Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Page 10 Wednesday, April5, 2006 i _ AMECOCK EDITORIAL BOARD Editor STEVEN VAN HAREN News Editor ; JUSTIN CHAPURA Assistant News Editor JACKIE ALEXANDER The Mix Editor \ ALEXjS ARNONE Design Director chas McCarthy Sports Editor STEPHEN FASTENAU Viewpoints Editor BRINDY McNAIR Assistant Viewpoints Editor AARON BRAZIER IN OUR OPINION Cutting patriotic garb shows grade-A idiocy Fashions come and go, but supporting your country in dicey times is never out of style. Too bad that wearing patriotic clothes at one Colorado school is so five minutes ago. The principal at Shaw Heights Middle School informed parents last week that students could no longer wear patriotic clothing, including camouflage pants, on school grounds over fear that tensions related to the ongoing immigration snafu would spark violence, according to a CBS Denver TV report detailed online. rslext up on the bhaw Heights curriculum: How to be a Wuss 101. An attempt to block kids from wearing the colors of any country — be it the U.S., Mexico or other sovereign nations — is a fatal free-speech 1 tit XT4- nnlir aI- a k/ivy T T • i ^ k k/iik * kliu kj kltv school is teaching fresh young minds that backing off in the face of possible confrontation is respectable. Spinelessness earns an A+, cowering in the corner a pat on the back. Patriotism in any color should not be silenced — especially when pandering pundits find that rolling over like a stooge is a much more agreeable reaction to a threat than action itself. The immigration debate concerning the rights of illegal immigrants could drag on indefinitely, and displaying one’s flag is every citizen’s Constitutional fashion statement. School safety is — and always should be — a paramount concern to parents and educators, and two kids scrapping in the cafeteria over foreign policy makes milk money woes sound mundane. No one wants American and Mexican kids crushing each other into pulp — especially when, for better or worse, our countries will forever be intertwined. But taking a risk is inherent in the First Amendment. It will often be dangerous to freely speak your mind. How it has become dangerous to tote an American flag in an American school is a disturbing rhetorical question. Displaying one’s flag is every citizen’s Constitutional fashion statement. IT’S YOUR RIGHT Voice your opinion on message boards at wuw.dailygamecock.com or send letters to the editor at gamecockopinionsQl>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 i-1 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 Uje 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 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, JAMISON TINSLEY, KRYSTAL WEBBER, LIZ WHITE ( UUNIAUI INrUKMAIIUN 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@gum.sc.edu Viewpoints: gamecockopinions@gwm. sc. edu The Mix: gamecockfeatures@gum.sc.edu Sports: gamecocksports@gum.sc.edu Public Affairs: gamecockPR@yahoo.com Online: www.dailygamecock.com Newsroom: 777-7726 ; Sports: 777-7182 Editor’s Office: 777-3914 Fax: 777-6482 STUDENT MEDIA Director SCOTT LINDENBERG Faculty Adviser ERIK COLLINS Creative Director SUSAN KING Business Manager CAROLYN GRIFFIN Adi. :ng Manager SARAH SCARBOROUGH Classifieds Manager SHERRY F. HOLMES Production Manager C. NEIL scon Advertising APRYL ALEXANDER, KATIE CUPPIA, BREANNA EVANS, MARY RACHEL FREEMAN, DEIDRE merrick, McKenzie WELSH Creative Services MIKE CONWAY, JOSEPH DANNELLY, LAURA JOYCE GOUGH MARGARET LAW, MEGHAN WHITMAN THE GAMECOCK is the editorially independent student newspaper of the University of South Carolina. It is published Monday, Wednesday and triauy . o 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 i 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/TH E GAMECOCK. 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 purchasedfor $1 each from the Department of Student Media. ii'. IcysroDjr^ATHr^J Courtesy ofKRT Campus TV cant rot brains if babies dont have them Sesame Street videos aimed at mere infants would do some good According to an. article by The Associated Press, the creators of Sesame Street are catching some serious criticism for launching a new line of videos Tuesday geared for children as young as six months. Experts are claiming that too-early exposure to television is bad for babies’ brains. Parents, of course, are in accord. This is a ridiculous debate. I question whether babies have brains. Making fun of babies is one of my lavv/iiLV paouinwi Babies are worthless. Toothless, hairless and loud, they cannot move properly or control their impulses. Helpless little flesh balls, they are completely reliant on others. I didn’t get the maternal gene. Monday, my friend and I were doing our regular evening walk, we passed a house with a huge banner on the porch. It proclaimed the arrival of Rachel and Russell. The people that live there are now the parents of twins. How unfortunate. I cannot TECLfl tninK or a mflRHOSKV ™orse ,fate. c , iwins! A Second-year public llfe sentence relations times two! student The decision to breed children is akin to voluntarily accepting a life sentence in prison. Yet countless numbers of bright adults willingly subject, themselves into this bondage every year. I can’t get excited for Rachel and Russell’s parents. I appreciate their enthusiasm, but mv brain can’t wrap around the idea of such a commitment. Contrary to what my friends say, I do not hate children. I like kids. I just do not understand them. In this case, ignorance is bliss. In no way am I interested in furthering my understanding. Kids have germs like the Sahara has sand. They produce an endless stream of thick, milky mucus. They eat dirt. They have fungus. They are snot dribbling, cookie-eating monsters whose native language is a shrill so ugly it makes my ears bleed. Babies are emotionally unstable and short. The only good thing about babies is that you can make them go to bed at unreasonably early hours and easily hide them because of their size. My heart goes out to the persecuted Sesame