The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, May 02, 1969, Page Page Two, Image 2
GAMU
Friday. May 2, 1969 - Page Two
Shooting
A burning issue on most campuses these
*days (please excuse the pun) is Reserve
Officers Training Corps (ROTC). On most
campuses that have compulsory units the
students, led by a male segment who don't
wish to be part of the corps, have demon
strated against the idea. We saw this re
cently at Clemson where the decision was
made to remove the compulsory status.
We have to agree with those who do not
find justice in the compulsory system. To
someone who does not wish to follow
through, conscientious objecters or those
who just don't like the military way of life,
compulsory ROTC can be hell on the college
campus.
On most campuses, however, ROTC is a
voluntary organization which can lead to
Brewer's Art
It looks as if student opinion on the beer
issue has been cleared up by the beer refer
endum held with student election. Just as
many people cared to cast an opinion on the
saie of beer on campus as cared to vote on
student body and class officers. Eighty-five
per cent of the voters favored the referen
dum.
We must do what we feel is appropriate
to the student demand for beer to be sold
in the Golden Spur-we actively support it.
The reason is quite simple-the students
want it. This can be seen both in the fact
that it has been asked for and supported
by those who cared to vote, and the Golden
Spur itself is a monument to student neglect.
Despite the sale of patriotic carbonated
drinks (and milk for those who feel car
bonated water to be a little too powerful),
the Golden Spur has little support. Students
would rather go to places where they are
treated as discerning customers and can be
served what they want.
Contrary to what outsiders might think,
students do drink beer. They drink enough
to support a number of local establishments
who offer beer as their main or sole product.
The Golden Spur is nicer than most of these
places and the entertainment is better, but
until it can sell beer it wvill not be the "stu
dent night club."
The reason for not selling beer is said to
be obvious-public opinion is against it. Is
it? Does anybody think students don't drink
beer, and don't sometimes drive a long way
to get it? Don't believe it-students are not
different from their parents.
No one is going to be forced to dIrink,
and no one is going to dIrink if he or she
does not want to. A Golden Spur with beer
will be much less likely to turn someone into
a beer drinker than an establishment which
sells beer only. The atmosphere of the
Golden Spur could also be a good influence
on those who do drink.
Students who want to will drink beer,
that is certain. Why not make the best of
the situation with good surroundings ? Why
be hypocrites, acting as if students never
touched the finished product of the brewer's
art?
Help us do a better job.
Send T he Gamecock a
news tip.
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~ c~e MeMiiamob
EdItoreals
Conumen.Try
Columbia, South Carolina
At ROTC?
commissioning in one of the- major services.
To many men it makes a great difference,
both in college and in their military obliga
tions. There are college men who would
rather serve four years in the service as an
officer than have to spend two as an enlisted
man. We must accept the fact that there
are basic differences between men (and be
tween men and women) and that there
should be a chance to choose between ROTC
and enlistment after college. (This choice
can be somewhat colored by the fact that
Officers Candidate SchooL-quotas have been
decreased a good bit in the past and the man
who enters as a private, airman or midship
man will probably come out with that rank if
his stay is not too lengthy.)
What we must oppose is the move to take
ROTC off the campus completely. Its status
as an extracurricular activity is a second
choice, but still favorable to complete extinc
tion. It is acceptable because ROTC has
changed, especially in the last few years at
USC. Instructors are well trained in educa
tion techniques, and probably deliver their
message better than most professors whose
only education has been in an academic field
totally unrelated to education theory.
One course in the Air Force ROTC curric
ulum is cross-listed with an International
Studies course and another may soon be
cross-listed with one in the history depart
ment. While many of the courses might be
considered a little redundant, what depart
ment is not being asked to consider the
deadwood in their curriculum? Certainly
there is room for improvement, and it looks
as if the Department of Defense will see to
it on a wide scale, but many moves have
been initiated by the USC units.
One claim is that ROTC trains the stu
dent to "kill." To most members of the
units this would be a hilarious statement.
The members are students like everyone else
garnering an education and putting in a little
extra time in ROTC classes. In these classes
students are acquainted with communist
philosophy and governmental makeup, the
policies and strategies of the defense de
partment and the major services, and they
are given some orientation in their particu
lar service.
With all due respect, ROTC has had
somewhat of a problem even teaching cadets
to march in a straight line. Every year the
two units take to the field in the annual
attempt to educate freshmen on the intrinsic
difference between the left and right feet.
Sometimes it takes three or four years to
make the distinct differentiation. ROTC
teaches no one to kill--if you want to learn
to kill you would do better to take folk
(ancing or trombone lessons.
A good deal of the ROTC problem is
probably a lack of communication. It has
failed to present itself to the student body,
explain itself and remove a little of the
mystery which surrounds it. Everyone might
(10 better if ROTC made an effort to open
itself and tell the students just what it is
all about. Such an action never hurt, any
way.
1903 with Robert Elliott Oon.aies as the first editor, The Game
and for the students of the U'niversity of South Carolina semi
lege year except during holidays and examinations.
