In1oNn "| OpiniApathy epidemic orperpetuated myth?Let us take a look |-YAZID FINNOPINION WRITERThis weekTs premise is a topic brought up in arecent conversation I had with~another SGA-involvedindividual. Does this school really have a problemwith apathy or is it just an additional generalizationsimilar to our party school� reputation? Sure wethrow double-keg parties in what once was a Churchof Scientology, but really, now, this is hardly different_ from any campus-with creative students.So the question remains: are students apa-_ thetic in regards to what happens here at ECU, oris it that they know they cannot make a differenceand simply stand down?Sure every person may. have a bout of indif-ference towards events in their life from time totime, but the myth is that ECU is blanketed inthis state of uncaring. Evidence for this conceptis lacking in my mind, as heated interest towardsthe recent subject of hard waiver insurance shouldshow what student outcry can accomplish.Many will admit they were skeptical at firstwith the idea of student forums to discuss theinsurance plan. They, like I, believed the processwould be quick and painless and that the systemwould be implemented over night, while most laypassed out comfortably in their beds or as close .to their beds as drunkenly possible.As fate would have it, the insurance plan wastabled and will continue to be discussed and inves-tigated until an unaddressed future date. Scoreone for students, no? If apathy is not the issuethen it must be the latter, as previously mentioned,which I am much more inclined to believe.Students may look at the SGA and shake theirheads, knowing their odds are something even Chris-topher Walken in The Deer Hunter would not wageron. However, while a shot at the top is out of thequestion for most, there are other ways to work thesystem. At least start by getting your foot in the door,and you would be surprised at how quickly optionspresent themselves for you to make a difference.I will be frank with you guys when I say I am some-times scared of what goes on around this school. Whenit comes to SGA politics at times, I begin to wonder ifRichard Nixon was buried beneath Mendenhall. ~Takethe spring elections. Just the other day, I was speculat-ing who would be running the tickets in creation, only "to find out, like an episode of 24, that the supposedantagonist of this act was merely a puppet. -Can you guess who the real mastermindmay be? Sorry, but you will have to tune in nextweek for the next exciting episode. 12:59:57 ...12:59:53 ... 19:59:59 4 1:00:00.This writer can be reached atopinion@theeastcarolinian.comShare the roadNot Ten points for students�LARA OLIVEROPINION WRITERI drive my car very rarely, usually just to take atrip to Raleigh or across town to get groceries that.I can't get nearby. So itTs no surprise that I usually.get around town on the bus, riding my bike or, my_ personal favorite, walking. What is surprising is howdifficult it is to remain alive and uninjured in this townif youre someone who doesnTt enjoy driving that much.At every stop sign " at which pedestrians have theright of way " I have to either jog quickly across orwait until there are no cars. I have to take those precau-tions because if I don't, I might find myself squashedunder the Jeep ofa girl on her cell phone, or the Civicofa boy trying to get wherever heTs heading so quicklythat pedestrians become an inconvenience.Riding my bike isnTt much easier. ITve almost beenclipped in my own neighborhood by numerous cars going. -about 50 mph in a 25 mph zone. Downtown, I usuallyhave to end up stopping when I have the right of way, so Idon't get hit by a car thatTs California stopping� at a stopsign. By the time I get home, my nerves are so rattled bynear-death experiences that the idea of taking my dog fora relaxing� walk scares the crap out of me.When I heard about the supposed terrorist whotried to take out a group of students on the UNC-CH campus, I was surprised most of them weren'taccustomed to having to dodge cars in college life,but apparently most campuses arenTt like ours.When visiting Boston, I was amazed at how slowlycars went in pedestrian areas, and they stopped andlet people pass by! They didnTt even shout at them;it was amazing. On Hillsborough Street (next toNCSU), I found the act of crossing the street veryenjoyable. Not only was I not the only pedestrian,but I also didnTt have to worry about cars turningright on the red light and hitting me.So why is it that our campus is so pedestrianun-friendly? My