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Afe Peident *S7 ICnobe.lying wearily on a Mbch Is his aew Student Govern.1 a *s erly the end of the 4ter, and Knobel was quietly z oAdering whether Student 01V1" verment was worth it. "A whole semester," he said Wistfully, "Gone. And what have we doe? What have we meant to the average student? -A'We've worked so hard setting ourselves up, planning for the future, trying to build confidence. But does it make any difference?" For Knobel, a semester as student body president had flown by with hundreds of hours of work and few tangivie results. At the quiet end of a solemn day, it was depressing. In reality, one could point to an unusual number of Student Government successes over the past months. Knobel now sits with the board of trustees, dorms are increasingly open, the curriculum is, under serious study, alcohol rules are relaxing, ticket diftribution is gair and efficient, Student Government is internally well-organized, Slater is gaining Letter Elect pre Dear Mr. Wannamaker: As a imtember of the Carolina Community and an active member of the University Union, I wish to express my concern about the recent debate over the election of the Union president. There have been motions to remove the election of the Union president from the student body. I feel that this would be a tragic mistake. The idea of the Union is to provide services for the students. The best way to achieve this is through student support and in terest in the Union. Closing any avenue of student involvement would be ridiculous. Since the student body votes only for one officer, Union' president,. closing the election to students would only alienate them. An argument in favor of student body election is that the Union Is supported by the student activity fees, and the students should have a voice in spending it. I feel that the activity fee Is not the most vol. Lx. N.. Us Founded Jam. 36. 3366 with Robert Elliot Go published trlweekly during the fanl and spring periods and Umiversity holidays. Although THE and published by the University, the opinlous eui of the admlistraties, the fatuity er the student deliverable copies. subscrIption request& and eti Columbia. 8.C. 23266. subscription rates are S GA MECOCK are in Rooms 308 and 3101o the Rus are T-178 (sews and sports). 7242o1 teditor GAMECOCK is represented national!y by Noes publication is a member of the MAsociated ( .Asso3ciation. Second class postage paid at Cok, 'Editor-in-chief Jim Wannamaker Business manager Joe Riley Managing editor Fred Monk Advertising manager Woody Hinkle Asat. managing editors simssa Ross Alyce vomans Associate editors Mike Krochmalny Carl Stepp Sports editor Jim lianey Susan Room (hief photographer Will P'etero PARENTS J KEEP UP ON ( SUBSC A OPEA 27 S. MAllN (Across frc is inse competition, a new student con stitution is being written. Whether the students reaseIt or not, Student Government has vitally touched their college lives and has worked itself into a respected and trusted positionon campus. It remains depressing, however. that students often don't identify with Student Uovernment. They shun it as cliquish, weak, wishy washy, powerless. They seldom think about it, care little about staying informed about its ac tivities. This remains a major obstacle. Student Government, while lacking in real authority and power, is growing-in power and prestige. It remains hesitant to assert itself, however, a little unsure that it has has the student support to forcefully assume the place of spokesman for student sentiment. It remains, too, overly involved in internal wrangling that leaves most students confused and disenchanted. For weeks, for example, charges and coun tercharges against a cabinet members have dominated newspaper reports and student Government meetings. While problems go unsolved, Student Government worries over crass sident important issue involved, because the various Union committees usually decide how much Union money is spent. An argument in favor of changing the election of the Union president is that Union members are better qualified to select a more able presidefit. This may be true, but for a person to be can didate, he must be an active member of the Union two con secttive semesters, be a junior, senior or graduate student, have a 2.25 GPR and meet the approval, of the Board of Governors. Thus, a candidate for Union president will be qualified to serve. Even if they are not all equally able to fill the office, they are all qualified. Since the Union deals with student involvement, removing the election from the student body would slam shut one door leading to student participation in the Union, TONY DANIELS University Union Monday. March 3. 197S maales as the first editor. 'hE GAMECOCK Is semesters with the exception of examnation GAMECOCK Is managed by and for the students ressed hereto do not necessarily reflect the views body as a whole. Change of address forms. a mer mall Items should be sent to Drawer A, UsC, I per year or $3 per semester. Offices of THE sell House on the University ta mpus. Telephones ). and 777-4225 (advertising and tasinese). 1THE snal Educational. Advertlsing service. Inc. The ~wAegitte rre.s and thet S.C. Collegiate Press imbla, 8.C. Night editors Pat Steele Scott D)erks Ty Kelley Cheryl Manning Kitty McCaskill Elizabeth Phillips Asat. sports editor Teddy Heffner CirculatIon manager (harles, l-elienbaum I.ihrarian Mike. (ox.. WND FRIENDS ~AMPUS AFFAIRS RIBE TO Cw.OPLTE..UT i 0A.M TO9P M.MO A areBr cure power plays and needless bickering. University Union faces similar problems, Its main activities recently have centered on how its officers should be elected, when the central problem is not how to elect them, but what they do once selected. The word for such maneuvering is politics, and it Is inexcapable. The campus is a microcosm of any community, with political squabbles and struggles for prominence. But the stakes are different here, and there are problems more fundamental than internal squabbling. Student Government must first establish itself, its power and its power base before wasting time with petty feuds. It must convince the students of its competence and commitment-not to inside maneuvering but to student service. Student Government has come far in recent years in gaining respect and recognition. It now must turn to its constituency with determination to publicize its activities and incorporate all students. It must turn to the problems, not the politics, so that the progress can be recognized and the problens can