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Page 2
Friday, March 3, 2006
TtePiiat'
Opinions
Don’t ‘rush’ in for minor victories settle while
Jacob Conley
Pilot Sports Editor
College basketball is full of pag
eantry, emotion and stands full of stu
dents,
I am proud to count myself among
the students and will continue to do
so until 1 graduate. But my pride was
lessened on two separate occasions this
season when students inappropriately
rushed the court.
While I think this is a great tradi
tion, there are some things that need to
be considered before doing it.
First of all, the students must ask
themselves if the team GWU defeated
is rush worthy. If the opponent is Duke
or Carolina, by all means, go nuts, act
crazy, celebrate the victory because you
as a student deserve to express your joy
for the world to see. Think about it.
What kind of message does it send to
the other team, if we as students rush
the court? By rushing the court we
are saying that GWU garnered an un
expected win against a team that has a
better talent level than we do.
Remember, GWU is defending con
ference champion. The North Florida
game was particularly embarrassing
because the Ospreys are a first-year Di
vision 1 program.
Even though it was an exciting
game that ended in an improbable
fashion, 1 wish students had stayed off
the court because should not be over
joyed that we beat a first-year program
by only two points. When the Bull
dogs win against a team like that, fans
should have a very businesslike attitude
toward the victory.
Any other attitude gives the other
team to much respect.
Another reason students should
think carefully before rushing the court
is safety.
In &e excitement of a big victory,
normally courteous students forget
about the others in the stands. In the
aftermath of the two victories in which
the court was rushed this season, I was
jostled, jumped over, and 1 was even
accidentally kicked.
So, on the rare occasions when
rushing the court is warranted, do it
carefully and courteously.
Others struggle
A final Duke hoorah for grandmother
Sarah James
Pilot Web Editor
1.6 seconds left in the game. Coach
K calls a time out to get his team to
gether. The plan was to go to J.J.
Redick for the winning shot. They
inbound the ball to Sean Dockery. He
shot from 40 feet and makes the win
ning shot.
That Duke game will not only go
down in Sean Dockery’s mind and
heart but mine and my families as
well. This shot was one of my grand
mother’s last memories.
My grandmother has been an avid
Duke fan her whole life, and I know
that made her happy to see her boys
win one last time. My grandmother,
Wilma T. McCracken passed away
this December.
My aunt made a box for each of us
with the petals and leaves of the roses
from her funeral and the names we
used to call her. My mother and aunts
called her Mama, my cousins called
her Granny Mack, and my brother and
I called her Mack Mack. The box now
sits in my room on my bookshelf, and
I can remember her by it.
I think some of my greatest memo
ries of my grandmother have come out
of getting to know her after she passed
away. My grandmother was not in the
greatest of health during my life and
she moved to Indianapolis when I was
young.
Also on the casket, were the names
that we used to call her. A funny story
1 remember from this time was about
her casket. Mack Mack had picked out
her casket before she passed away.
When my aunts and mother went
to get it, they had stopped making it.
The only one in the same style they
had left had Carolina Blue in it. My
aunts and mother immediately said no
because they knew their Mama would
come back from the grave if she was
buried in a Carolina Blue casket.
Luckily, they were able to find a
Duke Blue casket.
Some of the most cherish able
times I have had and spent with my
grandmother have been talking about
Duke Basketball
When I first heard of my grand
mother being sick and in the hospital, I
thought of the Duke tickets she gets us
each year. I was wondering will I ever
be able to go to another Duke game, I
know that isn’t what you are supposed
to think about when your grandmoth
er is dying but it is what came to my
head.
I also thought a lot about my moth
er and her two sisters. I knew it must
be hard on them to watch her pass
away. My mother continues to tell me
that she was not in pain her last few
days.
My cousins were able to be with
her during the last few days of her life.
One of my cousins was supposed to
go to training in Detroit for his job.
Just like my cousin he was late again
and had procrastinated on packing and
getting his ticket. Luckily, he had this
time.
My uncle called him right as he
was supposed to board the plane and
told him to come home that Mack
Mack might not make it through the
week. He immediately left to go home
to see her.
