The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 13, 1988, Page 4, Image 4
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4 THE GAMECOCK Wednesday, January 13, 1988
Free press
Student newspapers responsible
for accuracy, fairness, integrity
As is plainly shown under the new flag of USC's student
newspaper, this year is the 80th anniversary of The Gamecock.
It has been in production since 1908, and with the exception of
two years during the radical '60s when the administration
overstepped its bounds and closed it down, it has been untouched
and unencumbered by the university that houses, contributes
to and produces it.
It has been a free student press and continues to be so.
But what is a free "student press" as opposed to just a "free
press?"
They are virtually the same thing.
The student press has the same rights and responsiblities as
the professional press. It has the responsibility to print the truth
in a fair and accurate way, and it has a responsibility not to
abuse the privilege of having a readership and an effect on
peoples' lives. A newspaper can be a powerful tool and a lethal
weapon, and it is the intention of The Gamecock to be a fair,
impartial reporter of the news and events that affect the students
and community of Carolina.
The Gamecock exists to be the voice for USC. It follows the
same canons and standards of journalism as anv newsDaoer
would follow. It pledges to try to be equitable, but it also admits,
as any newspaper would, that occasionally it makes
mistakes. It is the hope of the staff of the paper that those
mistakes will be few and far between.
The paper is housed by the university, subsidized by the
students through the university and staffed by the university, but
it is not controlled by the university. The administration has no
right to dictate or influence what is covered in the pages of The
Gamecock, but it has the right to be treated with respect.
In the course of covering events and issues, a paper will of
fend people, because there are always two sides to every story. It
is not pleasant to offend people, but sometimes it has to happen.
But truth is the highest law of journalism. If something is
revealed through a truthful and accurate depiction, then it will
be published regardless of tK-* hurt involved, because that is the
responsibility of a student i .ess as well as any press. And The
Gamecock humbly pledges to wield that responsiblity with great
care.
The most important thing about The Gamecock is that it is
there for the students. Sometimes that is forgotten. The paper
does not solicit student response to issues and printed material,
but it certainly welcomes it from anyone who feels the need to be
heard. The only way to let a paper know its readers have opi
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guest editorial ? not to stand around griping.
As the paper is written, edited and produced by students, its
first responsibility is to the students. It will cover the university
and whatever affects the students it houses. The paper is not out
to tumble USC's administration, but it is also not there to be a
rubber stamp for its policies and actions.
The Gamecock will print both sides of every story, and it will
also print editorial opinions about issues, policies and events. It
will give fair comment and criticism based on fact, but it will
give opinions. If the administration does something the staff
thinks is beneficial, it will be the first to applaud it. But if it does
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condemn it.
It is the hope of the staff that this spring will be a productive,
stimulating time for the university, and it is also our hope that
The Gamecock can be a part of that.
f i'm
Oust Fine, i
fch. \ thank Yoo! '
I
| The Gamecock
Fditor in Chief Assistant Photography Fditor
JEFF SHREWSBURY KEITH JONES
Managing Fditor Senior Reporter
STEPHEN GUII.FOYI.fi MARY PEARSON
Copy Desk Chief Datehook Fditor
ANDY BECHTEL JENNYSHARPE
| Assistant Copy Desk Chief .(jraphics Fditor
EILEEN ROSS TROY TAGUE
News Fdilor Comics Fditor
TODD H1NES TRACY MIXSON
Assistant News Fditors
TONY MORENO
TOROD NEPTUNE Adviser
VlnumnSnl mi i n^/"rnt
Ticnpuiiii I'UMIM irn.L KWUIIR.I
BRAD FARRAR (Graduate Assistant
Features Editor KAREN ADDY
| PATRIC K JEAN Acting Student Media
Assistant Features Fditor Director/Advertising Manager
KEI.I.V MARSHA!.I. MARGARET M1CHELS
Sports Fditor Production
WAYNE WASHINCiTON CHUCK NORRIS
Assistant Sports Fditor SON HA
JIM STUCKEY Assistant Advertising Manager
Photography Kditor MELISSA HENDERSON
BRIAN SAULS
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There's something funny going on in music land.
