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Football rules OK I 'l I _ " M aespue compiainis Once again, intramural flag football has become the target of several USC students' attacks. The new rules, they say, take the football out of the game. A Student Government senator from the Towers complex met informally with intramural representatives yesterday to discuss alternatives to the rules. 4'Every year, students complain about the rules," said Craig Freeman, a member of the SG Finance Committee, "but no one has come up with an alternative plan. "The rules at present are hurting the game. I'm tired of hearing complaints. We need an alternative.*' Wrong. The new rules don't hurt the game. In fact, if given a chance, the rules should improve the competition ? giving students a chance to play without getting hurt. In the past, players have been injured, therefore limiting the number of students interested in playing flag football. An intramural field is not the place for some frustrated jock to take out his aggressions because he isn't playing college football. The rules limit the blocking procedures by participants, which should eliminate the amount of injuries caused by blocking illegally and throwing elbows. Flag football should be a fun game. Many people enjoy a good game of catch, and the Intramural/Recreational Sports Office provides just that for students. Perhaps the rules shouldn't be necessary, but because of "frustrated jocks," they are. The rules will provide a quicker and more exciting game. 1 Eight players are on a team, with each one eligible for a pass. The old rules provided for nine ; piayers. i nose eligible tor a pass on offense mclud| ed those who were "on the end of the scrimmage line and wearing flags" and those who were "legally behind the scrimmage line and wearing flags." The rules have the game lasting 55 minutes, with the first half lasting 30 plays and the second half lasting 30 plays or the completion of the 55 minutes. The old rules provided for four 10-minute rinartprc I V| V* V*A WA U? The new rules allow only two time-outs during each half. The old rules allowed three time-outs , during each half. Complaining about flag football has become about as popular as complaining about classes and tuition. i It seems, however, that several players are jumping the gun too soon. The new rules will take some getting used to by both players and officials. But once things settle down, flag football at USC will be a snort for evervone to f?ninv It will n ! more exciting, quicker and much, much safer game. Gomecoc k?? ? EtfHer in Chfof Johnny Boqqs Copy Desk Chief .. Curt Cottle Ccpy Edlter Mark Armstrong | Hews Editor Chris Handal Copy Edlter Beverly Simmons Asst. News Editor David Hill Copy Editor Leigh Jones AmS r JU.. O as..!- ? rju ? n??. mwwwm l uuvi ousmi muir uopy carior aimi 56tfli Opinion Page Editor. EHen McCarthy Copy Editor Mark Farmer Ent. Editor Julie Jameson Graphics Editor Beth Harrison Asst. Ent. Editor Joan Kirchner General Manager Ron Emler Sports Editor Jeff Rogers Ad Manager Linda S. Haines Asst. Sports Editor . Andrew Miller Business Manager ... Jean Hatched Wire Editor Leslie Katz Production Mgr Mark McEwan Photo Editor Mary Ann Hollis Graduate Asst Wanda M. Hite Asst. Photo Editor .... Joe Jackson Adviser Mark Ethridge Jr. Newsroom 777-7181 Advertising 777-4249 Business Office 777-3888 Production 777-2833 The Gamecock welcomes letters and guest editorials. All letters and guest editorials must be typewritten, triple spaced on o 65 space line. Letters should be no longer than 300 words and guest editorials should be limited <A?4la *4 fl n Innnn? tki.n Iaii# liiaxl 4k I ?**? ? I. Ul,tf ,WW5WU'i"lf auujooi iiu lunyoi mioii iuui typuu payaa. luiibi* anu yut*5i editorials MUST be signed with the writer's name, telephone number, mailing ad dress, 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. 29208. iipiniol = j ml ? ?I On Reagan's If the United States walked or stumbled into conflict in Central America, no one could be sure whether it was President Ronald Reagan's intention - or just his predictable error. It would not matter. American interference in the region has steadily escalated since Reagan took office, and even if he has hoped to avoid war by his actions, they have only brought us nearer to it. Asserting that "we will pay dearly" if events turn against American interests, Reagan has both armed and financed a murderous government in El Salvador, supported rebel bands fighting against the Nicaraguan oovprnmAnt in a mir in u vuiiipaigu vnai vraa first denied - and the labeled "covert" when Reagan asked Congress for funding, and turned Honduras into a staging ground for land and sea maneuvers designed to intimidate Cuba and its ally Nicaragua. WITH HIS ideology so firmly grounded, Reagan's ability to ignore certain facts is not surprising. Still, there they are: Cuba and Nicaragua HiTmBoi iir back the /T'y * OLD Hz FootSAl Aili IntercampuS El Salvador are not the biggest source of arms for leftist rebels in EI Salvador ? the rebels buy most of their guns from corrupt government officials who control American arms shinmpntc Despite several Department of State certifications that human rights are being observed in El Salvador, or at least that the situation is improving, the number of people killed continues to rise every day, reaching more than 30,000 according to "Reagan's Manifest Destiny" in the September edition of Harper's. And although Nicaragua does hail some political prisoners, there is no political murder. Since Nicaragua's revolution against its brutal dictator Somoza, illiteracy and infanct mortality have been largely reduced. Although Nicaragua is not a democracy at prernnt 1 - 1 ovm, iiicic i? iil? question inai ine people there are better off under the new regime. The arrogance of American policy it's fair to say "Reagan's policy" here since former President Jimmy Carter's Central American program differed completely - is unforgivable. It recalls FLY me TO Si 5r? policy the debate during the McCarthy era on who lost China. * IN A Harvard University commencement address, published in September's Vanity Fair, Mexican diplomat and writer Carlos Fuentes gave a needed history lesson on American interference in Central America. "We were the first domino," Fuentes wrote, indicating that both Mexico and Nicaragua were subject to American intimidation in the late 1920s. Central America suffers from the insolence of a rightwing ideologue that the government so effectively controls. It is tempting to think of an effective liberal would be different and Carter, in no sense an effective liberal, was PPrfainlv wkpr in I atin A mori<xi fhon wv> j ft ?t)V* ill l_/ U 11A1 / AII1V1 1VU LI1U1I Reagan is...But what all Americans conservative or liberal - must remember is that we only elect the government of our own country, not of Nicaragua or Guatemala or Chile. Daily kebraskan University of Nebraska aKHauIn''