Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

?opinion?? Scholastic standards improve academics Traditionally, USC has never been recognized as a school of academic excellence, but changes in scholastic standards are beginning to reverse that stprpotvnp Because of cutbacks in enrollment, USC can afford to b-3 picky about who is allowed admittance Admission requirements are stricter than ever, improving freshman avsrc **es. The 1982 freshman class is smarter tru,n ever. The average Scholastic Aptitude Test score is five points higher than last year. The average freshman this year graduated in the top 25 a i* 1 1 .1 1 1 1 percent or nis nign scnooi ciass. In a time when South Carolina ranks incredibly low in the education poll, it is encouraging to hear that freshman standards for USC are improving. Too often we've heard students say they came to USC because it is an easy school, or because this is the only college where they were accepted. This reply has caused infinite shudders of disgust from those who struggle to maintain decent grades and who feel Carolina is a t-Ul ?U ? ~1 repuiciuit; bunuui. No longer is this reply valid. The university's College of Business Administration and College of Journalism rank among the best in the country. The College of Engineering leads the nation on a variety of levels in that field. Other colleges have tightened requirements and set stricter standards for students enrolled in their program. The university is now operating under a deficit point system that more accurately determines students' academic standing. Under this system, students receive deficit points for poor classwork. After a certain amount of points have been collected, the student is suspended. Two years ago, a student had to pass only half of his classes to remain in school. Now if a student has more than 24 credit hours without a minimum 2.0 GPR, the student is suspended. This policy has improved the university's ranking tremendously.Although 10 to 15 percent of all students are suspended each year, the policy rids the university of students who are not seriously concerneu with their studies and allows p a _ _i i * _ * ir A.l i i proiessors 10 spena more ume wun ine siuaeni who is sincerely interested in his education. Because of the university's improved scholastic standards, students can be proud to say they graduated from USC. A diploma from USC is now a key to open doors rather than an invitation to have doors slammed in your face. Write a letter Disagree with an editorial or have an opinion you'd like to express? Write a letter to the Gamecock. The Gamecock is an excellent forum for the exchange of ideas and the discussion of interesting topics. Readers are encouraged to write guest columns on one topic. Letters to the editor are welcomed from all readers. Both letters and columns must be typewritten on 65-space line and triple-spaced. Letters should not be more than 300 words, and columns should not exceed four typed pages. an ? P -faamecoch Kditor-in-Chief Richard Meyers Copy Desk Chief David DeWitt Opinion I'age Kditor Vicki Jinnette News Kditor John Uraun Wire Kditor Sydne Waller Asst. News Kditor Jeff Draine I'hoto Kditor Mike Fisher Asst. News Kditor. . Forrest Brown (ieneral Manager Hon Emler Kilt. Kditor John Vau^han Adviser Mark Ethridge, Jr. Asst. Knt. Kditor Chris Handal Ad Manager . Linda S. Haines Sports Kditor Tom Coyne Itusiness Manager Jean llatchell Asst. Sports Kditor . Dennis Switzer Production Manager Mark McF.wan Newsroom 777 7181 Advertising 777 4249 Business Office 777 3HHK Production 777 2H33 The Gamecock welcomes letters and guest editorials. All letters and attest editorials must he typewritten, triple spaced on a 65 space line. Letters should he no longer than 300 words and attest editorials should be limited to one newsworthy subject no longer than four typed pages l.etters and guest editorials MUST be signed with the writer's name, telephone number, mailing address, class standing or faculty position and major Pseudonyms are unacceptable, but the writer's name may be withheld upon request if the circumstances warrant We reserve the right to edit guest editorials and letters. Address letters and columns to: Opinion Page Editor. Gamecock, Drawer A, USC, Columbia. S C. 2920H ?letters Gamecock fans unite Editor: And Gamecock fans...I feel the time has come when all Gamecock fans unite on a new spirit tradition to help create some exciting enthusiasm for our new football team and coaches. The idea is very simple...everyone honk your horns approximately one hour before game time! Since around 72,400 fans will be tailgating before the game, and no other school around has that many people that have to drive to their games, it makes us unique. Also, during the games not everyone can see the cheerleaders or hear the band, so now everyone can par ticipate. Imagine the noise all the honking would create and how enthusiasm would build and become contagious. Also, the football team would hear all the ruckus and get that much more psyched before the game. It is my opinion that crowd support has a lot to do with how well the team performs...and what better way to show our support and enthur.ia.sm than to make a lot of noise before we even enter the stadium. I hope everyone will participate to make us the first school to start this