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.editorials Building's closing unfair to students Russell House University Union is closed on liranlrnnrio A K.. J w ? 4- 1 y?v,v,j?.v,i?vao. x-i, v.v/inik/iitctticrii ui uuugei cuts anu renovations prompted the closing. Work-study funds, which usually cover 80 percent of RHUU student salaries, weren't available this summer. The cafeteria and Union Station are closed for renovations. RHUU Director Dennis Pruitt said he believed the weekend closing was the most efficient way to operate within his budget. Pruitt's judgment may be good, but students lose in this situation. The Russell House provides a home-awayfrom-home atmosphere. Students can relax and study in the various lounges or watch television. The Cinematic Arts Committee presents movies at a low cost to students in the Russell House Theater, and the gameroom offers pool tables and pinball machines. Students wishing to meet a friend and drink a beer go to the Golden Spur. But summer students are being denied access to this haven. In fact, students wanting to meet a friend in a bar have to leave campus because the Spur is closed for the summer. In Prilitt's u'hrds "this ic real cqh ciliiofmn " The Russell House University Union is supposed to serve students. Instead, services are being curtailed. Even mail, if not picked up by 5:30 p.m. Friday, will sit locked in RHUU until Monday. While students realize the university feels economic pressure, school officials should understand the importance of Russell House. School is more than going to classes. The Russell House helps provide a well-rounded environment for students. And the weekend is when students have the most time to enjoy re 11ccfll 1 Haiico onftirifJrtr. Xiiuuuvn iiuuo^/ av, 11 V 1 HCd . Russell House officials should try to devise a way to keep the building open on weekends without jeopardizing services for the fall and spring semesters. At least, students should be aule to retrieve mail on weekends. Verdict indicates weakness in law More than a year ago, John W. Hinckley Jr. shot President Ronald Reagan and three other men. The nation was able to see film of the crime. Monday night, Hinckley's jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity. It was not a quick decision ;the jury deliberated for nearly 25 hours. Was it the correct decision? A situation now exists where Hinckley could be released in 50 days. While this is not likely to happen, one cannot help feeling Hinckley "got away" with shooting the president. And one has to wonder how many others accused of murder or attempted murder will use insanity as a defense. Hincklpv'c \/iotnr\7 AHpfrntrvr. " ! ? f ?vi../i j u^niv/iiouaics ci wetlMlUbS in our system of justice. When a man is found innocent of a crime millions saw him commit on television, it is time to take a look at the laws and ask, "What's wrong?" CAROLINA WOMEN'S 1 CLINIC Pregnancy Testing 5 Abortion Counseling and services Pregnancy can be detected before missing period Birth Control Counseling and Pills pap Test and other Female Problems 2009 Hampton St., Columbia, S.C. 803-256-0128 111 1^ PERSONAM ARE GETO letters Energy choic Editor: i ne June 9 Gamecock ran an editorial by Dr. Oswald F. Schuette justifying the expansion of nuclear power in the United States. I would first question Dr. Schuette's determination that our options for producing electricity must be narrowed to coal and/or nuclear power. I accept Dr. Schuette's concern about the supply of oil, and, coupling that concern with the many political and economic problems of continued dependence on oil, I feel that we must indeed move away from oil. However, the rplfltivplu email ruii'/ionJirYn - ^.v?v? T uiiAuii pvi vv/iua^c of oil currently being used by the United States for the production of electricity should not be a major factor in either causing oil shortages or promoting the dangers of dependence on imported oil. NATURAL GAS supplies are uncertain at best, but the efficiency, cleanliness and availability of natural gas should be enough to enpmiratfp us to iisp this resource to its fullest, at least until supplies dwindle sometime during the first half of the 21st century. To argue that "solar energy is too diffuse" would seem to lead nowhere. The practical application of solar WUfiD0U&?S ; imnkbJS ifoirm mmr. :es not limite energy in existing homes and buildings proves its effectiveness and safety, and hints at its potential for filling a significant portion of our electrical energy needs. One of the advantages of solar energy, indeed, is that it is diffuse Hnmpnwnprc are freed from monthly utility bills. The hardware for solar energy production can be manufactured and sold by small businesses, thus increasing competition over price and quality. And solar energy has perhaps the greatest chance for survival in a marketplace free from unfair competition and government subsidv. DK. SCHUETTE also ignores the potential of a vast array of alternative energy sources and conma A / ? -* iJCl V O L1UI1 llUJUlUUS V W1I1U, geothermal, hydroelectric, biomass, wood, cogeneration, and others). Perhaps none of these can be the single answer to our electrical needs, and perhaps we do not need a single answer. The contribution of a collection of options offers the chance to fulfill our energy needs without limiting ourselves to any single energy source. Dr. Schuette would move ? i! 1 ? A - I uui nation iowaru greater reliance on nuclear power because of the safety and environmental problems of utical Look ants I 2.95 jjj kirts 10.95 Jfed ^ lirie I nnlc /J KrJI ?AND m ossomM^^S 4 SL M ? MORPAV MORMtN I I I d to coai, nut coal. Indeed, coal is unacceptable, but what of the problems of nuclear power? It is not argued that nuclear fuel and waste are of themselves safe, merely that they have, in the past, been handled safely. Radiation exposure to plant workers may or may not have already inflected harm. We are unlikely to be certain until the 1990s. But the nntonf 1 r?l ^ ~ jjuitu nai 1U1 Hell III lb nevertheless inherent in the production of nuclear energy. Economically, nuclear Gome Kditor-in-< Richard M Copy Desk Chief News E( David DeWitt Forrest fl Editorial I'a^e Kditor I'hoto K< Chris Handal Capers Hai Business Manager General Mi Jean Hatchell Jerry Dri Advisi Mark Ethri< Newsroom 177-7181 Business Office 777-3888 The Gamecock welcomes letters and j editorials must be typewritten, triple-spi Letters should be no longer than 300 wc one newsworthy subject no longer than ft must be signed with the writer's name, class standing or faculty position and m but the writer's name may be withheld u We reserve the right to edit columns ai Address letters and columns to: Edito A, USC, Columbia. SC. 29208. <0?AW. Sportswear 6 Spei Custom Printina for * Transfers and Letter Special Carolina Desl 2767 Rosewood Dr. Phone 254-9380 5 Mln. fron mtm & TV SHOWS :lear power power would not or could not exist without government subsidy. Government has financed research and development, planning, and the actual costs of construction and operation. And it is such financing tactics that have destroyed any chance for marketplace competition and have led to ever-increasing costs. America must move to a new energy future.We can't afford to ignore any options. Brian Costner Undeclared sophomore cock 1 L'hief eyers litor Kntcrtainnient Kditor rown Sqlly McGill iitor Advertising Manager nmond Linda S. Haines anager Production Manager , ewer Marfe McEwan *r ! ige Jr. Advertising 777-4249 Production 777-2833 ! ?ucst editorials. All letters and guest iced on a 65-.<tnnre.lina >rds and columns should be limited to 3ur typed pages. Letters and columns telephone number, mailing address, ajor. Pseudonyms are unacceptable, pon request. id letters. rial Page Editor, Gamecock. Drawer J-ljlJ JIJ cialty Co., Inc. Clubs & Fraternities <* J ?no nfe ; j i Campus J