University of South Carolina Libraries
wwiiwwwn-wiwrrwttt?TiIII?iiii?iii i mil II illirTTTTmWflM Viewpoint [Friday, February 14, 1986 * in? n _ M 5 USC grim Academic s * into Christn The end of the 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 (f, Finals not ending until Dec. 22 again next year, this situation is not likely to change. Thus, students have to wnrrv ahnnt 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 Dack in the last few semesters 0 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 Music: You phone them 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 My Fair TA. Legare Higgins of the English faculty walks through the Life Sciences Building for the first time in years and is impressed m with the thick accents of the m. l:__ ? icitciiing assisiaius. ne sings to his friend Pickering: Why can't 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 press your likes and dislikes b; ter to the editor. Letters must be typed, doubl a maximum length of 300 wor include the writer's name, addi number and where the writer < for verification. Letters should also include writer is a student, staff c f member. Guest editorials mus ch chedule cuts las celebration plans complicated by trying to get home 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 davs is a niphtmarp if v? * * 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 and 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 post- | Christmas Eve rush. While working to correct j 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 I many activities to do after the first anyway except dread i coming back to the studying routine. 1 i new music won't play I???M??P> | _ . . v. i ,PPH ^ /\nay 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 hpiohfc nf full All I want is an endowed chair. Far away from this dank lab air; No students near my lair . . . Oh, if I could speak i professorially! Lots of tenure for my employ; < Lots of lectures spreading lots of joy; My own TAs to annoy ... i If I could speak professorially! < viijwjou willing lltai J>U IIHIlll ' that I'll whip up Act Two for Monday. > opinions. Ex- 500 words and the y writing a let- ture. Photos cannc The Gamecock v !e-spaced, with letters a month b> ds. They must will only be withl *ess, telephone and pseudonyms a :an be reached The Gamecock letters and guest ed j whether the returned. Send I >r community Gamecock, Drawe t be limited to umbia, S.C. 29208 Cotege Press Service l.-.*...i.ii II I "^"'''^''i"^! mil|" i .1 I .i.ri.Mii. 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 Med' . Arts student photography . ?hibit, 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 from marine biology to masters in internatk nal 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 Roods and services I 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. I don't see any hope to end this trend so far. Unfortunately, thousands of students out there 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 lime attempting to impose their own values on the others? I'm not writing as an attempt to offend both parties concerning the issue, but it's really what we ion't want to see anymore when we pick up ine uamecocK. Please, no more personal /alues on morality, biology or writer may submit a pic)t be returned. /ill print no more than two ' the same writer. Names \ icld by special exception re not allowed. reserves the right to edit itorials. Letters will not be Ipttprc tr?* Crlitrtr TA/i IVilVl J V vy . LvMllUI y i r IC r A, Russell House, Col IftAMlNG , jgS MOONV *j "C?ISS? w?u 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 1HA.1 Fxlitor in Chkf i Marisa J. Porto Managing Editor Jeri Rowe Copy Iksk Chkf Linda Taylor Assistant Copy Desk Chief Buddy Moore News hditor Juliet Nader Assislunt News I'd I tors Carl Dawson Hob Kudelka \\yw^iW\w Ket? 0UWU?S?J" Abortion: murder 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 ? AU _ * T'l* t hj miuw mai ^uinsKys 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 Zilinsky's graphic depictions of what happens in an abortion bother ''TiwwniaawfWiB (ILL SOMBOMe I LOSE MV LICENSE E IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS..." Business Editor Maria Fratus Viewpoint Editor Lynn Cusick Spotlight Kdltor Mary Jo Miller Assistant Spotlight Editor Ed Chambliss Sports Editor John Royette Assistant Sports Editor Jeff Shrewsbury Photography Editor Ray Gronberg T =3 pain 3 cr T^7 j^OTjl -^HawmilES J' ^ssst^fea 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, or when a human being 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 rnnciMorotmorO ?. ?%* ? vvuoiuviaiiviis; Permitting abortion on demand allows only the latter option. Jon Ensminger Music, graduate student ? ft IbRA MONTR! Assistant Photography Editor Sean Keefer Adviser Bill Rogers Director ! Bill Clements \ Production j Lewis Covington Mark Armstrong Advertising Manager Margaret Michels ' Student Advertising Manager Kelh Freas