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Page 6 - October 8, 1984 OpHllOll THE GAMECOCK City parking policy needs modification It is going to take a lot of hard work to improve the paking situation at USC, but it can be done. It is obviously on the minds of students, judging by the fact that the letters portion of this page has recently been filled with complaints, observations and proposed solutions to what letter writers are calling "the parking problem." This is not surprising, because Carolina is very much a commuter school, with barely a third of its students living on campus. A frustratingly sparse availability of parking spaces is certainly not something confined to USC. Comedian Bob Hope, talking about play ing college campuses, said that no matter where he is, he is sure to get laughs if he jokes about the parking situation. In any case, the letter writer who noted that the problem at USC is one of convenience made a good point. There are spaces available, the problem is that they are seldom anywhere near classrooms or other standard destinations. The $20 parking oer mit is in no way a guarantee of a parking space, but is only a license to hunt. Some of the letters we've gotten about parking have dealt specifically with the new regulations on the street behind Capstone and Columbia Hall. The city of Columbia last spring began requiring parking permits, which only area residents and their guests can purchase, to park in most on-street spaces in the area. The move ate up a lot of space for student parking. But something very interesting happened at last week's Columbia City Council meeting. During debate on whether to extend the same program to another area of the city, one councilman noted that in the orginal special-permit area, many of the permit-required on-street spaces are going unused. He went on to say that if some students had been at the council meeting, they could have very easily raised the issue again. Perhaps the Student Senate committee looking into the parking situation can contact the Council and open discussion once again. There's no point in city police patrolling empty parking spaces. And there's no point in Carolina students hunting all * 1 * 1 * 1 t* I - - uvci iiic suuin siae 01 Columbia looking for parking spaces when many are going unused so near to campus. There may be some students and others calling for another parking garage. But parking garages aren't exactly the most efficient use of space, and, even if one were planned, it would be a long time coming. Somethine that wnnlH h^vp ? w CP ? - .. 1IM? V I11WI IIIl" mediate results is needed. The parking situation may not have yet reached crisis proportions, but it can stand some improvement. Repealing, or at least modifying it, can be a goal of the Student Senate committee. With some help from active commuting students, it can be done. Nothing last > forever, especially Columbia city ordinances. ??taomecocK \ Editor in Chief David Hill Managing Editor Leslie J. Dun son Copy Desk Chief . Ron Bracked Copy Editor Tim Surratt News Editor John Oeiner Copy Editor Laura Dannhardt Asst. News Editor Ann Farmer Copy Editor Crystal Chapman Entertain. Editor Marisa Porto Copy Editor Kip Botts Sports Editor Andrew Miller \ Asst. Sports Editor. Tracy Mixson General Manager Ron Emler Photo Editor Mary Ann Hollis Ad Manager Doug Trueblood assi. rnoto tditor Jennifer Wooten Production Manager Mark McEwan Copy Editor Susan Llewellyn Graduate Assistant .. Hon Buchanan Copy Editor Hal Hewell Adviser Bill Rogers Copy Editor Lynn Cusick | Advertising 777 4249 Newsroom 777 7181 Production , 777-2833 Business Office 777 3888 \ I The Gamecock welcomes letters and guest editorials. All letters and guest editorials must be typewritten, triple spaced on a 65 space line. Letters should be no longer than 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 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. ? ^easaNis MoroaliS: '_) U.S. Supreme ( Editor's Note: The following was published Oct. 1. The hunting season opens today. Not thf? traHitir?nal .... MV??VI V1IMI JVUJUII VJ I shooting down unsuspecting animals or snagging careless iish ? no, today marks the day that the U.S. Supreme Court takes aim at some of the rights and liberties we've all been enjoying over the past years and decides what to do with them. As is often the case, the high court justices will be faced with a heavy load of controversial issues. However thr 1984-85 term will probably be one of the most raucous terms so far this decade thanks to the added confusion of an election year. The Supreme Court will be tackling a number of tough issues concerning the power of the police, the death H^naay, civn uisooeciience and the perennial blood boiler, the issue of religion and public schools. Topping the court's docket of hot issues is whether public schools will be responsible for setting aside one time every day for a "moment of silence" for prayer or meditation. Dieting weigh: Diets have been an instrument of human torture for