Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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.....*. .... .... ... Do you care? TO THE EDITOR: Yes, politics is a drag. But a unavoidable one if you care abot what is demanded of you by you society: about how much money I demanded of you in taxes, and juw what that money is used to sul port; what codes of conduct societ demands of you in order to secur its blessing, and what surveillanc and-or reprisal you are subject t for violating those codes; so on an * so forth. For example:if you car that you have to pay a huge pei centage of your moderate incom in taxes, whereas a rich man has lawyer find legal loopholes an gets off with paying practicall nothing; if you care that your ta money is used to sustain the war i Vietnam; if you care that you are lawbreaker, subject to bein watched and-or arrested, for "crime" without a victim smoking marijuana. The personality of the man w * elect to be President will affect ou lives from the bottom up. Who sha) it be: Nixon or McGovern? Th typical college student here (lik the average citizen of any ag down South) wants Nixon (it's onl to the North and West tha McGovern has a substantia following). However, there seem to be a fatalism among the nor average college students, the sell righteous "hip" community, whic they take to be sufficient ground for abstaining from any politics activity for McGovern. This i appalling: even those who ar convinced he has no chanc SI 1 This CoL ONI IWorthk Downtoi Cl I No strings a I acquainted C (Good ONI. Y whatsoever of winning could work for him as a matter of principle, so that his candidacy will have had an n impact, so that it will help make future political evolution less r tortuous. But no: the typical "hip" s student, satiated with sex, dope, music, and truckin', seems to feel that it is the height of coolness to be y nihilistic about all of it. His e political conscience amounts to e zero, and he can't be bothered to do 0 some good when the opportunity d presents itself e For what it's worth: those of you who profess to want an end to the e war, a more equal distribution of a the wealth, (and, incidentally, d repeal of the present Federal y marijuana laws,) ought to either do what you can for McGovern or n consider that you are probably a traitors to your beliefs. Though you g may feel that he can't win, or that a if he does he'll either be stymied by - Congress or perhaps assassinated, you still ought to take a stand. Do e you want to passively accept four r more years of Nixon, or do you 11 want to at least try to get George e McGovern elected? e Closing Notes: e (1) Concerning being turned off y to McGovern because of his having dropped Eagleton: so what? 1 Politics is weird. Is Nixon s preferable because he has his script better rehearsed? And isn't Shriver suitable? h (2) McGovern Headquarters is s located at the corner of Blossom I and Saluda Streets and the phone s number is 254-7614. Some of the e things you can do are to help with e office work there, recruit on Yes, YOL Save This Coupor on Is Redeen f Merchandis4 un Store- 1535 LRD and BOOK SH4 ttached! Just come on in! We war with our Main St. Store which is a you One Dollar in merchandise. OFFER EXPIR ES OCT. 15, 197; -..imit of One Coupon per Custom< it the Browz-a-Bit on 1535 Main St. N< :e of the pe campus, drive for the campaign, help collect funds, telephone prospective voters, and so forth. (3) If, in the last analysis, you cannot commit yourself to work for McGovern because you believe in him, remember that a lot of good can be done through his campaign to encourage black voters and first-time, under-21 voters to go to the polls for the sake of the local elections; or perhaps, instead, you could outright help the campaigns of some really good local can didates from the black community (ever heard of the United Citizens Party?) - if so, you can get in touch with Thomas Broadwater's (he's running for House of Represen tatives) office at 779-4347 or John Harper's 256-5064, or drop by 1125% Washington Street and ask what's happening. LESLIE FAIRFIELD One request TO THE EDITOR: I only have one request. That is for pedestrians using the ramp (Blossom St. walkway) to stay in the center lane and leave the narrow, side lanes to the bikes. At present e eryone ignores the lane designati and, as the bikes are going q fast when they reach the ysical Education Center, this es a safety hazard. The pedes ans and bike traffic would go s oother and without the danger of ing hit by a bike or (in my case) hitting someone. In addition, the lanes should be better marked and the people "I vhybwe Fo raou >t a indelswhee. utilizing the ramp stay where they should. EDWIN H. McCALL Damn the band TO THE EDITOR: I am a senior here, and in that time I have attended the majority of the home football games. In all the years I've been in this in stitution, I think that the Carolina Marching Band never looked better than it did last Saturday when we played Mississippi. They were sensibly, cooly dressed, and since apparently the total number in the band has been cut, the group had the appearance of a BAND for a change, rather than a swarming mob of too many falling over one another. And this particular show was truly colorful, and creative, with lots of nostalgic music from Walt Disney, complete with balloons, mouse ears, a smoking chimney, and