Issuu

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA

VOL. 116, NO. 82 • SINCE 1908

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2015

HEAD TO HEAD

Y u no like memes? Editors answer, see Page 4

Signing day 2015 Top number of recruits by state: 10 — Georgia 5 — South Carolina 3 — Florida 2 — Alabama, California, Kansas, Virginia 1 — Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri

Jeﬀrey Davis / THE DAILY GAMECOCK

Staley is new honorary sheriff in town

Graphic by Brittany Wilt & Grey Klein

South Carolina signing day primer David Roberts @DAVIDJAYROBERTS

Football recruiting rankings should be taken with a grain of salt. Perhaps a little more than a grain should be prescribed when talking about the intentions of 17 and 18-year-old kids. Some recruits, as many of us saw Monday night with Arden Key, like to milk the recruiting process for every drop of attention they can get. Others, like four-star recruit Shameik Blackshear, don’t even have a ceremony planned for Wednesday’s national signing day. Before Feb. 4 nobody knows exactly where a recruit will land. Recruiting analysts, fans and even some players don’t know before the day when they fax in their letters of intent. Also, add the variable of a five-star recruit never quite living up to his expectations and it is impossible to accurately grade a school’s recruiting class until four or five years after the players sign. But the Gamecocks have a head start on the process. South Carolina has already enrolled seven athletes, including the No. 1 junior college recruit in the nation in defensive end Marquavius Lewis, who is rated as a four-star recruit and received a 6.0 out of a possible 6.1 rating from Rivals.com. Others who arrived in January with Lewis are: Ernest Hawkins - 3 stars - linebacker 6’2”, 225 pounds (Salinas, California)

Jalen Henry - 3 stars - linebacker 6’1”, 215 pounds (Foley, Alabama) Ulric Jones - 3 stars - defensive lineman 6’6”, 290 pounds (El Durado, Kansas) Christian Owens - 4 stars - tight end 6’5”, 205 pounds (Griffin, Georgia) Sherrod Pittman - 4 stars - linebacker 6’0, 215 pounds (Jacksonville, Florida) Darin Smalls - 3 stars - Safety 5’11”, 182 pounds (Summerville, South Carolina) Jerad Washington - 3 stars - wide receiver 5’8”, 150 pounds (Jacksonville, Florida) Dexter Wideman - 4 stars - defensive tackle 6’3”, 280 pounds (Camden, South Carolina) There are 21 other athletes who have not yet signed, but have given South Carolina verbal commitments. Now, commitments are not as concrete as the word suggests. The Gamecocks alone have had nine decommitments since its recruiting class was named the third-best class in the nation early in 2014. Ten recruits are from Georgia, while South Carolina ranks second with five. Almost one-fourth of South Carolina’s 2014 team was comprised of athletes from Georgia. Of the 101 Gamecocks listed on the official roster, 25 hailed from the Peach State. S out h Ca r ol i n a’s com m it s a re l isted i n alphabetical order on page 2. SEESIGNINGPAGE2

— Compiled by David Roberts, Sports Editor

Ca mpu s Mov ieFest is back for the fifth year at USC, and student fi lmmakers are grabbing cameras and shooting for top prizes. As the world’s largest student fi lm festival, Campus MovieFest hooks contestants up with filming equipment and technical support for a week while they make short fi lm entries. And this year’s prizes exceed all those from before — Western Digital is offering a $10,000 Fan Choice Award and Elfenworks is offering up to $23,5000 in cash prizing for films under the Social Justice category. A nd on Tuesday, Students made t hei r way to t he Ru s s el l Hou s e Ballroom to pick up a variety of fi lm equipment to start producing f ive m i nute mov ies to work u nt il t he collection period on Monday, Feb. 9. “In the past, Campus MovieFest at USC has been a great success, and we feel a lot of really talented fi lmmakers come from USC,” said Jessi Searing, C a mpu s Mov ie Fe s t P r o mot io n s Manager. A nd Ca mpu s Mov ieFe st is not ju st for f i l m st udent s — a nyone

can do it. A nd t hough it may seem intimidating, Campus MovieFest isn’t meant to be seriously competitive. “Anything is a movie,” Searing said. “If you’ve done a Vine, Snapchat stor y or taken a movie on your phone, you’re already a fi lmmaker.” It can be tough to judge student fi lms, Searing said, since it’s clear they’ve put in the work. Plus, every fi lm is different from the one before. Campus MovieFest offers many different categories to enter films under, ranging from animated fi lms to comedies and dramas, t hough comed ies a nd d ra mas tend to b e t he more p opu la r gen re s ubm i s s ion s , ac c ord i ng to Searing. Campus MovieFest will be rolling out the red carpet for the f inale, Thursday, Fe b . 12 i n t h e R u s s e l l House Ballroom, to screen entries and announce the four winning fi lms.

