University of South Carolina Libraries
m Viewpoint fu> <b , 1987 : Hieh time State's bad drivers must start to pay higher insurance rates i i n /-< ? i 1 .rm.i i > 1. ? ivioionsis in aouin Carolina nave Deen anncieu wiui me stigma of being horrendous drivers for a long time. It is a stigma that is well-deserved. Carelessness, weak drunkdriving laws and just plain ignorance of defensive driving has placed South Carolina near the top of states with the worst drivers. The result of this bad driving has been higher car insurance premiums for everyone, including good drivers. The high premiums were a target of Gov. Carroll Campbell in his election run against Mike Daniels this past year, and his desire to halt the growing premiums for good ^ 1 1>- 4- an /-v /?/> fullir m 11 unvcis sccius unc ii is duuui iu get luiiy tiaa^u u^?. The state Senate on Tuesday passed significant legislation that would raise the premiums for bad drivers substantially. Hopefully they will get hit hard. South Carolina has more accidents per mile than most other states, and South Carolina s insurance rates are tne lotn nignesi in me nation. The legislation would allow insurance companies to levy a 25 percent surcharge added on to the base rate for drivers determined to be bad risks. Furthermore, the insurance agent could refuse to give comprehensive and collision insurance for drivers who fail an objective standards test. This includes drivers convicted of several moving violations or causing several accidents. According to the bill, nobody would get a fresh start. Past driving records would be taken into account. i_i mi a ii__ a. .i.i- i _ jrroDiems win naiurauy arise out 01 mis new legisiauun if it becomes law. Bad drivers may be forced to drive without insurance, but the legislature has said it will try to stiffen penalties for such drivers. Despite all of this new legislation, good drivers will not see much change for awhile. The legislature must enact some legislation aimed at lowering the rates of good drivers. Driving is a privilege, not a right,and good drivers understand this. They should no longer be made to suffer because of those who are ignorant of that fact ? or those who simply do not care. 65 mph Strict enforcement of new limn t/ UL(U( IKJ OU/C IJf KJJ UHFC/J The dinosaur of the '70s oil crunch is about to becom< extinct as the 55 mph speed limit is nearing its end in Soutl Carolina. All that is needed now is a run through th< Senate. Lawmakers Wednesday ramrodded the bill through the House in seconds with little or no contest. Some states across the nation have already adopted thi 65 mph on rural roads and intestates. Critics have said th< new law will only make drivers think they can go 75 mph but it is apparent from remarks of traffic enforcement of ficials across the nation that the 65 mph will be strictly en forced and that a smooth transition to the new speed limi will develop with a minimum of fatalities. This is the key enforcement. If the highway patrol officers across the na tion are lax in enforcing the new limit, it could return us t the extremely high numbers of fatalities that occured whe motorists regularly zoomed down the highways in speed of excess of 70 and 80 mph. In light of the proposed bill to raise the speed limit, ther is also the question of seat belt legislation. Many people ar adamantly against being told to buckle up, but a seat be i ? 1 :,i? :r *u? i: :< ??:? law illlgui uc d 5?uunu iuca 11 mc spccu uiiiu ia iaiatu. Hopefully, both bills will soon become law. Then, idea ly, enforcement of the 65 mph limit and seat belt legislatio together would get people where they're going faster an safer. yw Jiwr , ,, C^JT , CANT . 00*T M KAoTftz! RB^Tg/S/ Ir&o Vigl Jw irrt^No IT pcetiTitf r camt GCO f ^flMK-'NS KvM> ^R^C WE SE*. / - cps Write us a letter Tell us what's on your mind. Letters must There is a limil be typed, double-spaced and no more than the same writer. 