Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Viewpoint Monday, November 4, 1985 _____ THE GaIcOOK I USC has a loi In recent years, people have bi problems handicapped people such as opening a door, enter restroom become immense o 4b overcome. This increased awareness has public and private buildings to n handicapped. Ramps leading ii stalls in restrooms are now coi USC has done an excellent jol cessible to the handicapped, elevators and ramps, and most with handicapped stalls. There a there once were none. The Department of Disabled proved. It now provides more who need them. These services ii nurses for quadriplegics and sc 9 vices. The department also students. Although USC has done a be buildings accessible, there are si done. Some doors are so heavy have trouble opening them, restroom stalls are not big enou get into. Some of the older buildinj Horseshoe, have ramps leading t upper floors are accessible. USC has done a commendal a more accessible, but it shouldn' ^ has a long way to go before this > This columi This column has only a few weeks of life left, but people keep reminding me of burning topics of general interest that I haven't mentioned yet. "Look," I tell them. "I ^ graduate in May. If I tried to 9 write about every single topic that's been suggested to me, I'd be here until the little white smoke comes out of the Faculty House announcing Holderman's election as pope. I can only write about one topic per column, after Star Wars not good enough To the editor: Recently (Oct. 28) Ms. Janice Kraft, the College Republican secretary rnmmcntoH nn Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) or Star Wars, the proposed U.S. ^ anti-ballistic missile defense system. She stated that the system could be at least 80 percent effective aeainst an all-mit nuclear attack. This is very impressive when you consider that the Soviets presently deploy 10,000 nuclear warheads and 100,000 decoys. However, this performance is unacceptable because 2,000 or more warheads would penetrate; this amounts to ^ several warheads for every U.S. city with a population of 25,000 or more. A number of recent studies on the climatological effects of nuclear warfare indicate that the detonation of as little as 10 percent of the world's current nuclear arsenal would produce catastrophic results. The tens of millions of tons of dust and smoke that would be propelled into the atmosphere would ^ reduce the incoming solar radia9 tion. Hence, the earth's surface temperature would decrease drastically, and chlorophyll absorption in the plant communities would be hindered. There would be a mass biological extinction. We must also consider that by the mid-1990s, which is the AQrli?ct rvnrciklo vui 1IVJI UV/^IUJ1I1W1II UttlC for SDI systems, the Soviets will have deployed as many as 21,000 nuclear warheads and more than 210,000 decoys, further limiting the feasibility of an impenetratable strategic defense. At ^ that time, the SDI systems W operating at 80 percent efficiency would allow the penetration of 4,200 Soviet nuclear warheads. Ms. Kraft argued that the Soviets are deploying a similar J . f - ucicnse sysicm in order to enhance their nuclear first-strike capability. The climatological models all indicate that such plans are suicidal, and they realize this just as our government does. Although it has not been publicly acknowledged by ^ either superpower, these 9 climatological models must be considered in strategic planning. Even if the SDI systems could ig way to go ecome more aware of the special face. Seemingly simple actions ing a building or going to the bstacles that are difficult to led to the improving of many lake them more accessible to the nto buildings and handicapped nmonplace. 3 in making its campus more acThe newer buildings all have of the restrooms are equipped ire also many curb cuts, whereas 1 Student Services has also imand better services for students nclude providing attendants and reening for attendant care serprovides orientation for new tter inh than mnct in moi/mn ;??* iiiv.ji in 111tirv 11 ?g, lid till many things that need to be that many handicapped people Many of the "handicapped" igh for people in wheelchairs to gs, such as the ones on the o the first floor, but none of the ble job in making this campus t stop making improvements. It campus is completely accessible. n a day kee all." "Who says?" they say. And they're right, of course. So today's column will be as fragmented as the Holy Roman Empire, as 1 try to clean out the creative attic. Remember, just because I haven't mentioned these things so far doesn't mean they haven't been much on my mind. Monetta. The hamlet of Monetta is even smaller than my home town, although Monetta ' i *...; ' ' be implemented at JOO perceitt-fttfiripnru A#Kor . .v.vnv; , uiuvl llllllltumit" plU" blems arise. For example, President Reagan has promised to share the