People are making money off cover tunes of classic
'50s and '60s songs ? the same songs that made
the older generations twist across the floor.
But they're coming back from artists who were
just a twinkle in their mothers' eyes when the songs
were "way cool," "boss" or "heavy." They're being
bastardized.
1 guess it's something that's hard to fight. In the
right hands, a melody can grow from fledgling to
eagle. In the wrong hands, they simply make people
who know their spit from shinola a bit peeved.
Take Aretha Franklin's butchering of "Jumping
Jack Flash," for instance. Aretha's done her time
and all, and she got a stamp of approval from
Keith Richards, one of the Rolling Stones who
neipeu wrue ine song in me ous. /\rema suppea
up, and Keith should get that smokie out of his
mouth and realize he sold out in the worst way.
Then, going back a little, there's "Mony,
Mony" in a new tympanic mauling by Billy Idol.
Likewise, "1 Think We're Alone Now," has been
efficiently crucified by Tiffany.
Tommy James and The Shondells, who wrote
the originals, sold out to a 16-year-old girl without
a last name who played the finer shopping malls
across America and to a man with the rawest sneer
since Clint Eastwood who chose to slaughter it
because it was the first song he diddled to. So much
for sentiment.
A pair of elements that acted together caused
such a combustible reaction. First of all, there is a
new market for oldies, because the ones who grew
up rockin' 'n* rollin' in the era of good feeling are
Random note
Ah, yes, it's the start of another semester here at
our beloved university ? a chance to begin again in
a wonderful land of opportunity and adventure.
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Some people in my home state of Florida are going
bonkers again, screaming for an amendment to
the state's constitution to establish English as the
official language.
Actually, I love the English language, and 1 hope
to make a living by using it. It's a great language
with all its eccentricities. But nothing would be acrr\mr\licKn^
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Florida.
Advocates of the amendment say too much
Spanish is creeping into the state. Never mind that
such an amendment would be a subtle form of
discrimination.
Perhaps these advocates don't realize the name
of the state would have to change if the amendment
became a part of the constitution.
The name "Florida" comes from a Spanish
word meaning "flowery."
My good friend I rank, who recently shaved his
Letters to the
Speaker offends* d
A 1 A graphically
at graduation <>? ?
C showed nc
spirituality
To the editor: humanity i
I wish to express my anger and Sen. Hat
disappointment with USC's fall died becai
graduation ceremony this past Dec. God. thev
20, of which Sen. Mark Mat field's world or
address and the invocation were par- would thc>
ticularly offensive. their lifeti
Was it really Sen. Hatfield's place and bring
to preach the virtues of spirituality What of 1
while attacking others in the process? The Shape
By slighting the lives of such great call for s(
thinkers as H. G. Wells, Karl Marx MachiaveL
and Sigmund Freud solely on the struggle to
basis of their religious doubts, Sen. of Europe
I
ith classics litv]
11
now in the buying market.
It seems some marketing genius thought playing
them in the background of car and soda commercials
would revive those feelings and create a desire
to purchase.
Another reason is that the songs are simply so
classic they thought they may as well put them back
on the market.
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few tastes of the oldies. The revival is beginning,
though, thanks to a few recent hit movies.
Very few people do not own The Big Chill
soundtrack. Then a remarkable thing happened
when Ben E. King's "Stand By Me," the title track
of the movie by the same name, re-entered the top
40 list.
But the granddaddy of the revival appeared in
the late '70s when Animal House hit the big screen.
:s send semesti
beard, says he's been treated better by strangers
since he went for the clean-shaven look. He says
society discriminates against those with facial hair
and that bearded men are not trusted at first
glance.
