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-opinion Riirififtt amendment I rhetorical gesture On Monday, President Reagan urged a group of spectators on the Captiol steps to support a constitutional amendment balancing the budget. 1 The crowd, estimated at 25,000, was en- [j thusiastic about the idea of a balanced budget. It 1 should have been, since according to news jl reports, the rally was organized by tne wnite House and admission was controlled. "I have said before, balancing the budget is a little like protecting your virtue: you just have to learn to say 'no;'' Reagan said. Evidently, Reagan also needs to learn to say no. He has found himself responsible for budgets ' with record deficits. But will a constitutional amendment to balance the budget help this president or future ones say 4no? ' Mot arrnrdinff to news reoorts, which said Congress could decide to have a deficit if it felt one was needed. Also, a great deal of doubt exists about whether such an amendment can be passed by the required number of states for it to become part of the Constitution. Added to this are dire predictions of the consequences a balanced budget could have on the economy. . Reagan's call for a balanced budget amendment amounts to little more than election-year propaganda. The mood of the country is one of restraint so, as he has done in the past, Reagan is merely playing to his audience in calling for the amendment. Concrete actions are needed to help the economy, not symbolic gestures. Oil conservation still a necessity It wasn't so long ago that America was suffering from the effects of the Arab oil embargo. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' control of oil prices and supply threatened the freedom of the western world. Today, OPEC is in disarray. At a recent meeting of OPEC, the oil ministers squabbled over production limits. They reached no agreement. Poor economic conditions and calls for conservation in the western world have resulted in declining gasoline consumption. The gasoline supply is up, and fuel prices are not as painful as in the past. OPEC feels the pinch now, not the United States. But just as the situation turned against OPEC, it could reverse again, putting the United States in a bind. Unfortunately, one of the byproducts of the oil glut is the decision by many oil companies to discontinue work on alternative fuel projects. Both consumers and oil companies must realize research and conservation are still necessary, or the United States could find itself a slave to OPEC. Gamecock ?i KdUor-in-t'liief Richard Meyers Copy Desk Chief News Kditor Entertainment Editor David DeWitt Forrest Brown Sally McGill Opinion Page Kditor Photo Kditor Advertising Manager Chris Handat Capers Hammond Linda S Haines Business Manager General Manage Production Manager Jean Hatchcll Jerry Brewer Mark McEwan Adviser Mark Ethridge Jr. Newsroom 777-7181 Advertising 777 4249 Business Office 777-3888 Production 777-2833 The Gamecocb welcomes letters and guest editorials. All letters and guest editorials must he typewritten, triple-spaced on a 6'5 space line. [.( tiers should he no longer tJiejn 300 words and guest editorials should be limited to one newsworthy subject no longer than four typed pages. Letters and guest editorials MUST be signed with the writer's name, telephone number, mailing address, class standing or faculty position and major. Pst>urltini>in<. .it.? - _ . 1I-, i/iii iri'- iviiur ,s inline I'ltiy Ml' Itimni'Kl II/) 00 request W'?' reserve lite right to edit finest editorials and letters. Address letter, and editorials to: Opinion fane f'.ditor. Gamecock. Drawer A. USC. Columbia, S C. 29208 t_? I ft HON MUG we \ i iAr*Ti i ^ w WJK1H t rvj f< -letters Administratii Editor: So many events yet so little comment. This dilemma is of critical importance to each of us, yet there is no input. Even when there are 15,000 pius siuueiius uiiaaiuny uciuuig uku way through the system like so many sheep, the voice of a few don't begin to touch the issues?major or minor. So much for the free flow of ideas in the free world. Let me take this opportunity to enlighten Lfie sheep. Something wry dangerous is breeding in the nation's capita), and that something is labeled "teamwork" by the press and administration alike. Every day the corporate elite of the Republican Party strikes another blow against your freedom and mine. Your freedom is your concern. I voice mine, NOW! Not long ago a very fine man resigned from government service because he was sharp enough to see that the illness that is labeled "teamwork" is so powerful and so malignant that he had to pack his trash and ?flt out of Dnricrp hofnrA it ate what self-respect he had left. This man, one that packs the grit of a Student obse By Liz Chandler help in th< The war in the Falklands , .. and news of the Queen's ?enej"a 10 intruding vistor have untrfyJ heightened America's in- . eir terest in events in Great in many Britain. A natural reporter's ^ou ? instinct overtook me when I met a young British student nnKirjg at a recent social event. ye^' . I cornered her in a booth Saying for a while and started ineqi asking questions. women 1 Linda