Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Not The Cause I There are rules at Carolina that are on the books and generally abided by. Then there are regulations at Carolina that look good on the books, but that nobody pays particular attention to, This week one regulation on the books concerning residence halls was under the questioning scrutiny of practically every male student on campus. The rules states the "students are held responsible for the good order and cleanli ness of their rooms" and "all University controlled housing is subject to inspection at any time by University officials or their assistants." The second stipulation is the bothersome one to students who have discovered that personnel of the Housing Office have started making the rounds of all the rooms in the men's dormitories, checking for illegal fur niture and appliances-whether the room's occupants are there or not. Inspections of the rooms, according to Blackie Kincaid, Housing Director, is pri marily a safety cheek for fire prevention, and not a clandestine conspiracy against unwary students. Doubtless the inspections are completely legitimate, and needed. No one could deny that college students, notoriously remiss about following regulations to the letter, need gentle reminders now and then. Nobody Els The Gamecock AND the student body were told in so many words Monday after noon that Student Council absences are no body's business but Student Council's. The group vetoed a proposal to have published in The Gamecock weekly names of Council members absent from regular student gov ernment meetings. Council's rejection of the proposal was based on what they consider adequate handling of absences by a committee within the group that decides on the merits of ex cuses submitted for absences. Since members are allowed two unexcused absences yearly (by the present interpreta tion of the student body constitution's stipu lation), the group further decided that pub lication of names might draw unjust atten tion to legitimate absences. The Gamecock takes an opposite view of both counts. First of all, we've heard of no excuses being unacceptable to the commit tee, despite a high rate of absenteeism this year. This indicates that the committee is either irresponsibly too lenient, or else a mighty understanding group. LETTERS TO THE EDITO Readers' Include Giese, On Trial, You have been Proved Himself us, you have pr D)ear~ Editor: Tn all the comment on the re- Stunt Nig] cent "crisis" at the University of South Carolina regarding Mr. Fault of T G'iese, I have not heard any corn- Dear Editor: ment on what I hope was and The annual pi f'eel strongly was his main rea- an auditorium 1 son in remaining-after a much wa mentioned higher paying offer at Houston. Gamecock. The Reasons for Geise's decision to T.F.C. for som stay have been given as follows: elearly the faul (1) His assistants didn't want sity and the cit to go to Houston. large, well-equi (2) Even though the situation space. at Houston was excellent for the The Greeki production of a winning football checked the av team, he refused the offer be-. one and only go cause of the wonderful group of Columbia (Drel players at Carolina. and found it boo True, Geise has a fine group ruary and into of men here, just as the other The fraternitl coaches In the Atlantic Confer- cipate in the si ences have. However, it is doubt- Drayton Hall is ful that we have, man for man, quate. I.F.C. et any better players than the rest, afforded to ren of our Conference or those at if there was on: the University of Houston. Dreher's aud Warren Geise, by his personal perfect spot, a example of hard work, dedica- seems as though tion to his job, and the require- ganizatlon in C ment of the same from his as- alized this. sistants and players, has accom- The only inte plished a transformation in ath- that I.F.C. coul letics at the University. We have coming year in r not only a "new look" but a new able place for st outlook. A new "esprit de corps" be to have a r has been evidenced on the team Dreher on the fi: and In the student body. to register I.F I submit the following explan- Greek Week six ation as to why I think Geise vance. stayed at the University. I do agree w Mr. Geise, after being tempted abeig toapet it to accept the highly paid offer provie an detpc at Houston, declined because he campu activtie decided In his good conscience F that he had made a solemn contract with the University that as a man of character, re- Witat Is F gardless of ambition, that to be OfC-m true to himself, his assistants,013 1 friends and players, there was Dear Editor: only one decision to makhe. He What does yoi made it. . nist propose, at We salute you, Warren.Ges,. his official caps, I' But The Method The argument, against the newly accel erated inspection siege is in its method, not its cause or necessity. Room checks thus far have meant inspec tion of furniture items in the rooms plus a check for illegal appliances, firearms, and other objects forbidden on University premises. Although Kincaid declares that bureau and dresser drawers and foot lockers are not examined, an inspection of closets is made. And while cursory room inspection is not objectionable, peeking and probing into closets is fundamentally no different from rifling personal belongings in bureaus or dressers. That kind of inspection bespeaks an ab horrent encroachment on personal rights. And we assume that being a student at the University does not automatically strip one of those rights. Kincaid's argument for closet investiga tions is