The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 02, 1987, Page 2, Image 2
I Viewpoint i
2 THE GAMECOCK Friday, October 2. 1987
I AMY DELPO Editor in Chief
STEPHEN GUILFOYLE Copy Desk Chief
T?l BRENDA BLYTH News Editor
^ HAL MILLARD Viewpoint Editor
^ g - i i/\ivi/\k/\ WILLIS heatures Editor
VjameCOCK wayne Washington sports editor
keith jones Photography Editor
robb lane Graphics Editor
paula wojtowicz Beat Editor
Blood money
I Co-conspirator in murder
shouldn't set TV rovalties
IW
Even if Tony Cimo wins, he's a loser.
A real loser.
Cimo, you may remember, paid death-row inmate and mas:
murderer Donald "Pee Wee" Gaskins to kill Rudolph Tyner
who had shot and killed Cimo's parents in a bundled robberv at
tempt. Both Gaskins and Tyner were inmates at Central Correc
tional Institution in Columbia.
Shortly after Tyner had murdered Cimo's parents one night ir
their little mom-and-pop store on Murrels Inlet, he was arrested
But the nightmare would not be over for Cimo and his family
Appeals processes and the courts were keeping Cimo from hi<
fondest wish ? to see Tyner die in the electric chair.
After an agonizing period of waiting, Cimo took it upor
himself to avenge his parents. In 1982 he arranged the murdei
with Gaskins, but Gaskins taped the phone conversation between
the two, which resulted in the arrest of Cimo.
Sound like a movie?
It was.
It was a made-for-television movie that appeared on CBS early
this past year. Now the controversy is not so much that Cimc
conspired witn a lunatic to kill his parents' murderer, but that he
may profit from the whole sordid deal.
The royalties amount to $15,000 in what can only be called
blood money. Tyner's mother, now working as a janitor in the
Empire State Building in New York City, has decided she
doesn't want this money, which she is entitled to sue for. She
wants the matter to rest and to get on with her life. But she
doesn't want Cimo to get the money either, and he shouldn't
because he doesn't deserve it.
/^: _ _ a a * -
v^unu, nuw w, speni only tnree years in prison for his part of
the murder. To think of his profiteering because his twisted
story made a good, realistic, frightening storyline is repulsive.
He should still be in prison.
Tyner's killing of the parents is now immaterial, despite all
the sadness and frustration it caused the Cimo family. Cimo
took matters into his own hands. Yet his hands merely got
slapped.
Tyner, however, got his head blown off by a bomb.
If that horrific event merits royalty payments of $15,000,
crime does pay. Jan Cimo, Tony's wife, said she is happy at the
thru I oh t thpv minlit tit** tl-ia iriAnnii GU~ ? J ?1 1 "Hni
v0 ii.ieiii iiiv one saxu wcuncsuay, ~ inai
is good news. We could use the money. Tony is out fishing and
won't be back until tomorrow. I wish I could get in touch with
him and tell him the good news."
The only news is this ? the money should go to Tyner's
mother. If it goes to Cimo it becomes tainted, dirty, and bloody.
We cannot afford to reward our criminals simply because they
seemed to have performed some act of martydom to honor or
avenge their family. A crime is a crime. Cimo is a criminal.
And criminals don't deserve paychecks.
HERBLOCK'S CARTOON
*WEVE EXPLAINED THAT WE PtCKEP HIM
BECAUSE HFS A MOPFWE*
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PJAYER CtVlL RIGHTS
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The Staff
Assistant Copy Desk Chief Historian
Andy Bechtel Bobby Jones
| Assistant News Editors Adviser
Todd Mines Hill
"WDV,J
Jeff Shrewsbury Director of Student Media
Assistant Features Kditor Bill Clements
Firdous Bamji Production |
Assistant Sports F.ditor Chuck Norris
kaf I <>iiih c "*
,,?v ^v.d.. ouii ria
Assistant Photography Editor Advertising Manager
Jonathan Williams Margaret Michels
Datehook Editor Assistant Advertising Manager
Jenny Sharpe Dawn Miller
l,f ItfFS Policy: !ht (tamtcock will tr> to prim kftm received I ?t le r? should be. al miilmum, ISO to 300 word* long.
editorial* thould not etreed 500 word*. V*e ffKr*? the right to edit letter* for *I>1* or poitlbk libel Tht (?amt(o<U will not withheld
name* under any clrcum*tan?e
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flH QHIYTWO JOBS AHEAP OF HE!
