University of South Carolina Libraries
Viewpoint i P* i 2 THE GAMECOCK Wednesday, November 11, ,od7 ! AMY DELPO Editor in Chief j STEPHEN GUILFOYLE Copy Desk Chief j BRENDA BLYTH News Editor j JL llC BRAD FARRAR Viewpoint Editor I TAMARA WILLIS Features Editor bamecock wayne Washington sports Editor | KEITH JONES Photography Editor ROBB LANE Graphics Editor PAULA WOJTOWICZ Beat Editor Library University must commit itself, improving library, facilities This past week, when USC President James Holderman announced that USC would receive a dynamic mega-computer, it appeared the university was on the verge of becoming a research institution of national repute. Gov. Carroll Campbell was equally excited about USC's latest coup. "This shows that South Carolina is moving toward a research climate," he said. But now, only a week later, the picture looks different. The most basic prerequisite for a research university, the library, is in trouble. Budget cuts and increases in book prices and other materials have depleted most of the funds. And the falling dollar relative to other world currencies has made th cost of foreign periodicals almost unaffordable. "There was a time when we were looked upon as a real leader in the field," said libraries director Kenneth Toombs. "We have not done much since then." Toombs, making reference to USC's 1975 ranking as 57th nationally in total library expenditures, points out that 10 years later USC has slipped to 93rd overall. The library's 3.4 percent of the university's budget is below the national average of 5 percent, but Frank Borkowski, USC provost, points out that other programs have attempted to pick up the slack. The Athletic Department, for example, provided about $500,000 for the library this past year through revenues from a televised football game. The university's funding problem, like money constraints at all schools, is a constant concern. But the problem at USC is a little different. A school with such high aspirations in all fields cannot allow the research foundation to deteriorate. It will affect all concerned ? students and faculty ? and could leave a long term wound that would be slow to heal. It's like making cuts in the athletic program by getting rid of the football team. "We are to the point now that if we don't get more money, we will have to cut subscriptions and periodicals in the humanities and sciences," said Owen Connelly, chairman of the Faculty Senate Library Committee. "You can't blame the president altogether. There are some people who aren't sympathetic to our being a major research library." That is unfortunate. It could hurt in the long run. It is difficult to recruit good students in the future if you are not graduating good students now. And one of USC's best selling points can be ? and should be ? its library. The Staff j Assistant Copy Desk Chief Historian 1 Andy licchtel Hobby Jones ; Assistant News Editors dviser I odd Nines Dill Rogers Jeff Shrewsbury Director of Student Media ' j Assistant Features Kditor Margaret Michels l irdous Bamji Production r>poris r.finor Chuck Morris Kae Leigh Son Ha Assistant Photography Kditor Advertising Manager Jonathan Williams Margaret Michels Datchook Kditor Assistant Advertising Manager Jenny Sharpc Dawn Miller loiters Policy: I he (,ant*c<nk will tr? lo print klter* rrrrhrd i ?ll*r? thould ht. at maximum 2*0 to 100 word* long edltortftlt iteotild not ?iam4 S$f ?ord* Wt r***r%# tl* rigfct to edH klltn for M>k or pmtlhk libel the (nimecock will not *libkok1 niwri tinder *ny iliiMMiaaU a A *Prirp Is Rioh Something diabolical is happening on America's television screens. No, the networks have not decidcd to run the Iran-Contra hearings again, and no plans are in the works to revive Hello, Larry. The discord stems from a timeless program called The Price Is Right, perhaps the greatest game show in the history of world television. The show that has bemused audiences for more than 15 years is finally starting to show its age. In the late-morning time slot, NBC's upstart Wheel of Fortune is whipping The Price Is Right on CBS in the Nielsen ratings. In the past two years, The Price Is Right has faced a serious slide into mediocrity. And it's a sad thine to watch. The first tragedy to hit the show was the death of Johnny Olsen, the greatest game-show announcer since Don Pardo did his thing on the original