Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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No access Quayle wrong to make media 'cut deals' for interview time Sen. Dan Quayle, R-Ind., the Republican candidate for vice nrociHant x/ici + rkrl Cofur^oir'c Unll noma o* yi coiuwiii, vianv^u jaiuiua) a luuiuaii gaiuw anu waiuitu 111c Gamecocks beat the Tar Heels. For those who were there, you may have seen the candidate speak to a crowd for a few minutes, and you may have seen Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., defending the candidate and you may have seen Gov. Carroll Campbell with both of them. You're not really going to see much about that visit in this paper. He was here, and if you happened to bump in to him in the bathroom in the Williams-ferice Stadium press box, you may have seen him in the flesh. But that's all there was. One of the photographers for The Gamecock who was covering the game saw him leaving the bathroom and said something to him. A columnist saw him in the bathroom later in the evening. But when a reporter tried to get access to the press box where the candidate was sitting ? just to ask him if he was enjoying the game ? he was brushed away by a Secret Service agent. The agent said, "I'm sorry, sir, but a number of deals have been cut for the senator's time, and I'm sorry, sir, but you can't see him. Good day." That meant "Scram. Now." This is disturbing. The candidate did a little walking around, talking to the public, but throughout the game he was mostly in a private area reserved for the press, away from the public. And even the press couldn't get near him ? not without cutting deals. Any news organization that did cut a deal with this candidate should be ashamed. If a person or some member of the media has to promise something to get access to someone in public Office than a rmintrv ic a cham He should have been available to whomever wanted to see him, someone who could or couldn't cut a deal acceptable to the party. Access to public figures and to public records is the most important part of our free society. How can we affect change or let a candidate know how we feel about an issue if we can't get to him? It's unfair and un-American. No public official, be he the mayor of Podunk or the president of the United States, should be so lofty an icon that the general public and the press must bow and kiss the toe of his statue before we are allowed to see that official. The press is continually striving for access to officials and their records ? not because we get juicy stories from them, but because the public has a right to know what is going on. And the access laws, more importantly, are there for the public to use itself. Freedom of information and access to that information ? and those who create that information ? is one of the many cornerstones of our freedoms. But apparently that's a lesson the candidate and his staff have yet to learn. V..AND DUKAKIS PREVENTED LITTLE SCHOOLCHILDREN FROM RECITING THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE' The Gamecock Best Non-daily Collegiate Newspaper, Southeastern Region Society of Professional Journalists, 1987-88 Editor in Chief Datebook Editor STEPHEN GUILFOYLE JENNY SHARPE Managing Editor Graphics Editor SON HA MICHAEL SHARP Copy Desk Chief Comics Editor WAYNE YANG TRACY MIXSON News Editor Adviser HAL MILLARD PAT MCNEELY Accictont n. ,. PHStnr Graduate Assistant STEVE PRADARELLI P"ILEIP ^KE^ZIE., . MARY PEARSON Director of Student Media ED BONZA Features Editor Advertising Manager SUSAN NESBITT MARGARET MICHELS Assistant Features Editor Production CHUCK DEAN LAURA DAY Photography Editors RAY BURGOS BRIAN SAULS Assistant Advertising Manager TEDDY LEPP BARBARA BROWN Letters Policy: The Gamecock will try to print letters received. Letters should be, at a maximum, 250 to 300 words long. Guest editorials should not exceed 500 words. We reserve the right to edit letters for style or possible libel. The Gamecock will not withhold names under any circumstance. UyM ? r''"' ? ^ Columnist ri Waxing poetic. It was a day of stark contrasts the light blue sky was scattered with clouds black death. Waxing prose-ish. For two hours before i game, the winds would blow the black cloi away, but they'd just come right back. Kind of like what happened on the field. What happened on the field? The light, blue a white Tar Heels of the University of No Carolina were trying to blow away USC's Bh Death, but the Gamecocks kept coming back, a in the end, they prevailed. Well, actually, they prevailed in the beginni and just kept moving. To use a cliche, the 'Co< never looked back. For example? Like, to pick out one of the n faces on the offense, Carl Piatt. He never look back during his touchdown run of about 40-yar He grabbed one of Todd Ellis's many passes that night, spun around and (INSERT PREVIOl CLICHE HERE). What was Todd's reaction? "It was a much b 4 U,. > > T1 ~11 J lci pi ay uy \^an man uy inc. i nai 5 nui an inuu ty from the junior quarterback. Piatt noted I position