The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 10, 1988, Page 3, Image 3
Racists?
The Gamecock staff not racist;
* * . ..
such, charges irresponsible lies
In The Gamecock Friday, an irate reader made a charge. The
Gamecock didn't run photographs of USC's Homecoming to
the sufficient satisfaction of the letter writer. And apparently,
the staff is racist because editors chose not to run a photo until
Wednesday and chose not to run a story at all.
This is a serious charge that The Gamecock must respond to,
and to respond, The Gamecock will quote A1 Smith, a man who
ran for the Democratic presidential nomination against Franklin
Delano Roosevelt.
Smith said, "No matter how thin you slice it, it's still
baloney."
First, yes, the photo wasn't the best photo, but our
photographers are beginners trying to learn their trade ? and
doing a pretty decent job. And they are honestly trying to do
better and are succeeding.
Second, our photo choice was based on the decision of our
editors. The last time The Gamecock checked, none of its |
editors were racists, overt or covert. In fact, they are as far from \
racist as possible.
Third, our editors decided not to run a homecoming queen ar- r
tide because they felt it would have been a fluff piece, which,
given our tight space, can never take precedence over important
issues such as possible censorship and definite protest (The Last ^
Temptation of Christ); a long awaited program of great benefit
to students (phone registration); help for a large portion of 1
students ( a center to help female students); and continuation of "
the crime coverage (police report).
The letter is disheartening. First, it accuses the staff of pre- '
judice, but it bases that accusation on nothing.
To quote,4'It seems to me that this is a racial issue. In my opinion,
Nanette Graham, Miss Homecoming '88, has been cut (
short of the glory, which the queen usually receives because of {
her color." f
"It seems. . . In my opinion," are the active words on which t
the letter writer bases her most serious charge. There is nothing r
else in the letter on which she bases her ludicrous claim.
The letter offers no proof, not one iota of evidence. The letter r
writer assumes that because The Gamecock staff is mostly c
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to the queen was made because the staff is composed of a bunch j
of racists.
Seems to us that's prejudice. c
The letter writer just assumed the worst, without giving the r
staff the benefit of the doubt that our decision was based on "
news judgement and a desire to give the best, most serious news ?
to the USC campus. She just assumed, because a majority of J
staff member are white, that we made a decision based solely on F
Miss Graham's color. v
Her assumption, her letter, are prejudiced and racial, not our h
coverage. *
The other disturbing part of her letter may explain the pro- 1
blems The Gamecock encounters from time to time with all
types of students and student organizations.
She says, in her letter, * 'Furthermore, I feel that The c
Gamecock staff should refrain from allowing their prejudices u
(to determine) the amount of publicity that is given to issues in- 1
volving minority students."
We can tell her and every other student how much publicity 0
we'll give their events ? none. PR is not our job. It is our job to Sj
print the news, and every year we get better and better. a
Every now and then, a student organization comes up with the ('
bright idea that the news/editorial department is responsible for ?
publicizing their event. It's not so. a
Sometimes, the features desk will pick an event to cover.
There was a preview of Homecoming events about two or three s<
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highlighting the events. They weren't publicizing it. w
The Gamecock's editors make story decisions based on J)
newsworthiness and available space. The paper only averages a
eight pages an issue, so a decision to run a puff piece on the o
homecoming queen instead of covering important events and ?
controversial topics would mean we're not doing our job.
It's our job to print the news. And we did, and will continue
to do our job. w
If you don't like our news judgement, write us and tell us. But
don't fantasize reasons and make irresponsible charges about
this staff when you don't know the character of the people up
here.
Calling The Gamecock racist is a lie.