applicants

@K_SEEEE

Source: Campus MovieFest Graphic by Grey Klein

Campus MovieFest returns for fifth year Kasey Meredith

B a s k e t b a l l T i m e s n at io n a l coach of the year, Olympic gold medal recipient and now, honorary deputy for the Richland County Sheriff’s Department. S o u t h C a r o l i n a w o m e n ’s basketball coach Dawn Staley was recognized by Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott Tuesday, when she was sworn in as an honorary sheriff’s deputy after practice at the Carolina Coliseum. “Staley has always been interested in law enforcement, and this has become a way for her to live out that dream and be a part of the sheriff department’s family,” Lot t told WACH Fox News. St a le y ’s i mpac t reac he s f a r beyond t he ba sketba l l cou r t ; she founded The Daw n Staley Fou nd at io n i n Ph i l a d e lp h i a , Pennsylvania, an organizat ion that concentrates on providing academic and athletic advantages to inner city girls. I n 2013, s h e c o -f o u n d e d IN NERSOLE, which provides shoes to ch ildren who are homeless or in need. As of Feb. 3, the organization has donated over 5,700 sneakers to children.

2013

applicants

4 01

number of film entries

133 applicants

Campus MovieFest turnout at USC

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Bill to allow bystanders to save children

Editor-in-Chief HANNAH JEFFREY Managing Editor SAMANTHA LOCKWOOD Online Editor KATIE COLE Design Director BRITTANY WILT Special Sections Director KELLY VILLWOCK Copy Desk Chiefs DREW MUELLER MARY KATE GARMIRE EMILY READY Photo Editors KAMILA MELKO HANNAH CLEAVELAND News Editors LAUREN SHIRLEY MADELEINE COLLINS Features Editor LOIS CARLISLE Arts & Culture Editors BELVIN OLASOV ERIKA RYAN Opinion Editor BEN CRAWFORD Sports Editor DAVID ROBERTS Assistant Photo Editor CODY SCOGGINS Assistant Design Director BIANCA CORREA Arts Design Director GREY KLEIN Sports Design Director RACHAEL MCGAHEE Assistant Opinion Editor BEN TURNER Assistant Sports Editors BRENNAN DOHERTY KELLI CALDWELL Social Media Director MATT MCBREEN Copy Editors DEBBIE CLARK, CHELSEA MORRIS, KELLY ELLIOTT, KEVIN KEATING, MADELEINE VATH, MARY HINNANT, SETH ISMAIL, RANA SOBEIH Faculty Adviser DOUG FISHER

South Carolina’s House has proposed a bill that would allow bystanders to save children and disabled adults trapped in cars without consequences, The State reported. Since 1997, 10 South Carolina children have died due to being left unattended in overheating cars. Nationwide, 31 children died last year — three were from South Carolina. South Carolina already has a “Good Samaritan” law that protects those who help accidents or fire victims from lawsuits. Rep. Bill Sandifer said that while the “Good Samaritan” law protects assisting others, the new proposal would stop lawsuits based on property damage created when rescuing a child or disabled adult. The proposal was unanimously approved in the House’s labor, commerce and industry committee on Tuesday. It will soon be brought to the House floor. — Madeleine Collins, News Editor

Deputies chase convict after suspected drug deal

Interim Student Media Director SARAH SCARBOROUGH Business Manager KRISTINE CAPPS Creative Director EDGAR SANTANA Production Manager DEGAN CHEEK Creative Services ASHLEY CROMPTON RANNAH DERRICK LINA LEGARE KODY KRATZER Student Advertising Manager AMBER GRANT Advertising Representatives DAVID CHEETHAM, THOMAS DIGENNARO, MICHELE DRESSLER, DREW HART, IAN PEACOCK, ERIN O’CONNELL, HOLLY HEATON, WRIGHT CLARKSON, JOSHUA DAVISON

Stephen Earl Wood Jr., a convicted felon, led Kershaw County deputies on a high speed chase late Monday night, the State reported. Wood and Dustin Lee Blair, 26, were stopped a street light for a while, prompting a deputy to notice them. Blair left the car to close the trunk, and dropped what appeared to be a package of drugs. The deputy turned on his lights, and Blair escaped to the woods across the street, while Wood engaged the officer in a car chase. Wood sped toward US-1, at times crossing into the wrong lane. Wood ultimately lost control of the vehicle and wrecked. Wood was arrested for failure to stop for police and driving without a license. Woods is being held at the Kershaw County Detention Center, where he awaits a bond hearing. No charges were filed against Blair because drugs were not found at the scene. — Madeleine Collins, News Editor

