The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 28, 1987, Page 2, Image 2
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2 THE GAMECOCK Monday, September 28, 1987
I????^
AMY DELPO Editor in Chief
; STEPHEN GUILFOYLE Copy Desk Chic
'npi BR.ENDA BLYTH News Editor
X 11C II A I KAII I A I) M w . ?
iiml. imill/vivw viewpoint tailor
C^arr%f>(+c%rh: TAMARA WILLIS Features Editor
VJdlUCLULK WAYNE WASHINGTON Sports Editor
; KEITH JONES Photography Editor
[ ROBB LANE Graphics Editor
PAULA WOJTOWICZ Beat Editor
Slapped
Ethics Commission approac
hurts Holderman, univerisii
A slap on the wrist never means much, especially when
wrist belongs to USC President James Holderman.
Holderman was reorimanded this nasi wer\c hv thp s:t
Ethics Commission for his excessive spending on gifts for c
tain public officials.
And a gentle reprimand it was.
The commission essentially told Holderman that he was
doing anything wrong by giving the expensive gifts, but
goodness sake, he should never, ever do it again.
A real decisive decision.
In April, Holderman apologized for what he called
sometimes "excessive" spending on gifts, and, about a w<
l?* /"* . ? - -
icuci, mm circuit solicitor James Anders concluded that
president's gift-giving did not violate the state ethics act.
But now, despite the solicitor's finding, the Ethics Comn
sion is involved again. A complaint filed by local account!
Mike Lawrimore, who was concerned with the gift-giving a
salary supplements, prompted the investigation.
The gifts ranged from baskets of seafood and coffee-ta
books to a $500 nnrcelain hirH fnr fnrmpr ommnAr o;
r wa* % 1 V/i 4WAA1AWA ^VTVUJV/I L/1V1V IXI
and a $1,700 Steuben glass fish for House Speaker Rob
Sheheen. The Associated Press reported that the most expens
gift was valued at $3,000.
Instead of taking firm action, however, the commission issi
an advisory that was convoluted at best. The commission is ;
ting like angry parents shaking their fingers at a spoiled chi
The six-page advisory said the gift-giving had the "appearanc
of impropriety, yet was not improper. Gary Baker, the comm
sion's executive director, said the commission "advised agains
giving expensive gitts to public officials, but Holderman was r
breaking the law by doing so.
The commission defends its fence-sitting language by pointi
at the semantics of the complaint. Lawrimore's complaint c
not include a "specific allegation of influence buying." Becai
of this, the commission did not try to analyze Holderman's i
tent behind or the legality of the gift-giving practice.
Thus, the commission effectively did something about t
complaint without really doing anything at all.
It would be good if USC and Holderman could finally put tl
business behind them. In a statement issued by U2
spokeswoman Debra Allen, the university said it considers t
matter closed. But closed it is not. Lawrimore is upset bv t
commission's lack of action, and he probably will not be drop
ing the matter anytime soon.
The commission's handling of the complaint leaves t
university, Holderman and Lawrimore at loose ends. If it h
come out and firmly said whether or not what Holderman c
was wrong or right, everyone could put the whole situati
behind them.
Instead, the wrist-slapping approach of the commission I
ings the situation back where it was in April ? in the middle
controversy.
I~ir sw s AmiR'CAh Free ^aTlrpr'SL h^p L^'STld 2.000 '-cim h&o... I i
I" 50UVEN IRSl
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CPS
The Staff
Assistant Copy Desk Chief Historian
Andy Hcchtcl Bobby Jones
Assistant Npwv Kflitorc AHi/Uo.
: Todd Mines Bill Rogers
Jeff Shrewsbury Director of Student Media
Assistant Features Fditor Hill Clements
I irdous Bamji Production
i Assistant Sports Fditor Chuck Norris
! Rae l.eigh Son Ha
Assistant Photography Fditor Advertising Manager
> Jonathan Williams Margaret Michels
Dafehook Kditor Assistant Advertising Manager
Tony Moreno Dawn Miller
l/fttfrs Policy: The f/nm/rocA will tr> in prlal Uuttt retehed letter* should be. al a raailmum. 250 to 300 word* long. (,ue
editorial* thould not urced 500 nortft. We re?er?e the rlghl lo edit kllers for ?tyk or pottlbk lib*I. Iht (,amt<<xk wlfl not wilhbol
names under any rlrt umtranf*
t \
his ^ ^ ^ ' SEEDl
Flying beer pitcher i
lis- ??
ant ' was 'n a ^ar the other day.