Jeopardy. Olsen pioneered the famous line, "Dexter McDougall, come on down! You're the next contestant on The Price Is Right*." Olsen's replacement, a no-name Liberace clone, carries none of Olsen's bravado when he announces the name of the next contestant. It just isn't the same. The decline continued as Holly, one of the show's three ageless models, suddenly got political. At the end of each show, she started flashing a Why is this c< If you walk around campus and follow the paths that students normally wander, there will be one thing common among everyone you meet ? they ve all got things they ve wondered about. They're little things that probably plague others, but there's no one to ask. The kind of questions you'd ask your buddies during a quiet moment at dinner and get mashed potatoed for. At the risk of sounding Andy Rooneyish, I'm going to do it. And please, if there's anyone out there who knows the answers, then let us know. Why are there pennies? The last time pennies were functional was in the 1950s. Back then, you could still buy two pieces of rock-hard bubble gum with one of the little jobbers. Now nickles are the only currency for small items as pennies were in their heyday. Why do people put their pennies in piggy banks? I guess pigs will eat anything, especially something as worthless as pennies. Why do we call dashboard storage spaces "glove compartments?" They store maps, car registrations, rolling papers, fast-food restaurant game pieces and pencils, but I have yet to see a glove in a glove compartment. Why does Michael Jackson wear one glove? Letters to the Article wrong is~i about sex drive e* The currei To the editor: public aboi I'm curious about the Nov. 6 arti- its particip cle entitled "DHEC researches questional rumor of AIDS." In particular, my Althougl intrigue focuses on a statement made homosexua hv Dr Robert Ball of the USC in Thp Cin department of preventive medicine. challenge The article read, "Ball said one cause statement, of the massive amount of AIDS patients among homosexuals is that their sexual drives are twice as much as heterosexuals. I have always thought such a no- F1* tion was an exaggerated fallacy based JF lvl primarily on myths about the _ homosexual community rather than 0Y|(li on objective research. I find it hard to believe that a DHEC consultant made such a claim. Some II ueep down, i m suspicious mai smoke ant The Gamecock misinterpreted Dr. 300,000 ar Ball. If not, I hope Dr. Ball can cite a three-fourt scientific study showing that their hom homosexuals have a greater than home fire i average sex drive. night and mpwse: ^ANXIETY 0 it' needs to re JH iKuuikuubaKaisa H^Hh peace sign, a gesture that dragged the audience back into the real world of mutual assured destruction, the Strategic Defensive Initiative and other evils. No one wants to think about real issues while watching The Price Is Right, a show that deals completely in fantasy. Thirdly, the show's writers began eliminating some ot the show s classic games, including the shell game and the yodeler game. In their places came complicated events and no one ? contestants or viewers ? wanted to try to learn how the new games worked. Dlumnist askii I guess he forgot he put the other one in his glove compartment. How do you get all the gum off of a bubblegum lollipop? You can lick the hell out of the candy part, and then when you tug at the gum with your teeth, you can never quite get it all off the stick. Will President Reagan ever find a feasible candidate for the Supreme Court? Well, I heard there's a guy in Bangor, Me., who never had a past. What happens to the left sock when you dry a pair together in a load of laundry? 1 keep my orphaned socks as reminders of a editor >ublic health "researcher" greatest danger when utrageous statement con- asleep, unwarned and s< isease of epidemic propor- low ebb. lust back it lid with facts. When 1. on imnulse. it drive to educate the Lysol, I was aware of t it AIDS cannot succeed if myself, but I didn't sto ants make inaccurate or the lives of 200 fellow le comments in the press. Maxcy residence hall. / ^ I have no ties with the this careless act, I could I community, the article ly been displaced fro mecock upset me, and I housing without refund Dr. Ball to verify his ing payment, but also I 11 . J C - T< oeen expeueu ironi u: ment I learned this, 1 v, Brian