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mecock are in Room 301 of the Russell House on the University
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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Mike Krochmalny
'E EDITOR BUSINESS MANAGER
ie Beneton Jack Padgett
llDITOR Carl Stepp
GING EDITOR Jim Wannamaker
RFred Monk
['OR Jim Haney
EDITORS ...- DJonna Scholl, Eddie Chen
S ED'TOR Diane Claypoole
)ITOR Susan Ros
AIRS EDITOR Sherry Shealy
CPORTERS Rollie Waters
DGRAPHER Chuck Keefer
G MANAGER Charles Alexander
ITISING MANAGER nobby Hhitt
MJ MANAGER Chip Abernathy
I: Bob Bensen, Ellit Berensteln, L.arry Clark. Ralph Jarrells.
Seidel. Jeha Spade, Mike Tyler, Steve C han, Gene Haney, Tern
Letters To TI
Sala
Dear Mr. Krochnalny:
I am writing to you in response
to Mr. Magner's article entitled
"Student Government Decline and
Fall" in the last issue of The
Gamecock. The article points up
many opinions to which I would
take issue. Please understand
that these statements must be
considered in light of my past
year's experience as the president
of the student body.
Mr. Magner's first assertion
was that student government's
value is highly questionable and
unproductive. He points first of
all to the fact that The Gamecock
carried an article that indicated
poor attendance at a recent stu
(lent senate meeting. It is well
Race S'ti
'Merry-G(
Dear Mr. Krochmalny:
It seems to me that wve are all
ridling on a sort of dlangerous
merry-go- roundl.
Many of us are riding black
horses and many of us are riding
white horses. And although the
ridlers of the black and white
horses stand for strikingly dif
ferent idleals, both ridlers share
a common objective, that objec
tjve being to prove the superi
ority of his horse-by its color.
It is a sad sight to step back
from the merry-go-round and ob
serve the frantic spinning ac
tivity. For it seems that both
groups in their quest for progress
are failing to gain any substan
tial progress at all. The hatred
and name-calling increases, but
can we call this progress?
Might it not be ap)prop)riate to
stop the merry-go-roundl and to
tho'ughtfully reconsider our com
mon objective ? Does the objec
tive of color or racial superiority
belong in a land such as ours,
within which we spend1( billions of
dlollars a year to liberate andl
free the oppre1Cssed peoples of the
worldl from the evils of com
mun11ism?
D)oes this objective belong in a
land within which Sunday after
Sunday church bells throughout
the country toll with such princi
ples as "love thy neighbor" andl
"Christ dliedl for all men"? Howv
often rep)eatedl are the words of
the parable of the Good Samari
tan.
F'or the past few centuries,
most of us have "mouthed" these
"glad tidings" of Christianity,
while within our own country
we have been breeding the seed
of black hatred and hostility,
nourishing it with the fertilizer
of white p)ride. And now that the
plant has matured we "balk" at
the fact that the plant has (horns.
But who is to blame ? Who
plantedl it, who nourished it, who
tendled it in its early (lays? D)id
not we ?
Trhese are the thorns of hatred
that hatred itself p)rodlucedl. These
are the thorns of Watts, Balti
more, Cl. vonia ndel Chicano
ie Editor
ine Del
that Mr. Magner, himself a stu
dent senator, should point to The
Gamecock for his evidence be
cause there was no other way he
could have found that informa
tion-you see, Mr. Magner was
not in attendance at that senate
meeting and his constituency
(Men's Towers) was not repre
sented.
Does Mr. Magner still feel that
it is the fault of "student gov
ernment" in general, that student
opinion is not represented? It is
amazing to note also, that a re
cent issue of The Gamecock
carried an article telling of how
Mr. Magner is forming "a stu
dent government" in exile, the
purpose of which is, according
uation Is
>- Round'
Orangeburg-yes, even the
thorns of racial unrest within
our own city.
Yet we piously turn our noses
toward the heavens and refuse
to acknowledge the fact that we,
directly or indirectly, are re
sponsible for racial unrest today.
It is time to climb down from
our steeds andl to reconsidIer this
matter with O-P-E-N minds. It
;is time to join hands with our
black brothers and sisters andI
to jointly lead each other on to
bigger and better things.
Today is the day to change for
we are doing little more than
squiruming in our tracks. Let us
make America the "land of the
free andI the homo of the brave."
I am getting dlown from my
horse. Who will join me ?
RICHARD ECKSTROM
Crowdi
By KEN HARE
Guest Columnist
Inertia, with apologies to New
ton and his apples, works both
ways. If you're standing still,
it makes it difficult to get
startedl moving. And if you're
moving, you might have trouble
stopping.
USC is a growing university,
and it has all the growing pains
normally associated with that
condlition. If physics carries over
into the academic realm, then
Carolina will keep barrelling
along, growing with each influx
of new freshmen.
But is this necessarily bad, de
sI:ite growing pains of finances,
new buildings, more professors,
et cetera ad infinitum? The
status quo begets staleness and
staleness is not a condition any
academic institution should tol
erate. But growth can provide a
transfusion of new blood that
can keep staleness from ever be.
coming a major problem.