250 words. Include name, address and We reserve (he ? ? r - * f-' ! vi I teiepnone numoer ior vermcauoii. i>amc?? on ouiuaieu top will not be withheld. Guest editorials are topics. limited to 500 words. Indicate whether you Write to: are a student, USC staff member, or com- Gamecock, Dra\ munity member in letters and editorials. Columbia, S.C. I ??? leif* 6 1 I Bitte Media wars: i Dan Rather saw Mike Wallace, and ran over to ask what 60 Minutes was doing in Columbia. "We're headed over to the library pond to do a story." "You can't," Dan said. "We're doing one, and we don't want you upstaging us. So leave. Courage and goodbye!" "Stuff it, hoser," Mike said. "We're here. This story has serious ramifications." "Who you calling a hoscr, you parasitcal weasel? I've got the highest-rated news show ; on the air." "Take this, wimp," Mike said as he tried to force-feed his microphone down Dan's throat. Dan responded with a sterling left hook to the jaw. The fight was on. I didn't care; 1 moved on. I had a story to cover. When 1 got to the Duck Pond, I realized what storv Dan and Mike were dukina it f out over. The press was everywhere. A rather erudite-looking man had a New York Times press pass. There were 20 photographers from the New York Daily News. - Newsweek and Time magazines were there. 1 And, along with local camera crews, there 1 were crews from every major network. CBS ^ was in a bit of trouble with Rather and the inhouse competition duking it out. All the major news media were there to 2 cover the story 1 was ? the ducks were returne ing to the Duck Pond in front of the library. , "Aren't these just ducks," I asked myself. "Aren't they just birds, just water fowl of the mallard type?" I heard a ruffle in the bushes. Looking I down, I saw a duck, hiding. Doing my best Donald Duck impersonai tion, 1 said, "What's got you spooked li'l o ? " Letters to the C / t - animals. 1 ,e Heroine back safe n , II . il? , ^ change o , m spoiiigni To the editor: Will wc , Thank you for another installa ment of ''Janice in Wonderland." When last we saw Ki our heroine, she was beset by in- Applh ternational terrorists who plastered her car with "Hollings f y for Senate" stickers. (Senator IlOfi Hoinngs, as we know, is tne treespending liberal dove who clever- wroi ly hides his anti-American tendencies by supporting the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings act To the ed and SDI.) As mu In today's episode, our heroine Hogue an defends her leader by asserting use Stude ii.?i i a r a 11 a A ~ inai ne is 1101, in laci, wic /\n- viuc a pn tichrist," something which greeks an heretofor was a serious concern administr in the hearts and minds of USC the Antic students. In the process, our Nevertl heroine takes on the entire Free letter on South Africa Alliance, which, ridiculou: unbeknownst to us, is actually sonal vie behind the awful rumor. and Lau Making an incredible leap of Africa A logic, our heroine informs us that Kraft's r everyone in the FSAA is im- College F J moral, rude and cruel to small ignorano I The c . ,, , hdltor in Chief t of two letters per month by Honi Hea Kayne Munuging Kdllor right to stop printing letters Amv l)elPo i. _ c__ C'?d? Desk Chief lu maKC roc)m lor new Stephen Guil/oyle j AftslManl Copy Viewpoint Editor, The De?w Chief ver A, Russell House, USC, i"d\BAuh,el ' News Mllor 29208. Paula Welhinglon ? "1 \ in by the Presidential... vh, h t's the story ( w duck?" "Thou has just spit in mine eye, sirrah," the duck responded, to my amazement, with a tone and vocal control that would put Sir Alec Guinness to shame. "You can talk?" 1 said, so brilliant. "Verily, thou art brilliant; though it doth seem that thou art havinc some nroblem with the art of vocalization of the thoughts that doth flitter through thy brain." "The problem is the thoughts that flitter through the brain, I think," 1 said. "I've never given you duck guys much thought, but if you can all talk, I understand why even 60 minutes is here." Then 1 noticed he was wearinn urirn rim nlorrnr o*a/1 rnn/linn /?r I//? n t ? si I nig vy ii v 11111 auu i wauiu^ jvmj I\U/;uui . "As fate would have it, we hath been unable to speak for some time, but when we were moved to the marvelous Moore Garden, the magic waters gave unto us a miracle ? speech." "But now you're coming home to the library pond," I said. "Alas, no, for I have been here spying out the news of the land, and it would seem there are events and people it would be to our benefit to seek out to learn from. We now 1? v ;editor rhe campus once again tional Center just b i the promiscuous ex- he was an interi f ideas, our heroine Holderman. wherever it is heroines Kraft, for instanc /hen their day is done. purge USC of subve mders never cease? munist" elements in ment and internal department. If you atharine Duffy Thomas lost prestige over tl pH nrnfpccinnAl scicnept