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ouuu uie uuy maKes I
i Whoever says there aren't any good people in the
world anymore haven't met Tippy the truck driver.
Tippy is a pleasant young man who looks like
he's got the wisdom of a 50-year-old. He's about r
i 5-foot-6 and has a beard Kris Kristofferson would
be jealous of. His sandy brown hair comes to his
shoulders, and he has a smile the size of a
watermelon. ! Jeff
Tippy and 1 met because of his good will and my Ct,?0?rck?iM; . SM
misfortune. OtireWSDUry
My car, Oscar, experienced tire problems Tuesday
night while I was driving 65 mph 20 miles short f : i , ;
of Charlotte on 1-77. I don't mean it went flat. I j f ' 1
mean it was a blowout in the classic sense. It
sounded like a shotgun as my front right tire shredded
and the car lunged towards the shoulder of the night, to stranded motorists.
road. Rllt I woe \ifrnnn
I don't know why it went flat. It just did. Tippy is from North Augusta and sf
Nature, I guess. slight . . .well, heavy accent. He hadO
Anyway, as I was cursing out Oscar for his lack shorts on and flip flops on his feet, a
of pre-natal car care, trying to unleash the jack He sort of looked like Jesus would if I
from my trunk, which was obviously upset that 1 tioning on Hilton Head.
was cursing at the car so it wouldn't release it, a "Howdy," he said smiling and ex
kind-hearted soul pulled his little blue Dodge truck hand.
in front of where I thought my car would be for "Boy, am I glad to see you," 1 wir
days. being a veteran of road catastrophies.
When I heard the door slam on the truck, 1 had a "Gotchya some trouble, eh?"
sudden and unwarranted wave of fear that this may "Yeah, and I can't get the ? *$&^!
be the boogie man, because of all the bad things the trunk."
I've heard happening on the highways, late at "Well, I believe I just might could d?
'What's up,' phrase-use
The key phrase as one crosses the highways and
byways of USC, is, of course, "What's happen- jj
ing.' or "wnat's going on'.'" or "What's up?" or HBHSPPSi
some other variation thereof. Being that USC is a
both a national and international university, these
may vary from "Wuzzup, cuz?" to "Que es alto,
Some directions ?
The most important thing to remember when so- CjrUillOy le
meone asks you "What's happening?" or even
"Do thee do well this da v." hv Ouakpr pyrhnno*
students, is that you are immediately expected to
respond not by providing the information re- Wuy&*mwJJa
quested, but instead answer with the question you _________________________________
were indeed just asked.
It works like this ? carry arms with him and is forced to d<
John is on his way to his 9:05 a.m. accounting dweeb only on the shortest possible ter
class and is in a complete frantic state of mind very adept, though, at handling su
because it is now 9:10. Ned, being the pest he is, is because it seems geeks gravitate to noi
also late, but is such a total dweeb that he doesn 7 John knows that his best bet is to ask, "
care that he is late for his education, and in fact, dude?"
cares even less that John, our hero, is also late. Ned is taken completely aback. Not <
Ned of course delays our hero by asking question not been answered, but he has
"What's up, dude?" (please note that his use of the very question he himself just asked
the "dude" marks him as a mutant from outer fact, such a nerd that this happens to
space, and his annoying delay of our hero marks every day and will lead him in about
mm as someone who should not only be dealt with three months, six days, two hours and.
on the shortest terms possible, but also dealt with to decide that maybe taking an Uzi an
the nearest and deadliest arsenal available). propelled grenade launcher to the i
Our hero is a nice American boy who doesn't Humanities Classroom building to co
Trip to library becomes
Once in a while, somebody comes up to The
Gamecock office to ask if we have any back issues. I _ ,
r:i ?
wui unite iucs go uack oniy o years, but people
can go to the South Caroliniana Library on The Jsjglgs
Horseshoe if they want to see issues from further
back.
A couple weeks ago, I spent an hour in the ^
library reading old issues of The Gamecock from Paula
fall 1967 ? 20 years ago. I didn't find what I was Wojtowicz
looking for, but 1 found something even more ? m| ^ valuable:
a glimpse of USC around the time I was L \ 1 ..
born. I -v
The first issue of the semester, Sept. 11, seemed
similar to the 1987 first issue with its articles about
validated IDs and registration.
Welcoming letters to students also appeared in their residence halls until 1 a.m. i
from Paul Diet/el, director of athletics, and Sam- sophomore status.
my Drew, Student Government president. The liberal extremist organization (
Drew's letter hinted at 1960s attitudes. "Heed was called "Aware." A gossip column
the words of our generation, freshmen, and keep name mid-semester from "Cock
up with the times." "Cockeyed." The Roost athletic resideii
But what were the times? still a proposal.
