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Viewpoint 8 ^ Wednesday, February 18, 1987 Bally cry SG wants all students to attend rally protesting tuition increase ? - - 1 a - t ? t - i m ? mis is one lasi quicK reminaer tnat tne rany ana marcn for full-formula funding will start today at 1:15 p.m. The rally will begin in front of Russell House on Greene Street and will conclude at the steps of the State House. Anyone who cares at all about whether USC students are hit with another tuition increase better be there. This is our best and probably last chance to show the boys in the State House we will not tolerate another increase. We want as many students as possible to attend. The greater the number, the greater the impact, and making a big impact is our best shot. We must let representatives and senators know that education has had to suffer for too long because of the state's budgetary problems. Well, no more. Our tuition is already ridiculously high, and we cannot afford another disastrous increase. This rally is important. Don't blow it off. Student Government needs everyone it can get. If you can be there and choose not to, then you'll have no one to blame but yourself when they raise our tuition. Think about it. See you there. Long haul State has improved education, but much more has to be done Secretary of Education William Bennett released a national report card last week and, for those who haven't heard this cruel joke, South Carolina's public education system ranks pretty low. The state ranked 47th in graduation rate; 44th in expenditure per pupil; 28th in pupil/teacher ratio and 38th in teacher salaries. As a whole, South Carolina is one of the worst states for public education and will be in the same position for some time to come. But, surprisingly enough, the state got a resounding "A" on its report card. Despite its ugly appearance, South Carolina has made great gains in public education in the past several years. The state's SAT scores have risen 36 points since 1981, which doesn't sound like anything to get excited about, but it is the largest gain of any SAT score in any state that uses this test. Furthermore, South Carolina is one of only seven states to restore its scores to the level of the '70s. These gains must be looked at as a grand starting point from which we can begin to compete with other states in the nation. There is still an awfully long way to go,and we are only now beginning. The state's education leaders cannot spend too much time patting themselves on the back. Th(?V miict OAntinno m/Mia nlionrl vj liiuji wnviiiuv lw iiiuvv anvau ucctfuac wc ctl C Sllll plagued by many problems in our educational system. The most pressing problem is an expected surge in the dropout rate. South Carolina ranks fifth in dropouts, which, considering the state's relatively small population, is quite unsettling. Ironically, the tightened standards that have made it possible for South Carolina to score its "A" are, in large part, causing many students to leave school every day. South Carolina has the highest attendance rate of any state in the country, but the tightened standards, particularly the attendance standards, are causing "borderline" students to quit school. With a lesser rate, and a smaller dropout problem, North Carolina still has appropriated $20 million this year r* * n * ? " lui a Maicwiuc uiupuui i~revenuon jrrogram. ioutn Carolina has to follow their lead this year. If Gov. Carroll Campbell is as dedicated to improved education as he says, he will soon move to tackle this problem. The improvements South Carolina is responsible for will mean little if the dropout rate continues to climb as the experts believe it will. The "borderline" students who drop out, most often minorities, will only add to the state's unemployment, crime, and the further degradation of the educational system. utfttTctm m wo "rue. , ifwmw m iWN-ctttfM mmn wmnwm? www&im <*/*AMr?Lir iiihMNGu Mt> Uft tu6 .. . ^7 T~1 wr. wTw??'" tsswwwfflK!r 1$$^ fife ffiss-' <3jD 1ST TORfcVflN POUCX ? R&AGAN CUT OF MM 8?ftTOI| Sffiw. """ ^ / Write us a letter : Tell us what's on your mind. Letters must There is a limit of t' be typed, double-spaced and no more than the same writer. 