sister warned me when I gothere about how many students are hit either whilewalking across Fifth or Tenth Street, or ridingtheir bikes. The walk� sign at many intersections.is a Joke since cars can still turn right on red, oftenwithout checking to see if people are walking acrossthe street. I always thought that college campuseswere designed with walking or riding your bike inmind, but it seems most of the students here wouldrather commit vehicular homicide than deign totravel on the bus or (gasp!) walk to class.How about instead of driving to class and thenspending an hour running on a treadmill at thegym, more students just walk to class? ItTs a great.way to save time and money " maybe even theenvironment, if you care about that kind of thing""and it helps you clear your head before class. Weall know how stressful it is ~trying to find a parkingspot near campus, so why not take a bus? We haveone of the best transit systems of any school in NC,so letTs take advantage of it. Plus, you canTt get aspeeding ticket, or a DW1 if you're not driving.This writer can be reached atopinion@theeastcarolinian.com{ Let the Good Times Roll! }"TUESDAY FEBRUARY 5, 2008PAGE A4RANT OF THE DAYSomebody to Love� is the best Queensong ever. Period.The East Carolinian does not endorse statements made in Pirate Rants. Questionsregarding Rants can be directed to J.D. Lewis, Opinion Page Editor, at opinion@theeastcarolinian.com. Log onto theeastcarolinian.com to submit a Rant of your own.To the dark-haired male who drivesa Toyota Forerunner with 20Ts onit through College Hill: Your momis so hot.To guy who thinks he is so big andbad and tries to fight people atparties: Grow up or get big.You're such a Salty Sally.Does anyone else wonder why UncleJesseTs last name changed fromCochran to Katsopolis? "SRC employees are pretty muchthe only people you need to knowon campus.| had to run away from the Black &Mild smoke smell outside of Chick-fil-a today because | was too afraidto tell them about the 25 feet rule.Someone find a way to enforce_ these rules!{love you, Baby Boo.FYI, you ARE aslut. Even yourmomthinks so.To the girl who breathes obnoxiouslyloud in my ethics class: Please breathethrough your mouth. It does nothingbut distract me to hear your heaving.Neither |, nor your new girlfriendthinks that itTs classy for you to callme to verify that you have in fact hadsex with me. || don't mind being a redhead, butitTs areal blow to my self-confidence whenguys look at my blonde friends beforethey even think of looking at me.My best friends screwed me overand now | have a four bedroomlease with no one to live with! Helpme please!!!| love the Pirate Rants when a girl istrying to get a guy, or vice versa. In myown twisted way, it makes me happy "to know others are lonely like me.The only reason | go to the Rec.Center is to look at the guys. _My roommate complains aboutmoney when she spends it all onPot and then calls daddy for more.Please forgive me for not pityingyou.To the fourth floor guys in Tyler: Comevisit my floor whenever you want.| should be studying biochemistryinstead of writing Pirate Rants.Is it really too much to ask for adecent-looking, sweet Southerngentleman?Why do you always have your poopface on? ,ITm._pretty sure you are going to havea burn on your face when you takethat cell phone away from your ear.~Is your bill sky high?Why is everyone at the student healthcenter so incompetent? If | actuallyhad something serious, ITd be dead bythe time they were able to see me!| would just like to thank Pirate Rants .for being my source of therapy, but |do think they should come out dailybecause | have A LOT to say.Girls that smoke gross me out tothe max.Seven words: DonTt throw up on mycouch again!!!How long will liberals listen to theDemocrats lie? Good question. Howlong did it take you Republicans togive up on Bush?| sure hope you're not driving on theleft side of the road...To my girlfriendTs roommateTsboyfriend: Next time you threatenme and all my friends, keep inmind that we are all ninjas withabnormal abilities to inflict severebodily | injury.}The other night ditathed that |choked my mom to death. | calledher to check and see if she wasokay, and she told me she also hadadream that she shot me in the head.| love my mom!i think | like you a whole, whole fot,but you had your chance and youwent back to your ex. | hope you twohave a great life together.Dear boy in my English class onMonday nights: You are really cute.LetTs be friends.Some of you East Carolina girlsmake it hard on a married man.Why do so many people insist onusing the Pirate Rants section forspilling out their romantic guts? |love you; do you love me?