The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 23, 1987, Page 4, Image 4
Viewpoint ' r
Monday, March 23. 1987
Paralysis
Anti-drug efforts should start
with red light to trafficking
With all the ruckus about secret arms deals in Iran,
President Reagan and his White House staff have put a
serious problem on the back burner ? drug trafficking in
South America.
Before the Iran-Contra scandal, Ronnie and Nancy led a
campaign to "Just Say No" to drugs and promised to step
up anti-drug measures. But addicts are not going to give up
HninrC met Kronen n/Unf Ua**' ^ . 1 - - U-.
uijuji uwwciujw vj 1 YYiiai tn^n picdiucui 5cty5? winy uy
eradicating the drug supply can the disease be controlled.
More illegal drugs are being smuggled into the United
States than ever before, despite doubled federal spending
to stop smugglers in the past five years, according to a congressional
report released last week. House members have
told the president anti-drug efforts in Colombia have collapsed,
urging him to meet with South American leaders.
It seems both governments are paralyzed. The murders
of Colombia's Minister of Justice, 30 judges and 20 journalists
have intimidated the Colombian and American
governments. Therefore, efforts to control drug trafficking
groups have failed.
President Reagan, Secretary of State George Shultz and
Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger are not making any
efforts to curb the flow of narcotics from Colombia and
other nations. They know it exists. People who live on
islands off the Colombian coast report hearing the planes
at night as drugs are smuggled out of the country. The
planes have been photographed dropping off drugs into
the Atlantic Ocean and picking up money on dirt landing
fields in Miami.
And they are ignored.
The capture of Colombian drug lord Carlos Lehder last
month was a significant achievement, but it will not slow
the $130 billion-a-year U.S. drug market. The cocaine
cartels in Colombia have been proven more vulnerable by
Lehder's arrest than previously thought. They are not immune
from extradition. Maybe if the federal government
pays as much attention to narcotics terrorists in Colombia
as it does to Iranian terrorists, more billionaire drug
dealers would be arrested.
Every little bit helps in the anti-drug effort.
Vice President George Bush, head of the federal antidrug
task force, said drug traffickers will learn "they cannot
win when decent and courageous people are against
them." That seems a little naive hut hp's or?t th*? rioht
- J ~ w Ovv v,,v * *?>***idea.
The governments of Columbia and the United States
must be courageous enough to combat the drug problem.
If they work together, maybe they can come up with some
counter-drug-terrorist measures.
Reagan should realize our American democratic process
has been threatened by illegal drug trafficking, and he
must fight to restore order. The Iran-Contra affair is settling
down, and one of the major Colombian drug kings is
behind bars. Now is the time Reagan should respond with
firm financial and diplomatic commitments to South
America.
i Hill Ml IDH1W IIIB P 111
' AjaAawos?, t>o?fT sw " ^
to ASK m TWfitl T*fc UVt RIM6...."
I I
imiUbi ?Joft6AL 'cm ?:|fc , ^sSBSS L?
i FtEL l?ke that ?f pfpple Igggg n^S^B /
pc^T WME A tFFctfT TO^ gFffl r J&M L
p?? jffmwimn .iwliw??? U , 1 ? "
Write ?c n letter
r w m www ww ww
M j
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 righ
telephone number for verification. Names on outdated topics t
will not be withheld. Guest editorials 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
r
Mother legal!
I would like to address these comments to
everyone who, in one way or another, has
been following the proceedings of the Baby M
custody battle. Let's talk in terms of rational
and logical ideas instead of emotional
outcries.
There are obviously strong emotions and
opinions favoring Whitehead as the "logical"
custodian. Leaving aside what lawyers express
as "substantial" evidence in their zeal to win
cases for their clients, comments have been
made repeatedly about Whitehead's natural
motherhood, her enormous sense of loss, her
perfectly human emotions and mistakes and
so on.
