University of South Carolina Libraries
More Consideratioi To Proposed H4 All students are going to have to pay their room fees this semester for room reservations for next semester if Housing Office plans - are carried out. The story to this effect appeared in the Nov. 21 edition of The Gamecock. The word from Housing Office is that students occupying rooms will have first choice if they want to keep that room for next semester. But if they do not have $55 to lay on the line this semester they will not be given first choice. In other words, if some other student wants that particular room, because of the southern exposure, for example (and the present oc cupant does not pay on time) he gets the room while the present occupant moves out. The reason given by the Housing crew for doing this, according to Housing Di rector Blackie Kincaid, is to insure that no rooms will be vacant while there are students on the waiting list for campus accommodations. In the past there have been several cases where a student did not notify the office that he had changed his plans and did not any longer desire the room. Another reason for this proposed action is to keep non-students from living on campus. Recently three former University students were caught and fined for living on campus while not enrolled in class. It seems that the main reason for want ing to take this action stems from the fact that Housing Office is not able to keep track of all the rooms on campus. And we can understand why they can not-they Holiday Request Show A resolution recommending to the Presi dent's Council that the present University calendar be altered to provide for Christmas holidays beginning at 8 a.m., Wednesday, Dec. 19, instead of 8 a.m., Friday, Dec. 21, has been drawn up by Student Council. As the present calendar is set up the holidays will begin on Friday at 8 a.m. In other words you could leave the school Thursday. Christmas is on the following Tuesday. That means there are three work ing days-Friday, Saturday and Monday preceeding Tuesday. Many students would like to have the opportunity to work before Christmas so that they might make a little extra money. But the opportunity is very limited, as the calendar now stands, for any such work, because most places are not going to hire Traffic Proble The Green Street traffic problem has been with us ever since Russell House and Fraternity Row were completed. It is not getting any better. And it's a cinch, with student enrollment showing a sizeable increase each year. that this p)roblem is not going to get any better. That is, unless something is done about it. Present indications are that more build ings will be built in the vicinity of Frater nity Row. If that be true, and we are sure that it is, then the present p)roblem will be more serious than it presently is. Last year a Student Council (Committee and a studlent organization contacted sev eral city officials to see if something could be worked out about this problem. To dlate all that has been (lone has beeni the placing of traffic lights at the corner of Green and Bull streets. That has not helped much. That has not helped because the lights are not where most of the studlents seem to cross Green Street. As we see it most students cross in front of Russell Ilouse. Each clay student's health, and possibly life, is endangered because of the fast mov ing automobile traffic that whizzes by in front of the student union building. Something should be done in an attempt to correct this bad situation. s Should Be Given musing Change just do not have a large enough staff to keep check of all the rooms from day to day, or even from week to week. But nevertheless, we do not feel that this proposed action should be taken. At least, this is not the proper time to make this move. We are not advocating that students not be required to pay the $55 fee. We just think that they should not be required to pay it until next semester, as has been the policy in the past. In the past students have been required to make a $15 room deposit to reserve a room. Some students who decided to quit school did not bother to go by and pick up the $15 deposit and Housing Office did not know whether or not they had moved. But they feel that the student will think twice before moving without notice when $55 plus $15 are involved. And we agree. But we still maintain that this is the wrong time to begin this new program. Most students are attending Carolina on a limited budget. And the least little thing that comes up that causes them to have to spent more than they had expected causes them to go in the red. These are the ones that should be thought of. If the administration decides to take this proposed action, this is the wrong time to take it. If something along these lines is going to be done it should be the fall semester that it is begun. By waiting stu dents will have more time to get prepared for this and work it into their budget schedule.