The Daily Gamecock

Issue date: 2/21/08 Section: Viewpoints

Candidates should be punished for cheating

I am writing to address the issue of the "five points and you're out" system in our very own Student Government elections. I am absolutely appalled at how our Student Government elections are run. If a candidate breaks the rules they should be disqualified from the election. If a professor caught me looking over notes during an exam I would be crazy to expect a mere point reduction, as Alesha Brown was given! What kind of country do we live in if not even Student Government elections are run fairly?

Giving candidates an opportunity to build up five points before becoming disqualified is giving dishonest candidates leeway to cheat and is completely ludicrous. How can we call Alesha Brown a leader when she broke rules last year and continued to break rules this year? Do we want a person who intentionally breaks the rules and cheats the system representing our student body while we penalize those that play by the rules?

This reflects very poorly on our university's values. These students are soon to graduate into a tough world with a challenging economy. Will they find employers that give them five chances to break the company's policies? Do we want to portray to potential employers that the University of South Carolina puts out such slack students lacking integrity?

If a candidate cheats they should be disqualified, end of story - just as a failing grade should be given to a cheating student. If high standards of honesty and morals are not upheld, then honest, hardworking individuals do not stand a chance against the "easy-way-out" cheaters like Alesha Brown.

Kiki Brown, second-year political science student


TDG should have given equal time to all

In [Monday's] issue of The Daily Gamecock, the editorial board decided to make its viewpoint apparent through endorsements of three candidates running for various positions of SG. The board's members described their opportunity this past Saturday to talk with the candidates, and they detailed on the page why they thought their endorsements were sound. Despite whatever knowledge and experience they appear to have, I believe that the editorial board has made a serious error posting these endorsements.

Now, there are some people who are angry at the endorsements... but not for the same reason I am. They believe that TDG has no business endorsing candidates, as the newspaper is supposed to be fair and unbiased. To them, I say that they should expect nothing more from an opinion section. Mainstream newspapers like the New York Times have endorsed political candidates. I know that being angry in this way is possible because I felt this way at first ... until I remembered that this was an opinion section. Once I corrected myself, I began to think about the section more deeply.

It could be argued that the editorial board put these endorsements here because it thought it was acting in the best interests of the students here at the university. But who is to say - besides the editorial board itself - that they know who is going to be the best for Student Government?

Howard Brutsch, second-year history student

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