Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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SG ele By WAYNE BROOKS Opinion Page Editor Because of her Greek backing, there was little doubt in anyone's mind that SG presidential candidate Dottie Hammond would make it to the runoff election, which is being held today. But most observers had predicted that the runoff would include SG Vice President Joe Drawdy, not newcomer Seamus O'Boyle. Needless to say, many people were somewhat surprised when it was announced that O'Boyle, and not Drawdy, would enter the runoff, even though O'Boyle was reported to have made considerable gains in the last few days of campaigning. So how do you best explain O'Boyle's feat? Obviously, I cannot ask every voter why he voted the way he did, so I can only make assumptions based on knowledge of the personalities involved in the race and their strongest areas of support. CERTAINLY, ANY candidate who hopes to win an election must have a strong organization of supporters who will camoai&n door-to-door and in the poll areas on the day of the election. O'Boyle did have a strong organization, but so ^ - ivhiiftifiii \. I ction: e did Drawdv and HammnnH Qr? what made the difference in the outcome? Consider this hypothesis: the majority of USC students are both non-Greek and non-black. Also, most of them have had little or no personal contact with any of the candidates. For all practical purposes, they are the"uncommitted" voters that every candidate seeks. Many of these voters would not vote for Hammond because she is strongly identified with a highly visible interest group, the Orppks Manv of th#?m would not vote for Jonas Best or Jimmy Hawkins because both are black. So that left them with Drawdy and O'Boyle. LET'S FACE it. Under most circumstances, a white male stands a bettgr chance of getting elected than a woman or black. Why? Tradition, perhaps. Not to all voters was this necessarily a case of racial or sexual discrimination. Many persons are usecl to having a white male in office. For that reason, a white male usually looks . more "presidential" to many. So, the choice had to be made between Drawdy and O'Boyle. There's no doubt that Drawdy's chances were hurt by the recent controversy / " Carolina Sprin kvnlnini r ^ ^ ^0m concerning the Greek primary and the contract with the IFC that he refused to honor. Most non-Greek voters should not be expected to frown upon Drawdy for breaking his contract. In fact, many should be expected to applaud him for not submitting to pressure from the IFC, a body not highly respected by many nonGreeks. But because he was involved in a controversy, and because many students were nnt fnllv awartk nf all nf the J "" "? v??vfactors involved, they did not vote for Drawdy. Even though O'Boyle was not accredited with previous experience in student government, he had a "spotless" record. CA uiiiAm...:!! ?: 4.1? ov mi/til win uciciuuiie lilt outcome of today's runoff election? First of all, it must be noted that more than 3,200 votes were cast in Monday's election; the voter turnout was the highest USC has had in several years. Whether or not today's turnout will be as great as it was Monday, it is hard to tell. Because fewer candidates are involved in the runoff, there may be a smaller turnout today. However, there have been SG elections in which more people voted in the runoff than in the first round. Most likely, a large turnout will be more advantageous for joe^et g vie ng the i O'Boyle. Because Hammond i was the frontrunner and may i have more "solidly com- i mittted votes (from Greeks) I than O'Boyle, a small turnout will probably help Hammond. * BUT ANYONE who is aware of the fact that this year's voter turnout has increased substantially (not more than 2,000 to 2,500 students have voted in SG elections in previous years) must wonder why so many more students voted Monday. The reason cannot be that there were so many candidates running, which often affects U 41 me iui iiuui, uctctuse inert; were fewer candidates for the four executive offices this year than last year (11 candidates this year compared to last year's 18 candidates). So why did more people vote this year? I must conclude that the large turnout was affected mostly by what is probably one _ P II - A 1 A A ? ' oi ine greaiesi turnouts 01 black voters in an SG election. I expected more black students to vote this year. Why? First of all, it can be attributed to the candidacies of Garry Norris, who was elected vice president, presidential canNorth Care r+I UUI w i IUO O I I To the Editor: As a native of North Carolina, I found Eric Stevens' letter ("North Carolinians are vain," The Gamecock, March 9) very offensive. Although I am a IJSC student, there are several facts about the* University of North Carolina which I cannot overlook, the C* A. - r Al f i. It A nrsi 01 which is ine iaci mai UNC-Chapel Hill was the nation's first state university and ranks among the finest GAME John R Jane Shealy News Editor Barbara, S Graduate DonFobes Barry jj Asst. News Editor Entertainrr Dan Palma Mark I Copy Desk Chief Asst Enlertai Arlene Morgan Karen \ Photography Editor Production I THE GAMECOCK welcomes letters from its i subject and a maximum of 300 words. They i Pseudonyms or other aliases will not be use< circumstances warrant. To assist us in veri I your mailing address and a telephone numbe class standing and maior, also. We reserve fh 1 to meet our space limitations. Address: Ca I USC. Columbia. S. C. 29208. wpoints "esults ; dictates Best and Hawkins, and many senate candidates, who assuredly attracted many black students to the polls. BUT ANOTHER factor is involved, of which man>/i students are not aware. It must* be realized that the Association^ of Afro-American Students isj probably politically stronger! than it has been in several] years. I must applaud the able! leadership of outgoing) President Tanya Lewis and the! other leaders of Afro for] strengthening not only the I black vote, but thej organization in general as well. < In last fall's senate elections, \ Afro proved that it was? politically strong when it j motivated many blacks to vote \ and helped elect several blacks | to the student senate. Only one \ black, Wanda King of the j Women's Quadrangle, was a J member of the senate before * the fall election. If blacks vote as a bloc in , today's election, and in large ? nnmhprs thpv HiH MnnHow J v-.? , they may easily affect the outcome and help elect USC's next Student Government President. >linian ate, UNC academically, athletically and in beauty. UNC was also rated the South s finest university by Time Magazine. Also listed were Duke University in Durham, N.C., and Vanderbilt University in Nashville. The most important fact Concerning me, however, is the fact that I was not accepted at UNC. I had an 1180 SAT score and 3.0 GPA while attending a nigniy touted private school not even 25 miles away from See UNC. page 26 JcocJT . West ,or Wayne Brooks Opinion Page Editor Mathews Assistant Matt Ward Sports Editor Glenn ' tent Editor j Mike Hunt Mueller Chris Myers nment Editor Asst Sports Editor s Vooten Bill Fitipatrick i Manager Ad Manager 'eaders. Letters should be limited to a single nust be signed with the writer's true name. d, but the writer's name will be withheld if lying the identity of writers, please include r where you can be reached. Please include e right to edit all letters, not fcr content, but mpus Opinion, The Gamecock, Drawer A, -A r