� I thinkabout you; do you think about me?�NEWSFLASH: For the most part, itis deeply disturbing for everybody- else reading the Rants!Why do gay boys like girly men andlesbians like really butch girls?| can't wait to go to Ohio in April!Does anyone else collect Breyerhorses?My best friend and | are livingtogether again next year. | canTt wait.She was the best roommate anyonecould ask for.| hate you people who feel that yourway of life is the only way to live life.Open up your eyes and realize thatyou and your beliefs are not thecenter of the universe.ItTs never too late for coffee.What possesses people to putdisgusting exhausts on alreadysexy cars?Stop trying to act innocent. Everyoneknows you are full of crap.Somebody to Love� is the bestQueen song ever. Period.The other day | was walking throughWest Campus and this squirrel camerunning toward Destination 360 with-half a piece of pizza in its mouth!Then it ran up a tree with it!! We don'thave to watch out for getting beanedwith acorns anymore, now we haveto watch out for leftovers!!Mustangs are overrated. Stopthinking you're the only car on theroad because you have one.| heart naps.if you hateT my away messages somuch, then I'll block you so you're. unable to read them. Would thatmake you happy?You're just jealous that you don'thave an amazing love life to sharevia away messages.Has anybody even considered thefact that the visitation policy wasmade for a reason OTHER thankeeping people from having theirsignificant other of the oppositesex over late at night? It was madebecause of cohabitation reasoningand giving both roommates equalrights as to whoTthey want in theirroom and for how long. Shocker ..it's not always about sex.| bought a brand new apple the otherday and | ate it.To the guy who sits next to me inphilosophy class: Just becausepeople have different styles andpreferences than you doesnTt meanthat people won't like them becauseof it. Quit being so judgmental!Nobody's perfect, and neither areyou.| got five Rants posted! Chickachicka yal!Waking up on Sunday morning to spendhours with 200 ranting PiratesChoosing Pirate Rants canof thumb is to never say or write anything thatyou donTt have the cajones to back up.[OF TK Bae TF taht ldFirst and nothingA Super Bowl disasterMARGOT ROGERSONOPINION WRITERAll week, or actually for the past two weeks,considering there was a bye week after the confer-ence championships, I have been looking forwardto the biggest sporting event in American culture" the Super Bowl.Parties were planned, food was bought, beerwas refrigerated (if, of course, your age allowsyou to participate in this typically fun Super Bowltradition) and it seemed like it was going to bea perfect Sunday. I actually planned to spend myday with some friends at Tie Breakers, where thenumber of TVs makes it impossible not to have aclear view of the action, no matter in which direc-tion your head is turned.With the first round of drinks on the table,and appetizers on their way, the Giants wereset to receive the opening kickoff. The first ofmany problems began here. Coverage cut outand everyone missed the GiantsT run back. Notto worry, I thought, FOX has had some technicalproblems all year. _After the first round of commercials, I wasreally getting into the Super Bowl spirit. Thenproblems with coverage got worse. It seemed likeevery couple of minutes or so, the TVs froze orcompletely went blank. These moments of silenceleft plenty of room for people to yell out obsceni-ties or seemingly helpless advice to their teams.By the end of the first half, my friends and Idecided to head home and hope for the best there.Imagine our surprise when we arrived and TomPettyTs face was frozen on the screen. After severalminutes, the screen went black. I called my par-ents in Maryland to see if the technical problemspersisted up there. No. They had perfect coverage.Luckily, they filled me in on what we missed.Almost the entire third quarter went by with_ nothing but a blank screen. However, in the fourthquarter, things seemed to be looking better. Thatis, we could actually see the game, and the teamI picked led an amazing last minute drive to theend zone to beat the Patriots in the a Super_ Bowl upset to date.When you think about how much money isspent on the Super Bowl " millions of dollarsin commercials alone " it seems absolutelyludicrous that a cable company cannot manage todeliver it in perfection. Were there too many of ustuning in? What caused this mega-sized blunderto take place? Have we gotten too technologicallyadvanced that we cannot control the systems wehave? I guess we'll just have to check out thehighlights and replays on ESPN and hope theyfigure it out before Super Bow] XLIII.This writer can be reached at "opinion@theeastcarolinian. comcaneI'd like to make a toast! HereTs to me, drinkingto cover up intense, displaced feelings offailure and loneliness!