The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 05, 1987, Page 2, Image 2
Viewpoint
j injE^GAMECOCK Monday, October 5, 1987
AMY DELPO Editor in Chief
STEPHEN GUILFOYLE Copy Desk Chi
BRENDA BLYTH News Editor
! 1 llC STEVE PRADARELLI Viewpoint Editc
^ T A \ i A n A Hlf* t *n - ? -
. i /\ivi/\r\/\ wiLLia features Editor
uamecOCK wayne Washington sports Editor
| KEITH JONES Photography Editor
! ROBB LANE Graphics Editor
i PAULA WOJTOWICZ Beat Editor
O
vrimes
Students should help each oth
keep their campus friendly, so.;
Enonoh is ennnoh
This past week, two Rhode Island women visiting a USC s
dent were raped after accepting a ride from two men.
In another incident, a woman claiming to need money for 1
child's hospitalization swindled and stole from a number
students in University Terrace and Carolina Garde
apartments.
And sometime Thursday night, two motorcycles and a mop
were stolen from Carolina Gardens.
For many USC students, the university campus is home, d
and night. It's where their favorite possessions are kept, wh<
friends, classmates and co-workers reside; and where, after
arduous week of lectures and homework, they can sit back a
i _ _
reiax.
Or so it should be.
Unfortunately, an increasingly bold element of society is ti
ing to change all that. As one USC freshman said after heari
about the rape, "When you find yourself in one of the da
places on campus, you think about something maybe happt
ing, but you never expect it to.M
It's too bad students need to be defensive. The relentl<
pressure of tests, research papers and jobs is more than anyo
should have to bear. But unless something is done, students w
continue to be easy prey.
The police department makes a convenient scapegoat wh
crime runs rampant, but no police force is large enough to
everywhere at once. Students need to bear their own portions
responsibility for themselves and their fellow students.
In the military, the "buddy system" is employed to give ea
soldier an idea of how important it is to watch out for t
welfare of others. In war, that may entail saving someone's li!
On campus, it could mean saving someone from being rape
robbed or beaten.
If someone forgets to lock up his bike, remind him. If a frie
says she's walking down to the store to pick up some milk, a
her if she'd like some company. If you find a backpack lying <
the street or behind some unattended bench, don't just walk p;
it; pick it ud and turn it in to the nparpct
Then maybe we can put an end to this nonsense and get <
with what we do best ? learn.
?,<#>7 7
ij p u i * *** ** -*?
JJie btatf
| Assistant Copy Desk Chief Historian
' Andy Bcchtel Bobby Jones
Assistant News Fditors Adviser
! Todd Hines Bill Rogers
: Jeff Shrewsbury Director of Student Media
Assistant Features Kditor Bill Clements
Firdous Bamji Production
Assistant Snorts Krillnr l. m?
? g ... V.IIULR nui I 15
J Rae Leigh Son Ha
Assistant Photography Editor Advertising Manager
jDim!iitin wuiiams Margaret Michels
Datehook Editor Assistant Advertising Manager
| Jenny Sharpe Dawn Miller
letters Policy: 1h? will lr? lo prim k(t?ri rtc?lt?d. I ?ll?ri ikouM b?. >1 maOaum, MO la MM ?ord? lo?|. Cm
rdllorlilt ihooM not tutted 500 wordi rttrtt t>.? rtfkl lo tdll IHIm for il)k or poMlMt IIWI Tht G*m*<o<k ?HI not ?l<kko
nam** t?4*l ?n) rlfctimtlifttt
M - -" WE'VE FINALLY SOLVED t^'
ef ffi " - ( THE PROBLEM OF MINE5 IN THE U-\>> ,
,r PERSIAN GULF... WE'VE PILEP JVv'. "
31HH \ 50 MANY VIARSHIP5 IN /I
^iniLiji \ UPRF THPRPS Mf> B/Y1M /
Constitutional rights a]
irk
?n
Our socicty is based largely on the freedoms
granted to us in the Constitution. This document CirllP*Qf
5SS guarantees the rights of everyone, including those VJUvOl ^Hj
ne who we don't like or agree with. -, # ?