Newman, a Briton attending USC, is young, not 11 one of an older British sexes ha? generation, which she said otal ^ still thinks Americans are woman o cocky. has t0 ** y ONE T THE POST-World War II ?urP[,ses generation in England still England influences the country's ?bsessioi opinion of America and after all these years, many of ground i them hold a grudge because ^ 0 .a Americans went "over Kussi^ii there" with the attitude that Paran01G "you were there to save the rea % . ' world," she said. countrie "The older generation (in red,ue " England) also hasn't forgiven you for taking our no lin*> women while you were there a.r.0, ff either." she said, admitting o??ero!t. that her country did need our "Well, US MOOD CONG > & A. if? % ask OTO QMVZJ on's teamworl cowboy and the savvy of an Indian fighter is known to the world as A1 Haig. The current regime had no greater savant despite the manicured appearance of its corporate puppets. When A1 split, the wind left the sail of the ship of state. Let me'give you a big nickel's worth of advice concerning Gen. Haig. He was the glue that held together American foreign policy. His years as a military man were spent protecting the Cfinsfffnfinn You see, a military man has no real politics of which to speak. He works for the people and stands as a bulwark against those politicos or miscreants that conspire to negate your freedom. 11AIG IS all the "right stuff." His knowledge of global matters makes him an invaluable American asset. His ability to soothe the nerves of our shakey North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies and his staunch anti-communist attitude confounded the Soviets. Haig worked for the Republicans because they have a sense for the global. The Democrats can only see as far as our sandy shores. If there was n _i~ ivcs Drmsn op the younger guest edito us in the mother . lake little heed of any7ayl?,?I as*f: w .ers' attitudes and pride a little ruffled. ways parallel the . saw ?r. sl?n.?. generations in her eyes, and I could Yes, they do start whlt'yc before age 18, and , YOU GET what y< y do smoke, pot. "r,he^' ,she *al,d, , . that she planned to she was amazed at America & makc her lahty of men and ft studying at us, n America, Linda 1,^,1 1 that there was no everybody fits l^r'^ri'rrhieveri nUnued and 1 smi' 3 already achieved . . jality, and for a the thought of wli f 22 to sav that she var,ous e(tual rlKhts ieve it would have t0 say abc ' t ..... 4 4 Amoripint' kntt, turvu sne said tnat VI IVUIIO IIOVI all generations in special patriotic < is America's always loyal to i with Russia. government/' she sai the Americans) sit a8ain I smirked inti work yourself th?ught of all the V panic over the draft registers a s. You're so Vietnam vets who she said, "It's but bitterly hate and id for the smaller the government for tl s because they them in*o that ri( iat you two are the w^r /ers, and they have ' Suess you're jp etter to do but wait because America w; , ... . 11 uui me spir for you lo kill eac patriotism," she sai always been a way ol why are you here you here. Right iRESMN I )u have to hovfnwch can't afford ^ II! I kdangerous an in-between where a strone ? ? o American (domestically) could help a shattered alliance (abroad), then I am sure Haig would be sailing on that ship. He is an American who has the welfare of his country as his primary concern. Anyone that follows the lethargic elephant or the mindless jackass will never see above the dung that each defecates. INDIVIDUALISM IS the American keystone. Didn't your daddy ever say "Stand up and be counted as an individual?" Do you feel slighted when you're not part of the team? Is it alJ that important to conform to group norms even when it comes down to your opinions? You can always tell the company man by the brown on his nose and the dung on his shoes. It doesn't put money in the bank to ride alone and live with your decision, but at least you won't fall into disgrace like the players of the infamous Nixon, et al., squad. That was some team. Have we been fooled again? Mark B. Ellis Journalism Student linion of U.S. | ~ England is the most patriotic t'icll it has been in a long time," rith mv s^e added, "because of the war in the Falklands." rjash in Observing that America's tell she beliefs are basically sound, she said that one reason >u work many countries have a adding negative view of capitalists stay in *s because they don't hear fortune alxmt the welfare programs q that provide for the unrtunitv derprivileged. And again I .? s|^ had to hold back a snicker, rked at linking of the budget cuts lat the are down, groups aimcu ciL wuiitfi C. B^that ONE BIG REASON Linda uualitv sa"* s^e *'ked America is the their weather. id and It s always 8ray and at the overcast ?n Britain, sort of Vietnam omino"s," she said, as our nd of conversation wound down. served "What do the English I resent think about the revolution?" nrowin^ I asked, grimacing at the liculous tr'te rebellious sound of the question. atriotic "Well, frankly," she said, as born ' We don't think about it that it of much any more." "It's The author is a senior in f life for USC's College of Jour now, nalism.