Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Comentry Tuemday, April 29, 199-1age Two Columbia, South Carolina A Great Issue? Since great issues are being brought before the great courts of the United States in ponderous questions of juris prudence, such as the rights of soldiers to protest American foreign policy and the rights of the accused in and before their trials, we find one current court encounter rather amusing. A Carolina student is being brought to trial for the burning of a Confederate battle standard, or the Stars and Bars if you happen to be patriotically inclined in that di rection. The question is not whether the state has the right to prosecute the student, for the right is explicit in the statutes under which he is charged. We must ask, however, whether the ludicrous and regressive law will stay on the books or will be found a violation of the more explicit right in the Constitution of the United States of the freedom of speech. Our question, also, must be how long the people of this and a few other backward-looking states will continue to cloak themselves under the standard which now represents blindness to both human dignity and racial equality. The right to hold this flag in honor is a personal and sacred one, but to make it a symbol of hatred and repression and hold it equal to that of the United States is a violation of the wording and the philosophy of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. If the flag is to be beloved and honored as a symbol of the struggle for the inalienable rights of man, as some people feel, then it is a crime against the flag itself to hold it up and wave it as if it could turn back history and flaunt it before a group of people to whom it represents hundreds of years of physical and mental bondage. Then the court action takes on a larger significance when it can be the beginning of the move to put the Stars and Bars where it belongs. not on the flagpole of the capitol of the state of South Carolina. Mute Opinion The number of unsigned letters we are getting leads us o believe the USC student body, while not afraid to have pinions, is loathe to express them, especially when their ineage can be traced. Another observation is that fev people express their eas except when stirred by such profundities as the burn g of a Confederate battle standard or statements by black tudents which do not coincide with what they have heard for the past few years. Our question is whether the students think at all, think only to themselves, or fear reprisal, whether in the form of social ostracizing or the wrath of the KKK or black students. We can gie your organization better coverage... . . . if you help us. Send The Gamerock the info on y'our next acttit. What's up.. . W%hat organization . . .. . . . When... Where. Who can we get furthe'r into from . Founded Jan. 30. i9Ml with Robert Ellintt C,onsalee as the flrst editor, The Oame. seek is published by and for the studients of the t'nirarslty of South carolina semi weekly during the college sear e-cpt dluring holidays and examinatione. The opinions expre ,I I.r re in do n.t neccessa r il refiect the. vie w of the admints tration. the faculty or the 1tlirent ludy as a wh ole Offiees of The Gamecock are in stoom 30S of the Russell House on the University canmpu Phns arer 7 -4249 iEditor-in-Ciefc), T77-1220 (Bualneag and AdvertIsing) The Gamecock is represenut natlonally by National Educational AdvertiIng Ser vice, inc. The publicath>n is a mnember of Assortated (oilegiate Press and the S. C. Coliegiate Press Assoriatin, .Subscriptin rates are $6 per year. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Mike Krochmalny ASSOCIATE EDITOR BUSINESS MANAGER .Mary Jane Hienston Jack Padgett MANAGING ED)ITOR ..Carl stepp ASST. MANAGING EDITOR . Jim Wannamaker NEWS ED)ITOR Fred Monk SPORTS ED)ITOR Jihae ASST. NEWS ED)ITORS .. )naShl,EdeCe ASST. SPORTS EITOR .DieClpol FACULTY ED)ITOR .SsnRs SOCIAL AFFAIRS ED)ITOR.Shryhey CHIEF OF REPORTERS Rollie Water. CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER Chuck Keefer ADVERTISING MANAGER . Charles Alexander ASST. ADVERTISING MANAGER . obby Hlitt CIRCULATION MANAGER Chip Abernathy REPORTERS: liii Altman. Mike Bail, Judy Bart. Randi Cabeil. Jerry Calabrese, Shirley Ceek, Catherine Culier. Welter Derrick. Lesley Drucker. Barbara Elker, Teddi Fadeal. Susan Feuche. Jee Cerdina. Sherry Hasrtreg. Francelse Hlpp. Mark Hl4emes. Sissa Jasebsen. David Johnsten, Irby Keen. Ty Kallay. Chris Matichak. Kitty Mc Caskili. Dick McMillan. Ran Miles. Martin Mebley. Pat Mathrig. Jean Neal. Ida Nelson. Jea Newma. Edward Pliin. Jee Rilily. Tracy Rigily. Candy Silver. Jedy Stenestreet Jatee. yesa Surrett. Sue Tanner. Mary Truesdeli, Joe Usry. Van Vanuch, Ann PHOTOCRAPH4ERS: Sob Bensen. Ellieti Barenstein. Larry Clark. Raiph Jarreils. ill.. M ie Boa b Lae ler. ad,Mk Tyler. Steve C.,han, Gene Hsney, Tam ?P!A SPA~ /y Bask Letters To The Edit A Chan Dear Mr. Krochmalny: I received a $10.00 parking ticket for parking an unregis tered car on the faculty parking lot behind the Physical Science Building from 1:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 30. The ticket was given by our efficient campus police at 5:30 a.m. Ad mittedly, I had broken the tech nical