^11 When we, as a society, begin to judge what we CClltOVlEll I
can and cannot be exposed to, we are in grave BV
danger. Freedoms of speech and expression make John %?T.
me think of America. This is one of the few coun- t . Jk
be tries where a person can speak about anything ^tCS
of without the fear of imprisonment or worse.
Remember, just because we do not agree with
some people, what thev sav is not alwnvc u,mna
Vll - - ? ? ? " ?? | BMDi
? Just think of the consequences if a group or an in- 5
p dividual could judge whether a speaker was acceptable
for us to hear. Then people could be banned organizations of both the left and
id, from speaking, and their views would never be wrote. This is a naive statement for
heard. This sounds more like the Soviet Union than ly oriented person to make. Such a
nc| America. to close our minds to all other beliel
. Giving someone the power to randomly refuse oppose its own. An honorable cau:
the rights of a person to express his personal beliefs is very undemocratic.
on is wrong, and it would deny the citizens of this As the president of a large,
ISt country access to important ideologies. organization, Cousar makes a terri
The problem with censorship ? denying a per- ? one that has been preached by
on son the right to speak ? is that the individual tyrants in the past ? that a goverr
doesn't have much power. Large groups usually power by the annihilation of
control the power of censorship. enemies.
? A recent letter to the editor by E. J. Cousar, It is common sense for a political
president of College Republicans, emphasizes the try to destroy its opposition, but it
role of a large organization. Such a group would print this in the paper. The people t
strip individuals of their rights if it could. "It is referred, Abbie Hoffman and
about time USC rids itself of the extremist disagree with the beliefs that Cou
Here's your paragraph.
I'm told we call them 'graphs in the news
business. It's short for paragraph, and we prefer SBHHffii
them short ? short and to the point, I try to tell
reporters. j
I bring it up because Sen. Paul Simon, D-Ill.,
came to speak to USC students Friday, and he said o. ? ; i
he had never gotten a 'graph in any newsDaoer otcpncn
? "he's ever talked to," about his involvement in ! Guilfoyle
f 94142, a federal statute "guaranteeing that people ??? HBlHa
~ with handicaps can get an education in our public
schools." | H
s. And that's a shame. But he said it as if it really
didn't matter. ". . .I'm probably as proud of that j
as anything I've ever done, because I've seen a
change in the opportunity created for hundreds of to overcome their handicaps only
, thousands of young people through that statute." And it's the same kind of prejudi
I think he deserves more than a 'graph for his just a way of saying all men are no
part in sponsoring that legislation.
We live in an age when, for the most part, people Some people don't have the same
^ are beginning to say, if just in the backs of their pigmentation as others do. Some p
minds, "Maybe we are created equal." or arms that don't work as well as
But just in the backs of most minds. Some people, such as myself, don'
This is still an age when guys such as Ku Klux eyes as good as yours. Some people
Klan members still have problems with people with don't work as well as mine, such as
a different skin color getting equal opportunities. who tried to cross the Atlantic alor
And this is still an age when men considered in- and failed ? the man whom colum
telligent and scholarly will defend the rights of Buckley Jr. criticized for attemptin
minorities, but will not be criticized for thinking his difficulty.
anH o\/pn I. ? ? J! ? 1 1 *
wvn oojins mat me iicinuicuppca snouia scck But more and more, everyone
100,000-mile milestone
Another milestone in my driving career has been
made. ?,
The car 1 learned to drive with ? the car I now
own ? has reached 100,000 miles. jd&i.
1 watched a row of nines turn into a row of zeros ^
a week ago as I drove off the 1-26 exit into Cayce.
My trusty 1981 Oldsmobile Omega is baby blue P < .-v.and
fits five comfortably. It is the only car I've "ailia
? owned. It is the car I took an Ohio driver's test in Wojtowicz
mm three times before I passed. 5555SHE5SS
It is the car I have had to jump start twice
because I left the headlights on all day. HHHH
: I like to brag about my Omega. It's the only car I
have seen that can fit a roomful of college stuff in
the trunk. It was very convenient this past year needed ? a new window latch, a scr
when I moved so many times. I felt as if I was liv- lock. . .
ing out of my car more than my room. Recently, it has also develope<
It's fun to joke about my car, too. If I want to habit of turning on the windshield
i impress someone, I'll just say I have an Olds ? click on the right-hand turn signals
without mentioning the model. Other times I tell Annoying, yes, but forgivable,
friends that the Omega was Oldsmobile's failed at- What isn't forgivable is tun
tempt at a compact car. odometer.