be solved. Under my br 'Uncle By MIKE KROCHMALNY. Associate Editor Book Review. Uncle Strom's Cabin. (1970, The Liberal Press). Uncle Strom's Cabin is not the sequel to Harriet Beecher Stowe's immortal Uncle Tom's Cabin, it is the continuation of that novel of the ends man will attain in the search for personal gain. In this episode of the struggle, the South lies in ruin, devastated by Northern entrepeneurs and West Coast politicians. The sacred religion of the South- racism- is being held up to scorn and ridicule and mongrelization of the master race is being threatened with the end of segregated schools. The first episode finds Uncle Strom addressing a group of Yankees, trying to build up sympathy in the North. "This heyah seg-rigashun sichasion is apawling to us freedom-luvin Suthners. We don't hold nuthin gainst the Nigra, lessen he gets outta his place. You all dun gotten us wrong. We dont hate nobody. We just want to go back to our qui-ett ways of livin, drinkin jew-lips and lettin the Nigra do the work he was put on thurth to do. Why, ifn God didnt want the Nigra to pick cotun, he wouldnt of given him hands." (The Yankee audience manages to contain their applause.) "Furthamore, we Suthners got as much right to have our little idio-sincrusies as anyone else. We helped ee-lect the prez-i-dunt, so why cant we do whut we want to down South? " (The Yankee audience shows its approval of Uncle Strom's speech in normal Yankee fashion - a hail of marshmellows.) Now the scene shifts back to the plantation where the cruel task master (and local politico) Simon McNair is having his own troubles with the carpetbaggers and scalawags. "You all just don't realize the pain I bear to keep this position of trust. I suffer because I know what I'm doing is best for you if I were to bow to some less competent man, why you people might just be plowed under in the oppression that would follow. I am your liberty." QUJE 1.-SAT. 252-0740 Di eath Strom s (At which point the whole slave population tries to imagine what it would be like to live under real oppression.) "My friends, and you are my friends, I am saddened by your lack of confidence. Someday I will be rewarded, but it will not be soon. 'You fail to appreciate the hardship I go through for you." The scene shifts back to the North, where Uncle Strom is again pleading the case of the South with dull redundancy. "Fellow A-mair-i-cuns, dont judge us by the standerds of a Commy-nist, yeller Sue-preme CoArt. Never have o pany well in-tenchuned and peace-luvvin fIA O E -? - THE NEN cover Amei Cabin' people been so mis represented. We dont want hatrid or ignerants. we jest want whut is prawmissed to evry A-mair-i-sun, the right to hold whumever he wishes in bond idge. You got the Poal-ax, the Itallyuns and the jewce, just let us have our Nigras." The book is quite repetitive, and the author died of hardening of the arteries before its completion, yet the part already written shows a definite sense of humor and a distorted code of values. In teresting reading for those with strong stomachs. 1d Bodki VGNEAT stopping atth e a Ph Pic u vur haaear The Lettermen are definitely "eold". Others share my opinion, I'm told. We'd like some "hard rock," Is that stich a shock? So come on, committee - got bold!I - ELLA DAVIES Letters policy l.etterm to the editor should be brief. typewritten and about subjects pertinent to U'SC %tudents. The editor reserves the right to edit letters for style, good taste. space limitations and libel laws. No usOgned letters will be printed, but naime% may he withheld on request. Letters -.164sud he sent to The G.amecock. Box U-5111. 11'1C. Columb1a.'R. C. 2%2M. LS [#tet hare etrmarde iel "LFE". Otp .sharge myccion,mtoy We'nd l13.oe"hr rc, tapwaen n e ra t uetsptinto Student: team is still no. 1 Dar Mr. Wannamaker: In this, the wa'e of a tragic loss to the N.C. State Wolfpack in the Atlantic Coast Conference basketball tournament, I would like to express my thanks to the players of our great team, the tremendous coaching staff, and especially Mr. Frank McGuire.. Throughout this past season the Gamecocks have thrilled over a quarter of a million people with their excellent basketball ability. I feel that our team has displayed thoughout the season the deter mination, desire, and sport smanship in the highest ideals of this great University. I for one am proud to be a member of the school which was represented by these fine people. One cannot praise this team enough. I believe that I speak for the student body when I say, "in our eyes this team is still a champion." I am only sorry that such a great season had to end so tragically; however, I still look forward to next year when thp 'Cocks will be back and stronger than ever. Thank you again, Mr. McGuire and Gamecocks, for a wonderful season of basketball. CHRISTOPHER G. GRIFFITH Hope where there had been none Dear Mr. Wannamaker: Have you any comprehension of what John Roche and the rest of the basketball team have meant to the state of South Carolina? Do you know what the team has 'done for this University-this state? No doubt they've been much too busy doing the thing that is theirs - playing basketball in a way that set everyone at USC and the state of South Carolina on.fire, Do you know what the team has given us? Hope where there have been apologies. Confidence where the meaning of the word had been forgotten and pride in a University and a state that seemed to be doomed to being just a bit better than Mississippi. The team assumed a large and formidable responsibility on their sturdy shoulders without realizing im'. exactly perhaps the impact of the part the talent God gave them might play in the building of an image of a state fragil yet strong intangable hopes perhaps put into your human and responsive'hands building higher and higher the daring grasp of a state feeling itself always second best. The agony the team felt on marching into combat with NC. State was multiplied many times over by all of us who looked to you for the win all of us yearned for-not just for USC but for the purging of a state that has too often been in the purgatory of competition-be it in sports education-politics of our' state. It matters not-for some dumb-reason, born in history S.C. is put down. The team has helped raise us up our beautiful Gamecock team has helped the populace hold their heads high in a respect they've never had the privilege of feeling before. For this and many other things intangible and otherwise we thank the team from the depth of our hearts. MRS. THOMAS F. JONES SHFRE