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5 Viewpoint February 8, 1988 THE GAMECOCK 3 Caucus Iowa's results should^ n* t j t i r i " political nopes oj aiso It's Feb. 8, and that means the Iowa caucuses a As the first formal voting operation of the 19; election, Iowa has taken on too much importance yearning to capture the "real" public's opinio didates' chances. A few things about Iowa's demographics and r. U . 1 ,1 rtimr/l no Un rMn/lio fnn miuuiu jnu u.> uu vjii vjui guai w ?o inv, mvuio results this evening. It's easy to be swayed by su cess in Iowa should mean just that. It should barometer for success across the country. Wh< Iowans and the media do our thinking for us. First, as has oeen noted by critics of the undue to Iowa's voters, Iowans arc a long way from I tativc of the country's population. The state's i tages of young people, minorities and urban ? lower than the nation's. This leaves the voting I older Americans. Second, as The Chronicle of Higher Educatiot Feb. 3 issue, although the political parties that c< in Iowa use this caucus to decide which delegate? national nominating convention, those votes ai After all this, the Iowans' decision may finally And we should keep in mind what has happ previous caucuses. Iowa has only had the earlii the country since 1972. This helped make it because Americans are always looking for the either attack or glide along on those coattails o In 1976, these primaries became disproporti tant. That was when Jimmy Carter, a strug Democrat, captured the Iowa primaries and rai ^ prise all the way to the White House. Iowa's vo all the political analysts off guard; it became a n it hasn't slowed down in election years since. Tli ironic about the voters surprising the experts made experts themselves. In 1984, the Iowans did it again. Gary Hart, a for national attention, got it simply because he c ter than the ana. ats and media had predicted. I1 strongly challenge Walter Mondale's campaij fellow Democrats Reubin Askew, Alan Cranstc hrnest Hollings and George McGovern bai presidential race because of their horrible show If the candidates who are beaten badly toda it's because everything beyond Iowa is still see ride. But maybe that's their problem. Because i is the candidates themselves, in a strange catch-2 #Mowa's importance. If the candidates don't conc they lose the media exposure. If they do emph continue the evele and even risk beine elimir where their ideas might not be welcome. Still, those who stay in deserve to be evaluatec perspective than Iowans provide. Certainly lov be made the early favorites, but that should be are simply good for Iowans, not all American* On March 8, 19 other states, mostly Soul primaries. Only those too bothered to think foi take the easy route and simply pay attention to As Hugh Winebrenner, Drake University profes ministration and author of The Iowa Precinc Making of a Media Event, said in that same issu cle of Higher Education, "Iowa has veto povv win the nomination, and that's just too much # because the pulse of the nation Iowa represents ; ^ all our blood. I ?n i"TI i Mrm l ^ ^ 4 rsooof mw;rum ^ ^ I | WVlWf W?^?V fWf't jr* 1 he bamec( j ??. ? . i? ?? I I Editor in Chief Photography I JEFF SHREWSBURY BRIAN SAULS Managing Editor Assistant Phot< I STEPHEN GUILFOYLE KEITH JONES Copy Desk Chief Senior Keporte ANDY BECHTEL MARY PEARSf Assistant Copy Desk Chief Datehook Edit EILEEN ROSS JENNY SHARP ^ News Kditor Graphics Editc TODD MINES ikim iaviui: Assistant News Kditors Comics Editor TONY MORENO TRACY MIXSC TOROD NEPTUNE Adviser Viewpoint Fdior B1I.I ROGERS PETE MACKEY (Graduate Assi Features Editor KAREN ADDY PATRICK JEAN ActinR Directc i Assistant Features Kditors Media/Advert CLAIRE DIEPENBROCK MARGARET V SUSAN NESBITT Production ! Sports Editor CHUCK NORR WAYNE WASHINGTON SON HA Assistant Sports Editor Assistant Advi ) j W JIM STUCKEY MELISSA HEN tellers Policy: Tht (,amrcock will try lo prlnl kH?r? rfc*l?rd. I.?tlrrs <hou word* lung. (in?M etlltorinli ihould not txcttd 500 word*. W? rtwrvt (hf ri,jht I libel. Tht Gamtco<k will nol withhold nimti under in> flrr umtlanre. I .tiler* Soclti Security number. i ll 1 t end H A 5ATl5fACTOi -rans 111 fi)R M5t ids us the Iowa t icccss, but sue- |||| lf?jk ; attention paid j^fli j being represenrelative pereen- t| ireas are much ^ ~ to white, rural, i reported in its MotH 3ntrol the event ; will attend the I . ||j re not binding. . / . 