Of course, there was a Duke game
on when he entered the room to see my
Granny Mack, The first thing she said
to him was, “you are supposed to be in
Detroif’. He answered back, “I came
to watch the Duke Game with you.”
My mother told me the story of her
passing away and I would like to share
it with you.
Even though this was a very hard
time on my family, they had some
laughs. One time when my aunts and
mom were laughing, they saw my
grandmother smile. My mother be
lieves that is when her soul passed
away and entered into heaven. She en
tered in peace and with no pain.
My mother was the only one at the
hospital. Her two sisters had taken a
break and gone to get some shut eye
because they all had been there for
over 24 hours sitting beside her bed.
My mother was holding my grand-
mother’s hand; she began to say the
Lord’s Prayer. As my mother said
Amen by grandmother’s face began to
change and she passed away.
1 will always love you. Mack
Mack.
I Spy: Examining Bush’s wiretapping poiicy
Left; Joanna Wallace has a positive
outlook on a ‘negative idea’
Right; Rebecca Clark says wiretapping
is a necessary safety precaution.
I’ve always viewed the
war in Iraq in a positive,
optimistic light: the defeat
of authoritarianism, the ex
pansion of democracy, hop
ing maybe something good
would come of it.
Of course, that makes me
a very minor liberal voice in
modem Western discussions
seeing as how most liberals
are anti-war as much as they
are anti-Bush.
This war, while bloody
and long-standing, does
have certain positive as
pects.
Many of my fellow lib
erals will argue that the U.S.
entered the war without a
clear, direct, and immediate
danger to our country but
look at what we are doing
over there.
The moral authority al
ways was, and always will
be, with those who fight to
relieve the suffering of oth
ers.
The moral authority does
not belong to the Ameri
cans, but simply to those
who act.
It has nothing to do with
the United States, liberal or
Republicans alike.
There is a global, mor
al, and liberal ideal in play
here, not a geopolitical one.
While I am somewhat
harsh in my judgments, I
only agree with war where
repression is long-standing,
wtoe change from inside is
stalemated, and where the
actual amounts of suffering
committed
by the klep-
tocracies are
worse than
the practical
estimates of
suffering that
would ensue
as a by prod-
. Wallace
uct of an inva
sion.
There is no slippery
slope. I am being very
guarded in my determina
tion.
I am talking about those
regimes where the illegiti
macy of the government is
well agreed upon, by both
those outside, and inside the
country, and by a large ma
jority.
It is “invade only in the
most hopeless and exten
sive of cases,” not “invade,
at the slightest hiccup.”
I have begun to think
that the war had its greatest
positive effect in spurring
foreign countries to be more
active in arms limitation
efforts whereas the war’s
most significant negative ef
fect seems to have been on
U.S. credibility.
There are always risks
involved when things
change.
But for the past 40 years
the fear of these risks has
paralyzed Western policy
toward the Middle East.
And what has come of this
caution?
Repression, radical Is
lam and terror.
www.gwupilot.com
A few years ago, Iraq
was just another country on
the map. Now it is a name
that elicits varying depths of
emotion.
I met with Robert Road-
cap, a soldier on leave who
had been stationed in Balad,
a city north-west of Bagh
dad. When I asked him how
long he would be home, he
said he would be returning
the next morning after a
two-week leave.
When 1 asked him how
he felt about returning, I
was surprised by his answer.
“I’m ready to get back,” he
said. “It’s hard being here,
knowing that my guys are
there. I want to get back to
them.”
Roadcap’s main job is
driving a Bradley Fight
ing Vehicle which us a
type of tank, or a Bradley,
as they call it. On a typical
day, his first duty is check
ing the maintenance of the
tank, looking for anything
that needs repairing or any
other problems with the ve
hicle. If there is no mainte
nance necessary, he said he
goes through an Operations
Order, which is a briefing
for his next mission. After
a communications check,
he does patrols for about
five hours, looking for any
signs of trouble or conduct
ing random house to house
searches. He said they are
always on the lookout for
suspicious behavior. One
of the reasons for the pa
trols Roadcap said, was
just showing their presence.