I wasn't in the fight, but the fight was around
me, right around me.
If you've ever been in or near a fight, you know j
ble what type of mass chaos erupts when they break _
jey out. One minute you can be dancing on the dance JCir
. floor, smiling your best smile at some woman Shrewsbtirv
you'd like to be intimately involved with very soon,
,ve and the next minute there's beer flying, words exchanging,
girls screaming and guys bleeding.
I f*r\ It'? not a r\rntt v ciol-it
LVU ? I.
acWhen
wc were young and we watched fights on
,) television, they were fun. In all those war movies I??????????
? we watched as kids and those John Wayne movies underwear. It's a riot ?
US- where the whole town ended up slugging it out, we happen like that,
it" laughed because it looks like they're having a good When you see peof
time. there is no comedy; th
Remember McClintock, starring John Wayne? there is blood.
People got hit over and over and never shed a The fight I was in ?
Hg single drop of blood. They just looked like they so fast it's hard for m
lid were getting tired, and Maureen O'Hara ended up And I never did find o
ise sliding down the mud hill into the pond in her no one ever does.
Z Student Senate flag
,;e What's RoinR on down in the Student Senate \
,'p these days?
* I hear that the senators have approved a bill that
he would put an American flag in the "senate
he chambers," better known as the Russell House
,p_ Theater. Stephen
The bill also requires the senators say the Pledge ^ |
, of Allegiance before each meeting. ijrUliiOyle
I'm an American. I almost like this. mmm?mm?mm
ad Almost.
lid If you listen to what USC President James
on Holderman says about Carolina, this is an international
university. And I don't know if anyone's
noticed, but it's true. I've got friends from Africa
and England, seen people from the Middle East, the loyalty test, or part
both Chinas, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and who their native country,
knows where else. And frnm what I I icr"1 u:ii ? ?
.. w... .. ..m? iivmi i v/uv/ * iiio ulll ^lutluuc) 111'
even lets in folks from New Jersey. temational flavor that
I'm sure most of these people feel as much for intent on building thes<
their homeland as the Americans who approved The Student Senate
this bill. And it's just a possibility, but don't you the sense that the U.S.
think one of these guys might like to run for the are. The students govei
Student Senate and represent their college? undergraduates, Amer
Now they can't. teenagers and septagen
They can't run for the Student Senate because ground, no normal stu<
to say an oath to a country not your own is as big a The only appearance
betrayal for a Filipino as it is an American. Or they the fact that the sena
can run, but then have to decide whether they undergrads, and the r<
should arrive late so they won't have to partipate in students.
iuwi.iviu il/ UIC CUi((/i
M* ? ' '
"W" o44oi? *l?l"fcs?tf9 Americans may never feel the pain
s\ Ufiliitir and torture of the Holocaust
sj- a m a firsthand; they shouldn't have to.
s| to columnist People should learn from history,
S not dwell on it.
;To the editor: Guilfoyle's comments do not make
K ? am wriimg in response 10 a letter him a person "incapable of caring,"
to the editor by Richard Schellham- and they certainly do not make
mer ("Dorms not like Nazi camps") America a flawed society. 1 find
that appeared in the Sept. 21 issue of Schellhammer's argument both in^
The Gamecock. suiting and absurd.
* I was taken aback by Schellham- James B. Palmer
mer's interpretation and criticism of journalism freshman
? a Sept. 14 article on visitation
policies by Stephen Guilfoyle in Is*?4
|j which Guilfoyle made references to JT 4MR IvJLl}
I Nazi concentration camps. Not M
I wishing to be unfair, I re-read W1*AtfO
;! Guilfoyle's article. I found his com- *
"l ments neither callous nor flippant as To the editor:
1 Schellhammer suggests. I am writing this letter to make a
I am sure that Guilfoyle and the statement that I think may be impormajority
of Americans are aware of tant to the moderate students on this
the atrocities inflicted on the Jewish campus. It is about time USC rids
; people during the Holocaust. They itself of the extremist organizations
do teach us history in this country, of both the left and the right,
you know. Americans have repeated- The left wins of which I sneak is
ly expressed their sympathy for the that certain group who had the gall to
plight of the Holocaust victims and invite Abbie Hoffman to speak this
! other groups that have been past week. It should be considered an
persecuted over history. embarrassment to the university and
As an American, I don't enjoy be- its members to have such a radical
ing labelled as callous, insensitive leader invited who spent his entire
' and ignorant. Constructive criticism time here attacking everything about
? is one thing; false accusations and this country that we hold dear.
generalizations are another. The right wing of which I speak is
I
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frightening, not fun
These are the events as I saw them: there was
music and laughter and beer; then there was a pitcher
flying through the air; then there was glass inj
I the air; then there was glass on the floor; then there"
jp^lPSSfliLg were screams; then there was blood; then there
: 'wcrc bodics; then there was more glass and more
blood and more bodies; then there were bouncers;
; then there were police; then there were hushed
voices; then there was music aeain: then there wnc
laughter again; and then there was beer. And then
| I there were none.