-Herbryant ild Be Conplied With student help for three days. Last year this same situation came up. Christmas came on Monday then. The Presi dent's Council decided to go along with the desires of the students and let student body out earlier than had been provided for on the University Calendar. When this year's calendar was drawn up, last year's situation must not have been taken into consideration, for it seems that studlents are faced with an almost identical situation. Students desires, we feel, should b)e heeded whenev'er possible. We feel that this re quest by the studlent representative body, Student Council, is one that can be complied with and the calendar can be altered. If the (lays have to be made up they can in the spring semester, in June for example. Hlerbryant ms Gets Worse The street should b)e closedl off at least from Sumter to Bull streets, and probably all the way to Pickens. But wvill that ever happen? If the street is ever c'losed( oft it wvill be (lone by Columbia City Council act ion. The city closed off Bull Street between Pendleton and Green. They might be per suadled to vote to close off Green. The South Carolina Highway dlepartment made a survey of vehicle flow in ('olumbia this past summer. They had nine check points set up. One of them was on Green St reet. The result of this survey will not be known util i a fter' the firist of t he year. ('ity Council will have to wait on this rep)ort befIore they can take any action. Columbia City Maunager Irving G. Mc Nayr saidl that city officials consider the University traffic p)roblemf a serious one. We (10 also. Some action should be taken, andl it should be taken soon. Students are in danger eac~h (lay of being hit by a car when they cross the street. Though college studlents are con sidleredl of' adlult intelligence, andl therefore shouldl be able to look out for themselves when crossing the street, they are never theless human, and human adults are noted1 for getting hit hbr aninmobileno-TTarbantn4 ViTrO RS vb SifoirC ROBERT TALBERT Than ksgivii And F( Reflections from the Thanks giving bit: Giese and Crew beat a North Carolina team on North Carolina soil for the first time in nine years. . . . Rooster supporters making whoopee in Charlotte.... Santa Claus getting his holiday mixed up and coming on Thanks giving to the delight of shiny eyed children. . . . St. Nick brought with him some North Polian weather, it was so-o-o-o cold around the Carolinas. . . . Turkey at home beats hot dogs at "Tin Shack," dressing, too. . . . In most towns Elvis's "Love Me Tender" played, a third-rate western became a comedy riot, still Presley makes $100,000... . The old home town gang sat around and tried to top each oth er's wild experiences at the local histros, tall tales traveled higher as (lid the boozed spirits . . . plans for parties were made for the Christmas season . . . and the ride back to Columbia was begrudgingly made . . . the grind begins again. * * * '['he '56 football season is com ing to the end and now all the thought has turned to bowlitis. The howl that most people DICK SMITH A Good Man It is difficult to imagine that in our times, through the dia bolics of the Cinema, Baptists, Prohibition, and other such forces, the Age of The Evil Man is past. Nowvadays, being a man behind-the-throne is pretty risky business. In the latest Teutonic at tempit to~ make the world safe for Gerimans, men behind Hitler (if not p)oisoned beforehand) were hauled into court like vag rants and summarily shot. This type of thing generally kills am b'itio,ns in these dlirections, but not so a few years ago. A while back wvhen America was still wondIering what the hell to do with Teddy Roosevelt, a yong Russian peasant named G;regorei Effimovich Rasputin came strolling out of the Urals believing himself to be, among other things, a Souldoctor, Saver of Mankind, and general Don Junan-about-town. He convinced Czar Nicolas II of his beliefs (Nick was rather dense, any way) and in short time the bogus monk had things pretty wvell un decr control, lie was reputedly an unworldly fellowv who didn't believe in soap, but he was pos sessed( of a decidedly powerful Evil Eye that could open oysters at thirty paces, fascinate and pa ralyze p)retty young p)alace mtaide(ns, and stop Czar, Jr. from bleeding to death whenever he whacked hi mse'lf up. This was good( enouigh for Nick, so the cir ('nit ridler was IN. The Mad Monk finally thought CRlOWING FOI UNIVERSITY OF Member of Assoclal Founded January 30, 1908, with editor, "The Gamecock" ise publiul University of Souath Carolina w9eel year ercpt on, h,oildays and durli T[he opii,,I naq expressed by colmi ncess~arily those of "The Cameco4 an endorsement. The right to edi ElT 'OR MANAGING EDITOR... BlSINESCS MANMAGER . ig, Acting )otball around these parts are shouting about is that New Year's clash at Miami. Let's look at the situation for a minute. Colorado has been se lected as one of the participants and now all eyes are on the At lantic Coast Conference for their selection. There are three teams that