The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 25, 1974, Page Page 8, Image 8
The E
At a recent Sigma Delta Chi tc
(professional journalism society) d
convention, student media ti
representatives from across the c
Southeast were somewhat amazed
that The Gamecock has a less- nr
than-favorable relationship with it
the university and the state of c
South Carolina. They assumed p
that because of this, the paper was v
reactionary, politically - oriented it
and made waves simply for the b
sake of doing so. It was looked ti
down upon. d
Looked down upon? Were these
people able to see the events that d
surround this school, it would be g
extraordinarily easy to understand 0:
why the adversary relationship n
exists. And through this e
relationship, no matter how much b
tension it generates, one can fully G
see the true function of a campus m
newspaper. ti
This semester, The Gamecock,
has been accused of being too of
professional, too serious and too e:
pessimistic. We have constantly u
been reminded that our service is a4
Others
Responsible
For Cafe
To the Editor:
In your otherwise excellent
coverage of the opening of the
Humanities Cafe, the names of
several of those most responsible
for its existence were omitted.
Recognition should also go to Vice
President Brunton and to Bill
Carter and Bob McNaughton, who
are members of his staff, to Dean
Beardsley, Dean Alexander, and
the members of the Cultural Af
fairs Advisory Committee, who q
pushed the project for many
months. Finally, special credit
should go to my students and those
anonymous walk-ons who spent
last Tuesday erecting the stage
which, incidentally, was paid for
by Mr. Brunton.
Benjamin Dunlap
More Sewerage
To the Editor:
For the past few weeks I have C
read numerous witty and sar
castic letters and editorials about
Gibbes Green that have polluted c
(further) your newspaper like so t
much raw sewerage (sic). r
Well I have been at USC for four<
years now, and until the university <
announced plans for renovating the
area I had seen no evidence of any
students having even the slightest
regard for the grass of Gibbes
Green.
Brick walkways criss-cross the
area to provide means for getting
from building to building without
having to walk across the grass,
but if one would only look at the
area he would see many dirt path- t
ways carved out of the grass by 4
students who don't care about
"'green" grass. I have seen the
University mail trucks and service
vehicles crossing the area making
concerted efforts to stay on the
walkways instead of the grass, but
student vehicles tearing across the j
green with total disregard for the
University's efforts to airate (sic)i
and seed the area each and every
spring. r
Trash receptacles are located
across the green but lay mostly s
empty, I wish I could say as much
about the Green itself. Cigarette
butts, coke cans, and other n
assorted garbage constantly l
deface the beauty of Gibbes Green.
If the student body at USC had ti
uctio
the student , not to grind in
ividual axes or pursue con
oversial matter out of our.
uriosity .
We have been advised by non
iedia people to have more humor
i the newspaper, as well as
Dnsciously notifying the student
opulation of approaching events
ia a campus calendar. In many
stances, these suggestions have
een taken to heart. More ofteri
an not, they have been
isregarded, and with good reason.
The average university person
Des not realize what it entails to
et this seemingly advertisement
-iented publication out. He does
At realize that if every campus
ient was published, there would
e no other space left; The
amecock would become nothing
ore than a social calendar, and
ie function of a campus press
ould be lost in the process.
What has been done in the course
this semester is to critically
camine the workings of this
iiversity at both the student and
iministrative levels. A lot of hard
i4
hown some regard for the grounds
f this university by having used
valkways instead of grass, trash
ans instead of dirt, and by ap
>reciating Gibbes Green for astetic
sic) reasons instead of treating it
inly as an outdoor biology class,
hen I would think you had a
easonable gripe, but as it is, you
leserve anything the University
lecides to do with the grasses of
libbes Green.
Ben T. Granade, Jr.
[iraduate Blues'?
To the Editor:
I'm not a feminist looking for
nale chauvinists under every bed,
>ush and breakfast table. But I
iad to say something this time:
here was that ad again in the
samecock classifieds: WANTED)!
.iberalI-minded female to share
partmient in C'ayc e with male
trad student. (Call (...etc.).
I'm not picking on male-grad
tudents personally, and maybe,
1st maybe, I've inferred
omething from this ad that wasn't
ntentionally implied..
However, it seems to me that a
riale grad student who wanted just
rentsharer needn't have
pecified anyone's sex in the ad but
is own.
If he wanted a female apartment
late in particular because he's
tboring under the notion that
'omen are neater and cleaner
ian men, he wnould have dnea r.
0
amng Si
work 'by some truly dynami<
people has revealed a lot of thing
that one might not like to see. An
yet they are there , like it or no
We have endeavored not to bree
discontent or controversy, but
rather to report ana comment o
the actions of this school and th
people involved with it. For sun
we have made more enemies tha
friends. But such is always th
case when aggressive pres
collides with a superstructur
that is used to having its proposal
and actions slide by, uncontestec
About six weeks ago, a higt
ranking official at the universit
said the administration was scare
of TheGamecock. In actuality, it i
not so much a question of fearing
student newspaper.it is the fear c
having their every move criticall
examined.
Judging from this semester, it i
understandable why a certai
degree of contempt exists betweei
the paper and the administratior
To begin with, we must look a
the resignation of Tom Jones a
USC president. It was a cut-and
netter to specify "housekeepei
and offer free room and board.
He either confused the issue <
made it perfectly clear when I
used the phrase "liberal-mind(
female". Somehow, I don't thir
he just wants to talk politics wi
some girl who voted for Georg
McGovern, either.
Just what does this or any oth
male mean when he decribes
woman as "liberal-minded" --4
"liberated," to use another o1
bandied word?