Hentschel to plead temporary Marine science senior throw myself on the i Housing Committee, rs tunate for me the Hou; y |Jl tee did not label me pyromaniac and s inger all rehabilitate me. 13 Considering my op nrnmnlpH In vieif the t" ""? ",v 5,000 Americans die from fire department. This 1 fire each year. Another fire department to the c e severely injured. About another temporarily ii hs of the victims die in decides to ignite an ai es or apartments. Most your dorm and is not deaths occur between mid- was. 8 a.m. This is the time of In the past, I woul< I , I 4 V| tvvhl/ > ( 3?S' f ! FYOURS^ j turn to roots | | Finally, the coup de grace came this past month^^ < Host Bob Barker, long a symbol of youth with hi^^ j colored hair and caked-on blush, now has hair that is as white as a slice of Wonder Bread. This startling metamorphosis happened overnight, and it's downright frightening. j While religious fundamentalists babble about the destruction of the moral fabric of the United States, America faces a true crisis in the problems with The Price Is Right. But panic is not necessary because solutions exist. Listen, CBS: Get a real announcer, someone who doesn't try to imitate the guru that was Olsen. Tell Holly to get her politics off the screen. It's fine that she's got some moral imperative to work for peace, but let her do that on her own time, not on the job. Bring back the games that audiences love such as ?U~11 1.1 I _aL I 1 nit such gaiut, nit yuutiti game aiiu uincr classics. Buy Barker a ease of Grecian Formula, and get j him to use it daily. Viewers won't notice as^^ > Barker's hair transforms to the healthy dark sheen ? it once had. j If these changes are made, The Price Is Right could recapture its lost glory and once again take what belongs to it: the title of America's favorite game show. ig questions? greater being who truly knows where the hose goes. Whv don't DeoDle talk more to nlants? They just don't realize how close it is to dating. You feed them, give them drink, provide the proper lighting and offer light conversation. Perhaps by then you can get a root job. Why do people listen to music at high^^ volumes? 1 do it so I can't hear myself singing, but 1 guess I just don't have to sing. 1 still must have it loud, though. Finally, why do people keep pictures of relatives and friends they forgot a long time ago? My grandmother has a number of photo albums with clip after clip of black-and-white pictures, and *1 -11 n..? -l- - i uutjn i i tuiciiiuti iiiciii an. dui sue Keeps incm anyway. I don't know if she expects someone in the future to recognize them or if it just looks like a thick lineage. A picture is worth 1,000 words, but if the first one isn't even the name of the party, then what's the use unless you want to use the old standby "I'll betcha I got more friends than you do?" If you have questions like these, then let us^^ know, and we'll print the best ones next week. ' * ' ' ' < ? ? ?I people are television, video recorder, stereo, ;nses are at a answering machine and refrigerator into one outlet and never consider the lit a can of consequences of short-circuiting the he danger to outlet and causing a fire. p to consider I must have thought I was int students in destructible, as I do not recall having Vs a result of a death wish or feeling suicidal, L _ I I A I LI if nave iiui uii- uctauic i cuuiu nave uiuwii inyacu m university up. Retired Fire Chief Roy Corbett^^ of my hous- told me that "if the flame had goneffP ? could have inside the can, it would have explodsC. The mo- ed with enough force to blow a large 'as compelled portion of my body off." insanity and I was astounded to find out that mercy of the South Carolina is second in the naIt was for- tion per capita in fire deaths. Nationiing Commit- wide, apartment fires alone number an incurable about 300 a day. The more I learned, ;aw fit to the greater the urge I had to practicc escape procedures regularly. This is a tions, 1 was healthy excercise for those in a highSenate Street rise considering elevators are off is tne closest limits auring a tire or a nre arm. ampus in case All questions concerning my obses- ^ isane student sion with fire have been disproved, erosol can in leaving me with the embarrassing adas lucky as I mission that I was guilty of forgetting all those bells in elementary school J plug in my See "Fire," page 3