faSt- Suet moit nnH C< k w |?. v?v^.v..w. iau ) juji vraii ouu 01 pens to its reput j o -m Students for Am ;ue s tuna persecuting first-clas _ like Gordon Smith rig plan R?fj ? ? c * But what really v what will happen to litor: of this university ich as 1 hate Michael Hogue gets his "c? id the way he is trying to ditures fund" idea p; :nt Government to oro- siblv. this olan woul< iferential option for the student activity fee d a rubbcrstamp for the them away to event! ation, I find calling him for the noble purpos hrist to be a bit extreme. parking lots or w heless, Janice Kraft's might need to be dor Monday is even more pus infrastructure, s. Assigning the per- conceived notion ig ws of Katherine, Sally important facts, rie to the Free South First, activity fee? lliance is like ascribing solely for the suppc >erveted ideology to the tivities of students Republicans, or Flogue's organizations e to the Byrnes Interna- academic departme Assistant News Editors Sports Kditor Todd /lines Jeff Shrewsbury Hrenda lilylh Assijfant Sports Kditor Viewpoint Kditor Wayne Washington Hut Millard Photograph) Kditor >I L ji. Thnmnc Humnhrpv itiuik; r^jiim - ? - . ?. ?/ Candy Harr Assistant Photography Mitt feature* Mltor Nick Leoncavallo Tamara Willis Graphic* Kdltor Assistant Features hdltor Robb Lane Patrick Jean \ I it. u >i the century wish to rule this land with a generous hand." "You don't have hands," I said, beginning to worry, noticing he was sitting on a copy of Mein Kampff. "Whatpuor it cAncprnc mp nr*t " "What do you want to learn about?" I said. "It seemcth that talk of computers is evergrowing, and of medicines and chemistry." "Is that all, 'cause you can get a lot of the |} books for that stuff in the library right there, if you stay, like many students and faculty want you to." "Yes, but there be things that I would seek out, and I know are not available in yonder library." Like wnatr "'Twould seem that, without newfound speech, we hath been given new desires as well," the duck said, and somehow contorted his bill to form a viscious sneer, "so we fly to obtain the Vanna White issue of Playboy, and j a Porsche motor vehicle. We needs must learn V? how to ? and I hope I use the correct terminology ? go cruisin' for fabulous babes." And then he flew away. One of the cameramen caught sight of him and a flurry of flashbulbs resulted, the TV crews started swinging their cameras toward him. He swooped up, dove once over the warring CBS crews, and was gone. Dan and Mike stopped fighting, maybe brought together by one of nature's miracles ? the spectacle of unaided flight. "You've got dookie on your nose, Dan," ( ) Mike said. "You've got it on your head and sweater, Dan," Mike said. "Did we miss something?" Maybe not. ecause there remodeling dormitories, not for n for Dr. funding varsity teams, and not fnr nlantino mr?r<* omcc r*n the e, wishes to grounds. We have other departrsive, "com- ments to fund those items and we the govern- should make sure they do their v/ nal studies jobs, rather than cover their mis-, think USC mal-, or non-feasance. It sets a le Sadat af- bad precedent for students to be je what hap- giving their money to the adation when ministration to help it do what it erica starts should be doing anyway. >s professors l 'itifl [prcl All cliulpntc chrtnlrl hp rtiQ/>1?> aware of what is currently hap/orries me is pening in public colleges in the students Virginia. Students there are exif Michael pected to finance almost any new ipital expen- structure that gets built, and they * assed. Osten- pay activity fees of $400 or $1000 V 1 take part of or $1100 per student, per year. ;s and store Since when have student activity ually be used fees become a legislative ;e of building substitute for full-formula funhatever else ding by the state of South le to the cam- Carolina? But this ill- As for parking lots* why not nores several pave them with the hundreds of thousands of dollars collected an? > were set up nually in meter fares and parking >rt of the ac- fines? and student - not for Allen D. Hershey, II nts, not for Undeclared, freshman ^ 1 I Datebook Editor Director of Student Medlw Katherine Gilbert Bill Clements Comic* Editor Production Tracy Mixson Chuck Norris : Wirt Editor Sort Ha Gillian Smith Advertising Manager ir Adviser Margaret Michels Bill Rogers Auburn Advertising Graduate Aulslanl Manager Mary Anne Banich Jan Hodges ! I * i