that since students possessing illegal items hide them, the closet's the place to look. This argument makes us wonder to what absurd limits the neatness rule can be stretched, in what degree trust is placed in Carolina students, and how much the honor principle, which is supposed to include rule infractions, is worth anyway. b's Business? In the second place, as elected represen tatives, Council members must realize that their actions are subject to both commen tary and occasional criticism. The student body has a right to know what the repre sentatives they put on Council are doing, or not doing, whichever the case may be. In this case, absenteeism is definitely everybody's business. In the third placer Council's action was a high-handed but crude attempt at arbitrary censorship of The Gamecock. Student Coun cil minutes, being quasi-public records are open records. Therefore the Council may be interested in knowing that The Gamecock needs no smiling nod of approval from their care worn heads to publish any proceedings of their group, and may at any time publish those proceedings, minutes, or recorded ab sences, if the paper so desires. Council would more profitably spend its time voting on measures to improve its cali her and the knowledge of its own jurisdic tion, instead of disguising its corroded ma chinery by trying to conceal its defects. R Many-Voiced Opinio Housing, IFC Plannirn on trial, and to ber~ of the Student Council to do >ved yourself. about the ridiculous situation ex T. D. Ravenel isting in his equally ridiculously written column of last week? it Problem Does he intend to assume vo Parties "Look Number One" and carry out wvhat it implies (clean up oblem of finding and right this sordid, brutal or Stunt Nights wvorld) if certain political aspira in last week's tions are fulfilled? writer blamed Or will he import cabinet 3thing which i- members from some point more of-the Unckerf a(listant thani Fraternity Row, pped auditoriunm Sims' Sorority Rooms, or the Athletic Field? Veek Committee I hope sincerely that the "ser ailability of the ious vein" of next week's article od r.uditorium in wvill not be of the same anemic ier) in October quality demonstrated thus far. ked through Feb- Ken Holland d(arch. men who parti unts agree that IFC Started Plans certainly inade uld have easily Four Months Ahead t better place Dear Editor: 3 tou be had e In the February 22, 1957 issue ranted. But t (of The Gamecock) I notice that rned.r ut it- Interfraternity Council was giv oubahsr- en credit for trying to get a blml a e igger place in which to hold Iligent planning Stunt Night; we appreciate this d effect in the consideration but we cannot ap egards to a suit- preciate the statements that, unt night would "the gesture presumably was a epresentative at inardy one, showing considerable rst day of school neptness at planning." .C. events for For the information of The months in ad- Gamecock, I would like to state that at the beginning of Novem lt h rtrs her, a committee went to Dreher teUiest o were told that the Dreher Audi juate place for to rium was booked for the week of Feb. 18 through Feb. 22. red Wigfield. The students at Dreher were putting on their Fine Arts Fes tival. After all their auditorium urpose is there for their use. To me it does not seem that this was a tardy gesture--four months in advance of Greek ir guest colum- Week. his late date in Richard M. Horne eity as a mem- President of JFC "Now isn't this sweet, class. Purl goodbye this morning." The Othe The P By Bob McNair Guest Columnist In my article of last week, "What It Was Was Student Council," I purposely - exagger ated the shortcomings of Student Council. In passing I would like to express my gratitude to Mr. Dick Smith, possibly the most talented satirist on campus for serving as my consultant on style in that article. That description- was not my impression of Student Council, but is probably the impression many presently have. I believe that opinion is derived from dis interest, which is one of the big gest obstacles confronting the maturation of Student Council here at Carolina. RECORD OF COUNCIL I ask those of you who are of this opinion to look upon Student Council in a more realistic fash ion. First of all, what has Stu dent Council accomplished this year? Student Council members re turned to Carolina three days before the commencement of the fall semester in order to con duct orientation. A consolidated report is being prepared for the files in order for the Council of next year to continue and im prove the program. PL.ANNED TICKET SET-UP In an effort to provide a greater number of date tickets for those students dating per sons not enrolled at the Univer sity; permit dating within the student body without the mass 'S Obsolete Rules Step On Student Toes, Dear Editor: Under an obsolete code of reg ulations the University has stepped on a great number of male students' proverbial toes and( infringed on their rights. An item in the Carolina Hand book uinder residence hall rules stating, "Neatness: All Univer sity-controlled housing is sub ject to inspection at any time by University officials or their as sistants,'' allows a perfect stranger to enter male students' rooms to inspect for neatness. Upon asking the Housing Of fice why students aren't notified when an inspection is to take place, I was told that unauthor zed electrical equipment wouldn't be found and confiscated If stu dlents were forewarned. Is the object of these "raids" to inspect for neatness as stated in the handbook, or to search for unauthorized