250 words. Include name, address and We reserve the right telephone number for verification. Names on outdated topics t( ...III A L - ...J*LL _l -J A ivYiu nui uc wuuiiciu. vmcsi cuuonais are topics. limited to 500 words. Indicate whether you Write to: View are a student, USC staff member, or com- Gamecock, Drawer A munity member in letters and editorials. Columbia, S.C. 2920! i o& TO of f-4 on. WPS, t*ct ^WdiiSi? ? Yfc ? OF WW TSKtft ASSIST eiriw KMC 1 UMATl WNlWVrMlWt\*?vm?i WRMftflN, SlR??? ^ Renorter. rhvmi H " I WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE: Our intrepid columnist, following a lead to his dead friend Dr. Juice, discovers the Doctor is alive and living in Spartanburg. Both he and the Doc land in hot water when they are caught by thugs in the men's room. It was desperate. But in dark times, inspiration's my specialty. I had an idea. I whispered, "Get ready Doc." We disappeared. "Where'd they go?" the thug said. I shifted us into italics. They were still back in normal print. While we had some breathing room, Dr. Juice told me what happened to him, since the last time I saw him he was dead and doing a fairly good impersonation of Swiss cheese that bleeds. I included his riontVt in mu i m m /i enirl b\t i * f 1 MVMifi mi mj VVIMrrifl^ fit JUIU, C/MI I IV include a death certificate. So, as in millions of comic books, and nighttime soap operas, the dead return to life through gaping, contrived plot holes. He asked me to explain how we escaped. I told him we were in italics. Columnists sometimes use them to show the past. 1 thought we were safe, but he reminded me he'd been in italics when he vv?s originally murdered, which I forgot. "Well, " I said, "I'll just have to put us into a stronger typeface. Bold. " The slanted, wavy, thin universe became a (hick, dark one. "Boldface is no! helping our figures," 1 said, bul it was the strongest type available. Too bad they were waiting for us. "You can't fool us twice with the same trick," the hood said. "The boss changed his mind; he wants to see you. So put us back into normal print. Now." After tasting ai We are so wrapped up in our own worlds at college we forget what life is really about. Remember when you were in high school? Those were glorious days, when life was lived to the fullest and the only problems were getting a date for the prom and convincing Dad to give you the car keys. Teenagers don't seem to have our worries. What do they know about class registration, buying textbooks and scraping up enough money to pay tuition? What do 15- and 16-year-olds know about getting along with roommates? It's a shame they don't get to experience the wonder of finding an apartment for under $300 a month, then trying to pay the rent on time. Those domestic chores were never as fun at home, like doing the laundry each week. The best part is when the machine eats your quarter, and the next person to use it has no problems. Somehow Mom's Maytag always managed to dry the clothes, but these cheap Letters to the Prejudice also e a To the editor: ing the a LaVaughn Dillings, in his letter white peo of Feb. 9, suggests that "this What j university condones racism." I USC pag< heartily agree, and in fact 1 can Do we ha' cite some examples Dillings failed contest? < to mention. so would What about the university's annual observance of Black As furt History Month? I have been in sity's raci the university system now for its comm three years, and have yet to see a "affirmai "White History Month," honor- we must 11 The < Kdltor In Chief >vo letters per month by Koni Bea Kayne Managing Kdltor t to stop printing letters ^my DelPo f Copy Desk Chief 3 make room for new 0ull/oyle Assistant Copy point Eiditor, The Desk Chief i, Russell House, USC, Andy Rechtel |j_ Newi Editor Paula Wethlngtbh t \ one AFRICAN Hon, M GR6AT SAT AH. A FWASURS in* business, o rouu assnt IC m 60W&&S 5L0QD&UCK www CONSPIRACY. CCXUGt PWSS SIRVtCI ister are facing His voice was deeper, more dangerous in boldface; his gun was thicker and bigger. I reluctantly returned us to normal. We returned to Columbia. He took us to he coliseum, into an unknown sub-basement. The room was set up like a court, and there were red- and blackmasked men sitting there. "Oh good," a red-masked man said. "The columnist was your next target anyway." A black-masked man stood up. "I am the Chief Justice of the Chamber for the Preser vation of the Purity of English Poetry. We have found you, Dr. Juice, guilty of being a bad poet; in fact, just a rhyming hack. Poetry requires depth, not rhyme." "All the time?" "Quit kidding around, Doc," I said. "These schmoes look serious." Since I'm not a poet, 1 asked, "Why me? Because I run his poetry?" The red-masked man stood up again. "No," he said. "We, in the red, are the Associated Journalists for Facts, not Creativity, in Newspapers. You have been found guilty of attempted