The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 17, 1987, Page 4, Image 4
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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 *
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