rules about parking an un registered car; but I naively be. Sticks And Stones Dear Mr. Krochminay: It is unfortunate, to say the least, that such a radical as Red fern II must be tolerated on this campus. Surely, he was not taught, as most intelligent beings are, that threats and force are poor tools in search of anything. Maybe he will eventually come to his senses and realize that there is bad in all races and, contrary to his be. lief, the black race is not su preme. Eventually, I think, all men will learn to live together and I am willing to do my part, but not mine and his. It is the radlical, both right an(l left, who will be left in the gutter along the road to acceptance of the races. But if it is resistance he wants, I trust he will not find it scarce. Unless his views are modified, I repeat a phrase I am sure he will recognize, "Up against the wall, Redfern II." D)AN BROWN Student G< Decline i By F-RED) MAGNER Columnist The decline of studlent "govern mont" as any type of prodIuctive force is obvious. The value of student "government" has become highly questionable. The poor voter turnout in the spring elections marked the nadir of student participation. The Gamecock remarks "17 Represent 11,000?" regarding the poor stu dent senate attendance. Realizing that only 2,000 students voted in the election in which a majority of the new senators were elected, 17 is too many. Senate attendance is only indicative of the prevail ing atmosp)here of inactivity in studlent "government." It Is inhumanly cruel to expect a senator to attend week after week when he knows in advance that nothing will be done. The student "government" has not accomplished anything In two years. There is no reason to be lieve that next week will be the week of flourishing activity, There has been some structural revision, the addition of a comn plaint bureau and the passage of numerous bills and resolutions, but all this pseudo-production has p)roduced nothing. A substantial p)rob)lem is the political immaturity of the aver age tude(~nt. lie may' have a vague cognizance of wvho is run nling, but is usually unaware of anything that even remotely re sembles an issue, that is, if issues (do exist. The prevailing criteria prob)ably center aroundl his or her p)ict ure, wvhat so andl so down t he haell h~ad to say, aend whethler or etball In The Old ge Of Ch lieved that the Student Traffic Appellate Court would use com mon sense andi drop my fine. When I entered the "court," I saw that it consisted of an ad ministrator and a student. This student was the very one who defiantly ran a write-in campaign for student body president this year even though his GPR was barely a 2.0. This very student, while campaigning, had come into my room and said, "No damn, stupid rule of the University will keep me from running!" This same student looked at me and said v e r y righteously. "You Conceri D>ear Mr. Krochimalny: Last Friday night's Jerry But ler concert could have been very good if certain people had not insisted on exhibiting their bad manners and lack of considera. tion for others. Those "certain people" are the ones who moved down onto the court of the Coli. seum at intermission and took the seats of others who had gotten up to go to the concession stands. These people were informed that the seats were saved and that the people would be returning to them. But the usual reply was that there were no reserved seats. Then these intruders sat down and refused to budge. Since there wvere no reservedl seats, the obvious way to get a good one was to come early. That's what the people who had been displaced had done. I have been to numerous concerts at Carolina and don't recall any place w'here all seats were re servedl. I also don't recall a sin. gle incident where there was a strong disagreement about seat. )vernment And Fall anything offensive. It is obvious~ that the candlidate wvho resorts to the issues is at a substantial dis adlvantage. One very successful Carolina politician recently re fused to make a statement to the press because he thought that it might "offend" somebody. A substantial majority of the newvly elected officers have man. agedl to avoid making any state ments of intendled policy. There is really no reason to bother with promises andl issues. One en couraging element is that next sp)ring when another year of v'ir tual stagnation has been conm pleted, they will still bie honest poiticians. 'They will have prom isedl little and (lone less. Student "go.ernment" might have its high moments of semi dubious accomp)lishment, but most high school student councils put it to shame. Student "govern ment" is traditionally comp)osedl of lackadaisical status seekers who care little about getting something done, less about the students and a lot about their egos. Students here are lackadai sical fun seekers who care little about the world around them, less about education and a lot about having a "good time" and being "cool." Progress is an unacceptable goal. Consciousness is ob)viously some sort of outsidle plot and is discour'agedl. Why should studlent "govern ment" he continuedl? Perhaps one of our officer's knows and is wvill ing to co0mm it himself to a stand biased oni facts andl not personal invecti e. Th'eo quest'ion