University of South Carolina Libraries
Viewpoint Wednesday, April 30, 1986 Hasty Eviction of Si? should have bi USC's decision to suddenly evict all members of Sigma Phi t-.psilon fraternity for damage done to their lounge is one ot bad timing and insensitivity. The decision should have been postponed. Early Friday morning after a five-keg party, six Sigma Phi Epsilon brothers broke four windows and knocked out ceiling tiles in the fraternity's M c B r y d e Quadrangle residence hall. About 4 p.m. Saturday, the fraternity's charter was revoked; the 13-room hall was padlocked, and 26 USC students were without a home. A hearing to investigate the matter has been scheduled, it the incident must still be investigated, the university obviously has made a hasty and ill-informed decision. The Gamecock does not condone vandalism. The destructive actions of the six members arc condemnable and wrong. But 75 people should not have to suffer the punishment deserved by a half-dozen. Just two weeks before final exams, during the most intense part of the semester, the O II ? uooaDye ana many thanks, a little early "// is more worthy in the eyes of (io(J and heller for us us a people if a writer makes three panes sharp and funny about the lives oj \>eese than to make 300 flat and JIubby about God or the American people. " ? Garrison Keillor I his is a farewell column, although I still have two left. I want to get my goodbyes out ol the way early, you see, because I want my last columns to be doing honest work and making people laugh. But I graduate two weeks from Saturday, some things need to be said, and now ? or never ? is the time to say them. A year ago, when some doggerel 1 wrote was to be in Portfolio, the editors asked me for a o n c - p a r a g r a p h, t h i r d - pe r s o n autobiography they could tack to W.v.vrwl ... ? II iv; VIIU . vv LII, l IJ V tl l l C 111 J Jl IU lulldense my lite into four sentences depressed me ? not because my life wouldn't fit, but because 1 didn't really need the fourth sentence. 1 was proud of the third sentence, though: "He has never been anywhere, but he knows an awful lot of people anyway." Since I wrote that, I've continued to meet people. But many more people have met me, although I've never seen them. I hey met me through my columns. A n/l Mm/* t'i t /I/mi to write one (Ins semester whet Met I was before a computer terminal in the office, or betore ;i notebook in the library, or betore a legal pad out in the back yard with (tic mockingbirds screaming oaths at me ? I thought about the person who might be reading the thing for the lirst time, who didn't know me from Adam's house cat and had no reason to be impressed. I fhonuht' K tine Send us ? l'.xpress your likes and clislik ter to the editor or a guest edi I etters must he typed, doul more than MH) words. Includ dress, telephone number and reached lor verification. I oilers also should include student, staff or community editorials must he limited to writers must come to the nev picture taken. ima Phi Fnsilnn , - ... ?s sen postponed evicted members are now forced to deal with a doubly stressful situation If the university's main goal is truly the academic welfare and well-being ot its students, it seems any punishment against Sigma Phi 1-psilon would have come after the semester was over. Because the eviction comes after housing sign-up, members without rooms for the fall semester may be forced to seek off-campus, and possibly more expensive, housing. The administration mamtains that the disciplinary action was severe because the incident wasn't reported to university officials the next day. Is the fraternity being punished for \andalism 01 tor its unresponsiveness? This could have been a situation that was quickly and fairly studied, corrected and forgotten. The fraternity could have been renrim.-mdi-d :tnd fined for damages aiul the guilty students kicked out ol the liaternity. Instead it lias created undue stress, bitter resent m ent ait d j.' ross unfairness. Andy Duncan l\ inteiesimg to any ol those strangers out I here* Is ii astunm as I can make it'.' Is H worth the three or four or five minutes they'll have to spend reading it'.' And most importantls: How good an introduction is tins'.' I'll likely never meet mosi <>! these people in person Is tins column a pood enough substituteU any ol nw in it'' I hat explains uh\ I spent set many hours this M-mrstci paunj? around like Hamlet's dadd\. moaninp and rendm;.' tu\ garments ,md t:\inr i?> think i>! ,i new topic, ,i new |oke, .1 new ap proach, a new pie^e ot me. Hut the lahoj panr. hccarnc worthwhile eveiv tmn- miiuc pio lessor 1 didn't know eineim'd I torn his classroom. wr sour- waitress i tiicui i kii"a came over lo the table. Or some hicwlist ! didn't hnw came il(?w n t he sidew alk And said to me " 11< \. I tcallv liked the column I was even happiei wt;en friends 01 ici.Uives told tin ihe same thin)' Heeause il '.mi i m please iht'/n, vm. v.ir. pie.ise an\ hod\ Well, enouyh -.etmoii I h.un s lor ie;tdmi> <iil l!us Mope \mi like I lie ne.M two columns Mope\ou don't forget me too smi'u ;t11?.