The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, July 06, 1983, Page 4, Image 4
-opinion
Victories improve
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South Carolina seems intent on winning the war
aeainst mediocritv in its nublic school svstem. In
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the past, surveys among the states have consistently
ranked South Carolina in the bottom ten for its
public education. But recently, there have been
several victories for this state for improved
education.
One of the best indications of success was the ir.
elusion ot tour boutn Carolina nign scnoois in a us
of the nation's top 144 secondary institutions. Th
schools were judged on criteria which included dai
ly attendance rates and student performance on thi
Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and minimum com
petency tests. About 4UU scnoois nationwide sud
mitted applications.
This is a definite sign that South Carolina is at
least partially successful in the battle to bring its
schools up to a nationally competitive level.
Although guilty of dragging its feet a bit, USC
recently showed its commitment to the cause by
agreeing to raise its admission standards.
It is not hard to understand why USC officials
seemed a little hesitant about tightening the screening
of potential students. The potential pool of
students 18-21 years old will decline over the next
decade or so. This decline, coupled with the financial
straits of most schools, would seem to argue
against further reduction of the number of possible
tuition-paying freshmen.
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result of more stringent acceptance standards, it
will ultimaiely benefit the university.
Better-educated freshmen will lead to bettereducated
graduates, assuming the university maintains
its own standards. Competent, successful
graduates wi\\ further improve the university's
reputation and thus increase its ability to attract
students in the competitive realm of college
recruitment.
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wuviuusiy, me legislature and UbC officials
understand this and have elected to risk a few years
of lower enrollment for benefits in the years to
come.
In a less selfish view, the university's move
should prompt secondary schools to raise their own
quality of education in order to produce graduates
capable of attending college.
It was definitely in the best interest of the state as
a whole for the university to agree to higher admission
standards.
There is still another area of education in which
South Carolina is finally beginning to catch up to
other states. Although it took a federal order,
South Carolina is desegregating its college boards.
(Jov. Riley appointed eight blacks to serve on state
institutions of higher education. The USC board of
trustees received a new member, Larry Weston, a
Sumter attorney,
Alberta Grimes, who has almost 25 years experience
as an educator in South Carolina, will sit
in the governor's place on the board as his
designee.
The new board member and designee for MUSC
were also appointed by the governor to meet
federal demands for desegregation.
Although the desegregation process should have
occurred naturally over time, the governor did very
well in his selections. All the appointees appear to
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assets to their respective schools.
These are only battles. The long struggle to raise
South Carolina's public school system into one of
the finest in the country has just begun. It would
not be wise to become complacent with changes
already enacted.
But the current events would seem to indicate
that this state is indeed serious about education and
it will continue to improve its public school system.
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Two events in June have captured
America's imagination and dramatized
this nation's rush into future. Voyager
10 flew into the headlines by becoming
the first man-made object to venture
outside our solar system. Then the
space shuttle Challenger carried
America's first woman astronaut and
the largest spacecrew ever into orbit.
Meanwhile, back on Earth, we are
led to remark how slowly this country
has joined the 20th century in terms of
respecting the rights of women.
Today it seems that true equality
between the sexes is, at last, on the
horizon. After all, we now have one
woman on the Supreme Court and
another in space. Late as they may be,
these are significant <#ymbolic"victories
for American women. Yet they are
more than merely symbolic victories,
and this is important, for the enemies
of sexual equality cannot say that
Justice Sandra O'Connor and
physicist-astronaut Sally Ride were
given something for nothing. Each has
risen to the top of a very skilled and
competitive field to positions traditionally
accorded the highest respect.
Still, O'Connor arid Ride stand as
symbols of the progress of the
American woman, and it is sadly ironic
that something other than the cause of
equality may reap the greatest benefit
from that fact.
It is ironic that the Soviet Union was
putting women in orbit long before we
had heard of Sally Ride; perhaps even
more ironic that Ronald Reagan ?
whose stand against the Equal Rights
amendment marked him for many as
an opponent of women's rights ? was
the first to name a woman to our
highest court. Centainly no one
understands the importance of symbolic
victories for equality more than
those who intend to veto any real
gains.
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these signs of progress entirely,
however, for they represent the first
steps down a road we must travel ? it
matters little in the end who starts us
off. In other words, we should not
look these gifts horses in the mouth.
But as we reflect that it was the Rus
sians and the Keagans who have, so
far, raised women to the highest levels,
a timeless piece of advice suggests
itself. Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.
The Pitt News
University of Pittsburgh
A judge ruled recently that a law re
quiring male students to disclose their
draft registration status when applying
for financial aid is unconstitutional.
The law, has been on the books since
September. It deserved to be thrown
out the window.
U.S. District Judge Donald Alsop
issued a permanent injunction against
the federal government and ordered
that the law not be enforced in any
state. This week the judge rejected requests
from U.S. Justice Department
attorneys to stay his order to allow for
an appeal to the U.S. SupremeCourt.
Kudos to Alsop.
The law, known as the Solomon
Amendment, exhibits a simple attempt
by the government to coerce members
of society. It takes away an important
tool of democracy, that of protest, and
curbs freedom of speech.
Proponents of the amendment say
they are prepared to argue the case
before the Supreme Court immediately.
If it gets that far, hopefully the
bretheren will have insight enough to
uphold Alsop's injunction.
The Tar Heal
Universitv of North f!nrnlina
Two days before Pope John Paul II
met with Poland's military ruler,
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Address letters and col
. WATT OM SOME THIW6 I Columbia, S.C. 29208.
H-E PCACWN& " ' '
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ation, Pope
General Wojciech Jaruzelski, Soviet
Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko
gave a speech that helped the general
explain away Poland's martial law as
"a dramatically difficult but indispensable
decision (taken) ... in extremis,
an ultimate rhrm-f "
Gromyko said: "Poland . . . has
been and remains an inalienable part
of the socialist commui ;ty." It was as
simple and straightforward an assessment
of a nation's geopolitical status
as one could hope for. It was also
wrong.
The millions of Poles who gathered
in stadiums and lined the streets to
greet the pontiff prove Gromyko
wrong. The pope's refreshingly honest
remarks about the plight ot the Polish
people under marial law ? in place
since Dec. 13, 1981 ? and under communism
in general prove Gromyko
wrong.
John Paul's ordinary language of
truth flew in the face of the nervous
propaganda of a frightened military
regime ? frightened because the idea
of a free Polish people, a true renewal
of Polish society, threatens the Warsaw
dictatorship and the Soviet Union.
But should freedom be won in Poland
? through revolution or what Walesa
calls "daily acts of courage" on the
part of Polish people ? it will be won
in years to come.
It was there that the crowd sang thereligious
and patriotic hymn "God
Save Poland " while a secret
policeman checked the credentials of a
Polish journalist who had raised his
hand in the V-for-victorv sien The
crowd did not sing "Preserve our free
motherland," the last line of the hymn
sung traditionally in troubled times.
Rather the people sang "Give us back
our free motherland."
Indiana Daily Student
Indiana University
iomccoch???
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