Photos of woman’s deceased son stolen

The Daily Gamecock is the editorially independent student newspaper of the University of South Carolina. It is published daily 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 Daily Gamecock are those of editors or author and not those of the University of

A Charlotte photographer’s camera containing the only photographs of a family’s deceased son was stolen from her garage, WIS-TV reported. Faith Massey, the photographer, has insurance that can replace the equipment, she cannot recover the images saved on the camera. As part of the “Now I lay me down to sleep” organization, Massey takes photos of newborns that will not likely live long enough to leave the hospital. April McLean’s son, who died just thirty minutes after he was born, was photographed shortly before his death. The pictures were of the child and his family, his first bath and of him and his mother. McLean asked that the thief return at least the memory card so that she can have the photos of the first and last moments she had with her son. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are investigating. — Madeleine Collins, News Editor

South Carolina. The Board of Student Publications and Communications is the publisher of The Daily Gamecock. The Department of Student Media is the newspaper’s parent organization. The Daily 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.

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CORRECTIONS If you find an error in today’s edition of The Daily Gamecock, let us know about it. Email editor@dailygamecock.com and we will print the correction in our next issue. SIGNINGPAGE1

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boots & bows on dailygamecock.com

Zack Bailey - 4 stars - offensive lineman 6’5”, 300 pounds (Summerville, South Carolina) Shameik Blackshear - 4 stars defensive end 6’4”, 245 pounds (Bluffton, South Carolina) Toure Boyd - 3 stars - defensive back 6’1”, 190 pounds (Rancho Cucamonga, California) Blake Camper - 3 stars - offensive line 6’6”, 281 pounds (Virginia Beach, Virginia) Joseph Charlton - 3 stars - kicker 6’5”, 180 pounds (Columbia, South Carolina) Jalen Christian - 4 stars - wide receiver 5’10”, 173 pounds (Damascus, Maryland) Deva nte Cov i ng ton - 2 stars - defensive end 6’4”, 230 pou nds (Milledgeville, Georgia) Dennis Daley - 2 stars - offensive lineman 6’6”, 290 pounds (Columbia, South Carolina) Mon Denson - 3 stars - running back 5’10”, 215 pounds (La Grange, Georgia) Trey Derouen - 3 stars - offensive lineman 6’3”, 324 pounds (Lilburn, Georgia)

Daniel Fennell - 3 stars - linebacker 6’2”, 220 pounds (Loganville, Georiga) Octavis Johnson - 4 stars - defensive back 6’0”, 183 pounds (Homerville, Georgia) Kyle Markway - 3 stars - tight end 6’4”, 219 pounds (St. Louis, Missouri) Dexter Neal - 4 stars - wide receiver 6’2”, 197 pounds (Stone Mountain, Georgia) L oren zo Nu nez - 4 stars quarterback 6’2”, 190 pounds (Kennesaw, Georgia) Christian Pellage - 3 stars - offensive lineman 6’6”, 291 pounds (Brooksville, Florida) Connor Redmond - 3 stars - tight end 6’4”, 220 pounds (Lawrenceville, Georgia) Dante Sawyer - 4 stars - defensive e n d 6 ’ 3”, 270 p o u n d s (S c o o b a , Mississippi) AJ Turner - 3 stars - running back 5’10”, 180 pounds (Clifton, Virginia) Quandeski W hitlow - 3 stars defensive end 6’4”, 228 pounds (Opelika, Alabama) Antoine Wilder - 3 stars - defensive back 5’11”, 172 pounds (Atlanta, Georgia)

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Wednesday, February 4, 2015

USC alumnus meets in the ‘Middleton’

Caleb Franklin / THE DAILY GAMECOCK

Glenn German’s film was originally supposed to star Meg Ryan and Kevin Bacon, but the pair was later replaced.

Erika Ryan @RIKA_RYAN

It’s not too often that a Gamecock alumnus becomes a fi lm writer, which makes it especially rare when a former student body president does it. A f t er he re c ei ve d a g r adu at e deg re e i n journalism from USC in 1985, Glenn German

made his way to NYU to attend graduate film school and he’s been making film for 14 years now. And on Tuesday night, Carolina Productions screened his most recent project “At Middleton” (co-written by German and Adam Rodgers) in the Russell House Theater. According to German, the most exciting part of the night for him was watching his own movie in a theater he got to know very well in college.

