University of South Carolina Libraries
Studen BY BILLY COX Of The Gamecock staff "The purpose of this press council is to establish intelligent dialogue between the Carolina community and The Gamecock," announced moderator Scott Kearns. "We hope that we can continue this dialogue long after we adjourn." Thus began The Gamecock's first organized rap session with its readers Monday afternoon in the Russell House Theater. Although Kearns said the meeting was "not intended to provide open season on the editors," the few concerned people in attendance managed to dish out accusations ranging from censorship to restrictions to a twisted sense of priorities. Briefly, the idea behind the council was borrowed from practical theory and designed to illicit feedback and suggestions from the audience as to' how to improve the status of the USC newspaper. Panelists included editor Jim Hersh, managing editor Steve Parker, news editor Bill Pratt, photography editor Mari Maseng, - sports editor* Pete Feheley, en tertainment editor Chuck Cromer and copy desk chief Frank DeLoache. Only Feheley, as if protected by an invisible Move to ne delayed uni The move of most of The University of South Carolina's library collections into the new central library, now under con struction, which was planned for this summer will be delayed until January 1976. The new library will not be completed in time to install all of furniture and equipment to complete the move before the beginning of school in September. This delay, according to Director of Libraries, Kenneth E. Toombs, will mean that the library collections will have to be moved during the Christmas break and in time to occupy the new library by the beginning of the second semester in the middle of January 1976. The Thomas Cooper Library, the largest construction project ever undertaken by The- University, will contain nearly seven acres of floor space. The new building will have sixty miles of shelves, 29,000 square yards of carpet and will seat 3,000 people. THE GAM The Gamecock is the offici University of SouthitCarolina an Mondays and Thursdays, durin and once a week during the u Publications and Communicati( Opinions expressed in The Ga and not those of the University o1 The University of South Caro at itution. Change of address forms, s correspondence should be sent USC, Columbia, 29208. Subscrij and $2 for the summer sessioni Second class ostagre ad at ts air gr linebacker, escaped pointing fingers. The main topics of conflict were aired by unofficial representatives of special interest groups who felt their organizations were given either minimal or unfair coverage. Jim Stuart, a student senator, said Senate activities were receiving skimpy publicity and "meaningful work" was being del eted. Stuart questioned what he felt to be The Gamecock's primary policy of investigative reporting rather than covering regular meetings and events. Stuart suggested next semester's staff publish role call votes of Student Senate. "I think that The Gamecock should report what's actually going on," he said, "rather than placing this emphasis on speculation." Another Senate representative said the paper has missed a lot of productive activity in the govern ment, and "everybody I've talked to seems to think 'that it's The Gamecock against the SGA, and vice versa. I think it's time we stopped fighting each other." Pratt said a major reason for slight Senate coverage was a lack of reporters. "This same senator earlier inquired about circulation and distribution figures of the paper. He was told 12,500 copies were w library til January The steel bookstacks will require 22 tractor-trailer loads for delivery to Columbia. The bookstacks will contain more than 500,000 pounds of steel. All of the furniture and equipment in the new building will require a total of some 50 tractor trailer loads and' more than two months will be needed for the in stallation. The new schedule calls for all of the furniture and equipment to be completely installed in the building by November. This schedule will enable the library to better plan its nove and also have the building completely finished with all of the furniture and equipment installed prior to the move. "While the delay will mean that the already crowded library facilities will become even more congested before the move, at least the move will be able to proceed smoothly without interruptions from either the building contractor or the people installing furniture and equipment" according to Toombs. COCK al student newspaper of the dis published twice weekly, on g the fall and spring semester. ummer by the USC Board of ns. mecock are those of the editors South Carolina. lia is an equal opportunity in bscription requests and other to The Gamecock, Drawer A, ition rates are $3 per semester Columnhia. S.C. ipes to p printed each issue, and of these, some 2,000 were not read and recycled. When asked what he needed the figures for, he grinned slyly and retreated to the rear of the auditorium. "Just how do you make a news value judgment?" asked a woman who said she worked with a University Union group. "We try to hit general things that we think will be of benefit to the largest number of students," Pratt offered. Unsatisfied, she maintained a lot of student activities were being hurt by lack of exposure. Cromer explained, "We give the Union a lot of heavy coverage, but it should not rely on us to advertise their events. It's the , obligation of these organizations to support them selves." 'The Gamecock shoul on, rather than placin on speculation.' "We've only got so much space for . so many groups who want coverage," Hersh added. A member of Volunteer Services said several associated programs had been ignored. He also cited one of Cromer's recent articles concerning student do-nothingness as being only one 'aspect of the situation. There are positive aspects he said. Cromer replied, "People around here seem to work for themselves. Yes, I do believe student apathy is a tremendous problem, and I don't think anything's changed in quite a while. In fact, I think it's just going to get worse," he concluded, his words echoing through the near deserted auditorium. A well-prepared statement was issued by a student who felt his diti m Apa ao-j iress co letter-to-the-editor regarding the Pie-in-Your-Eye case was unduly muzzled. He blasted what he termed a "blatant form of press censorship," claiming the decision to withhold his letter was "un precedented and unfounded." Hersh said the letter was not printed to prevent pre-trial publicity. The student retorted that the text of his submitted argument was completely hypothetical, and that no names or incriminations were involved. Another student senator ap proached the mike and said N.C. State's Technician was a far superior newspaper than The Gamecock. He liked their coverage of national events and photographic quality. He asked Hersh how he thought d report what's going g this emphasis The Gamecock rated among other collegiate papers. "I think we stack up pretty good, "Hersh chuckled, "but then I may be a little biased." Pratt pointed out The Gamecock's primary concern was to serve community interests, rather than a preoccupation with national affairs. Old wounds were also opened up. Mike Pincelli, former coordinator of Carolina Cares, challenged DeLoache on an in-depth story he presented on the operation. Pin celli vigorously maintained he had been misquoted, while DeLoache denied it and defended his stance. Despite squabbling over such thunderous issues as salaries and wages, much constructive Fli Cinon in. Let Burger Ki help you-Tsuf for" through I. - finat exams. Show us yot student LD. cari W'Nl serve yc helping of syrr And a cup of c Free. neil - criticism was offered. Robert Dalrymple, director of the in tramural program, suggestec4 intra-collegiate athletics ' be covered regularly to make people aware of the opportunities open to them. Others thought The Gamecock should expand its number of pages or increase its frequency of publication or both. But one student felt the paper should cut down to a once-a-week basis. DeLoache argued that limited staff sizes were keys to expansion ability, and added, "If we could get more funds, it would be feasible to grow. Keep in mind, though, that we have to compete with other organizations for SAC funding." Another listener said the Greeks deserved more ink, and tried to draw a parallel between Cromer's and Terry Dugas' articles on bar hopping to- the type of features fraternities and sororities needed. "Well, the bars didn't ask us to come by," Cromer replied. "We were just performing a pleasurable public service." After the two-hour session had ended, several editors were ob viously disappointed with the turn out and that probably the average college student was not really represented. Other faces were missing. "What I can't understand," said Parker, "is that there was no response frorh the journalism faculty at all. No one bothered to show up. They can sit back and criticize but they don't come to ask any questions." Casual talk hinted that another council might be held early in the fall semester--positive steps toward a beginning rather than a complacent satisfaction with the end. li u abig pathy of fee.