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Ch TO THE EDITOK I direct this letter to the jc ambitious enough to run a pi your ambition is latent. You, who says, "let another trained for it; you have an in other shortcomings, throughoi strengthened the behind-the-sc quality is the guts of any pape: use his institutional improvem paper has much in its favor responsibility. You can make publication. The paper waits for you. T1 you will have in level-he; predecessor has failed, will be your character. You must not to forget the needs of your rea to articulate the higher qual handed manner. You must n opportunism. You must not p< your sense of Tightness. Reac TO THE EDITOR For the past few months I've been reading Mark Platte's column. First I read it out of curiosity, and then to convince myself that it was not as bad as I thought. I figured that if I kept reading it I would discover something that I'd been missing--but it hasn't happened. Instead, I've been subjected to a flow of petty, personal, driftwood pulled from Platte's dead sea of thoughts and generously scattered among us in the guise of pearls of wisdom, witty asides, or something unknown to journalism. And if his banality isn't bad enough, Platte's ignorance Contemp TO THE EDITOR concerning your recent rei Sounds and their lack of nam< ever tried to book a band whei the Ballroom and for the Sprir the semester? In essence we h our schedule not the bands toui slow touring traffic in the south to choose from. We are constantly inquiring and we do provide bands ever> rr i . NANCYS k LITTLE \ Bmy alienee Foi uirnalism major capable and iblication next year. Perhaps do it" ; you, because you have icredible opportunity. Despite ut the year the editor-in-chief enes quality of the paper. This r. You have the opportunity to ents to benefit the school. This . It lacks only maturity and it a positive and fair-minded le students wait. The success aded fairness, where your limited only by the strength of permit the power to allow you ders. They need a person able ities of students in an evenot give in to expediency and ermit your position to eclipse ier Questic of nearly every subject he broaches is offensive enough to make one nauseous. In the Feb. 18 Gamecock he showed his ignorance once again by attempting to dismiss the credibility of Buckley's stance on increased defense spending and a tougher attitude towards Russia with his certified psychological evaluation of Mr. Buckley's emotional and mental state of health. The only thing he succeeded in doing was further diminishing the already miniscule credibility of his printed pleas for attention that I will lavishly phrase "his column." Platte is a fool if he >orary Soui ference about Contemporary 3 bands on campus, have you i you have to reserve dates in ig Concert at the beginning of lave to find bands that will fit ring schedule. Considering the i, this leaves us with very little about acts to play on campus r week in the Golden Spur, but r All Studer Egotism smothers fine abil your predecessor's tasteless tegrity. Show both sides of stui but articulate praiseworthy qu positive role-model. Be true respect. You will have side-ste] you permitted it to pass around You will have achieved a thing i You are able. The opportu abilities and character and for maintain them. You can have perceptions which shall, in tim small part of it ? and shape experience will make easier gr? You have the tools and the tr needed. Overcome the doubts make a commitment. For you are able. You. ms Credibil isn't afraid of the potential danger of a government that butchered millions of its own citizens to establish itself. Russia devoured Eastern Europe after World War II and regurgitated repressive, totalitarian regimes while America twiddled its thumbs instead of crushing the Soviets like it should have. I, for one, am not about to idly watch the same thing happen to Western Europe and the rest of the world. If the human race cannot govern itself any better than it does under totalitarianism, then let's have the third world war now and rid mother earth of her apocalyptic offspring. rvrls Ha? I ir considering our limitations in k acts for the Ballroom and Spr find a band to play here. Hoping fees, have an open Ballroom d; some other school in a more pre You commented the other da; anyone who criticized you shoi you the same advice. LX Busii its ities, evidenced recently by column. Maintain your indents, of faculty, and of staff, alities that readers may see a about it and you will gain pped egotism. Like fear itself, you without succumbing to it. few are able. inity waits, calling for your your sense of the sardonic to a hand in shaping students' e, shape our world ? if even a what we shall pass on. This eater things in the future, aining. Test yourself. You are on the way ? do not fear to MICHAEL LITTLE English Junior ity The only thing worse than Platte's pettiness and ignorance is his snivelling attitude towards Republicans and the Reagan administration. His griping is nearly as bad as the envious criticisms I've heard of Clemson and makes me want to wipe his runny nose with sandpaper. Until your Editor-in-Chief starts wiping his nose and writing something worth printing, he will be to me and many others as the "Lamecock" so aptly put it iinyfr>? i? lUdl IV Ol tfllC. LAWERENCE PERRY Business Administration Junior nitations >oth time and budget, finding ing Concert, we are lucky to ; of course we can afford their ate, and we