“We’re not backing down,”
he said. “We’re here.” That
Clara Lilly
Pilot staff writer
February is at its end,
and I want to thank all those
students who participated in
any programs that catered to
educating multitudes about
the importance of black his
tory.
1 want to acknowledge
those individuals that read
my last article about the
lack of attention black his
tory gets at Gardner-Webb
University and responded
by putting facts about in
fluential black figures on
Channel 23.
To me that signified my
voice being heard.
I urge everyone here
on campus to participate in
other activities that will take
place to promote diversity
and unity at Gardner-Webb
University.
Take the time to attend
the meetings of these orga
nizations that target issues
such as diversity and unity.
It is my goal to help
promote diversity and unity
through my column.
We have a lot of work
left to do, yet I believe
eventually Gardner-Webb
will evolve into the unified
university it seeks to be.
For those students who
read this article and are too
“comfortable” in their little
box to entertain the idea
of diversifying their social
circle, I hope you realize
that you are hindering the
growth of the university.
It is not one person’s job
to promote the ideals of di
versity.
The reason I emphasize
so much on the issue of di
versity is because without
diversity, we can never es
tablish the unity Gardner-
Webb needs.
The organizations such
as Black Student Union,
Diversity Council or the
Mosaic Club are not solely
responsible for changing
Gardner-Webb University.
Everyone has to participate
in expanding their minds to
understand another person’s
culture.
Those organizations
serve as the foundation to
which the students have to
build a bridge to close the
gap here at Gardner-Webb.
In order for the bridge
to be built efficiently each
student has to practice per
sonal accountability as well
as unity with the entire stu
dent body.
The purpose of this ar
ticle is to recognize the
people who showed their
support in any activities
during this month, while
also approaching those who
chose to stay in their rooms
and watch television.
We have taken one step
forward, yet there are sev
eral steps left to take.
Just because you came
to the black history pro
gram does not mean your
“good deed” for the month
will suffice, instead you
should become active in our
attempt to unify Gardner-
Webb University
Do not “settle” in your
personal contentment while
others are striving for a
sense of belonging.
is the mes
sage they
want to give.
One of the
obvious ques
tions 1 asked
Robert was
what the big
gest danger
he faced was. He
said the Improvised Explo
sive Device was the main
source of danger. Some
of them consist of buried
mortar rounds in the roads
which are then triggered by
a cell phone.
As expected, the soldiers
miss family and friends.
Roadcap said that many
of them are ready to come
home. But in spite of that,
morale still remains high.
“There’s been lots of prog
ress,” he said, “and changes
take time. We’re going to be
in Iraq for awhile.” When I
asked him what he thought
about pulling out of Iraq,
he said that if they left now
there just be another war a
couple of years down the
road “Changing a people
or a place won’t take place
overnight,” he said, but he
was confident that “we’re
over there doing what we
should.”
Do the negatives out
weigh the positives? I asked
him. He looked thoughtful
for a minute before reply
ing. “No,” he said, “I would
say the positives are pretty
much tied with the nega
tive.”
His whole outlook re
garding the war? “There are
certain things I agree with,
and certain things I don’t.”
0 TffiPB,OT ^
GARDNER-WEBB UNrVERSlTY
Box: 5192
Phone: 704-406-3533
www.gwupilot.com
gwupilot@yahoo.com
Editor in chief
Amanda Wood
Managing editor
Christie Barlow
Sports editor
Jacob Conley
Photo editor
Kaylin Bowers
Web editor
Sarah James
Staff writers
Kate McKerney
Minta Stacy
Sarajane Burroughs
Joanna Wallace
Rebecca Clark
Ciara Lilly
Designers
Daniel Elliott
Kristi Wold
Photographers
Kevin Banks
Katie Bryant
Ashley Carter
Joseph Fluty
Rachel Lloyd
Emily Slaughter
Advisor
Nancy-Pat S. Dire
pilot @gardner-webb.edu
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