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Resignation Students deserve more input in selection of athletic director The resignation^ Athletic Director Dick Bestwick is too sudden to accurately, objectively evaluate, but it does give us a chance to re-evaluate the direction of the Athletic Department. One thing that needs to be stressed, as far as students are concerned, is the ticket situation. Students are understandably concerned with the allotment of tickets and also with their seeming inability to get tickets to the big games. The Athletic Department's decision not to offer validations for the upcoming Florida State game may help every student who wants a ticket get a ticket. But, then again, it may not. The nature of the ticket situation is what appalls most students, because we, all 23,000 of us, are only guaranteed a chance at the "student" 12,000 tickets. But, truth to tell, there aren't 12.000 student tickets. About 500 are taken out for the band, more than 900 are taken out for various kinds of athletes, including non-student prospects. Now, the university will say that 23,000 students have never expressed an interest in gettting tickets to the game. For most games, there are student tickets left over. Just like the alumni and Gamecock Club members, we are most interested in attending three types of games ? big games such as Georgia, Florida State and Clemson; openers such as the North Carolina game this year; and homecoming. And, like most alumni and Gamecock Club members, we are the rowdiest, loudest fans who cheer the team. And we're the reason the team is there. It is comprised of students. The band that more often plays to the West side of the stadium during halftime, and therefore not for the students, is comprised of students. The cheerleaders who get the wave going are students, and they almost always use the student sections to get it going. And students are still paying for the stadium where the game is played, the band performs and the cheerleaders "wave." Yet the attitude still exists, as it was so eloquently expressed by a USC trustee, that the students are beneath notice and the least important part of the university. . The Athletic Department makes mega bucks, and it uses most of that money to fund other sports at USC. But the profit is normally just horded up there or dribbled out every once in a while to areas of campus that need it, such as when Bob Marcum, lormer A.D., gave $500,000 to the library. But it was protits from just one televised football game, when the university was involved in at least two. A better example of the Athletic Department's attitude is the deal worked out last semester, kind of like Bestwick's first official act as A.D. USC President James Holderman, former S.G. President Michael Hogue and Bestwick cut a deal where the students would give the department all the tickets in section 501 for a year, and the department would give about $50,000 to help fund the Intramural Department. The attitude is students have to give something up to the Athletic Department before we can squeeze money out of its "vault." And funding intramurals is something most athletic departments at other universities do automatically. Students don't have to give up tickets. So yes, the resignation of Bestwick is too sudden to evaluate, but it is real easy to evaluate the opportunity this presents the students. This time, the university should form a search committee, and at least two students, one from S.G. and one other, should be allowed to sit in on it. We have too much at stake to let the university choose someone who will ignore the students. We've had too much of that lately. Thp^ Gamprnrk m M. mew -w -mr ~ -m 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 Assistant Copy Desk Chief Adviser kathy blackwell pat mcneely News Editor Graduate Assistant hal millard phillip mckenzie Assistant News Editors Director of Student Media steve pradarelli ed bonza mary pearson Advertising Manager Features Editor margaret michels susan nesbitt Production Manager Assistant Features Editor laura day tom joyner Assistant Production Manager Sports Editor ray burgos kevin adams Assistant Advertising Manager Assistant Sports Editor RARRARA RRowm CHRIS SILVESTRI ? Photography Editors BRIAN SAULS TEDDY LEPP 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. -m Columnisi Some more o' my infamous "anno trivialities," or, as they are called in i Notes and Quotes. I was hustled out o' The newsroom Saturday night to check ou in Douglas dormitory that turned oui But I found, milling in the crowds c people who had to "evacuate" the d< of guys singing the songs that make revolted inside. Classics such as "The and others were beautifully butch? young gentlemen. But they did perf good version of "I'm A Soul Man," o' like the Blues Brothers. So, to these gentlemen, from the Gamecock: (To the tune of "The S & M Man, the tune of "The Candy Man.) Who can make your face pale, and twist your guts around, just by singing songs that make turn and frown, the silly drunk boys, the silly drunk boys, 'Cause they have no self-contr pletely lack poise, the