of one of the defensive players, made adjustment and went up the middle of the field stead of down the sidelines. Ugliness of i Hate is a peculiar legacy of man. It manife itself in all of us at one time or another, manifested itself in the twisted hearts of Sirh Sirhan and James Earl Ray. It manifested itself the South for hundreds of years and now h spread to include not only such backward rui areas as South Carolina, Georgia and Mississif but Orange County, Calif., and Chicago, 111. This is a parable of sorts, and yet it is true. It meant for everybody, because nearly everyone guilty. This is a story not only of hate, but hateful people. It is easy for journalists, who high and mighty at their typewriters, to pontifict about such things. It is easy for them to critici others. But this isn't about people I have never n or about people whose minds I think are warp and small. Instead, these hateful people are people I knc and love. My sister and I are aberrations. Raised in t South by a stern father who was very conservath we still managed to escape his dogmatic views the world and maintain a liberal political ideoloj My father was a strong man who loved his fam dearly and raised his children to be independt ana strong in tneir own ngni. unnice mm, i v, fortunate enough to go to school with blacks a to learn from them. But no baptism or se realization that we are all as one can complet< purge the hate and racism in a Southern bo; heart. I am as guilty as anyone. But I am frequently chided in my family for r liberal views, and the fact that several members my family have been unable to change with t times is unsettling. My father died when I was Police do m< It could have been worse. It could have been a lot worse. One of my best friends came down to the gai Saturday from Chapel Hill to sample Sou Carolina tailgating. He ended up having one of t worst experiences in his life at the hands of peoj who are supposed to exude hospitality ai assistance. I just hope this doesn't happen to visitors to our school. If it does, I can understai why South Carolina comes under so mu criticism. Randy just graduated from a graduate prograi and he had a free weekend to see his Tar He< play. He told me he has always liked t uamecocics anyway ana wantea to see now t "real" Carolina puts on a game. I could tell he w hurting for a good time. He came in for the game Saturday morning. \ milled around until about 3:30 p.m., met t tailgating crew and left for the game. Everything was going great. Randy was sure impressed by a Carolina day ? but then it starte As we were walking into the stadium, Ram realized he had lost his wallet with all his mon and his ticket in it. He didn't know where he hi lost it, and it was five minutes until kickoff. He had to go back to the car and retrace his ste and hope he had set it down somewhere. At abo 7:30 p.m., he knew he had dropped it somewher and it was truly lost. His first thought was to go to the stadium ai see if anyone had found it and turned it in. No 01 had. It was frustrating for him to have come so f pn 1 U&Ntg I ambles about U Guilfoyle ^ :ks l But, modesty aside? The ball got to Piatt ! ew somehow. ;ed What was Piatt's reaction? "It felt good, real < s. gooa. xi jusx nappenea 10 oe rne nrsi xoucnaown i of pass Piatt has taken into the end zone in his college 1 US career. i What was the fans' reaction? Total i et- pandemonium, from the noise, so it must have felt es- good for them too. Real good. < the How about that Piatt? Piatt played every game 1 an last season, including the Gator Bowl. He caught in- nine passes for 113 yards. And he rushed once, for a 1-yard gain. j racism still stain sts j sit VTa. ize ???a let years old, but his legacy lives on, not necessarily in t ed me but in relatives of mine. h His legacy is twofold. One uncle, on my I )w mother's side of the family, loved him for what he ' taught him of honor and duty. He has since retired s from the Army as a distinguished veteran of two a he wars and is probably the most respected member of t /e, our family. Another uncle, also on my mother's t of side, loves him for another reason. s ;y. This other uncle and I recently had a living room a ily debate on George Bush and Michael Dukakis. :nt Although neither candidate is spectacular, I fought 'as for Dukakis as any proud democrat would. But the c nd simple debate took on nasty proportions. v If- "Do you remember much about your dad?" the t ;ly second uncle asked. * h f s "Sure," I replied. e "Well, what do you think you'd be like if he was a alive?" he asked. r ny Remembering that my father was a school prin- t of cipal who placed great emphasis on his children's c he education and also remembering how I have a ; 8 squandered much of my education because of ore harm than g )lC J ff he L????????????he and then only be able to hear the crowd. h as Things were looking dark for his day. c The people at the stadium told him to go to the Ve state troopers and see if they had it. He figured the b he police would be there to help. k Boy, was