creativity." "Attempted creativity?" I asked, shocked. Iult ISfo philrlhni AMIli IMUf UIIIIUBDUl college dryers don't. Once away from home, college students learn to appreciate free food and board. Weekly allowances for cleaning your room and getting good grades is appealing when your checking account has had $5 in it for the past month,and you've used up your last can of Campbell's Soup. The beach is a good place to take pride in * editor xists against whi chievements of famous tion to a certain grou| pie. because of the color of about the Miss Black This is the very de ;ant earlier this month? racism. ve a "Miss White USC" USC must be racisi Certainly not, as to do tolerate such race-ori be racist. pus organizations as tl tion of Afro America her proof of the univer- the NAACP, the Socic st leanings, how about Engineers and others, itment to the policy of Yes, examples < live action," which says abound on this campi give special considera- racism is not a onejamccock ?r w: T m g Assistant News Editors Sports Editor Sherri Berry Jeff Shrewsbury Brenda Blyth Assistant Sports Editor Viewpoint Edl Wayne Washington Hal Millard Photography Editor Money Editor Thomas Humphrey Candy Barr Assistant Photography Edit Features Editor Jennifer Steib Tamara Willis Assistant l-eatures Editor PdlHck hah > { 0 "T^0^uapoa^C\^tC-^ . DOM OF m certain doom "Yes," he said. "You aren't half as good as you think you are." "Oh," I said, insulted. "What's the sentence?" "Death, of course. It's nothing personal, but you're very dangerous. We're not sadists, so we'll make your end painless. We only kill because it is necessary. We want control of the language. Do you realize you use profani ty, slang, smooth-talking jive and insults like 'schmoe?' No one knows what a schmoe is." I nodded, but I was thinking of two words he'd said: dangerous and control. "You nod like it's nothing, instead of a capital offense. You talk about sex, alcohol; you use first person all the time. You make fun of sacred American institutions as Oral Roberts and the America's Cup. You . . . You're not serious." I nodded again, just to pi. . . , to tick him off. "Yup, you bet I ain't serious. But, like you said, I'm also very dangerous, and I'm in control. This is my column, and I can always order a . . . "Don't say it," they screamed. "Rewrite. Sorry, but you're out of the plot." They vanished. Dr. Juice and I appeared in Frank McGuire arena, watching the Gamecocks beat the pants off Cincinnati. "You saved my life,and I thank you friend. I'm now returned from an untimely end. But let's relax and watch the game. The 'Cocks arc winning, Cincinnati seems tame," the Doc said. "Yeah," I said, "but I'm a bit bummed out. To save us. I had to destrov mv whole plot. I don't want to write another column this week. Write one for Friday." Attempted creativity my grandma's fanny. od beckons you nature and forget all the little hassles that plague college students. Maybe that's why we are given spring break and the summer to recuperate from the semester. Campus administrators know we would start wrecking the place if they didn't let us loose every once in a while. But think about what you worried about as a child. Those problems may seem insignificant now, but back then, they were traumatic. We were brought up to want something, never satisfied with what we have. Our friends had more expensive toys and nicer homes. Their parents played with them; their sisters and brothers were neat, while ours were boring pests. 4 Sigmund Freud would say we are products of our early experiences. Well if that is true, why do we long for the carelessness of childhood? Maybe because we still can't appreciate what we can accomDlish and can't *?n joy what we have at this moment ? life. ites on campus t p of people Perhaps if Dillings were a little their skin? less militant in his "anti-racism" finition of campaign, he would spend much less time "getting his ass kick i maeea to eci," as he so eloquently phrased ented cam- it. I would like to assuage Dillhe Associa- ings' paranoia by assuring him he n Students, is much more preoccupied with :ty of Black his blackness than anyone else. racism us, but this Barry N. Johnson way street. Physics, Junior f Graphic* Editor IMrector of Student Media Robb Lane Bill Clements Datebook Editor Graduate Aulilint /Catherine Gilbert Mary Anne Banich Comics Editor Production Tracy Mixson Chuck Norris or wire tailor Son Ha Gillian Smith Advertising Manager Adviser Kfargaret Micheh Bill Rogers AuisMfei Adverting Manner Jan Hddges f ?Mb? ?? m m * i__