most deem worthy of the trip south. Duke, Clemson, and USC. Clemson has fallen apart after the Big Thursday clawing and they stumbled around against the University of Miami. Still our country cousins (definitely not kissin' kin) will get the nod if they can get by their old nem esis, Furman. Duke doesn't want to go to the Bowl and their overall record is too poor to warrant the trip. Now, let's look at USC. Per sonally, I would rather they stop all the talk that there is an out side chance for us to get the bid. Why don't we wait until next year when there will be no doubt in anyone's mind as to who should go-it will be us, the Gamecocks, the University of South Carolina. Let's don't be second choice, it will be better to wait. Gone Wrong things should go more his way so he invented a religion whereas 1) only girls (and himself) could join this religion, and 2) certain initiation procedures had to be followed to the letter. Some of the younger converts thought Gregorei wvent a little too far at times, but the gleaming orbs stayed them. Rasputin, like many others, had a decided phobia against clothes of any sort, especially since the p)alace was warm any way. In his declining years, he began wandering around without said clothes, and Nicolas thought that perhaps he was a bit too zealous about this thing. But Junior would start bleeding again and Rasputin was back IN. This continued and pretty soon it wasn't safe to go upstairs alone if you happened to be an unarmed girl. Finally, some Barons and a Prince got together and elected to do him in. They slipped him some cyanide disguised as a cookie, machine-gunned him in the palace yard, kicked his brains out, and sealed him in a metal coffin. He got rather angry over this and, when he began kicking his way out of the coffin, they threwv it in the river. He expired and the Czarists were happy for the next few days; then the Marxists took over and made everybody sober up and fly right. Rankled at Rasputin and practically everyone else, they decided to do away with religion altogether. This made few people happy, but the palace birth rate did drop appreciably. I A GREFATER OUTH CAROLINA ed Collegiate Press llobrt Elott Cossales as the first ed by ad for the students of the :ly, on Fridays, during the eetnege 3g examInations. onlsts and letter writer, are not kc." PubJiuhing does not constltute Iis reserved. .HERBERT BRYANT ... NANCY FOX CAROL unnKEYw CARL M. REYNOLD Housing \ 'Help St The University Housing Office proudly announced last week that they were interested in "helping the students." Their plan is to make it easier for students to get a room at the University. All the student has to do, in order to guarantee his space on campus, is to pay the entire room rent in advance . .'. and more specifically, in advance of regis- i tration. The Housing Office has de cided that this is helpful. Here is their argument: A room reservation fee of $15 which is currently being charged is insufficient proof that the stu dent even wants a room. A hand ful of students have failed to register, but rooms have been kept vacant for them, from the date halting late registration, until last week, when Housing observed that the students ap parently were not planning to be in school this semester. Some Fail to Inform Some students, who pay the room deposit, and later decide not to enter school, fail to inform Housing that they will not enroll for the semester. This creates a problem: the Housing Office doesn't know whom they are housing. Yet, they have a list of stu dents, housed off campus, who urgently desire rooms. Housing is interested in bringing these scholars into the fold; which is, of course, commendable and de si rable. On the surface of the argu ment, this solution to the housing problem has a hair of reasonable practicability. But look at it from this stand point: The plan is proposed to be ef fective second semester, this year. Housing "will announce later" the deadline by which students must pay their room rent, in or der to be assured that they may remain in the rooms they pres ently occupy. Make Arrangements to Keep Room While it was pointed out that it is not absolutely necessary to pay the rent in advance to get a room, it will be necessary to pay the amount if the student desires to keep his present room, while at the same time, some other student desires it. Let's take a hypothetical case: Bill Pennypincher lives on the Horseshoe; he likes his room, likes his location, he's made his home there. But, comes the dead Iinte for paying his advance room rent. He hasn't got the ready cash, lie passes the dlead(line. He still likes his room . . . he'd like to stay there niext semester... butt, simp)ly, he dloesni't have the extra loot handy. lHe had Christmas expenses; maybe he's been paying off his first semester fees intermit tently; or worse still, he may have eaten a few meals in the Russell House. Letter~s to) the Editor' Students Cor New Room D)ear Editor: The latest "aid" to studlents, the early