The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 18, 1975, Page Page 10, Image 10
GAMECOCK
BILL PRATT, Editor
BILL OUTLAW, BILL GRANT,
Editorial Page Editor Managing Editor
Sept. 18 1975
Who controls
Law School?
USC's Board of Trustees recent decision placing the 14
students it admitted to law school on probation until the
accreditation issue is solved fails to address itself to the
real question: Who will be the final determining force in
law school admissions in the future?
Not only has the Board failed to answer the real issue in
this matter, it also puts the 11 students who decided to
attend classes in a state of limbo. If it were not for the
Board, these students would not be there, but now the
Board is saying to them we are dropping you if this thing
gets hotter.
The Gamecock has previously said it does not approve
of the Board's original action and we called for them to
rescind their decision (we still feel this way), we feel the
Board is being completely unfair to the students it ad
mitted. The pressures of going to school under these
conditi ons must be great and these students need to
know wheter they are in or out. As it now stands, they are'
in today and may be out tomorrow.
The Board's intervention in this affair caused it to be
placed in a damned if you, damned if you don't situation.
If the Board had rescinded its decision, it almost cer
tainly would have a lawsuit on its hann its hands. If it
upheld the decision, it still has accreditation and the Law
School Faculty to contend with. They still needed to
answer this issue either yes or no, instead they said
maybe. This matter needs to be settled once and for all.
As we understand it, the role of the Board is to make
decision in general policy matters concerning this
University. If the Board had directed the Law School to
lower its acceptance standards to 1.66 prior to the start of
this summer's SPAT program and continue that policy in
the future, it could not be accused of playing politics.
Instead the Board chose to make a specific exception in a
special case, this does not constitute general policy
matters.
If the students involved in this affair have sufficient
grounds for doubts to exist regarding the grading of their
papers, let an impartial agaency investigate this matter
fully. Let the facts be known.
What happens next? If accreditation becomes an issue
again the students will be dropped. A law suit will
probably result. If accreditation is not an issue and the
students remain in school, what will happen next year or
the year after when another student says his grades were
tampered with. Will we have to go through all of this
again.? The Board needs to take a final stand, and it
needs to do it now.
Letters policy
The GAMECOCK invites all persons within the campus community to make their opinions
and though~ts known to our readers. It is your voice -we are the vehicle. We attempt to pr int
weekly in our "'.etters to the Editor'' section all letters received Minimal editing is
promvi'sad, and though longer letters will be printed, letters of 200 words and under are gi ven
preference due to spce requirements. And, it is the decision of the editors that we not r un
anoniyn,0us letters, though we will withhold names for valid reasons
PreferAby. letters should be typed with name and address of the author included Please
deliver letters personally to our office in Room 316 Russell House or write Campus Opinion.
Drawer A. USC. Columbia sesnS.
Well, I'll Huff
and I'll Puff
Ronald R
Ford's o
By Pat Pizzella
Senator James Buckley of New
York has called him the "Rem
brandt of American con
servativism." For eight years he
successfully governed the most
populous state in the nation. He is
one of the most sought after and
highest paid banquet speakers in
the country. If he enters the
Republican Presidential
Primaries I believe he will be the
GOP nominee in 1976. His name is
Ronald Reagan and explanation
follows.
In 1966 California was faced with
a tremendous state debt, con
tinuously growing welfare rolls,
and an equally expanding amount
of state employes. In November
of that year Reagan, a former
actor, known more for his role as
the gipper than that of a politican,
was overwhelmingly elected
governor. He was elected amidst
the complaints of his ideological
opponents that an actor was
unqualified to serve as governor.
These were probably the same
voices that cheered loudly when a
former haberdasher named Harry
Truman campaigned for
President.
While governor, Reagan
compiled a record that has gar
nered him the national attention.
Consider someone who decreased
the number of people on the
welfare rolls and at the same time
increased the payments to those
who were really in need. Un
believable, is it not? Well the
person Reagan appointed to head
his welfare program, Robert
And r
your d
Ld
WALL,
0
eagan:
11y challen
Carlesson, later went to
Washington D.C. to assist the
Health Education and Welfare
department in the area of welfare
reform. How many former
governors can boast that the
number of employes on the state
payroll did not increase by a single
person during their period in of
fice? Certainly not Nelson
Rockefeller. However, this only
one of the amazing feats of
Governor Reagan's eight years in
Sacramento.
In 1974, when the bankruptcy of
New York City was only a gleam in
Mayor Abe Beame's eye and many
states were looking for new ways to
raise money, California was trying
to return more than $500 million
surplus to the taxpayer. It seems
Gov. Reagan was in the rebate
business long before Chrysler and
Joe Garagiola.
In addition to Reagan's out
standing accomplishments as
'governor, another attribute of the
former governor is that he is not a
product of the nation's capital. The
last four presidents have been
nurtured within a twenty-five mile
radius of the White House. They,
Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford,
played minor league ball, so to
speak, in the Senate or House of
Representatives and most spent
time as Vice-President.
Eisenhower was the most recent
president who was not a result of
the government corporate ladder,
and there are those who maintain
he just retired to the White House.
Yes, it is time for someone with
fresh ideas and a large-sized
broom to descend on Washington
and do some majior houeclanning.
11 blow
orm down
NO'
ge
Some political scientists like to
point at the Goldwater candidacy
of 1964 and say Reagan could not do
much better in 1976. 1 am of the
opinion Reagan studied the
Goldwater campaign much like a
golfer would study his partner's
putt. Consider the basic dif
ferences between them. When
Goldwater ran, he was a senator
from the sparsely populated, rural
state of Arizona. Reagan is a
former governor of the nation's
largest state. The Arizona
senator's face was not familiar to
the large majority of voters in 1964.
Ronald Reagan has an extremely
recognizeable face. How many of
us can honestly say we have never
seen the movie "Knute Rockne,"
or at least one episode of Death
Valley Days? Our opinion of these
performances aside, the
Californian is far from a total
stranger to the American public.
Goldwater had many problems
with the media, whereas Reagan,
because of his background in
cinema, is as astute in front of a
camera as anyone.
So why hasn't the conservative
republican said he will run?
Especially since a Gallup Poll,
taken not so long ago, showed that
59 per cent of the American people
identify themselves as con
servative. Time is undoubtably of
the essence. In order to put
together an effective campaign
organization an announcement
must come soon. As syndicated
columnist James J. Kilpatrick has
stated, "It's time for Reagan to
fish or cut hnait."