The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 24, 1989, Page 4, Image 4
F uture
After difficult year, university
must work toward improvement
Another academic year at USC is rapidly coming to a close,
and with this conclusion comes a time to reflect on the past year.
The 1988-89 school vear has been a time of soarine hiehs and
plummeting lows at USC, but the university has survived
through it all. With dedication and hard work, it can get better.
The year began with the hullabaloo over the change in
moniker to "The USC." Although the transformation is essentially
irrelevant, it does indicate a change in attitude. But it will
take more than a meaningless cosmetic alteration to make this
university as good as it can be. It will take real action.
This school year has also been plagued with the perpetual problem
of money. USC and this state's lawmakers need to work
together to bring more funding to the university. The effects of a
lack of funding from state goverments will linger into the next
century through tuition increases that leave qualified students
unable to attend USC. Budget problems will also leave USC
behind in the area of faculty salaries, and the quality of education
will not improve. USC's library will also slip. The bottom
line is that you get what you pay for, and if lawmakers do not
provide adequate funding for USC, then the university will fall
back into mediocrity.
The athletic department had more than its share of problems
this year. Gamecock squads in almost every sport performed
well, but at the same time, allegations of steroid use tainted the
university's reputation and cast doubt on the athletic department.
USC must ensure that the athletic programs are clean of
drugs and corruption and work to restore the university's good
name.
The death of Joe Morrison earlier this semester came as a terrible
shock to the entire university community. Despite the football
team's problems, Morrison will be remembered as a man
who brought a winning tradition to USC. He will be missed.
But all was not tragic at USC. The opening of the Koger Arts
Center signaled a new era for the university. Students can now
enjoy excellent performances at a facility designed for them.
Academics continued to imnrove as USC's graduate business
program (among others) received praise.
Ultimately, it has been a tough year for USC. Still, the university
community has weathered it all, and hopes are high for the
future. Perhaps those hopes can become reality.
REFLECTIONS OF A PUBLIC TAXPAYER
The Gamecock
Best Non-daily Collegiate Newspaper, Southeastern Region
Society of Professional Journalists, 1987-88
Editor in Chief Photography Editor
ANDY BECHTEL TEDDY LEPP
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CARYN CRABB TRACY MIXSON
News Editor Graduate Assistant
MARY PEARSON ROBERT STEVENSON
Assistant News Editors Adviser
KELLY C. THOMAS PAT MCNEELY
SUSAN NESBITT Director of Student Media
Features Editor ED BONZA
TODD HINES Advertising Manager
Assistant Features Editor MARGARET MICHELS
TOMMY JOYNER Production Manager
Sports Editor :LAURA DAY
KEVIN ADAMS Assistant Production Manager
Assistant Sports Editor RAY BURGOS
CHRIS SILVESTRI Assistant Advertising Manager
BARBARA BROWN
Letters Policy: The Gamecock will try to print all 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.
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POVERTY
w<mII?aBBI |
Graduation c
"Memories. You're talking about memories."
? Harrison Ford in Blade Runner
The last time I graduated from a school, I was
surrounded by marine mammals bobbing restlessly
in their tanks, and the backdrop for the
ceremony was a small lake littered with props for
a hillbilly ski show that was never performed.
That was in June 1985 at Sea World in Orlando,
Fla., my hometown. Down there, some lucky
high schoolers get to hear fractured valedictory
speeches at local tourist attractions under the early
morning sun. I was one of those fortunate
stlidents who got to sit in the Florida heat for
two hours as the black cap and gown absorbed
the sun's rays, creating a miniature greenhouse
effect in each person.
I recall not a single word of those addresses
that day, but I do remember tossing that cheap
piece of cloth-covered cardboard into the sky
with everyone else ? save my friend Scott, who
simply clutched his to his chest and stood in
silence.
