst with feverish delight.
Just please burst with caution.
We don’t want to run a front-page story in two
weeks about a USC student that has become the next
Natalee Holloway. It takes only a few minutes of
forethought to ensure that you and your friends can
go nuts safely.
You’re going to the beach. You have a cooler full
of booze and a thimbleful of scruples. Good, now
stick to that cooler, and
It takes only a few
minutes to ensure
that you and your
friends can go nuts
safely.
pacK Domes or water, too.
Don’t accept drinks from
strangers, and don’t leave
your drink unattended
when you go to the
bathroom. One slip and
you’re left with a lifetime
of problems.
you want to stroii
down the strip at night with a flask and a pack of
Parliaments. Good, now grab a friend. Grab two.
Everything’s more fun in groups, and you pretty much
eliminate the risk of getting kidnapped or assaulted.
You (drunkenly) want to hop in your buddy’s
Hummer and go to Barefoot Landing. Bad. Bring cab
fare and look up bus routes before you leave home.
Force yourselves to rotate being designated driver
every night. We all know you can wait until you get
back to the hotel to start killing brain cells.
You want to go to Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
museum with a handle of rum. Probably not the best
idea, but seeing the local sights is something most
spring breakers miss out on.
If you’re in the Florida Keys, check out Ernest
Hemingway’s old stomping grounds. If you’re in
Charleston, check out the aquarium. Don’t pigeonhole
your trip as a purely partying affair.
Be smart and be crazy at the same time. It’s more
fun to have your head pulled from a toilet than to
have your lifeless body pulled from a canal.
Having fun is at the top of everybody’s to-do list
this spring break; being safe should be on there, too.
IT’S YOUR RIGHT
Voice your opinion on message
boards at wunv.dailygamecock.com
or send letters to the editor at
gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu
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 rhoto editor
KATY BLALOCK
Public Relations Director
ROSE GREENE
Page Designers
MIKE CONWAY, KATE
FENWICK, MEGAN SINCLAIR
Stajf Writers
A.J. BEMBRY, TOM
BENNING, JESS DAVIS,
TIM McMANUS, MARJORIE
RIDDLE, GINA VASSELLI
Copy Editors
CAROLINE OESANCTIS,
BETHANY NICHOLS,
ELIZABETH PARHAM, KATIE
THOMPSON, JAMISON
TINSLEY, KRYSTAL
WEBBER, LIZ WHITE
CONTACT INFORMATION
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Editor’s office hours are from 2-3 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays
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AS
ecir
iu
ALL'
Courtesy KRT Campus
Spring break me off a piece of that Kit-Kat
Going home for vacay
doesn’t subtract from
college cool points
I think it’s safe to say
that anyone who teaches
philosophy is slightly
crazy. You have to be in
order to understand what’s
in all those textbooks.
For example, one of the
most poignant questions
we’ve had to answer this
semester was “What is
two-ness?” We were
asked to define “two.”
Not the meaning of life,
not the nature of God
— two. What is two?
I think that was the
point where my head
exploded. Alas, I’ve
taken that question and
morphed it into my own
philosophical inquiry.
What is “coolness?”
In elementary school,
it was how many video
games you owned. In
middle school, it was
what brand of shoes you
wore. In high school, it
was what kind of car you
drove.
A council of elders in
ancient Greece selected
these factors that
determine coolness. But
fret not, they didn’t leave
college students out.
It’s more
important
than what
fraternity
you belong
to. It’s more
CHASE important
STOUDEniDIRE than ,how
c , many beers
oecond-year 1
history y°u drank
student last night.
It’s even
more important than
how many pastel popped
collars you can wear at
the same time.
What is this great factor
that determines where we
belong on the collegiate
coolness scale? Easy. How
are you spending your
spring break?
You can do all sorts
of things. Go to Myrtle
Beach and get drunk. Go
to Florida and get drunk.
You can go to Cancun,
get drunk, take all your
clothes off then watch
it on MTV a few weeks
later.
Or, if you’re one of
the people who make the
top half of the cool scale
possible by being a part of
the bottom, you go home,
wear lots of clothes and
drink large amounts of
Gatorade. Maybe you’ll
show up on a home video
in a few years.
I never went to first/
senior/beach week in high
school. I’m about to kiss
my second spring break in
a row bye-bye.
And it’s been the
same reason every time
I’ve skipped out on my
hard-earned right to a
week of debauchery; I’m
going to work at a camp
or conference for high
school students, the same
high school kids who are
totally creeping us out
this week by showing up
on Facebook.
But I don’t think that
my homeward ambitions
make me a dork or any
less cool than Mr. I.B.
Fra tty; I consider it to be
a security measure.
A week at home means
free food, free laundry and
a much smaller chance of
getting injured or arrested,
or accidentally starting a
nine-month countdown
to fatherhood.