thousands of years. During the days of the Romans, "vomitoriums" were established, places where people could purge themselves of excess food, so they could go back for more roast goat at the Glutinous Maximus Bar and Grill. Later in history, women would starve themselves to the size of my forearm and wear corsets designed to let them have the figures of Barbie dolls. Personally, if I could chose to live in a particular era of history, I would time-warp back to the days of Peter Paul Rue'oens. (He was the famous painter who took great delight in immortalizing chunky, voluptuous, lushlooking women on canvas.) He obviously appreciated the fact that not everyone was meant to look like a pen-. ?:i ? t-;- - vi11 ui in ins case, a paint orusn. I have been on some sort of diet since 1 was 13. In other words, I have been putting myself, my friends and loved-ones through hell for nearly eight years. I am not a pleasant person i j:-? j - _ -. * - wiiiic i uici, anu now mat i nave tried on my winter clothes that don't fit, I am going to surpass unpleasantness and delve into a deeper realm of offensive behavior. c aVtnM* fc? ItWV/feUVlWl*0 Intercampus Jourt targets lib Like any good national slugfest, the issue of school prayer has two fine national cheerleaders in the candidates for president. President Reagan says the the Constitution just seems incomplete without an amendment that would make sanctioned spoken prayer in public schools a standard of education. The Supreme Court shot down that particular practice back in 1962 when Reagan was still creating fantasies on the silver screen. Walter Mondale, busy leading chants of "sis-boom-bah" for the Democrats, figures any style o! "voluntary" prayer will degenerate into the heartless "pray-or-be-weird" attitude that often is brought ahom hi, 0... IS} the pressure of group conformity. Anything could happen during this particular hunting season. We may see a bold new courage on behalf of the nine highest referees in the nation. They may spare U.S. citizens the creeping encroachment of government on our lives for yet another year, but there's always the future to fear. Chances are, the next president of > heavily on ma Leslie Dunson mananinn atiitnr VUIII/I Who was that woman-hater who decided skinny was better?. Lvery day, I cat with people who can scarf their hearts out and never gain a pound. But no, I think about a Baby Ruth and my scale readies numbers I can't even count to. It wouldn't be so bad if I could just forget about being svelte, slender and sensuous but nearly every time I cat with my boyfriend, he asks me how many times I've eaten that day. Maybe that's good. It sure kills my appetite. I also have to try to maintain a decent figure because 1 sure don't mai/p enough money to buy a new wardrobe every year. Besides, shopping at the local tent and awning store could become terribly boring. Maybe I could borrow the tent the university used for the Carribean conference this summer, since they'll probably never use it again. I do have a pair of shoes that erties, rights the United States will have the powerto set the moral and legal tone of this nation for the rest of this century. With the nossihilifv that cpvpral judgeships on the court will open in the next four years, the next president will have the power to appoint enough swing votes to influence an entire generation of Americans. With Reagan's influence, the court may one day decide that it is fine for police to shoot unarmed suspects who run away from the scenes of nonviolent crimes. It may decide that police reallv don't need a probable cause to stop you. All of these issues are up for the Supreme Court to review this year. And while each may dodge the bullet of the civil rights head hunter, there is no guarantee that they won't succumb under future courts. For this reason alone, it is important to remember that Reagan stands a better chance of launching a war on the Bill of Rights than launching missiles of the Soviet Union. The Alligator University of Florida naging editor would match it quite nicely. Seriously, I think the modern day world we live in is weight concious to the extreme. I have a friend who weighs about 98 pounds and still feels she is too fat. 1 want to kill her when she tells me she has lost another two pounds within the past week. But, at the rate she's going, she will take care of that herself. 1 know 1 sound a bit cranky, but wearing the same clothes day after day can get on a person's nerves. At least I'm honest about my weight. I hate uirls U/hn nhuiAiiol" ?L * * * 0uunuujiy wcign more man i do, and say they weigh 110 pounds. Who's kidding who? I guess I'm bringing all this up now because here I sit, with a Tab beside me and my stomach rumbling, and all I can think about is a cheeseburger. Everything I see has definite possibilities of becoming a snack, including a three-day-old doughnut beckoning to me from across the newsroom. If you see me, and I'm reaching for a no-no food, snatch it away. I may hate you now. but in a few I'll love you for it.