The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 14, 1986, Page 5, Image 6
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Friday, February 14, 1986 * g
USC grim
Academic s
|? into Christn
TU? 1 - c ''
i nc cuu ui me semester is
normally a hectic time for
students and the university is
only making the situation
worse by scheduling finals and
graduation later and later
every year.
Because of this "pushing
back,'' students who
graduated in December of
1985 had their commencement
exercises during finals. With
finals not ending until Dec. 22
again next year, this situation
is not likely to change. Thus,
students have to worry about
passing and graduating at the
same time, as if they do not
have enough on their minds at
this time.
The university is writing off
students' legitimate complaints
about this situation by
blaming the late closing of the
? semester on the public schools'
* lateness in closing. The argument
is USC must wait until
public schools close before
they can begin the summer session.
However, the public
schools in Richland County
have consistently closed at the
same time every year usually
by the first week in June. So
why classes have been pushed
back in the last few semesters
? when they were not in past
years is a mystery. For example,
in fall of 1983, classes
began on Aug. 27. This past
fall, classes began on Sept. 3.
With pushing ahead the
closing date of USC in
December, out-of-state
students have their vacation
< Here's some
even WUSC
WUSC-FM obviously doesn't
know what it's doing.
All day today and tomorrow,
the station is running a fundraising
deal called Moola for
i
iviuait. i ou pnone tneni and
^ make requests, greasing the way
of said requests by pledging sums
of money. It's an attractive idea
that I urge you to take advantage
of, but it's also wide-open for
abuse. Suppose somebody requested
five minutes of dead air,
or one of Castro's four-hour
tirades, or even ? heaven forbid
? a Michael Jackson song?
WUSC, the money is good, but
the implications are frightening.
Now, on to the topic of this
^ Valentine's column. I've been
reading a lot about foreign-born
teaching assistants who have
trouble making their students
understand them. Is this the stuff
of great musical theatre? Don't
answer until you've read the
outline for Scene One of Mv Fair
TA.
Legare Higgins of the English
faculty walks through the Life
Sciences Building for the first
time in years and is impressed
g with the thick accents of the
teaching assistants. He sings to
his friend Pickering:
Why can 7 this university teach its
TAs how to speak?
For all their students understand,
they could be talking Greek.
You know, if Pythagoras had
spoken the way they do,
His pupils would have been
without a clue.
Is it too much to ask that
chemistry be less oblique?
Oh, why can't the TAs,
The Gamecock needs your c
press your likes and dislikes by
ter to the editor.
Letters must be typed, double
a maximum length of 300 word
include the writer's name, addre
number and where the writer ca
for verification.
Letters should also include
writer is a student, staff or
? member. Guest editorials must
ch
chedule cuts
ias celebration
plans complicated by trying to
gei nome in very little time.
And, air fares generally increase
closer to the holidays.
So, naturally, they are faced
with higher costs to get home.
All students are faced with
less time to do Christmas
shopping. Who has time to
shop amidst studying for exams?
For those who leave that
task for home, shopping for
everyone on the list in two
days is a nightmare. If
students try to complete their
shopping before they leave,
they have much more baggage
to carry home. Most students
do not have enough room as it
is for all of their clothes anH
possessions. This is an even
larger problem for people who
have to fly home.
The lateness of the schedule
also makes it difficult for
students to try to find jobs
before the holidays. Most
employers hire extra
employees to help with the
Christmas rush, not the postChristmas
Eve rush.
While working to correct
the problem, the university
should consider giving
students more time before
Christmas and less time after
the first of the year. The time
would be better spent with
family and friends before the
holidays.
After all, there are not as
many activities to do after the
first anyway except dread
coming back to the studying
routine.
i new music
Minn't nlou
wvuu i pmy
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rkiiay
Duncan
Why can't the TAs learn to
speak?
One of the TAs is young Eliza
Dzszszszki, chemistry lab technician,
whose glutinous Middle
European accent doesn't stop her
from dreaming of the lofty
heights of full professorshio:
All I want is an endowed chair,
Far away from this dank lab air;
No students near my lair . . .
Oh, if I could speak
professorially!
Lots of tenure for my employ;
Lots of lectures spreading lots of
joy;
My own TAs to annoy . . .
If I could speak professorially!
I enjoyed writing that so much
that I'll whip up Act Two for
Monday.
jpinions. Ex- 500 words and t\
writing a let- ture. Photos cam
The Gamecock
-spaced, with letters a month I
s. They must will only be wit
;ss, telephone and pseudonyms
in be reached The Gamecock
letters and guest c
whether the returned. Send
community Gamecock, Draw
be limited to umbia, S.C. 292C
avrn
f?c>
Ccflege Pross Service
Mall praised for
brisk business
To the editor:
Congratulations to Carolina
Mall! Pedestrian traffic and apparently
shopping traffic have
been brisk as I observed them,
while I helped man the Media
Arts student photography exhibit,
Feb. 5-19 in the mall.
Exhibit visitors signing the
register ranged from professors,
staff and a Student Health physician
to conference-attending
finance officers from as far away
as Oregon. Student and faculty
homelands included Finland,
Thailand, Great Britain, Greece
and Somalia.
Students, asked to write down
their major, listed 38 majors,
ranging irom marine biology to
masters in international business.
Possibly reflecting South
Carolina's flourishing tourism industry,
one student listed a major
new to me: basket weaving . . .