SDI systems with the Soviet Union to render all nuclear weapons obsolete. However, if both nations possessed impenetrable defenses, and the Soviets acquired even a small capability to penetrate our defense, then they could threaten nuclear attack with impunity. A mutually impenetrable defense system would also increase the feasibility and probability of a global conventional war and limited nuclear exchanges, because there would be no threat of global nuclear escalation. I have no doubts that the $25 hillinn ~ o r\ w VMIIVII bVllllllilltU IU l3Ul research will yield exciting new scientific technologies, but it will not eliminate the threat and horror of a nuclear holocaust. Therefore, I object to spending a trillion dollars to implement a defense system that is bad even if it "works." Terry D. Jackson n ?> A Ar r n ?-v 1% ? ? vjwgia^n) k i a u u a i e assistant Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger Station plays future stars To the editor: This letter is in response to Steve Harris' letter of Oct. 23 that criticized the policies and programming of WUSC-FM. _ iX I ps we oram does have a drive-in movie theater that, I am told, shows Xrated movies on Mondays and Tuesdays. I wouldn't know about that, of course. Monetta is of more significance to me because of its status as the last outpost of civilization you encounter on the way from Batesburg to Aiken, unless you count the convenience store near the Bogeyville Golf Course with the "Sec the Monkeys" sign outside. And I wouldn't. . . <1 , ; yr i '? T-, ? * First of all, Mr. Harris would have helped his case considerably had he defined the term "new wave." 1 must say that I do not know what "new wave" is other than <x meaningless label arbitrarily assigned to artists from across the musical spectrum by those who have difficulty dealing with music that doesn't fit into mnrp ^nrp^icp" patpnArior WVIUV VUlVgUl IVO OUC11 as jazz, heavy metal, reggae, "rock" or "pop" ? none of which are by any means precise. Is U2 "new wave?" They once were. Is Lone Justice? Black Flag? Ratt? Who cares? It's all music and should be taken on that criterion alone and not have some irrevelant label attached to it. As to whether we play too much "new wave" on WUSC, I obviously have no idea, for the above reasons. Mr. Harris' implications that only classical and jazz music are to be considered "intellectual" (agreed, none of Madonna's lyrics will ever achieve any level of intellectual notoriety) and that blues is "ethnic" music are ludicrous and illustrate the narrow snobbish viewpoints he puts forth throughout his letter. WUSC does not exist to garner a massive Columbia radio audience or to play popular music. WUSC is licensed as a noncommercial, non-profit, educa tional radio station. What this means, in a nutshell, is we are not supported by advertisers, are not supposed to compete in any way with local commercial radio stations, and are not here to play "safe" music that a mass audience wants to hear. Were WUSC to accumulate a mass audience, every commercial station in town whose advertising dollars and share points we were taking would file complaints with the FCC, claiming we had violated the provisions of our license. However, we are here to ex- #| pose the university and the sur- H roundine area tr? ni?u/ ?rt!c?c nnA I styles of music. Basically, to educate our listeners. What does one learn by hearing the same Madonna or Duran Duran song every third hour? Or for that matter, what does one learn in Mr. Harris' proposed AOR format by hearing "Stairway to Heaven," "Freebird" or "Sunday Bloody Sunday" for the 98th I time? I do want Mr. Harris to feel free to criticize what he hears on * REAUV WISHT6U5 UP 1HE Ol in decay Spain. I've never been to Spain, but I kind of like their music. They say the ladies are insane there and they sure know how to use it. There's probably a really good song fn there somewhere. Jumes Fenimore Cooper. Cooper is a 19th-century American author who is very popular with high school English teachers and somewhat less so among college English professors. An American Tragedy *,r J .. the radio, be it WUSC or elsewhere. That's the "American way." But in doing so, I'd like to remind him that musical taste is something intensely personal, on/4 f/\r I ? * uuu 1UI 111111 IU 111 UNC vaiuc judgments as to what does and does not qualify as music (or "intellectual music") is wholly ridiculous. To me the latest Loverboy single may be "weird sounds," while to half the student body, J.S. Bach's Bradenburg Concertos may be "weird sounds." I personally am as much at ease listening to a Mozart horn concerto as I am to listening to one of the "obtuse, out-in-left-field, off-the-wall, pseudo, new wave/punk" bands we olav. such as Simple Minds (yes, Simple Minds, one of WUSC's top bands for years, who are just now receiving the widespread exposure they deserve) or Husker Du or The Residents. I would also like to inform Mr. Harris that I am fully aware of what an album format is and entails, having lived most of my life in markets with two AOR stations. 