The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, June 24, 1987, Page 2, Image 2
Viewpoint *
2 ^ Wednesday, June 24, 1987
Harsh
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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.
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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,
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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$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
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, taste and clarity. We also News Keillor
stop printing letters and Mury Pearson
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ousc, University of South Katherme UllOe
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s funding, fo(
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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
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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
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Features Editor Graphics
Andy Bechtel Robb La
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Richard Breen Tracy M
or Photography Editor Adviser
'rt Nick Leoncavallo Bill Roge
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>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. ^
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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
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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.
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oing to get
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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.
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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
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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
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