Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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VIEWPOINTS Monday, April 10,2006 T —I ■ f f V_X —I— -JL 1 _JL —/ Page 9 AMECOCK EDITORIAL BOARD Editor STEVEN VAN HAREN News Editor JACKIE ALEXANDER Assistant News Editor JOSHUA RABON 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 The Daily Gamecock finally earns its name Pray for our souls — and our GPAs. After almost 100 years of publication, The Gamecock is going daily this fall, and we’re using this week to test run the process, work out the kinks and give you, the reader, a taste of what’s to come. An 11:30 a.m. news conference and carnival today on the Russell House patio will herald the beginning of what will be a trying, exciting week for us. We hope you like what you see. Lots of people in our last readership survey asked when we were going daily, and we’re glad that we can finally give an answer — and whet their palates Daily publication means more than notes and gomgs-on. i, _ £_„|_ But daily publication having a fresh means more than having crossword at your a fresh crossword at .. your disposal every dlSpOSal. day. As the first daily college newspaper in South Carolina, we have the exciting and somewhat intimidating task of helping cover, analyze and represent USC during an important season of growth and change for the school. The Gamecock’s growth is a direct reflection of that, as only about 100 colleges in the country have dailies. Innovista. Student Government. Spurrier. These are our headlines. This is our job — and it could be yours. Students — average, everyday, run-of-the-mill students — are the fuel that makes The Gamecock run, and we’re not a journalism-exclusive club. Going daily will require more manpower than ever before, and students interested in improving their writing skills and having fun should come up to the third floor of the Russell House and talk to us. Majors mean nothing when you walk in the door. The Gamecock is, last we checked, USC’s one-stop shop for left-wing, right-wing, PETA-bashing, hate inducing, God-hating, incompetent pulp — and we hope you, faithful reader, keep reading as we kick it up a notch. Here’s to another 100 years. IT’S VOUR RIGHT I Voice your opinion on message boards at umrw.dailygamecock.com or send letters to the editor at gamecockopinions@gurm. 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 JACKIE ALEJ(ANDER Assistant News Editor JOSHUA RABON Viewpoints Editor BRINOY 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 Public Relations Director ROSE GREENE Page Designers MIKE CONWAY, KATE FENWICK, MEGAN SINCLAIR StaffWriters A.J. 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 » * CONTACT INFORMATION Offices located on the third floor of the Russel! House Editor’s office hours are from 2-3 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays Editor: gamecockeditor@gurm.sc.edu News: gamecocknews@gwm.sc.edu I Viewpoints: gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu The Mix: gamecocltfeatures@gurm.sc.edu Sports: gamecocksports@gurm.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 SCOn LINDENBERG Faculty Adviser ERIK COLLINS Business Manager CAROLYN GRIFFIN Advertising Manager SARAH SCARBOROUGH Classifieds Manager SHERRY F. HOLMES Production Manager C. NEIL scon Advertising APRYL ALEXANDER, KATIE CUPPIA, BREANNA EVANS, MARY RACHEL FREEMAN, DEIORE 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 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 ofTHE 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 purchased for $1 each from the Department of Student Media. ■ n-u, rj It’s nothing a little revolution won’t fix Give hungry students longer pancake hours or give them death In my humble opinion, it has been far too long since humanity’s last solid revolution. What’re we waiting on — a just cause? Come on! We don’t have to go Bolshevik on anyone, we just need to have a little fun and feel like we’re accomplishing something. I say “we” because I’m pretty sure that the more people are involved, the smaller the prison term for each. Maybe that’s not the case. I would imagine that, even with promises of explosions and yells of “Viva La Revolucion” with no provocation or purpose, therfe are still those out there who would demand a “reason” for something as “drastic” as a revolution. I would go with the old standby — “Power to the People” — but it would probably get picked up by a wiretap and then I’d end up with a four-year trip to sunny Cuba. Now there’s a country that can appreciate a good uprising. My point here is that you don’t need a giant cause for a revolution. It can come through the tiniest of outlets. I p|£L|] can think of EAIITEV a multitucje . , or small Ihira-year political causes worth science fighting, student and possibly dying, for. Four-day weekends, on campus Internet that actually works, 15-cent pieces, bans not on smoking but on body odor in public, more duck-billed platypuses, rewer forest fires ana or course, the widespread institutionalization of in home helper monkeys. A revolution does not have to involve civil strife, nations at war or even secret funding from Ronald Reagan — it can start at home. It can even start here at USC. I just happen to have a starting point: Why aren’t pancakes offered in the GMP on weekends? Like any good revolution, this one will have to start with a manifesto, a proclamation. Here goes: We, the people of USC, demand more. We demand that if an establishment calls itself the Grand Market Place, it must truly be grand, and as things stand, it is far from it. Recognizing that there are few things more delicious than syrup-drenched, ' flattened cakes, we strive to make these tiny mounds