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Viewpoint * 2 ^ Wednesday, June 24, 1987 Harsh V" m* % -4- vi"% ? >?-* 1 /\ **-% I j-,.si. sriuuiu ify iu ucvciu/j better plan for homeless Los Angeles officials have come up with a rather harsh solution for taking care of the homeless: forcing them off the streets, out of their makeshift shelters into a temporary urban background. ThfQf1 nffirinlc think thpv ore* n i n ct nr? tlinir nif ?i avwv Vt ttllUU V A I V J U1 V V1VUIUJ10 UJJ 111V11 Wlljr and reducing its crime rate while they consider longrange solutions. What they have actually done is forgotten two important rules: to obey the constitutional rights of the homeless and to show heartfelt concern for these unfortunate people. The federal government counts as many as 30,000 homeless in the Los Angeles area, while a city redevelopment aeencv estimates onlv 1.000 F.ither wav I A police chief Daryl Gates blames them for the city's rising crime rate, which led to their forced removal from the streets and the opening of the Salvation Army-run camp, where entrants are searched for weapons, drugs and alcohol. It's always been easy for the majority to blame the less fortunate ? blacks, Hispanics, immigrants, transients, etc.? for its own problems. That is what's happening now in Los Angeles. The innocent homeless are blamed for crimes they didn't commit, rounded up like cattle, 1W1WU Uli Ultll UUlUldl JUCCl llclUllcll clliu IL'll Willi uuie choice but to enter a camp where their privacy rights are violated upon entrance ? all to spruce up the City of Angels. City officials are not creating any solutions for the transient problem; they're just shoving the homeless out of the picture. By doing so, they emulate the Reagan administration's foolish underestimation and callous ignorance of the homeless ? and they create a scary precedent that other cities with similar problems should not 1 U11VJ vv. Fifty years ago, Nazi Germany blamed the Jews for its problems. The innocent Jewish people were forced out of their homes and into concentration camps as part of a tragic extermination program known as the Holocaust. Los Angeles is all but enacting another holocaust for its homeless. All that-is needed now is a swastiska on the campground's gates ? and gas chambers inside. PTL Ministry should make effort before filing for bankruptcy There haven't been any "For Sale" signs around Heritage USA lately, have there? Guess not. The Rev. Jerry Falwell, who replaced now-defrocked minister Jim Bakker as head of PTL, has decided to have the troubled ministry file for bankruptcy. But PTL, a non-profit organization, does not pay taxes. Since no sincere efforts to raise the needed money have been made, why should taxpayers who do not follow PTL be forced to keep the ministry afloat? Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, founders of the PTL ministry, claim to still love PTL very much. Yet they will not vacate the valuable Tega Cay property to help the ailing ministry. If a true effort towards fund-raising had been made ? such as selling Heritage USA, PTL's evangelical resort near Fort Mill, S.C. ? the ministry's plea for bankruptcy would seem more reasonable. Both former and present PTL leaders have made a point of keeping their private battles in the public eye. The average American taxpayer wants to help these bickering two about as much as he wants another nuclear waste dump in his backyard. While it is true PTL has many debts that could destroy it, the taxes of non-PTL followers should not go into rebuilding the shattered ministry, which cannot seem to help itself out of trouble. The PTL ministry dug its own financial hole, and it should bring itself back out of the hole without the nro tcction of bankruptcy. To do otherwise would undermine the constitutional doctrine of separation of church and state. 1 ir ? | i i s !! I VfcJtHT ! l! i ?fTW y f ] JW NEWS fTEM: NEW FORMS OF ANIMAL LIFE CAN BE PATENTED I Write us a letter \ Let us know what's on your mind. Letters must Names will not be be typed, double-spaced and no longer than 3(X) will not be accepted. T words. Guest editorials must be no longer than 500 or editorials per montl wuiu.i. we reserve me rigni Include the following information for verifica- for legal ramifications tion: name, address and home and work telephone reserve the right to numbers. Indicate whether you are a USC student, editorials on outdated staff member or community member in letters and Write to: Viewpoir editorials. If you arc a student, include your school Drawer A, Russell H year and major. Carolina, Columbia, S 4 S.G. addresse Glenn German, 1984-85 Student Government president, called his column "The Sweatshirt Presidency." Well, I don't think that title is quite appropriate for me, but I want to achieve the same purpose. 