The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 26, 1987, Page 3, Image 3
Viewpoint I
Monday, October 26, 1987 THE GAMECOCK 3 gj
I AMY DELPO Editor in Chief I
STEPHEN GUILFOYLE Copy Desk Chief I
npi BRENDA BLYTH News Editor
TAMARA WILLIS Features Editor
f \ i WAYNE WASHINGTON Sports Editor
VrdfTIi.,COCiC KEITH JONES Photography Editor I
ROBB LANE Graphics Editor
n A I IV A %1/rv r J!a I
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Collapse
Students' situation unclear
after 'hip had' hear market
O
^ This past week's stock market collapse and the potential war
in the Persian Gulf seem distant to USC students. But we are
more vulnerable than we may realize.
We don't know much about USC's various investment portfolios
(definitely not as much as we should), but other universities'
portfolios have declined a fair amount in the past week.
Harvard's endowment, according to some experts, dipped by
a cool $1 billion in a few hours of frantic trading on Wall Street.
Tuition there may have to be increased as a result.
USC's funding sources may not be tied to Wall Street gyrations
on that magnitude, but a reduction in dividends could
create shortages that would have to be made up in other ways
such as appropriation or tuition increases.
The biggest concern, however, is that the market collapse will
i lead to curtailments in normal buying behavior. The 290-point
loss this past week may cause consumers to delay purchases of
phonies, automobiles, refrigerators and other luxury items. If a
South Carolina business decides not to expand on the basis of
drops in stock market prices, then jobs will be affected. A family
with jobs in jeopardy is likely to buy less, with fewer dollars
flowing through the community and taxes that certainly won't
go down.
But the market has really just corrected itself to mid-1986
levels, right before the bull market began this past winter. Much
of the "panic" selling came as a result of pre-planned,
computer-controlled price levels.
Many corporations with large holdings instructed their invest
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price. In a sense, this landslide was already determined by computers,
and all the analysts, traders, and individual investors had
to sit and watch a technological chain reaction that left almost
everyone a little less rich ? at least on paper.
, This, however is not the end of the world for the major com1
;^<pany or the private investor. A short-term setback, no matter
how devastating it may first appear, should not destroy the
future, which until this past week, looked quite promising. After
all, one poor grade on an exam will probably not ruin a person's
job possibilities.
But these things tend to feed on themselves. If you fear the
falling market will make your standard of living go down, it probably
will. It was this psychology that President Franklin
Roosevelt addressed during the darkest days of the Depression,
I when he warned that "the only thing we have to fear is fear
itself."
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j | WELCOMES THE m PRESIPfrtTlAL OMRS
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1 ' 4 Thp- Staff
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I Assistant Copy Desk Chief Historian
Andy Hcchtel Bobby Jones
i Assistant News Fditors Adviser
Todd Hines Bill Rogers
Jeff Shrewsbury Director of Student Media
Assistant Features Kditor Margaret Michels
Firdous Bamji Production
Assistant Sports Fditor Chuck Norris
Rae I eigli Son Ha
Assistant Photography Fditor Advertising Manager
Jonathan Williams Margaret Michels
| (fan Datebook Fditor Assistant Advertising Manager
! Jenny Sharpe Dawn Miller
l^tlrrs Policy: Tht <* mticxk ?IM try (o p<l?l l?lf?i *?)?<. 1 ?ll?r? ?ho?W b*. ! ISA io MO xordi k>?| <.M?
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Move South s
I've got a talking friend. A talking friend is a
friend with whom you don't do anything else but
talk. What do we talk about? Well, everything.
We talked about Robert Bork once. He listed all
these awful things in the judge's record, and 1
pretended all that mattered was the fact that Bork
was a competent jurist.
>.. Then, as J always do, 1 told him 1 was playing
devil's advocate and also thought Bork(was a slime
puppy.
And lately, we've been talking about racism. He
asked me why I never talked about it in my
column.
It was a hard question to answer, but I said 1
could be completely sincere if 1 talked about
racism, but might use one phrase wrong and make
somebody angry. And I hate to get people mad
without meaning to or trying to make them mad.
But 1 see now I was wrong, because I really don't
fully understand racism. I was born and raised in
New York City, and 1 went to school with blacks,
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figure out how to keep Sister Margaret from hauling
us up before the principal that we didn't have
time to hate each other.
And for some reason, when 1 moved to the
South, 1 figured everything would be the same.
Student apatb
Why is it that many students and student
organizations do not seem concerned about issues
(such as the South Africa divestment movement)
that face the university community?
This past week I was explaining to a friend how a
black greek party or step show at the Russell House
would attract the majority of black students on
campus, while a popular rock concert at Carolina
Coliseum would attract a large percentage of white
students.
However, plan a protest against USC's investment
practices in South Africa or against a tuition
increase, and you would have to search for
students to participate.
"How can they be so apathetic?" my friend asked.
"Are they that involved in their studies?"
1 said there is an unbelievable level of apathy on
campus. Many students seem only interested in
having a good time outside of class. They don't
seem to realize there is more to a college education
than attending classes and parties.
Considering the turnout at recent pickets against
the university's investment practices in South
Africa, 1 suspect many students and faculty
mcmhpr* arr pithpr unfamiliar, uninterested fir un
caring about the situation in South Africa and
USC's support of that racist regime.