Small, static colleges have
problems hiring new professors
because the older profs seldom
na fired or transfer. Th. only
ToDPtY CLASS, E S C
.,W. WALLIN. WAUL
A TREAENPOS Lo9
fiNKES US APPRE
oMrooRSo. FReS
VM"AY N INE
U.
rends
to Mr. Magner, "to represent all
of the students." Certainly if
Mr. Magner is really interested
in representing students, it seems
that he would have attended that
senate meeting.
Perhaps Mr. Magner feels that
as a senator it is "inhumanely
cruel to expect a senator to at
tend week after week when he
knows that nothing will be done,"
but I feel that Mr. Magner's dis
couragement has been caused by
reasons other than any inability
of student government to per
form. One reason many senators
refuse to come to senate meet
ings has been attempts by a few
senators who refuse to discuss
issues or to so confuse issues that
nothing can be done.
Mr. Magner should have been
in an extremely good position to
accomplish what he believes stu
(lent government should accom
plish. As the chairman of the
potentially powerful welfare com
mittee of the student senate, Mr.
Magner could have focused at
tention on the issues, researched
the facts, and presented viable
solutions to p)roblems concerning
studlents. Alas, no such results
wvere forthcoming-Mr. Magner
must have been discouraged.
Let me turn my attention to
the vital portion of the article
where Mr. Magner asks for a stu
dent government official to com
mit himself to a stand based on
facts. Should student govern
ment be continued? My answer
ia yes.
Student government is the only
legitimate voice of the student.
It serves as a vital communica
tion link with both faculty and
administration. Of course to Mr.
Magner, any (discussion with
either of these two groups is
merely, as you put it, a "semantic
game." Obviously you never met
with the Faculty Advisory Com
mittee or Dean Witten who
p)ushed to see the passage of the
Statement on the Rights and
Freedoms of Students. Obviously
I s 'New
fomof attrition Is the funeral or
retirement, and some profs take
a long time to leave by 'either
route. But in a situation where
the institution is constantly en
larging, new professors with new
ideas and a younger outlook can
infiltrate the faculty. This allows
a better balance and all-around
healthier system.
Growth also allows for the in
troduction of new courses and
changes In old ones. But cur
riculum enlargement gets to be
a big gripe of anti-multiversity
students.
"What benefit is It to me if
the University offers two million
courses, when my major only al
lows me two or three free elec
tives?" This Is a legitimate
question and It is receiving the
attention of admInistrators. At
least one department at USC, the
School of Journalism, Is consid
ering reducing the number of re
quired courses and allowing more
electives. Several other depart.
ments have already made this
move.
So now students have several
thousand courses of varying de
grees of dlifficulty and merit to
Y THE POEMS OP
.Dt'S WoRKISHoWS
F oF NATURE. t-tE
AME 'HTIE GREAT9
JUST LOk 'T THE
5GA
you never met with Dean Nelson
to talk about curriculum reform
or Dr. Coolidge to discuss a
teacher evaluation.
The ombudsman system (Mr.
Magner refers to it as a "com
plaint bureau") has brought with
it tremendous innovations which
were direct responses to student
needs. Witness the new method
of ticket distribution and the
APO escort service provided for
women on campus at night and
the bus system that, though still
in its infancy, provides a valuable
service to Carolina student,j.
Consider too, the numerous per
sonal cases handled on a confi
dential b a s i s-some involving
grades, cuts, etc. Certainly those
students who have been helped
by the ombudsman know the
value of student government.
Mr. Magner seems to be set
ting himself up as the Carolina
Community's Cynic-in-Residence.
He claims student government
does not represent the students
because of a light voter turnout
in the last election. His solution?
An organization (League for Stu
dent Democracy) of which he is
chairman. I wonder what per
centage of the student body voted
for Mr. Magner for this office?
Certainly not enough to re-elect
him to the Student Senate.
TOM SALANE
Letters Policy
THE GAMECOCK welcomes let
terse on any subject pertinent to
and in:>olv'ing University stu
dents. The editor-in.-chtief resertes
the right to edit letters to conl
form to style, good taste, space
limitations and libel laws.
Letters should be typewritten
and shou.'d not exceed 200 words.
No unsigned letters will be
printed, but names mnay be with
held upon request.
Letters should be sent to T HE
GA M EcocK, Box U-5131, USC.
Blood'
"Can I get an education at a
university?" Maybe. If they
aren't afraid to try.
For a start, they should ask
wvhich courses are interesting and
relevant. They shouldn't ask
which professors are "tough" and
which are "crip." Crip profs
aren't necessarily the ones who
teach less interesting classes. But
they don't hold the threat of
grades over your head to make
you learn it. If you want to learn,
the "easy touch" can often be
the hardest if you lack self-dis
cipline.
Don't be afraid to drop a
course. If you see early in a
course that it is going to be
boring, drop It before the dead
line for being penalized.
Shy away from the "mass
class" with 50 students and up.
Each major requires some. If
you get in one, rely on outside
readlings heavily.
Try s om e th ing different.
Courses outsidIe your field can
often prove refreshing and more
interesting.
The knowledge is there, but It
is up to you to find It. Too many
graduates .h..ld..t ar. both