1 " 1 W est primaries in a media event r B 1jwyt |"k OOd frontrunner, to JL UJM.W I1A9 V f success. innitplv imnnr- 11 was a real shocker at Wednesday ! c u Senate meeting when Sen. Amy Black g Igling boutnern suggested the Senate do away with perce n with that sur- ding once and for all. iters had caught Her move came as an amendment to najor story, and posed by Finance Committee Chairr lerc's something McElveen. IT i " The student activities fees work like tl and then being 14,500 Students pay about $95 in acti each every semester, which raises a rnnntrvr lr\r\l/inrt T It ?> nrl #?? 1 #11 c / rn 1 i r\ ti sinsf tho it ^VliaiUI 1UUM115 ihiiiiwh. I Mt uurriinucruiii/n m/?u imc h lirl <;n murh hot- fund take more than half of that amour I enabled him to ",e '?p- and Sena,e is lefl w"h abo" ... to allocate each semester. gn. Meanwhile, Percentage funding works like this: >n, John Glenn, administration gets its cut, the Senate is :ked out of the allocate the rest to student programs ant 'ings in Iowa Ri^u ?ff the toP ?f what's lef'> " y just drop out, I'erce," of ,hat money, about $375,01 J J 1 areas: Student Media gets 25 percent ;n as a downhill Program Union, 22 percent; Student G( n many ways, it 9.5; and sports clubs, 6 percent. !2, who continue Percentage funding is liked only by ent rate on Iowa benefit from it and is hated by those wfi asize Iowa, they a fai[ s,ha?ke- Non-percemage-fundedar y not only have to submit a budget during latcci by a State tions process, they have to justify and f amount of money they want. i from a broader The Gamecock, through Student Mec va's winners will all. The winners (JllllieSe CI thern, will hold , . . ,, . . A . 0. , . . ... Isn t it good to be in America? I just r r themselves will tn pnfi n,,. ^nmiuh nhmit me Iowa's winners. Some folks, though, might be a littl SOr of public ad- lately by the kinds of things going on i t Caucuses: The land. The presidential elections are ar f of Thp Chrnni- ant* ^cw stan^outs remain. Attorney < Meese is all tangled up in a Mideast pi; er over wno can an(j (?ie investigation is just beginning power." That's Facts of Life girls are stillgrowing up o should flow with together, even though they're approach o! i ne uoiaen uiris. /\na nere on camp solve the Golden Spur issue. Bummer, " But despite these things, it's still prett ?r?? be in America. We've got d< . ?-? I. ? microwavable food products, the ' ^ | 1 ?r 3-G" comic strip and Chinese restaui ! I I dig Chinese food as many of you o i I ft-l" "*" anc* l*ie Ch'nese know this because t ~ j many restaurants in just Columbia. A fT"*" research through my phone book, I ^ places that at least sounded Chinese. Tl ? ?I?> 23 places to get sauteed bamboo sh I chestnuts and moo goo gai pan ga! ^ l yummy. 1 When I first discovered Chinese foot I 1 young and still not eating my vegetal Jul "j I """ tunately there's not much else to Oriei II?i?|"i~ =?" There are green ones and orange ones 0|.? ?X? ?- ? white ones all thrown together in a zest I ( 1 ate them anyway. 1 even chowed on the bamboo sh talking about a kid who wouldn't touc 11 at home. There 1 was eating the close: tree I ever will and enjoying it. But I sa -I [Letters to Rules prohibit Dgraphy Editor a endorsements )N As president of the College or Republicans, I feel that it is time to F. answer some annoying questions that >r arise everywhere I go. The primary question I am referring to is who the club plans to endorse for the >N Republican nomination. There is also the question that asks why the club does not take a more active stance s<ani during the primaries. As far as I am concerned, these are >r of Student vcry easy Ql,^tions to answer isino Manaver because the UMJ chapter, the state IICHF.I S anc* l^e na,'ona' bylaws in the constitution of the College Republicans (S prohibit any chapter from endorsing i any candidate for the nomination. It [Mlsing Mutineer ? f?' <hal ?