So to all of my comrades
who are heading off for a
week of fun in the sun,
good luck, be safe, take
pictures and e-mail them
to me.
And to those heading
home, make sure to be
home by midnight or
you’ll be grounded for a
week.
IN YOUR OPINION
Dees’ good works
aren’t so venerable
I read the comments
by Morris Dees in the
article by Josh Rabon
(“Civil rights attorney
speaks about racism,”
Wednesday). I laughed
at Dees’ answer that he
could take his critics to
court.
Dees said he wouldn’t
do it because it would be
a waste of time. Actually,
Dees wouldn’t do it
because you can’t sue
someone for telling the
truth.
i ms is a new tactic
for Dees; usually he
responds to critics with
absurd statements about
his budget being based
on future increases in the
price of stamps.
Just look at the reports
from the Better Business
Bureau, American
Institute for Philanthropy,
Charity Navigator
and others. Major
publications including
The Washington Times,
The Nation, Harper’s
Monthly and many others
have slammed Dees. An
eight-part expose printed
in the Montgomery
Advertiser about Dees
and the Southern Poverty
Law Center was a finalist
for the Pulitzer Prize in
1996.
The Nieman
Foundation for
Journalism at Harvard
University held a panel
discussion on non
profit groups in 2000.
The highly acclaimed
newspaper editor, Jim
Tharpe, gave a speech
on Dees and the SPLC.
He used the SPLC as an
example of a rogue non
profit gone bad. He said
most SPLC employees are
ideologically motivated
college graduates from
out of state. Dees hires
them for one- or two
year stints. Tharpe said
that after a year or two
they learn the SPLC
is a con, and they are
completely disillusioned.
Eventually most people
will come to regard
Dees as a con man, riow
that left-wing sources
are denouncing him as
fiercely as right-wing
sources.
For more information
on Morris Dees, visit the
Council of Conservative
Citizens Web site at
www.cofcc.org.
KYLE ROGERS
Council of Conservative
Citizens
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
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will not be published. Call the
newsroom at 777-7726 for
more information.
Online Poll
Do you think it is too soon after Hurricane Katrina for New Orleans
to celebrate Mardi Gras? ^ *
YES 21%
Total votes: 243
Mikt Conway / THE GAMECOCK
Do not forget
time-off comes
only halfway
to finish line
Classes, essays, exams
remain after romping
holiday of relaxation
As the first half of the
semester draws to a close, we
have a holiday to reminisce
about what we’ve learned.
Our
basketball
team is the
epitome of
average. Girls
are all insane.
Love is like
chocolate and
BRAZIER as equally
Fourth-year fattening.
philosophy The fount
student of knowledge
pours on us
all. Except Kansas.
so, its spring break, lime
to pick out a bikini, stick in
your favorite Butch Walker
CD and get absolutely
smashed on margaritas.
And for the girls, they
can do whatever it is they
do. Freedom settles in for
a week, as open-minded
travelers hit the Cancun
beaches to discover cultural
heritage, i.e. extremely
white.
It’s time to relax. Put on
WUSC and groove to some
original, funky beats on a
Friday night. You can always
tell when the stress rises
on campus because people
actually start studying.
Not to freak anybody out
with this information, but
we’re technically supposed
to do it all the time.
Bloody ridiculous. If I’m
at university to study, why
is there so much alcohol
around me all the time?
It’s a conspiracy, akin to
the depths of the aliens in
New Mexico!
Spring break offers so
much for the compassionate
student. Think about it.
You could single-handedly
make a difference in New
Orleans by volunteering ...
for a race to see who can
drink the most Jager in a
30-second race. You enjoy
yourselves, while paying
back to businesses destroyed
by a hurricane. Miami
University should be sued
for its atrocious behavior.
Hey, you might even
assist in “Girls Gone Wild.”
With trashy tops, drunk
girls seeking emotional
reassurance, and all-around
whorish attitudes, never
doubt the power of the video
camera. There’s something
amazing about a lens that
makes stupid girls look even
dumber. What an invention.
Edison, eat your heart out.
When you take your
break, have fun, but don’t
forget that we’ll all be here
when you get back. Not just
The Gamecock but lectures,
professors, the Strom — you
promised to work out but
you didn’t, and you’ve upset
the spirit of Mr. Thurmond,
and you’re a bad person
— essays, equations and
GMP food. The whole
college experience, which
sucks up your money like an
emo-band singer on a crack
withdrawal, doesn’t bugger
off when you put your feet
up. Keep your eyes on the
prize.
3o my naitway message
of this semester is to relax
this Spring break, don’t get
so wrapped up in fun that it
takes the rest of the school
year to catch up. Don’t
fret over every little detail
either. Nobody wants to be
friends with Mr. Cranky,
the terminally annoying
psychology student,__