The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 08, 1984, Page Page 6, Image 6
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
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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.