The Gamecock 1
i
Best Non-daily Collegiate Newspaper, Southeastern Region ^
Society of Professional Journalists, 1987-88 j.,
Editor in Chief Datebook Editor
STEPHEN GUILFOYLE JENNY SHARPE a
Managing Editor Graphics Editor a
SON HA MICHAEL SHARP c
Copy Desk Chief Comics Editor t]
WAYNE YANG TRACY MIXSON w
Assistant Copy Desk Chief Adviser n
KATHY BLACKWELL PAT MCNEELY p
News Editor Graduate Assistant vv
HAL MILLARD PHILLIP MCKENZIE C(
Assistant News Editors Director of Student Media C(
STEVE PRADARELLI ED BONZA
MARY PEARSON Advertising Manager d
Features Editor MARGARET MICHELS n
SUSAN NESBITT Production Manager it
/I93i9iaui icaiuics uuuui LAURA DAY O
TOM JOYNER Assistant Production Manager s<
Sports Editor RAY BURGOS T
KFVIN ADAMS t
Assistant Sports Editor ultuTo Advertising ManaSer ^
CHRIS SILVESTRI ARBARA BROWN p
Photography Editors ^
BRIAN SAULS Ol
TEDDY LEPP w
Letters Policy: The Gamecock will try to print letters received, l etters should be. at a maximum, 250 to 300 1 words
long. Guest editorials should not exceed 500 words. We reserve the right to edit letters for style or possible W
libel. The Gamecock will not withhold names under any circumstance.
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*
MZME ?88
^BATIAUTA oxmrirnoM
Letters to
Movie protests
unfounded
ro the editor:
A quote from Mary Pearson in the
Dct. 3rd front page article "Movie
mngs controversy," underlines a big
>roblem with all The Last Temptaion
protests of late, in fact, with
nany protests in general: . .'The
Jfe of Brian,' which portrayed Jesus
is the son of a prostitute. ..." This
novie classic by the Monty Python
:rew certainly does not portray Jesus
n any way, shape or form. The story
s of Brian, who was mistakenly
hought to be the Messiah by the
'Wise Men," who, in the rather
omic opening scene, suddenly
ealize their mistake and burst back
nto the infant's home to take their
;ifts across the street to the real
esus,
The point, of course, is that the
irotestor had absolutely no idea
yhat he was protesting against since
le quite obviously had not actually
iewed the movie. How many people
rotesting against the movie The Last
remptation of Christ have seen it?
In the same article, Kelly Clary is
[uoted as saying, "We were there as
idividuals to tell people what Jesus
Christ is really like, instead of the
-'ay the movie portrayed him."
'hat's an awfully large boast, to say
hat you have lived long enough to
ave met Jesus. That is somewhere
n the order of 2,000 years; I can
afely say I know no one else as old
s that! And you know what we he
s? Hmmm) "really" like? In fact,
ow can anyone alive today say they
now what life was like 2,000 years
go?
Maybe their protests would mean
amething if they had the education
.e. facts) behind them to back up
'hat they say. On the other hand, the
eople who say that censorship is bad
o know what they are tallking
bout: America is all about freedom
f choice. And we have seen enough
msorship around to know that it extc
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now that it is bad. If something of;nds
you, do not associate yourself
ith it.
John J. Gemmill
chemistry graduate student
Racism charges
unbelievable
\) the editor:
This is in response to Arethia B.
lyatt's unbelievable letter labeling
he Gamecock and its staff as being
acist.
First off, although Homecoming is
time for celebrating, the students,
lumni and Gamecock fans do not
onsider the crowning of the queen
le highlight of the day. I'm sure ?
'ithout speaking for people I have
o business speaking for ? it can be
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'ere more concerned with the outome
of the game instead of the outame
of a beauty contest.
Secondly, it seems to me that you
o not have any idea of how or why a
ewspaper works. A newspaper's
lain concern is to inform its public
f the news. In this day and age, cenarship
of any kind is news,
herefore the story on The Last
emptation of Christ should have
in. Information about the "Five
oints shuttle" (a service that may
ave already saved the life of one of
ur fellow students) is news. Who
as crowned Homecoming Queen
)88 is not front page material. What
ould you write the story on
lyway? She waved, she wiggled, she
the editor
won ? big deal. Maybe if there
wasn't a game to back up the event it
would have been news Saturday, but
not three days later.