Several days ago a ma
acquaintance of mine w~
speaking of a woman who is (ar
this is putting it delicatel'
"sexually indiscriminate." rr
acquaintance said it this way:
"She's extremely liberat(
(raised -brow punctuation) if-yo
know-what-I-mean."
In a letter to the editor in
recent Gamecock issue, a Narl
Withheld suggested that the rani
of female streaking reflects the lo
self-esteem and clingirl
inhibitions of the non-liberat(
woman; the implication was th
one could not possibly be a whol
free woman unless one had fir
dashed naked down a public stree
How did the terms "libera
minded" and "liberated" acquii
these euphemistic, suggestis
connotations. If you live with
man, you're liberal-minded; if yc
streak, you're liberated? Linkt
now with bed and body-sharing, ti
terms originally expresse
woman's redease from preise1
hudent P
dried operation, very slickly b
handled. Important facts were P
d successfully obscured at first. But t
t. then people started talking, and
d only The Gamecock attempted to w
print some of the more sordid tr
n affairs of a strange relationship P
e between education and politics.
, We have worked on the Jones s
n story for three-and-a-half months. tk
e Weekly, new information was s
s given to us. But desires and 1e
e political motivations prevented us 0
s from finding the truth. tr
. And yet, despite the cries of w
i- slander and muckraking, this was h
y a time of superb responsibility on
d the part of the newspaper. We kept 1
s in touch with lawyers and u
a professionals alike before deciding
f what to print. With one exception, tt
y a story never saw print unless it r
was confirmed and reconfirmed. '
s And we protected the identities of t
n some of the state's most powerful
n people. e
There were others. The Gibbes a
t Green project and its ramifications A
s received a great deal of comment F
in this newspaper. Students were P
V
P
600 d
* g
l
tl
C
f4
t
re
a
s
a
S
0
C
e
" those things as the central focus of r
her life. Men aren't the sole S
r abusers of the concept; Name
te Withheld could very well be a t
d woman, and I wouldn't be sur- d
k nrised in the least at that.
~h The whole modern woman-man a
e confrontation might be more easily ~
resolved by viewing it not as a i
er matter of "feminism" versus '1
a "male chauvinism," but rather as 8
>r a matter "humanism." A liberal t
t- minded,liberated woman strives to
depend on her human personality ti
Le and intellect rather than her a
s feminine wiles; to use her human ',
d brain to impress and not her a
') female body; to emphasize her p
'y human strengths and potential
instead of her feminine e
d weaknesses. She sees the male of s:
u- the species as a human too, not in tI
his separate or possible roles and ir
a the liberal-minded, liberated man "~
ie sees this kind of woman as his ally, ti
:y not as a threat to an inflexible it
w opinion of what "being a man" and tU
~g "being a woman" entail, a
d Liberation then involves
at reciprocal acceptance of oneself pl
e, and others as person(female) and nr
st person(male). It's difficult if not ei
t. completely defeating to try to 01
1- relate as person to-female, person- o1
-e to-male or combinations thereof. ei
'e But, as called for by each different w
a situation and by the feelings of the
u humans concerned, male-to- w
d female and person to-person
e relationships. are the most
*d satifying and productive.
Laurie Viiainnn
ress
eing run over by some powerful
eople in business affairs, without
ieir apparent knowledge.
)mebody had to let them see what
as going on, and it is certain that
ie administration would have no
art of it.
With the help of a concerned law
udent, we have been able to show
ie student, the university and the
ate that USC's health policy
aves something to be desired.
nce again, the student is bearing
ie brunt of another university
hitewash. Wallowing in apathy,
e is not going to pursue the matter
idependently. Someone had to.
he Gamecock did. Now the
niversity faces a $900,000 law suit.
It might have happened without
e benefit of the publicity the issue
ceived. But then the students
ould not know what is happening
) them.
Perhaps there exists one shining
xample of how effective an
ggressive campus press can be.
Ithough .no, one is admitting it
ublicly, The Gamecock was the
rimary agent in getting the ob
ious conflict of interest in Mike
rier's ombudsman-counsel
osition removed. How else can
ne explain the fact that less than a
ay after one Gamecock reporter
tarted questioning the attorney
eneral, Grier's duties were split.
Beyond this, we criticized our
lain money source, the Student
llocations Commission, for both
e job it was doing and the
ianner in which it is constructed.
ne does not bite the hand that
,eds it, but the paper believed
iere was a better way. We at
acked the SAC, but offered a
asonable alternative. It was not
question of criticizing for the
ake of criticizing; it was meant in
constructive manner.
There have been numerous
hortcomings, to be sure. We
iissed crucial meetings on the
roposed second medical school
n man'' instances, student
rganizations did not get their
vents publicized in the way we
ould have liked. Production
rrors have been limited, but they
o exist, and undoubtedly will
ontinue to exist. Some of the
iaterial on the editorial page was
hallow and ridiculous.
But as strange as it may seem,
his newspaper has geared itself
irectly to the student in both news
nd comment. It has not become
n organ of the administration. We
ttempted to encourage student
aput through the innovative Page
idea. Response was not always
ood, but the opportunity was
here.
We have tried to convey the idea
> the student that unless he takes
n active role in the university
orkings, he is going to be taken
dvantage of. And that is the worst
ossible form of human abuse.
We will continue to'criticize and
antinue to be criticized. That is
mply the way things work. But
ie newspaper is still the most
nportant force in exposing public
rongs. It is the responsibility of
e university press to expose,
form, comment and entertain, in
te face of deceit, threats and
~cusations.
But it is always done with the
sople in mind who matter the
ost: the students. If we can
ntinue the struggle for the good
the student, no matter how acrid
ir relationship with the upper
~helon becomes, then the fight
ill be worth it.
In fact, it will be more than
orth it.