-r I in f'one. And it vv .is ,iii h> no! to hi' > a you even it out relationship has been a trilie <>rie sided a letter es b\ v*riling a let f he (tunicah tonal. let lei S .1 II|(Mil11 ^le spaced and no onl\ t>c wiihhc e your name, at! pseudonyms aie where you tan he whether >011 .ire a /In (mmcc/xl member ( mesi and guesi ediioi 500 words, and reluined. Seni ksrooin lo have a (imneioek, |)ra hi.i S ( 2l)?A)H 1 The dustierDspartment I i Want's this man barred I I from the US- because I Ke allegedly knew about I I Nazi war crimes. Km PKj ^llokay... I ILXS as iongas ^ I xnJ dc&sn't mess I Letters to the Violence not answer, causes more problems I o the editor: I his letter is addressed to whoever spraypainted the "Kill A Hippie" sign on the Russell House patio last week. As Joan Rivers would say: grow up! Violence causes twice as many problems as ii solves, and totalitarian thinking shows a definite lack of imagination. And imagination is exactly what the human race must have to survive in ihis nuclear age. We cannot afford to take (tie easy way out by bombing our enemies. I hat is a short-term answer which really verves to worsen the global situation in the long run. I hose who try to stifle people who are willing to work for peace are really cutting their own throats. I hope oppression is not what this country is about. The type of thinking which acts to silence all opposition and make everyone conform to one political (or religious, 01 social) ideology is narrowminded, and very dangerous to the American way of life. Mindless militarism is not going to stop the spread of communism ? in fact, it may u.. I i i i . - imumic anu iiutKc certain areas more open to communism. Hey, Uncle Sam needs you to think' I Ins is a democracy, and some ol us hippies want to keep ii that way. Amy Brown Lnglish, sophomore U.S. should question why it is attacked I o !Ik' editor: Well, the I niicd States linally attacked I I his. as Mr. Ciawford writes in his letter on April IX, is something that was anticipated bin may have happened sooner than everyone expected. I he United States cannot he hi.nned loi responding to actions that threaten the American citi/ens or properties. Any counti y that has been attacked in any was has the right to defend and retaliate. The lype ol retaliation depends on the people who an in power In this case, Mr. Reagan decided to respond militarily. Ml <>I tin s is based on the assumption that I ib\a li.is been responsible lor the attacks. Of outse, the { nited States, like any other coun ' i v, lias to expect sonic kind of counterattacks, which wc can see happening around i he w (?i Id Wc .an devote pages of newspapers and 20 i>ui ot minutes ol the television news teports to expressing opinions about whether what the I uited States did was right or not. I Ins will not solve the problem of terrorism. What I have not seen so far is someone who would ask whv a group ol people would resort to tcrionst activities. ( ould it be that those terrorists see terrorism as the only means to B?? Na SC Press Fall 1 Krtilor in A will prnil no more than two Munui J l>\ the same writer. Names will Mann|<inK , , . . . Ivri Row kl ny special exception, and not allowed. .. (op> I / uuht h Assistant I tescises the nwlit to edit letters Muddy A mis. both ol winch will not be Nrws Kdi (I letters to: I ditor, The Juhet N' wei A, Russell House, ( oluin- //w/mI/J i\ih i a h Question5 I?ao*'^ { v**%t??4 - * ' \ editor reach lo the people and ask tor their help? There is no doubt they are choosing the wrong approach. Hut can vse ask ourselves: Could it be terrorism is a reaction to the sufferings that those people have seen? Could it be that the United States is being blamed for mar sunenngs; is ttic i micti Mates responsible, at least in part, lor their sufferings? Maybe we should control our emotions for a second and think rationally about this very important matter. Maybe instead of spending time to make a sign asking to "Kill Khadafy," one should tiy to find out what the United Slates might have done wrong that has caused the terrorists to resort to these inhumane acts. Mohsen Mohammadi Engineering, graduate student Pro-Israeli letter was flawed, student says 1 o the editor: I found in Randall Krawcheck's letter in reply to tu\ letter conceining the Arab-Israeli conflict numerous mistakes 1 would like to correct. 