“I’ve seen probably half of everything in my life in [the Russell House] Theater,” German said. “It was just a seminal part of my falling in love with movies.” When Rodgers and German began co-writing movies, they sold seven different ideas but none of them ended up getting produced. Finally, the idea for “At Middleton” was born. “At some point we decided that we weren’t going to write something that we thought somebody might buy, but we were going to write something that we could actually make,” German said. “A t M i d d l e t o n” f o c u s e s o n a n u p t i g ht cardiologist who meets a quirk y, off-the-wall mom during a college visit. They’re there for their own children, but they bond while playing hooky from the tour and making a tour of their own. The movie is a romance, but it takes an interesting approach to a love story, considering both main characters are already married. They ride bikes around the campus, explore the school’s buildings, crash a drama class and more — German even admitted that the storyline was loosely based on a tour Rogers took when he was touring Wesleyan in Connecticut. “[Rodgers and another girl on the tour] sort of played tour hooky. They went off for two or three hours, and they were just two 17-year-old kids,” German said. “We sort of liked this nugget of an idea, but then I think we just got old, and we wondered, ‘Well, what about the parents?’” Originally, German said that Kevin Bacon and Meg Ryan were set to star in this fi lm, but the movie ended up starring Andy Garcia and Vera Farminga. Even with several cast changes, he was pleased with how the movie and its cast turned out. “Now that I look back on it, I wouldn’t have traded those two for the world,” he said. “It was a huge thrill seeing wonderfully talented people saying the things that you’ve written.” Overall, German has come a long way since he pledged Sigma Alpha Epsilon and took office as student body president in the ’80s. All the same, he was inspired by his time on this campus. “If it wasn’t for this theater,” he said from the stage of the Russell House theater, “I wouldn’t be doing this.”

Courtesy of Lionsgate

Full of cheap laughs and cartoonish acting, Johnny Depp’s latest film “Mortdecai” is an absurdist, action-comedy that fails to pinpoint any specific target audience.

‘Mortdecai’ lacks thought, can’t compare to recent hits “Mortdecai”

Release Date: January 23 Starring: Johnny Depp, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor Running Time: 106 minutes

Told from the point of view of a ridiculously theatrical art dealer, “Mortdecai” is a fast-paced story of the search for a stolen Goya painting. Charlie Mortdecai, played by a particularly stagy Johnny Depp, is painfully stuck in another era, dressing in flamboyant outfits and speaking in metaphors. He somewhat reluctantly embarks on a journey across Europe to retrieve a painting that allegedly contains codes to a loaded bank account. At first, it is impossible to tell the time period in which this movie is taking place, but it becomes obvious that Mortdecai and his equally dramatic wife, Johanna, played by an aging Gwyneth Paltrow, are oddballs in a modern setting. Their utterly bizarre banter accurately reflects the preposterous

British stereotypes that are used throughout the movie. This Pink-Panther-style film is chock full of various antics and slapstick comedy. There are countless characters, each succumbing to marginally inappropriate stereotypes about their nationalities, who make momentary appearances as Mortdecai and his “man-servant” Jock (Paul Bettany) transect Europe, connecting clues and getting into trouble. All the interactions and conversations that take place in this movie are absolutely absurd; there isn’t a moment that the audience can learn to fall in love with a character, feel empathy or get attached to any one setting. You try to solve the mystery as the story moves along, but in doing so, there is no time or opportunity to get any emotional encouragement. But who was this movie made for? Not kids, due to some raunchy humor and an R-rating. And certainly not the average adult looking for an intellectually stimulating heist film, because the whole plot is predictable and flat. The film fails entirely at pinpointing an audience, unless you count the occasional silly hipster looking for a cheap laugh. What the movie does succeed in is establishing continuity. From an overarching mustache motif to the inclusion of endlessly illogical conversation,

there are really no surprises in the plotline. The only unpredictable aspect of this movie is how a post-Pirates-of-the-Caribbean Depp seems to have gone so far downhill. The roundabout storyline and incorporation of endless random characters make this movie hard to take seriously. Not to mention all the colors are unnecessarily saturated, making it borderline cartoonish. This movie was the live-action version of a Looney Tunes cartoon, ludicrous injuries and repetitive background music included. There are undoubtedly times when a forgiving audience will laugh out loud, but when it comes to enjoying this movie on a deeper level, there’s no chance. The story had incredible potential to explore the complexities of the shady art industry, while still focusing on humor, but the juxtaposition between constant joking attitude and reference to a completely unrelatable lifestyle made it something that critics won’t take seriously and the general public can only laugh at. Looking to kill time? “Mortdecai” works perfectly if you’re searching to watch something that you don’t have to think about. Basically, if you and your date need a lighthearted movie to see without risking any emotional attachment, pick this one.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Head to Head Are memes good for society? Opinion editors debate memes’ roles, merits