In retrospect and to all my friends it was fun. It
! was a night I tell people about and they say, "Oh
????????I wow, that's wild." But it was really frightening
- a laugh riot. But it doesn't after I sobered up and realized the blood was real.
It wasn't movie blood ? it was real blood from in>le
actually duking it out, side someone's body. The last place that blood was
ere is no John Wayne; but was inside someone's spleen.
but not really in ? erupted Fighting shows the brutality and primal minds of
le to remember the events. most people. It makes them look stupid and
ut what started it, but then boorish and sets us back. It's not like the movies.
It's real, and it's frightening. ^
measure very wrong
All senators specifically represent the students of
their voting district, be it the College of Journalism
and Mass Communications or the College of
Business Administration, with its widely proclaimed
international business program, and its many in;
k 4 ternational students. But these students have been
JB misrepresented by senators interested in their own
c?zy image of what American life should be.
As student senators, they also represent all the
VMMgrA students at the university, including every
freshman who arrived this year, every senior who is
going to graduate this year, every undergraduate
and graduate student. And I'm one of the students
icipate and feel like dirt to represented. \
AnH I'm n/-*t Mrx *l
. Mix ill nui |<n.u-.ni. 11U UIIC (.ail Mup II1CSC
e senate from having the in- senators from feeling the way they do about
the university has been so America. That would deny their rights of freedom
: past few years. of speech and expression. But it's just as bad for
is not a governing body in them to force students to wrap themselves in the
Senate or the State Senate flag as they do, students who might prefer to wear
rned include graduates and their patriotism inside.
icans and non-Americans,
arians. There is no middle And for this bill to perhaps force international
dent governed. students to salute a flag not their own, or exclude
: of normality comes from them, is even worse. They will be forced to act as
tors are mostly American American citizens, and they might not want to do
jst are American graduate so.
A mistake has been made.
1
1
Students For America, which is led strain on the Constitution the docuby
Hoffman's reactionary opposite, ment has ever seen."
Janice Kraft. As Hoffman is too far Come on! What about the almost
to the left of the political specrtrum, unlimited expansion of the scope and
Kraft is too far to the right. She, like power of the federal government
Hoffman, onlj| brings embarrass- under the aegis of Franklin
ment to the university. Both of these Roosevelt? Apparently, no one had
extremists only cater to a small ever told Roosevelt that there was
m?nr\rit\/ anH r%r\f V*? ma!nr?n?ftm n 11? 1 Ail *
...... v.. XJ U?U nui nil. iiiaimii mm , ouv_i i a 111 u Ig iJN I lie 1 Ul II A mCIlClmCnt.
moderate conservatives that the Col- What about the blatant disregard
lege Republicans represent so well. of the Second Amendment by places
It is time for this university to such as New York, which continue to
move forward at a moderate pace outlaw handgun ownership?
and rid itself of its baggage from the What about the 1973 perversion of
past. the 14th Amendment into a license
for mothers to destroy the lives of
E. J. Cousar their own children? I could go on.
President, College Republicans ,
business junior I personally disapprove of the
Reagan Administration's arms-for^(jl3.IElCCOClC
^ hostages deal, but there is no
? ? eviuence mat the president acted il?
legally. The Hostage Rescue Act
l?|Ol?? meaning gives the chief executive the power to
? do whatever necessary, short of
To the editor: declaring war, to obtain the release
I suppose that when one writes of American citizens held hostage in
three editorials a week, one tends to a foreion lanH
run out of anything meaningful to Although the Reagan Administrasay.
As evidence of ths, I cite The lion's Iran initiative was ill-conceived
Gamecock editorial entitled at best, the comments in The
"Reagan's fake rhetoric taints con- Gamecock were ridiculous and unstitutional
celebration." founded. So what else is new?
The writer actually expects us to
believe that "Reagan and his group Barry Johnson
of pranksters have put the biggest Batesburg
. %