<f>" ??'. ">? IOFRSON Republicans take a passive role during the primaries. id t?r, 11 * mitimum, ?oto wo My personal feeling on these quesiifdiiirtimfnrtDirorpo?^tbi* tions is that endorsing a candidate mutt Include writer ? name and . ... early would hurt the stability of the m i College Republicans. 1 have already / RY WILL M M B HY fXPLAlNATlOtJ M 1 :ome to end perc 's Student ;ot up and .. ntagc fun- 'f Jpfc* nan Steve Stephen his: About Guilfoyle > ivities fees bout $1.4 ^ onorariunt W mp it right off ??g t $600,000 After the allowed to its budget, but percentage funding guarantees I /activities. allotment, j.ust like for the rest of Student Me* gives 62.5 and all the committees of CPU. X), to four Do you think that's favoritism? I'm not su , Carolina because the case could be made that some stud' ivernment, senators are not particularly fond of Stud Media, especially I he Gamecock, and others hi those who expressed outright contempt for CPU and 10 don't get sometimes sloppy way it conducts its business. ganLzatious _ ..But ii certainly makes it easy for the percenta ; the alloca- funded groups. "The Big Four" just have to ight for the ticipate how many students will pay the fee ? plug that amount into the formula. lia, submits There are some reasons for percentage fundi lisine makes Am eallv Invp it I e dismayed peline deal. U gy / y groovy to emocracy, 1 'Apartment rants. "If it's good enough for more than a billion p ut there do, pie, then it's good enough for me." here are so I went to a Chinese place this weekend, am fter painful was great. What made it all the better was the counted 23 vice, which was lickety-split and courteous as lat'sat least waiters and waitresses always are. They were e oots, water kind to the loud, obnoxious, fat Southern lad; lore. Oooh, the corner who was making a scene over her cl suey and "how cute the little Chinamen" are. i, I was very And how about the chopsticks? I'll have to )les. Unfor- mit that eating with a pair of twigs isn't what n ntal cuisine. people think of as a good time. At least there , but mostly always forks in American Chinese restaura y sauce; but That's probably why American babies are so rvArvr t AlC tn hnVJ 1 IIV puui IllllV* VIIIIIV3V IV'U IIM'V ?W IVHI II ! */. oots. We're use chopsticks before they can eat solo. I g h even a pea chopsticks are also the reason many Chinese d st thing to a eat peas. id to myself, But they sure know how to cook a mean bate the editor seen this beginning in the club the paramount rij because there are tensions between many of our forefi the members who are for Dole, Bush died. and Kemp, and this tension will continue to grow until Super Tuesday. If the club was to ever break regulations and endorse one candidate over the other, there would be many pro- ' blems, including hurt feelings and endangered friendships. These problems could even threaten to divide and destroy the unity of the College all Republicans as an organization. Thp?/? ri?.W<; have hf?lr\p/l me In rnn. nnc ni*n elude that the club would do a better service to the candidates and the To the editor: students who follow them by remain- The College Rep ing neutral until the convention. held this past Wedi Some members of the USC com- gimmick for incr munity may not agree with these membership, but beliefs, but the club feels in order to about how student maintain its integrity and high stan in the primary, dards these regulations must be First, in order followed. Finally, I want to urge all had to pay a $3 po USC students to take part in the join the College political process, regardless of whom South Carolina vol you plan to support. As citi/ens of in a particular this great nation, we must exercise therefore, the stra^ I I f irs hot mm/ / S mmrguims? Ut t Mt mrt / u ? r.iklilpp [ TIL Aim i n mwmmw ) h ow \u y irn^ NO oHt ) WAb W/AILHINb W \ Wm I U II II I II I I entage funding "1 but when I've had it explained to mc it seemed very | warped. And percentage funding is not very I popular, so talk is always raised about doing away I with it. I This amendment would require every committee of CPU to submit budgets, which they would have to justify to the Finance Committee just like any organization. This amendment would require the editors of The Gamecock to learn some practical accounting, because our budget would be judged ! not as a percentage of Student Media's but on its own merits, just like any other club or organization. ?