The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 18, 1987, Page 8, Image 10
Viewpoint
8 ^ Wednesday, February 18, 1987
Bally cry
SG wants all students to attend
rally protesting tuition increase
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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.
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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
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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.
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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!
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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
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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
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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
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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
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