Street producers. Functioning as a mob, overly-enthusiastic and protective parents are too much to bear. And the professionals? Well, the term “child rearing expert” is an oxymoron. All this hype over a 15 pound human? Parents foolishly believe their babies like them because infants respond well to food and smile when they have gas! It’s a trick! While they are necessary, children are not the precious gifts so many parents think they are. They have a long way to go before they can prove themselves of being worthy of so much attention. In the meantime, I have no qualms of putting those flesh balls in front of the tube to enjoy Sesame Street. Television is an essential part of American culture. The sooner they integrate and shut up, the better. It’s not like we’re giving them whiskey. Silence does not imply consent for sex Rape victims need not feel ashamed, guilty after 1-night stands For the past few weeks, people told me to “sex it up.” So, now that it’s April, love is in the air and it’s sexual abuse awareness month, let’s talk sex. More specifically, let’s talk rape. The word itself is harsh, dissonant and even a little cacophonous. When most people think about rape they picture “Law & Order: SVU” episode: a testosterone driven man attacking a woman in an alley. Most people wouldn’t say a friend taking advantage of a passed out drunk girl at a party would be rape and probably because most of us have been in that vulnerable position. We’re quick to say, “I didn’t rape anyone,” or “I didn’t get raped.” Anyone that has been there knows how terrifying it can be. And soon it starts to feel like your fault. Maybe you said something. Maybe you wore something. If you came forward. Ill (Unlit! " . . ’ c , that is what Second year print everyone journalism would student think. Every two and a half minutes someone in America is sexually assaulted and most likely by someone they know. Of those, 80 percent are under 30, and only 42 percent of assaults are reported. That is a scary statistic. Why don’t victims report these crimes? Because people are quick to blame victims. But passing out drunk, slurring your words and stumbling across a party isn’t the same thing as a consensual one-night stand. Rape is defined as forcible sexual intercourse without ponsent. But newsflash, if someone is unable to give consent, i.e. legally intoxicated, she :annot have consented to sex. When people get drunk, usually — or hopefully — they are with people they trust. Rape is the biggest violation of trust. Why do we immediately blame the victim or say she’s lying? It is not because she was drinking or because she put herself in that situation. When she started drinking, I don’t think she wanted to have sex and completely forget it the next morning. Guys, if she really wanted to have sex with you, she’d do it sober. Don t run the risk of putting her in the position of waking up in a daze of “what happened?” If you take care of her, put her in bed alone and give her coffee in the morning, she’ll be thinking about you when she’s coherent. Girls like to be cared for, not raped. I’m not saying every girl that’s had a one-night stand thinks it’s rape. But do you really want to take that chance? Winners & Sinners Michael Blank organized a group in Texas called Jail Bait X Justice, which helps police capture online sexual predators. Supermodel Naomi Campbell was charged * with assaulting her housekeeper with a cell phone, her 2nd charge against an employee. i Subcommittee demonstrates how to make better excuses State representatives offer sneaky maneuvers for relationships, life Are you looking for an easy way to push a political agenda without anyone knowing? --—, Our state government may have the I answer you’ve been looking k for. The House TIIH education mcmnnus subcommittee Fifth-year Monday print amended a journalism bill to say the student state Board of Education can only approve textbooks that “emphasize critical thinking and analysis in each academic content.” On the surface this seems like a great way for the government to step into our lives to teach our children to have open minds. Underneath, however, it is part of the nationwide movement to teach intelligent design alongside evolution — intelligent design, of course, being the politically correct version of creationism. To some, what’s under the surface may seem obvious. Rep. Ken Clark said, “I think it’s pretty obvious, given all the talk about intelligent design.” But Rep. Bob Walker came up with the perfect defense to such criticisms: denying the obvious. “This has nothing to do with intelligent design or creationism,” he said. “It’s a way to help young people look at things more realistically.” This defense can also work well in your personal life. If your significant other catches you being unfaithful, say that you were trying to “emphasize critical thinking and analysis” about your relationship. She may suggest you’re doing it for sex, saying, “I think it’s pretty obvious, given that you’re having sex with another person.” It is true that you just wanted to have sex with another person, but you need to say that it isn’t the reason. While the response “it’s a way to help young people look at things more realistically” may not be annlicable, you could come up with a more applicable defense, saying you’re trying to teach cheap floozies to “look at things more realistically.” And if you’re late to you’re 8 a.m. class tomorrow because you wanted to sleep in, you can “pull a Walker” and tell your teacher that you were “thinking critically” about the “theory” that showing up for class will give you a better grade. Should he point to how obvious it is that you slept in because you were lazy, say you were trying to look at things more realistically. And so, my fellow South Carolinians, if certain representatives get their way it may be hard to learn anything in school, but we can learn from the representatives themselves. If you need an excuse, remember the phrases “critical thinking” and “look at things (pore realistically/j _onrl inn’ll Kp in —