Just when I thought I had heard it
all, Ms. Hyatt comes up with the absurd
idea that this was a racial issue.
I'm sure the staff sat around the office
and thought it all out.
". . . since the black one won, let's
not put the story on front page. Put
this unimportant story about the
shuttle in its place and not even write
the story." I'm sorry, but I just don't
see it happening this way.
The world becomes a scary place
when you find racism every time you
turn around. Next thing you know,
people will call it racism if they see
me sitting across from my white
friends instead of next to them.
Racism is stupid, and the people who
keep it alive are stupid. If you don't
like the coverage on the homecoming
queen (or anything else for that matter)
say so. Don't turn things into a
racial issue that are not racial issues.
Becky Huntley
journalism sophomore
Use street savvy
iu suiyc puitviiig
To the editor:
Your publication has given much
coverage to the parking situation at
USC. The problem, however, is not
parking. The problem is dependence
on the automobile. USC students insist
on the car and the parking space
as a God-given right. It will be much
easier to change this attitude than to
create more parking places on a campus
where space is at a premium. The
following are several ideas designed
to reduce automobile dependence at
USC.
1. Create a more efficient shuttle
system. Scrap the small Shuttlecocks
and purchase larger buses. Scrap the
circuitous routes for faster point-topoint
routes. For example, establish
a central-campus terminal and
several outlying ones. A route from
the Pendleton Street parking lot to
the Bates House parking lot using
Pickens Street would provide a quick
way to park and ride to Gambrell,
Humanities, the BA Building,
Capstone and Columbia Hall. A
similar point-to-point route would
travel from the central campus to
vast parking lots at the coliseum via
Pendleton Street. Russell House and
Thomas Cooper Library could be
another central terminal. USC
should also provide a daily shuttle to
Five Points.
2. Take the bus. Most middle-class
USC students have never deigned to
set foot on a city bus. There are
several bus routes that connect intnu/n
trs thp T
campus. Discount tickets are
available at Russell House.
3. Ride a bike. This mode of
transportation provides door-to-door
service as well as aerobic exercise.
The proliferation of bicycles on the
USC campus shows that there are
plenty of savvy students beating the
parking crush in the most efficient
way possible.
4. Limit vehicle registration. Many
large universities do not allow
freshmen students to register
automobiles. Given the crisis, USC
should be among them.
5. Revise parking lot assignments.
On-campus students should be
assigned to outlying lots. There
should be reserved lots for commuting
students with addresses outside
a two-mile radius. Security for
all parking lots should be increased.
6. Leave home early. If you arrive
on campus at 6:45 a.m., you can find
a great spot at a meter on Greene
Street. Five hours for a dollar.
7. Wake up to the realities of
authority. University administrators
with great parking spots are not inclined
to sympathize with student
parking problems. Students at USC
should learn an important lesson in
life: rank has its privileges. A good
parking space is one of them.
No amount of whining can create
paiiung spaces irom inin air.
Students must take the initiative and
beat the system by leaving the car at
home.
James Dunlap
history graduate student
Programming
at K95 tragic
To the editor:
In response to Friday's editorial, 1
'too am upset about the format
change at K95Rock-FM. The most
upsetting part is that I was an
employee there, training to be a disc
jockey. When I found out about this
tragedy, I immediately called Art
Boerke, who was the production
manager and a darn good one at that.
He was the most valuable person at
the station, but the owners fired him.
I asked if there was anything I could
do. He suggested distributing a petition
and have my friends write letters
requesting the old format. At this
moment, I am formulating a petition
to distribute to various record stores
buildings around campus and
anywhere I can think of. We need
thousands of signatures. Letters will
be a great help, and it only takes a little
bit of time. The address to send
them 'to: K95, 910 Gracern Road,
Suite C, Columbia SC 29210.