Afterward, Scott and I floated in the cool
water of a swimming pool, bobbing restlessly like
the whales, otters and seals at Sea World. We
talked for a while about what it all meant, but
failed to reach any moment of clarity.
1 Letters to
Soccer games
. ^ people, tl
need regulation
necessary
To the editor: that aim ?
I am an international student at but what i
USC. I am from Spain, and like study the
most Europeans, I am a great soccer origin is r
fan. For many people in Europe and the socio
around the world, there is no feeling reflection
comparable to seeing two sides on a and boun
football ground playing in a national The cui
or an international tournament; it is cruel fan
a sensation 1 have often tried to ex- change of
plain to my American friends. ed society
I understand the news that arrived pie's attei
from England, reporting the killing economic
of 93 people during one of the sport a
semifinals of the English F.A. Cup. repressed
Events of this sort may sound com- could otl
pletely foreign to the American unrest. Tl
public, but Europeans are getting fans by th
more and more used to them. porters sh
I remember images of the deaths of ly politica
more than 30 Italians at the hands of magnitudt
Liverpool hooligans in the finals of by British
the European Cup in Brussels some to hide,
years ago. Those television images
were seen live around 'the world,
shocking everbody. As a consequence,
tough penalties were imposed
on English clubs, and the International
Football Association seemed A
to say: "We are going to make sure i\Ul
this will not happen again!" 9
However, seeing the news from the lTH'lf
_._J: PI PP:?U t _ 1:?A u?^ AAMM.M.V
dlauiuiu in oiicmciu, i icauz.cu n nau
indeed happened again, only this
time with the result of twice the To the edi
number of victims. Once aj
To those who fail to understand abortion i
the nature of these events, I shall say it that aft
they not only prove there is practice,
something wrong with football as a supporting
sport, but also with the society that right anc
allows these things to happen. defense of
Football is clearly, at least in legions of
Europe, a reflection of a social and tinue to bi
political situation. Unemployment- before th
stricken countries such as Britain, answer, in
Italy or Spain have a representative med up in
group of people who live and breathe the Sound
nothing but football, people who Many c
have given up hope of raising their bornly refi
living standards, people sometimes nore it.
EW YORK
STORIES
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But we agreed that we were going to evaporate
from the legacy of high school ? the
senselessness of hall passes, the facism of the
principal as Big Brother, the profound agony of
algebra, et cetera.
Something else that sticks in my mind is what
Susan, my pal from elementary through high
: school, wrote in my yearbook: "And will we
fade away? I think not. I know we will keep in
touch."
But the tragic tale of time reveals that Susan
e editor
family or friends outside number of Americans, t
il football club. For these grows louder each day.
ic tuiuis ui men icam aic it is tne cry oi injustice,
than a religious symbol. of the weak and helpless,
is reason, it is absolutely unloved being ground intc
to revise the regulations by a society drunk with th
it controlling football fans, self-gratification. Can )
is more important is that we them?
origin of the problem. The They are the unwanted
lot in football itself, but in Columbia ? 8,000 per year
-political situation whose no advocate, who have
shows pictures of violence defense, but silently await
dless atrocity. ecution from the prison
-e for these latest waves of mother's womb. Most are
aticism in football is a the time they reach 14 we
philosophy of dehumaniz- arms and little legs ripped 1
, a system that diverts peo- torsos by the powerful
ntion from their political, machine in the hands of the
problems to sport, making abortionist,
way of channeling their And they are the rejected
anger and frustration that Atlanta, where many surv
lerwise provoke political nine months before meei
le killing of the Liverpool cruel fate! Can you he
e fanaticism of fellow sup- America? The cold, sharp
ows there is a fundamental- doing its work. Too lar
il and social problem of a through the pelvic openii
; that last-minute inquiries they must be pulled from
authorities will not be able piece by piece. Can you he<
their innocent little skulls
crushed by the powerful
Manuel Lirola The sound is deafening.