appliances? They might as well charge in on the suspected students in the middle of the night and hold them at bay like the Gestapo or MKVD! Even the armed services allow a person to be present at inspec tion of an area under his care. Combination locks on closets allow no security, since house managers, housing office per sonnel, maintenance crews and University officials all have ac cess to the closets with the comn bination lock list. Students should either be no tified of inspections, or the "visits" from housing personnel or "their assistants" should be made at stated times at regular intervals. Honesty, maintenance and rights should all be upheld If this institution is to be con sidered upholders of the Bill of Rights. Lloyd Patterson 'is here says his mother kissed him r .Side of icture confusion involved in securing two adjoining seats; eliminate all but students and their dates from the student section, and provide means for obtaining blocks of tickets for those groups wishing to sit together, we in novated the football seating ar rangement. EXPANI)ED HOMECOMING We expanded a one-day Home coming into a weekend by hav ing a parade Friday afternoon to display the Homecoming Queen finalists and followed it up with a dance that night with a big name band and the crown ing of the Queen. Council took part in affairs other than those that might be termed by a Student Government expert as "busy work." We played a predominant role in the founding of a State Student Leg islature by having the chairman of the planning committee for the initial assembly and also for the future assembly next year. We have played an active role in the affairs of the National Student Association. We have had a regional officer for the past two years and have con tributed discussion leaders for numerous assemblies. In an effort to create more interest in international affairs on campus, Council brought a student leader of the Hugarian rebellion to Carolina immedi ately following the Hungarian crisis. At present we are striv ing for a closer relationship with the International Relations Club in order to arouse in students an international awareness. THE FUTURE OF COUNCIL As to the future, we have many plans that are still only tentative at the moment. We are planning for a bigger and better May Day incorporating in it a Senior Day. We have established a committee on Course Evalua tion that will be very vital to the implementation of higher educa tion at Carolina. Courses will be e'valuated through the medium of qluestionnaires to be filled out by the student. The committee on parking p)roblemls on campus is formu lating a report on the Univer sity's parking system. A similar report is hoped to be completed by the committee investigating the Campus Shop in the near future for publication. A committee on cultural pro granmnming is in the planning stages and also the possibilities of a student book exchange are being explored. We, the members of Council, realize our shortcomings, and wvith your aid can alleviate them to a great extent. At other schools Student Governments carry out momentous tasks and have a tremendous responsibil ity. ROBE RT T ALBEI Oh 'Tis A Oh, 'tis a shame and a pity that male university students can't be treated like men. Are we just little boys? What gives with this room in spection bit? Maybe they think we have smuggled some coed into the rooms. Is their search just for coffee pots alone? Who do they think they are kidding? There are a few things that a person likes to think are his own private property and busi ness. A man resents a "shake dIown" of his belongings. The "snoopers" objectives are cloudy and uncertain. Quo Vadis? dear housing bureau. Well, anyway I've cleaned my room of all pots, pans, hot plates, shrunken heads, old dead animals, empty and full booze bottles, sofas, and that girl that kept hangiing around. ocm Council Satir Election Sys By Carolyn McClung Guest Columnist Elsewhere on this page is an other column in Bob McNair's series on student government. As promised at the end of the column entitled "What it Was, Was Student Council," it is sup posed to deal with the ". . . re alities of student government at Carolina. . .." Mr. McNair made just two mistakes with last week's col umn which was so obviously written by the pen of another. He need not have promised the "realities" for this week, because his description was the most apt, adequate and accurate picture of the governing group that has been printed in The Gamecock for some years. Secondly, he should have made his expose a long, long time ago. Certainly he's known it all along. Does he propose now to change things?? * * * We anticipate campus elec tions with something less than pleasure. The absence of organ ized political parties as such, leaves us with a 23 party system that at times becomes quite com pilcated. The parties being the social fraternities, sororities and the independents, the system occas ionally boils back down to Greek letter. group vs. independents, and now and then the Greeks will forsake thg clans to support an independent candidate rather than a candidate of another group. It's vicious. The result of 20 some groups each nominating at least one candidate, and often more, for each office, is an extremely long CARL M. REYNO Hide-And A New Hou, No room or quarter of the University is safe or exempt from the unrestricted invasions of privacy and personal property by Housing Office teams who have recently become inspired to purge the University of "sani tation disorders" and "foreign furnishings." In wake