wa rraint s r rNAT you rpy SPiDFRA Mixf P-A'y 3-69 Gym aracter should have known the rule book thoroughly and should hve obeyed it." Why is a hypocritical person like him allowed to sit on a court ? I find that I must now dig up $10.00 to pay off the University. I will pay, but first I would like to know why the police (1o not ticket cars parked in that lot by people attending functions at the Coliseum? Does the University care more for the rights of a visi tor who is spending money than for a defenseless student's? N.ME. WITIMHEL,D BY REQUEST SBlues ing-until Friday. I think that's because most of the concerts have been attended mainly by Carolina students who have manners and know how to conduct themselves in public. I hope that USC is not going to put up with undesirable occur rences like those of Friday night. But if that was an indication of future Carolina activities open to the public I certainly won't at tend any more of them. BRIAN I. BARBEE IP VA STAGE - MONTREAL, SA] IN JOHNNY PINEA TILE KALMAR]1 ROBIN ROY Alh MARIANNE VEI NORMAN LON( JOHNNY HIDDI BOB KENNEY TIHE MYSTERI( COMEDY HYPl' FIINIS --1H SUS CAROl COLIS 8:00 P.M. ---Ma CAR Article Analyze By SHERRY SHEALY Guest Columnist Now I know how a politician feels when he is credited with saying something he did not say, or when he is blamed with saying something he did not say. Lost week I wrote an article entitled "Is Blackness 'Color, Culture and Consciousness' At USC?" The article had nothing more than opinions of black stu dents and white students at the University. Not once in the ar. ticle did I express my own opin ion. Not once in the article (lid I try to analyze the racial situa. tion, nor (lid I express the desire to do so. Personally, I don't credit my self with the intelligence to do so. If I had that much intelli gence, certainly I would not be enrolled at Carolina. I don't really believe there are too many people around who can correctly and accurately analyze the ra cial situation without fault. Tuesday's paper contained a letter from Sister Beveraly Bel. linger and Friday's letter by Brother Redfern 11 (0 refer to then as brother and sister be. cause I consider us all members of the human race) concerning the article. Miss Bellinger said I "should have taken the time to consult the organization for a press re. lease and not stop black students as they passed through Russeln House." Why? I didn't consult an organization of white students for a press release. I stopped4 white students in the Russell House. I thought the move now adays was for equality. I believe in fair play. Redfern I said, "Black )eople are not concerned with the way white people think about them." "Orft1 Letters Policy TjwE GAMFCOCK welcoimes let ters on any subject pertinent to and itnolving Unit'ersity stu dents. The edit,or-in-rhie.f re.zerres the right to edit letters to con form It) style, good tiste, space linitations and libel laws. Letters should be sent to Tiu GAMECOCK. Box lU-;i3. 3sC. iTERNATIONA] RIETY SHO presenting Stars of: SCREEN - RADIO - ~ANTONIO, TEXAS i PERSO PPLE -and His Sout] 3ROS. -comedy acrol D) HIS MAGIC VIOLIN Bri ISE- (from Germanj -(from England) ILSON - (from Panai md "KIIIKKI" -maj direct from )US NOVAK AND DER] ha IOSIS (with all audiene UDINI STRAIT-JACKE PENDED FROM CEILI LENA O EUMF kY 6, 1969 EN ckets Now On Sale Ai OLINA COLISE' RA4.OO D'Id Not Situation If not, what was the purpose of Friday's letter? I also suggest Redfern II make his accusations with care. Other. wise he might someday find him. self in court for slander. One last comment: Regardles of differences of opinion, I he. lieve Miss Bellinger's letter and Redfern II's letter are sincerely appreciated. They prove the All. American Gamecock has reader. ship. Keep your letters and con. ments coming: they keep our paper alive and growing. Taking Issue Although Redfern II is verv eloquent, I feel I must take issue with a ridiculous generalization he made in Friday's (;linerfrk. I am reforring to his statement maintaining that black people are so completely virtuous in their conversation in direct contrast with white people. As a matter of fact, at a recent University Union event, two of this campus' prominent young black men went out of their way to humiliate me by subjecting me to filthy language. I have never encounttred this situation before with my white "brothers," and I certainly never expect to in the I'u tu re. I dt() agree with R6dfelrn II's Imint about lack of communica. tion between the two races, be. cause if it had been white boys treating me in such a manner, I would not have sat there uncom firtably and taken it. It seells to m11e, that respect is a two-way street, and I can surely not respect tho two boys who got such pleasure from the puerile game they tried to play with me; and I find it hard to give serious consideration to a man's griev. ances when they are smothered by absurd accusations and gen. erali izations. Redifern II would be much more effective if he avoided this common pitfall of the minor ity leader. .lANF C. GARRISON L T-V AND WORLD'S FAIR N! a Pacific Revue (from Hawaii) Eats from Hungary) --(from tish Columbia) na) picians Playboy (USA) RICK - rpnotist (USA) T ESCAPE WO HOURS AN, WHOLESOME WMItY TYPE FERTA INMENT UM