Well, his hypothesis might be correct. A quick
glance at recent nominees to the Supreme Court
provides evidence that beards lead to trouble, as
both Robert Bork and Douglas Ginsburg fell by the
^ -
: editor
isplayed nothing short of had lost all hope, but rati
Hy also speaking so hoped to create a be
and uncaringly of the Perhaps Sen. Hatfield f
Stephen Foster, Hatfield complishments of Oral
>t only a serious lack of Jim and Tammy Bakk
on his part, but a lack of worth. Personally, if an;
is well. cause me to lose hope fo
field spoke as if these men it would be the ideals
jse, without a belief in minded conservative:
could see no hope for the Hatfield.
themselves. Why, then, Now, what about tl
' work so diligently during Christian invocation that
mes to reach the masses ly offended the literally
: about social reforms? graduates, faculty memt
Wells' fictional Utopia in sons in attendance who
of Things to Come and his Christian faith? The fa<
icial change in The New people are a minority a
HI What of Marx's 40-year not give this university th
aid the repressed workers nore or dispel their beli
? These were not men who sizable campus event.
i
?^ '1
TELL ME.
ABOUT" IT. / f
ites disaster j
There is one song that remains on the lips of;
everyone who's ever heard it ? "Louie, Louie." j
In the film, the tune was redone by John Belushi,
but you'd hardly know it. This song has become;
the grand master of oldies among the younger set:
since its appearance. The funny thing is, the mostpopular
version was a cover tune by TheKingsmen.
It began as a whimsical composition by
Richard Berry in the late '40s. :
So since there is no anthem for those who fight i
for the sanctity of oldies to revive in all iheici ^ ,
grandeur, here are the verses extracted alter careful
reasearch: I
Me fine little girl, she waits for me, j
Me catch a ship across the sea,
Me sail the ship all alone,
Me never know how I'll make it home.
Three nights and days I sail the sea, |
Me think of her, oh, constantly, ! ;
Out on the ship I dream she's there, |
I smell the rose in her hair. ; !
Me see Jamaica, the moon above, j j
It won't be long me see me love. j '
Me take her in my arms and then, j i
I tell her I'll never leave her again. j |
So very rarely does it work that songs get better [ j
when they are refined. Mostly though, the classics
are butchered. The oldies, despite their imperfections,
have earned the right to remain solid and not
be whittled away. j
er on its way i
wayside. But was it because of facial hair? Maybe, j j
maybe not. I
I saw a wonderful bumper sticker during the j
winter break: "Happiness is yelling 'Bingo.'" Yes, !|
it just might be the key to self-actualization, ,j
although I prefer nutt-nutt Rolf. !"!
Meanwhile, Rolling Stone magazine has started !
attaching ratings to the record reviews again. No, ;
this isn't the type of ratings Tipper Gore wants, but
ratings for the quality of the albums. Back in 1985,
the magazine dropped the ratings system, which in- ^
volves the use of stars, five being the highest, one
half the lowest.
Some claim ratings are bad because they detract
from the review itself. But what they really do is act
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about the reviewer's opinion of the LP in question.
At times, the review can be so convoluted it's impossible
to tell what the gist of it is. I
So the good news is Rolling Stone brought back
its ratings system. The bad news is George
Michael's Faith got four stars.
Ick.
\
ler men who the large number of foreign students
iter world. on campus, this is not a simple case
inds the ac- of naivete, but one of intentional
Roberts or disregard. One of the first things you
er of more learn in a religion class at USC is to
/thing could respect the idea of separation of
r this world, church and state. 1 anticipated this
of narrow- sort of contempt in high school, but I
> such as did not expect to find it at a statesupported
university.
le blatantly
undoubted- If the administrators of this school
hundreds of are so intent on making USC an infers
and per- ternationally reputable institution,
were not of they could begin by seeing beyond
;t that these this Bible Belt mentality and being ^
it USC does more thoughtful in the future.
le right to iglefs
at every Andrew Robinson
Considering Journalism junior
4