Even more disappointing is the fact that many
student organizations and so-called student leaders
who are expected to respond to issues facing the
j Letters to the
Editorial unfair ^haltcf
^_ T chapter as ;
to Sigma Nu
; you ignore
To the editor: First, tl
'n response to the Oct. 16 editorial members w
! ' .nimal House," let me first em- incident th*
; phasize that I neither condone the years ago
behavior of the Sigma Nu members none of th
and their pledges, nor do I offer an cond, if th
I apology for their actions. activates th
| But I must protest your reaction to big if), the
USC's action and your total condem- be complet*
nation of the Delta chapter of Sigma who are n
Nu. I also suggest that you treated Third, the
J the national fraternity's revocation fund raisin
v Icarus Securities
down 309 points
in heavy flapping-"
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hows racism si
^ h
f
There was that Civil War thing in the past and all t
that stuff Martin Luther King did in the '60s, so i
racism should now be dead, right? t
Wrong.
A really simple thing taught me my lesson. We \
were considering moving to Lancaster in 1980, and I
I was staying in some hotel in that town. I was still 1
in the lobby, and my family was waiting for me in
the parking lot. As I was going outside to the car, I
saw an old black man outside, read) to come in. So !
1 got to the door and held it open for him. My
mother taught me to respect my elders. ;
Instead of coming in, he stopped. I continued to
ly ignores imp
university appear to be just as unconcerned. They
know who they are and need to either get on tlie
ball or get off the court.
For those who aren't aware, universities have
played an important role in the effort to end
American support for apartheid and must continue
to do so.
Campus protests throughout the nation have
resulted in partial and total divestment by many
universities, inrlndini' Howard. Columbia. Yale
and Michigan State. It is time USC joinedthis list.
Campus protests have also played an important
role in state and local divestment campaigns. As a
result of student protests, many states have enacted
divestment legislation.
editor
larter much too lightly. that you conveniently left
quick to condemn the editorial. Finally, the U;
an entity and all its past, one of the oldest Sigma T
I future members for the in the country, has a lonj
; actions of a few, while this campus. Its condeir
several relevant facts. removal reflects negative
le current Sigma Nil alumni.
'ere on probation for an
it occurred more than six USC's action is an a
and obviously involved serious punishment for
e active membership. Se- deserve it, the current nv
ic national fraternity re- pledges. The university h
e Delta chapter charter (a mon sense ? believe it o
chapter would probably recognize the value of
:ly made up of young men system, just as you did al
ot yet students at USC. your editorial. USC al:
fraternity has a history of broad vision, which yoi
g and community service lack, to sec the place
mall, but real
old the door for him, but as long as 1 held that
oor, he wouldn't come in. I didn't understand
/hy, but I couldn't wait around to find out either.
So I let the door close and moved on. He went
n. And then I saw a car in the parking lot with a
Confederate flag license plate. I thought it was
leat, and I photographed it.
But 1 later realized that the old man wouldn't
:ome through the door because it was held by.a .
.vhite person. And the flag on that car wasn't neat,
3ut an obscene sign of an old hatred.
My parents, whether they know it or not,
wouldn't allow me to think another person was inerior
because of the color of his skin or because of
he church he went to. But they really didn't stress
t that much to me; they taught us that it didn't
natter what we were called.
So what's my sweeping statement on racism? If
people call you some obscene term, that's a sign of
heir stupidity. If you know who you are, then the
labels don't mean anything.
I've been called a Mick, a fat slob, even a yellow
journalist. But it doesn't bother me. because I
know (lime wl., ,. '.:ch
I don't have to apologize for being Irish or
anything else.
i t _ i
i Know wno 1 am.
lortant issues
It's time for USC students to get with it.
I understand that some honestly believe divestment
is not the proper signal to send to the racist
South African government.
However, 1 doubt the majority of USC's population
shares this view. If they do, they should let
their feelings and the reasons for their feelings be
known.
Unlike the situation in South Africa, you do not
risk being jailed without trial, gunned down, tortured
or confined to house arrest for protesting.
You are guaranteed by the Constitution the right to
protest by means of direct action, including
picketing.
/\s sau as 11 is, mere are mose wno couiu care less
about the situation in South Africa. And there arc
those who will never concern themselves with
things that don't directly affect them.
The situation in South Africa is a grave situation,
and people must not view it as simply the matter
of another country. The promotion of racial
equality, human rights and democracy around the
world are all matters directing American foreign
policy.
1 bet if the university banned parties and step
shows at the Russell House and rock concerts at the
coliseum, students would show concern.
Students need to wake up from their deep sleep
and get involved in the movement for freedom,
peace and justice in South Africa.
out of your chapter has had in the system and to
>C chapter, see the potential for Sigma Nu frater^Ju
chapters nity to have a place in the system in
I history on the future.
ination and By suspending the chapter and
ly on all its making it wait three years to apply
for recognition, the university conveys
the very message you endorse:
ppropriate, probation violations will not be
those who tolerated. The university is not
embers and punishing, as you would like them to,
as the com- those who do not deserve it, the nair
not ? to tional fraternity and its alumni from
the greek IJSC.
t the end of
so has the Wally Dunn
i obviously UNC-Chapel Hill Sigma Nu, 1978
the Delta Columbia