1 want to have a direct line of communication to inform you of what S.G. is doing and to offer every opportunity for you to voice your concerns to me. Many students have questions and doubts about S.G. and its role in student life. They wonder, "What does it do for me, anyway?" Well, just to relieve a few people and to inform those who have questions, I would like to explain some of S.G.'s recent accomplishments. In the past two months, S.G. may have affected you personally only if you are concerned about next year's tuition, where you might sit at home football games, student safety on campus, student information or student entertainment. S.G. has played a role in each. First, for those of you who don't know, during spring exams the state Commission'on Higher Education proposed and promoted an amendment to the state budget bill that included a mandate for a $100 tuition surcharge for all students enrolled in a state-supported university. Four S.G. members went to the meeting, spoke against the resolution and gave out press releases. We introduced the students' concerns about finances and the fact that mandating a surcharge was a dangerous precedent to set. The media coverage of our opinions was excellent, including articles in The State and The Greenville News, many radio newscasts and a brief segment on WISTV. We further protected our interest by conLetter to the < Student upset i i -i over tuition "I" To the Editor: After having registered for 1 though ml ri i T1 -1 " * % ^ a USC responsi As a state university, USC's first responsibility should be to educate South Carolinians. To fulfill this responsibility, higher education must be economically feasible for those eligible and promising students in USC's target group of bright and hopeful students from high schools in this area, regardless of financial situation. South Carolina's Education Improvement Act, a long-awaited move towards quality education in our state's middle and upper schools, is increasing the . mber of students desiring a college educaf i. However, this enthusiasm is met with opposition from Gov. I Carroll Campbell's "V-Day" activity suppor' ting cuts in public education of $4.6 million and in USC's budget of $516,000. Certainly, USC has begun to build strong collegiate programs in many areas with the addition of the new engineering building and fine arts facilities, answering needs in two desperate areas. Yet the very students these investments and others are attracting are the ones who soon will not be able to afford USC. We have been fortunate in the past to pay relatively low tuition rates and receive excellent professors and programs, but in 1985 npr canit;i inrnmc in tViic ctato ui'jc i mnr? pvi vv?p?lM IIIVVIUV III iiiu JIUIV TT UO U II1V1 W $10,586, while estimated expenses for one year at USC were $5,040, 52 percent of one I VfheZ withheld, and pseudonyms here is a limit of two letters fcditor in Chief 1 by the same writer _ Patrick Jean 10 eun leuers ana cuuoriais _ . , taste and clarity. We also News Keillor stop printing letters and Mury Pearson t0?!c,s: - Viewpoint Edit* ii uuiior, / ne uamecocK, ? , . /^ iu ousc, University of South Katherme UllOe C. 29208. > s funding, fo( The coat-and-tie n ? /) c ? /7 /> >1 /> 11 ? tacting several state senators. In the end, a proposal backed by the unanimous consent of both the Commission on Higher Education and the Board of South Carolina University Presidents was soundly defeated, and I am happy to report our tuition will not increase in the 1987-88 school year, in concurrence with our administration's present plan. Second, because of the swaying of the upner dcck at Williams-Rrirp Stadium it wnc in.. itially deemed necessary to move the students out of our seats in the upper deck. Also, the athletic department proposed only one solution: move the students to the end zone. After a student ad-hoc committee proposed several alternatives and S.G. representatives held several sessions of talks with the athletic department and the administration, we reached a compromise. Students will remain in sections 502 and 503 of the upper deck instead of sections 