Okay.
With such an intriguing variety
of visitors, and with the goods
and services 1 saw offered, 1 intend
to be part of the traffic,
often, at Carolina Mall.
Sally Battle
Media arts, staff
Abortion letters
tiring to read
To the editor:
I'm writing simply just to "express
my dislikes" as you urge in
"Send us a letter."
For most of the fall semester
this page was stuffed with letters
concerning the abortion issue. 1
don't see any hope to end this
trend so far. Unfortunately,
thnnondc nf ctn/lnnt/' *'
...uuouiiuj ui .nuui.UL.1 UUl 1IICIC
are already over-fed and sick of
these letters, either pro or anti the
issue. Those letters seem more
like personal quarrels among the
senders rather than of any other
purpose.
Since most students have had a
firm stand on the issue, why do
these people bother to waste their
time attempting to impose their
own values on the others? Pm
not writing as an attempt to offend
both parties concerning the
issue, but it's really what we
don't want to see anvmore whf>n
we pick up The Gamecock.
Please, no more personal
values on morality, biology or
le writer may submit a picnot
be returned.
will print no more than two
t)y the same writer. Names
hheld by special exception
are not allowed.
c reserves the right to edit
editorials. Letters will not be
letters to: Editor, The
/er A, Russell House, Col>8.
^aiming | isP
^OONV wwwsj
^ W1SS? wvw
uiij lbiii nm y u niiiiiii mi im -?
religion. We just don't care what
YOU (a particular letter sender)
think about abortion.
Inevitably this is again a letter
concerning the abortion issue
(somehow). Hopefully this would
be the last one we have to bear in
The Gamecock.
Gary Chen
Journalism, freshman
MADD advocates
safe vacation
To the editor:
Florida Mothers Against
Drunk Driving, MADD, hopes
that this year's college Spring
Break will be safe for everyone.
Last year's tragedies included
three students who fell to their
deaths off hotel balconies and
two others who were murdered
hitchhiking to Florida. We sympathize
with their parents because
we understand the anguish of
senseless loss.
We want to come to Florida to
have good times and enjoy wellearned
vacations. But please do
not come to drive and drink or to
use drugs.
Florida Mothers
Against Drunk Driving
ML
1HA.TE
Kditor in Chief
Marisa J. Porto
Managing Kdlior
Jeri Rowe
Copy Desk Chief
Linda Taylor
Assistant Copy DesV Chief
Buddy Moore
News fatitor
yj??uc i ivuutrr
AstlslHnt News Kdltors
Car/ Dawson
Bob Kudelka
hi
vfwmmm
m ou wuss?r
Abortion: murdei
or termination?
To the editor:
I would like to respond to both
Mr. Cooley's letter ("Abortion
letter sensationalism," Jan. 24)
and to Mr. Ernest's letter ("Emotions
rule abortion issue," Jan.
27).
Mr. Cooley is wrong in judging
Mr. Zilinsky's letter ("Abortion
hidden in euphemisms," Jan. 20)
to be irrational, because he fails
to show that Zilinsky's argument
is not based on sound reasoning.
If human life begins at conception,
as Mr. Zilinsky believes,
then it is not unreasonable to
believe that to "terminate a
pregnancy" is the same thing as
to murder an innocent human
life. By siding with a school of
thought that posits that "a fetus
. . . has no right to life," Cooley
must decide exactly when that
fetus gains moral, thus "living"
rights. Is it at six months, seven
months, or birth? Otherwise,
how do we know whether to call
it a "termination" or a murder?
In any case, it seems that Zilin
sKy s graphic depictions of what
happens in an abortion bother
U 80HBCWEI ICSG MY LICENSE
. IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS..."
Business Editor
Maria f 'ratus
Viewpoint hditor
/ UliN
- /' .I VxM.lllA
Spotlight Kdltor
Mary Jo Miller
Assistant Spotlight Kdltor
Ed Chambliss
Sports Kdltor
John Hoyelte
Assistant Sports Kdltor
Jeff Shrewsbury
Photography Kdltor
Ray Gronberg
1
I
3 pa'n jcr
kiuers
-pPpy Xt977?lL
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* Mr. Cooley.
While Mr. Cooley prefers
discussing abortion in neutral
terms, Mr. Ernest is not afraid to
present his own rather terrifying
argument in favor of abortion.
An argument that depicts an unborn
child as a "parasite"
because of his or her dependent
status, and then grants the
mother the right to determine
that child's fate purely on
utilitarian grounds, certainly
bodes ill for any other person
that has a dependent status.
When, in fact, does a child cease
to be dependent upon his
parents? At birth? More importantly,
can one person's right to
privacy supersede another's right
to life, dependent or not? If, as
Mr. Ernest argues, no one can
know when life actually begins,
^ .. ...U - l
ui vvncii a numan oeing gains a
soul, what is more reasonable, to
grant the right to life to a human
being at the moment of conception,
or at some later time based
on utilitarian considerations?
Permitting abortion on demand
allows only the latter option.
Jon Ensminger
Music, graduate student
/,
: pjr k Montr !
Assistant Phntrtoronht, l/IH"' 11
-"""I
Sean Keefer
Adviser
Bill Rogers
Director
Bill Clements
Production
Lewis Covington
Mark Armstrong
Advertising Manager
Margaret Michels
Student Advertising Manager
Kelli Freas