University of South Carolina Libraries
Viewpoint Wednesday, April 16, 1986 g - Useless Library fees noticeable in Registration is about to begin again, soon to be followed by the billing of tuition and miscellaneous charges. The administration probably would not have to listen to complaints about these charges if their purpose were evident and worthwhile. For example, library fees were added to tuition costs last ^ semester. The nurnoso of fees was supposedly to improve and update library facilities. Whether this purpose has been achieved is questionable from the students' point of view. While it may be difficult to nail down what they are being used for, their non-uses are obvious. They are not, for ex ample, being used to keep the library's copying machines in a usable condition; most of these machines are very seldom in good working order. There is nothing more r irustrating than trudging up and down stairs in hopes of finding a copier that will reprint in readable style. Usually when it is finally found, there arc lines of equal^ ly aggravated students also w waiting to use this rare beast. Speaking of trudging down stairs, all three of the elevators were not in working order on Saturday. One or two being ! out of order at one time may ' be excusable; all three is < ridiculous. It is reasonable to ' , Funny huh? Looks aren't everything Today, I thought I'd take this opportunity to introduce you to my other job: Lifestyle Regenerag& tion Consultant. The young man pictured to the rioht (nr\t ~ ^ 1 yiiwi nit; cdme 10 our euri up 'n' Dye location No. 26, right ' behind the Gut Hut weight-loss center, a distraught individual. He had BceGeeitis. His hair had gone out of control, just like his taste in clothing. He walked (par- j don me, strutted) into our shop j humming to the Village People's "Macho Man" playing on his Walkman, wearing a white satin coat with huge baby blue lapels over this knit shirt. "Help," he said. "I have a problem." We reacted instantly. First, we told mm that admitting he had a fashion problem is the hardest step in ending it. Next, while immobilizing his hair to keep it from taking over any more of his head and brain, we put on a video ft tape of "Firing Line" with |y William F. Buckley. Then we ^ took a pair of Ronnie and Bonzo autographed scissors and cut his ? ? hair until it met with the Official gg Strom Thurmond Shave and ? Buzz Cut regulations. We dressed him in a dark blue p pin-striped suit, gave him a copy p of that day's Wall Street Journal, V? ? nvc-ycai Miuscnpuon lo /vational Review, a cup of Tofu ' (yuck) and sent hirn off in a '' brand new Turbo Saab. fc? Now do you recognizc this f man, our greatest success story to date? No? He's Gregg Lasky, ^ journalist extraordinaire. What? ^ You still don't know who he is? Oh well. A1 ? | ne ? 1 UU M J ' Express your likes and dislikes by ter to the editor or a guest editorial Letters must be typed, double-sp more than 300 words. Include you dress, telephone number and where i reached for verification. L.etters also should include wheth student, staff or community men editorials must be limited to 500 ) writers must come to the newsrooi picture taken. haven't led to iprovements conclude that the fees are not going here either. Perhaps the additional revenue should also have been used to hire more library personnel, namely librarians. The only place where you are guaranteed to find a librarian is on the main level. Other levels sport signs telling you where you need to travel in search of competent help. Having a librarian on the fourth floor is not much help to a student on the second. And finally, while the facilities are supposed to be improved, library hours have not. More hours of operation would allow the library to better serve students. A closed library is not very useful to anyone. For instance, the library does not open until 1 p.m. on Sundays. But for many, Sunday is a major studying day. Those who have the best intentions of getting up early to catch up or study for Monday's big exam are foiled when they arrive at locked doors. Instead, these early birds must line up like shoppers waiting for a big sale. Perhaps the definition of how students' library fees are used should be more specific. Students have paid the library , fees for two semesters now, , without visible returns on their i investment. Aggravations and I hostilities would probably be ] minimized if tangible results ' :ould be seen by library users, ' not just the librarians. ' ( ea^HRH Ed Chambliss : p s< lefore jL*- M tW/. b I? Al ,:.il4 ; ier letter ., writing a let- The Gamecock u letters a month by i aced and no only be withheld r name, ad- pseudonyms are nol you can be er you are a The Gamecock re: nber. Guest and guest editorials words, and returned. Send I n to have a Gamecock, Drawer bia, S.C. 29208. Letters to the University Terrace parking 'troublesome' To the editor: The story on illegally parked USC service vehicles at University Terrace Apartments (March 28) has merit but misses the point. Maintenance workers can hardly be blamed for not wanting to carry tool boxes and renair ? ?r -* * aarts long distances. They merely face the same problem known to all UT residents and, ndeed, to anyone who must park a car at JSC: a very poorly administered parking system. Since last August, parking officials have ssucd at least 132 UT decals. However, there ire only 63 designated UT parking spaces, lone of which are for maintenance vehicles. Little wonder then that we are "fighting to get places to park." For most married residents, UT is our only lome. This means that our over-subscribed ot is nearly always full, including weekends ind holiday vacation periods. UT dccal lolders arc permitted to occupy CS lots, such is the "pit," but these, too, are often >verflowing (unless one literally waits until ^hristmasV Besides, a prime reason for paying a tremium for a UT sticker is to avoid having o walk long distances or across busy streets mh one's children. Either that premium hould be dropped or we should have access o the space we have paid for. Add to all of this the nuisance of being locked in by a resident who simply could not ind another space; or of being ticketed for a arking infraction after doing one's best to queeze in under impossible conditions. Parking is surely not the most pressing prolem on campus, but it is troublesome. As a JT resident, I say to USC parking officials: Don't charge us or fine us for what you fail ) deliver." Michael Stokes Education, graduate student rhree men per room n Preston unsuitable To the editor: Once again on-campus residents have been lsultcd by USC Housing