�Sarah Campbell Editor in Chiefbecome a choreJ.D. LEWISOPINION EDITORI woke up early Sunday morning with the sunstreaming directly into my eyes through a tinycrack in the blinds, and to the sound of my wifesawing logs in her sleep. A narcoleptic would havetrouble going back to sleep under those condi- |tions, so I decided to get up and start editing the- Pirate Rants for todayTs edition.Pirate Rants are one of the most fun thingsabout my job, but also the most difficult. From |one issue to the next, we receive anywhere from150 to 200 rants, and sometimes more. Obviously,they canTt all make it into the paper. The hard partis to decide which ones to keep because there arealot of real gems in the inbox.I always have 10 or 20 I'll share with my wife ifsheTs in the room, and sheTll often ask me what ITmlaughing at. I sure wish there was room in the paperto print all of the rants ... well, most of them.For all the wonderful, hilarious rants, thereare a few that just donTt cut the mustard. Everyonce in a while, a personal attack on a memberof the newspaper staff is snuck into the rants bysomeone who doesnTt agree with something thatperson wrote. Such rants are a waste of the writerTstime and, more importantly, my own because theywon't see the light of day. Legitimate concernsshould be addressed in a letter to the editor withyour name and contact information. A good rulePersonal attacks that name ECU faculty, staffand fellow students also fail to make the cut. How-ever, in the case of a particularly good rant, suchas the one last week about the professor refusingto allow the class to record lectures, I just omit thename. Go, thou, and do likewise, and you can rantall you want!- Profanity, unfortunately. disqualifies a lot of per-feetty funny rants. An occasional damn or hell is onething, but S� and F� bombs, for obvious reasons,are generally brushed aside. Sometimes the offendingword can be substituted with something else, but letTsface it, crap� and freakin� somehow lack the neces-sary punch that the writer was going for. ,~ Sunday, as I sifted through the Pirate Rants, Idecided to use some of the rants submitted last weekthat didnTt make it into the paper. I know a lot of rantswere submitted after Thursday's edition, but-in thespirit of fairness, I felt I owed it to some of the over-looked writers who were disappointed last week. Youmight say thatTs not fair to the ones who submittedrants after Thursday, and you'd be right. But life isn'talways fair, and I only have so much space to workwith. So many rants, so little space. You folks are toowitty for your own good sometimes!_ By and large Pirate Rants are a lot of fun and_I know they are the first thing most people readwhen they pick up this newspaper. Again, I amsorry that we cannot print them all; no matter howmuch I'd love to, but keep Tem coming. You neverknow when yours may be the Rant of the Day!This writer can be reached atopinion@theeastcarolinian.comRonnie WoodwardPhoto Editor "J.D. LewisOpinion EditorKimberly BellamyNews EditorJared JacksonSports EditorElise PhillipsFeatures EditorArianne SwanekHead Copy Editor ©Lizz Wells Robyn McLawhornAsst.Photo EditorStephanie Smith Matthew ParkerProduction Manager Multimedia Web EditorNewsroom 252.328.9238Fax 252.328.9143Advertising 252.328.9245Serving ECU since 1925, the East Carolinian prints9,000 copies every Tuesday and Thursday during theregular academic year and 5,000 on Wednesdays |during the summer. Our View� is the opinion ofthe editorial board and is written by editorial boardmembers. The East Carolinian welcomes letters to theeditor which are limited to 250 words (which may beedited for decency or brevity). We reserve the right toedit or reject letters and all letters must be signed andinclude a telephone number. Letters may be sent viae-mail to editor@theeastcarolinian.com or to the EastCarolinian, SelfHelp Building, Greenville, N.C. 27858-4353.Call 252-328-9238 for more information. Onecopyof the East Carolinian is free, each additional copy is $1.Asst. Sports Editor»