Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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9 -mon Descending Power We live in an age in which power descends from the top. Witness the administration of President Nixon. He directed national affairs with little or no regard for individual rights and with little or no input from the people. Now, apparently, we have a political structure of descending power shaping up here at USC. The presidency of Dr. Tom Jones ended abruptly months ago amid mysterious circumstances. Equally abruptly, we got a new president, and subsequently, a new organizational structure. It is certainly not unusual for a new president to bring in new people or reorganize the previous administrative structure, but we see dangers in the way it is being done here at USC. Dr. Patterson is unquestionably an able administrator and dedicated to USC, but by his own admission, he sees his job as "serving at the will ot the Board." From what we have seen so far, this may be all too true. If so, get ready for a very conservative university struc ture and academic setting. The Board frthe most part, went to college at least 20 years ago, and that's the framework from which they view things. Tom Jones kept the Board largely out of our personal lives and gave us some very progressive academic programs. Unfortunately, this seems to be ending. The Gamecock TH E GAM ECOCK Is puished twiCe weekly on Monday and on d ntoHE USC C.Dnae ,s Colurmbia Women 's. Women's liberation, Miss Stassinopoulos says in an in terview published in VIVA magazine, is a "fringe revolutionary movement" which "keeps its bitterest paranoia not for the extremist, the male chauvinist pig, but for the reformer. The reformer seeks to remedy people's real grievances, so obviously women's lib resents this takeover of the movement's only respectable aims.... ." While Miss Stassinopoulos, author of the best-selling book "The Female Woman," agrees that women should have equal access to opportunities, she in sists that "men and women are equal but different." Women's lib, by challenging the values of a woman's life, builds up a vacuum with no values at all and calls it an This is the last regular edition of the Suni m er Gan ecock. The next issue will be for Fall Registration. Staff EDITOR Carl Baab ASSOCIATE EDITORS Scott Kearns Carl Naylor John Van Dalen AD MANAGER Bobby Aiken WRITERS Kathy Edwards John Van Dalen Phyllis Purcell Terry Dugas Hank Gilman Scott Kearns Chuck Cromer Carl Naylor Key Boozer George Wright Lynne Perri EDITORklALS Carl Baab John Van Dalen Scott Kearns Carl Naylor PHOTO Scott Kearns Harry Dutton ARTWOR K Gene Hood PRODUCT ION Steven B. Foiles Kathy Edwards CI RC ULAT ION Joe Bar ry Although the GAMECOCK is a publication of the students of the University of South Carolina, it is not an official publication of the University. The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the University, the student body or all the staff members of the GAMECOCK. Lib "Revo achievement. she said. "I think that is terribly dangerous." Instead of attacking all of society. "I absolutely recognize the need for concentrating on specific instances of descrimination and specific reforms." she said. "There should be more nursery schools, more training opportunities for women to go back to work after their children have grown up, more part-time jobs which would make it possible for women to combine their families with in terests outside the home, and more flexible working hours." All these reforms, she says, can be accomodated by society CU Decision Criticized To The Editor: I resolutely object to the discontinuance of the Con temporary University program. The "phasing out" of such a unique and scarcely precedented experiment would not only represent another grand step backward for education, but a notorious setback for the few students who have survived the traditional "Combine" with some iota of untapped motivation. The argument has been made that the end of CU would not mean an end to independent study at the University. I disagree--without the publicity afforded by a well-ordered clearinghouse for such in formation, very few students will ever become aware of that -alternative. I personally experienced my most productive semester in Contemporary University, and I firmly believe that more, and not less, of such opportunities should be made available to motivated scholars. I am also keenly aware of the tact that the low CU participatio4 level is more often due to restrictive academic requirements than to lack of individual initiative. Oddly enough, creative involvement in the resolution of a dilemma is considered less worthy than an elective credit. For these reasons, I pledge my full commitment to the movement to keep CU alive! James T. Heall Ed.--We understand there is a newly formed organization on campus dedicated to saving C'ontemporary' U.niversity. You might check It out.. CU! Defen.der To The Editor As a usual, run -of-the-m ill student at USC. I usually try to stay as apalthetic as possible a bout the internal political games p)layed here. But there comes a time when even apathy cannot ignore the ohviom ha tchet ing andl lies that have taken place since the new admmnistration hann its erem. lutionary without destroying it--which she accuses the militant women's liberation advocates of trying to do. "One of the things I most object to about women's lib is that it's an extremely elitist, intolerant movement.... It's tremendously elitist to say, 'We know what is good for you. We know best.' " Miss Stassinopoulos says that women's lib has appealed to many women because its message is, in effect, that the individual is not to blame for her frustrations and unhappiness it's the fault of society. "This is very appealing etters To The first case in point is the new structure of the university. While structurally it may be sound, personalities have to be taken into account. When President Jones resigned, a popular sentiment heard was that maybe now we would get rid of the dead weight that had become so much a tradition of the university. , And while a minimal amount of this dead weight has been alleviated, we are now faced with an organization quite similar to a brotherhood of shriners. Several of the top administrators are close friends of both Patterson and Marchant, which could, in some cases, prove to be beneficial. However, the ap pointments of some of these people appears not to be so much due to competence, but rather, due to who they know. As a result, the amount of in competence lost equals that amount of incompetence' gained. One can only surmise that the "Peter Principle" is alive and well at Carolina. A second case in point, which is indicative of the entire situation we are faced with, is the plight of Contemporary University. Dr. Patterson was quoted in the "State" newspaper (July 31) as saying: "He would undertake a complete review of the academic program to consider the usefulness of such programs as Contemporary University." His statement can be seen as nothing less than an out and out lie. If he were indeed planning to study CU's usefulness, then why was it necessary for the CU staff to find new jobs after this fall semem ster? . And why was it necessary for them to send out letters to next sememster's participants telling them that they would not be affected by (CU's nonexistence the following semester? If Dr. Patterson really intended to study (CU. then why did he not attempt to get input from those students who have a participated in the program? And why (lid he not see'k the guidance of those faculty members who support the program? Instead, he madle his decision based on his own biases and apparent c'ontempt for any thing Dr. Jones began. Perhaps we can trust him to pnorm an auops on