payment of room fees to the houisi ng depar tmlent, a p peaIIrs to be a great step t owarid ann ihi lat inag thel( studlen)t body. If this policy was designed to g(et more room, the liousinrg dlepart - me'nt will probably fi nd it in the classrooms. To the student s withI strict budlgets, this payment is an in-. su rmnunutable obst acle to their edlucation. The vete'ra n and( other groups of limite(d mieans 11 are veryv unhbappy that they have so long imposed uipon the k intdness of the housing deparitmnit . They arie very (ldwnhbarited lbecause they have niade the job, a little di ffi cult, but they take hearit in~ the fact that this is a new first in the iiationi for UT. S. C. Probably no other school has a housing department so intefficient that it has asked for fees early. Soon, perhaps, we can pay for our en tire four years in onei lump. It has been saidl that this move was to help the students. If they were a little less helpful and spen1t more time oni official dui ies, all wvould go well. JToe WVoodhlerry. Dear Editor: I was informed by last week's issue of The Gamecock that in Vants To udents' What About Spendaplenty k But, Will Spendaplenty doesn't like his present room; he wants out; he wants the Horseshoe.. . he wants Bill's room. He runs to Housing. He pays his rent he has the loot. Then, what happens: He gets Bill's room for second semester; Bill still may get a room (even 'though the $15 room deposit doesn't really indicate that he wants a room) . . . but the roo Bill gets may lie far from hi present location. But he's gotta move. Naturally, it is hoped that this overplayed situation doesn't be come a reality. It must be ob- . served, however, that it is highly possible if the present plan goes into effect, as scheduled. From a , strictly spectator's standpoint, let's look at the pic ture from another angle: Not from Housing's views; not from the individual student's views; but from a casual view. Have to Complete Check List Housing says they do not know until they have completed a check system who is or isn't living on board the campus. It is a long, drawn-out process to check their reservations against the Registrar's list of ac tual enrollees. It's time consum ing, burdensome, and a big task. In fact, no students are ac cepted after late registration, even if they had a room reserved for them. The room reservation, then is void as the ink dries on the late registration forms. Technically, the rooms which were reserved, but unclaimed, are then available for the stu dents who are rot assigned spaces. This has always been the case. It was still the case in Sep- g tember. however, Housing was not aware of who did or didn't ac tually enroll until last week . . . since they must check their list against the Registrar's. That means, a few rooms may be available during the first couple of months, as the list checking goes off on schedule. Need Easier Method If this is the problem facing llousing, it could possibly be solved through anl easier means. As it stands, it seems that they are hardly "being helpful." It seems unfair to make this effective second semester; give the students sufficient warning in order that they may save enough for the big pay-off. If this could he introduced in the Fall, st udents could plan the ope'rationi long in advance. It would not be nearly as painful as it would lhe, to say, introdluce the plan11 at this time, with second semester breathing chill bumps downi our hacks. It wouild seem logical, however, to establish the Housing Office as a step in the Registration t.: process t hey could then check lhe studaents' name against their reservat ion list . . . they wvould lhen k now who was enrolled, and who had a room. Is this iureason able? nplain About Fee Change will be rerquir'ed to nmake r reservations in advance biy p ig thle room rent. In thbe past, I und(erAtand(, we studen&its have made this reserva tin by making a deposit of $15. I feel t hat I speak for many ot hers withI the saime financial buradens when I write this letter. -- I am a veterian. Like any veteran attenidinig college, and other stu denlts as we(ll, I ha've a limited mieanus of supjport. We single vet cianus receive $110 per month. This amount does niot cover all myv expenuses, hut it helps a gr aat deal. I, like many others, h fTve al readyv incurred( debts enough duiirig thle month that I do not haive' muc'h left after they are idii. Therefore, I feel that the I lousing Office is placing an ot her burdten on st udents with their dIemandI. In closing, I would like to ask his tjuestion: What wvould be the resualt if rno studeunt would p)ay ihe riried iroom fee' ini advance? If rio student complied wvith the demand, t here wvould be no prob Iem. I am in no wvay suggesting hat students rebel against the rules and reguilationls of the ad iniiist ration. I anm mierely posing tu he quetion behi(cauLse' it is in my op'inioni that this wvill almost cer tainily lie the case wvhen the time conies for us to pay this fee. Emory M. Kinard.