Services. While my articular room is not affected by the new olicy of placing three people per room in reston, I still find anger welling in myself as read of another unjust action of the ureaucracy. I can live with promises of novations that are made every year and Iways fail to materialize. I can live with the latant safety violations, such as only one of \ safety lights working during a black-out. 1 in live with the standard excuse given by SC Housing Services, "We can't do IBest Htm RP Pra?? A. ___ "" ' Fall" 19E I Kdilor in CI .'ill print no more than two Marisu J. < the same writer. Names will Managing ; l by special exception, and : allowed. . . ( op> Desk < ' Linda Tayl Assistant Co serves the right to edit letters Buddy Mo> , both of which will not be Nfws l*;di,or letters to: Editor, The Juliet Nadt A, Russell House, Colum- HalVmar, Paula WetI s editor auyimng unless somebody complains, because we don't know anything is wrong." I guess the people 1 complain to and the people that give health and safety checks are blind, deaf, or mentally incompetent. I can also live with getting five nickels when a washing machine that only takes quarters steals my quarter, and unannounced changes in refrigerator issue times. 1 can live with all this because I can't afford to live anyplace else, but I can't live with any more unjust actions by USC Housing Services. The people of Preston that 1 have spoken to about the issue of "three people to a room" arc overwhelmingly against it. Our beloved Housing Service is using the residents of Preston to make sure that they do not take a loss because of their own incompetence in reserving rooms for the fall. Why do we have to pay for their poor judgement? One more minor point. While at a breakfast with Dr. Holderman I brought the issue of three per room to his attention, just after he finished telling the people present how much he hated bureaucracy. I was told there would definitely not be three people per room in Preston. I now turn the ball over to i ii ^ uov nousing services to ignore the above and Dr. Holderman to prove he is not a liar. James Schweitzer International studies, sophomore Sunbathing and porn should not be equated To the editor: I agree with the opening statements of the unnamed writer in the April 7 The Gamecock. The past few days have been nice, and gave many people the oooortunirv to cnnhatho But that is about the extent of our agreement. The writer's use of the royal "we" keeps the reader from having any indication of the sex of the writer, and the withholding of the writer's name and major prevents anyone from knowing if the writer is a student. This allows the writer to attack the actions of both the young lady and the campus police from a position of relative security, somewhat similar to shooting a hole in a wall to hit the person on the other side. 1 ask a simple question now. Did the writer have nothing better to do than look out a window? The fact that the writer observed the actions of the police would tend to indicate that the writer kept the young lady in sight for sometime. The writer indicates that the young lady was in "plain view," from what elevation? The fact that maintenance workers at 1 the physical plant saw this woman is no indication of her visibility from other sources. I feel sure the maintenance men could tell you \ where most people like to sunbathe. 1 find the last part of paragraph four and ' most of paragraph five interesting. I refer to the flow the writer makes from this one person to a statement about nhsrpnitv anh V % % pw. = The Game lief Business Kditor Photograi Porto Maria Fratus Ray Gro '.(litor Viewpoint Kditor Assistant Carl Dawson Sean Kee Senior Ph L'hief Spoiiinhi Kditor David Di 1or lid Cham bliss Joseph C >p> l>esk Chief Assistant Spoliixht Kditors ore Stephen Guilfoyle Senior Rei Patrick Jean Ed Boha 'r Sports Kditor Art Boer ws Kditors John Boyette Amy Del I Assistant Sports Kditor Roni Beo Kington Jeff Shrewsbury Joanne A ??? nography. Considering there is a nudist colony just down 1-20, I would feel that the writer would be happy the young lady did not strip. How one can equate sunbathing and pornography is beyond me. Considering that it was not a cloudy day, we must consider if maybe God enioved the view R.J. Cameron Engineering, senior Beauty and nostalgia reasons to keep flag T*r\ tKn o m v/ lllb LU11UI . Let's talk reality. South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and other beautiful Southern states are not going to drop their heritage, pride and dignity just to satisfy a couple of outsiders who don't agree or understand what the stars and bars really stand for. All the left-wing radical activists can scream and yell and protest until their love beads and long beards fall off! The Confederate flag will fly because there arc too many proud southern Americans who believe that it is an integral part of the South. Just because the terrible practice of slavery occurred under this flag is no reason to condemn the flag itself. And to associate an ugly redneck who shows his totally ignorant uneducated racist self to someone who is black is a tragedy of society. As anyone who has a concept of reality will tell you, racism has no boundaries and is not limited to the South. Just because of these sad and unfortunate parts of Southern history, the stars and bars cannot and will not become the scapegoat for the mistakes of society. It is when you see an old Southern gentleman gaze proudly at the flag and tears come to his eyes ? the same man who 40 years ago lost his legs in WWII for his country, the United States of America, the greatest country on earth ? or when you experience the grace and beauty of historic Charleston, that you hope just maybe these outsiders will understand. Other southern states have had these radical ideas come and go (mostly go) and were quickly eliminated due to the incredible lack of support. The Confederate flag represents the old and new South, and belongs right where it is It represents a way of life that I love, and hopefully will appreciate when I am old. But my advice to all the radical activist types who Jo not appreciate South Carolina and the South is to quit while they still can, and if [hat's not good enough, 1-95 goes North! Trev Walker III Business Administration, freshman tcock ihy Edllor Kalhy l ewis \ nberg Tracy Mi won \ Phrttnorar?hl. t-'HUnf C# n.~r"j ' 'tru .MI///IC : f?r Adviser otographers Bill Rogers Olson Director ' larnett, Jr. Bill Clements Production porters Lewis Covington n Mark Armstrong k? Advertising Manager Po Margaret Michels 1 1 Kayne Student Advertising Manager 'orth KeUi Freas