Yes

Ben Turner

Ben Crawford Second-year English and Russian student

Third-year journalism student Your enjoyment of Grumpy Cat is backed up by science. In 1976, biologist Richard Dawkins published “The Selfish Gene,” a revolutionary book that put forward a new theory of genes and their role in evolution. In it, he introduced the idea of a “meme” — a cultural unit that replicates and changes in much the same way humans evolve. Dawkins even talked about the concept of something “going viral,” comparing the spread of a meme to the spread of a virus. Although Internet memes are created and then spread intentionally, rather than spreading by chance, they still follow most of the characteristics of Dawkins’ cultural units in his original analogy. Biologists have long studied the tendency of humans to mimic, copy and learn from imitation. While copying someone or something is considered inappropriate in certain circumstances, other times it is encouraged. Our society generally embraces the concept of shared experience. We want to be part of a nation, a team and a group. We want to be in on the joke. Internet memes help humans achieve these goals. Even if they may tackle trivial subject matter, they offer a window into the zeitgeist. For instance, the left shark of the super bowl halftime show gives us water cooler chatter, an icebreaker or a jumping off point for conversation. Facebook, Twitter, Yik Yak and other social media have all capitalized on the increasing need for social interaction in cyberspace. Memes also rely on this phenomenon, as well as the need of this generation to express emotions in short posts, limited characters and tiny pictures. How else to explain the popularity of BuzzFeed, which relies on animals, Harry Potter and Mean Girls to describe everyday life? Or Tosh.0, which mocks viral videos but also relies on them as a source of inspiration. Critics complain that memes are unoriginal. Some are — slapping pithy text on stock photos isn’t necessarily the best example of creativity. However, the lampooning of a universal concept is the essence of comedy, satire and social criticism and memes tap into all of these veins. Memes can generate a whole range of emotions, like empathy, sympathy, disgust, laughter, etc. They can start debates about education (Miss Teen South Carolina), religion (Tebowing), the media (Leave Britney Alone), drugs (Charlie Sheen’s “Winning”) or whatever hot-button topic you can think of. They don’t always have to be a stock photo that’s ruthlessly mocked (College Freshman). The 2012 election was dominated by memes, most of them mocking Mitt Romney. They can even be social satire (Overly Attached Girlfriend, Overly Manly Man, Successful Black Man). A scientific phenomenon, memes have a well-defined place in our lives that serves a purpose. They offer a shared human experience — plus, a lot of them are pretty funny.

Put frankly, memes are mind viruses. They are bite-sized ideas designed to spread, change and infect as many people as possible. Their survival depends on an inherent adaptability. The more forms a meme takes, the more chances it has to mutate into a new strain. And a sufficiently changed meme, like speciation in animals, might have very little relation to the original idea. This idea, first put forth by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book “The Selfish Gene,” once primarily concerned societal trends like catch phrases, popular clothes or music. Now, under the direction (or, more precisely, indirection) of Internet space, these tiny, flitting ideas have developed a prominence as yet unseen in human history. For example, I can’t imagine that anyone under the age of 30 (living in any country) does not know what a “troll face” — or, in original terminology “cool face” — is. The toothy rictus of this drawing has reached a state of immortality on the Internet and pervades social media like leprosy used to in ancient Judea. So, why is this phenomenon bad for us? First, memes tend to oversimplify in their content and perpetuate stereotypes over thought. They are the equivalent of going around holding cue cards instead of making the effort to talk to people. As such, they convey a vague general impression (joy, hate, disgust) rather than anything personalized. This is important for a number of reasons: we convey information to each other based on not only our general outlook and temperament, but also with small individual tics of behavior and expression. With memes, none of this work to create an individual is necessary. Second, too many people who perpetuate memes fail to impart their own personal variation of it, and yet continue to find it funny — sometimes for months. If you have ever worked with people who had, at one point, an obsession with the “doge,” meme, you will understand what it is like to live in the world of Franz Kafka’s “The Trial.” A joke, not very funny in the fi rst place, is guaranteed to cause the kind of laughter once reserved for the rapid-fire jokes of Mitch Hedburg. If you are not also charmed by the meme, those around you will appear to speak a very different language. The third is the newish phenomenon of monetizing memes. Because they are viruses, manufactured commercial memes are beginning to appear on the Internet marketplace. As advertising gets more and more surreal, they are beginning to adapt the form of the meme to target as many consumers as possible. (The Old Spice “I’m on a horse” guy is a prime example.) Because they are starting to be perverted (or created) by unscrupulous ideological or commercial parties, the very form itself is becoming even more dangerous. As dystopian future as it sounds, they are literally implanting the naturally occurring mind-viruses of the Internet with their own messages.