tradition. Not to mention that I'm so tired of hearing Clemson fans saying we copy all their cheers!!! Alice S. Williamson Columbia, S.C. bntertamment coverage leaves lot to be desired Editor: On Sunday, Sept. 12, 1982, I went to the Cinematic Arts , presentation "American Pop." Now at first this would not seem to be of concern to the Gamecock; I later found it to be so. \/. r 1 - i i i 11 a v-v ? ' ? xou mjl\ i ramer aisimea American rop. to De more ' precise, I definitely found it to be one of the most grotesque i and ugly movies I have ever seen, filled with a hatred and an 1 ignorance both blind and blinding, directed at popular music, art, men, women, children, man, history and life in general. Worst, it has a scurrilous attack on one of my personal heroes, Bob Dylan. And here is where the Gamecock comes in. Not only was I not informed of this monstrous piece of trash (which I in no way claim incriminates the valuable services of Cinematic Arts), but I have not been informed of hardly anything of cultural importance in Columbia, not last year, not so far this year. For a paper that claims to be representative of the college community, you are certainly keeping much in the dark, or yourselves. Except for an occasional, unoriginal movie or concert review, higher cultural stimuli are given little or no coverage. Instead, we receive a review of "Friday the 13th Fart III?in 3-D," and anyone entertaining the idea of seeing that movie for other than 3-D effect is likely to be ignorant of higher culture (or any culture, for that matter). If you truly are entertaining notions of improving your bloodless periodical, I suggest this as the first area to attack. Arthur L. Williams Philosophy/religious studios sophomore ' . ' ? In clarification The policy of any newspaper is to report the news factually. The Gamecock upholds this policy and wishes to correct errors and misunderstandings that may have occured. In the Sept. 15 issue, the Gamecock reported that Student Government President Ashley Abel had proposed three plans to the Columbia City Council for the closing of Greene Street ; ? T > , .nnnl 1 lit ii UUL ui nuddcu iiuu^c. Abel proposed only two plans to the City Council. The first plan was for the permanent closing of Greene Street. When it was evident the City Council would not comply with this plan, Abel proposed that Greene Street be open from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, closed all day Saturday, and open on Sunday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Abel did mention a third possibility of closing Greene Street to the Gamecock's reporter, but he did not present this plan to Columbia City Council. On Sept. 17, the Gamecock reported that the Student Senate voted to give Abel six complimentary tickets to each USC home football game and four complimentary tickets to each USC home basketball game. This had already been approved several years ago and did not require a vote, as reported. However, a proposal was made which would require Abel to state in writing whom he was taking to the games. This bill was tabled before anv discussion. The Gamecock is fully aware that the attendance policy arose from the Scholastic Standards and Petitions Committee and not the Student-Faculty Relations Committee. To clear up any misunderstanding, the story of Sept. 17 and the editorial of Sept. 20 never said the policy came from the Student-Faculty Relations Committee. The point being questioned is why the Scholastic Standards and Petitions Committee, which initiated the attendance policy, did riot have student representation. (Abel said that there are appointments pending for positions on the committee now so there will be student input in the future.) The Student-Faculty Relations Committee did have student representation, but the attendance policy never came before this committee. John Boswell, former SG president, appointed six students to the Student-Faculty Relations Committee, including himself, to serve on the committee. The minutes of the Powers and Responsibilities Committee, which votes on all SG appointments, were unavailable when the report was given. Mike Sheely, student government vice president, said only two students were appointed to the Student-Faculty Relations Committee and they didn't attend the mettings. Sheely did not say where he received his information. When asked about the appointments, Abel said he had documents which show the appointments being made and approved by the Senate, and that the committee met six times. The Gamecock regrets any errors and hopes that any ?v, u ? ~i :r: ? J |iiuauiiuei suuiuin^ uas> uut'ii eiaimeu. Parking ires students Editor: USC is turning into a parking lot. During any day of the week, cars can be seen parked in fire lanes, on sidewalks and on the grass. Enforcement is selective. Park 10 minutes too long at a meter, and you have a ticket. However, cars that park on the grass on the Sumter Street side of the library are not ticketed. Cars that park between the NADA apartments on the terrace are not patrolled nor ticketed. We're fed up with parking legally and hiking to campus. If the campus police will square up this campus by making people park in the narkinc lots thpn wp'U narking on the Horseshoe. That's what it is coming clown to. Bruce Ritchie Frank Giardina Journalism senior Journalism junior