1 irst. Mr. Kraweheck says "the problem does not start with ttie Palestinians. I he problem is the Palestinians " He goes tin to say that the Palestinians i el used the U.N. partitioning plan of Palestine but he did not explain why. So, I would like to shed some light on that plan since he wants to gel into some historical facts. In 1947 the United Nations adopted the partitioning plan that envisaged two states: a Jewish state and an Arab state, with Jerusalem and the area around it CORPUS SI PARA I UM. I hat is a I ;itin phrase meaning something separate, or having its own status. When I he United Nations adopted the partitioning plan, the lews in Palestine owned only 5.6 percent ol Palestinian territory. The Palestinian Arabs owned between 92 and 93 percent And the other property was owned hv 11 \ r#?i ii nr? r c. ? t ( luir/ i, ,v( u, iwi v?f,uvi > Hiv. x illliv.ll \JI 1\ imitl, I VJJ example. Just imagine two communities. One is one million, and the other is 6(X),(X)0. I he one million own l)2 percent ot the territory. Yet the partitioning plan allocated the Jews 54 percent ot Palestine, and the rest was allocated lot the Arahs. I hat created a very unbalanced position, a very unfair position, which drove the Arahs to refuse the pardoning plan. I hey could not bear it. They thought they should hold to nun luiiiiuiy iv) set"uit* men ngnis even li I hey had to liyht. Mr. Krawcheck j/oes on to say, "As for American-Arab relationships, well, it's amazing we even bother to talk to them." My comment is that you are very naive when it comes to politics. He, then, relcrs to the Iranians as Arabs and this is another mistake. I he Iranians are Moslems, not Arabs. Association ThOam 985 * XIVIiI1 ( hief Business hdilor Cholo \ l>orto Maria hu/us Ray ( hdllor Wwpoinl I dilor ,\ss?sli ( art Dawson Sean Spotlight Idilor Senior / d ( hum bliss / )u vie Assistant Spotlight I diiors /ow>/? Sn;,hcn vie J' H <'?? ?'*'I'aUK k ./run ' Iff ore . t t , r.a b Sporls Ml tor '?.r John Hovelle Assistant Sporls Kdiior Shun News I diiors jvff Shrewsbur v Amy ]urd Duicliook l.diior Rom 'eOunxton Laurie Rhoden Joan ?>t ?bes {his current j resident of Hawaii I l know anything about ? 4 "-'no wunder>? Then, he refers to ligypt as the country that "jerked us around with the Achille 1 auro incident." Mr. Krawcheck, let me tell you that ligypt did its best to save the lives of the innocent people on that ship, while Israel, your "real friend," when secretly asked by the U.S. to answer the hijacker's demands of releasing some Palestinian prisoners, said through its foreign minister that it was America's problem, not theirs, and that they had nothing to do with it. I hope you don't have a selective memory! Mr. Krawcheck goes on making mistakes and jumps into the wrong conclusion, saying "just because you arc Palestinian does not make a bit of difference." Well, 1 am not Palestinian. 1 come from the country you _ think "icrked vou around " Our dncs not S have to be Palestinian to sympathize with the Palestinian causc. Finally, Mr. Krawcheck mistakenly believes that I take terrorism to be excusable, which is totally wrong. In my letter I said "no one accepts terrorism, be it against Americans, Libyans or Israelis." Mahmoud Salem Comparative literature, graduate student Investment policy negates donations To l he editor: As a graduating senior who lias been lucky enough to "land" a dream job with travel, benefits, use of my creative and human m resource talents, and good money m a field V that I enjoy, 1 could have been easily persuaded to meet the Senior Challenge, lortunately, 1 realized that the money would be used by the Education F oundation, l or those ol you who have not followed the questions of I JSC's poucy 10 uivest luncls in Souili Alrica, perhaps 1, an enlightened student, can relresh your memories. The education foundation chose 10 ignore the pressures of a concerned student com munity and keep funds invested in South Africa. I do not feel that I need to embarrass this board of private trustees by enclosing the ^ actual statistics of the university's portfolio investment in South Africa, for they are very much aware of the uncomfortable position they insist on placing US( in. Yet, when it is a matter of my controlling the ways in which my money is funded at this institution, 1 will be damned if 1 will contribute to this policy of continued ignorance, l or other enlightened students of this university, I would advise that VOU rlnvr*lv ?!><' 1 , } *,,v 1/v)iiviv-1 iiuii iiic r.uucation Foundation rests upon before taking the Senior Challenge. Leslie Miller Art History / History senior ecock | 1 grjiph) hdltor Kuth\ / rwis ironberx I racy Mixsoti *nl Photograph) Kdilor / red Stvppi' Km/it Ad>isrr Photographers Hill Royyrs 1 Dot son Director h Garnett, Jr. Hill ('lenients r Urporirrs Production 'ohun l.ewis Covinytim ioerke Mark Armstrong ">H Coste AthrrlisitiK Miihu^it Delf'o Mar nurd Xfii he Is g Hl'U Kuyne Sliu'enl Advertising Manager ne Korth Kctli / 'reus , * a?