silly drunk boys. Gosh, sometimes I think I know people on the face o' the earth. If yc folio Magazine, you might have read Letters to Shuttle helped expose danger To the editor: As one of the coordinators of the shuttle service that ran the last two weekends, I would like to address several of the issues pertaining to the service, as well as clarify any of the points of confusion that may have arisen. rrom me oegmmng, we suessea a trial period, one weekend that became two after the response to our initial efforts. Our plan was not perfect; in fact, as we found out, it was far from it, but we were reacting in good faith in response to what we perceived to be and still feel is an emergency situation. Despite all the odds and obstacles that we seem to face at every turn, we were able to transport 120 students safely home. To us, disregarding everything else, this is the most important aspect of the system. The shuttle service also deserves credit for one other reason; it heightened campus awareness of the need of the shuttle to exercise caution. We appreciated the publicity given in The Gamecock, which certainly played a large key role in the success of the shuttle. And, yes, we do deem the shuttle to have been a success in the fact that we accomplished what was our central goal ? i\j get liic auuiiiiiduaiiuii, muuciii government or anybody to do something about the safety issue. A safety task force has now been created by Student Government President James Franklin to address the issues. We believe that, had we not taken the initiative, the safety problem would still be left untouched. That efforts are finally being made to remedy the safety problem will be the legacy of our shuttle system. A shuttle will not run this weekend. The task force will look at the issues and make appropriate recommendations for some kind of safety solution. Of course, there are no clear cut answers. We must, however, work together to provide some mechanism by which we can work with the students to provide for their safety. They must, of course, bear some of the responsibility for their actions, but we also should give them a means to acquire this responsibility, whether it be education or whatever. We commend President "URINE SM t's notes, q ying burps o' ???????? other papers, Gamecock t a fire alarm t to be false. Stephen ;; h? Guilfoyle : you feel all S & M Man" red by these W orm a pretty L_ dancing kind L?_ guy in The fiction by my friend and y< Mike, as he said many '' which is to written up in the magazine Center o' the Universe. But are friends, usually find sides o' the political spectru you want to o' the universe, that proba Tackle o' the Universe. Another friend o' mi ol and coYn- any o'this up, really ? has proclaiming nis name. He s "The Unknown Black N reports routinely list that tl the weirdest an "unknown B/M," wl >u read Port- rountinely print and tele i some o' the nouncers semi-rountinely b the editor Franklin in the creation of this task force and only wish that it could have been created earlier. Finally, we would like to thank all of the organizations and people that gave of their time and effort to the shuttle project. In particular, we thank Pi Kappa Alpha, Kappa Alpha, Beta Theta Pi, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Delta Upsilon, Leigh Stanton, Rick Gant, the student life graduate assistants and Jerry Brewet. To everyone who helped, you are appreciated more than you will ever know, by us and, more importantly, by those who took advantage of the shuttle system. You certainly can feel that you provided a good service. We do. Marie-Louise Ramsdale Sorority Council Service Chairwoman Soviet Studies junior USC activism lives, not dead To the editor: I would like to respond to the article written by Stephen Guilfoyle on Sept. 28. Stephen Guilfoyle has a point about a "lack of commitment." There seems to be a lack of motivation for social concerns, such as environmental problems, politics, etc. However, I disagree that things are for the worst. I am a little bit more of an optimist than you, Mr. Guilfoyle, and I see a growing number of people who are tired of vague solutions to enormous problems which won't be answered by short-sighted solutions. i 1- ?-i i see peupie who aic wiumg iu dedicate extra time to causes they support. Groups such as Greenpeace, the Alliance for Peace and Amnesty International are a few groups or causes people are starting to get involved with. To further my argument, there will soon be another group emerging from the woodwork of an apathetic and conservative campus. That group is Greenpeace. Greenpeace at USC will be an affiliation of the newly opened Greenpeace, the Southeast Nuclear Campaign, here in Columbia. (I am proud to say that I have an "active" role in both groups). It's easy to understand why you would say such groups are "invisible." It's discouraging to us, too. J3L ? el ^ (vPl.ES" uotes, bur ?? ? ?i^??I will not has chosen ti BttgRfch, being a good my friend's Found Durs, Mike Jasper. That report times in the small bio possibly beii , is the self-proclaimed case o' mista Mike and I, though we was at the