HANNAH JEFFREY

EMILY READY

CODY SCOGGINS

ERIKA RYAN

Editor-in-Chief

Copy Desk Chief

Photo Editor

Arts & Culture Editor

SAMANTHA LOCKWOOD

BRITTANY WILT

BEN TURNER

DAVID ROBERTS

Managing Editor

Design Director

Asst. Opinion Editor

Sports Editor

Recruiting unfair to both sides ISSUE South Carolina has the most decommits of any school.

OUR STANCE Blame a system that breeds mistrust between players and schools. W hile Sout h Carolina football i n it ia l ly lo oked to h ave a n a l lstar recruiting class this year, the Gamecocks have been losing ground and come limping into Wednesday’s signing day. Once ranked No. 2 nationally, this recruiting class has had the most players change their minds of any team in the country. All together, nine players have announced their intent to

play for South Carolina only to change their mind. Some blame a lackluster 2014 season for the lost recruits. Others blame head coach Steve Spurrier for saying that he would likely retire before this class graduates, only to then backpedal as players jumped ship. We believe the main source of the problem for South Carolina is the process itself. A perfect example is Arden Key, who spurned the Gamecocks twice before giving us one more chance. He announced his decision on TV, telling a national audience he chose his school out of a hat. We didn’t make the cut in Key’s sorting hat, and while we wish him well at LSU, the whole spectacle of his recruitment shows how ridiculous the process has become.

Athletes are increasingly pressured to verbally commit long before they play.

“It shouldn’t be about pilfering players, dishonesty and vacillation.” Then they are vilified when they go back on t hei r com m it ment s. Schools are also culpable, with many making headlines this year for pulling scholarships out from under players.

Many have also hired coaches who haven’t been invested in programs for the long term. All of this has led to an environment where players don’t trust the schools and schools don’t trust the players. If we want to end the television broadcasts of trying on hats, the shady midnight deals and the last minute betrayals that make signing day a shameful circus, we need to restore honor to the process of recruiting. We feel that a commitment should be just that — a commitment on both sides to be honest and forge a relationship of education and athletics. It shouldn’t be about pilfering players, dishonesty and vacillation. Signing day can be a new beginning — it doesn’t always have to be a bitter end.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015 5

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EMPLOYMENT

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HOROSCOPES

Aries

Leo

Sagittarius

The moon in your sign washes silver fortune your way. Expand your possible o u t le t s . Pa r t n e r s h ip ma ke s ever y t h i ng go f a r t h e r. A c c e p t a n accountability in a group project. Contribute and reap satisfaction. There’s love all around.

A business t rip could be perfect to have fun while mak ing money. Expand your customer base. Plan your moves in detail, and then go for it. Allow extra time for con nec t ion s a nd unexpected delays. Bring reading material.

Taurus

Gemini Yo u r w o r d s s e e m golden today. Negotiate a win-win situation, or w r ite a chapter. You f i nd w h at y o u ne e d close at hand. Research f lows. Plan a trip, and m a ke a r r a ngement s. Share the itinerary with everyone involved.

Cancer Accept a big assignment. Business depends on pract ical de c i s ion s . You h ave more mater ia ls t ha n y o u n e e d . Yo u c a n provide valuable results. Delegate less urgent tasks and watch t he nu mb er s . A d apt to delay s w it h clo se communication.

Virgo

Capricorn

Today favors peacef ul productivit y and t hought f u l pla n n i ng. Look back at what worked to deter m i ne f ut u re strategies, remaining open to innovation. Count your blessings. Retrospection and ref lection spark a valuable insight. Use your experience for good.

Go for the gold! Ever y t h i ng seems possible. There’s hidden t reasu re just below the surface. Dig for it. Investigate new options and directions. You’re g a i n i n g c o n f id e nc e . Accept assistance from a partner. Together, you can rake in the bucks.

Libra

Aquarius

It’s a good day to resolve old misunderstandings. Forgive someone, even (or especially) yourself. Fr iend s br i ng go o d fortune today. There’s more t h a n e x p e c t e d. G at her as much as you can. Share it, and celebrate together with something delicious.

Make plans, and take measured action. Important people are watching. Rise naturally to t he top. Cha nge occurs whether you like it or not. You and your partner have a lot to be t hank f ul for. Express your appreciation.