That was the semester thai f'anctnno <*? r>?1 - 1 ? -
? ?,??.? rvcau me iicauimes 10 get an even bei
USC's first honors residence hall. It was the year the times. The more unique ones incluc
after women were allowed to wear slacks on cam- "Rebel Yells, Warm Respon*
pus. And the newest policy allowed women to sign Reagan at Township."
jlowout bearable
09
'bout that. Just let mc take a look." He did. And
before I could plead for him not to bother, he had
Ei forced me to allow him to change the tire. He
j didn't have to force hard.
While he took off the tire, which by the way had
a hole in in the size of the Persian Gulf, he told me
how he was headed to New York to "rahn-daysvouz"
with his 18-wheeler. He made me laugh on a
few occasions with his rhetoric and Gomer Pyleg|j
style laugh. I liked him instantly.
OH I Soon, when he realized all 1 had in my trunk was
J a frisbee-sized temporary tire, he stood up, scratch;?
ed his head and bellowed, "Well, by God, this
_______ piece of ? $ & ^ ! won't get you 10 miles.
Let's just see if I ain't got a real tire you can use for
a bit."
He went to his truck and pulled out a real spare
)eaks with a tire, you know, from the good old days before
?an r?*^mw- nougnnumrcj. Me pant <>Y\ in^'car. He saitl hte'd
rtd no Shirt. follow me to the next gas station and help find a V
ic was vaca- new tire before he "hadda to git up that road to the
North."
tending his And while he put my tire and jack back in the
trunk, he whistled a happy tune. Then with no
npered, not thought to his own time schedule he followed me to
Charlotte and the next gas station and waited while
I got a new tire.
! jack out of He wanted no pay, no thanks. He did it from
kindness.
3 something If that ain't good, by God, I don't know what is.
i*c cfnn nloncn
flL 0>
________ rather inhumane acts is not such a bad idea after
all.
EM This will not worry our hero, John, as he is a
senior after all, and he will he graduated by that ? ^
Jf?r time if he can just get to the damn 9:10 a.m.
classroom and pass it, which is actually the frustraHon
that started all this in the first place.
v But you must, in all seriousness, have noticed
'JjaKBk that these condition queries have replaced ? indeed
become ? greetings that require no
|WfffjSpk responses. People used to say "hello" and "hi"
Mjjfjffjp and the ever-popular Southern "hev" whpn thev
-
wanted to be congenial with someone without actually
having to get into all that business of getting
to know someone.
?al with the Students ask for a statement of your being when
ms. John is most of the time they don't actually care whether
ch people, you had a full night's rest the evening before, or a
n-geeks. So full frontal lobotomy, and they probably prefer the
'What's up, latter.
It's time for students to return to the traditional
inly has his phrases of greeting. Then phrases such as "What's
been asked ud" and its ilk mn hp nc*?h ?>
uavu oliVII ;wu 3k( t? (JUUU
. Ned is, in friend or a pretty girl and you are, of course, vitally ?
him all day interested in whether she had a good night s sleep
two years, the evening before, or a full frontal lobotomy as
31 minutes, she probably wouldn't be much fun at tomorrow
d a rocket- night's party if it were the latter. I
op of the So come on; take a stand with me.
mmit some "Just say 'Hi.'"
i
trip to the past i
| "Revised Draft Law Makes Studpnt
S Deferments Easier."
"Vietnam Like an'LSD Trip.'" |
"Marijuana Cigarettes Found on Campus "
5 "Phone Directories Will Arrive in Two
"Sexual Interest Experiments Earn Recogni- a m
tion for Psychology Major."
The Gamecock had a social column 20 years ago.
iviosi oi tne news was listings of fraternity and
sorority events and pledges ? easier to do in 1967
than it would be in 1987 because not only were
there fewer such organizations, fewer students
joined those organizations.
Greek organizations didn't avoid controversy,
f they had though. That semester, a proposal to move greek
rush away from the first few weeks of classes was
an campus debated heavily on both sides. I
changed its Other letters to the editor complained about hav
tales" to ing exanis after Christmas break and being able to
ice hall was buy textbooks cheaper through another university's
bookstore. ^ 1 a
Iter idea of Why was I looking through the old issues in the w 1 "
le: first place?
ie, Greets In the midst of readinn all the "unessential": " it I
was easy to forget.