I ourselves on different Benson, but m. So, if he's the center mistaken for bly makes me the Nose But he see Benson that meeting the i ne ? I'm not making He came i decided to get a T-shirt I'm Robby E decided to call himseir And, thou lale," because police he sounded le cops are looking for you're not." lich newspapers semi- He said, " vision and radio an- Ha ha. roadcast. Humor. I ' 'v For example, a representive of the House in South Carolina expressed her concern during a press conference over the GSX landfill being too close to Lake Marion. Did WISTV show that on their 7:00 Report? No. Their lead stories usually have to do with traffic accidents, fires or killings. Another example, Greenpeace held a silent vigil at SRP this past summer. WIS-TV broadcasted their coverage of this vigil on the 11:00 Report on a Saturday night! Does raolltr \i;o tr?V? tV10 1 1 -ATI any uuu)1 lvaiij tv ulvii mv i i .w Report on a Saturday night? I don't. Media is not only the one to blame, but people are too. It seems as though the students or people in the area have their priorities put in different orders. Some people or students want to know what's happening to them politically or to their environment, while some of them have other things on their minds. Could there be an epidemic of "social ignorance" on campus these days? Or, are people scared to be labled or associated with a radical group? Radical or not, Greenpeace is a very selfless group of people who are "socially conscious" of what's happening to their environment. Maybe you will thank us one day for our efforts. Yes, Mr. Guilfoyle, times have changed, but I now see that they are "a-changin" for the better! Melodie Moody Pharmacy major Greenpeace volunteer D liolv rlnKn4nrl u u a it ucuaicu with substance To the editor: I was very pleased last week to see Dukakis and Bush finally square off face-to-face in a nationally televised debate. However, it was very disturbing to see members of the press, and society in general, wrongly judge the outcome of the debate. Dukakis was improperly dubbed the slight winner simply because of his "eye-to-eye" contact with the camera, and lawyerly, Reagan-like eloquence in speech. What people failed to notice, however, was the substance of Bush's remarks. Bush repeatedly refuted the Warmth?*8* -n?.txnAti\^coNsrmftT?t^ S _J9p_ ps return list the name o' this friend because he 0 become a symbol instead o' a man. I, 1 reporter, will keep sacred the secret o' true identity and never reveal it. "s say, there were some cash involved. n the long list of my weird friends, are d Dip sisters. They're not sisters, but But they do ? or did ? share a pasito chips with various kinds o' dip. The , on many a wild evening last semester, lips by the pound and more than one and finish. something out for my fearless readers. I received about Rob by Benson lg at the Timothy Leary show was a ken identity. I met the gentleman who .eary show, and he doesn't look like looks like someone who would be Benson. ms like an OK guy ? the un-Robbie is. I've never had the pleasure of real McCoy. lp to me at a meeting and said "Hi, lenson." gh he looked ever so slightly like him, nothing like him, and I said, "No No, I'm not. I was just kidding." recognize that. Dukakis's poor attempts to undermine the present administration, while reminding America of the misery we lived in during the last Democratic tenure in the White House. Dukakis had to "eat crow" several times in the course of the evening, with his mention of low housing, when in fact housing is up; when he forgot to mention that interest rates are down more than 10 percent from the Carter administration's economic fiasco; when he haphazardly attempted to downplay some major opinion differences between him and his running mate; when Bush reminded America that Dukakis vehemently opposed the U.S. attack on terrorist traininghaven Libya; etc., etc.. When I go into the voting booth next month, I'm not going to vote for a candidate simply because he is more relaxed in front of a camera. I am going to vote for the candidate with the most experience, the best solutions to today's problems, the best running mate, the best leader for America! I'm voting for George Bush. Scott Saunders Journalism sophomore Service still 'good idea' To the editor: I applaud the Sorority and Fraternity councils for their bold effort thus far to provide a Five Points shuttle service. It is unfortunate that their efforts have been met with opposition rather than support. If we truly want to continue to upgrade the image 01 ine US>c, student initiated projects like the shuttle service should be backed 100 percent. If a USC student is injured either on or off campus, the entire USC community is affected. Instead of worrying about the liability of the project, those concerned should search for solutions to this obstacle. I'm sure there is a USC alumni in a position of authority at a local insurance company who would be more than happy to underwrite the service. I encourge the councils to continue the shuttle. Good ideas outlast their critics. John Cavanaugh Political Science graduate student