Scorpio

Luck blesses t he one who’s willing to work f or w h at t he y w a nt . Broaden you r hopes. Tr avel b e c k o n s , but take care. Think fast u nder p r e s s u r e . P ut i n con sistent ef for t s and achieve t he goal. Encourage opt imism. Venture farther out.

Believe you can prosper, put in the work and reap the benefits. Replenish you r re ser ve s . G re at abundance is available n o w. R e s p e c t f u l l y quest ion aut hor it y. A rise in status is possible. Eat hearty. You’re very attractive now.

Pisces

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Lifeguards (part-time) for SC Voc Rehab’s Muscular Development Center in W Cola. Seeking enthusiastic employees to work with adults with various disabilities in our therapeutic pool & weight room. Lifeguard Certification needed but our staff can provide the training if you are not currently certified. EOE GREAT PAY $12.73/hour! Will work around your class schedule. Questions? Call 896-6054

COMIC • CALEB FRANKLIN

You’re w i n n i ng. It ’s easier now to determine what to keep and let go. A nd it’s a ver y luck y moment for love. Play passionately, even if the game seems reversed or slow mov ing. Rev iew and revise strategies. You have wealth beyond your w ildest dreams, in the comfort of your ow n home. Listen carefully, be respectful a nd set priorit ies together. Do something nice for someone, without recognition or fuss. Love is abundant. Soak it up.

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02/04/15

1 2 3 4

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2/04/15

NOW ACCEPTING

CAROLINA CARD

ACROSS 1 Fair share, maybe 5 Polite denial 11 Pro-__ 14 Arch type 15 Commensurate (with) 16 Soaked 17 Cry from a duped investor? 19 Brother 20 “I” strain? 21 Where to find Ducks and Penguins: Abbr. 22 Eyes 24 Cry just before dozing off? 28 Eschewed the backup group 31 Mrs. Gorbachev 32 Influence 33 Took in 37 Lab medium 38 Thinking out loud, in a way 40 Farm father 41 Anthem fortifications 43 Cupid’s boss 44 Free 45 Dog named for the bird it hunted, familiarly 46 Cry from a superfan? 50 Hose 51 Dig in 52 John, Paul and George, but not Ringo: Abbr. 55 Electees 56 Cry from a Jeddah native? 61 Iron __ 62 Troubled state 63 Vronsky’s lover, in Tolstoy 64 “Balderdash!” 65 Some aces 66 Kid DOWN 1 Clinton’s birthplace 2 Bug-eyed 3 Jay related to a peacock? 4 Casbah headgear 5 Had a little something 6 Frère de la mère 7 Dent, say

8 Big lug 9 Travel org. since 1902 10 “Captain Kangaroo” character who told knock-knock jokes 11 Really bad 12 Haggard of country music 13 Flight part 18 Ocean-bay connector 23 Someone to admire 24 Grouch 25 Sung approval? 26 Prison area 27 Bring on board 28 Injury reminder 29 ’70s Olympics name 30 Good earth 34 Pixie dust leaver, to Peter 35 Deco designer 36 Beloved 38 Ufﬁzi hangings 39 Hubbub 42 Pays to play 43 Into a state of decline 45 Ocean borders 46 Patch plant 47 Rock’s __ Boingo

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48 Start 49 One may follow a casing 52 Trig function 53 XXX, at times 54 Three-handed game 57 Singer DiFranco 58 Bookmarked item nowadays 59 “Gloria in Excelsis __” 60 British rule in colonial India

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

South Carolina torched on road David Roberts @DAVIDJAYROBERTS

Three days af ter best ing a formidable Georgia team, Sout h Carolina was bounced back into the loss column by Arkansas 75-55. The Razorbacks (17-5, 6-3 SEC) constricted South Carolina’s offense with its full court press, scoring 21 points off its 20 forced turnovers. Sout h Carol i na forced n i ne turnovers Tuesday night, but only scored one point off the nine. T he 20 -poi nt loss is Sout h Carolina’s worst defeat of the season. A 27.9 f ie ld g o a l p e r c e nt a g e kept t he G a mecock s’ of fense at bay de spite out reb ou nd i ng t he Razorbacks. A rkansas secured 46 rebounds to South Carolina’s 48. South Carolina’s season average now stands at just over 41 percent through 21 games. Before the game, the Gamecocks were No. 231 in the nation in field goal percentage. Freshman guard Marcus Stroman scored four of the Gamecocks’ fi rst six points, knotting the score at six after just over six minutes of play. The two teams traded blows until a t h ree-pointer by sen ior g uard Rashad Madden sparked a nine-