Graduate student, And they are the little orn
Comparative literature different cities whose silen
beg for a reply. Twenty-fi'
Irillc in 16years. Every 15 seconc
>rilOn KllIiJ lost. Like the slave at the t
taskmaster's whip and the .
trPlll 11T P the Gestapo's boot, their or
that someone will hear the
itor: Wayne E
jain, the controversy over Columbi
s front-page news. Why is
er 16 years of widespread
countless court decisions
I this basic reproductive
1 the staunch abortion ITVlii* "Tl
' the U.S. Congress, do the dll II
pro-life malcontents con- ing
this unpleasant subject be removei
e American people? The
my opinion, could be sumtwo
words. It is because of To the editor:
I first want to apologize f<
lon't hear it. Some stub- about Mike Fair; but as lc
use to listen to it. Others ig- continues to force his lif
But to an ever-growing others, I feel that it is nec
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WNMxNemAY
fading away
and I have not kept in touch. We have both
evaporated from each other. I wonder how many
people who tell me the same thing nowadays will
disappear, and I wonder how many people I tell
that, only to fade away. It'll be just as much my
fault as theirs, just as it was between me and
Susan.
Then again, we do keep in contact with the
precious few. I have kept in touch with Scott,
and, as he wrote in that same yearbook, we shall
be lifetime friends. Those words stand true four
years later and will remain valid.
And again, I will keep some lifetime friends
from USC, people who cannot be allowed to
fade away. I know we'll meet again some sunny
day.
But alas, all of our beings shall once again
slowly evaporate across this campus. Resistance
ic iicpIpcc Thp nrnrpcc ic onH I Kouo
already surrendered.
My hands?! Where are my hands?! Am I
already fading out of the university's landscape?
Have we won the victory over ourselves? Do we
love James Holderman?
So there you have it: the end. Hasta la vista,
USC. Goodbye to all my beautiful friends. Take
care, feed the people and stay alive. . .
he sound criticize his actions.
Last year, he attempted to justify
the sound his initiating of a ban on overnight
alone and stays by those of the opposite sex by
> the dust saying he was worried the university
e wine of could be held liable for AIDS cases,
/ou hear Earlier this year, he justified his opinion
by saying his daughter would be
babies of attending Carolina. Now he is atwho
have tempting to justify his actions on the
no legal grounds of his religious convictions,
their ex- Fair says he doesn't try to convert
of their people. This makes absolutely no
: gone by sense. Is converting others to Chris:eks;
little tianity not one of the priorities of a
?rom their Christian? Was this not the purpose
vacuum of the disciples? While he may not try
calloused to convert others to follow his faith
through reasoning, he attempts to
babies of force others to follow his idea of a
ive up to Christian lifestyle through
ting their legislation,
ar them,
scalpel is hair calls pre-marital sex
ge to fit unhealthy, immoral and illegal. He is
lg intact, causing sex to be unhealthy by trying
their cells to remove condoms from the dorms,
ir them as Pre-marital sex is immoral to him
are being because it conflicts with his morals,
forceps? which are not necessarily the same
morals possessed by each of the
;s in 1,000 students he is supposed to be
t screams representing. It is illegal because of
ye million others like him who force their values
Is another on people they should be
:nd of the representing,
lew under
llyhopeis Because of Fair, fewer than 15
Sound. people have signed up for dormitories
designated for no overnight,
. Mitchell opposite-sex visitation; 300 addia
resident tional students have said they will
move off campus if the proposal is
put into effect, and the university is
expecting more disciplinary problems
and is being forced to employ a larger
^ residence hall staff and modify
LlllSl buildings.
dNot only is this man a problem to
the students, he is a hinderance to the
uniuprcitv I hpltAVA it \i/milH hp a
Mill ? VI I. M. I/VJIV ? V IV nvuiu l/V U
benefit to everyone, including his
daughter, if he were removed from
ar writing his position with the university.
>ng as he
estyle on Scott Deans
essary to English junior