of starchy goodness available, en masse, to all at any time breakfast is being served. Although extending breakfast until 2 p.m. for the tired and weary is a step in the right direction, it is far from enough. And if need be, we shall take arms and rise up in the name of napjackery! but hopetully, it will not come to this. We are willing to meet, we are willing to discuss, but we are not willing to compromise. We will strive on until the day that weekends are treated just as weekdays; we will push forward until the day that all USC students, old and young, can enjoy weekend pancakes ... whether they have blueberries or not. It’s as simple as that. Consider this revolution on. Of course, I’ll have to lead it, but I’m sure that won’t be a problem. Now, I’m off to get my military, and possibly raspberry, beret. Bike lanes could cure pedestrians’ anxiety Terror on two wheels makes walk to class dangerous, stressful The headline will read as follows: “Human pancake: USC student flattened in biking accident.” And I’ll be that student. Papers, exams, intimidating professors, the college dating scene — these are already enough to make me want to stay in bed with the covers pulled over my head. And that’s without the added fear of being flattened against the bricks of the Horseshoe on my way to class by a rampant cyclist. I hear the little whizzing noise of wheels on the bricks and feel the muscles of my body instinctively tighten as I brace myself for the imminent collision. Please keep your hands and feet inside your personal space, unless you want them ripped off by a speeding bicycle. I should □be the one wearing the helmet, not the bicyclist. The last time I was LIIIUSEY this fearful OEnncRiEin for Ilfe as c , a pedestrian second-year 1 psychology * 3 S 1 n student London, where drivers seem to have death wishes and traffic comes from the opposite direction. Each day I was there I narrowly escaped “death by Mini.” But that was in a foreign country. Am I not entitled to feel at least a bit safer on my own college campus? A little part of me smiles and the sun shines a little bit brighter each time I see a biker walking next to their bicycle, forced off because a large group of gossiping girls, walking painfully slow, is blocking the entire Pickens Street pedestrian bridge. But to be fair, I understand why people ride their bikes to class. If I lived far enough away and riding a bike would save me a few precious minutes I could spend resting, then I would take advantage of a set of wheels, too. I even understand why they ride their bikes on the sidewalks — I would much rather battle my way to class swerving between people than dodging cars. I can’t possibly hope to rid the campus of those pesky fear-inducing two wheeled contraptions, so I say, let’s paint some bike lanes! Lots of college campuses have them. Pedestrians aren’t allowed in the bike lanes, and bikers aren’t allowed out of them. Bikers would be able to speed to class, not worrying about braking for slowpoke amblers. And I wouldn’t have to stop every few minutes, frozen by the fear of broken limbs. Sounds like an obvious win-win situation to me. ^ Are you going to donate blood p. 1 -- or get screened for bone marrow Jl Ull • donation during Donate Life Week? * b >' ^ Newspapers five-day test spells wonders for students News coverage aside, 2 more papers means better birdcage liner Irish playwright and critic George Bernard Shaw once said, “You see things, and you say ‘why?’ But I dream things that □never were, and I say ‘Why not?’” So what is our dream here at The JACOB Gamecock you BAUIS ask? Third-year To glve you print something to journalism read instead . student of paying attention in class all week! Because what good is The Gamecock to you Tuesday and Thursday if it’s online? Before now, nothing. Stuck with only an online version you were forced to endure those hour-and fifteen-minute classes alone. Even if you were lucky enough to be in a class where you could goof off on a computer, you probably spent most of your time'Facebooking and MySpacing. l hat means you missed all the news we could cobble together Monday and Wednesday nights. No longer. That’s why this week we begin our bold experiment. The Gamecock will be in print every day this week. I’ll pause so you can take a minute to let that sink in. Consider the vast, life changing implications. This week you’ll have five days worth of crossword puzzles, college-inspired comics and horoscopes. You’ll get five days worth of music reviews, USC news and want ads. No more rushing to the newsstands, desperately hoping to get a copy of The State so you won’t have to read The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal in class. we nere at i ne wameeocic are in a unique position. You wouldn’t want even the best student at the law school defending you in a murder trial. I bet you wouldn’t be comfortable driving over a bridge designed by the best USC engineering student. But when it comes to the news you turn to us, fellow students, the makers of The Gamecock. That’s why, to show our appreciation, you get these two extra issues a week completely free. That’s right, you heard me correctly. For the low, low price of $0, you get The Gamecock, five days a week this week, plus the April Fool’s issue, exam week issue and the back to school issue. We’re even working on the Cocky swimsuit calendar for you. And when you’re done, they make excellent birdcage liner, fish wrap and kindling. They’re an awesome gift idea and a dandy stocking stuffier. So grab a copy of The Gamecock, five days a week this week! Hell, grab two. If you fold them together a few times you can make a decent pillow to help you ma/ce it through that 8 a.m. class.