live Disney characters. Yes, truly a different performance, in view of the in credibly crummy shows of the past. Ah, but one mar. Of course. Not once, ABSOLUTELY NOT ONCE, did the omnipotent Mr. Wahl, perhaps a greater moneybags than Dietzel himself, NOT ONCE did he turn his band to play to the Carolina students. Their backs were to us the ENTIRE SHOW. To this I have only tired resignational, finally, as I have complained before, as usually we were "privileged" to hear only one of seven or eight tunes. But this time, not one. Oh well. Next time I won't be listening anyway. I'll join the rest of the apathetic students and refill my drink during halftime instead. Mr. Wahl can continue to direct his shows to whomever is stupid enough to be degraded by watching him. DEBORAH E. WRIGHT Love the band TO THE EDITOR: It's really great to see The Gamecock every Monday and Thursday afternoon. I really look forward to reading it. Not only so I can enjoy the feature articles, editorials and "personals" in the classified ads section. I also look for a write-up on the Carolina Marching Band. As a member of this fantastic musical "family" called "the band" I feel you have failed to recognize our participation in the U. S. C. community. I do not want to say that since so and-so organization on campus had an article written about them that it's only fair that we do too. No, but I am in my second year as a member of the Carolina Band. Hardly a word was printed last year about our spine tingling half time shows, not to mention our attendance and support at all but one away game. This year we are a bit smaller in number but we have not decreased in excellence. In addition to our fine music and unique formations, Mr. Wahl has initiated a flash of color to the band-the new U.S.C. Flagline. I am a member of this fantastic group of girls and I am disap pointed nothing has been printed about us. Spectators thought last year's flagline consisted of guys not shapely girls, some of whom are members of the present flagline. I understand that at this year's first football game the Honorable Strom Thurmond could not remember having seen all those short red dresses and long legs in last year's half-time shows. But I , am not looking for a spotlight article on the flagline. How about an artice oe two on the most enthusiastic and spirited organization on campus? No, not the cheerleaders (sorry Bryant). But the Carolina Band! KAREN BERGESON Raising questions TO THE EDITOR: Your handling of my letter in the September 25 issue of the Gamecock has raised a few questions about your newspaper which I think deserve an answer. (I say "your newspaper" because your actions have demonstrated quite clearly that the students of U. S. C. no more control this little rag than they do the New York Times or the Ganges Daily Rinse). As you so dutifully mentioned, I requested that my name be withheld, a request which was ignored because, in your own words "there seemed to be no unusual circumstances surroun ding this letter." Great! Next time I'll be sure and have the letter delivered by three Hungarian dwarves riding African elephants who will then sing the contents of the letter to you backwards in Commanche as they perform the Swan Lake Ballet. Will those cir cumstances qualify as "unusual" enough Charles? To be honest with you Mr. Fellenbaum I don't see wh.y it is necessary that a person have "unusual circumstances" to justify his wish that his name be withheld. If one desires to express an opinion and yet simply prefers anonymity, then one does indeed have the right both to express that opinion as well as to maintain privacy. As far as I could surmise from your deeply informative note, what consitutes an "unusual cir cumstance" is an entirely sub jective choice which is left up to you, a choice which I feel you simply have no right to make. Why does the "title" of "Editor" put you in such a vantage point, that you may decide whether or not my "circumstances" are "unusual." While I do understand the legal problems which could result from your printing a letter which was unsigned, I would like to point out to you that my letter was both signed and hand-delivered (by three Hungarian Dwarves riding African Elephants, who will then...), making it readily traceable to its source should a libel suit result. Futhermore, if I were to make some "astounding" confession in your little "Weekly Reader" similar to the one which created such an uproar last year I would certainly not expect you to go to jail to protect me. In closing, I would simply like to ask you if it was a mere matter of policy which dictated your actions. If so, please state this for your readers, explain the policy, and at least let us know that there's definitely some sort of primitive logic behind your actions. RUSTY GH ENT P. S. Please be kind enough to print my name this time. Come on Charlie, you can get it right. I mean, give a monkey a pencil and he's bound to spell "banannas" once in a while. EDITOR'S NOT E: A letter without a name lacks credibility and indicates the writer's reluc tance to stand behind what he has written. If he is not going to stand behind it, why did he write it in the first place ? In some cases, a writer could be persecuted for saying something that needs to be said. In such cases, to withhold a name is legitimate. Mr. Ghent gave us no such reason-thus his nnme was printed. The Eto'r.n