I agree that a strong bond exists between
mother and child and it is inhumane to
separate them under normal conditions, but
are these normal conditions? Whitehead is an
adult and most likely an intelligent one. So
why is it she did not seek counsel about the experience
and after effects of childbirth under
such conditions be/ore she entered into the
contract? She is not the first to be a surrogate
mother. Quite a few women before her have
fiflck of mi hi
This past Wednesday, a march and rally
against possible state funding cuts for higher
education and probable tuition increases was
once again held by USC's Student Government.
And once again, only about 200
students showed up for the march from the
front of Russell House to the steps of the
State House.
This time, student apathy cannot be blamed
for the poor turnout. Many other students
probably could have and would have participated
? if the march had been held at a
time other than the Wednesday after spring
break, and if they had seen or heard any
publicity about it. In short, the apathy was on
the part of SG.
The first march was held on Feb. 18. PreAUAnt
m %1/OC *?? *!-? <*1 "^-'1
V f vnt pui/uvu; IT no guuu, vt 1111 Ii^vn, WU1U"
of-mouth and media coverage. Turnout was
small, but a second march was planned for
March 18. So where was the publicity for this
event?
SG should have jumped on the publicizing
bandwagon immediately, considering the
poor attendance at the first march. Flyers
should have gone up all over campus. SG officers,
workers and senators should have
spread the word to friends and colleagues, including
the media. Instead, they relied on a
story in Wednesday's Gamecock to get the
word out and waited until 30 minutes before
the march to advertise. Professionals don't
work that way.
Planning a march for the week after spring
break is n hari iHm tr? h*?oin with QtnH?ntc
were coming back from a week of sun worship,
hedonism and laziness. They were still
getting back into the swing of college life, and
tJJii, ' II IN J
Letters to tht
Angus asks SSK
v in fectiveSh
for challenge q^k w0
Amendmi
To the editor: It ange
Oh Andy, (Andy Williams, years in
Mar. 18) how 1 hate journalism country,
majors. You cry your First by terrori
Amendment rights get stepped on to Ameri<
when Holderman keeps a secret. tional ri
But when one student with a wonder
sense of humor (you'd find in my Legislatui
army Records I went to jail commies;
I The
^
, ? Wltor In C hief
wo letters per month by Roni Bea Kayne
Managing Kdllor
t to stop printing letters Amy l)e,Po
o make room for new s^ph^G^I/oyle
Auiitant < op>
point Editor, The i*?k(M?r
use,
8. I Paula Wethinglon
i
, -r ~i l-xje'XI-i j
ly signed Baby
n^nBKMHBaaawMaMBtniH
made that decision. Her predecessors would
have been glad to advise her on any and all
aspects of such an experience.
My comments are not intended to condone
or condemn such contracts, but to promote a
rational, rather than emotional, viewpoint.
Whitehead, being of sound mind and disposition,
entered into a legal and binding contract
to provide a certain service for pre-specified
remuneration. Before entering into this contract
she had all the rights and freedom to
thoroughly investigate every aspect of
icity leads to i
HMMHMHBv* xSII
many immediately faced papers and
midterms. The week after spring break is a
time for heavy readjustment and schoolwork,
not a time for concern about rising tuition or
political activism.
The march would have been much more
successful if it had been held this Wednesday.
Students would have had time to re-adapt to
school life, hear about the event and prepare
for it. The other USC branches and South
Carolina colleges that participated would
have had time to inform their students and
organize an effective turnout. However, SG
chose to ignore all of this. The sad results
were predictable.
If you're going to hold a march right after
spring break ? or any march for that matter
? you'd better publicize the hell out of it.
Before students left for the break, they should
have known about the march. When thev
returned, they should have found the campus
peppered from The Roost to Maxcy, from
Carolina Coliseum to Capstone with publici?
editor
????MW
like to laugh) spends could have lowerei
to $4 to satire an inef- How? Getting rid o
jdent Government, how $110,000 Student G
uld you steal my First just to start next year.
;nt rights? calling for ineffectm
rs me that I spent two Angus would have go
Germany serving my legislator and made
waiting to be blown up Then he'd carry it out
sts, only to come back small-town newspaper
:a to have my const it u- to local PTA and socit
ghts questioned. No press for support. But
the South Carolina Andy's letter, Hogue
e doesn't listen to the mitted his supporters t
at Q^? A nniie 1aI/? ?*** # c? a ? -?