It's sad to see those miles on the odometer.
i It's sad, also, when my Omega shows other signs In the past 16 months, I have i
? of its age. 18,000 miles on that car. Counties:
14 The only major repair job I have needed was a and Oeorgia are mostly responsible
?J new transmission. But now the little repairs are But 100,000 miles?
____ *
s" - v //"Wilt -Q
' }>^%- v,
irz i? 3. si 0 , \
mtHMsoTH !
pply to everyone
These people represent what America stands for:
the freedom to express opinions. They are
dinosaurs left over from a period of American
nistory when it was "cool" to protest. Hoffman
and Kraft, as different as they may be, try to get
KpHk people to think, which is something our government
would like to do for us. They challenge us to
debate their beliefs and to rethink our own views.
Everyone has been asked sometime in their life,
"Are you a Republican or a Democrat?" When so!
meone asks me that question, I say neither ? and
rf ] no, I'm not a communist.
I do not pledge my loyalty to any party because
?????* political organizations scare me. Such a group
right," Cousar tends to believe that any of its actions are warsuch
a political- ranted because it feels it has a social mandate. Such
group wants us an organization tries to mold our society into what
is and ideatthat * it thinks is good, and in doing this, thinks i^fe
se, but one that represents the majority of the people In ou^^ 1
country.
party-affiliated Watch out for an organization that tries to
fying statement eradicate its opponents, especially a political party,
many powerful Without any opposition, a oolitical nartv hecnmf?
lment may gain very powerful. And once it gains this power, the
their political power may never be returned to the people. The
government its members run slowly chisel away at
organization to our freedoms.
:'s not smart to Wc must resist and think about every decision
o whom Cousar these people make and try to impose on us. The inJanice
Kraft, dividual still has power in our country, so protect
sar holds dear, your freedoms.
, Sen. Paul Simon
??????equal opportunity by the laws and by the Constitu^^
Stion of the United States. And laws such as 9414^9
are catching up with the boldest statement in
history, which is in the Declaration of Independence:
". . . .that all men are created
The Declaration also says we have the right to
pursue happiness. It makes no guarantees that we
will catch happiness, but to deny or criticizc someone
who is attempting to try to overcome and
seek a form of happiness is to deny one of our
"unalienable rights."
within bounds. Men such as Buckley are intelligent enough to
ce, because it's make very rational reasons why handicapped peot
created equal, pie should not try and overcome their handicaps,
and the reasons will be eminently logical. But
amount of skin humans are not logical. They are people who
eople have legs strive.
yours or mine. And men such as Paul Simon sponsor bills that
t have a set of allow people to actually attain their rights. By^^
have eyes that allowing handicapped people to be educated, we
; the blind man start to give them the same opportunities as
le in a sailboat everyone. And we take one step closer to the day
nist William F. when "all men are created equal" is not just a bold
ig to overcome statement full of hope, but a reality.
is guaranteed You've got your 'graph, senator.
upsets car driver :
(Admittedly, I'm not totally responsible for the
miles. My father bought the car for commuting to
work and long trips, puttina hisahare of fh*? mii? i
Ion the odometer.
A couple of years ago, the car was paid off. Dad
said I could buy it from him by paying him $1,500^
or by paying my rent for a year. About the samt^^
price cither way.
He got the rent. 1 got the car.
| This car is supposed to last me another two
years, my father has said. It has to last me another
two years. I can't afford another car until then.
I can't believe it's at 100,000 miles.
1 What am I supposed to do with it? I know what
ew for the door kind of gas it likes; I know when it needs more oil. 1
n..* t j ? - ? - *
t?ui i uuii i Know wnai to ao now that it is official1
an annoying Iy an old car.
wipers when I
> Should I give it the last rites? Should I start looking
into funeral plots at the junkyard?
ling over the I have heard of other cars ieaching 100,000 miles
without major breakdowns.
But Oldsmobiles are traditionally fancy cars,
put more than They aren't supposed to reach 100,000 miles. Peoi
trips to Ohio pie sell them before they get that old.
for that. I don't want to have an old car.
I just want to have my baby blue Omega.
1 i