* That shouldn't be too tough. As long as percentage funding has been around, the people have talked about giving it the boot. But no Jia one has had the guts to actually do something to accomplish it until Wednesday's meeting. So three re, cheers to Sen. Black. ent She did. ent And if she can convince a majority of the Senate ave that percentage funding's day has come and gone, the maybe USC student organizations will finally be rid of an outdated funding plan that is" so pr'eTefengc tial it seems nearly bigoted. an- Then the only obstacles would be S.G. President ind Michael Hogue's and USC President James Holderman's signatures. That will be, as called in ng, song and story, "the hard part." lerica all right "" noodles. A fabulous fact is that the Chinese were the inventors of noodles and created the prototype of spaghetti, not the Italians. Some inventive Roman had the wits to top them with pizza sauce and throw in some meatballs, and thus the Italians get all the credit. So now you know that the Chinese were slurping noodles long before Nero fiddled or Caligula diddled. My favorite part of the whole meal is the fortune cookie. I don't know if it's an actual practice in China or if Americans just expect thern. I doubt the kids come home from school and Mom offers them a sample of a freshly baked batch. And if it is a common treat there, then do their messages say stuff such as "Good luck smiles upon you" or "A ieo- beautiful lady will give you a special message"? No; considering it's communist China, I'd bet the d it messages arc political propaganda such as "Red 'til ser- I'm dead" or "Contraception is being a good the citizen." ven My first experience with a fortune cookie was y in not so pleasant. After swallowing a pile of bamboo hnn and steamed cabbaize. I had earned mv reward of a cookie. My older brother assured me that it was ad- filled with frosting, so I took a big savory bite. 1 lost got the message (or I should say fortune), and I'm are much wiser today for the lesson. Fortune cookies nts. must be taken with caution. fat. So there are plenty of opportunities to do v to Chinese right around here. Get out there, get some uess and experience just a little of what being in on't America is about. Just be certain there arc plenty of Doritos at home when you get hungry again two h of hours later. ^ht for which so dependents and Democrats who may athers fought and decide to vote in the Republican primary on March 5, but who do not wish to be officially associated with a K. J. Cousar Republican organization. The poll Business junior (ax ajso cxc|u(jctj those students who Pr?Wem, not ^ave jn their pockets. >llege Republicans Another problem with the poll was that votes were not countcd until Thursday evening at the C.R. If meeting. Where were the ballots duriiW poll ing the interim? A third problem was also evident. What was stopping Democrats from ^ joining C.R.s so they could vote for an unpopular candidate and skew the ublican straw poll vote totals? nesday was a great Now, 1 am not going to say that easing their club this poll was a valid or an invalid init proves little dicator of student opinion, but 1 was s will actually vote very surprised to see such a questionable contest legitimized by front to vote, students page coverage in The Gamecock. By II tax and agree to the way, I did not participate in this Republicans. In unprofessionally-conducted poll. ters do not register political party; Janice M. Kraft m poll excluded in Management/marketing senior