501 and editor 100I, I discovered tiiat going to be raised. W wa;*$252. This pa.a The administration is g e tuiiion was 3>zui ior us one way or the othe fortunately, it is the school students who ar t the tuition was not have to pay. 1 knew th ^MING SCON TO THE PERSIAN GULF ible for South Anne j Summerall ??? W Vs f person's annual income. In regional terms, South Carolina is the third most expensive state for a state university undergraduate education, behind only Virginia and Florida; however, South Carolina ranks 46th in the United States in per capita income. Virginia and Florida rank 11th and 19th resnectivelv. makini? their residents more able to attend college. At the University of Tennessee,tuition is free to that state's residents; they paid only a maintenance fee of $549 in 1986-87. Also, this past year, Arkansas State University students got a great deal on tuition at $436 per semester, plus a mandatory yearbook fee of $10. Tuition was a mere $490 per semester at Louisiana State University, and the school I - f ramecocK Features Editor Graphics Andy Bechtel Robb La ^nntino 1 VyUllllt^ 1 Richard Breen Tracy M or Photography Editor Adviser 'rt Nick Leoncavallo Bill Roge r >tball seating 502, which should dccreasc the volatility of the student sections while leaving the student seating at least as good as this past year. ^ Hou/PVPr \Uf* nm nr\\u i t~\ rt mnrn rno?>/\n Hi> .mvTTVTVi I ?? V Ml V UV/n tlVVVJ/11115 UIV/l V I vapvir sibility for our actions in the upper deck, and we must all understand its importance. Third, a state legislative bill for a voting student member on the USC board of trustees successfully passed the Senate but has been delayed in the House Education Committee. The bill would provide both more student input on the governance of the university and a new and positive perspective in the decisionmaking process. We will be calling for your support before the next general session to help with the bill's passage. rmauy, aue 10 s.u.'s citorts tins past year, expect a dramatic increase in lighting on cam- A pus next year for safety purposes, the publica- ^ tion of an all-inclusive student handbook and the opening of the Golden Spur as a nonalcoholic nightclub and lounge. We will also be pursuing projects such as student parking, food services' policies and academic improvements in the upcoming year. Now that I have explained what we have i .., ~. 1,1 i:i.~ i wuuiu urkt" ivj suggtm wiiai yuu can uu to help. We need your active involvement and cooperation to be effective in our objectives. Please keep informed and convey your concerns to us. We are here to serve you and A make Carolina an even better place to be. 1 look forward to serving you in the upcoming year. Kditor's note: Michael Hogue is president of USC Student Government. This is the first installment of a monthly column. hat a lie! be a catch somewhere. . .. oing to get r, and un: summer Mary Foard ? e going to ere had to Journalism junior fife Iffi _ yy TiirnliiiiQiic even threw in a free newspaper subscription, a || picture and a copy of the yearbook to sweeten the deal. On a more personal level, South Carolina's per capita income from 1982 to 1985 increased 21 percent, but our struggling economy could not keep up with USC's tuition escalation in those same years. Tuition went from $520 to $804 per semester, a 54.6 percent increase. Yet from 1982 to 1986,tuition increased a dramatic 95 percent. ^artoinlw tmh an t r\ cac ota na^^ccari; q c Wl IU1I1IJ I lUIUUll 1IIW1 VUJV3 (41 V IIVVVJJUI J MJ USC attempts to raise its head out of the muck of mediocrity. We are striving to ^ become an institution of learning, not a degree factory. Like all improvement efforts, this costs money. However, we must keep in sight the economic situation of the students we are attempting to attract. The numbers of qualified and enthusiastic prospects are increasing in our state, and Campbell's office must cooperate with previous efforts to raise our standard of education. The discrepancy between economic ability and I taropf ormin a oan pvpr-wiHpnino ?~v o* M oMr ? through inflation and job insecurities combined with efforts to upgrade education, must be resolved before more increases in the cost of higher education can be justified. Jjf Editor's note: Anne Summerall is a new ^ member of The Gamecock's copy desk. Editor Director of Student Media ne Bill Clements Editor Production ixson LJiucK i\ orris Son Ha M >rs Advertising Manager Margaret Michels l