1 do not question that an AOR station in Columbia would be quite popular among students, and such a station would probably do very well. WUSC would not for financial reasons. We do not have the budget to bribe listeners with red cars and cash giveaways. We do play a good deal of AOR material nniu (tho new Rush record is No. 2 this week) by such artists as The Who, Cheap Trick, Talking Heads, Dire Straits, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, U2, What Is This, Marshall Crenshaw, The Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, The Grateful Dead, etc., etc., etc. All of which came in from "left field" quite awhile ago. But the fact remains that there '' 1 " jf -PRACE,KESN'T IT? and "Evangeline" are only two of the classic works that Cooper he did not write. tei 1 ' ' ' 7 > : < '--1 is very little to learn about the vast, untapped reservoir of music la in the world today if all or most tr< of what is heard on the radio is to "the hits" or bands people are in familiar uiitVi ?11 " ..nil. (IIIIIUUI CUIlCgC 10 radio, bands such as Tears For csi Fears or U2 might never have gotten a second or third album ev out ? or a ninth album out, in pu the case of Simple Minds. an With only 50 to 100 acts receiv- lik ing airplay, how can the other un- nc told thousands of artists have a ch chance? The answer is all too on obvious. su WUSC, and college radio in pr general, is a proven breaking Oi ground for new talent on the way cl to the "big lime." The allegedly wl "weird" or "obtuse" "punk" or music emanating from the turntables of WUSC is the AOR and sp hit music of tomorrow. The track in record is too clear to deny. inj Among the numerous artists of backed by college radio and re; WUSC months and years before sti AOR or hit radio would listen to sti them are Devo, the Psychedelic br Furs, David Bowie, U2, Oingo pe Boingo, Tears For Fears, Wall of or Voodoo, R.E.M., The Hooters, he The Clash, The Cure, OMD, to Marillion, Kate Bush, Red tei Rockers, UB40, The Pretenders, co Bryan Ferry, Talking Heads, Bruce Springsteen, Dcpeche ra( Mode, Romeo Void and many as more - thi Some of what we play here at wj WUSC won't ever achieve "sue- jn cess" and may not be pleasing to tj1( all. However, we are not going to jst refuse it exposure to USC and ajt Columbia on such a subjective nu basis. The more experimental wj music played on WUSC occupies sai a very small percentage of our total programming. The majority by far is highly accessible music that album, hit and even adult contemporary radio will be playing in the future. ^ Editor in chiaf Ann Farmer Managing Editor Tracy Mixson Copy Dssk Chief Anriv flunrnn Assistant Copy Ossk Chief Linda Taylor fO mtgnif [ AI Marisa rorio Assistant Msws Editors Jeri Rowe Juliet Nader Spotlight Editor Koni Bea Kayne ' Auistcnt Spotlight Editor Ed Chambliss indy )uncan Airports. If they're so safe, ?w come they call them minals? . ' -v, TT1 1 : V- i *s ' ' ' %|f Rather than following tfie test trend or sticking with safe jnds of the past, WUSC serves educate our listening audience what exists outside of narrowly rmatted radio and to help tablish the trends of tomorrow. Certainly WUSC is not for erybody, but that is not our irpose, as provided by the FCC d the university. If you don't e the song on WUSC right iw, keep listening, and the ances are good you will like ie of the next ones and discover mething new and good that you eviously did not know existed. if reggae, blues, folk, jazz, assical, heavy metal or laiever is your thing, tune into ie of our specialty shows. Mr. Harris1 comment that our ecialty programming is "fitting an institution of higher learn I is very ironic given the aim the rest of his letter. The ason for the existence of intutions of higher learning is for idents to learn more and to oaden their horizons and rspectives of the world. In der to do this it is extremely lpful to have an open mind and use it to take things on neutral ms rather than to prejudge and ndemn them. As for the future of album iio in Columbia, it may not be far off as Mr. Harris might ink. In-the meantime, WUSC 11 continue to help fill that void the Columbia market as well as ; numerous other voids that ex, and to serve as a very viable ernative to the increasing mber of people dissatisfied th the repetition, hype and Tieness of commercial radio. John Van Citters lusic director, WUSC-FM oadcast journalism junior ??: ?-^"7 i_- ?' ?. * w nnpmn r.mor Amy DtlPo ' Sport* Editor Gregg l.asky Assistant Sports Editor Jeff Owens Photography Editor . ! Joseph Garnett Assistant Photography Editor Ray Gronberg Advisor Bill Rogers 1 Director Bill Clements ' Production , Lewis Covington f] Mark Armstrong L , -.IllJl ??