point Arkansas run. The Razorbacks carried their lead into halft ime, t hen pushed t heir advantage to double digits in the early minutes of the second half. The Gamecocks did not do much to help their cause on the road as they relapsed back into their ice-cold shooting habits. South Carolina hit eight of its fi nal 33 field goals, and was atrociously awful down the stretch, missing 10 of its last field goals. Though the Gamecocks earned two more rebounds than Arkansas did, the Razorbacks doubled South Carolina’s second chance points, 16 to eight, respectively. Sophomore forward Bobby Portis victimized South Carolina all night, posting his ninth double-double of the season. Portis led the team with 18 points and 13 rebounds. He shot more than 53 percent from the field (7-13) and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Sout h Ca rol i na w i l l conclude its t wo-game road stretch with a visit to Vanderbilt Saturday. The G a meco c k s h ave not f aced t he Commodores this season, but they ended a t hree-game sk id against Vanderbilt last season with a 65-59 win.

Jeﬀrey Davis / THE DAILY GAMECOCK

Sophomore guard Sindarius Thornwell led the Gamecocks with 16 points Tuesday night.

Column: NCAA players should see compensation Jeﬀrey Davis / THE DAILY GAMECOCK

Head coach Steve Spurrier is the highest paid state employee in South Carolina, earning $4 million per year; athletics director Ray Tanner is second highest on the list.

Will Helms @WHELMS21

December was a big month for student athletes in South Carolina. T he sen ior cla s se s at C lem son a nd S out h C a r ol i n a won t he i r third and fourth consecutive bowl games, respectively, the Gamecock women’s basketball team claimed the top ranking for the first time in school history and state senator Marlon Kimpson from Charleston introduced a bill that would require both public institutions to pay some of their players. Under Kimpson’s guidelines, the public universities would be required to pay their football and basketball players up to $2,500 a semester, or roughly what a student with a workstudy job makes. In addition to that, those athletes would receive up to $5,000 a year in a trust fund that will be gifted to them upon graduation and the completion of a financial literacy course. Last year, South Carolina sports a nd enter t a i n ment ma nagement professor Tom Regan conducted

a st udy on t he economic impact of G a me c o c k at h le t ic s o n t he C olu mbi a a re a . He f ou nd t h at from fall 2013 through spring 2014, Sout h Ca rol i na at h let ic s had a $199 million impact on Columbia’s economy. Additionally, 2,329 new jobs were created as a direct result of Gamecock athletic programs. Currently, students on scholarship are awarded money based on the “cost of attendance” — a basically arbit rar y number created by t he NCA A — that includes room and board, tuition and various other fees such as meal plan and tickets to other sports. However, this number has remained constant since the 1980s, failing to even adjust for inflation. Ju st about ever yone i n Sout h Carolina knows the story of Marcus L a t t i m o r e . T h e 19 t h o v e r a l l prospect and SEC freshman of the year in 2010 endured two gruesome knee injuries during his career and never saw a snap in an NFL game. This, Kimpson says, is a common t heme present i n college spor t s today. “97 percent will not make it,” he

said, “But many have lifelong injuries arising from their student-athlete ser vices to the universit y. I want to award them something, because they’ve done great work.” Opponents of the bill argue that paying athletes would make them profe s siona ls, t hu s r u i n i ng t he integrity of the college game. Others argue that the cost is too great. In the early to mid-1900s, similar arguments were used against paying college coaches. Today, however, the average Division I football coach makes $1.64 million. For all 113 athletes to be paid, (assuming 100 percent are academically eligible) t he cost would be approx imately $565,000 per year, or 34 percent of what the average coach makes. South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier makes $4 million a year. In fact, three of the four highest paid state employees work for South Carolina athletics. They bring the university money and are paid aptly. The athletes that actually put their bodies on the line are not, plain and simple. This is not a new issue. Spurrier

has been i n favor of pay i ng h is athletes for years, often offering to do so out of h is ow n pocket. Cu r rent ly, t here a re doz en s of proposals on the national level, but none of them are past the “talking” stage. S o u t h C a r o l i n a’s a t h l e t i c depa r t ment recent ly relea sed a statement on the issue stressing their goal is, “providing a championship experience for its student-athletes in all phases of their time at the University.” Charles Bloom, Senior Associate AD/External Affairs, also stated that, “Within the rules of the NCA A and the Southeastern Conference, South Carolina will provide the benefits necessar y to make this possible.” K impson’s bill is c u r rent ly i n the senate subcommittee but will be brought to t he Senate f loor for debate as early as this spring. College athletes are ambassadors for the school, and while nothing has been done yet, it looks as if players will be compensated for their work sooner rather than later.