aren't out bid by ferable location first. y on how hard your job is and iild try themselves. We offer SA PROSS SUSAN COX tiess major studio Art Major DTWhlice l twilling LITTLE ,/BITTY j^WAR Bttf MARKPLATTE j flBk T know this is sort of a last minute decision, but 1 have i decided to run for Student Government president, succeeding j my good friend John Boswell. However, 1 will not go to all the trouble of printing posters of myself, distributing buttons or giving interviews on why I'm the best qualified candidate. Rather, I will make just one promise and wait for the votes to pile in. My promise is to abolish the Student Government. Plainly, if ic nflithlkl* noiwttti) tuu* uionfAfl TKo uttinla ? >U uv>M?v> uwuvu 'IV* TVUIIIVU A IIV nrnvtc kJVUUCUl VJUVClll' ment operation is worth about a quarter of a million dollars. Imagine where that money could go if the Student Government were no more. It could go to offset student surcharges and student activity fees. The money could hold down tuition for a while. The stipends paid office-holding members of the Student Government could even allow more clubs and organizations to receive needed funding. This is not a joke. At the University of Georgia, the same thing was done. A student ran for SG president on the platform that he'd abolish the whole Student Government. He won with the largest voter turnout in SG history. I'm simply doing the same thing. There are students in the senate who believe that Student Government can work for the students but how has it worked so far? In the four years I've attended USC, the Student Government has done nothing for me. Try and think what it's done for you. I am in no way downgrading the people who have devoted long hours in trying to make Student Government work. Consider the past four presidents: John Boswell, Larry Kellner, Peter Haeseker and Seamus O'Boyle. All were fine individuals out ail had absolutely no power or leverage over ; either the students or the USC administration to do anything. Ask any of them! If they were honest with you, they'd readily admit that they had extremely limited input. | Take away the money that is spent so needlessly in the Student Government and put it elsewhere. Take the vacant SG offices on the first floor of Russell House and use them for added meeting places. Take the equipment budget from the Student Government and put that money into use for all students. When the senate meets on Wednesdays at 5:15 at the Callcott Social Sciences Center, all they do Is meet and visit with one another and laugh at each others' mistakes. Then when their term is over, they put the fact that they were a senator rei their resume, . - - -, ^ . $ What has gone on is a tremendous waste of time and money putting useless bills, resolutions and projects into effect that have little or no impact on the rest of us. Don't get me wrong. I am not criticizing the Student Government or student senate just for the sake of criticraiig. The book exchange Was a good idea. The course evaluatM*! 0||{Ho UIOD flAmofkind (hot T anilntw><ui liMMinnntIo O..* il.? ?* e??viv ?nryNM>VH?Uf6 * ??* ? wwwffW |??OWIiaHJ. OUl WW ?tti! Is these are superficial tasks that could be accomplished without having a Student $over*Knent. cW&iy ?ot have, for example^i^ervice fraternity tafc&d>ter these duties? Shouldn't the Garnet Spirit lwtidle ttie ticket distribution^ football games? ; W: ;ll? \ >'rvj;'-.-"M ^ Ws Cace lt: this unive&ity is starving financially. Vfhf must we put tip with an org&nStation that drains students of (precious dollars? Granted, there are other areas of USC 'which could provide students with more money to battle financial woesV But what better way to start than scraping the money from Student Government. That would be a sign tc the USC administration Juki the legislature of the waji students are ready to sacrlfii?W more money, >^ ; m In the 1981 Student (tarernment jMHtaiary election, oxtfj 3,650 of our 26,000 student voted for president. Past elections have netted the same low results. John Bosweli got into th| run-off election with 1,217 votes. He won the presidency with 1,751 votes out of 2,912 cast. In order for me to help abolish tip Student Government, Til need about 1,500 votes today. If all the people who don't care about having a Student Government write my name on the ballot, I'm sure I cotxlc I flantor tha latvraai amAiiMt ? ^WHVl WWW (Hlgw? HUiVWIt ?? WWV HI Ally iJlUUtJUB Government election. Then once elected, I would hekff distribute the wealth of money that is due students. It cot# be put into each club and organization on campus or it couk serve as a rebate for each individual student. Any decisis would have to be made in the form of a campus vote as to ha* the money would b? distributed. Foi iow years, I have heard the same ridiculous campaign slogans and stared at the posters which are designed to win elections. But this year can be a monumental change at the university oz soutn uarouna. instead of just hearing {ft same old jargon, students can vote to win back the moiie$ they've always had to put into something they don't want, For the first time, every student on this campus will contro his or her own destiny. Vote for me in all four slots: president, vice president, secretary and treasurer. If I win, the Student Government is no more. I'm devoting this entire column to this issue to present the facts. 1 present this stand apart from any affiliation as editor in-chief of the Gamecock, just as MARK PLATTE. r