Mi WW. 4 kiigu.?, 1 aiv JUIXV, 111y VJliai IC IUI /\IlgU
? 1
Gamecock
1 .I???
Atiltlunl Ncwi Kdltorf Sporlc Kdltor
Todd f fines Jeff Shrewsbury
Rrendu Rlyth Auiitant Sport* Kdltor
viewpoint Kdltor Wayne Washington
Hat Millard Photography Kdltor
Money Editor Thomas Humphrey
Candy liarr AaaUtaat Photography Kdltor
feature* Kdltor Hick Leoncavallo
Tamara Willis Graphk* Editor
Attlilanl I'eatur Editor Rohb Lane
Patrick Jean
i
M to family
I
motherhood and such contracts. If she chose
to forego counsel, that was her decision. As is
stated often, "ignorance of the law is no excuse."
If one is involved in any act that in- ^ j.
volves persons other than oneself, one ought 5
to be aware of all laws, rules, regulations,
stipulations and expected side effects of that
action. Building a bonfire in your backyard
may be acceptable if your backyard is a
100-acre farmland, but if you live in an apartment
complex. . . ignorance of the potential
disaster is no defense after the fact.
I am sure we are all aware of the enormous
sacrifices a mother makes while bearing a
child, but we should also be aware that these
sacrifices are hardly news, a "hot new experience."
or the latest craze amone (Dardon
me) yuppies. A contract entered into by two
or more parties, with mutual consent and in ^
the absence of any and all types of pressure,
should be honored. Whitehead's motherly instincts
were a result of a contract she entered
into. She signed the contract first. She could
have been more informed about the after
effects.
narch apathy J
ty. Students should have seen multi-colored
flyers everywhere informing them of the ^
march. Instead, there was nothing.
A little notice should have been slipped
under every on-campus door over the break.
Students and administrators should have been
told before and after the break. SG officers
should have made efforts to appear in the
media, both on- and off-campus, to speak
about the march and encourage participation. 1
These student-elected, student-concerned
representatives spent hundreds of dollars on
publicity for their candidates during SG elections.
But when it conies to publicizing an ^
event that concerns every student, they can't M
spare a dime. And they got what they didn't
pay for.
The first flyers appeared the morning of the
march, mostly in and around Russell House.
A few people walked around the RH patio 30
minutes before the march, handing out mini
flyers to students on their lunch hour and encouraging
them to participate if they weren't
busy. This type of delayed publicity is extremely
unprofessional and embarrassing. SG
can consider themselves thankful thev wprp
able to get 200 to participate ? counting the
non-Columbia college students who already 1
planned to march. 4* I
The USC student body was not apathetic
about the second tuition march and rally. Instead,
the USC SO was. If our student leaders
? including the newly-elected ones ? plan
future events with a similar lack of good timing,
publicity or enthusiasm, they can expect a
similar failure. We can only hope they
remember their recent mistakes before they
try again.
, H ;v ? . v / ' ' ;
: : .
^ I
d tuition. and the fact that Holderman
f waste, a (who promised once again to
lovernrnent lower tuition, I want to make him
Instead of a liar) told me to shut up and had
; marches, the nerve to say 1 was rude, well,
me to each how about a challenge
a threat. H. A. H. ..? I'll spend $5 to get a
by writing tuition increase next fall, and
s and going we'll see if Holderman, Andy,
il clubs and and Hogue can stop me. My Ha
because of is louder than your Ha, Ha Ha,
, who per- Ha Ha.
o rip down Jeff Ham
s" posters, Business, senior f J
'I <
I 1
n I !
- - - II, It
Datebook Editor Director of Student MrdU
Katherine Gilbert Bill Clements
Coatks Editor Production
Tracy Mixsort Chuck Norris
Wire Editor Son Ha
Gillian Smith Advertising Manager
Adviser Margaret Michels
Bill Rogers Auittant Advertising
Graduate Assistant Manager
Mary Anne Banich Jan Hodges ^