of the pre-Christmas bomb-shell ejected from Housing which would require students to pay their semester's room rent in advance-strictly a move to help the students, according to Hous ing officials-it must be-assumed that this new revolutionary move, too, is designed to "help the students." L.OOKING AROUND H-ousing officials showv no great conv'ict ion against search ing rooms wheni the o)cupants are not present; they are foggy with respect to their reasons for "insp5lecting." They confiscate personal be long ings--many items of consid erable value-and merely leave a niote stating that the gear has been removed. WHY NOT WAIT? When asked wvhy they didn't wait until the occupants were in their rooms before removing the property, their retort was that they could wait all semester be fore finding someone in the room. If the occupants were in formed that the team would be by at a certain time, the occu pants "would hide everything." Hide everything indeed! Just wvhat would they hide? Their opium, daggers, guns, porno g-raphic movies, "shrunken heads," andic other methods of vice. Shame ... ahead and search me, and we will p)lay your silly little "finders keepers, losers weepers" game. * . * Last week's dances and con certs were seemingly great suc cesses. All but one maybe, the Friday nuight, Kai Winding Charlie Mingus set. Chatter is fine for bistros and Columbia night spots but it stood out like the proverbial sinner at a pr3eacher's convention. The (lance committee tried their best to bring a little cul tured jazz to the campus to help edear the air of raucous roll. The people who did appreciate the musicians efforts were preventedi from enjoying the music because of the fat, hollow shouts of--Go, man, go. Maybe next time we can get Elvis. He would probably satisfy 'e No Satire; tem Vicious ballot, carrying the names of people, most of whom are not qualified to run for anything. Platforms? Never heard of them until last year when a can didate came out with a written statement which probably won him the election. On the basis of last year's success, there may be a few platforms with a few planks this year, but for the most part, the issues at stake involve who goes steadj with whom (going steady can ruin a girl's chances, it seems), how many girls in how many differ ent sororities a fraternity man4 has dated (this seems to insure success), and in short, the "chances of winning" for the glory of a social group, rather than fitness of a candidate for office. Then there's the caihpaigning, during which there is a frenzied rush from fraternity house to sorority room and back again, when blocks of votes are swapped for other blocks of .votes; every body smiling and saying "Hey," to students they've always dis liked; and almost everthing but baby-kissing - we don't doubt that there is some of that, too. When it gets to be poster time at the polls, everything is of fered in inducement for a vote from one-cent lolly-pops to prom ises of a cocktail hour in Russell House every afternoon from 6 to 6 p.m. All told, elections will most likely be more frenzied, more costly, and less productive this year than in years past, and we strongly suspect that Student Council meetings will be just as chaotic next year as those so aptly described in Mr. McNair's column. [DS -Go-Seek sing Game? We rather think that Univer sity students conduct themselves as ladies and gentlemen. True, Housing should be ijnter ested in the up-keep of the rooms; students, too, should be interested in their own quarters, and we suspect dearly that they are. COMPLAINTS HEARD In fact, hundreds of muffled rumbles have been heard from virtually every corner of the campus . . . complaining of the janitorial service. Last year, four or five jani tors would sp)endi a couple of hiour s inl a roomn--one with a wet cloth, one with a dry cloth, one to yell hi-yo silver, riding a b'ush-bhroonm artound the room while another played Santa with a big canvas bag and the other supervised ...oh, the other un locked the door. This year, one and sometimes two will dIrop by once a week and devote five minutes to the room. Housing has suggested that the students keep their rooms,, necat and orderly; to some de gree, this can be done . . . but for fear that brooms and dust pans will be considered "for eign" furniture, no s'tudent dares purchase them for use in his room. WHOSE DUTY Again, wve ask a question: Is ~ it the duty of Housing to make these unrestricted, these drasti~' tours? And, is it not the duty R the dorm supervisors to make periodic checks to observe the overall condition of the rooms? And, then, would it not be sen sible for the dorm supervisor to report the obviously bad cases to the authorities? Why should the entire student population be forced or subjected to this hu miliating intrusion? Even in the military--a rela tively un-democratic wing of so ciety--a great deal of respect is shown for personal property. Shake-downsa and locker inspec tions are announced and person nel "stand-by" while the inspec tion is taking place. Then, is housing justified? Does an inadequately defined rule give them this much author ity over an individual's personal privacy? Suppose we have nothing to hide . . . then why should we oh ject to searches and inspections? What is the worth of our honor --.or honor system? If I told a gentleman that my wallet contained no money, and it didn't, it certainly wouldn't make me feel any better if he unbuttoned my back pocket, re moved my wallet, just to check it . . . all to determine for him self that there was nothing there.