I do not understand why the
owners would want to change except
that they think they will make a lot of
money within a year's time. What do
you think? I think not. Now they
have several other stations to compete
with instead of just one, FOX
102-FM. We, as loyal fans of
K95Rock, need to get together and
fight this. It is not fair to any of us
who want to hear hard rock or metal
but cannot find any station that plays
it. K95Rock was the only real rock
station, and we need it back. And
when we do, we can celebrate; but,
first, we need your help.
Jessica Lewison
marketing sophomore
Olympic coach
blameless
, To the editor:
I am responding to "Pep Talk" by
David Caraviello in the Oct. 5 edition
of The Gamecock.
I cannot believe your criticism of
John Thompson's coaching ability.
Coach Thompson is one of the very
best; yet you insist on using him as a
scapegoat for the U.S. Olympic
basketball team's loss. I think that
you are way off the mark. You fail to
mention that the Soviets have played
together for several years. John
Thompson had to develop a team in
less than three months. Could inexperience
of the players have been a
factor? This "amateur" Soviet team
beat the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA.
Was that loss due to poor coaching
by Mike Fratello? I think not. If you
must blame someone, blame the U.S.
Olympic Committee for prohibiting
NBA player participation in the
Olympics. Could the Soviets really
match up with the likes of Larry
Bird, "Magic" Johnson, Michael
Jordan or Isaiah Thomas? If the
U.S. really wants to dominate, why
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don't we just send the "Dream
Team" and be done with it?
Don't be so quick to criticize John
Thompson. I sincerely doubt that
you have coached a team to the
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gold medal. Until you do, don't let
your ego run away with you. John
Thompson, correct me if I am
wrong, has a little more experience in
championship games than you.
Overall, I think John Thompson
did an outstanding job of choosing,
developing and coaching our Olympic
team. Could it be that his players
simply didn't execute or that they
were young and inexperienced with
international rules or maybe, just
maybe, they were beaten by a better
team?
Brian D. Connon
Geography junior
Paper showed
news judgment
To the editor:
In response to Miss Hyatt's letter
published Oct. 7 regarding the
coverage of Homecoming:
No, Miss Hyatt, you do not speak
for everyone in saying an article
about Homecoming and the
homecoming queen should take
precedence over articles concerning
responsible reactions to significant
social events, i.e. The Last Temptation
of Christ controversy and the
concern over the safety of students.
Homecoming is a nice fluffy affair
with little real signifigance or importance.
I feel The Gamecock has
greatly improved over last year in
reporting events (although not in its
objectivity). I don't think that the
lack of coverage was a function of
race, but rather a decision to put
relatively more important issues in
the forefront.
Secondly, the whole homecoming
queen idea is sexist and antiquated. If
we as a culture are to conquer sexism
(and racism), we need to lessen the
emphasis of sex and/or race on issues
and the reporting of issues and make
a concerted effort to regard people as
people, not as members of factions.
Terri Chaput
geology graduate student
Commuters
deserve spaces
To thd editor:
I think the commuter students who
park in the vicinity of the College of
Business Administration have been
extremely patient. When the school,
in its infinite wisdom, began construction
on a resident student parking
lot during the school year, we
paid money every day to park at
meters, even though we had parking
permits for commuter lots.
Now, however, the lot across from
the BA Faculty and Staff lot % completed,
and stilj the majority of cars
in the commuter lots are resident
students' cars. I recognize that resident
students prefer to park near
their residence halls, but it seems unfair
when commuters arriving
anytime after 7:15 a.m. cannot park
in any of the commuter lots near the
BA building.
I hope that Parking and Vehicle
Registration will soon begin enforcing
the rules about parking in commuter
lots so that at least those commuters
who arrive early in the day
have a chance at parking in this section
of campus.
Lynne Kerrigan
graduate student