he surprised. o :ly Randy ran into almost instant static. The police tl d. were cold to him at best and were reluctant to help. h dy After a few minutes of treating him like a leper, ey giving him the runaround and third degree, they b ad sent him to the magistrate's office inside the ji stadium to see if it could be there, ps It was, but the police were not happy to help him n ut by any means. They again grilled him and treated si e, him like a non-human. They were cold and obnox- b ious to him. Finally, after they had ascertained that n id it was indeed his wallet, they said he could not ci ne leave the magistrate's office until he had taken a tj breathalizer test. n ar Why? What earthly reason could they have had k DtfesfeiV \ SC football I But? But he was playing behind the likes of Sterling Sharpe and Ryan Bethea, as well as Danny Smith, Kevin White and Hardin Brown, and of that prestigious crew, only Brown returns. So? So some people said the Gamecocks might have a problem with their wide receiving corps. Did we? Think again. Ellis threw 290 yards worth of passes to somebody, and it wasn't me. Who was it? It was Piatt, Brown, Anthony Parlor, Eddie Miller and George Rush. And ? Harold Green. Last year, with the run-and-shoot ? Dffense, people kind of expected the ball to be {thrown to Sharpe or to Bethea. But when they had ? those two covered, it always seemed funny how ? Smith popped up. Or White. Or Brown. This year, the best thing that happened to the Gamecocks because of the loss of last year's receiv- *ing crew is the lack of a "No. 1, heir apparent" ? ? because we've got the field covered with receivers 1 who can get the job done, and a defense can't cover ? all of them all the time. A reporter asked Parlor if it felt like the "Ghost I 3f No. 2" was out there with the Gamecocks, ? haunting the young receiving corps. Parlor said, "No." So what's your point? It should be an interesting ? year. ~ is America IS ID ') OH,-' * < VjV.'-s j?** k aziness, I replied I would probably be a Rhodes iCholar or at least a Phi Beta Kappa candidate. *' But I was on the wrong track. "I loved your dad," he said. "He made me what * am today." He compared him to Jesse Helms and George Vallace, two men I must admit I loathe for what hey stand for. It was not how I wanted to remember my father. He said that if he still lived I too would have the late characteristic of the men my father admired. I vould be racist, too. In my uncle, whom I love and always respected is the funny man and the lovable black sheep of he family, I suddenly saw, very clearly, the lideous flicker of hate I had only glimpsed before. saw a man who unashamedly admits he hates 'niggers," a man who says that Vietnam vets, who uffered through an unjust war only to be scorned ind ignored when they returned to the states, are rash and would have become trash whether or not hey had gone over there or not. I saw a man who creams murder over abortion, but would not shed - tear over the lynching of a black man. There seems to be an increasing mind set these lays that harkens back to darker days when "white vas right." I am disgusted and disturbed, and even hough I will always love my uncle for his wit and lis compassion for his family, I am deeply asham:d. What has precipitated this hate I do not know, md I cannot fathom how someone can harbor so nuch hate with so little justification. But just >ecause he is in my family doesn't mean I will con;+ \\n+U oil T 11. vv mi aauu^aa, an i wan say iu 111111 id, i uu ire wrong ? you are very wrong." And he is not alone. ;ood at game o test him when all he wanted to do was get his vallet back and see the game? He passed the ireathalizer test easily. They neither said thank you >r sorry for the trouble. There is no reason for them to treat anyone seekng help like that. It wasn't as if he had gotten Irunk and urinated on Gov. Carroll Campbell's ar. All he wanted was his wallet. I hope all state troopers treat people like that as a eneral rule. Visitors come to Carolina to be reated well and to enjoy the hospitality. They lon't come to be subjected to harassment and lumiliation. He wanted the police's help, and they shunned im. But worse than that, they treated him like a riminal. He holds no ill feelings about the incident iecause he got his wallet back, and he's just that ind of guy. But what if this happens a lot to a lot f visitors? Do you think this is the kind of thing tie S.C. Chamber of Commerce really likes to ear? I've heard of people getting treated like dirt efore by the state troopers on game days, but I ast didn't want to believe it. I believe it now. T inct hrmp nennlp u/hr* haw r.c.ivpH cii/~h treat. lent in the past have not carried ill feelings around ince. I hope their experiences have kept them from elieving that this is the typical way South Caroliians treat visitors. It is not typical. But it is inidents such as this that can perpetuate the mentali/ that backward Southern cops bother visitors for o good reason. A little bad press like this can go a >ng way.